《Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain》 Chapter 1 - Prologue 1 Prologue Running away from society amidst the darkness of the night, Ryan was driving his car, heading toward his new home. He was exhausted because that week had been long¡­ no, the whole month had been tiring, and everything changed after that. Ryan was just twenty-three years old guy and had just graduated from college and was about to work as a PE teacher at the same school he graduated a few years ago when he received the notice that his parents died in a car crash. After receiving that notice, Ryan spent a day in a daze without knowing what to do. His parents were in the early fifties, so he didn''t expect to hear that. When he recovered from the shock, he began to prepare the things necessary for their funeral, but things only got worse from there. When he was about to inform his best friend and fiancee about it, Ryan saw them leaving a cheap motel together early in the morning. His mind was still in a daze, and he didn''t even manage to ask why they were together at such a ce. However, he eventually understood it when he left his car and approached them. "¡­ I see¡­" Ryan said without showing a single sign of emotion in his face and voice when he saw them panicking. In the end, Ryan left Mia and Daniel alone without waiting for an exnation or a half-assed lie. The next day, the funeral was held in thergest cemetery of Das¡­ the city where his parents grew up and met each other. Since Ryan and then lived in Shreveport, he was the only one who attended the ceremony, aside from the Father and the cemetery workers. He didn''t have cousins, uncles, not even grandfathers or grandmothers because both of his parents grew up in the same orphanage. Ryan only woke up from the shock when it started to rain. The Father and the workers of the cemetery had left him alone a long time ago. Their words didn''t enter his ears, not even the words offort from the Father. Still, the icy rain forced Ryan to wake up. His parents died in an ident, his fianc¨¦e cheated on him with his best friend¡­ but he still was alive. Ryan still had a whole life ahead of him. Rather, his parents would want to see him moving on. However, Ryan needed some time alone¡­ so, the next day, he quit the job he didn''t even start and sold his belongings to buy a house in the mountains. A ce where he wouldn''t have to deal with anyone frequently¡­ and he was heading there. "Thank God I didn''t spend my savings to buy that apartment," Ryan forced a smile while he was observing the dark road that was slowly getting brighter. The sun was rising, but the inside of his car was quite bright because his phone was ringing non-stop on the backseat. Even without picking the phone, Ryan could see through the mirror of this car who was making his phone ring. On the screen of his cellphone, he could see ny-eight calls from Daniel and thirty-three from Mia. "I guess they finally learned about my parent''s death," Ryan said. Ryan was too tired to get angry at them. He didn''t sleep even a single minute in three days. His light-brown hair was messy since he didn''tb it since the rain two days ago. There were bags under his light brown-eyes as well. If a police officer could see the current Ryan, he would probably be asked to stop driving, and then he would be taken to a police station since he wouldn''t obey. Regardless, Ryan arrived at his new home half an hourter, the log cabin was pretty simple, but he had a good view of all the region. The nearest house was one kilometer away, and the supermarket was five. Driving upward and downward was a pain, but Ryan felt like the peace he would have was worth it. Before even unpacking, Ryan stopped and then breathed that fresh air. He felt reinvigorated¡­ there were a lot of trees nearby, and he could hear birds singing. That ce brought him some inner peace that he didn''t expect to find so soon¡­ Ryan headed to the cliff behind his house and then admired the region. "I guess this is the perfect ce for a new beginning¡­" Ryan smile in satisfaction. Ryan didn''t want to think about it, but he could only do it for so long. He worked hard to make his parents proud of himself. Although bing a PE teacher wasn''t as difficult as bing awyer or a doctor, he still could remember when his parents looked like when he told them about the career that he chose. He decided to work hard not just for them, but also to marry the woman he loved since he was just twelve¡­ despite being a shy guy, he confessed his love for her in his third year of high school, and since then, they have been together. They even made some preparations to marry once things got a bit more stable¡­ it probably would happen at the end of that year, but it looked like Mia never truly loved him. Despite that, Ryan couldn''t bring himself to hate Mia or Daniel. He knew them since middle school and have been friends since that time as well. While Mia was an astonishing redhead, green-eyed beauty, and Daniel was a tall, hunky guy. Ryan was just an average joe who was so boring that he liked to spend his weekends at home reading books. In any other situation, he would even give them his blessing, but not like that¡­ not anymore. While Ryan was thinking about those things, he suddenly felt the atmosphere changing. The scenario looked the same as before, so Ryan couldn''t tell what made him feel like that, but then it happened. The whole mountain began to tremble, and Ryan saw some spaces in the sky distorting. "What the¡­" Ryan said and then got away from the cliff and from the trees nearby. Suddenly, a giant thing appeared in the sky. It was fifty meters long, it was red¡­ and it had wings. It also looked like a lizard¡­ one big ass lizard. At that very moment, Ryan realized that the shocks of the previous day probably messed with his head more than he thought¡­ that or perhaps the world was ending. He concluded that because hundreds of dragons were flying in the sky. Chapter 2 - A New Start "Is that what people see when they are dead drunk?" Ryan asked himself, trying to understand what the hell was going on. "If that is the case, I can see the appeal¡­" It looked like Ryan was daydreaming and speaking nonsense. The ground under him was trembling, and he could hear the sound of trees falling in the distance, but he still could bring himself to ask what was really happening. Rather, he didn''t know if he could understand it. It looked the whole Earth was trembling and didn''t have the intention of stopping it anytime soon. To make matters worse, several copies of different colors of that thing appeared in the sky and began to fall like meteors. Ryan didn''t want to admit it, but they looked quite simr to the western dragons he saw in countless movies, games, andic books. "I had nned to watch some movies for a few days, but this is much better¡­" Ryan said. Ryan was fully aware that he couldn''t let those creatures see him, but luckily, they were all flying in the same direction, and it was on the opposite of the ce where he was¡­ they were flying to Shreveport. They probably wouldn''t go there to make some friends, so Ryan grabbed his cellphone to call the police. "No reception¡­ Still, can the police do something about them?" Ryan frowned. Although Ryan left his old life behind because of the recent events, he didn''t want to see the town where he grew up burning down. Unfortunately, he already could see a lot of smoke in the direction where Shreveport was supposed to be, and the dragons didn''t even arrive there. Ryan could see some residences in the distance, and despite the fact that the area was still trembling and trees were constantly falling, those houses seemed fine. For some unexpected reason, the dragons were heading to a highly-popted area and ignoring all the other areas on their way. That was very suspicious and worrisome, but such worries disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he felt the mountain trembling even more for a while to the point where he imagined the whole ce would split in half¡­ However, after five seconds, the earthquake stopped. "Just what the hell is going on¡­" Ryan muttered after he got up. "I wanted to start a new life here, but not like this¡­" In any case, Ryan didn''t know what was going to happen now. How could he? Some crazy shit was happening for an unknown reason that someone like him couldn''t even begin to imagine as to why everything was happening. Still, he knew one thing¡­ he was living at the top of a mountain, and his house eventually would be a target to those massive creatures that could fly despite their massive size and weight. Ryan''s father taught him many things when he was a teenager. Just like him, he wasn''t a bright kid. However, he learned a lot when he served in the army. One of the first things his father taught him as if something unexpected happens, he had to try to understand what was going on or why. If that wasn''t possible, he had to leave and move away from the center of the problem. Otherwise, things could get worse if he gets involved. "Fortunately, I didn''t have time to unpack¡­" Ryan said to himself. "But what should I do now? Where should I go?" If dragons were flying toward highly popted areas, then he had to go in the opposite direction. That was the only thing he could do. Hiding in some underground shelters probably wouldn''t be a good idea if earthquakes like that happen again. "There is strength in numbers. Father taught me that," Ryan muttered while he was walking toward his car. "But I wonder how much of that can be applied when dragons are also part of the equation¡­" Ryan''s main reason to move to the mountain was to move away from society and then forget about Mia and Daniel, but it looked like if he wanted to survive, he would have to join a group of people. Maybe he was thinking too fast and too ahead in the future, but he couldn''t help it since his father''s words were echoing in Ryan''s head. When Ryan returned to his car, the first thing he saw was a box¡­ that was something that his father gave him on his eighteenth birthday. Ryan opened and saw aposite bow that his father used when he was young. There was also a quiver fully loaded with arrows that his father used to hunt. "I will make good use of it, father," Ryan said while he touched the bow. Ryan didn''t know if that bow would help him in any way, but if something happens, it was the sole thing that he did have that he could even scratch dragons¡­ he didn''t know if he actually could, but at the very least, he would try. Ryan felt likeughing that he would leave his new home before even spending a single night there, but it wasn''t time tough. If anything, it was time to cower in fear now that he could see dragons flying in the sky. "I can''t lose my cool," Ryan muttered. "No matter what happens, I have to keep focused on what¡­ is¡­ important¡­" The moment Ryan finally calmed down, he noticed something odd in the corner of his vision. There were three lines there¡­ one red, one blue, and one green. He focused his eyes there, and then those lines became more prominent, revealing what those were¡­ HEALTH: 10/10 MANA: 10/10 STAMINA: 10/10 Ryan blinked several times, he even tried to clean his eyes in order to confirm that there was nothing weird there, but that screen didn''t disappear. Ryan was fully aware of what that was, but he didn''t want to admit it. Instead of believing that he could see a HUD bar, Ryan could ept more easily than he had gone mad after losing his parents and being betrayed by his best friend and fiancee Chapter 3 - Slimes Power "¡­ Status screen," Ryan said after hesitating a little bit. ss: --/--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 10 (0,0016) Mana: 10 (0,0016) Stamina: 10 (0,0016) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 09 Speed: 08 Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 01 Willpower: 09 Coins:00 Status: 00 After seeing a new semi-transparent blue screen appearing in front of him, Ryan punched himself instead of trying to touch it. In the end, he regretted that because he punched himself seriously and without holding back. He wasn''t dreaming. He wasn''t hallucinating¡­ dragons appeared, and now he could see a game screen in the real world. Instead of negating that fact, he just has to ept it and moved on. "Skill list," Ryan said this time without hesitation. Skill List Active Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Spells: "This one is a bit more believable¡­" Ryan said. "Still¡­ what the hell is going on?" While Ryan was questioning himself, suddenly, his car got hit by something, and the windshield broke into several pieces. Without thinking, Ryan protected his eyes and then grabbed theposed bow and quiver after crunching down. He didn''t know what hit the car, but Ryan knew that he couldn''t let himself being hit by that. Ryan opened the door, but before leaving the vehicle, he observed the terrain around. There were plenty of trees that he could use to hide, there was one only ten meters away from him, and it wasrge enough to block whatever hit his car. Once he confirmed the tree''s position, Ryan began to run but still looked in the direction where the attack came off¡­ only to see a weird semi-transparent creature firing what seemed to be an Earth Arrow. "What the¡­" Ryan threw himself on the floor, and then the Earth Arrow hit the door of his car and easily pierced and destroyed it. This time he didn''t confirm or tried to look at that weird monster. Ryan just got up and then hid behind the tree. "That was¡­ a slime¡­ a freaking slime," Ryan muttered. "Dragons and slimes¡­ is this for real?" Ryan''s father taught him not to think too much about the things he couldn''t understand, but upon seeing a slime that could easily destroy his car, it was impossible to do something like that. Ryan felt shivers when something hit that tree and made it tremble to the point which Ryan could feel the roots moving. It has been quite a while since Ryan had used that bow. If he could remember well, he used it on the summer vacation ofst year. His skills probably have grown rusty, but Ryan didn''t think twice in nocking an arrow and focused himself. After closing his eyes, Ryan recalled thest fifteen seconds, and in the blink of an eye, he understood one thing¡­ the slime could only attack once every five seconds. Five seconds was the interval between its attacks¡­ and when Ryan heard the tree getting hit again, he left his position and aimed. "No wind, the target isn''t moving¡­ fifteen meters away," Ryan muttered and then rxed his left arm while he adjusted his aim, and then he fired. The arrow easily pierced the slime, but Ryan didn''t see anything different from the creature. If anything, it was just moving as usual and waiting for the chance to attack again. Then, Ryan noticed the creature had a core. Unless he attacks more than a few times or hits that core, the slime wouldn''t die. Ryan hid between the tree again when he saw an Earth Arrow appearing in front of the slime. Half a secondter, the tree got hit, and Ryan could feel it inclining to the side¡­ two more attacks, and the slime would be able to knock down a tree alone. "For real? A slime has the power to knock down a massive tree?" Ryan muttered in shock. It wasn''t time to worry about that. Ryan had to kill the slime as fast as possible because he didn''t know when the next monster would appear. He just saw dozens of dragons suddenly appearing in the sky, after all, and then a slime appeared in front of his car¡­ for all he knew, there was a chance that monsters could respawn in his toilet. Ryan didn''t have the confidence to hit the ten centimeters long core, but he didn''t have any other choice. After showing himself again, Ryan frowned when he saw the slime finally moving. He didn''t know why the creature was doing that, but the monster was slow. Ryan could outrun it even while walking. "¡­ Did this thing use all of its mana?" Ryan asked himself. Ryan recalled that he had mana in the HUD in the corner of his vision, so there was a chance that such a monster had run out of fuel. Either day, it didn''t matter. Ryan focused on the task and then shot¡­ surprisingly. His arrow hit the core. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Archery. Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Concentration. Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Eagle Eyes. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "What the heck?" Ryan said, surprised while he saw the light-blue screens appearing in front of him. Ryan became even more confused when he saw the slime he had just killed evaporating¡­ one didn''t have to be a genius that something massive was happening to Earth. Monsters like dragons and slimes appeared. Possibly, every single person in the world could see the game like screens showing their status¡­ Ryan was having a hard time convincing himself that he hadn''t gone mad. Not because monsters had appeared, but because he was smirking at that crazy situation. Chapter 4 - Calm "¡­ Oh, crap¡­ I have to calm down," Ryan muttered. "I can''t get excited in this kind of situation since probably thousand of people are dying at this very moment¡­ Maybe this new beginning is bing more exciting than I thought it would be, but I can''t get ahead of myself even though the idea of learning skills and obtaining status points seems very exciting¡­" After taking a deep breath to calm down, Ryan finally cooled his head. He would be lying by saying that he hadn''t wished for something like that could happen at least once or twice when he was a teenager, but he wasn''t a kid anymore. Besides, massive dragons appeared in the sky, and slimes had the power to destroy cars with ease¡­ so his new life wouldn''t be as convenient as the delusions he had when he was just a teen. "I have to leave this ce and hide¡­ and then understand the system. Maybe I have to change the order the things a little bit, but¡­ I have to use the status points I obtained," Ryan said and then opened his status screen after checking that there was no other slime around. "I bet dexterity, and perhaps control will help me use with the use of my bow¡­ I thought my skills have grown rusty, but since my dexterity is quite high, perhaps that isn''t the case." Although it was weird that Ryan couldn''t see something like his own level, he quickly forgot about it because he understood that the right way to obtain status points would be by using skills and leveling them up. He was quite curious about why he suddenly could see things like that, but instead of worrying about such things, it would better for him to understand the system and its effects. Ryan could imagine how ss and Race would change himself, Rank was a bit moreplicated, but since those were in a nk, his sole option was to study the other status. However, it looked like he would have to be quick because he could hear some noise down the mountain, and the noise was getting closer quite quickly. "Let''s see... it will be a bit dangerous, but I will use all my status points in dexterity," Ryan muttered. "I don''t have a melee weapon, nor do I have any offensive skill, so my only choice is to rely on my bow." Maybe it wasn''t a good idea to rely on his game knowledge, but Ryan didn''t know anything aside from games that he could use as a reference at that moment. In all games he yed and knew, dexterity would increase his power and ability with long-ranged weapons, so possibly that would apply in reality now that he could see and interact with a game-like system. Regardless, after allocating his points, Ryan retrieved the two arrows he used to attack the slime. As expected, the arrows were still fine since the enemy was weak. Besides, those were the arrows his father had crafted to hunt bears¡­ even though he never had the chance to take a vacation where he could find them. "Now then, I just have to¡­ seriously?" Ryan asked, shocked when he saw another slime approaching. The road to the mountain base was a bit steep, so the slime was having a hard time approaching. Ryan would have a few seconds to prepare himself for the next fight, but instead of that, he began to sweat cold when he saw that something had happened on the road. Three hundred meters away from where he was, a cave had appeared. Ryan didn''t know how or why, but the cave was blocking his path to the base of the mountain¡­ he wouldn''t be able to use his car anymore. "I guess this is punishment for getting carried away in this situation¡­" Ryan said while watching the region and seeing the number of ces on fire increasing every second. Ryan took a deep breath again and then aimed at the slime that was approaching. The creature was just thirty meters away from him, but for some reason, the slime still wanted to approach more instead of using some magic. Ryan didn''t lose that chance and fired. His arrow hit the slime, but only the spot five centimeters on the right side of the core. "Obviously, that second shot was just a fluke," Ryan said while he was nocking another arrow. He didn''t have time to aim perfectly. Instead of that, Ryan focused on hitting the slime with every shot. The second also hit the target, but it barely hit the center of the creature''s body. Before Ryan could nock the third arrow, the slime shot an Earth Arrow. Ryan jumped to his left side and avoided the damage, but he felt the projectile cutting the wind¡­ it wasn''t fast as a bullet, but it wasn''t something that he could follow with his eyes¡­ "Come on,e on¡­" Ryan muttered while he was adjusting his aim after he got up. The slimes had enough fuel to fire five Earth Arrows. Even though it would be safer to wait for the monster to run out of energy, Ryan didn''t want to see that thing getting close. Fortunately, the slime wasn''t that smart. Once Ryan was within his range, the creature stopped moving, and that gave him the idea to walk backward to buy time. As expected, that did work. The slime began to follow Ryan, and that brought him enough time to attack without worrying about having his head exploded after being hit by an Earth Arrow. His third attack also hit the slime, and the creature finally trembled a little. That was a sign that it was dying, but then when Ryan was preparing the fourth arrow¡­ the slime fire an Earth Arrow even though Ryan was twenty-five meters away from it¡­ the projectile flew straight to his head. Chapter 5 - Damage Even while he was nocking arrows, Ryan never took his eyes out of his target¡­ that was another lesson that he learned from his father, and thanks to that lesson, Ryan moved his head to the side and managed to keep it in its rightful ce. However, he had to pay the price for his assumptions. The Earth Arrow just scratched his right ear, but its power managed to destroy half of it. "Ugh¡­" Ryan muttered in pain. Despite the sharp pain and the fact that he almost lost his life, Ryan didn''t lose hisposure. Anger or fear would only make him lose focus, and that was the only thing someone with a bow couldn''t do. Much to his surprise, the pain only increased his concentration. Maybe it was a bitter for that, but his fourth arrow flew in a straight line toward the slime''s core. Perhaps it had been his imagination, but Ryan felt like he heard the sound of that cracking. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: uracy. Effect: Increases the chance of dealing a critical hit by one percent. Per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Pain Resistance. Effect: Decreases the pain caused by all types of attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Earth Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all earth-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan sighed in relief because he survived again, even though he lost half of his right ear¡­ it was a small price to pay, but he learned the lesson. Unfortunately, Ryan''s father only taught him how to hunt rabbits and deer. Not slimes that could destroy cars. "My aim definitely increased¡­ just in case, I should increase my dexterity again," Ryan said. "Still¡­ I''m learning skills way too fast, and they are all passive physical skills, but it looks like I can only learn them after battles." It was hard to tell if his skill with the bow just increased fifty percent just by using those stats points, but hitting the core of the slimes two times out of six shots certainly was impressive considering the distance, the fact that Ryan never participated in Archerypetitions and hisck of training in thest years. Regardless, Ryan recognized the fact that he had to do certain things while fighting to learn new skills. Again, it wasn''t a good way to assume things with so little information, but everything was pointing that that was true. "Learn skills after fighting¡­" Ryan muttered. "I guess this is a sign that I have to ept some risks in order to learn more skills." In any case, Ryan could test that theoryter. For the time being, he picked the arrows he used and then headed toward his car. He couldn''t carry many things, but he couldn''t leave that ce only carrying his bow, arrows, and the clothes he was wearing. Fortunately, he had a backpack, so he stored inside of it a change of clothes, the food he had brought for the trip that he never ate, a bottle of water, a shlight, and a pair of kitchen knives. The knives would probably be useless against those slimes, but Ryan had no intention of relying on them to survive against the monsters. "Seriously? The slimes are spawning near this ce or something?" Ryan asked himself when he saw another slime approaching. By the look of things, the slimes were probablying from that cave. Again, it wasn''t safe to assume things with so little information, but Ryan couldn''t imagine those creatures appearing in the skies like the dragons, they were smaller, but it was possible to see them even from a distance. However, Ryan was unable to see a single slime falling. "Why the slimes areing from that cave while the dragons suddenly appeared?" Ryan asked himself. "Why that cave suddenly appeared? It was due to that earthquake?" A certain world suddenly appeared in Ryan''s head: the dungeon. A cave that could spawn monsters¡­ it was weird and hard to exin, but considering that dragons appeared in the sky and he could see the status screen and use skills, Ryan concluded that everything was possible. Instead of worrying about why or how he decided just to ept those new facts and consider them before making any decision. "The difference in power between slimes and dragons is absolute, so¡­" Ryan said and then looked around. Ryan didn''t want to see anything, but he looked for other monsters, and he quickly found some flying. The distance between them was quite big, but Ryan was certain that it wasn''t a dragon, nor was it an ordinary bird¡­ it was another species of monster. "It looks like humanity won''t have much peace from now on¡­" Ryan said, and then bit his lips. "It also looks like slimes won''t be the only monsters that will upy my thoughts for the time being." In any case, Ryan readied his bow because his third target was already fifty meters away from him. He barely hit targets from that distance when he practiced before, but it was the perfect time to test if his dexterity really magically improved his skill. Ryan took a deep breath while he was nocking the arrow. After rxing his shoulders, he readied his bow and arrow¡­ no wind, the target was moving slowly in a straight line, and it was forty-five meters away from him. Ryan had to consider the road''s inclination in front of him, but after adjusting his position a little bit, everything was ready for him to hit the bull''s eye. However, even though everything seemed perfect, Ryan''s instincts were telling him to wait for a little bit, but when the slime was forty meters away from him, Ryan shot the arrow, also obeying his instincts. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Power Shot. Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by one point per second while you aim. Cost: 01 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 6 - Offensive Skill At that point in time, Ryan couldn''t help but frown while he was reading thest notification. He knew that his father taught him many things rted to hunting, but he didn''t think all those things could be skills like that¡­ how could he? Regardless, Ryan finally learned an offensive skill, and now that he thought about it, he could feel himself a bit more tired, probably because he used his stamina when he learned that skill involuntarily. ss: --/--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 9/10 (0,0016) Mana: 10/10 (0,0016) Stamina: 9/10 (0,0016) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 15 (+1) Speed: 08 Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 01 Willpower: 09 Coins: 03 Status: 01 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 01, Concentration Lv 01, Archery Lv 01, uracy Lv 01, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Spells: Support Spells: Earth Resistance Lv 01 "It is actually true¡­" Ryan said after checking his status screen. "I actually used my stamina¡­ now that I think about it, I can''t neglect health, mana, and stamina. I focused too much on dexterity because I felt too excited imagining my skill with the bow improving magically." In any case, it wasn''t time to get excited. Ryan found an unexpected ce where he could hide: the cave where the slimes were probablying from. Although it wasn''t a safe ce, he would rather face slimes than flying monsters. The chances of those monsters looking for humans in dungeons probably were low¡­ maybe. Even if that wasn''t the case, the chances of Ryan finding a swarm of monsters or even dragons in an open space were higher. "Just to be safe, I should watch that cave for a while," Ryan concluded. For the better or worse, humans could obtain skills, level them up, obtain status, and grow stronger. So, it was evident that Ryan''s best option was to do that as soon as possible, and he couldn''t imagine any type of monster more convenient for that than slimes. However, once Ryan recovered the arrow he used, he confirmed that things wouldn''t be so easy. The arrowhead had been damaged and lost its tip. Slimes had a lot of firepowers, but they weren''t that easy to kill. "I don''t have the materials necessary to repair this, but I should keep it just in case I find them," Ryan muttered while he was storing the arrow in his backpack. When Ryan finished doing that, he managed to see the exact time a slime left that cave¡­ it was really a dungeon. He didn''t know why a dungeon was spawning monsters, nor did he understand the logic behind it, all that Ryan knew was the fact that Earth changed. Humans would have to adapt themselves to the changes, or they would face extinction. Things would be harsh. Ryan understood that because the slime that left the dungeon didn''t think twice and headed toward his direction¡­ even though the monster didn''t see Ryan. "It looks like they can feel my presence. That was why the slimes headed to the top of the mountain so fast," Ryan said. "Fight against the slimes in a confined space will be difficult¡­ perhaps I should also increase my speed in order to dodge their attacks with more ease, but I also have to worry about my arrows¡­ they won''tst forever." Ryan didn''t know for how long he wouldst with those arrows, he would have to find a way to make more of them, but first, he had to increase his survivability by learning new skills and possibly leveling up the ones he already has. However, before walking to the cave, Ryan checked the situation in that region. The number of creatures in the sky flying was increasing, and even though that was supposed to be a calm area, he could see cars moving around as fast as possible. Some of the houses he could see were on fire, and he could even see humans. Trying to run away from monsters that he couldn''t see yet. Ryan began to wonder if hiding and obtaining power for himself was really the right thing to do. He wasn''t a soldier, nor a police officer, but he could kill slimes with his bow¡­ perhaps he could try to help those people and then help each other when the timees, but Ryan quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. "I''m not a hero¡­ even if I help a few people, I will end up overexposing myself since the monsters are clearly heading toward where humans are," Ryan said. "Walking in a big group isn''t safe in this kind of situation¡­ it is a pity, but I can''t, nor do I want to risk my life for strangers." Ryan could only pray that the humans would find on their own some way to avoid the monsters. Although he wished to start a new life away from others and live just like that for a while, he was fully aware that he couldn''t just ignore others'' death. Right now, he didn''t have the power to help others, but in the long term, it would be better to whenever possible to prevent human deaths. While Ryan was thinking about that, suddenly, he felt a wave of energy passing through his body. Then his body got a little bit lighter¡­ just as if thest few moments never happened. The pain in his ear also decreased quite a bit. When Ryan touched the wound, he confirmed that the bleeding had stopped, and as weirdly as that looked, he had regenerated a part of his ear. "¡­ I guess not only the world changed," Ryan said after recovering from the surprise. "Humans changed too. We still are made of flesh and bones, but it looks like now that we are more or less became like game characters that can heal pretty fast." Chapter 7 - Healing Factor Just before the fourth slime could enter his range, Ryan understood that the recovery stat was what healed a part of his ear. His health and stamina were back to full thanks to it. It made sense now that he thought about it. He couldn''t find any other application for that stat, after all. "Now I get it," Ryan said while he was studying his status screen. "Those 0,0016 numbers near my health, mana, and stamina are my healing factor." After doing some math, Ryan understood that recovery could recover one point of health, mana, and stamina every ten minutes. Considering that he had an offensive skill, Ryan now could use his stamina to attack, so he decided to increase his recovery and confirmed that. His regeneration factor doubled in a single moment. "All status will be important¡­ I can''t ignore any of them," Ryan said. "But for the time being, I still should focus on dexterity. The better my aim, the safer I will be¡­ at the very least in the slimes'' dungeon." When the slime entered his range, Ryan repeated what he did thest time. After all, nothing had changed and expected, thanks to Power Shot and the confidence that the battles gave him, Ryan killed the fourth slime in a single shot. However, the arrowhead got damaged, and Ryan could see another slime leaving the dungeon and moving toward him. You obtained one coin. "It looks like they can spawn quite fast¡­" Ryan muttered. "If I rely on those arrows, I can kill them using Power Shot, but it will damage my arrows, and I don''t think I can recover stamina that fast." Power Shot really increased his attack. Even though his arrows could easily pierce trees and still not get damaged, it seemed like the slimes'' cores were as sturdy as rocks. Ryan would have to find a way to keep hitting their cores without relying on Power Shots¡­ Since he killed a slime before by hitting the core and without using a skill, it was possible to keep his arrows from getting damaged. Regardless, the number of creatures flying in the sky was increasing, as well as the signs of destruction in that region. So, Ryan didn''t hesitate to walk toward the dungeon. Although it would be better if he had run instead of walking, he couldn''t just run while ignoring his surroundings. It was impossible to tell when a monster would appear, after all. So, he didn''t drop his guard and approached slowly. When the next slime was within his range, Ryan just readied himself. His dexterity had nearly doubled, so he wanted to trust that he could hit the core without relying on Power Shot. That being said, Ryan''s cautious nature didn''t let him fire. He only decided to do it when the slime was twenty-meters away from him. His instincts told him that he wouldn''t miss from that distance, but at the same time, it looked like the slime also felt the danger for its life. The very moment Ryan decided to shot was when an Earth Arrow began to appear in front of the creature. Ryan couldn''t let the projectiles hit each other, so he fired without hesitation, and somehow his arrownded before the Earth Arrow could bepleted. You obtained one coin. "Phew¡­ this is just too much tension for me," Ryan said while he observed the slime evaporating. Ryan always thought slimes would be easy to kill and never would be able to put any life at risk, but the reality was harsh and not convenient. In any case, Ryan recovered his arrow and also picked the iplete Earth Arrow. It was heavy and sturdy¡­ it was also difficult to believe that something like that had been created out of nothing. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Analysis. Effect: This shows you basic information about most types of items created by mana. Cost: 01 mana You obtained 01 status point. After frowning, Ryan wondered why he learned that skill¡­ it looked like some skills can be learned outside battles. Still, for some reason, he met the requirements to learn that, but he couldn''t see anything while looking at the earth arrow¡­ probably because it was iplete. "Now that I think about it¡­ it is very convenient that skills can be activated automatically just by wishing for it," Ryan said and then threw around the arrow when he noticed it was bing sand. "It would be weird if I had to shout their name to use it." Putting such worries aside, Ryan resumed his walking and then finally arrived at the cave. However, instead of just appearing in front of it, he slowly moved to the sides in order to confirm If some slime was approaching. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lurk. Effect: Decreases the sounds you make while moving. Cost: 0.1 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. "While I''m thankful for another skill, I think I need some offensive spell¡­" Ryan muttered. "Still¡­ so far, I only learned skills because I met the requirements, but I have no idea how to create something like a Fireball or Earth Arrow." In any case, even if Ryan somehow manages to learn a spell or two, he doubted that he had enough mana to use it more than one or two times. Regardless, after focusing his senses on his surroundings, he didn''t hear anything nearby. However, the sound inside the cave could spread quite easily, so he heard a slime moving and approaching. "Not even two minutes passed since the time thest slime left this dungeon¡­" Ryan frowned. "Does that mean the slimes can respawn every one hundred seconds or even less?" Considering that, Ryan''s chances of finding some peace and time for him to rest would be close to none. Still, after looking around once more and seeing the destruction spreading, Ryan concluded that he had to choose between something annoying and something very troublesome. Chapter 8 - Dungeon Shop Ryan waited for the moment when the slime left the dungeon. As if the creature knew from the beginning that he was there, it turned around and faced him. However, before the monster could do anything, an arrow hit its core. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stealth. Effect: Increases the chances of you causing critical damage when attacking first by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Good, the arrowhead didn''t suffer any damage¡­" Ryan said and then looked around once more. "If this weren''t an open space, this would be a great ce to kill slimes." There was no point in dwelling on that, so Ryan entered the cave. As expected, the ce really looked out of ce. Although the passageway was perfectly round, the walls were uneven, and, in some parts, Ryan could even see sharp points. That could easily kill a human being in an ident. "I have to move," Ryan said. "Although things might be dangerous if I find the ce where the slimes spawn, it will be much better than letting any other enemy feel my presence ande to look for me in this cave." Ryan could tell that his skill with a bow had gotten better. However, there were things that a simpleposite bow and a few arrows couldn''t solve. In fact, the number of things that could solve was extremely limited. Regardless, when Ryan stepped into the cave, something appeared in front of him. Weapons Armor essories Items Tomes Specials "What the¡­" Ryan frowned. Although that caught him by surprise, it didn''t take long for Ryan to understand what was going on just by seeing the options that appeared before him. After touching the first option, several other options appeared in front of Ryan¡­ that was a shop¡­ a shop that could only be essed by the people who were brave or stupid enough to get close to a dungeon. Rustic Knife ¨C 10 coins Rustic Sword ¨C 20 coins Wooden Bow ¨C 20 coins Short Spear ¨C 25 coins Wood Shield ¨C 25 coins Iron Knife ¨C 40 coins Iron Short Sword ¨C 50 coins Iron Short Spear ¨C 60 coins ¡­ The things Ryan could buy were quite numerous, but he didn''t have enough coins to buy anything. However, the wooden bow still took his interest, and he decided to check it. Wooden Bow Effect: Consumes one point of mana to create a wooden arrow. Durability: 30/30 Although usually weapons were supposed to increase their users'' damage and status, it looked like that bow was so weak that it couldn''t do any of those. Regardless, Ryan still wanted to buy it because of the effect the bow would grant him. "The problem is: I will have to spend some time to get used to a new weapon," Ryan rubbed his chin. "That might cause my death¡­" That was true, but then Ryan an idea. He would use that wooden bow just to create new arrows, and he would fight using the bow his father gave him. Of course, he would have to get used to regr wooden arrows, but it would be much easier and faster to get used to new projectiles instead of a new bow. In any case, Ryan would have to kill fifteen more slimes to be able to buy the bow. So, he could only wait patiently for it. Considering that he would be able to fabricate new arrows without wasting time, Ryan would be able to kill the slimes using Power Shot. "I have thirteen non-damaged arrows," Ryan muttered. "Even if every Power Shot damages one of them, I should be able to avoid the worst oue. Although the damaged arrowheads will change the course of the projectiles, as long as I take that into ount, I should be able to use them." Ryan wanted to check the other options, but it looked like he would have to do thatter because he could hear the sound of a slime approaching. The cave wasn''t as dark as he had imagined, but he still couldn''t see the end of it. He could only see thirty meters ahead. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Perception. Effect: Increases your senses'' range by one meter per level in dark areas or at night. You obtained 01 status point. After nocking the arrow, Ryan aimed and waited for the slime. The creature''s core was always located at the very center of its body. So, Ryan didn''t hesitate to fire his arrow when he saw a formless shadow leaving the dungeon''s darkness. You obtained one coin. "I had decided to hide inside this ce, but it looks like I won''t be able to do that without a shlight," Ryan said and then picked the one he had put in his backpack. "Still, even if I use this, things won''t be easy. Not only will I reveal my position to the slimes, but the shlight won''tst forever." While Ryan was using a piece of his shirt to tie his shlight in his bow, he decided to recheck the shop. Although some armor would be helpful to stay alive, Ryan didn''t have the intention of spending the few coins he had in protective gear for the time being. He was a faithful follower of the belief that the best form of defense was a dropkick, after all. Instead of slowing down himself with armor or anything simr, he would focus on increasing his firepower. Old Ring of Health ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of Mana ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of Stamina ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of the Fighter ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of the Archer ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of the Thief ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of the Wizard ¨C 50 coins Old Ring of the Protector ¨C 50 coins ¡­ Although those rings seemed pretty useful, their cost was a bit high given that they only increased stats by a single point. Probably Ryan would be able to trade them with other people when the timees, so it would work as a type of currency. Considering that, it was better than spending status points on his attributes that couldn''t be changedter. Chapter 9 - Improve, Adapt, Overcome. Ryan wanted to check the items session, but another slime appeared. This time he had marked the time and confirmed that the slimes appeared every one hundred seconds. "So, this is really a dungeon that can spawn six slimes every ten minutes, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin. "This might be actually very useful for me." Ryan didn''t know if the slimes would spawn at the same spot, but if they do, hunting them at that exact ce would be extremely convenient for him. He would just have to wait for them to appear, and then he would be able to kill them with ease and efficiency. Thanks to Power Shot once again, Ryan managed to kill the slime. That was the seventh, but instead of satisfied, Ryan felt that like something was wrong. You obtained one coin. "Am I adapting to this too fast?" Ryan frowned. "It can''t be that just some experience in hunting and using bows made things so easy for me¡­" Ryan was aware that he was abusing the slimes'' weakness, but still¡­ things were still progressing too favorably for him. In the end, slimes weren''t that resilient, they had a lot of firepower, but they could be killed by getting hit by a single arrow on their core. Still, they were slimes, probably the weakest race of monsters. So, it was only obvious that humans would get used to them first. "I can''t just assume things without enough information, but¡­" Ryan hesitated. "I wonder if I will find only slimes here. If this ce only respawns slimes, then this dungeon can work as a tutorial for humans. I just hope that treating everything like a game won''t get me killed." While Ryan was worried about that, he suddenly recalled his teenage years. Although his father preferred that he would spend more time ying outside, and Daniel, despite being a guy who was good at many sports, also liked to yputer games. They yed many games together and explored many dungeons, and at the end of those dungeons, they always found a boss. "Maybe it isn''t a good idea to look for the ce where the slimes are respawning¡­" Ryan forced a smile. "Still¡­ I don''t remember any dungeons that had just one type of monster. Then again, I can''t expect that things, in reality, would be likeputer games." Ryan was quite troubled because one of the things his father taught him was not to second guess himself in crucial moments. If anything, when in doubt, it was better to fail by trying to reach the best oue than not trying by fearing the failure. Regardless, Ryan still had to see what other things he could acquire in the dungeon shop. In the ''items'' option, he only found potions being sold¡­ potions that could restore fifty points of his health, mana, and stamina, and their price was only fifty coins. "This isn''t so bad¡­ once I have enough coins, I should buy those," Ryan concluded. "It is not like I have to drink the whole bottle all at once, after all." The next option was even more surprising than Ryan had expected, he found tomes being sold there¡­ just by touching those books, he could learn all types of skills and spells! However, their prices were absurd. Earth Needle Tome ¨C 3000 coins Water Needle Tome ¨C 3000 coins Fire Needle Tome ¨C 3000 coins Wind Needle Tome ¨C 3000 coins Earth Bullet Tome ¨C 5000 coins Water Bullet Tome ¨C 5000 coins Fire Bullet Tome ¨C 5000 coins Wind Bullet Tome ¨C 5000 coins ¡­ "Well¡­ at least now I know that it is possible to learn spells by buying tomes," Ryan shrugged. "It will take a lot of time for me to have the chance to buy them, but it is better than trying to learn them on my own without a single clue of how to do it." In the specials section, Ryan only found two things being sold there. Some handcuffs that could stop people from using spells, and some crystals that could work asmps and illuminate the area around for a few days. Both of them cost five hundred coins, and even though Ryan wanted to use those crystals, he didn''t have the coins to buy them. Ryan already had a goal, which was to obtain twenty coins and buy a wooden bow. Now he just has to work toward that goal and hope that he won''t lose his head before it. Although it would, without a doubt being dangerous, he decided to explore the dungeon''s interior. Maybe he could really find a boss at the end of it, but perhaps he could find some treasure. Even if it weren''t a bow, he would wee anything that can increase his survivability even a little bit. "Just keep your cool, Ryan," Ryan muttered while he walked and observed the shadows of the dungeon changing shape and scaring the crap out of him. "You don''t have to worry about monsters made of shadows¡­ probably. Perhaps in the future, you will have to worry about them, but not in this ce¡­ hopefully." Ryan couldn''t let himself get exhausted in that kind of situation, so even though his next arrow was nocked, his muscles were rxed. If he gets tired outside the battles, his uracy will drop, so he couldn''t let that happen. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fear Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect of magic attacks that may cause fear by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "It looks like this one will be easy to level up in this ce," Ryan forced a smile. "Now that I think about it, instead of exploring this ce, I should have used my head to try and learn several types of different skills." Maybe if Ryan had tried to make a sandwich or something, he would learn the cooking skill. Perhaps waiting for that was a bit too much, even considering that dragons appeared out of nowhere, but Ryan wouldn''t lose anything by trying. Chapter 10 - Leveling Up Skills It didn''t take long for Ryan to finally find the next slime. Still, after learning several skills and allocating the status points into dexterity, his skill with the bow increased to the point where he could hit the slimes'' cores even when they were thirty meters away from him. Half of the body still was covered by darkness. Also, after killing the eighth slime, Ryan received several pleasant surprises. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 1 ? Lv 2 You obtained 01 status point. "Mmm¡­ that was fast," Ryan said, surprised. "I didn''t think those skills would level up so fast against slimes." Ryan couldn''t feel himself more skilled or stronger. For the time being, only one- or two-level ups wouldn''t make him notice any difference. He was aware of it, but Ryan was quite satisfied and excited about it. For someone like him, see his physical attributes and skills through numbers was quite exciting¡­ Ryan felt like he had returned to his teenage years when he discovered MMORPGs. Even though those were a massive time-sink, for someone like Ryan, who had a vivid imagination, ying games was like a true adventure. "Here I go again, getting ahead of myself and getting excited¡­" Ryan shook his head to calm down. "You can see the status screen, Ryan. You can learn skills and see your attributes growing, but people are dying out there¡­ you shouldn''t feel like that knowing that fellow humans are dying at this very moment." For the better and for the worse, Ryan had a wild imagination. He could easily imagine the dozens of dragons he saw previously destroying a big city in like minutes. Still, Ryan couldn''t afford to worry about others all that much. He was just a civilian, after all. It was the government''s job to protect the citizens, not his. After trying to convince himself by thinking of a half-assed excuse, Ryan began to walk again. Despite the fact that the dungeon just appeared less than twenty minutes ago, the ce looked really old. Except for the parts the slimes used to move, everything else was covered in dust. If Ryan didn''t know the truth, he would think while looking at that ce that the dungeon had been there for decades. "Just what the hell is going on¡­" Ryan muttered. Moving along and just epting everything as fast as possible would make Ryan adapt faster, but for how long would he be able to move on without knowing what was just happening to Earth. The had suffered many transformations along with the history, but Ryan couldn''t believe that was just another ordinary event. Humans now could use magic, after all¡­ unless that happened over the course of several thousand years, it was impossible to think that was a natural event. Once again, those thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he heard the sound of a slime approaching. He still couldn''t see the creature by judging by the noise the creature was making. It wasn''t that far. Ryan aimed and tried to look for the creature using his shlight, but much to his surprise, the noise suddenly stopped, and after that, Ryan saw a small ball of fire appearing and then growing. "Shit!" Ryan muttered and then shot. Even though Ryan was in a hurry and got caught by surprise, he still hit the monster''s core. However, not in time to stop the Fireball from being shoot. The magic projectile had a human head size, and even though it wasn''t as fast as his arrows, it still was much faster than Ryan. He tried to throw himself on his left side, but his right shoulder still got slightly hit by the Fireball. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point. You obtained 01 status point. "Ugh¡­ damn," Ryan moaned in annoyance while he was getting up. "Just a scratch took twenty percent of my health¡­ maybe if my health drops to zero, I won''t die but just fall unconscious. That being said, fall unconscious in the middle of a dungeon while I''m alone still is a death sentence." Conveniently enough, that wave of energy spreading through his body appeared again, and then suddenly, the pain in his shoulder and ear decreased. Ryan checked both of them and confirmed that they were almost back to normal¡­ However, he suddenly began to feel very hungry. "Are you for real?" Ryan asked, astonished. "How can humans recover this fast? Mmm¡­ maybe now that our bodies can use mana, we became more efficient or perhaps can process food faster and obtain energy to heal some wounds¡­ perhaps that is why I''m feeling hungry all of a sudden." Given that his stomach was bothering him quite a bit and he couldn''t afford to lose concentration in enemy territory, Ryan decided to use the next one hundred seconds to eat something. It wasn''t time toin, but he felt like something warm would reinvigorate him more than some cookies. "I miss Mom''s beef chili¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. It has been a long while since Ryan had a meal with his parents. Even though he had the weekends, thest year in college wasn''t easy, so he had to skip a lot of Sunday reunions. It couldn''t be helped given the situation, but now Ryan felt like he just wasted his time trying to focus on his future¡­ he would never see his parents again, and it was clear that he wouldn''t be able to be a PE teacher, for more than a few years. Chapter 11 - Crash Another slime suddenly appeared to make Ryan wake up from his own world. Now that Ryan had the skills to kill the slimes before the creature could do that to him, the fear and tension disappeared, and now he had some leisure to get angry at the monsters for stopping that sentimental moment. However, in thest moment, Ryan managed to calm down and fire his arrow was always and this time, before the slime could feel the fear for its life¡­ but it seemed like his anger didn''t disappearpletely. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Rage. Effect: Sacrifices temporarily one percent of your mana, intelligence, control, mentality, and willpower to increase your health, stamina, strength, endurance, and speed temporarily by the same amount. You obtained 01 status point. "So, even this can be a skill¡­" Ryan said, surprised. "What else can I try to do in order to obtain a skill?" Ryan had a pair of knives in his backpack. If he uses them in a battle, he was certain that he would learn something like Knife Mastery. However, he didn''t want to get too close to the slimes. Regardless, Ryan began to move again, and even though it was dangerous, he decided to keep the knives in hand. He didn''t have much skill in throwing knives, but as long as he hits the target, Ryan was pretty sure that that would be enough, and when he heard the sound of the next slime approaching, he just threw the knife with all his might toward that direction. Despite hisck of experience, Ryan heard the sound of his knife piercing something quite soft. However, before he could nock his arrow, Ryan saw a Fireball growing. Ryan epted the danger and didn''t stop his preparation even when the Fireball was flying. He shot when the magic projectile was fifteen meters away from him, and then he tried to use all his strength to move his head since that was the slime''s target. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Throw. Effect: Causes damage by throwing objects. The weight of the object will increase the damage caused. The final damage will be the object''s weight divided by ten and multiplied by 10% of your strength. Cost: 01 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heat Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point per level even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. "Ugh¡­ not again," Ryan muttered in pain. This time he managed to evade even getting scratched by the Fireball, but Ryan could smell his hair slightly burned¡­ he didn''t avoid the Fireballpletely. Regardless, he didn''t suffer any damage, so the pain was bearable. Putting such worries aside, Ryan didn''t expect that he would learn something like Heat Resistance. Not only that, the skill Throw looked like it would be useful despite its low-cost. That being said, he would have to increase his strength if he wanted to be able to throw with a certain level of uracy some objects. After picking up and cleaning his dirty knife from the slime''s fluid, Ryan began to move again. He had some points to allocate, but he couldn''t help but wonder if it was a good idea to keep putting them only on dexterity. That attribute would increase the damage he causes with bows and even his range with them. However, a simpleposed bow had a certain range¡­ even if Ryan had the skills to hit with magical precision monsters fifty meters away from him, the same thing couldn''t be applied for that bow. Besides, even if the bow could be used like that, he was in a dark ce. The dungeon wasn''t a single straight path either. So, it was clear that Ryan couldn''t make good use of his dexterity in such a ce. "Perhaps some points into speed will help me, but I guess I should put some into recovery as well," Ryan concluded. "Power Shot is too useful to ignore, and it would be even more useful by leveling up, and to do that, I will need more stamina." ss: --/--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 10/10 (0, 0096) Mana: 10/10 (0, 0096) Stamina: 10/10 (0,0096) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 19 (+2) Speed: 12 Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 06 Willpower: 09 Coins: 11 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 01, Throw Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 02, Concentration Lv 02, Archery Lv 02, uracy Lv 01, Stealth Lv 01, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 01, Rage Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 01, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 01, "Well¡­ things are progressing faster than I expected," Ryan said while he was checking his status screen. "Still¡­ I thought this ce would have many intersections. I didn''t explore much of it yet, but not finding those certainly is making me rx more." It would be problematic if Ryan finds two or three options of the path ahead and then chooses the wrong path because that would give the monsters the chance to attack him from behind. Or, if the monsters were spawning in different ces, they would be able to attack him from the front and the back¡­ and that would be disastrous. Regardless, Ryan allocated some points into speed to prevent the worst-case scenario, so he didn''t have to worry too much about it. Still, he couldn''t feel that he had be much faster. At least he couldn''t tell that just by walking. Suddenly, Ryan heard and felt a massive impact, and then a powerful wave of wind entered the cave after a few seconds. Something massive fell nearby. He didn''t want to believe that was a dragon and probably wasn''t since even such massive beasts would suffer damage bynding like that. But if that weren''t the case, then¡­ it seemed like an airne had fallen nearby. Chapter 12 - Many Tricks "Well then¡­ what should I do?" Ryan asked himself. Given that dozens of dragons appeared in that area, it wouldn''t be hard to believe that thousands of dragons appeared all over the world. So, even though it was sad to imagine that, Ryan could easily imagine a single dragon destroying one and make it fall. The chances of someone surviving a ne crash were null. So, heading outside to search for survivors was a waste of time, but maybe Ryan might find something that may be useful among the wreckage. "¡­ Hundreds of people died in a possible ne crash, and here I''m thinking about looting the ne," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I changed for the worse in just a few days¡­ not even the apocalypse changed me so much." Ryan learned how to be a survivor, so it couldn''t be helped that his way of thinking was selfish. His father taught him how to be a hunter, not a hero. While hunting, the world was only him and his target, and at that moment, Ryan''s target was the end of that dungeon. Although his conscience was making him feel terrible, his instincts were telling him that he was doing the right thing¡­ So, Ryan could only pray that he wouldn''t regret thatter. After hearing the next slime approaching, Ryan readied his bow and prepared to shot. The Fireball would reveal the exact position of the core for him, and fortunately, the Fireball wouldn''t be able to destroy his arrow or even change the course. So, Ryan could only wait for it while imagining that his speed increase would be enough to dodge the magic projectilepletely. "Mmm?" Ryan frowned when the sound stopped, but he didn''t see the Fireball appearing. Something was off¡­ and Ryan immediately concluded that the slime would use Earth Arrow, but once again, he decided things too fast. He indeed heard something being fired by the slime, but the sound was different from the Earth Arrows. A light-blue object suddenly appeared in his shlight range, and immediately, Ryan moved to the side. As usual, the projectile was targeting his head. Thanks to it and his increased speed, Ryan managed to dodge the attack. "A Water Arrow¡­" Ryan muttered, annoyed. "How can a simple monster species like slime be able to use so many spells?" There was no pointing in worrying about that. Besides, Ryan had five seconds to kill the slime before the monster could attack again, and unfortunately, the creature wasn''t moving. Ryan ran toward the direction the attack came from and, fortunately, managed to find the slime after just two seconds. Ryan had more than enough time to calm down and rx his muscles before the shoot. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. uracy Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the chance of dealing a critical hit by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Phew¡­ I guess I won''t learn some Dodge or Evade skill like this," Ryan said after a long sigh. "The fights became rtively easy, but the tension is quickly tiring me out, mentally." Regardless, Ryan confirmed that he became faster by increasing his speed while moving and when reacting to attacks. That was indeed, impressive. Even though he couldn''t feel his body bing any lighter, he could move faster. That being said, Ryan couldn''t get ahead of himself¡­ he only would feel satisfied when he gets fast enough to outspeed dragons. That kind of long-term goal was almost impossible to reach, but at the very least, it would keep Ryan from getting ahead of himself. Little by little, Ryan could feel that he was getting close to the end of that dungeon, that was only expected given that the mountain where he brought a house wasn''t that big and the dungeon was near the top. That ce really felt like a tutorial dungeon¡­ even though the vast majority of humans would never be able to use that dungeon. It was impossible to understand why such a ce would suddenly appear alongside the dragons. If someone wanted to prepare humans for the battles against monsters, a dungeon like that was supposed to appear months, if not years, before dragons could appear. Then again, Ryan couldn''t imagine why someone powerful enough to cause earthquakes and open dungeons that spawn monsters would help humans. That being said if that whole situation was being caused by someone, that someone was powerful enough to wipe out the whole human race. Ryan began to wonder if the earthquakes and the dragons had been caused and summoned by two different beings¡­ When that possibility entered Ryan''s mind, he suddenly saw the light at the end of that dungeon. It was weird since he couldn''t imagine what or why the end of the dungeon would be as bright as the entrance, given that he was sure that there was no hole above it. In any case, Ryan approached and confirmed that the slimes wereing from there because he saw another one in that direction. "I can certainly use this ce," Ryan smirked. After turning off the shlight, Ryan hid in the darkness. It looked like somehow the monsters could feel humans'' presence, but even if that was the case, the slimes couldn''t see well in the darkness. Ryan concluded that because that slime approached him without a hint of hesitation, he couldn''t have asked for an easier target than that one. Ryan killed the slime without a hint of hesitation. You obtained one coin. After just walking for ten minutes, Ryan found the dungeon''s end, and there he found three things. The thing that was spawning the slimes, which was a purple crystal, a massive slime that Ryan was one hundred percent sure that he couldn''t kill, and a treasure box. He had imagined that he would find a boss and a treasure chest but confirming that theory only left him speechless. Chapter 13 - Dungeon Boss The slimes'' dungeon boss was a slime that was more or less three meters tall and ten meters wide. Such a creature would certainly have a hard time leaving that dungeon, but given that its body was like a mass of water, the creature could leave. Ryan considering that he could lure the monster out of the end of the dungeon, perhaps he could kill it, but given that slime was obviously much stronger than the others, its magic powers could kill Ryan, even if it just scratches him. "Thest part of the dungeon is quite spacious," Ryan frowned. "As if someone had made this ce like that just for enough people toe and fight that slime." That was suspicious, but at that point in time, everything was. Finding any answer soon was probably impossible, so wasting time and energy worrying endlessly about every single thing wouldn''t help Ryan in any way. "I wonder if there is a way to kill that boss without putting myself in danger," Ryan rubbed his chin. "I''m really curious to see what is that treasure box." Ryan was fully aware that he was getting greedy, his goal was to buy a wooden bow, but now that he had some room to breathe, he couldn''t help but wish for more. Why? Because he didn''t want to spend the rest of his days cowering in fear of the dragons. Besides, he only had so much food¡­ eventually, he would have to leave the dungeon and look for food. He didn''t know what he would find there, but Ryan was certain that it would help him quite a lot. "Even if this ce is a like tutorial dungeon, I doubt that the boss is so easy that can be defeated by a single person¡­ at least not for a single person who has less than one hour of experience fighting against monsters," Ryan shrugged. "Well, I have to focus on one thing at a time. I can''t let make any mistakes if I want to kill that thing and get the treasure box. First and foremost, I will need more arrows." Even though he didn''t use Power Shot, some of his arrows still got damaged. So, it was only obvious that he would need to buy the wooden bow to kill the slimes. After that, he would need to train Power Shot and made it level up quite a bit. The body of that slime was like water, but it was probably much denser than the ordinary slimes. So, it was only obvious that Power Shot would be the only way for Ryan''s attacks to hit the core. Even if his arrows hit the core, the chances of Ryan killing the monster in a single hit were close to none. Then again, he had to learn other skills, level up them as much as possible, and increase his dexterity. "This isn''t a genius n, butplicated ns can easily fail in many parts," Ryan muttered. "So, it is better to keep things simple." The boss was protecting the purple crystal for some reason, probably because it was the thing that was spawning the slimes. So, the big slime didn''t do anything or perhaps didn''t even notice that Ryan stayed just fifty meters away from it, killing the slimes. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Stealth has leveled up. Stealth Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the chances of you causing critical damage when attacking first by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Fifteen minutester, when Ryan finally killed the twentieth slime, he received that notification. So, he decided to retreat to the entrance of the dungeon and buy the wooden bow. Since he wanted to buy some time and not get surprised by slimes, Ryan ran toward the entrance as fast as possible. However, he still received a surprise. He found two men and a woman at the entrance of the dungeon. Judging by their clothes, they were police officers. As soon as Ryan appeared, they pointed their guns at him. "Who are you?" The woman asked. "A monster in human form?" "I don''t think so¡­" Ryan replied and raised his hands. "My name is Ryan¡­ this cave appeared nearby my house, and I decided to investigate. Don''t shoot..." "There is no house near this ce," The female police officer said, annoyed. "Unless you want to get wounded, you will tell us the truth, now!" "I remembered, there is a simple hut at the top of this ce, "One of the male police officers said and then showed a pained expression. "The previous owner wanted to sell the ce, but since the house was too old and the location was troublesome¡­ Ugh." "Lay down and rest. This ce looks rtively safe," The female officer said. "¡­ If you said is true, you certainly moved at a convenient time, and considering that his ce appeared, you must understand that this put you in aplicated position." "¡­ What are you trying to imply?" Ryan frowned. "You have a weapon with you, and a cave appeared near the house you just brought," The female officer replied. "Anyone with a half brain would conclude that things are being pretty convenient for you, considering that the world is going to hell at this very moment." For a moment, Ryan red at her and totally forgot that those three had guns, but soon he managed to calm down. One of them was wounded, and they probably saw many terrible things in thest hour, so it couldn''t be helped that they were wary of any suspicious individuals. Still, there was only so much Ryan could ept. Things indeed worked well for him, despite some wounds. However, he lost his parents a few days ago. His fiancee cheated on him with his best friend¡­ even if he had to face dragons, he would change his current situation for the chance of being with his parents once more or do anything to erase from the history the ident that caused the death of his parents. Chapter 14 - Price Ryan had wasted too much time ring at that female officer. Thanks to it, the next slime appeared before he could even buy the wooden bow. After taking a deep breath, Ryan calmed down and turned to face the slime. Those three frowned when Ryan suddenly showed his back to them, but then eventually, they began to hear the sound of the slime as well. "What is this sound?" The female officer frowned. "Unless you guys want to get hit, I rmend that all of you to get down," Ryan said while he was nocking his arrow. "What?" The female police officer asked, surprised. Ryan didn''t know why, but the slime this time used Fireball to attack him. Since they were simple monsters, Ryan thought he could predict their actions, but that wouldn''t be easy. Regardless, the very moment the Fireball appeared was the moment that Ryan shot his arrow. As usual, Ryan hit the core and killed the monster. As long as he concentrates, it looked like Ryan could hit anything within thirty meters of range. You obtained one coin. In any case, Ryan lowered his stance to avoid getting hit by the Fireball, but he still felt the heat of it. Somehow, the two police officers that were standing managed to do the same on time, and when they turned around, they saw the Fireball decreasing in size, power, and speed until it dissipated. "Shit¡­ there are monsters even here," The female police officer said, annoyed. Ryan approached, and then the dungeon shop finally appeared in front of him. Now that he got close to them, he finally noticed why he got so angry at her. It was because she was a redhead¡­ just like Mia. In the end, deep-down, Ryan hated Mia for it, the same thing could be said for Daniel, but he didn''t have time to waste with that. In any case, even though she was a redhead, the female police officer didn''t look like Mia even a bit. She was kind of short, and her eyes were brown, not green. As for the wounded police officer, he was a blond man with short hair and blue eyes. Aside from that, he looked pretty average, but thest police officer was a tall, physically strong ck dude. Although his hands were dirty with blood, Ryan could tell that it wasn''t his. It was monsters'' blood. Despite the situation, Ryan could also tell that he was a calm person who was especially good at looking for his partners. While the female officer was treating the blonde guy, he was calmly looking around for enemies while also keeping an eye on Ryan. Although they started with the wrong feet, Ryan was sure that they could help each other. Still, they were police officers. Would they focus on their own survival in a situation like that? Probably not. They only looked for a ce to hide because one of them was wounded. Regardless, their attention focused on Ryan again when suddenly a wooden bow appeared on his hands. "What the heck¡­" The blond police officer said. "We can really buy things in this ce?" The redhead police officer looked at Ryan even more suspiciously, but she didn''t say anything. Ryan just had warned them about the slime''s attack, after all. However, their focus changed again when, suddenly, the blond officer looked less pale. "Mmm¡­ the pain decreased," The blond police officer said, surprised. "And I''m suddenly feeling hungry." "This isn''t time to joke around, Cole," The redhead police officer said. "He isn''t joking, his recovery stat just healed him a little, but it was at the cost of the nutrients of his body," Ryan exined. "I lost part of my right ear, but as you can see, it is back to normal." "¡­ Did your shoulder was hit by something too?" The redhead female officer asked. "Yes, it got scratched by a Fireball twenty minutes ago," Ryan replied. "However, the pain disappeared just now. In any case, you received several notifications, right? If you use some points and allocate them in recovery, you will heal much faster. In ten minutes, you will heal again, so you should decide what to do with your status points before that." "You are well-informed," The ck police officer said. "So, we are not the only ones who are seeing those weird screens. It is really possible that we can improve our bodies, just like that?" "My father taught me how to hunt," Ryan replied. "Thanks to it, I have some skill with this bow. However, hitting something thirty meters away from me with such precision was impossible for me one hour ago. But after I increased my dexterity, my skill improved¡­ learning new skills and leveling them up will also help." "Hahaha¡­" Cole forced augh. "The world is ending by the hands of monsters, and things look like a game¡­ This is so fucked up." "Save your energy," The female police officer said. "Why did you buy another bow? I''m pretty sure that it is possible to buy protective gear like helmets and armor here." "Because of this and this," Ryan replied, showing one of his damaged arrows and then created a regr wooden arrow using his wooden bow. Even Ryan could tell that he was adapting way too fast, so he didn''t feel bothered by the eyes full of suspicion of those three. Putting that aside, Ryan decided his next steps. He could use six Power Shots and create six wooden arrows every ten minutes, and that dungeon could spawn six slimes every ten minutes. So, he had to see if a single wooden arrow added with the power of Power Shot would be enough to kill the ordinary slimes. If that weren''t the case, he would have to keep increasing his dexterity and recovery. However, when the next slime appeared, Ryan pierced his core with ease, killing it. The creature began to evaporate at the next moment. However, his arrow also got destroyed. Chapter 15 - Meditation Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Transfusion. Effect: Transfer one point of mana per second to objects. Cost: 01 mana You obtained 01 status point. Ryan didn''t know why he didn''t learn that spell earlier, but he learned when he created his second arrow. He also didn''t know how could transfer his mana to objects would be useful, but he was thankful for the status point. "Let''s see¡­ what else can I do to learn a skill that can''t be used duringbat?" Ryan muttered while he was rubbing his chin. Considering that he learned three different skills just by focusing on his target, the number of things that could be turned into skills was surprisingly broad. The limit was probably Ryan''s imagination. That would be convenient for humans, but Ryan didn''t know if most of them would be able to use that part of the system. "Mmm¡­ maybe I can learn something like Telekinesis if I transfer my mana to an object," Ryan smirked. "Still, I don''t have enough mana to try that. I can''t risk facing the slimes without mana and stamina, after all. So, for the time being, passive skills will be more convenient for me to learn." While Ryan was pondering what he should do, Cole, Anna, and Carter observed him mumbling to himself. Although he was someone suspicious, they couldn''t imagine someone who acted like him being a bad person. The fact that he sometimes smirked in that kind of situation was even more suspicious, but those three would be lying if the opportunity to grow stronger by fighting against monsters didn''t tempt them even a little. "How long do you intend to stay here?" Anna asked. "I bet you can help a lot of people with your skill. Even though you are just a civilian, you have the duty to fight for your country in times like these." "But I''m fighting for my country here," Ryan replied. "If you didn''t notice, those slimes can easily destroy people''s heads. One of them destroyed my car, after all. I won''t lie and say that I''m here only to prevent the slimes from spreading around the country, but I won''t leave this ce until I get something." "Did you lose something inside this dungeon?" Cole asked. "Come to think of it¡­ why did you return? Did you already find the end of the dungeon?" "Yes, I found it," Ryan replied. "I also found the thing that is making the slimes appear, there is one big slime protecting the purple crystal, and then there is the thing I want¡­ a treasure chest. To get that, I have to kill the big slime." "Treasure?" Anna frowned. "People are dying out there, and you are looking for treasure?" "Yes, I am," Ryan replied. "As you can see, I almost die twice in less than half an hour. So, who helped me when I almost died? No one. That only means that I can''t wait to be saved if, at some point, my life is put in danger again. So, it is only obvious that I want to do whatever I can to increase my survivability. If I can, I will help as many people as possible to survive this chaos, but I won''t help anyone by dying. Rather, I won''t die to save someone else. If the chances of my dying trying to help someone are high, I won''t try to help. I''m not a hero, I''m not a soldier." "You!" Anna shouted. "Please excuse me. There is another slimeing," Ryan said and then turned around. "He is right, Anna," Cole said. "Although he seems cold-hearted, his actions are logical. I don''t know why, but if he can stay this calm in this situation, it is because he doesn''t feel like he has to take any risks¡­ he feels like he doesn''t have anyone to risk his life for." "What do you think of this ce, Cole?" Carter asked. "Shall we use it like him?" "As long as we can kill the slimes, this ce is safe," Cole replied. "It doesn''t look like the boss of this dungeon will leave its current position, so I bet we can keep some people alive here. That is¡­ if we manage to find anyone alive in this area. "What about if we give a hand to Ryan in killing the boss?" Carter asked. "Don''t you think we might receive or be powerful enough to make a real difference out there?" "We don''t have enough ammo," Cole shook his head. "Besides, if we get hit by a single projectile, we will die. Unless we get more ammo, we won''t be able to kill a monster that big." "Without ammo, we won''t be able to help civilians either," Carter said. "I''m sorry to say this so bluntly, but I can''t imagine ourselves reaching the police station with our current power." Ryan heard all that conversation and, in the end, saw the depressed expressions of those three. They probably had lost their vehicle, so their only option was to find another one or run. In any case, Ryan didn''t intend to refuse their help. However, he would want the treasure for himself unless he finds something that wouldn''t help a hunter like him in any way. Finders Keepers¡­ it was only logical in that kind of situation. "Ah¡­ I had an idea," Ryan smirked. After sitting on the ground, Ryan crossed his legs and then closed his eyes. It was indeed a weird thing to do in a dungeon, but if that kind of action could turn into a skill, it would be very valuable. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Meditation. Effect: Restores one point of mana per minute. You obtained 01 status point. "Oh, boy¡­ it is even better than I imagined!" Ryan smirked again. Not only would Ryan be able to train that skill without doing anything, but he also would be able to rest and recover his mana while he was at it. That being said, the slimes wouldn''t give him much peace for him to do that frequently. Chapter 16 - Dinosaurs Using recovery alone, Ryan could create enough arrows to kill every slime that appeared, but now thanks to Meditation, he could create a stock of wooden arrows. Those were far inferiorpared to his arrows that had the arrowheads made of iron, but Ryan couldn''tin given that he was creating them out of nothing. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by two points per second. Cost: 1,5 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "Finally, but it looks like the stamina cost increases as well," Ryan said after he killed the fifth slime after returning to the entrance of the dungeon. "In the end, it will be more convenient if I don''t spend all my stamina in a single attack¡­ I will also have to make some tests before trying to kill the slimes for real. I wonder If a full-powered Power Shot is enough to kill that big slime¡­ maybe at level ten, it will be possible, but¡­" Anna was already sick of seeing Ryan muttering nonsensical things, but he was the one who was buying time for them by killing the slimes, so she couldn''tin. Even without Ryan''s exnation, Carter, Anna, and Cole knew very well that every single stat point was precious. With that in mind, they only increased their recovery by one point to heal just a bit faster. They didn''t have many status points, but they focused on strength and speed because they would need those to save the civilians. "Ryan, do you mind if we bring survivors to this ce?" Cole asked. "I can''t think of a better ce to hide them than here. I can see that other monsters can see us, but they don''t approach this ce for some reason." "I don''t mind. I don''t n to stay here for long," Ryan replied. "Why?" Cole asked. "Although your presence would be convenient, I think you also would benefit from working together with other survivors." "As you can see, this ce is like a beginners'' dungeon," Ryan exined. "I can''t say it will always be like this, but only six slimes can respawn per ten minutes. If I stay here, others won''t be able to obtain coins andbat experience. Besides, for how long a ce like this will be safe from other monsters? For how long food wouldst? I don''t have much of those, so obviously I will have to look for it and put my neck on the line." Just thinking about that was enough to make Ryan feel shivers, but it couldn''t be helped. If possible, he wanted to clear that dungeon before sunset because it would be much more dangerous to move at night. The best option would be to find another dungeon that was just a bit more difficult than that one. Ryan wouldn''t be able to sleep there, but he could endure staying awake for one or two days straight. However, the chances of Ryan finding a convenient ce like that around there were close to none. "What type of monsters did you guys see out there?" Ryan asked. Cole, Anna, and Carter looked at each other and then hesitated. It looked like even though they saw it, they didn''t want to admit with their mouth what they saw. It was understandable, but considering that everyone saw dragons flying in the sky, there was no point in acting like that. "¡­ We saw velociraptors, pterodactyls, goblins, and some giant bees," Cole replied after a long sigh. "I never thought I would say something like this¡­" "For real?" Ryan asked, astonished. "Some of those flying monsters were actually dinosaurs?" Not even the dragons surprised Ryan all that much, not even the slimes that had enough power to destroy cars. Regardless, Cole probably got bitten by a velociraptor since the wound in his right shoulder had teeth marks. In any case, that was bad, velociraptors were supposed to be good hunters, and they also move in packs. Perhaps Ryan could kill them by using Power Shot and hitting their heads, but he didn''t have the confidence to do that several times in a sequence while watching the velociraptors running toward him. In any case, goblins were probably the best type of monster to hunt next, since bees could fly, attacking them even by surprise wouldn''t grant Ryan an instant kill. Considering his pop culture knowledge, Ryan knew that some goblins could use bows or crossbows, but it wasn''t their best weapon. Ryan felt like he was getting ahead of himself by choosing the next target when he didn''t even have finished the slimes'' dungeon''s boss, but it couldn''t be helped. He had to obtain information whenever possible and decide his next steps with some antecedence. Congrattions! The skill Perception has leveled up. Perception Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the range of your senses by one meter per level in dark areas or at night. You obtained 01 status point. After killing three more slimes, Ryan received that notification and then decided to open his status screen. He would be able to gain more status points if he levels up his resistance, but given that he would feel hungry as soon as he recovers, he decided not to do it since Ryan didn''t have much food. "Thanks to Meditation, I don''t have to rely on recovery all that much for the time being, but I guess I still need to increase my speed," Ryan said. "Thest part of the dungeon isrge, but I can''t let myself being even scratched by the boss''s attacks." Suddenly, Ryan felt that wave of energy passing through his body again. The next moment, Cole got up and then begun to check his wounds. He was back to normal, a bit hungry, but normal nheless. In the end, those three decided to help as many people as they can and bring them to that dungeon. Chapter 17 - Good Luck "I wish you good luck, Ryan," Cole said before he and the other two left the dungeon. "We will all need all the luck we can get," Ryan said. Anna didn''t like Ryan, and he didn''t feel any gentle feeling toward her thanks to her hair either. So, it didn''t really matter what she thinks of him. Ryan didn''t understand why, but Carter nodded to him. Maybe it was his way to say good luck. Regardless, when those three left, Ryan checked his status once more. ss: --/--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 10/10 (0, 0096) Mana: 10/10 (0, 0096) Stamina: 10/10 (0,0096) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 23 (+2) Speed: 15 Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 06 Willpower: 09 Coins: 08 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 02, Throw Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 02, Concentration Lv 02, Archery Lv 02, uracy Lv 02, Stealth Lv 02, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 01, Meditation Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 01, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 01, "My dexterity is three times higher than before¡­ I wonder if that means that my attack also increased three times¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "In any case, I have to hurry because I don''t have to deal with other people''s problems. I don''t mind giving a hand to the people when they need it, but dealing with other humans in this kind of situation is always a pain in the ass." Human beings were greedy and egoistical. Ryan knew that because he was also both of them. However, being like that alone wasn''t a problem per se. The problem begins when several of those people are put in the same ce. There was a chance that Cole, Anna, and Carter might die, but if he could bet, Ryan would bet that they would survive and bring dozens of survivors in the next few hours. Those three looked very different, their behavior was what stands out most, but Ryan could see that they knew each other for quite a while, even though they didn''t seem much older than him. Even without seeing them in action, Ryan could tell that they have superb teamwork. Given that that region didn''t have many residences or buildings, thanks to the fact that Shreveport was a couple of kilometers away from there, Cole, Anna, and Carter wouldn''t have many ces to look. Even though the only monsters that the people would have to get away from were small fries inparison to dragons, Ryan was pretty sure that they wouldn''t be able to find more than fifty survivors. To make matters worse, many of those that will manage to survive will refuse to leave their homes. Still, Ryan couldn''t imagine those three returning much sooner orter. At the very least, they would find a group of survivors and then bring them to the cave and repeat that process several times during the day. So, Ryan would have five to six hours to obtain the power that he needed to defeat the boss. "They didn''t mention their vehicle," Ryan said. "So, most likely, it got destroyed. Although they had some radios, they didn''t use them a single time in half an hour¡­ I guess it is safe to assume that they can''tmunicate with others." Now more than ever, Ryan was aware that the police wouldn''t be able to help many of the people of that area. If that was happening all over the country, then Ryan knew that things would be even more disastrous. He knew that the military had other means tomunicate, but for how long would they be able to do that when dragons were flying around and burning everything? Even though they had been trained to respond to all kinds of situations, in the end, they were only humans. "I wonder if I can buy something in the dungeon shop that might help me against the slime boss," Ryan said and then checked the shop once again. It was weird, but the items were quickly appearing in disappearing in the shop. It seemed like the dungeon shops all over the world were connected. That was the only exnation¡­ Regardless, Ryan was pretty sure that a shield wouldn''t help him all that much. Even if the shield could endure the power of an Earth Arrow, his arm couldn''t. Unless he increases his strength and endurance, a powerful shield would only get in the way of Ryan''s fighting style. Ryan also had to worry about his build. In reality, unlike games, being an all-around survivor seemed like a good idea. That way, Ryan wouldn''t have to worry about needing the help of others. However, Ryan wasn''t particrly talented at anything. His skill with the bow was something he developed over several years, and learning how to use other types of weapons would make things difficult for him. Even though magic was convenient, Ryan was pretty sure he would have to use one of his hands to use it, and that would get in the way of his shooting. "I can''t imagine myself getting skilled enough to defeat a dragon with a bow and arrow, but I guess that is a nice goal," Ryan forced a smile. Ryan didn''t know if the skills he could obtain had a max level, but even if they had, their potential would continue to increase as long as he increases his dexterity. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by three points per second. Cost: 2 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "I can''t neglect my stamina any longer¡­" Ryan said after he killed another slime. "I don''t think that I will be able to level up this skill all that much against slimes, but if I wanted to have a powerful skill that I can use often, I will need to increase my stamina." Chapter 18 - Progress Congrattions! The skill Meditation has leveled up. Meditation Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Restores two points of mana per minute. You obtained 01 status point. Just when Ryan was about to create the tenth arrow by using the extra mana he had thanks to Meditation, he received that notification. It was only obvious that the more they level up, the harder it would be to make the skill stronger, but Meditation leveled up pretty fast. He just had to use it for ten minutes, after all. "What should I do, my quiver can only carry fifteen of those arrows, so I guess make more of them would be a waste of time," Ryan said. "I guess after creating those fifteen. I should try to use mana and learn other skills." That was a problem. Ryan had no idea how to use mana without using the spells he had. Instead of learning how to cast Fireball, Ryan wanted something that would increase his skill with the bow. Although he treated the weapon seriously, he couldn''t help but think that it would be very cool if he could shoot down enemies from hundreds of meters of distance¡­ and Ryan was fully aware that only magic could help him with that. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dash. Effect: Increases your speed by one point per level when running. Cost: 0,5 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, the number of things Ryan could do in that dungeon was limited. He tried many things, but it was a bit too much to learn some ''push-up'' or ''squat'' skills as expected. That being said, he at least learned a new one. "How about Jump?" Ryan asked. "Can I learn a skill like that and perhaps make it evolved into something like a double leap?" Ryan tried, but he didn''t learn such a skill, not even during a fight. It looked like he wasn''t that creative, but given that only two hours have passed since the monsters appeared, perhaps he didn''t have to worry all that much. Still, even though he was progressing quite a bit, Ryan didn''t give up on thinking about new skills. However, he had to stop for a moment when he killed a slime, and then something appeared at the same ce the creature evaporated. "What the heck¡­" Ryan muttered, surprised when he saw a worn-out ring on the ground. "I guess this is a drop¡­ kind of unexpected that monsters could drop those." Old Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by three points. Durability: 20/20 "Well¡­ it isn''t that bad," Ryan put the ring on his finger. "I wonder if there is a limit of how many rings I can wear. This isn''t a game, so probably I can use ten." It would take a long time before Ryan can see ten rings dropping from monsters, given that he didn''t have any intention of buying them, but it was something he was looking for if it were to happen. Although he had neglected most status except dexterity, speed, and recovery until now, Ryan began to wonder if putting some points into luck wouldn''t help him find even more drops from monsters. It was a pity that he couldn''t sell things in the dungeon shop, but he still could trade items like that for other things that might be useful. "I already have fifteen extra arrows¡­ so, I guess I can experiment with the extra mana I will recover by using Meditation," Ryan said. "Even if I fail, as long as I spend mana, I will end up leveling up Mana Transfusion, so it is fine." Ryan tried to fuse his mana in one of his wooden arrows, but nothing happened. Activating skills was easier, but even though he wanted, nothing happened. He tried the same thing with his ring, but again, nothing happened. After a while, Ryan concluded that he couldn''t transfer his mana to things that were made of mana. At the very least, that logic applied to the wooden arrows. Still, considering that the ring magically increased his recovery, then the ring also had mana. "Now I can recover a bit more mana and stamina," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. If Ryan could learn somehow a skill that temporarily increases his dexterity at the cost of mana, his chances of defeating the slime would increase a lot. However, trying to do that without having a single idea of how to control mana was impossible. It was possible that he could obtain a tome that could teach him the skill he was looking for. But considering the rings and tomes'' prices, and the number of slimes Ryan had to kill to get that item¡­ count on that was madness. "If only I could see the monster''s health¡­" Ryan began to bite his fingernails. "If I could do that, I would be able to strategize more. In most games, yers can see the monsters'' status automatically, but then again, being able to see that in reality would be way too convenient." You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 2 ? Lv 3 You obtained 01 status point. "It looks like leveling up active skills is easier than leveling up passive ones¡­" Ryan concluded when he killed the nieth slime. Ryan didn''t know why he counted the slimes that he killed, probably because it was the only thing he could do to see what time it was. Since he wouldn''t need it anymore, Ryan had left his cellphone in his car¡­ but the main reason was that he didn''t want to think of Mia and Daniel. Chapter 19 - Boss Fight You obtained one coin. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by four points per second. Cost: 2,5 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. Concentration Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the chance of dealing a critical hit by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "I guess this is it¡­ slimes are good to let people understand that their lives are on the line now," Ryan muttered. "But only at the very beginning." Three hours had passed since Cole, Anna, and Carter left the dungeon. They were probably heading back, so it was time for Ryan to see if he could kill the big slime. Trying to level up Power Shot to the next level would probably take five to six hours, so Ryan made his choice. "Maybe I should have left the slimes scratch me with their Water Arrows at least once," Ryan said and then sighed. That was one way to learn another skill, but since Ryan wasn''t skilled enough, he might end up dying or losing a limb. That level of madness was beyond him¡­ at least for the time being. Ryan could always try again as long as he manages to escape. There was also the option of hunting other monsters. His Power Shot would level up faster against a pterodactyl or velociraptor based on what he saw and heard. That being said, Ryan didn''t want to change his initial n all that much. If that could really be treated like a tutorial dungeon, he was supposed to kill the boss after spending almost five hours there. As long as the boss wasn''t more than ten times stronger than the ordinary slimes, Ryan would be able to pull that off. But if that weren''t the case¡­ Ryan didn''t want to even think about it. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "To deserve that treasure, I will need to put myself at risk." Ryan began to walk toward the end of the dungeon. Before reaching the end, he had to kill five slimes. At that point in time, killing those was like breathing to him. So, Ryan even had the chance to make some math. Shooting a full concentrated Power Shot would be like if Ryan had forty-five points of dexterity. Considering that hitting the core of the big slime would be equal to cause critical damage, perhaps that damage caused would duplicate or perhaps triplicate. However, by shooting four of those, Ryan would be able to cause damage that would be equal to one hundred sixteen points of dexterity. However, if the slime''s body were stronger than he had imagined, he wouldn''t be able to cause any critical damage¡­ "I guess I will have to make a bet in this situation," Ryan concluded. "Slimes aren''t like animals that can suffer when wounded. So, the boss won''t stop attacking me even when it is close to death." That kind of thing was terrifying since Ryan was unable to do the same. Still, Ryan was aware that a beast could be even dangerous when wounded. So, perhaps that was for the best. The boss was in the same position; Ryan found a few hours previously. It was hard to tell if the creature was sleeping or awake since slimes didn''t even eyes, but Ryan concluded that the creature was sleeping since when he stepped on thest part of the dungeon, the creature didn''t move, even though he was fifty meters away from it. "Well, here goes nothing¡­" Ryan said and then took a deep breath. In the end, Ryan decided to take his chances against the slime by trying a single concentrated Power Shot. After attacking with that, he would only have two points of stamina remaining, so he would probably feel exhausted, but he would have to make it do with that much energy remaining. Since the slime didn''t move, Ryan had a lot of time to aim. He still had five iron arrowheads that weren''t damaged, so he would use them first. After nocking the arrow, Ryan aimed and then pulled the string, he begun to feel his stamina being drained at a rapid pace, and his body got heavier, but he also could feel his power being concentrated on the arrow. Suddenly the big slime twitched, Ryan didn''t know why, but the creature probably felt that its life was in danger, even slimes had good instincts, after all. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t stop aiming, he still needed to concentrate for two more seconds before attacking. However, he only had time to concentrate for one more second since a Fireball as big as he appeared in front of the slime. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Fear Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Decreases the effect of magic attacks that may cause fear by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan fired his arrow before the shivers could control his body. At thest moment, Ryan lowered his stance in order to not let his arrow being damaged by the Fireball. He actually seeded in preventing that, and he threw himself to the side because at the very moment he shot, the Fireball was shot toward him. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. Heat Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point per level even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan managed to evade the direct hit, but the power of that Fireball was the real deal. The air around it even vibrated and almost made Ryan''s clothes burn. Ryan ignored the heat and readied himself again, only to find another Fireball being created when he aimed. Unlike ordinary slimes, the boss didn''t have to wait five seconds to use magic. Chapter 20 - Almost... At the same time, Ryan saw that he also saw his arrow touching the slime''s core. He didn''t know if he had caused a critical hit, but at the very least, his arrow touched the core. At that point in time, Ryan wouldn''t have time to aim, so he just nocked the arrow and then fired toward the slime and threw himself to his right side again. After dodging the second Fireball, Ryan could even see his sweat evaporating. That was bad, if he gets scratched by that attack, his flesh will melt, and the pain would make him unable to aim or even hold a bow properly. Regardless, since the boss was big, Ryan didn''t even have to worry about aiming. His second arrownded on the slime''s body¡­ However, could that thing suffer damage just like that? The other slimes could, but maybe that kind of thing didn''t apply to it since the boss was different. While Ryan was nocking the third arrow, he began to wonder if it wasn''t a better idea to retreat and try againter, this time using the knowledge he obtained. He wouldn''t be able to recover those iron arrowheads, so he had to use them wisely. However, Ryan threw away that idea because the world was getting destroyed by monsters. Sometimes running away was the only thing possible to do, but it wasn''t something he could get used to it. If Ryan let himself getting used to that, at some point, running away would be the only option. Ryan''s arrow hit the slime just before the creature could shoot the Fireball. Even if that monster was more powerful and could attack more often, it still needed some time to prepare the attack. A full second was necessary to create that big magic projectile, and that was more than enough for Ryan to nock his arrow, shoot, and then move to evade the attack. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. Heat Resistance Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point per level even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. "Shit¡­ maybe I should just destroy the crystal and see what happens," Ryan bit his lips. In the end, Ryan decided not to do it because the slime didn''t even try to protect the purple crystal. He didn''t know why the creature was in that part of the dungeon aside from that, but his instincts told him that it wasn''t a good idea to act rashly without having enough information. If anything, there was a chance that the slime could even be trying to fool humans by making them believe that destroying the crystal was a good idea. Despite the fact he wasn''t getting hit, Ryan still could feel his health decreasing. Not only that, eventually, he would reach a dead-end if he continues to move to his left side. The slime wasn''t in the center of that area, after all. Still, if it decides to move to the right side, Ryan would have to move a little bit forward as well because the part of the walls that got by the Fireball was melting, and he couldn''t let himself get close to magma. Getting close to the boss was close to suicide, but maybe that wasn''t apletely stupid idea. The closer he gets to the slime, the more powerful his arrows would be. The chances of him getting the core were low, but if he perhaps could hit the arrow that was touching the core¡­ "I guess it is worth a try¡­" Ryan concluded after firing his fourth arrow. Ryan would have only one chance. Only those five arrows had enough power to pierce the slime deeply, so he couldn''t afford to miss it now. So, instead of throwing himself to the side, Ryan threw himself on the ground several meters ahead and on the slime''s direction when the creature shot the Fireball. Ryan managed to avoid getting hit since the attack passed above him, but he still could feel the terrible heat and the smell of his hair and clothes slightly burning. It was all or nothing. Ryan got up and moved a few meters forward again while he was aiming. He was thirty meters away from the creature. This time he wouldn''t be able to avoid the mes by getting on the floor. Even if he moves to the sides, it was certain that one of his limbs would still be engulfed by the mes. However, Ryan wasn''t thinking about any of that. All his mind and body were concentrated on the task of hitting that arrow that was touching the core. His only option was to hit the bullseye, or everything would have been in vain. Ryan felt like that second hadst an eternity¡­ while he was aiming his arrow, he could feel the Fireball growing in slow motion. For the brief faction of a second, he thought that was what happens when people were about to die. Also, for a fraction of a second, he wondered if his parents experimented that¡­ it was terrible to experience such a moment in slow motion. Still, it wasn''t something humans could control, after all. Just before the Fireball could berge enough to get on the arrow''s path, Ryan saw both his nocked arrow and the arrow hitting the slime''s core aligned. They were both away from each other, but Ryan managed to see the invisible line that connected both arrows. That was the path that his arrow needed to follow, so Ryan fired the instant he felt that it would happen. Everything happened in just a few milliseconds, but Ryan could follow his arrow with his own eyes all the way to the center of the slime''s body. Even before his body could rx or his arm could finish the movement of the shot, Ryan smirked. That shot had been perfect. At least, his instincts told him that. Chapter 21 - Class: Hunter Ryan''s arrow flew in a straight line until it hit the back of the arrow that was touching the slime''s core. The very moment that happened, the Fireball dissipated, and the creature stopped moving. Then, Ryan saw the core slowly crumbling apart. "Better not to raise any death gs asking if I did it¡­" Ryan said while looking around nervously, waiting for something to happen. You obtained fifty coins. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by four points per second. Cost: 3 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. Concentration Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases the chance of dealing a critical hit by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 3 ? Lv 4 You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan''s worries were unnecessary. He didn''t receive any notification that he cleared the dungeon, but he received a lot of coins. Ryan felt like he had lost some years of his life thanks to tension, but at the very least, it had been worth the hassle since he obtained five status points. "Now what?" Ryan asked while he was watching the slime evaporating. For a moment, the purple crystal shined a bit more strongly than usual, but then it quickly returned to normal. Something happened there, Ryan didn''t know what, but before checking it, he decided to check the treasure box. The box was tightly shut, but the moment Ryan touched it, it opened, and three empty books appeared in front of him. The pages were nk, but in their ck covers, Ryan saw some weird symbols. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordsman, Hunter, and Thief. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "I see¡­ so the reward for clearing the dungeon is my first ss," Ryan nodded to himself. "As expected, this ce is perfect to train humans. If all the humans who defeat the boss obtain this, then our powers will increase considerably, but¡­ when will the boss appear again?" It was a pity that other people would have to wait for a while for them to obtain a ss, but it wasn''t Ryan''s problem. Still, considering that notification, the boss would probably appear in a few days. Regardless, Ryan didn''t even have to think about it. Without a hint of hesitation, he chose the hunter ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Hunter! You obtained the following skills: Precision, Rapid Shot, and me Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points, your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Precision. Effect: Increases the chance of causing a critical hit by one percent per level on the target the longer the battlests. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Rapid Shot. Effect: You can shoot an additional arrow. The number of arrows will increase every ten levels. Cost: 02 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: me Arrow. Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Woah¡­ this is even better than I expected," Ryan said, astonished. "A ss, three skills, and even several bonuses of stats? This is crazy¡­ Well, considering that I faced something that can shoot Fireballs capable of melting walls, I guess it isn''t that unexpected." Now Ryan was a bit more confident that he wouldn''t die the very moment he steps out of the dungeon. Still, there was no downside in being careful, so he decided to look for a better bow in the dungeon shop. He had a lot of coins after defeating the boss and grinding for several hours, after all. However, Ryan''s surprise didn''t end there. A good dungeon boss was the one who would leave some drops upon dying, and that one didn''t disappoint Ryan. It would be too convenient if not weird if the creature had dropped a bow, but at the very least, it left an ordinary sword. Iron Sword Effect: + 03 Health, + 02 Strength. Durability: 40/40 "It isn''t that heavy¡­ I guess it is better than nothing¡­" Ryan said. "I would feel suspicious if this creature had dropped a bow, after all." Carrying two bows and a sword was a pain, but Ryan wanted to trade the sword with someone for food. At that point in time, it wouldn''t be weird if monsters had destroyed most supermarkets, and the ones that hadn''t been destroyed probably had been looted by the survivors. So, Ryan lost his chance to secure some food. Just before he was about to return to the dungeon''s entrance, Ryan saw a slime appearing in front of the purple crystal. That was good because it means other people would be able to obtain coins but instead of thinking that. Ryan dashed at the creature and shed it in half with his iron sword. You obtained one coin. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Swordsmanship. Effect: Increases damage when using swords by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 22 - Return Well, I know that I surprised the enemy, but this was surprisingly easy," Ryan frowned when he received that notification. "I wonder if it is because this is a magic weapon or something¡­" In any case, Ryan had to hurry and leave that ce. He still had to move as much as possible while there was sunlight. It would be better for him to trade the sword with Anna''s group or the people they might bring to the dungeon, but Ryan couldn''t waste too much time waiting for them. "I guess I should at least wait for one hour," Ryan muttered. "They might face problems if the slimes attack them outside the dungeon." However, much to Ryan''s surprise, Anna, Cole, and Carter were already back at the entrance. Not only that, they were with a group of ten or so people. "Oh, you guys are¡­ back," Ryan said, surprised when he noticed that Cole had lost an arm. "Hey¡­ Ryan," Cole said and then forced a slime. "It looks like you are still in one piece¡­ As you can see¡­ I messed up a little." It was kind of impressive that Cole could joke in that kind of situation. Still, even though Cole acted as if he knew Ryan, those ten survivors looked at him in fear when they saw his bows and sword. Carter also looked to be wounded, but he still was observing the surroundings. Anna seemed fine, and she was trying to do what she could to stop the bleeding. Anna looked at Ryan and then frowned when she saw the sword, she also could tell that he seemed a bit different, probably thanks to his ss, but she only looked at him for a single moment. It looked like she really cared about Cole. "Why didn''t you buy a potion in the dungeon shop?" Ryan asked. "At the very least, you can stop the bleeding." "We don''t have many enough coins," Anna answered. "Besides, we can''t trust Cole''s life into some suspicious things." Ryan had enough coins to buy it, but now that he thought about it, it was kind of risky drinking magical potions. Maybe it was the perfect time to test that¡­ even though Ryan would have to spend one-third of his coins. "Do you want one potion, Cole?" Ryan asked. "Just like she said, it would be risky. If you are willing to take risks, I will spend my own coins to see if the potions are really effective." "As long as this pain disappears¡­" Cole said while his face was slowly getting paler. "I''m willing to drink even horse''s piss." "Well, I can''t guarantee that the potion won''t taste like that," Ryan said and then opened the dungeon shop. Small Health Potion Effect: Restores fifty points of health. Price: 50 coins Without wasting too much time, Ryan bought it, and then a small round bottle appeared and fell over his hands. Ryan didn''t know how much Cole had increased his health, but just a few droplets of the potion would help alleviate the pain. It was better to do that first instead of just using all the potion without knowing the things that it might cause. "How does it taste?" Ryan asked while he made Cole drink a small part of the potion. "It tastes like strawberry¡­" Cole smiled. "Ah¡­ I feel so rxed." "Exin how do you feel in detail," Ryan said. Cole didn''t even have to answer it. Some color returned to his face, and then they all saw the wound in his arm stop bleeding. It was working, but Ryan still waited for a while before making the drink all the potion. As if he had been anesthetized, Cole fell asleep. "What do you think?" Ryan asked. "His breathing is regr, and his pulse is normal¡­" Anna replied. "I don''t think the potion caused him any harm." "Shall we make him drink the rest of the potion?" Ryan asked. "You are his friend, so it is your call." "Yeah, let''s make him drink the rest¡­" Anna replied and then sighed. "Thank you¡­" Ryan wasn''t sure that Cole was out of danger, but Anna acted as if that was the case. Ryan still couldn''t feelfortable around Anna, but he at least he didn''t show that. It would be a problem if Ryan began to hate redheads, all thanks to Mia, but with the world in that state, such worries were the smallest of his problems. After Ryan made Cole drink all the potion, something unexpected begun to happen, slowly, but surely, Cole''s arm begun to regenerate¡­ However, everyone there could clearly see his body getting thinner. It looked like potions had the same effect of recovery. It could use the nutrients of one''s body to heal wounds. In less than five minutes, Cole''s arm was back as if nothing had happened. Even Ryan was speechless¡­ that was like a miracle, but that had some demerits. Cole wouldn''t be able to fight or move properly until he regains some weight. Still, it was better than living with just one arm or even dying. "I guess this is it¡­" Ryan said, and then got up. "He will probably eat all the food you guys have, so you should look for more as soon as possible. By the way, who wants this sword? I can trade for a car or a motorcycle." "Did you defeat the boss?" Carter asked. "Yes, and about that¡­" Ryan replied. Ryan exined to everyone what he obtained after defeating the boss. He also told them how he defeated the creature. It would take a while, but if all those people work together, they might find a way to kill the slime before the creature kills one of them. "So, we can obtain a ss here, and the ss can give us some skills and status bonuses," Carter nodded. "Yes, but there is a chance that only one person can obtain the ss," Ryan replied. "I don''t know when the boss will respawn either, so you guys will have to be patient or look for another dungeon." Chapter 23 - Trade In the end, Ryan had to wait for one hour until Cole managed to wake up because he was the only one in that group who had a motorcycle and because his house was rtively close. When he woke up, Cole gulped, because he saw Ryan pointing the sword toward his face. "This is yours, now tell me where you live and where I can find the keys of your motorcycle," Ryan said. "You scared me¡­" Cole sighed. "Are you sure? I think a weapon like this is much more valuable than a vehicle at this point in time. Besides, you can''t outrun velociraptors with a vehicle like that." "I see¡­ so they are that fast, huh," Ryan begun to bit his nails. "Well, even if that is the case, I can''t just move around using my own legs. I need to conserve my stamina for the fights, after all." "I guess that makes sense¡­ ah¡­" Cole said, surprised when he noticed that his arm was back. "Did I dream that I lost my arm?" "You can worry about thatter," Ryan said. "Where can I find the keys?" "¡­ I have them with me," Cole said after checking his whole body and the massive amount of blood on his right side. "You can take whatever you wanted from my house as well. I guess that won''t make things even with us, but it is everything that I can do for you. I wish you luck once again." "Thanks¡­ I wish you guys good luck as well," Ryan hesitated and then forced a smile. Ryan wanted to know where the nearest dungeon was, but unfortunately, none of the survivors saw or heard of it. Cole''s house was three kilometers away from there. It was close to a convenience store, so Ryan would be able to find a few things there if the ce hadn''t been destroyed. Regardless, before leaving the dungeon, Ryan checked the dungeon shop once more. He wasn''t that skilled in driving motorcycles, but a crossbow would help him quite a bit while driving. However, the cheapest crossbow cost two hundred coins. After sighing, Ryan checked the situation outside the dungeon. Only one word could describe what he saw: pandemonium. He now clearly could see pterodactyls in the distance and some velociraptors running around and searching for their next prey. Fortunately, Ryan had a clear view of the area, so he could choose the best route toward Cole''s house. ss: Hunter Lv 01 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 11/11 (0, 0182) Mana: 11/11 (0, 0182) Stamina: 16/16 (0,0182) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 30 (+5) Speed: 21 (+1) Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 (+1) Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 09 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 110 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, me Arrow Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 04, Concentration Lv 04, Archery Lv 04, uracy Lv 04, Stealth Lv 02, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 01, Precision Lv 01, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 01, Meditation Lv 02, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, After allocating the status points, he obtained during, and after fighting against the dungeon''s boss into recovery, speed, stamina, and dexterity, Ryan began to run. Cole''s house was northeast of there, and there weren''t many ces where he could use to hide. So, he had to be fast in order not to be noticed. Much to his surprise, Ryan was having difficulty even keeping his eyes open while he was running. His speed almost increased by three hundred percent, but he didn''t expect that he actually had be almost four times faster. In any case, that was something convenient, but the consumption of stamina wasn''t. Trying to run as fast as possible was the trigger to activate Dash, after all. So, Ryan could only keep running at his top speed for thirty seconds. That being said, in those thirty seconds, he managed to reach the base of the mountain and hide behind a group of small trees. "That was¡­ certainly unexpected," Ryan muttered while he was trying to rest. "Maybe I will be able to reach Cole''s house without being found by monsters¡­" Ryan was a dreamer, and until very recently, he was a happy-go-looking guy, so it couldn''t be helped that he could think that way. Unfortunately, the reality was cruel. The more he approached his destination, the louder things he got. He could even hear the sound of velociraptors running and destroying things¡­ and the smell¡­ the smell of things burning and the smell of blood. Ryan could feel his head bing lighter just by feeling the smell of death. "I imagined things would beplicated, but imagining and seeing are twopletely different things¡­" Ryan said while he was trying to keep his head cool. Focusing on running wasn''t an option from that point onward, so Ryan nocked an arrow and prepared for battle. He had fifteen wooden arrows, so he had to make all of them worthwhile. Velociraptors were fast, so he couldn''t miss. Every single shot had to be a headshot in order not to let the monsters scream and attract others. "It is too dangerous to take a roundabout way¡­" Ryan muttered. "Time is too precious to waste, trying to find another route. So, I will have to open a path." As a hunter, Ryan learned that the best time to kill his prey was when the prey was eating. However, the food of his prey were humans, so he couldn''t wait for that. If he could, he would save some humans, not because he wanted to be a hero, but the more people stay alive in that region, the more targets the velociraptors would have. It was sad that even for Ryan to think in that manner, but he had to consider such things if he wanted to survive. Chapter 24 - Back Attack After moving five hundred meters, Ryan finally could see some houses. It looked like those had been abandoned, the very moment the monsters appeared; Ryan concluded that because he couldn''t see any vehicles nearby. However, Ryan found two velociraptors walking around trying to find the scent of their next target. "Forty meters away, wind at three meters per second west¡­ the targets are walking slowly," Ryan muttered while he was checking the situation. "I can do this¡­" Ryan had to be fast because just like the slimes, the velociraptors probably would feel the danger for their lives, and they would react. Ryan didn''t know how fast they were, he didn''t see them running at top speed, but in the best-case scenario, he would have only two seconds to kill both of them. There was no point in worrying if his wooden arrows would be capable of piercing the velociraptors'' skulls since Ryan would see that once he shots. However, to increase the chance of him killing the beasts, Ryan decided to aim at their eyes. Power Shot was activated when he pulled the string and held it for more than a second, he could perhaps guarantee the kill if he holds if for another second, but Ryan didn''t do it. Once again, his instincts told him that was more than enough¡­ and even though he didn''t feel the line connecting his arrow and the creature''s eye, Ryan still felt confident. The sound of the arrow hissed through the air and made the velociraptors looked at Ryan''s position. However, one of them died instantly when the arrow pierced the area between its eyes. The other begun to run toward Ryan, but he was already nocking his arrow when that happened. You obtained eight coins. Congrattions! The skill Stealth has leveled up. Stealth Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the chances of you causing critical damage when attacking first by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. The number of coins he obtained surprised Ryan, but he quickly got rid of that notification and focused on the next target. When his next arrow was pointing toward the next velociraptor, the creature was fifteen meters away from it. That wasn''t good¡­ Ryan could clearly feel the killing intent of the creature, but he didn''t shoot. Instead, he waited until the creature was five meters away from him because, at that distance, not even a beast would have the reflexes necessary to dodge an arrow. You obtained eight coins. Ryan''s arrow entered the monster''s head through its mouth, the creature thought Ryan wouldn''t be able to kill it, and that was what caused its doom. Ryan managed to defeat the monsters sessfully. However, his heart was beating so fast that he couldn''t believe it. The closer he got to dinosaurs was when he yed Dino Crisis 2 several years ago, and he never thought he would be able to see them from so up close. Regardless, Ryan survived and finally had the chance to wonder why he received so many coins. He couldn''t believe that those monsters were eight times stronger than the slimes. Maybe they were eight times more dangerous given that they were faster and could pick up the scent of their targets¡­ "Crap¡­ I don''t have time to day-dream," Ryan said while shaking his head. "I have to move." After confirming that the area around him was clear, Ryan began to move again. Instead of following the streets, Ryan jumped the short fences and crossed the yards of those houses until he finally reached the next road¡­ the one who would take him directly to Cole''s house, but then suddenly, Ryan heard a grunting from behind. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Alert. Effect: Increases the effective range of your hearing outside of battles by one meter per level in order to avoid ambushes. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan was so focused on the enemies on the roads that he didn''t consider that some monster might be inside the two houses. Ryan turned around while he was nocking the arrow and fortunately had enough time to aim since the creature couldn''t just begin to run at sixty miles per hour. However, Ryan didn''t have the leisure to see the creature falling in front of him. The velociraptor got close enough to hit him even after Ryan''s arrow pierced its head. You obtained eight coins. "Ugh!" Ryan moaned when the velociraptor hit his stomach and then fell over him. "Son of a bitch..." Ryan tried to get up as fast as possible since he couldn''t tell when the next monster would appear, but thanks to his hurry, he ended up making the velociraptor''s w scratch his t-shirt and even would his stomach a little. Ryan tried to endure the pain as much as possible because he couldn''t make too much noise. Although they weren''t that big, velociraptors were pretty heavy. So, Ryan had to put some effort into it. Although his arrows could kill them in a single strike, the velociraptor''s hide was quite thick, and Ryan wondered if they couldn''t make for some light armor. Using coins to buy protective gear was convenient, but a sane person would use the coins to buy tomes because those would grant them status points in the long run. "Their ws are also pretty sharp and sturdy¡­" Ryan muttered. "I don''t know if we will live long to use monsters'' materials, but certainly it will be useful for us." Ryan resumed his journey this time with extra care in order not to miss any possible soundsing from the few houses of that area. Maybe it was because there was not a single person in the area, but Ryan didn''t find any other velociraptor. Thanks to it, he managed to walk quite a bit in the next few minutes. However, things changed when Ryan found Cole''s house and the convenience store he had mentioned. In that area, he could see dozens of giant-ass-bees, and to make matters worse, the creatures were carrying everything that was edible from the convenience store. Chapter 25 - Break "What a pain¡­" Ryan said, annoyed. "Now what?" Killing the bees one after the other seemed like a good idea. However, there weren''t many ces to hide in that region. In fact, Ryan was hiding behind a small white fence that was protecting the garden of someone. Still, the bees could easily spot him if they look in his direction for a couple of seconds. Ryan looked around and searched for something that could help him in that kind of situation, but he found nothing. Ignoring those creatures wasn''t an option since he would make a lot of noise by using Cole''s motorcycle, and that would attract the bees. Their red stings were particrly scary, so Ryan wanted to keep with his strategy of killing first instead of showing his back to the enemy. "I have to draw their attention to somewhere else¡­" Ryan muttered. "me Arrow will help me with that." Ryan just needed a few moments to move toward Cole''s house and then open the garage. Since Cole said he could do it, Ryan also intended to grab all the food he could carry. Unfortunately, that was the only thing he could do since he had an extra bow, several arrows, and some clothes inside his backpack. The best way to attract the bees would be with an explosion, but there wasn''t a gas station nearby or any vehicle that Ryan could use. He didn''t want to burn down someone else''s house, but it looked like he didn''t have any other choice. There was a house with an even pretty big garden in the opposite direction, and Ryan decided to use that as fuel¡­ He hesitated for a bit because he already could feel the smell of smokeing from the other side of the mountain. However, Ryan didn''t have any other option, so he used me Arrow to burn the garden. It took five minutes, but since the wind wasing from the opposite direction, the mes eventually spread and began to burn the house. Ryan didn''t know what was in that house, but a ck smoke begun to leave the house and then conveniently headed toward where the bees were concentrated. Some bees resisted for a while, but in the end, they were forced to spread in all directions, and some of them headed toward Ryan, but thanks to the smoke, Ryan managed to kill them without alerting the others or getting wounded. You obtained three coins. You obtained three coins. You obtained three coins. You obtained three coins. You obtained three coins. "Oh, boy¡­ it looks like I''m getting close to my goal of bing a sniper," Ryan muttered. Ryan killed those bees even before the monsters could see him. Although he only hit one of them in the head, the others instantly died after getting hit by a single arrow. Congrattions! Your ss Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Ignoring that pleasant notification, Ryan ran fast as possible toward Cole''s house when he confirmed that the path was clear and no bee would be able to see him. In the blink of an eye, Ryan opened the garage and then closed it again. He took a deep breath to rx because he reached his destination, but regretted that since the house was filled with smoke. "Let''s see¡­ the motorcycle is here. Aside from that, I will need some water and food," Ryan said while he was observing Cole''s motorcycle. "I guess I can stop here for a few minutes to eat since I don''t know when I will find a safe ce again." To Ryan''s surprise, Cole''s motorcycle was a Honda, which was prettymon, but the model was of those he had seen in motocross events. It would be perfect since Ryan didn''t intend to use roads frequently. It would be better to try to outspeed monsters in ces that had several obstacles. Although that would be dangerous since Ryan didn''t have much experience in using that kind of vehicle, he was counting on his dexterity topensate for that. Regardless, while Ryan was checking Cole''s fridge, he also checked if something was being transmitted on TV¡­ Unfortunately, all the channels were dead. If TV wasn''t working, Ryan doubted that he would be able to ess the inte. So, he didn''t even try to turn on Cole''s PC. "My next goal is to find another dungeon which I can clear alone¡­" Ryan said while he was eating some in bread. "Just asking the people I find won''t be enough¡­ Now that I think about it, shall I test that?" Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cook. Effect: Increases the effectiveness and speed of your cooking. It also increases your ability when using monster''s meat. You obtained 01 status point. "Hahaha¡­ I really learned," Ryan said, surprised after he just put some cheese between two pieces of bread. "This is so weird¡­" When Ryan sat on Cole''s couch, he began to feel the tension leaving his body at an astonishing speed. Now that he managed to rx a little, he finally could feel how tired he was¡­ he didn''t sleep in days, after all. Still, he couldn''t let himself rest now. Maybe it was the best ce and time to rest, given that he didn''t know what he would find in the next five minutes. Then again, time was of the essence. Ryan needed to learn new skills and level up them as fast as possible before he finds a monster that can kick his ass with ease. He was fully aware that it would take a long while before that happens, but he would only be able to rx once the other two nk parts of his ss were filled. Once he understood that fact, Ryan pped his cheeks slightly to focus himself again. Chapter 26 - Guests After finishing eating some sandwiches, Ryan returned to the garage after confirming that the outside was still free from the giant bees. He decided to turn on the motorcycle engine only after closing the garage since he couldn''t let Cole''s house open and be invaded by monsters. However, it looked like things wouldn''t happen the way he had nned. The very moment he opened the garage, he saw a pair of legs¡­ Ryan aimed with his bow and was ready to shoot even before he could see the full body of that figure. He frowned when he saw a teenage boy carrying a wounded woman on his back. "Please don''t shoot," The boy said, scared when he saw the arrow pointed at his head. "I need your help." "¡­ It looks like I can never catch a break," Ryan said after a long sigh. "This isn''t my house, but you cane in." In the end, it didn''t surprise Ryan that someone was still hidden among those houses. That boy probably had seen Ryan after he burned down a house. Regardless, the boy seemed to be fifteen or sixteen years old. His hair and eyes were deep brown, and he seemed pretty well-built for someone of his age. The woman seemed a bit older. Perhaps she was as old as Ryan. Considering that they had some simrities like their eyes and nose, they were probably siblings. Regardless, the boy was wearing the uniform one would normally use during PE sses, and the woman wearing a brown sweatshirt that was dirty with a lot of her blood. Cole would probably understand it, so Ryan and the boy put the woman in the coach to let her rest. Somehow the boy managed to stop the bleeding, but she was too weak to regain consciousness. Ryan checked the wound, and he found a hole on her sweatshirt near her heart. "The wound is gone thanks to the recovery¡­" Ryan said. "However, she probably won''t wake up anytime soon since she lost too much blood." Ryan made a mental note of that, recovery was magical, but it wasn''t omnipotent. As long as humans don''t lose their heads or hearts, most wounds would regenerate, but humans would have to pay some price. "¡­ You look like someone who knows what is going on," The boy said. "You also are dirty with blood, but I can''t see your wounds¡­ do you know how can we make my sister recover?" "We? Why are you assuming that I''m going to help you?" Ryan frowned. "Please, I will do anything! I can give you anything!" The boy shouted. "But please don''t let my sister die!" "Lower your voice, dumbass¡­" Ryan said, annoyed. "You should choose your words better next time unless you want to taste my fist¡­ There is a ce nearby where we can get something that can make your sister wake up, probably. There are other survivors there, so after that, you can help each other." "Really? Is it a military base or something?" The boy asked, surprised. "No, it is a dungeon that is spawning slimes¡­" Ryan replied. "Your sister got wounded by a giant bee, right? Did you smell something weird in the bee?" "No¡­ I don''t think so," The boy answered. "My name is Tristan, and my sister''s name is Natalia. What is yours?" "¡­ Ryan," Ryan replied after a long sigh. "Anyway, we don''t have time to waste, and I don''t want to spend more time than the necessary helping strangers, so we are going to leave now. If you have some status points, put them into strength or stamina because I don''t want to stop along the way." "Are we going to find your military friends there?" Tristan asked. "I don''t have any military friends because I''m not one," Ryan showed a fed-up expression. "You will find some cops there, so the ce will be safe for a while. Anyway, like I told you. I don''t have time to waste, so look after yourself and after your sister once we arrive there because I''m going to stop there¡­ also, don''t make noise and or questions along the way." It would be a massive pain in the ass not to use the motorcycle after all that trouble of reaching Cole''s house, but it couldn''t be helped. Ryan would have to protect those two, and he couldn''t make much noise, so he would have to push the vehicle. "I guess I''m going to lose more fifty coins¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. It was for a good reason, but given that Ryan had to put his life on the line to obtain those, he couldn''t help butin a little. In any case, at the very least, he was doing something that would make his parents proud of him¡­ wherever they might be¡­ The smoke was slowly disappearing from the area, so Ryan hurried to confirm that the surroundings were safe once he left the garage. After that, he gave the sign for Tristan to leave the garage while carrying Natalia on his back. Quickly, Ryan closed the garage after taking out the motorcycle, but he still didn''t drop his guard. His eyes were watching all directions while his ears were ready to catch any suspicious sound. "Hey, Ryan¡­ How did you¡­" Tristan said and then stopped when Ryan red at him. "No. Talking," Ryan said. Ryan''s annoyance disappeared when he heard a squeak in the distance. He looked to the sides but saw nothing, but then he saw a pterodactyl flying in a straight line at them when he looked upward. "Shit¡­ I forgot about them," Ryan bit his lips. Even though those creatures had long and sharp-looking beaks, Ryan was certain that he could kill them without getting wounded. He increased his speed to dodge with more ease, after all. However, things wouldn''t be so simple since he had to look after Tristan and Natalia. Chapter 27 - For Real? Ryan wasn''t used to hunting flying animals. It was much moreplicated hitting flying targets because one would have to consider several things before shooting. Not only that, failure wouldn''t result only in his death. Because of it, Ryan panicked. "Shit¡­ it can''t be helped," Ryan pointed his left hand toward the pterodactyl and then cast me Arrow. As expected, the magic projectile flew in a straight line and hit the monster''s face. Ryan had noticed that magic projectiles worked in a different manner than physical projectiles when he first saw Cole''s group. Regardless, the pterodactyl didn''t stop because he couldn''t change his trajectory after having half of its face burned. Congrattions! The skill me Arrow has leveled up. me Arrow Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 10%. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. Ryan and Tristan hurried to leave that area, and somehow they managed to escape the impact¡­ but pterodactyl destroyed Cole''s garage''s entrance. Ryan approached the creature that was unconscious and then fired a wooden bow on its head. You obtained eight coins. "Mmm¡­ I didn''t expect I would be able to level up me Arrow so soon¡­ Anyway, it looks like both velociraptors and pterodactyls are equally dangerous." When Ryan turned around after confirming that the monster didn''t drop anything, he saw Tristan looking at him with his mouth wide open. It was only a natural reaction given that Ryan just used magic, but with that kind of reaction, it was kind of hard to imagine him adapting fast enough to survive. "¡­ Magic? For real?" Tristan said, astonished and his loud voice almost woke up his sister. "No. Talking!" Ryan raised his voice a little. Tristan panicked but then rxed when he saw Ryan looking around and confirming that the path ahead was clear. At that point in time, there was no point in questioning that, so it was clear that even ordinary monsters concentrated on areas that had a lot of people. However, now and then, a lone pterodactyl would pass above them and make Ryan sweat cold. He only had enough mana to use me Arrow once every five minutes. Although that much was enough for him to defeat those beasts once every five minutes, their squeaks were too loud and could attract monsters. So, it was better to avoid them as much as possible. After walking for ten minutes, Ryan, Tristan, and the unconscious Natalia finally left that residential area. Although Ryan had said to Tristan that they wouldn''t stop to rest, he was the one who had to stop because his arms were tired. Pulling a heavy motorcycle like that was tiresome, and with his arms tired, he wouldn''t be able to hold the bow steadily. "Can we talk now?" Tristan asked. "I can''t hear the sound of any monster nearby." Ryan sighed; it was only normal that someone would want answers in that kind of situation. Ryan himself had many questions, so it was unreasonable of him to get angry at Tristan. He could only hope that been betrayed by his best friend didn''t turn him into an asocial person so fast, but given that dragons appeared and monsters were eating humans, so everything was possible. "I''m taking you two to the ce where I learned that spell," Ryan said. "Eventually, if you survive, you will learn something at least simr." After that, Ryan gave Tristan a brief summary of the things he did in thest few hours. Although he was worried about his sister, given his age, he couldn''t help but feel excited about the possibility of obtaining power like a videogame character. Ryan couldn''t understand that, but he was aware that such power wasn''t something that he had obtained on his own. The same way he obtained, he could easily lose it. So, there was no point in getting too excited about it. "You mentioned the word dungeon before, but I thought it was just a figure of speech," Tristan said after recovering from the surprise. "So, we only have to kill the boss and obtain ess to that treasure box, and then everyone can obtain a ss?" "Yeah¡­ only that," Ryan sighed. "It will be a piece of cake to kill a slime that was bigger than a car and could spit Fireballs that can melt rocks." Tristan gulped after hearing that, he could see part of Ryan''s head dirty with blood, and some of his clothes had been burned, so he could imagine that Ryan almost died a few times in thest few hours. "I forgot to ask, but how do you kill the giant bee that wounded your sister?" Ryan asked. "I didn''t kill it. My sister did," Tristan replied. "She strangled the monster before losing her consciousness thanks to the pain." Ryan frowned when he heard that. It was hard to imagine that woman doing something so reckless. Then again, Ryan knew nothing about her, and drastic situations need drastic measures. That made Ryan think if he could learn some skills like karate, judo, or boxing. That also made Ryan wonder if he could learn somebat skills by sparring with other humans. He would have to try thatter since Tristan was carrying his sister. After a few more minutes, they resumed their walking. Although they weren''t in open terrain, Ryan couldn''t lower his guard because even though the surroundings trees could offer them some visual protection against the pterodactyls, the inverse also could be said. The trees could protect the monsters from Ryan. He wouldn''t be able to see or hear them unless they get really close, and he wouldn''t be able to attack either. Congrattions! The skill Alert has leveled up. Alert Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the effective range of your hearing outside battles by one meter per level in order to avoid ambushes. You obtained 01 status point. Regardless, at least that would be good training for Ryan. Chapter 28 - Conflict Twenty minutester, and after dealing with two pterodactyls, Ryan and Tristan finally arrived on the base of the mountain. Pulling the motorcycle on that path upward would be stupid, so Ryan hid it behind a group of trees. "Our destination is that cave," Ryan dered. "The path ahead is open terrain, so we will have to move as fast possible and without stopping. If the monsters see us, we won''t have much time to react, so we don''t have much choice." "That ce is a dungeon?" Tristan frowned. "Yeah¡­ do you know or heard of some suspicious caves that appeared after that massive earthquakes?" Ryan asked. "No, I didn''t hear or see anything like it¡­" Tristan rubbed his chin while he was thinking. "However, I was watching TV when the earthquake happened. I didn''t see a hole appearing out of nowhere, but I saw a swarm of goblins appearing before the TV stopped working." "Where?" Ryan asked. "I think it was near Shreveport¡­ if I remember well, they were talking about a couple that died a few days ago on the high road that leads directly to the center of the town," Tristan replied. "I can''t remember the location with precision, but I would bet there is a dungeon there." Tristan felt shivers when he looked at Ryan and saw him making a terrible expression, which was a mix of anger and sadness. For a moment, Tristan thought he had something bad, but soon he understood that Ryan wasn''t mad at him. It was for some unknown reason. Only one car ident had happened in that area in thest week¡­ it was the one that caused Ryan''s parents death. As if returning to Shreveport so soon wasn''t bad enough, he would have to return to the area where his parents passed away. Not only that, he would have to go in the same direction which the dragons went. Those massive monsters should be about to finish their job on that city, and at any moment, they might look for other highly popted areas to destroy¡­ the chances of them finding Ryan weren''t null. "Let''s go," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Finding that dungeon will be a pain in the ass, so I have to make good use of sunlight while I can." Ryan and Tristan hurried, but despite that, another pterodactyl managed to find them. It was a pain to be forced to rely on his mana whenever those monsters appeared, but Ryan didn''t have any other choice, so he did it. After firing a me Arrow, Ryan moved to the right side while Tristan moved to the opposite side. They didn''t wait to confirm that Ryan had hit the target. They just moved because until now, Ryan never missed, and he didn''t miss this time either. Although those creatures were dangerous, one good hit on their faces was enough to make them lose their aerial superiority. That one fell on the ground and soon died with an arrow on the head. You obtained eight coins. Congrattions! The skill me Arrow has leveled up. me Arrow Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 15%. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Man, I will never get used to seeing a human defeating a monster like that so fast¡­" Tristan said. After confirming that the monster didn''t drop anything, Ryan checked the surroundings once again and then begun to move when he saw that the other pterodactyls were too far away to notice them. Ten minutester, Ryan and Tristan arrived at the dungeon entrance, covered in sweat and exhausted. Climbing a mountain while running wasn''t something easy¡­ Still, it looked like they wouldn''t be able to rest properly. "Like I said, you three have to protect us. We are just civilians!" Someone said. "Yeah, how can you expect any of us that don''t have any training to fight monsters that can spit fricking Fireballs?" Another someone said. "It is the army and the police''s job to fight and protect us in moments like these!" Ryan arrived on time to see the ten survivors arguing with Cole, Anna, and Carter. He imagined something like that would happen, but not so soon. It couldn''t be helped that ordinary people that never touched a gun or even killed a rabbit to eat could think that way, but Ryan felt a bit annoyed after hearing those arguments. It was indeed the army and the police''s job to protect the civilians in moments of crisis, but it was stupid to think that they could do it when the origin of the crisis were monsters. "¡­ Excuse me, it looks like someone came to this ce," Cole said while showing a slightly fed-up expression. "Ryan? I thought¡­ Ah. You try to be cold-hearted, but in the end, you can''t ignore those who need help." "I came to give you back the keys of your home¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Then again, the next time you see your house, you won''t like what you will see." "¡­ Did something happen?" Cole hesitated to ask. "A pterodactyl destroyed the entrance of your garage," Ryan replied. "I tried to prevent it, but¡­" Tristan frowned when he heard that; It couldn''t be helped since that happened because Ryan had to protect him and his sister, but Tristan couldn''t help but feel ufortable in knowing that he had been helped by someone who could so easily lie to a police officer. "Well, it doesn''t matter," Cole said. "I have more important things to worry about now¡­" "Is that so?" Ryan said and then opened the dungeon shop. "I wish you luck in getting rid of those worries¡­ you must be really in a bind since neither of you saw us approaching." Ryan thought Carter would still be guarding the entrance of the dungeon, but it looked like he was resting because they were having difficulties in killing slimes without relying on guns. Chapter 29 - Running Away Ryan will be lying if he says that he wasn''t worried about those three. They found a difficult group of survivors to protect, and they didn''t have a lot of ammo remaining. Still, Ryan had his own worries and goals, so he couldn''t worry too much about them. He knew very well that joining a group of survivors might have led him to that kind of problem, but such thoughts disappeared from his head when he noticed that he could fight monsters and grow stronger. He was fully aware that he was egotistical, but it was only obvious for him to act like that because his life wasn''t less important than the others. Since he didn''t want to lose his life, he wanted the power to protect himself, but he only would obtain that after facing death more than a few times. In the end, Ryan didn''t want to ally himself with others that couldn''t understand that. After buying the potion, Ryan gave it to Tristan since he looked to be the type of guy who wouldin if he sees a man feeding his sister. Tristan frowned, but then he quickly realized what that was. "A health potion?" Tristan asked in shock. "For real?" "Yeah, good luck," Ryan said and then left the dungeon. "Hey, can we-" The very moment Ryan heard some unknown voices, he began to run toward the base of the mountain. He already knew what those people would ask of him, to go with him, even without knowing where he was heading. That was more than enough reason for Ryan to run away as fast as possible. This time Ryan wasn''t spotted before he reached the motorcycle. As expected, monsters could find their prey with more ease when they were in groups. Ryan wished that he could buy a crossbow because even though it would be difficult to reload it, it could be used while Ryan drives. "Now that I think about it¡­ would my dexterity influence the attack power of crossbows?" Ryan muttered. "I will have to test it by buying one¡­" Ryan turned on the engine of the motorcycle and then rechecked his surroundings. After confirming that there were no monsters nearby, he began to head toward the highroad that he used to reach that mountain. While he was driving, Ryan checked his status and allocated the status points he obtained in thest few hours into mana and recovery. Now he would be able to use me Arrow once every two hundred seconds. ss: Hunter Lv 02 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 12/12 (0, 0250) Mana: 15/15 (0, 0250) Stamina: 16/18 (0, 0250) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 30 (+7) Speed: 21 (+2) Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 (+2) Mentality: 07 Luck: 05 Recovery: 12 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 123 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 04, Concentration Lv 04, Archery Lv 04, uracy Lv 04, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 01, Precision Lv 01, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01 Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 01, Meditation Lv 02, me Arrow Lv 03, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, "I guess, for the time being, it will be more convenient for me if I be something like a magic archer," Ryan concluded. "Fighting alone fits me more, but to do so, I will need more than just a good aim." Ryan would need elemental skills like me Arrow; however, he would have to learn the ones that could slow down monsters like Frozen Arrow or Electric Arrow. Regardless, it didn''t take for Ryan to be forced to stop. At the very moment he reached the high road, he found a crashed car burning and two velociraptors eating something¡­ Ryan didn''t even need to think to know what they were eating. After stopping and grabbing his bow, the two monsters noticed Ryan''s presence the very moment he nocked the first arrow. The creatures were fifty meters away, and Ryan couldn''t feel a strong wind that could change the course of his arrows. However, in the asphalt, the velociraptors could move even faster than usual, so Ryan couldn''t mess up. In the end, Ryan had to force himself to calm down while the creatures were approaching. He couldn''t afford to miss it and to decrease the chances of the velociraptors avoiding his attack. He even activated Power Shot. His first arrow flew in a straight line and pierced the eye of the monster on the right side of the road. Ryan didn''t have time to pick another arrow, so he just pointed his left hand toward the other and fired me Arrow. As expected, the first died instantaneously, but the second only lost one eye to the mes. Still, that brought enough time for Ryan to nock another arrow and fired it. You obtained eight coins. You obtained eight coins. Congrattions! The skill Precision has leveled up. Precision Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the chance of causing a critical hit by one percent per level on the target the longer the battlests. You obtained 01 status point. "Phew¡­" Ryan sighed in relief. "No drops this time again, huh? I guess I have to increase my luck¡­ from this point onward even more than before, I will need all the help I can get to survive." Ryan slowly approached the crashed car¡­ he didn''t want to see that, but he needed it in order to have a firm grasp of the situation. In the end, Ryan regretted his choice because the two humans who were inside the vehicle had been semi-disfigured by the velociraptors. He didn''t see his parent''s bodies soon after the ident, but only during the funeral. However, he ended up imagining then in that situation. Chapter 30 - Traces Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Rage Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Sacrifices temporarily two percent of your mana, intelligence, control, mentality, and willpower to increase your health, stamina, strength, endurance, and speed temporarily by the same amount. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan was fully aware that getting angry at monsters were a waste of time. Killing humans and eating them was their nature, after all. Getting angry at that was the same as getting angry at a cat for chasing rats. When humans weren''t the dominant species of the, they were forced to run away from predators, and when that wasn''t possible, they probably ended up suffering such fates. Still¡­ Ryan could be logical only for so long. He was a human being, after all. Getting angry was like their second nature. "I have to keep moving¡­" Ryan said and then sighed while he wished that the two humans who died there could find peace in the afterlife. Ryan decided to hid for a while and then wait for his mana and stamina to get full again. However, he didn''t have to do that more than a few times because he didn''t find many monsters on the road, and that was very weird since many ces were burning. However, Ryan''s tension increased the more he approached Shreveport because he could see a massive smokescreen rising to the sky. "My goodness¡­" Ryan said while sweating cold. "Can a human even obtain the power to survive a single dragon when just a few of them can cause so much destruction in just a few hours?" Something was off, so Ryan stopped thinking about dragons for a second. He was just twenty kilometers away from Shreveport, but Ryan didn''t see a single vehicleing from there. Although he could imagine dragons destroying massive buildings in seconds, Ryan couldn''t imagine them destroying every single escape route. Ryan didn''t know if he would find the cause of that since his sole goal was to find a dungeon, but he couldn''t but ponder about such things. It wouldn''t be weird if dragons had some level of intelligence, but how could they destroy all escape routes without knowing the city''syout? Besides, they were fantasy monsters¡­ it would definitely be weird if they could understand just by seeing the ces or the things they needed to destroy in order to lock the humans in that city. Such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s head when he saw a group of goblins in the distance dragging a corpse outside the high road. He couldn''t see any mountain nearby, but there was a chance that dungeons could appear in other ces, as well. "I have to investigate¡­" Ryan muttered. There were some trees on both sides of the road, and the grass was rtively tall. So, Ryan would be able to hide the motorcycle. Just in case, he also let the vehicle lying down on the ground and then covered it with some grass that he cut using the two kitchen knives that he had. After that, Ryan headed in the same direction the goblins went. Although Ryan was born in that region, he didn''t know things outside the city very well. His father took him to hunt several times, but only in ces where that was legal. Besides, finding something to hunt so close to the city was close to impossible, so they never tried it. In any case, it didn''t take long before Ryan could find their trail and find something else¡­ a group of humans following them. That surprised Ryan. He thought only he was crazy enough to follow monsters to their nest. "They must be crazy¡­ why are they following the goblins as if they were taking a walk in the park?" Ryan frowned. Ryan could see those humans armed with firearms and two swords, so they had some experience in fighting monsters, but they were walking while exposing half of their bodies. Ryan''s father taught him to erase his presence while hunting. He actually couldn''t do that, but he could hide in the tall grass of the area, and as long as he doesn''t move so suddenly, a flying monster looking at him would only see something like a rock in the middle of the grass. "Oh, well¡­ they might be useful," Ryan muttered. "If something happens, they will be the perfect bait." Ryan wondered if treating fellow humans like that was the right thing to do. Those people were probably trying to rescue the human who got kidnapped by the goblins, so they weren''t bad people. They were just ordinary people who didn''t know a single thing about hunting, and that was perfectly normal. "It is toote to notice that, but I''m involuntarily trying not to involve myself with others¡­" Ryan said and then massaged his eyebrows. "Even though they don''t look like them, every single person I see, my body and mind treat them as if they are Mia and Daniel. This is so messed up¡­" Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stalk. Effect: Nullifies the level of the enemies'' tracking skills by one point per level. Cost: 0.2 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Although Ryan felt thankful for learning a new skill, he couldn''t help but feel conflicted about such a dubious one. The cost was a bit high, and since he didn''t have much mana, Ryan wouldn''t be able to keep it active for long. Still, he was confident that he could follow that group without being noticed. "I don''t think many goblins have been killed since the monsters appeared," Ryan muttered. "So, if they can spawn like slimes, they must be pretty numerous considering that nine hours passed since the monsters appeared." In the worst-case scenario, Ryan and that group would be heading to a dungeon where they would find more than three hundred goblins. Even if Ryan could kill all of them using a single arrow, he didn''t have nearly enough arrows to do it. So, he began to create more of them. Chapter 31 - Calm Before The Storm Ryan always thought an apocalypse of monsters would be like hell on earth. First, monsters would swarm every single area that had humans, but that didn''t happen. Aside from dragons, most monsters had to appear by using dungeons. After that, the dead woulde back as zombies and make the survivors cower in fear¡­ However, that didn''t happen. Only small groups of monsters could be found in areas that weren''t densely popted, and there are no zombies¡­ Thanks to it, Ryan didn''t find a single monster in half an hour. "Carrying more arrows will be a pain, so I should stop here," Ryan said while he was still following that group of humans one hundred meters away from them. Suddenly, the group stopped, and they finally lowered their postures to hide in the tall grass. Thanks to it, Ryan managed to see four hundred meters away from there the goblins'' camp. Behind the camp, Ryan also could see a hill and even a cave¡­ it was the goblins'' dungeon. "Oh, boy¡­ when did my eyes get this good?" Ryan frowned. In any case, the goblins'' camp seemed pretty well made, considering that they only appeared ten hours ago. It wasn''tplete, but the camp had fences, and all of them were doing something¡­ being as cooking, repairing, or creating new weapons. That being said, the only problem Ryan could see in that camp was the high number of goblins. He could at least see two hundreds of them¡­ attacking them one at a time wouldn''t be possible. So, Ryan would have to find another way to reach the dungeon. However, he needed to be fast because the number of goblins was increasing. Regardless, Ryan didn''t have any other option but do it. His strategy would be simple. He would spread several arrows around the camp and in the tall grass. Ryan couldn''t let himself being discovered, so he would have to change his position several times. Ryan also couldn''t carry hundreds of arrows, so putting them in strategic points was necessary. "Given that they are creating a base, I doubt that many of them will hunt and leave the camp unprotected," Ryan concluded. "Still, I have to ept the risks of facing them¡­ I need to enter that dungeon, and I can''t ignore the fact that they are hunting humans." Ryan didn''t want to work or find a group to join for the time being because it would take a while for most humans to understand that that from that day onward, they would have to fight for their lives. That being said, even if he wasn''t in a group, it was necessary to help others. Every single life was important, and given that humans could grow stronger really fast, every single person had a lot of potential. Letting people die would be the same as ignoring the potential that they had. Considering that the group of humans followed the same path the goblins used previously, Ryan couldn''t position his arrows near there. Ryan decided to position his arrows in the opposite direction, but it looked like he wouldn''t have time for that. That group of humans began to argue, to the point where Ryan could even hear them. "Those idiots¡­ they will reveal their position at this rate," Ryan bit his lips. Ryan''s worries turned real. He confirmed that when a group of goblins left the camp and head in a straight line toward those people. Their weapons were ready to be used, so it was only obvious that they had been noticed. Ryan could count thirty goblins. Meanwhile, that group only had six people. Despite that, they didn''t back down. "Are those guys for real?" Ryan frowned. Maybe it was because they had firearms, but they certainly were brave or perhaps stupid. The two guys armed with swords dashed toward the goblins, so Ryan began to wonder how they expected to get some support from the people on the backline when they were near the enemies. Those two were quite tall and physically well-built. Still, only that wasn''t enough to make them able tost against the goblins for more than a few seconds. However, Ryan changed his mind when he saw one of them cutting the heads of two goblins with a single swing of his sword. "¡­ They aren''t half bad," Ryan smiled, visibly impressed. Ryan changed his n; it would be better to offer support for those guys since they were pretty fast and strong. Their sword swings were a bit clumsy, but at the very least, theypensated for that with their guts. Still, Ryan would have to move a little in order to avoid hitting them by mistake. They were fast, so they could get in the way of his arrows, after all. Ryan would have to create more arrows if the battle escte, so he had to conserve his mana. He also would have to be fast, so instead of focusing on headshots, Ryan would focus on wounding and slowing down the goblins. At the same time, the backline began to use their firearms in order to prevent the two warriors from getting surrounded. Ryan began to fire his arrows. Those two frowned when they saw the goblins getting hit by arrowsing from an unexpected direction, but they soon understood that they weren''t the targets. So, they recovered from the surprise and finished the goblins that got hit by them. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 4 ? Lv 5 You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 32 - Unplesant Surprise Ryan''s stock of arrows was quickly decreasing, but the notifications motivated him to keep shooting more and more. Despite the rain of arrows, the number of goblins wasn''t decreasing because another and an even bigger group of goblins was about to join the battle. Congrattions! Your ss, Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Ryan was obtaining status points like crazy, despite the fact that the goblins looked pretty weak and frail. He was just one hundred meters away from them, and he could see them clearly this time. They were skinny and were only 1,30 meters tall, their weapons were mostly rustic short swords and short spears, so it was only obvious that they were that weak. It was quite weird that they were supposed to be four times more dangerous than slimes, considering that they couldn''t use magic. Still, after killing ny or so goblins with the help of those humans, Ryan''s arrows ended. In the end, he would be forced to retreat. However, it would be a waste to let those humans die. They were strong and had guts¡­ the human race needed people like them. "Retreat!" Ryan shouted. "I''m out of arrows!" It didn''t take long for the sound of bullets disappeared as well. The group also had run out of bullets¡­ one of the two warriors insisted on fighting for some reason, but the other forced him to retreat. The goblins weren''t faster than Ryan, but they could be equally as fast as that group. So, Ryan shot two me Arrows and made the grass between the humans and goblins burn¡­ forcing the goblins to stop. ss: Hunter Lv 03 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 12/13 (0, 0250) Mana: 06/16 (0, 0250) Stamina: 18/20 (0, 0250) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 30 (+9) Speed: 21 (+3) Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 (+3) Mentality: 07 Luck: 06 Recovery: 12 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 239 Status: 05 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 05, Concentration Lv 05, Archery Lv 05, uracy Lv 04, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 02, Precision Lv 02, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 01, Meditation Lv 02, me Arrow Lv 03, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, "Oh, boy¡­ I obtained a lot of coins," Ryan said, surprised. Fighting in groups against a swarm of enemies wasn''t so bad. In fact, it was much easier to fight by relying on good warriors on the frontline. Maybe Ryan had found a good group that he could join, they were a bit na?ve since they followed the goblins that manner, but no one is perfect. "Well, now¡­ what should I do?" Ryan rubbed his chin after he made sure that he lost the goblins. Ryan decided not to join Cole''s group because they were police officers, and they had the duty of protecting others. Ryan didn''t want to do that. At least he didn''t want to make that his goal. Still, there was so much he could do alone. He couldn''t use his game knowledge in every single situation, but it was pretty obvious that, like in games, most dungeons weren''t supposed to be cleared alone. Ryan maybe could clear the goblins'' dungeon if he has a few days to prepare, but it would be better to clear the dungeon as soon as possible and get his next ss. That group of humans could help him in that regard. However, as usual, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about the demerits of joining a group like that. One of them was hot-headed to the point of not retreating when facing an army of goblins, and the others were stupid enough to follow him. Although that kind of action was close to madness, it also could be seen as bravery by the hot-blooded guy and loyalty in part of others. "Well, at the very least, I should talk with them for a while," Ryan concluded. "Now that I think about it¡­ attacking and not looking for the loot was like a big mistake. Well, there will be more chances to do that." While Ryan was walking toward the direction those survivors headed, he also checked his status. Although he could create fifteen arrows every ten minutes, he didn''t remember killing a single goblin with just one arrow. The fact that he was focusing on slowing them down affected that, but it didn''t change the fact that it was time to change his weapon. Or perhaps find better arrows. Still, the bow he received from his father wasn''t a magic weapon, so it was only obvious that at some point, Ryan would have to put it away and just keep it as a memento. It was annoying to do that, but it was a painful truth. "Wait a minute¡­ maybe there is a way to improve weapons magically," Ryan said, and then his eyes begun to shine since he was full of expectation. "If dragons can appear out of nowhere, then I certainly can improve my bow with magic." Ryan''s mind worked in weird ways, but soon he forgot about that when he finally saw that group of survivors resting near the high road. It looked like they had imagined that Ryan would approach them. However, soon Ryan regretted that choice. It didn''t take long before he could recognize two of those survivors. Ryan wanted to turn around and leave that ce, but his stomach begun to turn around and Ryan lost the strength in his legs. Much to everyone''s surprise, he fell on his knees and then throw up¡­ The hot-blooded guy was Daniel, and one of the survivors armed with a firearm was Mia. Chapter 33 - Changes When Ryan raised his face, he saw Mia and Daniel running toward him. Daniel reached first and then tried to help Ryan, but he stopped when a me Arrow suddenly appeared and hit the ground near his right leg. "If you touch me, I will make sure to hit your face with that next time," Ryan said while he was cleaning his mouth. Daniel gulped, he didn''t see Ryan in a few days, but he couldn''t help but feel shivers while looking at his eyes. He was obviously weakened thanks to the surprise, but he still scared the crap out of him. Even though he was much taller and physically stronger. Ryan directed his anger toward only Daniel, but even so, Mia decided not to approach him carelessly. She was fully aware that the current Ryan was unstable, so she hid half of her body behind Daniel. He was fully aware that she didn''t have the intention to make him even angrier, but just knowing didn''t help Ryan calm down in any way. Mia was a bit of an airhead. In the past, Ryan thought that that trait of her was endearing, but now he could only see that as a pain in the ass. "Is this shorty the guy you mentioned?" The other guy armed with a sword said. "He certainly is skilled and learned a few tricks, but I can''t imagine a guy who gets this nervous in front of his friends can help us." Ryan was about to leave without looking back, but thatment gets on his nerves, and his effort to try to calm down vanished. He was kind of short, indeed. He was just 1,7 meters tall ifpared to the 1,95 meters tall Daniel and the other guy who was even taller. He was really short. "Oh, yeah¡­ I''m short. It must be nice to be so tall," Ryan smirked. "Even if I miss your head, there is plenty of ces where my arrows can hit." "What did you say?" The other warrior asked after a vein begin to bulge in his forehead. The other warrior was almost two meters tall, and he had a shaved head, but his eyes were green. Added that with his bulging muscles, he really looked like a cool basket yer. Daniel and that guy had many simrities, they probably knew each other, but Ryan couldn''t care less about that. He was too pissed to think straight¡­ the other three were looking at Ryan as if he was a madman, but he couldn''t care less. Still, looked at the other three only made Ryan feel many dark emotions¡­ jealously, anger, sadness. He didn''t want to waste time and energy, feeling those things thanks to that kind of people. So, he just got up, turned around, and begun to move away. "Ryan¡­ I heard about your parents," Daniel said. "I''m sor-." "Don''t finish that sentence," Ryan stopped and then said. "Unless you want them to be yourst words." "¡­ My father got captured by the goblins, Ryan," Daniel hesitated a little bit. "I need to rescue, Ryan. Please, help us." "He is dead¡­ I saw them dragging his body, and he didn''t move an inch," Ryan said after he resumed his walk. "Forget about him." "That isn''t true," Daniel said. "Unlike most monsters, goblins don''t eat humans. We confirmed that they keep them alive to train their skills. Although goblins can''t talk, they are smart enough to understand that they can train their skills like that. Keeping humans locked is a move convenient for them." That was some interesting pieces of information, but only that wasn''t enough to make Ryan stop. He interacted with Daniel''s father for a while, and he was a good man, but only that wouldn''t make Ryan join forces with Daniel. Ryan would rather do it alone, even if it were very risky. "We will attack the goblin''s camp in one hour again," Daniel shouted. "I''m counting on you, Ryan!" "Asshole¡­ I would rather eat horse shit than help you," Ryan muttered, annoyed. It was around 04:00 PM, so Ryan could understand why Daniel needed to rest for a while before trying to rescue his father again. It would be too troublesome to wait for the next day since the number of goblins would duplicate. They couldn''t attack at night either, since it would be too dangerous¡­ in the end, their only option was to attack as soon as possible before the goblins can consolidate their base and strength. After walking for a few minutes, Ryan finally managed to calm down. In the end, he couldn''t help but feel a bit scared of his past actions¡­ he just threatened the life of the man who had been his best friend for over ten years. He indeed did something unforgivable, but he didn''t deserve to die for it. "¡­ In the end, I''m as much hot-headed as that asshole," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I can''t let anger control me; I have to keep my head cool at all times." It was easier said than done, but Ryan had to keep trying whenever possible. Regardless, without wasting time, Ryan began to create his arrows. He wouldn''t wait for Daniel, but he would rescue his father because he was also a good friend of histe father. Congrattions! The skill Mana Transfusion has leveled up. Mana Transfusion Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Transfer one point of mana per second to objects. Cost: 01 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Even if I increase my recovery and mana, I won''t have enough arrows to kill three hundred goblins by myself in less than one hour," Ryan muttered. "Still¡­ that asshole will probably join the battle once I begin themotion, so I won''t need three hundred arrows." Ryan wasn''t that confident that a single arrow on the heads would be enough to kill the goblins. Still, he allocated the status points he had into mana and recovery. He couldn''t afford to run away again, so he would have to kill as many goblins as possible. Chapter 34 - Sniper Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sleep Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of tiredness and spells that might induce you to sleep by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan felt a little better after learning that skill, but he was still exhausted. It wouldn''t be weird if, at some point, his body gives uppletely, and he falls asleep during the next battle. Not only that, but Ryan also had to worry about his goals. His first goal was to free Daniel''s father, and the second was to enter the goblins'' dungeon. However, how would he kill the goblins so exhausted? "I will leave my future problems, for the future me¡­" Ryan said and then shook his head. Since he wouldn''t have time to pick the arrows one after the other from his quiver, nor did the quiver had enough space for one hundred arrows. Ryan aligned them in a straight line near the goblins'' camp. While shooting, he would be exposed, but as long as he fires them fast enough, he wouldn''t be surrounded¡­ possibly. "I guess this uncertainty is the price I have to pay for not cooperating with Daniel," Ryan said and then massaged his eyebrows. "I wonder what mother would have done in this situation¡­ she liked both of them quite a lot, so I can imagine her forgiving Daniel and Mia and even forcing me to find reasons to make me do the same." That kind of thought was dangerous before a battle, so Ryan shook his head and then prepared himself. He was one hundred meters away from the goblins'' camp, and the only thing he could do to attract them was to use me Arrow and burn their fences. Unfortunately, he couldn''t exaggerate, or he might burn the prisoners as well. Fifty minutes after talking with Daniel, Ryan took a deep breath, and when his focus reached the peak, he fired me Arrow. As expected, his arrow flew in a straight line and hit the fence. A few secondster, the whole fence was on fire. Ryan didn''t know if it was thanks to his power or if the material they used was really that mmable. Either way that worked well for Ryan. Some goblins appeared and then tried to extinguish the mes with some buckets of water, but they got hit by wooden arrows and then were forced to stop. It was kind of surprising that Ryan could hit enemies from so far away, but since they were close to each other, Ryan was only tried to draw their attention; he didn''t get impressed. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Art of Sniping. Effect: Increases the chance of hitting targets over long distances when they are not aware of your presence by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "A skill like Arrow Shower would reallye in hand at times like this, but I can''t get ahead of myself," Ryan said while he was quickly picking the arrows and shooting them. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. Much to his surprise, one of every two shots were killing a goblin. Still, Ryan had to keep concentrated because the goblins finally noticed his presence and were heading toward him. He didn''t know if that was their max speed, but they could run ten meters per second. Things would beplicated if he doesn''t kill at least one per second, but Ryan could always burn the entire area if the worsees to the worst. However, it looked like Ryan wouldn''t have to worry about that. In the distance, he saw Daniel''s group approaching. Since they were noisy, the goblins quickly noticed them and were forced to split their forces into attacking Ryan and Daniel''s group. Ryan didn''t know why, but only twenty goblins headed toward him while thirty headed toward Daniel''s group. He only noticed why when he saw that the mes were burning half of the fences of the camp. Goblins were trying everything they could to stop it. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. Ryan suddenly received those notifications when he was nocking an arrow. Hisst attack didn''t kill a goblin, so he received those coins because the fire he started killed two others. "It is only obvious, but I guess all humanoid monsters are weak against fire," Ryan said. Ryan didn''t know why he was so calm, considering that ten mad goblins were running toward him, but hisck of worry only increased when his arrow hit the head of a goblin and killed the beast. It was probably because those monsters were dumb enough to run at him in a straight line, and thanks to it, he couldn''t imagine himself missing the targets. Still, that happened two times¡­ and when four goblins were twenty meters away from him, he was forced to use me Arrow and burn the grass in front of them. Goblins grunted in pain when the grass began to burn in front of them, automatically burning their bodies. Of course, they didn''t burn to death in just a few seconds, but Ryan bought enough time to fire four arrows and hit their heads while they were rolling on the ground. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. Concentration Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Increases the chance of dealing a critical hit by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill me Arrow has leveled up. me Arrow Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 20%. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ I just hope that the prisoners managed to escape in the middle of the confusion," Ryan said while he was watching the fences of the camp falling and burning. It looked like Ryan had gone a bit too far, so he could only pray that he didn''t cause any death among the prisoners. Chapter 35 - Meeting An Old Acquaintance As expected, Daniel''s group managed to defeat the goblins before Ryan killed those who tried to attack him. Even before the second group could be sent to deal with the invaders(humans), they were already entering the camp. "¡­ Figures, those idiots can''t use their heads not even a bit," Ryan clicked his tongue while he was picking his arrows. It couldn''t be helped since Daniel was worried about his father and Ryan''s attack doomed the entire camp, so he also hurried to the camp in order to finish the goblins there. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. Even without fighting, Ryan was still receiving coins. It was useful to know that he could indirectly obtain coins like that, but Ryan would avoid causing too much destruction if he could. Flying monsters might appear at any minute since the camp was about to be a massive bonfire, after all. "Son of a bitches¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. Since the vige was blocking his field of vision, Ryan didn''t notice, but many goblins were retreating to the dungeon. For the good or worse, they were rtively smart monsters, so they knew very well the battles they couldn''t win. Given that there was a goblin boss at the end of the dungeon, it was only natural that they would head there. Regardless, that was a problem forter. Ryan had to finish off the ones who didn''t escape yet. Once he crossed the burning gates of the camp, Ryan saw Daniel, Mia, and the other four protecting a group of six wounded survivors. They seemed pretty beaten down, so they couldn''t help. Still, it wasn''t necessary¡­ the goblins that tried to approach them got split in two by Daniel and the other guy. "¡­ They can deal with that, so I can focus on doing my own things," Ryan said and then begun his hunt. Around one hundred fifty goblins managed to escape to the dungeon, but the vige''s remaining died. Ryan didn''t know why he felt so worried a few hours ago. Despite their aggressiveness, goblins were pretty dumb. Perhaps their numbers and the fact that they could scare the crap out of anyone since they were ugly was the cause of their danger level. Regardless, Ryan managed to kill thirty of them just by burning the fences, and he killed thirty others. Although he obtained a lot of coins, his skills didn''t level up all that much since he used some tricks. ss: Hunter Lv 03 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 13/13 (0, 0350) Mana: 06/19 (0, 0350) Stamina: 18/20 (0, 0350) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 30 (+11) Speed: 21 (+3) Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 (+3) Mentality: 07 Luck: 06 Recovery: 18 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 579 Status: 04 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 05, Concentration Lv 05, Archery Lv 05, uracy Lv 04, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 02, Precision Lv 02, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 02, Meditation Lv 02, me Arrow Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, Sleep Resistance Lv 01, "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Fortunately, the weapons the goblins used survived the fire, and some of them even dropped some items. So, Ryan collected the loot and organized it in the center of the vige while Daniel and Mia were looking after the wounded prisoners. Old Ring of the Hunter Effect: Increases the user''s dexterity by three points. Durability: 09/20 Rustic Gloves Effect: Increases the user''s dexterity by four points. Durability: 09/20 "One hundred fifty goblins died, but I didn''t find the same number of pieces of equipment¡­" Ryan frowned. "I guess some of the goblins didn''t have a single item with them. In any case, even though I probably won''t use it, I should take a rustic knife and a rustic spear in order to learn Knife Master and Spearmanship." It was a bit weird, if not suspicious, that the goblins didn''t have a single armor or even shield, but Ryan decided not to think too much about it. He obtained two items that increased his dexterity, so he obtained a lot more than he had expected. As for the rest of the items, he decided to leave them behind since he couldn''t carry everything or sell it at the dungeon shop. However, after he turned around, Ryan saw Daniel and Mia approaching alongside the other survivors. He had a really hard time, not clicking his tongue in front of Daniel''s father. He was a man in the middle of his fifties, so one could easily see the signs of the age. Some white hair, wrinkles¡­ However, one could also see someone who trained his body for decades. Ryan could easily imagine him taking down a few goblins with his bare hands before he got knocked down by them. "You are¡­ Ryan, right?" Daniel''s father asked. "Boy, I barely recognized you." "¡­ Long time no see, Mr. John Smith," Ryan said. "You changed¡­ I heard what happened to your parents, so I guess it is only obvious," John said, a bit surprised while looking at Ryan. "Did something happen? I still think that you changed a bit too much¡­ before you looked like a very happy and funny young man, but now¡­ you make me recall your father when he suddenly returned after a few days of a difficult hunt. Come to think of it¡­ Daniel mentioned that you and Mia were engaged, but you two, now are¡­ I guess I shouldn''t pry." "Yeah¡­ you shouldn''t," Ryan said and then massaged his eyebrows to control his anger. "Anyway¡­ I wish you good luck, from now-" Ryan said but then was forced to stop when a sh suddenly appeared east of there. Everyone noticed the sh and then looked in that direction, trying to see what happened, but they found nothing. However, after a few minutes¡­ even from very far away, they could see a mushroom cloud been formed¡­ a nuke just had been used. Chapter 36 - Seeking Power Ryan felt his body growing cold when he understood what had happened. In that direction, even though it was very far away, there was a big city¡­ he had been there a few days prior. Thanks to it, Ryan didn''t want to believe in what just had happened, but it was evident¡­ Das had been nuked. Although he didn''t have a single memory aside from his parent''s funeral from that city, it still was important to him because of that, but¡­ Das was no more, and his parent''s tombstones had been destroyed alongside everything. Everyone, even Ryan''s mouth, stayed wide open for several minutes. They only stopped when a powerful st of wind passed by them and almost made them fly. "This much power from such a distance¡­" John said, bit his lips in frustration. "A hydrogen bomb¡­" "Are you serious, father?" Daniel asked, his face was pale as a ghost. "Yes¡­ It is the only exnation," John replied. "Our city got attacked by a few dragons, but it looked like so many dragons appeared in Das that someone decided to destroy the entire city to get rid of them." "But the people there¡­" Daniel said. "I know¡­ I can''t believe in this either," Smith clenched in his fist while thinking about the number of people that had been sacrificed to kill the monsters. All normal means ofmunication stopped working, so only powerful, and influential people could have decided to use a weapon like that on American soil. Washington probably had been attacked by even more dragons, so he couldn''t believe that the president had issued such an order. Still, he couldn''t discard that chance, just like he couldn''t discard that someone could have hacked the nation''s whole defense system and used one of those weapons. Either way, knowing who push the button wouldn''t make things different. None of the people there would be able to find or question who took the decision. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Rage Lv 2 ? Lv 4 Effect: Sacrifices temporarily four percent of your mana, intelligence, control, mentality, and willpower to increase your health, stamina, strength, endurance, and speed temporarily by the same amount. You obtained 02 status points. Ryan was also aware of it, but still knowing that wasn''t enough to make him control his anger. Without wasting time, Ryan headed toward the dungeon. Everyone frowned when they understood what he was about to do, but then again, they didn''t try to stop him. "Ryan, what shall we do with the items we obtained?" Daniel asked. "Are you sure you don''t want anything else? We all know that you deserve at least half of the spoils." "You can eat the weapons if you want," Ryan replied without turning around. "Or you can give them to people more capable of stopping when you try to do something stupid again. Your tracking skills suck, so you should work together with more people for them to cover your back. I manage to follow your group for half an hour without even trying to erase my presence." For a while, John, Daniel, Mia, and everyone else watched Ryan entering the dungeon without a hint of hesitation. First, he stopped at the entrance to buy something, but then quickly disappeared into the darkness. As if she had been holding her breath the entire time, Mia took a deep breath and lowered her head before letting some tears flow. "He really does look like his father," John said. "Paul was intense like that before he got married. I don''t know what you two did to him but, you should¡­ wait, don''t tell me¡­" John opened his eyes widely when he connected all the dots, he couldn''t question Mia since he didn''t know her all that much and she just fought to rescue him, but he red at his son without thinking twice. Without much of choice, Daniel avoided his father''s gaze¡­ he was a full-fledged man, but he didn''t have a single exnation he could give him. "You idiot¡­ how could you do something like that?" John asked while he was trying to control his anger. "If the world weren''t in this case situation, I would have punched you right here and right now, and you would be forced to eat porridge for the rest of your life." John wasn''t all talk, so Daniel could easily imagine that happening. However, they weren''t in a situation that they could afford to wound each other. Monsters had appeared all over the world, and they barely escaped the dragon''s rampage. Weirdly enough, they escaped because they had heard of Ryan''s parents'' death and were looking for him since he didn''t answer their calls. "Let''s return¡­" John said, and then sighed. "We have to finish our camp before nightes." "What about Ryan?" Daniel asked. "Does he look like someone who needs to be helped?" John asked. "But¡­" Daniel insisted. "Use your head once a while¡­" John said. "He wants to be left alone for a while since many things happened so fast. In any case, he looks exhausted, and I don''t intend to leave the son of a friend alone with the world in this state." "Does that mean¡­" Daniel said, surprised. "Yes¡­ apparently Ryan was looking for this ce when he found you," John exined. "I don''t know when he learned to use magic, but it looks like we can learn one or two things from him. So, I think we should bring our things to this ce." "I guess we really do need information," Daniel said. "Also, an archer like Ryan would be a fine addition to our team." "Good luck convincing him of joining this group," John frowned. "Maybe in the past, he was a kid who would forgive you, but not anymore. He lost everything he cared about, and now he found something to fill the emptiness inside him." "And that is¡­" Daniel said. "Power¡­ I can see in his eyes someone who is trying to find the power to live in this new world," John said. "Anyway, thanks for rescuing me¡­ you stupid son of mine." Chapter 37 - Unknown Creature Even though they hurried, Daniel and his group didn''t manage to return to the area where the goblins'' dungeon was before sunset. Fortunately, John had a lot of experience while moving at night without using a single light source. Despite the fact that there was no moon that night, he led his son and ten other survivors back to the area. They thought they would be attacked several times by monsters, but not a single creature appeared, probably because it was too dark for them, or it was because that territory belonged to the goblins. In any case, they were confident that they could survive the attack of most monsters now that they had some weapons that strangely made them feel more powerful. It was around midnight when Daniel left one of the sleeping tents. Since they couldn''t create a campfire because that would reveal their position, he was covered from head to toe with a single nket. Although he was exhausted, he couldn''t sleep knowing that Ryan was inside the cave fighting alone¡­ the same was happening to Mia, who was looking at the dungeon''s entrance, hoping to see a sign of Ryan leaving the ce. "He is alive, don''t worry," Daniel sat beside Mia and then whispered. "If that weren''t the case, goblins would be leaving the dungeon at this very moment." "I know¡­" Mia said while he was hugging her knees. "I was just thinking about how he looked at us early. I could never have imagined that Ryan could feel and show so much hate toward someone. He looked at us as if¡­" "As if he was serious about exploding my head with a magic arrow," Daniel forced a smile. "Well, you always knew that he was an intense guy¡­ but he never showed that many times because it was easier for him to just smile at about every single thing. In any case, you can solve things with him. You just have to exin it." "I wonder¡­" Mia showed a self-deprecating smile. "I lost my mother and got depressed. I tried to drink away my sorrows, and then¡­ we ended doing something that cannot be undone. Meanwhile, Ryan lost both of his parents at the same time and then saw us and what he did? Nothing. He just decided to take some time alone." Daniel lost his mother when he was just ten years old, so he could understand how Mia felt when her mother died of a heart attack. She never met her father, so he tried to help her, but then ended up drinking too much, and then they slept together and did the deed. Mia didn''t even tell Ryan what happened because he just had graduated from college and found a good job. He was happy, and she didn''t want to end his happiness. Her intentions were good, but she messed up along the way. "After this incident, I understood that I''m not a good person," Mia said. "After thinking for a while, I concluded that he wouldn''t understand me because he had both of his parents and had a normal family¡­ it was just an excuse, of course, but it was my own stupid way to react to it. Ryan never did a single thing that made me angry or sad. If anything, I can only remember him being understanding and supportive even when I faced small problems¡­ I took that for granted and became spoiled, and because of it, we are in this situation while the world is ending¡­" "Still¡­ you should talk to him," Daniel said. "There is no exnation for what I did, but perhaps you can at least make him stop hating you. Ryan is a good guy. We know that." "¡­ I will try, but I don''t think he will hear someone who can''t look at him in the eye," Mia said. "Then, just look at him in the eye," Daniel said. "That is a problem easy to solve." "I''m not you, Daniel," Mia said. "Maybe you can live with the image of Ryan''s eyes full of hatred, but I can''t." "¡­ That isn''t easy for me either, you know," Daniel said after sighing, "But as I said, there is no exnation that I can give him, but you can. Regardless, he probably won''t stay in this ce for long. So, you have to make up your mind as soon as you can. Anyway, it would be best if you slept for a while. Tomorrow is an early day, and father will want to explore that dungeon the very moment Ryan appears. Although you are improving, you still need to increase your uracy¡­ now that I think about it, Ryan taught you how to use a bow, right? Maybe we should buy a bow like the one Ryan has." "The one he is using belonged to his father," Mia said. "The other is too weak and probably won''t be of any use on my hands. I''m still inexperienced¡­ a crossbow would be a better option, but I think it will be more expensive. Regardless, even if I try, I don''t think that I will be able to fall asleep." Daniel sighed when he heard that. He also wouldn''t be able to sleep in that situation., so he decided to keep Miapany. Time passed slowly since nothing happened after several hours. Still, both of them managed to keep themselves focused because now and then, they would hear the squeak of a pterodactyl crossing the skies. It was weird for them to obtain a skill without doing anything, but thanks to the location, darkness, and theirck of movement, they fooled all monsters that passed nearby and learned the skill Stealth. In the end, they had to stay awake until sunrise to see any sign of movementing from the dungeon. Both Daniel and Mia knew that his father had trained Ryan to be a hunter, but they still couldn''t believe that he could spend the night in a monsters'' nest. Regardless, they opened their eyes widely when they saw a monstrous figure covered in blood and dirt from head to toe, leaving the dungeon. Chapter 38 - New Weapon When Ryan entered the dungeon, the first thing he did was to check the cheapest crossbow he could buy. As expected, it was a wooden crossbow that didn''t have many details, but at the very least, it was more powerful than the bow his father gave to him. Wooden Crossbow Effect: Consumes two points of mana to create a wooden dart. Dexterity + 5 Durability: 35/35 Price: 200 coins Without thinking too much about it, Ryan bought the crossbow. Although the mana consumption would berger than the wooden bow, it wasn''t a problem big problem considering that the crossbow could auto-reload by consuming his mana. In the end, Ryan just has to aim. "Just in case, I will use the status points I just earned," Ryan opened his status screen. Since his recovery had be bigger than his mana and stamina, Ryan decided to put some points into them to equal things and then used the remaining points to increase his dexterity. It would be like spending energy, doing nothing recovery energy every ten minutes while his body was unable to keep all the energy. ss: Hunter Lv 03 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 13/13 (0, 035) Mana: 21/21 (0, 035) Stamina: 21/21 (0, 035) Strength: 07 Dexterity: 32 (+11) (+12) Speed: 21 (+3) Intelligence: 06 Endurance: 07 Control: 06 (+3) Mentality: 07 Luck: 06 Recovery: 18 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 379 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 05, Concentration Lv 05, Archery Lv 05, uracy Lv 04, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 03, Precision Lv 02, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 02, Meditation Lv 02, me Arrow Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, Sleep Resistance Lv 01, "This should be enough¡­ now I just have to see if Power Shot can be used with crossbows as well," Ryan muttered. Since Ryan was in a hurry, he decided to make the test against the goblins, thanks to recent events. If they had a functional brain, John, Daniel, and Mia would understand that using a dungeon to be strong wasn''t an option. It was a necessity. So, the likelihood of them deciding to create a camp near the dungeon was high. Ryan was fully aware that he would end up exploding one of his veins if he sees Daniel and Mia on a daily basis again. Although he never got so much angry before, he could feel that his anger was making his blood put a lot of pressure on his brain. So, it was in his best interest to clear that dungeon as fast as possible. "That big slime was more than a few times stronger than the ordinary ones," Ryan muttered. "Even if goblins can''t use magic, I can''t underestimate the boss of this dungeon. I don''t know why, but their danger level is higher for a reason¡­" Regardless, that dungeon was a bit different from the slimes'' dungeon. Conveniently enough, Ryan could see some crystals illuminating some parts of it. Those were crystals that he found in the dungeon shop, so it was safe to assume that the goblins bought them. The other differences were the fact that he could feel that the path was slowly moving downward, and the dungeon had many intersections. "Find the end of this dungeon will be a pain¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. "Well, at the very least, that does mean that I can find the goblins in several ces instead of just one." Even though Ryan was in a hurry, he was fully aware that he would have to grind for a while before challenging the dungeon''s boss. Usually, it would be a pain to do that as well, which was even truer considering how tired Ryan was. Still, since leveling up and see his status growing was also exciting, it wasn''t much of a problem for Ryan to stay awake and fight during the whole night. Congrattions! The skill Sleep Resistance has leveled up. Sleep Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of tiredness and spells that might induce you to sleep by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. After finding the first intersection that split the path ahead in three, Ryan chose the one on the left side. Although he could see some small signs of the goblins'' footsteps on the ground, and most of them choose the path of the middle, he decided to follow that path for thest since he needed to see how powerful and useful that crossbow was before using it against the goblins'' main force. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tracking. Effect: Increases the chances of finding signs left by monsters on your surroundings by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ Thanks, father," Ryan said afterughing meekly for a few seconds. If it weren''t for so many things his father taught him, Ryan knew that he wouldn''t have survived the battles of that day. Even after his death, he was still helping Ryan in unexpected ways. He had learned a lot of passive skills, and since they didn''t consume mana or stamina, Ryan didn''t have to worry about running out of gas. Not only that, he still could level them up with rtive ease. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t let himself lose focus in enemy territory. It has been a while since the goblins left the dungeon, so it was clear that they were building their numbers in order to build their camp again. Fortunately, Ryan soon found the dead-end of that path and a group of goblins resting there. Ryan changed his opinion of them¡­ only a bunch of stupid monsters would sleep soon after the battle and, in a ce, where the enemies could invade. Without wasting time, Ryan shot the wooden darts on their heads. Chapter 39 - Massacre Crossbows were a bit louder than bows. Even so, since they only made a sound for a fraction of a second, Ryan killed nine of the ten goblins without waking up any of them. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Ryan had a hard time convincing himself that he just obtained forty coins without doing anything crazy. However, given his light-headiness, he actually had to pay the price. His mana was almost empty. "Crossbows are convenient, but everything has a price¡­" Ryan muttered while he was preparing to kill thest goblin. After concentrating for a second, Ryan felt his stamina being drained. Power Shot could actually be used with that kind of weapon, it was surprising, but Ryan wouldn''tin since it was convenient for him. In any case, after firing the tenth dark, Ryan regretted it a little. His attack destroyed the goblin''s head, and that wasn''t a good sight for him¡­ even though Ryan had killed dozens of animals while hunting before, he trained to do so in order to avoid making them feel unnecessary pain and make the hunt needlessly bloody. "I need to train Power Shot, but I guess I will do it by using the wooden bow," Ryan muttered while he looked for drops. Goblins and all the other monsters were the enemies of the human race, at least for the time being. They were at war, so there was no point in feeling depressed over the enemy''s death. However, Ryan was a hunter, not a soldier. So, even though he obtained the power to fight monsters, it would take a while for him to get used to causing overkills. In any case, that group of goblins didn''t drop anything. However, they had three rustic knives, so Ryan stored them in his backpack. After that, he began to meditate in order to restore his mana. Even if he had a powerful weapon, without mana and stamina, Ryan was essentially useless against monsters, after all. Congrattions! The skill Meditation has leveled up. Meditation Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Restores three points of mana per minute. You obtained 01 status point. "I wonder if there is a way to restore stamina faster like this¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "It is not like sleeping can be a skill¡­ right?" It would be too weird if that were the case. Then again, everything that was happening to Earth was weird. So, one or two more crazy things happening wouldn''t surprise Ryan or everyone else. In any case, after his mana was full again, Ryan returned to the intersection and followed the path on the right since he could some signs of goblins'' footsteps there. This time he found a group in which one of the goblins was awake and watching the surroundings. The creature had enough time to wake up the rest of the group with its grunts before Ryan finally could see them with his eyes, so he didn''t have much choice but to fight them while eight goblins were running toward him. "There is no other choice¡­" Ryan muttered and then pointed his left hand toward the creatures. Ryan fired a me Arrow and then burned the face of one of the goblins. Since he was leading the group, his fall slowed down their charge, and Ryan had enough time to kill four goblins before they could get too close. But in the end, he had to grab his short spear in order to protect himself. Still, when the three remaining goblins leaped to attack Ryan. one died before it couldnd any attacks thanks to a dark on the head. Half a secondter, the crossbow was ready to be used again, but Ryan didn''t have time to aim. So, instead of attacking, Ryan used his short spear to block both goblins'' charge. Even though the spear increased his strength a little, Ryan wasn''t strong enough to stop both creatures in mid-air. His body and left arm got pushed backward, but at least that bought him enough time to aim with his crossbow. The remaining goblin still managed to grab Ryan''s left arm and prepared to bite him since the creature didn''t have a weapon, and Ryan focused on killing first those who did have weapons. However, before the creature''s mouth could get too close, a knife pierced its ear and damaged its brain. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spearmanship. Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Knife Mastery. Effect: Increases damage when using knives by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Phew¡­ that was a close one," Ryan sighed in relief. "I knew it wouldn''t be easy to clear this dungeon, but I didn''t expect to see monsters from up close while they are alive." Even though Ryan decreased by a lot the amount of time he needed to prepare since the crossbow could reload automatically, the number of goblins was just toorge. Although that was already impressive, he could only shoot two darts per second. Unlike the slimes'' dungeon, that one had too many bifurcations, and not a single path was a straight line, so Ryan couldn''t always attack first. Ryan probably could use magic faster than that, but he didn''t have enough mana even to y all the goblins that were spawning, much less to in the one hundred fifty goblins that ran to the dungeon. "No drops again¡­" Ryan sighed. "Two more knives and two short spears¡­ loot is loot, but with whom can I trade these?" Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t carry that many weapons once he clears that dungeon, so his only option was to negotiate with Daniel, Mia, and John. Just thinking about it was enough to make his head throb. In any case, Ryan grabbed the items and his backpack and then put them near the entrance since he was tired of carrying so many things. Chapter 40 - Preparations It wasn''t easy, but Ryan had to adapt to the situation. The goblins divided themselves into groups of eight to ten, and they took residence in the dead ends of the dungeon. Since it was difficult just to stop moving and shoot, Ryan was forced to learn how to shoot while running backward. His aim wasn''t steady, so his uracy decreased quite a bit. Rapid Shot could help him with that, but since that would increase mana''s cost, he wouldn''t be able to y all the goblins before running out of mana. Congrattions! Your ss, Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 5 ? Lv 6 You obtained 01 status point. "In the end, it looks like my only option is to be a magic archer or something," Ryan frowned. "I doubt that this will be thest time I will face a simr situation, and I''m pretty sure to create more powerful arrows, I will have to spend more mana." Little by little, Ryan was beginning to understand that he wouldn''t be able to increase only his dexterity. Raw power was important, but not to waste time producing arrows and bolts, he would need more mana, and he can''t recover mana faster without recovery. Also, he wouldn''t be able to aim faster without speed¡­ for the time being, he was neglecting his health, but that was dangerous. It wouldn''t be weird if Ryan ends up finding a monster that can one-shot kill him with ease. "If I want to keep fighting alone, I will need more spells like me Arrow, and that means¡­ that I will need more mana," Ryan said and then sighed. "A splendid vicious cycle indeed." Fortunately, his skills were leveling up quite fast, so that was one of the things that were helping Ryan to stay focused. In order to be able to use Rapid Shot, Ryan used those points he obtained and increased his mana. It was annoying to run and use a long-ranged weapon simultaneously; besides, it was much better to use a skill since it could level up, be more useful, and even grant Ryan status points. After that, the battles got much easier. Even though the enemies were less than ten meters away from him when he found them, Ryan managed to kill the goblins before they could get too close. He had to spend all his mana during these battles, but that was only obvious. However, after killing the one hundred fifty-five goblins that escaped to the dungeon, he began to find some empty dead-ends around midnight. "I don''t like this¡­" Ryan said. At the same time that happened, Ryan didn''t find any more footsteps on the ground. That only meant one thing, he had killed all the goblins that escaped, but the ones who had been spawning for thest seven hours didn''t leave the end of the dungeon. Maybe the number of goblins that were spawning there was lower, but Ryan wouldn''t bet on that. Aside from the boss, Ryan imagined that he would have to face the boss and more than two hundred and fifty goblins at the end of the dungeon to clear it. However, that was impossible. Even though he got stronger and he was exhausted, Ryan was sane enough to understand that he wouldn''t be able to do it. In fact, approaching the end of the dungeon at that moment would be a death sentence for Ryan. "Now then¡­ what should I do?" Ryan asked while rubbing his chin. Ryan had a few ideas about how to solve that problem. It would be hard to seed with his level of power. Ryan''s first idea was to rely on Rapid Shot, but since he couldn''t level up the skill without fighting, he discarded the idea. He could duplicate his firing power by buying another crossbow since that weapon didn''t have a powerful kick, but even so, he didn''t have enough mana to use it even a single crossbow non-stop for more than a few seconds. The better option would be to solve the situation with magic, but Ryan only had nine hundred coins, and the cheapest tome was three thousand coins¡­ In the end, Ryan was forced to discard that idea as well. In the end, he decided to use the same strategy he used early. He aligned his arrows in a straight line and put them on the ground five meters away from each other. "I don''t know when the goblins will leave the end of the dungeon, but in a confined space like this and with my arrows aligned, I will be able to kill them without letting them get too close," Ryan muttered. "¡­ probably." Congrattions! The skill Meditation has leveled up. Meditation Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Restores four points of mana per minute. You obtained 01 status point. Two hourster, Ryan had created four hundred arrows, and they were ready to be used. He was so exhausted that he decided to sleep while he waits for the goblins to appear. However, the image of four hundred goblins running toward him didn''t let him fall asleep. Still, Ryan had no idea what he could do to scare or at the very least slow down an army of goblins. Still, after thinking for a while, he had an idea¡­ he would use the corpses of the goblins he killed. Chapter 41 - Wall Of Corpses Ryan had to work for two hours before he could create a massive barrier of corpses on what seemed to be the final tunnel that would lead to the end of the dungeon. Even an army of goblins wouldn''t be able to destroy that wall of corpses faster than Ryan could kill the goblins, and considering that there was just a small bifurcation that the goblins could use to reach him, Ryan was certain that he would obtain enough time to increase the corpses on that barrier. "If they hurry, only three will be able to cross that bifurcation, one at a time, would be perfect, but I guess hoping for that would be too much," Ryan shrugged. Despite being covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, Ryan felt rxed after working hard. On his right side, there was a pile of corpses¡­ a very scary sight, but Ryan still decided to sleep for a while. However, it looked like he wouldn''t be able to rest. Suddenly the ground began to tremble, and Ryan also started to hear the sound of footsteps. "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan sighed and then got up. "Why my life has to be so difficult¡­" Ryan picked the first arrow and aimed at the bifurcation, it didn''t take long for the pile of corpses begun to tremble as well, and soon after, the first goblins appeared in that bifurcation, but the creature became part of the barrier when an arrow pierced its head. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. Concentration Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Increases the chance of causing critical hit by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. The next goblin soon appeared, but Ryan was already five meters away from his previous position and had picked his next arrow. When the creature had passed the bifurcation, the creature also received a warm wee and joined the barrier. Things got a bit moreplicated after that since the other goblins finally noticed that there was an enemy nearby. Three goblins suddenly appeared in the bifurcation. Ryan wouldn''t be able to kill those three at the same, nor did he want to do that using his crossbow. Instead of that, Ryan shot just one dart and fired me Arrows. The creatures began to burn quite nicely since Ryan had aimed at the clothing instead of their faces. After that, Ryan shot another me Arrow at the middle of the pile of corpses where he had put all the clothes he had taken off from the goblins. The mes spread easily thanks to it, and soon all the pile of corpses was burning. "I guess this made all the traumatic work of seeing the goblins naked worthwhile¡­" Ryan covered his mouth for a second since he felt a short wave of dizziness. "I feel like puking just by thinking about it¡­" You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Ryan didn''t know what their clothes were made of. Probably they used the hide of some monster that was weak to fire since the pile of corpses begun to burn the goblins at an astonishing pace. However, Ryan knew he couldn''t rely on that¡­ the more the goblins passed the bifurcation, the weaker the mes got. After just a few minutes, Ryan was back to his job of picking arrows from the ground and shooting at the mad goblins running toward him. "I guess this is better than seeing dozens of them running toward me¡­" Ryan smirked. He was exhausted, and if he could, Ryan would sleep on the ground, but at that moment, he was too excited to care about his tiredness. Although he was fully aware that he shouldn''t feel excited in that situation, Ryan couldn''t help but do so. Even though a single mistake could lead to his death, he also could feel more alive than any moment he could think of¡­ the moments where he triumphed over his enemies were the moments where he could feel truly alive. Ryan''s mind was bordering madness, but he couldn''t care less about it. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Precision has leveled up. Precision Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the chance of causing a critical hit by one percent per level on the targets, the longer the battlests. You obtained 01 status point. Although Ryan was excited, his mind was working enough to make him understand that little by little. The goblins were getting closer. So, he put all the points he obtained in speed. Despite that, nothing changed all that much because the enemies weren''t getting faster, but Ryan was getting slower, even though he wasn''t using stamina to use skills. His stamina bar was full, but it wasn''t working properly since his body was at the limit. That being said, only his legs were getting heavier and slower. His upper body was still working like a machine. As if every single muscle of his arms had been oiled, every single of their movements was extremely fluid and only used the necessary amount of strength. Not only that, after nocking his arrows, Ryan immediately could see the line connecting his arrows to the heads of their targets, so he didn''t have to waste time aiming. If Ryan could have recorded that scene while watching, he would have said that he had been possessed by some kind of spirit. He didn''t remember a single time where he hit so many moving targets so fast. Still, the current Ryan wasn''t worried about that. He was only thinking about picking the next arrow and shooting when it was possible. Ryan didn''t know how much time had passed, but at some point, the goblins just stoppeding. He could see dozens of arrows behind him. So, he was pretty sure that some of them were still alive. He waited for a while, but no monster came, nor could he hear their approach. "How boring¡­" Ryan sighed. Chapter 42 - No Luck The very moment Ryan rxed, he began to feel the terrible state his body was in. Despite that, he didn''t retreat. After picking a few arrows, he followed the corpse''s trail, trying to see if the goblins had dropped something. Old Might Ring Effect: Increases the user''s strength by three points. Durability: 20/20 Old Hard Ring Effect: Increases the user''s endurance by three points. Durability: 20/20 Old Wisdom Ring Effect: Increases the user''s intelligence by three points. Durability: 20/20 "No luck this time again, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Well, at least the goblins had some weapons so I can trade them¡­ter¡­" Ryan reached a point where keeping his eyes open was already painful, so after picking those rings and equipping them, he headed toward the entrance of the dungeon. He needed to sleep, but he couldn''t do that inside a dungeon. So, he left the ce, walking like a zombie. Thanks to his appearance, Daniel and Mia opened their eyes widely when Ryan showed himself. However, he didn''t even recognize them. All he could see were some dark silhouettes. Ryan headed toward the destroyed goblins'' camp and then looked for something that he could use to cover himself. The first thing he found was the top of one of the jails that had been used to lock John and the others. After falling on the ground and putting that piece of wood over himself. Ryan slept like a rock. Ryan didn''t know how many hours had passed, but the very moment his consciousness begun to work properly was the moment that he woke up and got up. The memories of the previous day were still vivid in the head of the half-asleep Ryan, but then he frowned when he recalled the battle against the goblins and couldn''t feel his body was itchy. His pants were a bit dirt, but he wasn''t sleeping under a piece of wood, and he wasn''t covered in dirt and blood. Someone had cleaned him¡­ "Tsk¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue because he could imagine how he did that. "I have to learn a skill that can let me keep myself aware of the surroundings when I sleep." Ryan was still in the center of the destroyed goblins'' camp, but someone had built a tent over him and also made put a nket under him. Being treated nicely like that by the ones he hated was annoying in many ways, but he couldn''tin. It was their way of repaying the favor of the previous day and for the weapons. "You woke up sooner than I expected," John said. "I bet you are hungry¡­ today on the menu; we have some cold sandwiches." Ryan turned around and saw some sleeping tents behind him. Inside one of them, Ryan saw John and other people sitting cross-legged. Two of them were the ck-haired women who had been rescued the previous day. The other was the tall guy who Ryan threatened. "No, thanks," Ryan said and then grabbed his backpack. "I have my own food and water." Ryan wanted to eat something warm, but he wasn''t crazy enough to make a fire in an open space like that. It was already a miracle that monsters hadn''t attacked him while he was sleeping since some colorful sleeping tents were near him, but he didn''t want to test his luck even further by making a campfire. In any case, Ryan decided to eat only to shut up his growling stomach and not for the taste, and he did it so while he was checking his status. Even after killing hundreds of goblins, he didn''t obtain a single item that would help him considering his fighting style, so he allocated the points he obtained into luck. He didn''t know if that would increase the chance of obtaining drops, but it was the only thing he could think of to improve that situation. ss: Hunter Lv 04 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 13/14 (0, 0416) Mana: 21/25 (0, 0416) Stamina: 21/23 (0, 0416) Strength: 07 (+3) Dexterity: 33 (+14) (+12) Speed: 24 (+4) Intelligence: 06 (+3) Endurance: 07 (+3) Control: 06 (+4) Mentality: 07 Luck: 09 Recovery: 22 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 2121 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 05, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 01, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 06, Concentration Lv 06, Archery Lv 06, uracy Lv 06, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 03, Precision Lv 02, Swordsmanship Lv 01, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 01, Tracking Lv 01, Spearmanship Lv 01, Knife Mastery Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 02, Meditation Lv 04, me Arrow Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, Sleep Resistance Lv 02, "Even after all that fighting, I don''t have enough coins to buy a single tome," Ryan bit his lips, annoyed. "Magic is convenient for a reason, but the price to learn spells isn''t cheap." While Ryan was mumbling to himself and checking his status and skills, he felt that someone watched him. That was a bit annoying, so he turned around again and saw John, the tall and two women looked at him for some unknown reason. "¡­ Can I help you with something?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you know more about what is happening," John replied. "At least more than we do, so I would like to exchange the information we have." "I only know what I experienced," Ryan shrugged. "Don''t expect to understand what is happening just by asking me. Still, I guess something like that is necessary¡­ The others will want to hear what I know. Where are they?" "They will return soon," John replied. "It is their turn to train in the dungeon." Ryan was quite impressed that John and the other were already taking turns while training in the dungeon. However, given that they obtained a lot of weapons from the goblins the previous day, it wasn''t that unexpected. Chapter 43 - Complete Refusal After ten minutes, Daniel, Mia, a red-haired guy, and two teenage girls that Ryan couldn''t remember appeared. Again, he really had a hard time controlling his feelings, but he managed to stay calm even though he saw Mia with a copy of his crossbow. It wasn''t that surprising that she had enough coins to buy a weapon like that after the battle of the previous day, and considering that he was the one who taught her the basics of archery, it was only obvious that she would do that. "¡­ With the money, my parents left me, and with some savings I had, I decided to buy a hut in a mountain two hours away from here," Ryan begun to exin the things that happened to him from there. "I needed some time alone after losing his parents¡­ but when I reached the house yesterday morning, the dragons appeared in the sky and then that earthquake¡­." Ryan told the things that he learned after that, but he decided to keep some events hidden. For example, he didn''t tell them about Cole and his group, the other survivors, or even Tristan and his sister. "So, we can get ss that can make us stronger and even obtain skills by defeating the boss of the dungeons?" The tall guy asked. "Possibly," Ryan replied. "¡­ That arrow made of magic, you learned when you picked your ss?" The tall guy showed a slightly annoyed expression. "Which ss did you choose?" "I wonder¡­ which ss did I pick again?" Ryan tilted his head and rubbed his chin. "I can''t remember." "You¡­" The tall guy got up and didn''t try to hide his anger. "Calm down, Adrian," Daniel said. "We are in a situation where every single bit of information about us can be used against ourselvester. It is only logical that we can''t tell every single person about our skills and sses." "Why?" Adrian asked. "Think about it¡­ let''s say that you choose a ss that increases your health quite a bit while I choose one that increases my mana instead of health," Daniel said. "What would happen if a group of humans attacks us? If they know about my ss, they focus on killing me first and then leave you alone for a while. Not revealing this kind of information will grant us a great advantage. Eventually, we will have to fight in a certain formation, and that will reveal a lot about us, but that can be done after surprising the possible enemies." "I see¡­" Adrian nodded. Ryan knew about that but only answered his questions vaguely because he wanted to annoy Adrian. In any case, John and the others didn''t have any valuable information¡­ they met around noon the previous day a convoy of cars that were heading toward the opposite direction of Shreveport, and they told him that a horde of velociraptors attacked the north side of the city, but only that. "Well then¡­ I told you guys what I learned, so the conversation is over," Ryan said. "You guys can use the dungeon as much as you want during the day, but at night, only I will use it." "Hah, who said that you could decide that?" Adrian frowned. "I already decided it," Ryan said. "Besides, you only slept soundly this night thanks to me, right? What will happen if I leave this ce before you guys can obtain the necessary power to fight the goblins without taking turns? Do you think a group of nine people can kill almost one thousand goblins every day? If the goblins decided to hide again inside the dungeon, you would be able to fight against a small army of them there?" "Ugh¡­" Adrian bit his lips in exasperation. Ryan was fully aware that he was acting like an asshole, but being sociable was the least of his worries at the moment. Besides, he already did a lot of favor to them, letting them have dozens of weapons that belonged to the goblins. It was true that he had no use for them, but it didn''t change the fact that they obtained useful weapons thanks to him. "Ryan, we should work together," Daniel said. "You are right. We should work together," Ryan nodded. "But do I want to work together with you? Not really." Daniel was left speechless after hearing that. He never imagined Ryan would say something using a mocking tune like that. Still, he couldn''t just give up after hearing a single no. "You got strong, Ryan. But this isn''t a question about strength," Daniel said. "This is a matter of survival. Strength isn''t anything when you need to sleep. Even if you can use magic, you won''t wake up when an enemy tries to ambush you. Even if you do, you won''t be able to react on time." "What happened today won''t happen again. It only happened because I didn''t sleep in four days," Ryan said. "Besides, no monster would look for a human in a destroyed ce like this and under arge piece of wood." "Didn''t you see the dragons? Who knows whates next?" Daniel insisted. "Maybe you will be fine against velociraptors, goblins, slimes in a ce like this. But what if all this crazy shit changes our world, maybe some worms won''t mutate and be grotesque creatures, but there is a chance that there is a dungeon out there spawning giant earthworms." "Even if that is happening at this very moment, I won''t change my mind," Ryan said. "If I could choose, I would rather be being eaten alive by the equivalent of Cthulhu in this world than teaming up with you." "Ryan, when did you be so unreasonable?" Daniel frowned. "Don''t let his crazy idea of power blind your judgment!" "Dude¡­ are you really that interested in how many ways different ways I can say fuck off?" Ryan shrugged. "Rather than waste time doing something pointless like this, you should y with the goblins while you can. I will leave this ce the exact moment I defeat the boss." Chapter 44 - Iron Crossbow Daniel still tried to convince Ryan for quite a while, but in the end, he gave up since Ryan was meditating and creating arrows. He couldn''t hunt goblins while John''s group was hunting, but he could always keep training. Congrattions! The skill Meditation has leveled up. Meditation Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Restores five points of mana per minute. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Mana Transfusion has leveled up. Mana Transfusion Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Transfer three points of mana per second to objects. Cost: 01 mana You obtained 01 status point. After creating one hundred arrows, Ryan marked some trees and used those marks as targets, but before doing that, he tried to transfuse his mana into those trees, but in the end, he failed. "I guess objects that have mana aren''t the only things I can''t give my mana," Ryan said while he was scratching the back of his head. "I guess Telekinesis doesn''t work that way¡­" Ryan didn''t know how, but he wanted to learn how to produce the arrows himself. Although he could level up his Mana Transfusion just by using his bow and crossbow effects, he was quite certain that it would be much more efficient to learn the skill himself. Not to mention, he would obtain status points. "In any case, why can we see and use the status screen, but we can''t use an inventory?" Ryan said, a bit annoyed while he was carrying his arrows. "Whoever created this system, it wanted to make humans fight, but they didn''t want to make things that convenient for us." Regardless, even though it was a pain in the ass, Ryan couldn''t leave that area where the dungeon was since he had to kill the goblins if John''s group failed while hunting. So, he would have to endure being watched by Daniel and Mia. Before trying to test his power, Ryan decided to see how well he could fare against targets that were fifty meters away from him. Much to his surprise, ny-five of the hundred arrows hit the targets. Ryan was satisfied, but that much wasn''t enough to make him get ahead of himself because those targets weren''t moving. "Well, let''s see how powerful can be my full-powered Power Shot¡­" Ryan said and then readied his crossbow. With his current stamina, Ryan would be able to concentrate on the attack for seven seconds, so he did it. Unpleasant wasn''t enough to describe the feeling of having stamina being drained so fast, but that had been worth the hassle. Although he only shot a simple wooden dart, his shot damaged the three quite a bit and made the branches tremble for a few seconds. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by six points per second. Cost: 3.5 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "I see¡­ so it is possible to train offensive skills outsidebat," Ryan said, a bit surprised. "Still, even if I can, it only means that practicing against a target is more efficient." Congrattions! The skill Rapid Shot has leveled up. Rapid Shot Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: You can shoot an additional arrow. The number of arrows will increase every ten levels. Cost: 02 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Dash has leveled up. Dash Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases your speed by two points per level. Cost: 0,6 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan spent the afternoon confirming that theory. It was a bit troublesome to spent so much energy, but since he leveled up those skills without putting his life at risk, Ryan couldn''tin. Half an hour before sunset, Ryan decided to wash his clothes and wear the spares that he had. However, since there was no pond, river, orke nearby, Ryan just stored his clothes inside his backpack. That would make him throw away his backpack and clothes much sooner than expected, but it couldn''t be helped. "I guess I should learn Water Arrow next¡­" Ryan said after he changed clothes and was walking toward the dungeon. "If I hit against a tree or rock, the water would still be usable afterward¡­" It was a bit crazy, but Ryan couldn''t help but think of using magic to solve that kind of misceneous problem. His goal was to be a magic archer, so it wasn''t like that would be a total waste of time, after all. Ryan arrived just on time to see John''s group leaving the dungeon, so he headed straight to it without even stopping at their camp. "Hey, Ryan!" Daniel shouted. "Come dine with us before you enter the dungeon." "Fuck off¡­" Ryan said without raising his voice. Ryan still had a water bottle and some cookies left to eat. It was the only things he found at Cole''s house that didn''t need to be cooked. However, soon he would have to worry about his meals as well. It wouldn''t take long for his health to degrade if he keeps eating only cookies. Maybe he could eat monsters, but Ryan certainly didn''t want to eat something humanoid, so goblins were out of the question. "I wonder if dragons taste good¡­" Ryan said while he was checking the dungeon shop. "Even if the pterodactyls don''t taste like chicken, I would dly eat them If I could. They look tastier than velociraptors, at the very least." Ryan wondered if he should buy some rings that increase his dexterity. Since he wanted to kill the boss as soon as possible, he didn''t discard the idea of doing it that night. However, Ryan changed his mind when he saw the price of the next crossbow. Iron Crossbow Effect: Consumes five points of mana to create an iron dart. Dexterity + 8 Durability: 45/45 Price: 3500 coins "Why is the price almost eighteen times higher than the previous one?" Ryan asked, annoyed. "Is the system trying to mess with me?" Chapter 45 - Herculean Strength Ryan would be able to buy a tome with three thousand coins and thus obtain some status points, but without a new crossbow, he didn''t know if he would be able to defeat the boss of the dungeon. Even if he keeps increasing his dexterity, he would need a weapon that could increase or at the very least show the same amount of power he could disy, and it was clear that the wooden crossbow couldn''t do it. "The iron crossbow will be necessary¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "Not only the darts will be more durable and certainly won''t break before hitting the enemy, maybe I can even reuse them." Maybe that wasn''t a good idea given that the bolts would de dirty with the blood, and the smell might lure other monsters, but considering the cost of mana, perhaps he wouldn''t have any other option. Regardless, Ryan forgot about that problem because he could hear some goblins approaching. The creatures weren''t waiting anymore at the end of the dungeon; instead, they were trying to leave in groups of six, probably because they saw the mountain of corpses that Ryan left. Ryan didn''t even wait for the monsters, he headed toward them, and when they finally appeared, he put three wooden bolts in their heads. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ He didn''t know if it was because he put some points into luck or if it was just coincidence, but Ryan finally found an unexpected drop¡­ a tome. After opened his eyes widely in shock, Ryan touched the tome, and then the tome disappeared, and he received a notification. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Herculean Strength. Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level temporarily. Cost: 01 stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "How unexpected, so we can learn skills like this too¡­" Ryan said, visibly surprised. "Well, even though this skill won''t help me all that much for the time being, it will eventually." In any case, that skill finally made Ryan recall that he forgot to learn martial art skills. After ten minutes, Ryan found another group of six goblins, and he decided to leave one half-death to use as a guinea pig. At first, he hesitated in doing that, but when he recalled those creatures did the same to John and the other prisoners, his hesitation disappeared. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Martial Arts. Effect: Increases damage when attacking by using kicks and punches by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan hoped to learn that skill soon, but he only learned when the goblins died of blood loss. It was the result of him hitting the goblin''s limbs with his bolts¡­ Ryan once more understood that he could learn some skills after a fight. Regardless, even though Ryan tried some karate, Muay Thai, and judo moves, he only learned that skill. "I guess it would be weird if the system could recognize every single martial art as a different skill," Ryan nodded to himself. "In any case, maybe I should keep doing this¡­" Although Ryan could defeat six goblins pretty fast, he had no intention of challenging the boss for the time being. He was heading to the end of the dungeon just to take a peek, after all. Regardless, since he didn''t know what the boss might do if the creature hears another goblin screaming, Ryan decided to begin his experiments near the dungeon''s entrance. After immobilizing the limbs of another goblin, Ryan began to train his Spearmanship and Knife Mastery. However, in the end, Ryan gave up after a single minute¡­ trying to train his skills against a monster that couldn''t defend itself was no different than torture. Although the goblins were vicious little devils, Ryan didn''t have the stomach to do the same thing as them¡­ not yet, anyway. Ryan couldn''t care less about their opinions, but John, Daniel, and Mia managed to hear the grunts and the screams of the goblins. They could easily imagine what Ryan was doing, so they also felt shivers. Still, they sighed in relief when the sound stopped because that was the sign that Ryan didn''t lose his head. "I guess I still need to improve my mindset¡­" Ryan massaged his eyebrows. "We are at war, monsters won''t hesitate in torturing us, so I can''t afford to show mercy¡­ That is easier said than done." Hunting animals was easy since he would do so for their meat and hide, even though he lived in times where he didn''t need to hunt¡­ Regardless, such thoughts disappeared when Ryan finally arrived at the area where he had killed thest goblin¡­ because he didn''t find anything there. "Did John and the others get rid of the bodies?" Ryan frowned. "They didn''t mention that¡­ it is also weird that I can''t see any sign of blood." It was weird, but it looked like the goblins'' corpses just vanished in the air¡­ In any case, given the recent events, Ryan wouldn''t get surprised if their bodies had turned into particles of light. However, if that happened, why didn''t it happen when he was nearby? Ryan sighed because he was forced to stop his thoughts, thanks to the appearance of another group of goblins. Fortunately, their arrival gave Ryan another idea. Ryan killed four of them and then decided to fight with his bare hands against thest goblin. That creature didn''t have weapons, so it would be the perfect test subject for Ryan. As expected, Ryan hesitated to punch the goblin''s face since the creature could try to bite him. However, even though his strength wasn''t impressive and Herculean Strength was at a low-level, Ryan was still heavier, and he had the advantage against the short goblins. "Just to be safe¡­ I should always hit their chins first before going for the kill," Ryan muttered. "After shaking their brain, it will safer for me to fight those vicious bastards." Chapter 46 - Sandbags Ryan''s n worked even more than expected. Although he couldn''t cause much damage, punching the monsters'' chins made them turn into sandbags. They didn''t have experience in enduring damage, so it was only obvious that something like that would happen. Congrattions! The skill Herculean Strength has leveled up. Herculean Strength Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level temporarily. Cost: 01 stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Martial Arts has leveled up. Martial Arts Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases damage when attacking by using kicks and punches by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan had to do that more than a few times to level up the skills¡­ Still, giving that it wasn''t his area of expertise, he felt thankful for the level-ups. However, he would have to take a break because he finally found the end of the dungeon. As expected, thest part of the dungeon was very simr to the area where Ryan fought the boss slime. The ceiling was twenty meters above the ground, and even though the space was round, it was exactly one hundred meters long in all directions. Ryan also found a treasure box, a purple crystal, and a big goblin in front of it. "Is that a hobgoblin?" Ryan frowned. Ryan knew that goblins could evolve into other species that weren''t green, but he didn''t expect to see red blood-like goblin from up close. All the goblins Ryan found so far were bald and didn''t have any armor, but that one was wearing a chainmail and even had a round iron shield. He also had long ck hair. As if that wasn''t enough to make the creature look terrifying, the monster was sitting cross-legged as if it was waiting for something. A long single-edged silver sword was resting on his legs, and that one looked leagues above any weapon Ryan had seen so far. "This will be hard. Not even iron bolts will pierce his skin with ease," Ryan bit his lips. "If I focus too much on attacking his head, he will always protect it with his shield." Maybe a full-powered Power Shot would do the trick if Ryan uses an iron crossbow, but then again, that would leave him vulnerable. The hobgoblin looked physically fit, so Ryan could easily see him running at a speed that would give Ryan a lot of trouble. A single mistake would cost Ryan his neck, and in the worst-case scenario, he would get split in half from head to toe. For the good or the worst, Ryan had a vivid imagination. "Well¡­ I have to buy the crossbow anyway, and I will only have enough coins a few hours before sunrise," Ryan said while he was retreating. "I might as well try this tomorrow at night. It will be a pain to spend another day here, but it is not like I have any other choice. That asshole said that the idea of power blinded me. That isn''t true." Ryan didn''t know why the boss didn''t leave the area around the purple crystal when they did not even try to protect those objects properly. They were powerful enough to kill hundreds of humans in just a few minutes, so that fact only made things even more confusing. Still, it wasn''t like finding an exnation for that would solve the whole Earth''s problem, so Ryan didn''t have to think too much about it. He only had to focus on defeating the next boss and then obtaining his next ss. Since Ryan had some time between the battles, he also repeated some processes. He did level up Herculean Strength and Martial Arts. However, this time he trained other skills using the weapons the goblins left behind. Congrattions! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up. Swordsmanship Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases damage when using swords by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Knife Mastery has leveled up. Knife Mastery Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases damage when using knives by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. Spearmanship Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan spent the night hunting goblins while hoping that they would drop some decent item that would help him. He even increased his luck a little more in order for that to happen, but his luck wasn''t that good. To make matters worse, he didn''t level up the skills that would help him in that situation¡­ he tried, but since the goblins were too weak for his weapons, it didn''t work. "I guess this is it¡­" Ryan said when the sun was rising. "I will have to rely on the iron crossbow and perhaps on some mana potions to kill that hobgoblin." Although Ryan had enough coins to buy the crossbow, he decided not to do that yet. He might have a better idea during the day, and he would need those coins if that happens. Regardless, John, Daniel, and Mia were waiting for him at the dungeon entrance, but he only nodded before leaving the ce without saying a single word. So many things happened so fast that Ryan had forgotten about the motorcycle, so he headed toward the location where he had hidden it hoping that it would still be there. Fortunately, it was¡­ it looked like monsters were only good at tracking people and not vehicles. "Well, if they were good at that¡­ it would be way too weird," Ryan shrugged, and then he began to move the motorcycle toward the dungeon. However, Ryan suddenly stopped when he had an idea¡­ he found a way to make the battle against the hobgoblin a little easier¡­ Chapter 47 - Weirdo After parking the motorcycle near the dungeon, Ryan returned to the high road and then followed the direction that would lead him back to Shreveport. Using the vehicle would be faster, but Ryan wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible since he wanted to return before sunset. Besides, that was the perfect moment for him to train his Stealth and Dash. Bybining the two, he would be able to move without making much noise, and that kind of ability was what he needed now that the world had who knows how many dungeons spawning monsters every single minute. Congrattions! The skill Dash has leveled up. Dash Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases your speed by three points per level. Cost: 0,7 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Stealth has leveled up. Stealth Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases the chances of you causing critical damage when attacking first by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Fortunately, Ryan managed to train his skills quite a bit in just one hour. He also found a gas station in the middle rtively small residential area a few kilometers away from Shreveport. However, something was off¡­ Ryan couldn''t tell what exactly was off, but he could feel that the ce was weird. He could see some signs of blood near the houses and some¡­ human parts lying on the ground. Again, he was having a hard time controlling his upset stomach thanks to that sight, but at the very least, Ryan couldn''t see any monster nearby. "It didn''t look like things could be even worse¡­" Ryan muttered while looking where Shreveport was supposed to be. Ryan couldn''t see the city per se, but he could see from that distance several smoke screens rising to the skies until they all found themselves in a single ce and then headed in the same direction. Ryan was fully aware of where the smoke screens wereing from. They wereing from several gas stations in the middle of the city¡­ maybe that was why Ryan was feeling weird while observing that one. After a while, Ryan concluded that he was being watched. Even though some of the houses nearby had been destroyed, others looked pretty much fine and closed tight. If humans were watching him, it wasn''t a problem as long as they didn''t try to do anything to get his weapons. However, Ryan couldn''t confirm that¡­ He had some skills, but none of them could help him confirm that. "Oh, well¡­" Ryan shrugged. "I can''t spend all day here worrying about what might happen or not." Gasoline doesn''t have a long shelf-life, and given that dragons were prioritizing for some reason destroying gas stations, Ryan made a mental note to use that kind of fuel as much as possible. With his current speed, he could move a little faster than most vehicles, but he couldn''t keep that speed for even a minute. So, it was only obvious that he had to rely on other vehicles. Ryan approached the gas station and the convenience store near it. As expected, the ce had been ravaged by what seemed to be giant bees. Ryan couldn''t see signs of them, but he didn''t find food either, so he concluded that it was their fault. He would have to find food and water somewhere else, and he would prioritize anything that wasn''t cookies. "Why did they even take the water bottles and even soda?" Ryan frowned. Based on what Ryan heard from Tristan, giant bees could eat humans. Still, they also could eat human''s food¡­ which was very suspicious since other monsters like velociraptors and pterodactyls only hunted humans. Besides, they were focusing on storing food more than anything else. "I don''t like this¡­" Ryan muttered. Despite his worries, Ryan decided to finish the job he came to do. After collecting some stic bottles, he filled them with gasoline. Although he couldn''t suddenly increase his me Arrow''s power, he could make the messt longer by using that fuel. Suddenly, Ryan began to hear something approaching. He looked in all directions, but he didn''t see anything. Despite that, the sound was increasing, and Ryan began to sweat cold, imagining himself have to fight an invisible enemy. However, such thoughts disappeared when Ryan saw a remote-control car crossing the street and moving toward him. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. Ryan had yed around with remote control cars in the past, but that one made him recall those that were used inpetitions. The speed was pretty impressive, and as if that wasn''t enough, he could see four small cameras at the top of the toy. It had been custom made¡­ and considering the four cameras, it had been made rather recently by someone who was aware of the monsters'' existence. It was only obvious that those who were still alive were aware of their existences, but¡­ The remote-control car stopped in front of Ryan, and then its cameras moved to the left side two times in forty-five degrees. Since before moving the second time the cameras returned to the original position, Ryan concluded that whoever was controlling that toy wanted to make Ryan follow it. However, Ryan ignored it. "No sense in meeting a weirdo¡­" Ryan said. With the world in that state, humans had to stay together whenever possible to fight the monsters. Ryan wouldn''t mind helping a few other people like he helped Tristan and his sister. However, those who were too afraid to leave their homes when the world was in such a state wouldn''t be of any help. That was cruel; indeed, Ryan was fully aware of it. However, he already had decided that he wouldn''t die trying to y the role of the hero and saving people. Again, he would do his best to help the human side, but only the things that he judges necessary. "Do-don''t ignore me¡­ pipsqueak!" A kid''s voice came from inside the remote-control car. Chapter 48 - Shock Ryan was a bit surprised when he heard the voice of a kid, but such thoughts onlysted for a fraction of a second. Without a hint of hesitation, he approached the remote-control car and stepped on it with all his might, and only stopped when the toy had beenpletely destroyed. "It is toote to notice that, but I don''t really like being called short¡­" Ryan frowned. "It is not like this is the first time this happened, but in the past, I never took that too seriously¡­ Anyway, I guess I went too far. What kind of adult destroys a kid''s toy after hearing something like that?" In any case, it was a bit toote to worry about that. After storing the stic bottles in his backpack. Ryan began to look for a house that had cameras and quickly found a big one. He used the tall walls of that one to observe the gas station early and he didn''t notice that that ce had vignce cameras. "Good grief¡­ being a decent person is a massive pain in the ass," Ryan sighed. Despite being in what seemed to be an ordinary residential area, that house really stands out. The walls were five meters tall and Ryan could see two vignt cameras in all corners of the terrain. There were no blind spots¡­ not only that, but the house also had three floors and seemed pretty new. The owners were probably rich and their kid was the person who was controlling the remote-control car. Regardless, it was close to a miracle that that house hadn''t been destroyed by monsters. Even though the walls were tall, Ryan was pretty sure velociraptors could find a way to climb it and there are also the pterodactyls. "Hey, can you hear me?" Ryan said while he was waving to one of the cameras. "Those cameras look pretty expensive so they can capture sound. What do you want from me? As an apology for breaking your toy, at the very least I will hear you out." "¡­ I want you to find someone for me," A voice of a girl came out from the cameras. "¡­ My parents¡­ they left two days ago¡­ and didn''t return." Ryan massaged his eyebrows because he imagined something like that. The monsters didn''t attack that house because they didn''t feel any presence there. Since she was a kid, her presence was weak. In any case, Ryan didn''t even have to ask, he already knew that her parents worked at Shreveport. However, he had no intention of going there and if they didn''t return in two days, that means that they will never return. "Oh man¡­ what should I do here? Tell the inconvenient truth or lie to a kid?" Ryan looked around and saw the marks of blood even in front of that house. He didn''t have to lie because that kid had seen with her eyes what the monsters were capable of. It was unfortunate, but even kids would have to grow up a bit faster if they wanted to survive with the world in that state. "The chances of your parents being alive are low, and you know that¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Unfortunately, I can''t look for them, I don''t want to die yet and unless you have lived under a rock in thest few days, then you know why I don''t want to go." "¡­ My parents have money¡­ if you protect them, they will reward you¡­" The girl insisted after a few moments of silence. "What am I doing here¡­" Ryan sighed again. "This is a waste of time¡­ Look, your parents won''t return anytime soon. In fact, as I said, the chances are that they won''t return. I will say this just once. You won''tst long here¡­ the dragons will eventually destroy all the big cities and then they will continue their work in areas nearby those cities. I won''t guarantee that you will find them someday, but you won''t find them by dying here¡­ just leave a message behind and thene with me. I know some people that can look after you¡­ while you wait for your parents." ss: Hunter Lv 04 /--/-- Race: --/--/-- Rank: -- Health: 13/14 (0, 05) Mana: 21/2 (0, 05) Stamina: 21/28 (0, 05) Strength: 07 (+3) Dexterity: 33 (+14) (+12) Speed: 24 (+4) Intelligence: 06 (+3) Endurance: 07 (+3) Control: 06 (+4) Mentality: 07 Luck: 13 Recovery: 27 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 3721 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 06, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 02, Rapid Shot Lv 02, Herculean Strength Lv 02, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 06, Concentration Lv 06, Archery Lv 06, uracy Lv 06, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 03, Precision Lv 03, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 01, Tracking Lv 01, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 02, Martial Arts Lv 02, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 03, Meditation Lv 05, me Arrow Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 01, Heat Resistance Lv 03, Sleep Resistance Lv 02, Ryan didn''t receive an answer, but he still waited for a while checking his status and allocating the status points he obtained. In the end, after five minutes of waiting, Ryan gave up. He had hoped too much waiting for a kid to understand the current situation. It was a pity to leave a kid to rely on her own luck, but Ryan couldn''t do anything more than that. Force her to leave her house and then leave her in John''s hands? That was insane¡­ However, the very moment Ryan began to walk, the gate of the house opened. Ryan approached but didn''t see anyone there. He didn''t know how the gate could work when he couldn''t see any sign of electricity in that area, but those thoughts disappeared from his head when he began to hear the sound of a wheelchairing from the house. Chapter 49 - Message As if the world in that state wasn''t dangerous enough for a kid, the girl also couldn''t walk. Ryan looked to the sky for a moment and asked why everything was happening. Not even when his parents passed away, he asked why something like that had to happen to him. Regardless, the girl had short blond hair, was wearing sses, and she was pale like a ghost. Ryan didn''t know why, but it looked like she didn''t leave her house all that much. To confirm that, her limbs were thin, so thin that Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if she had a decent meal in weeks. Her parents had a good house, and she was worried about them, so it was hard to believe that they mistreated her. Besides, she had some expensive toys. Speaking of toys, she only left the house carrying the clothes she was using, aptop, and an exact copy of that remote-control car. "My name is Ryan," Ryan said. "I guess I''m a former PE teacher. What is your name?" "Zoe¡­ I''m twelve years old," Zoe said, avoiding looking at Ryan in the eye. "Sorry about the things that I said earlier¡­" Ryan sighed while he massaged his eyebrows. "Anyway, did you leave the message to your parents? I also think that you should carry with you some things more useful than that." "I didn''t leave the message because I don''t know where you are taking me," Zoe said. "Besides, these can be useful. Even though you managed to avoid the monsters of the area, you didn''t notice being followed by it." Ryan frowned, he thought he felt weird because of the cameras, but it was because of those toys. Regardless, he didn''t know how Zoe could use them considering the current state of the world. Still, if she could use herptop and that remote-control car to investigate some areas without putting herself at risk, then those weren''t totally useless. "There is a dungeon a few kilometers away from here," Ryan exined. "A group of people who lived in Shreveport is currently taking refuge there¡­ they are good people, so they can help you while you wait for your parents. There are monsters nearby, but they are strong enough to keep the monsters away from you." "How can they protect me? How humans fight those monsters?" Zoe asked with some tears in her eyes. "If that were possible, my parents would have returned by now¡­" "Well¡­ it''splicated," Ryan scratched the back of his head since he didn''t have any idea how to exin the system to a kid. "Are they using those statuses and skills to fight monsters?" Zoe asked. Ryan got caught off guard but soon recovered from the surprise. In the end, Zoe looked like a smart kid, so it wasn''t that surprising that she could connect the dots. Besides, if he had done anything that could be recognized by the system, she probably learned a skill or two. "We can talk while we move toward the camp¡­" Ryan said and then begun to push the wheelchair. "Just don''t scream if we find a monster, I can deal with them¡­ probably. Anyway, did you learn any skill in thest two days?" "Yes¡­ I learned Craft and cksmith when I was creating this one," Zoe pointed at the remote-control car in herp. "After that, building others became easier, and the skills also leveled up. Both Craft and cksmith are at level ten." "Leven ten?" Ryan asked, shocked. That was surprising. At some point, Ryan decided that he would learn those, but since he was too focused on getting his next ss that he totally forgot about it. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t understand how Zoe could have leveled up those skills up to level ten so fast. Based on his experience, skills leveled up faster by fighting against monsters while others were slower. Besides, it was just weird that she could learn cksmith by making a toy. However, soon Ryan understood the meaning behind it. It was because she did everything by herself¡­ she even managed to make the circuits and made it work in a frequency that herptop could control the toy. "I didn''t think kids learn this kind of thing at elementary schools nowadays¡­" Ryan frowned. "¡­ I didn''t learn at school," Zoe said. "I learned by myself." "I guess this is even more, impressing that you have time to learn this while going to school," Ryan said. "¡­ I don''t go to school," Zoe said. "Home-schooling, huh?" Ryan said. "I don''t have much experience as a teacher, but¡­ oh well, if you and your parents are fine with it. Who am I to question? Anyway, haven''t you wondered how is frequently a school?" "I¡­ went to school, but then I stopped when I was nine," Zoe said. "Why?" Ryan asked. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he wasn''t a hypocrite. As ofte, thest thing he wanted to involve himself with other people, so it wasn''t his ce to question that any further. However, even though he didn''t have much experience, he learned that some social interactions were important, even more, when someone was as young as Zoe. One had to experience many things before deciding if that was good or bad, after all. Otherwise, kids could turn into adults that would hate things without a logical reason. "I was bullied¡­" Zoe replied. Ryan sighed. No wonder Zoe barely could look at him and the eye, and she had to make some long pauses between sentences. Since she didn''t mention it, she probably was alone in that house and stayed like that for the whole day while her parents worked. "Aren''t you going to ask why?" Zoe asked. "No¡­ I already know why," Ryan said. "It wasn''t because of my legs¡­" Zoe said. "I didn''t think it was because of that," Ryan frowned. "I thought it was because you were a smart kid who liked to stay alone messing with yourptop instead of ying with other kids." "¡­ It was because of my eyes," Zoe said and then looked at Ryan for the first time. Zoe had light blue eyes. It was a pretty tone, so Ryan couldn''t understand why she would be bullied because of that, but then he noticed that her right eye was slightly pointing toward his ear instead of his eyes. Chapter 50 - Forced Training "¡­ Kids these days sure can notice the small differences and be cruel about them," Ryan said. "Don''t worry too much about it, ok? It is barely noticeable. Besides, you are probably smart enough to understand that some kids only have bad temperaments because they are stupid." "¡­ I know that, but¡­" Zoe hesitated. "Is that something a teacher should say?" "I''m a former teacher¡­" Ryan shrugged. Ryan was a bit too sincere while talking with a kid, but in the end, that was for the best. For the time being, Zoe couldn''t look after herself, but she would have to learn how to do that eventually, and she had to start that as soon as possible. Conveniently enough, Ryan began to hear a buzz¡­ a giant bear was approaching even though they were about to leave the residential area. "If you didn''t use any of the status points you obtained, I rmend to use them to increase your dexterity and control," Ryan said and then passed his crossbow to Zoe. "Here, use this. The kick isn''t strong, but you still should use your shoulder. That will help you to stabilize your aim." "What?" Zoe asked, dumbfounded. "A giant bee is approaching, and you need to kill it," Ryan said. "Instead of waiting for your parents, you can also obtain the power to look for them¡­ it will take a while, but it isn''t impossible to achieve it." Ryan knew that he was a bit irresponsible. Maybe that was an understatement. However, instead of trusting her life to the hand of strangers, it would be better for Zoe to obtain the power to defend herself. Ryan doubted that John would let her fight the goblins, but the skill might help her when the timees. "What are you waiting for?" Ryan asked. "Prepare yourself¡­ if you saw the dragons, then you know that all humans must have to fight to survive from now on. Calm your breathing and cool your head. If you do so, you will be able to aim with more ease." Suddenly the giant bee appeared from the tall grass on the tall grass on the highroad side. Zoe panicked and soon forgot about Ryan''s words. Fortunately, she still grabbed the crossbow and tried to aim but failed miserably since she trembled like a leaf. "Wh-what if I miss?" Zoe asked when she saw the monsters approaching in a straight line. "Then shoot it again," Ryan replied. "What if I miss again?" Zoe raised her voice. "¡­ With that kind of attitude, there is no way that you will hit the monster," Ryan sighed. "I''m here for that. Still, I won''t kill the bee until you try." Although she was trembling like a leaf, Zoe pulled the trigger, and the wooden bolt passed two meters above the bee. The creature slowed down when it noticed that it couldn''t dodge the attack but eventually elerated again. "See? If you aim properly, an enemy of that level won''t be able to dodge the bolt," Ryan said. "Since the target can''t escape, you can defeat it¡­ as long as you focus and don''t get afraid, you can do it." Zoe was about to shout and ask who she would do that when the crossbow didn''t have another bolt, but then suddenly she felt her energy being drained, and another wooden bolt appeared. Despite her fears, that alone made her so surprised that she forgot about the fear of death¡­ something magical just happened in front of her, after all. Zoe recovered from the surprise, and this time, she aimed properly without trembling all that much. However, she didn''t hold her breathing, and a sudden movement of her shoulder changed the bolt''s trajectory. Still¡­ the wooden bolt still hit the right-wing of the creature. The giant bee began to fall, but the creature managed to keep itself flying. "Finish it," Ryan said. "It should be easier now." "¡­ Isn''t it enough?" Zoe gulped. "That thing can''t attack us anymore." "¡­" That thing would think twice before attacking you or your parents," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Knowing that, would you still leave that monster alone?" Ryan''s words made Zoe imagine with a scary precision the scene of her parents being killed by a giant bee¡­ the creatures pierced their heads with their sharp sting. Even though that scene only passed insider her mind, it had been enough to make Zoe tremble even more than before. "Cool your head and just think of this¡­" Ryan said. "By defeating that monster, not only will you be protecting yourself, but you will also end up protecting other humans who might have been killed by that monster. You don''t want to do this; most people don''t want to do it either. However, you are only pulling the trigger because you want to prevent your death¡­ it is okay to fight for your life. Don''t feel bad about this." Ryan felt a bit worried, wondering if he was going too far in teaching a kid how to kill monsters, but then again, it was better to teach someone how to fight than not do anything and regretter if she dies. Zoe still hesitated quite a bit since she was a good kid, but she pulled the trigger when she felt that she wouldn''t miss it. The bolt pierced the chest of the bee, and eventually, the creature stopped moving. "You can rest now¡­ I can carry the crossbow," Ryan said and then took back his weapon. "You need to practice a lot more, but crossbows aren''t that difficult to use¡­ as long as you have mana." Ryan saw Zoe getting even paler when they passed by the giant bee''s corpse, but at the very least, she didn''t cry. She was only scared that now she was living in a world where she had to do that, and she had no idea if her parents were still alive. Ryan was almost one hundred percent sure that they weren''t, but he wouldn''t be the one to crush her hopes. Chapter 51 - Friends? In the end, the sound of the wheelchair attracted many monsters, even pterodactyls. As expected, Zoe trembled more and more when a new monster appeared, but at the very least, she obtained enough coins to buy her own crossbow. Not only that, she learned Eagle Eyes, Concentration, and Archery. So, with a few days of training and experience, she would be able to protect herself from the monsters of that area¡­ as long as she has mana. Regardless, Ryan returned to the dungeon at noon. He was exhausted because teaching was much more tiresome than fighting. Not only that, he pulled an all-nighter. So, he couldn''t wait to find a good tree and sleep with his back against it. "Mmm?" John frowned when he saw Ryan pushing a girl in a wheelchair amidst the tall grass. "It looks like you went for the residential area nearby. By the way, who is this little girl?" "Her name is Zoe¡­" Ryan replied. "The new member of your team, for the time being, she will need to train alone for a few days. After that, she will be skilled enough not to hit your back with bolts." "Are you serious, Ryan?" Daniel asked and then suddenly left one of the sleeping tents. "Do you want to make a kid fight?" "I don''t want to," Ryan replied. "But I can''t look after her either. Can you swear to protect her from all monsters?" "How can I swear something like that?" Daniel showed a pained expression. "You can''t, and you shouldn''t," Ryan said, a bit annoyed. "Her parents were working at Shreveport when the dragons appeared. Since then, they didn''t return. We can''t rely on the government either. In this kind of situation, she has only two options, put her life on the hand of strangers for an undetermined amount of time, or do that just while she obtains the power to protect herself." Mia also suddenly left one of the sleeping tents, and as usual, she avoided Ryan''s gaze, but she approached Zoe and patted her head. "It is okay," Mia said and then smiled. "We can help each other, don''t be afraid." Zoe also avoided her gaze, but at the very least, she nodded. Since Zoe didn''t interact much with other people in thest three years, she was a bit afraid of strangers, but not as much as she was afraid of monsters. That being said¡­ killing a few of those monsters boosted her confidence slightly, so Ryan was certain that soon she would open up to that group. Besides, Mia was a kindergarten teacher. If anything, she knew how to look after kids. "She already has enough coins to buy a crossbow," Ryan said and then turned around. "Time is of the essence, so the more she practices, the sooner she will help you with the goblins. You guys look like shit, so I bet you need all the help you can get." John sighed, and Daniel just shrugged. They really seemed exhausted, but hearing that didn''t help them. Fortunately, Adrian wasn''t nearby, or thatment could have started a fight. Regardless, Ryan sat on a nearby tree and then began to rx. Since he was well-hidden thanks to the branches and leaves, he was confident that he wouldn''t draw the attention of any flying monsters. Zoe would since she would have to practice in an open space, but John, Daniel, and Mia were there to give her support if necessary. "Ex-excuse me¡­" Zoe said, having difficulties looking at so many unknown adults in the eye. "All of you know Ryan? Are you, his friends?" "I guess¡­ in a sense¡­" Daniel forced a smile. "Why would he say so many mean things to his friends?" Zoe asked. "Well¡­ it isplicated," Daniel scratched the back of his head. Zoe looked at Mia, hoping to hear a proper answer, but that only made her look extremely sad. In the end, Zoe decided not to ask about that again. She was smart enough to understand that things wereplicated in that group. In the end, she spent the afternoon learning more things from Mia since she was also an archer. Even though she learned everything from Ryan¡­ Regardless, since Ryan didn''t obtain many status points or learned a single skill that day, he decided to wake up a bit earlier instead of sleeping until sunset. He probably wouldn''t use those, but he crafted a few arrows in order to learn and level up a new skill. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Craft. Effect: Increased production speed and the quality of things made by you by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Craft has leveled up. Craft Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increased production speed and the quality of things made by you by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "I don''t have anything that can help me learn cksmith, so I guess I will do thatter," Ryan said. "In any case, I thought cksmith would be a ss instead of a skill¡­ well, maybe there is a skill and a ss with both names." Ryan didn''t rest all that much, but at least that extra time gave him the chance to analyze that his n had a few problems. First of all, maybe he could kill the hobgoblin by using gasoline. However, that would, without a doubt, damage the monsters'' equipment. He probably didn''t have enough strength to use the sword, but he still could use the shield and the chainmail. Maybe the shield would escape unscathed, but the chainmail, the equipment he would need most, would definitely get destroyed. "What a waste¡­ well, it is like I have any other option," Ryan sighed. Ryan didn''t have enough power to make me Arrows rain over the hobgoblin, and that was why he had to rely on tools like gasoline. Maybe he could solve things with more ease next time, but only if he had other spells like Frozen Arrow or Electric Arrow. Chapter 52 - Challenger "Just to be safe, I should only challenge the boss before sunrise," Ryan said after buying the iron crossbow. "There is a chance that the boss willst for quite a while, and I will need to fight more than a few minutes and to do that, I will need mana potions." Ryan''s recovery reached a point where he could recover mana fast enough to create a wooden bolt every forty seconds. However, to create iron bolts, he would need one hundred seconds. In the end, only mana potions could help him solve that problem. Mana potions were rtively small, so Ryan decided to spend all the coins he obtains that night buying them. In the end, using mana potions would let him level up his skills faster, so it was a good investment. Congrattions! The ss: Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Congrattions! The skill Archery has leveled up. Archery Lv 6 ? Lv 7 Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Concentration Lv 6 ? Lv 7 Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level. Eagle Eyes Lv 6 ? Lv 7 You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 6? Lv 7 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by seven points per second. Cost: 4 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "I guess this is it¡­" Ryan said after allocating the points, he just obtained and buying the potions. "Here goes nothing¡­ Although the mana potions were small, the bottles were quite resilient. So, Ryan felt safe in carrying them in his pocket. He would have to carry the stic bottles full of gasoline, and given how messy the battle could be, it would be wiser to leave his backpack and his other weapons behind. In the end, Ryan spent five minutes sitting cross-legged a few meters away from thest section of the dungeon. He needed to concentrate in order to prevent all possible mistakes his nervousness could make, so now was the time to steel his nerves. Things would getplicated if goblins suddenly spawn in the middle of the battle, so Ryan got up and headed toward the boss. Surprisingly enough, even before he could step into that section, the hobgoblin got up and red at Ryan. The monster could tell that Ryan had decided to challenge him, but for some reason, it didn''t chase Ryan. "I guess this works well for me¡­" Ryan said and then threw all the stic bottles toward the hobgoblin. Ryan imagined that the boss would use the weapon''s side to send back the stic bottles, but the stupid monster split them in half and ended up drenched in gasoline. Ryan sighed while looking at it¡­ Still, he shot a me arrow without a hint of hesitation. The weird things didn''t end there. The very moment the hobgoblin began to burn, an unknown force made Ryan enter thest section of the dungeon, and when that happened, even though the monster was like a giant fireball, he ran toward Ryan. "Crap!" Ryan bit his lips. In the blink of an eye, Ryan aimed his crossbow at the hobgoblins'' head. However, even before he could pull the trigger, the boss raised his shield to protect his head. Ryan didn''t know if he read his line of sight or if hitting the head was the most obvious choice. Either way, it didn''t change the fact that Ryan couldn''t hit the head, so he changed his target. After aiming the monster''s knee, Ryan pulled the trigger. But even the iron bolt got repelled by the iron pad he had there. Ryan didn''t have time to get annoyed at the monster''s protective gear. The monster was already twenty meters away from him when the second iron bolt appeared. It was hard to believe, given that the creature was carrying three very heavy-looking items, but he could move as fast as Ryan. The second bolt hit the hobgoblin''s right feet, and this time, he hit the monster''s flesh, but the bolt only caused a small wound. It seemed like his skin wasn''t red for no reason. It was red because the monster had a skill that increased its endurance a lot. "For real?" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Even before he could shot the third bolt could appear; Ryan changed his strategy. The monster was already swinging his sword and about to split him in half, but Ryan activated Dash, and that small boost in speed granted him the chance to dodge the attack by a hair''s breadth. Ryan saw the de of the sword pass a few centimeters away from his nose, but the heat of the mes forced him to endure an ufortable situation. The hobgoblin''s sword hit the ground, and Ryan used that brief moment to increase the distance between him and the creature. However, at the same time, he grabbed a mana potion and then begun to drink. It tasted like lemonade, but Ryan couldn''t care less about the taste. Slowly but surely, his mana begun to recover. Ryan threw away the bottle and then aimed at the monster''s face once more. Ryan had to spend almost half of his mana, but in the blink of an eye, two arrows flew toward the monster''s face that was still recovering from the previous attack. The creature raised its shield to block the bolts, but he blocked only one. The other hit its cheek¡­ but stopped before it could even damage its tongue or even the monster''s teeth. "Aww¡­e on¡­" Ryan said, annoyed. There was no doubt in Ryan''s mind that the hobgoblin was good at receiving physical damage. So, Ryan''s only option was to use magic and strengthen even more the Fire Arrow that was heading toward the boss. Chapter 53 - Price Congrattions! The skill me Arrow has leveled up. me Arrow Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 25%. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. It didn''t take long for Ryan to understand how convenient magic was, he didn''t know if he could do that with all spells, but he could fire five me Arrows per second¡­ as long as he had mana. Ryan''s mana bar became empty in just a single second, but he managed to hit the monster''s face with two of his five me Arrows because he aimed at other parts of his body and the monster tried to block them all. The hobgoblin that was already engulfed in mes finally screamed in agony when the mes on its head increased in temperature. Despite that, Ryan could see while he was drinking another potion that the creature''s eyes were still alive and full of hatred. He couldn''t understand how the eyes of the monster couldn''t melt in that situation, but at the very least, he could see the hair of the creature burning and fall on the ground. Suddenly, the hobgoblin had a crazy idea. He rubbed his sword against his body and drenched the de with gasoline and fire. It was clear what he wanted to do¡­ the hobgoblin wanted barbecue, and Ryan would be the main dish. Ryan tried to get away from the monster once more while waiting for his mana bar to get full, but the creature was faster since Ryan had to run while looking behind. The very moment he saw the de being swung at him, Ryan threw himself on the side, but he still felt the mes on the sword burning his clothes. Although it was annoying, the potions could only restore five mana points per second, so Ryan had to wait a few seconds before he could fire six me Arrows again. However, that was also convenient because it means that Ryan wouldn''t waste the potions'' efficacy. Regardless, Ryan would soon begin to burn as well if he let the hobgoblin do what he wants. Still, he couldn''t outspeed the beast, and he couldn''t kill it as fast as he wanted. So, Ryan decided to make another bet. "Here goes nothing¡­ again," Ryan bit his lips. Ryan pointed his crossbow at the monster''s head again. As expected, the monster used its shield to protect its head. However, Ryan didn''t shoot any bolt. Instead of that, he fired six me Arrows in fast session and hit the monster''s left chest. That much firepower made that part of the chainmail melt almost instantaneously. Thanks to it, the beast grunted in pain. "All right¡­ this can stop the beast," Ryan nodded to himself. "The bastard is tough, but he isn''t invulnerable to fire¡­ I can do this!" Ryan could see his path to victory. Even if the monster were magically resilient or something, the creature would eventually suffocate to death due to the mes. He just needed to survive for a few minutes until that happens. However, even that was a bit of a risk, so Ryan decided to keep attacking the monster''s left chest and hope that he would hit the heart before the creature suffocates. However, the very moment Ryan tried to fire the next volley of me Arrows, something unexpected happened. When the monster saw Ryan pointing even his crossbow at it, the hobgoblin raised his shield to protect his head and moved his sword to its chest height. "Tsk¡­ It looks like I will have to give up on the sword," Ryan clicked his tongue. "Oh well¡­ my next ss is more important than that." It was a pity, but it couldn''t be helped. Ryan didn''t have to aim with that much precision, he just had to keep shooting at the sword, and since the boss couldn''t run at top-speed in that stance, Ryan could run around without letting the beast or the mes get too close to him. Congrattions! The ss: Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Congrattions! The skill me Arrow has leveled up. me Arrow Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Summon and fire a me Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 30%. Cost: 06 mana You obtained 01 status point. As expected, fighting against powerful enemies was the key to level up skills faster. Still, Ryan didn''t have time to get excited or feel satisfied by the level-ups. Not even when he could see the sword of the hobgoblin slowly but surely melting. Why? Because he could see the hatred in the creature''s eyes growing stronger¡­ Ryan''s father often said to him that there was nothing more dangerous than a wounded beast, so he couldn''t lower his guard now. In the end, the goblinsted for quite a while. However, after five minutes of burning, his flesh begun to melt and fall on the ground. The smell made Ryan feel dizzy, but he withstood that because it wasn''t time to pass out. Instead of its legs, the first part of the body that gave up was the monster''s left arm. It was quite a grotesque sight to see a shoulder melting like that, but if anything. Ryan only felt relieved that the battle was approaching the end. However, Ryan focused his senses again when the hobgoblin changed its posture. The creature was fifteen meters away from Ryan, but suddenly he assumed apletely offensive stance. Ryan couldn''t understand what the beast was nning, but he knew that he had to move even far away from the creature. Trying to finish off the monster before it attacks was impossible. Then suddenly, with a lightning speed in which Ryan couldn''t react, the goblin threw his sword toward him. The next moment, Ryan felt a shocking pain pass through his arm that made him lose control over it. Chapter 54 - Class: Elementalist "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan shouted in agony when he saw a half of his right arm falling on the ground. Blood didn''t even gush from the wound or from his cut off arm. Somehow the sword on fire cauterized the wound, and Ryan felt shivers due to it. The connection between both parts of his arm had been perfectly severed, and he automatically concluded that recovery wouldn''t help him with that. It was a bit too soon for that, but Ryan immediately assumed the worst. "Ryan!" Daniel shouted. The surprise made Ryan forget about the pain a little. He looked to the tunnel that leads to the rest of the dungeon and saw Daniel, Mia, and John hitting what seemed to be an invisible wall. It looked like they had seen the boss at some point during the day and concluded that Ryan would challenge the creature that night since he didn''t hide the stic bottles full of gasoline. They had followed Ryan to help in case something unexpected happens. Still, they didn''t expect that the dungeon would create an invisible barrier that would prevent those who challenged the boss from escaping¡­ the final battle in all dungeons was a battle to the death, and the barrier would disappear once one side wins. Ryan decided to ignore those three and focus on the enemy in front of him, but the little bastard had thrown away its weapon, knowing it would die anyway. Before the monster could fall on the ground and die, the beast smirked while looking at Ryan. "Son of a bitch¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. You obtained two hundred coins. Congrattions! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up. Heat Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 3 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 02 status points. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. Heat Resistance Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point per level even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Rage Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Sacrifices temporarily four percent of your mana, intelligence, control, mentality, and willpower to increase temporarily your health, stamina, strength, endurance, and speed by the same amount. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan was still having a hard time enduring the pain in his right arm, but for the good or for the worst, the cauterization decreased the pain, or at least he thought. It was hard to tell if he actually had the guts to endure that kind of pain. To make Ryan even madder, a group of six goblins suddenly appeared in front of the purple crystal and immediately ran toward him. However, he exploded their heads by using me Arrows. "I need to hurry¡­" Ryan muttered. "Maybe some health potions will help me to fix my arm, but first¡­" Ryan checked the hobgoblin''s sword; the weapon broke the very moment it hit the wall behind Ryan, so it was just a piece of junk. It was heavy and didn''t grant him any status points. The chain mail had meltedpletely, but it still could be used even though the shield was quite damaged. Buckler Effect: Increases the user''s health by ten points and endurance by five points. Durability: 05/50 "Bastard¡­ at least drop something decent," Ryan clicked his tongue. Ryan couldn''t help but feel that he lost more than he had gained by fighting the hobgoblin. Maybe all his problems would be solved by obtaining the next ss, but hoping for that was a bit too much. It would be insane to get something so convenient given the things that he experienced over thest week. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Viking, Merchant, and Elementalist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan had considered that his options would be like advancements of his hunter ss, but it looked like that wasn''t the case. Although he was interested in Viking and Merchant, only Elementalist seemed to be the option that would help him reach the goal of bing a magic archer. So, he ended up choosing that. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Elementalist! You obtained the following skills: Lesser Fire Enchantment, Lesser Wind Enchantment, and Lesser Water Enchantment. Your mana and intelligence will increase by two points, your health, stamina, recovery, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lesser Fire Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 10%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lesser Wind Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of wind. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 10%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lesser Water Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of water. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 10%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. It looked like Ryan obtained what he was looking for. Still, since it looked like it would take a while before he can freeze or shock his enemies, he only felt like he had paid a high price for it. In any case, his job there was over. So, Ryan picked his crossbow and arm and then prepared to head to the entrance of the dungeon, but his surprises didn''t end there. Congrattions! You have cleared your second dungeon. As such, you have earned the right to join the ranks of the strongest warriors on your! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 1554th You obtained Night Demon''s Blood. Chapter 55 - Night Demons Blood "What the heck¡­" Ryan frowned once a ss filled blood appeared before him and then fell on his hands. "Night Demon''s Blood? I guess that is a reward for bing part of the rank¡­ Still¡­ only a few days passed, the monsters appeared, and more than one thousand survivors cleared two dungeons? I guess I''m not the only one who is adapting way too fast." Regardless, Ryan began to wonder how he should use that item, but the answer was clear. He had to drink it¡­ as if drinking monster''s blood wasn''t enough, he would have to drink one that belonged to demons. Although Ryan had imagined that demons would also be attacking Earth, he didn''t expect that he would have to face them any time soon, much less drink their blood to be one-fourth demon. "Will I grow horns or fallen angel''s wings by drinking this?" Ryan rubbed his chin. Just like sses, Ryan was pretty sure that he would obtain some power by drinking the blood, but he began to wonder if he really wanted power all that much to be a part demon. That kind of possibility also made him begun to wonder if people could be part of other races by drinking the blood of other monsters or if that was only possible if the blood was obtained by special means. Ryan thought he would change his body to get stronger without a hint of hesitation, but now that he had the chance, he was wondering if he really wanted to change the body his parents gave him. However, such thoughts disappeared because his body wasn''t the only thing he received from them. Although he wasn''t exactly behaving himself in a manner that would make his parents proud, Ryan was doing his best, and whenever possible, he was helping those that needed a hand. Besides, even though Ryan knew that the blood wouldn''t make him reattach his arm, he needed more power now that he lost his right hand. "¡­ This is like a vicious cycle¡­" Ryan sighed. "To survive, I need power. To help others, I need power. To solve most problems¡­ I need power, as well." Ryan opened the bottle and begun to drink the blood as fast as he could while praying that he wouldn''t grow wings or horns. In the blink of an eye, he began to feel the power flowing through his body. However, he didn''t see or feel any real changes. Congrattions! Now you are one fourth Night Demon! As a night demon, you can draw power from the moon, and all of your statuses will increase by twenty percent when fighting at night. Enemies that possess the light attribute might get enraged when they find you. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Appraisal. Effect: This shows you the basic information of all living beings. The amount of information shown will increase the more the skill levels up. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Nocturnal Eyes. Effect: Increases your eyesight in dark ces and at night by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Only two skills, huh¡­" Ryan muttered. "Well, both of them have a lot of potential, so I''m satisfied. Besides, I didn''t grow horns and wings." The pain in his wounds decreased, but Ryan''s arm was still the same as always. Regardless, he had finished his business, so he headed toward the entrance of the dungeon. However, he was blocked by Daniel, John, and Mia. "Are you all right?" John asked. "What did you just drink?" The barrier only disappeared when Ryan decided to leave that area. Maybe it was just a security system created by the dungeon to give those who challenge the bosses the chance to get the rewards and recover if someone might try to backstab them. Ryan looked at the purple crystal before answering¡­ once again, he totally forgot about checking the crystal. Still, since it was an object capable of summoning monsters, perhaps it was better to stay away from it for the time being. It was better not to mess with the things he couldn''t understand. "It was the reward for bing part of the rank," Ryan replied. "Now, I''m part demon¡­ apparently. I can''t feel that, though¡­ Anyway, my job here is over. Good luck." "Are you insane?" Daniel shouted. "Did you drink something like that without thinking? Didn''t you think that could have been poisonous?" "Shut up¡­" Ryan red at Daniel. "If I live or die it is none of your business." Ryan tried to pass by them and since it was clear he wasn''t in a good mood, Daniel and John opened the path, but Mia didn''t move, and she faced Ryan while looking at him in the eye for the first time since the monsters appeared. "Ryan, about what happened¡­" Mia said. "Spare me of your excuses," Ryan said. "I don''t know why you and Daniel drunk so much that day, and I don''t give a damn. At least have the dignity to ept the result of your actions, being them conscious or not." "Yes¡­" Mia lowered her head and then forced herself not to leave any tears flow while Ryan was nearby. When Ryan reached the entrance of the dungeon, he let out a long sigh. Even he was surprised that he managed to say and think rationally when Mia brought that topic back. Still, even though he didn''t think much about it, it was pretty obvious that something happened to make Mia drink so much. That day he found them at the motel. He could smell even from meters away the scent of alcohol¡­ He also could imagine what happened to her, but soon Ryan decided to shake those thoughts out of his head. Whatever happened, it wasn''t his problem, not anymore. Little by little, Ryan''s head begun to cool down, and the pain in his arm was increasing, he wasn''t bleeding that much, but the wound wasn''tpletely closed. As if that wasn''t enough, even though Ryan used four health potions, the effects healed the wound in his arm, but not on the part that got cut off. He wouldn''t be able to recover his right arm¡­ Chapter 56 - Chances The sun was rising when Ryan left the dungeon. Usually, he would tell anyone who was nearby about how the battle against the boss urred, but since John, Daniel and Mia watched everything, he didn''t have to do that. He just had to bury his arm since the chances of him finding some way to heal it before it rots were close to none. "It looks like there are all kinds of sses¡­" Ryan muttered. "So, it wouldn''t be weird if I find someone who decided to be a healer, priest, or novice, and they can heal my arm¡­" Considering that his long-ranged weapons skills could improve just by using status points, Ryan could make things work with his left arm. However, he wouldn''t be fast like before, and his stance would be weird as well. In the best-case scenario, his range decreased by half just by losing his main arm. He would be able topensate with magic for a while since he had some potions, but it would be better to look for a healer in the end. "More than fifteen hundred people cleared two dungeons already, so the chances of me finding a healer aren''t small," Ryan muttered. "So, you are going to look for someone to heal your arm?" John asked. Ryan turned around and sighed. It was only obvious that those three would be a few meters behind Ryan since they didn''t have anything to do inside the dungeon for the time being¡­ Regardless, he was too tired to get angry at them. Since Ryan wasn''t depressed orining because of his arm, Daniel and John didn''t have to worry about him. As for Mia, she wasn''t avoiding his eyes anymore. He also was fully aware that she had better things to do than to feel guilty while Ryan is nearby. "¡­ Yes," Ryan replied. "May I ask where you are heading now?" John asked. "What are you going to do with that information?" Ryan frowned. "Nothing, I''m just curious," John shrugged. "If anything, it would be good to have a direction to follow after clearing this dungeon. I hoped that some survivors would appear eventually, but since we are a few hundred meters from the high road, it looks like that won''t happen. Our idea is to create a bigger survivor''s camp in a ce that other survivors can find. It looks like the better ces to create those camps are near the dungeons. Even though it is dangerous, we need to have quick ess to the dungeon shop." Ryan really didn''t want to be followed by Mia and Daniel, but since John wouldn''t leave that ce unless he is sure about the group''s strength, it would take a while for that to happen. Besides, Ryan would head to a dangerous ce. "If you really want to know, then I will tell you," Ryan smirked. "I''m going to Shreveport; it looks like there is a velociraptors'' dungeon in the north of the city. So, it is the best ce to look for a healer." Even John had a hard time keeping a straight face after hearing that. Ryan had lost an arm, he was exhausted after a difficult battle, and more importantly, the dragons might still be around. If they weren''t near a dungeon that could grant them the chance to obtain power, John''s group would have moved even much farther away from civilization. "Don''t even try to stop me," Ryan said. "I don''t know where I can find another dungeon, so I don''t have any other choice. Besides, I need to see with my own eyes the destruction caused by the dragons." "Why?" Daniel asked. "It is none of your business," Ryan replied. Ryan turned around again and then begun to walk where he hid the motorcycle. Walking while carrying his cut off, was weird and ufortable in a way that Ryan couldn''t even describe. Still, he was more worried about how he would drive with a single arm, and he was also a bit worried about Zoe because he could rte more or less to her situation. He just lost his parents a few days ago, after all. However, he knew that she was in good hands. "Ryan! Take care!" Mia shouted before Ryan could disappear between a few trees. In the end, Ryan decided to act as if he hadn''t heard anything because dealing with people with the world in that situation was too tiresome. Besides, things only get moreplicated when people rted to them are involved. Regardless, Ryan buried his arm at the same ce he had hidden the motorcycle. Although he was near to the high road, the area was eerily silent to the point where one couldn''t believe that weird monsters were destroying the world. In any case, before turning on the motorcycle, he checked his status screen. Ryan had obtained a few points during the battle, so he allocated as usual in mana, recovery, speed, and dexterity. Since those were the status he needed the most during the battle. ss: Hunter Lv 06 / Elementalist Lv 01/-- Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1554th Health: 27/27 (0, 0555) Mana: 34/34 (0, 0555) Stamina: 34/34 (0, 0555) Strength: 07 (+3) Dexterity: 44 (+19) (+12) Speed: 27 (+6) Intelligence: 06 (+5) Endurance: 07 (+8) Control: 06 (+8) Mentality: 07 Luck: 13 Recovery: 30 (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 24 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 07, Throw Lv 01, Dash Lv 02, Rapid Shot Lv 01, Herculean Strength Lv 02, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 07, Concentration Lv 07, Archery Lv 07, uracy Lv 06, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 03, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 01, Tracking Lv 01, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 02, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 03, Meditation Lv 05, me Arrow Lv 06, Appraisal Lv 01, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 01, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 01, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 02, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 01 "Oh boy¡­ I still can''t believe that know I have demon''s blood in my veins," Ryan said after sighing. Chapter 57 - It Needs Work The road to Shreveport was even more deserted than Ryan had expected. Aside from a few crashed cars and some signs of blood, Ryan didn''t identify any signs of humans. Even though he passed through a couple ofmunities along the way¡­ It didn''t take long for Ryan to see Shreveport from a certain distance, and much to his surprise, he didn''t see any dragons flying near it. Truth to be told, he had hoped to see a few ones, and perhaps the fear would make him change his mind. Despite that, the smoke was still rising in several parts of the city. "It looks like the dragons finally left, but the city isn''t free of monsters¡­" Ryan muttered. "That means there are still survivors there." As expected, Ryan found a few giant bees along the way, but he quickly killed them before they could get too close by using me Arrows. He tried to drive the vehicle and then aim his iron crossbow by using his left hand alone, but he wasn''t skilled enough to drive without using his hands. "They make it look so easy in the movies¡­" Ryan sighed. "Well, it shouldn''t be a problem as long as I have mana potions. Which reminds me¡­ I can use Appraisal on the monsters." It wasn''t a good idea to spend mana by using Appraisal on monsters that he could easily kill, but considering that the information would increase by leveling up the skill, he had no other choice. However, the result had been unexpected in many ways. Killer Bee "Boy, oh boy¡­. It is worse than I imagined," Ryan frowned. At level one, Appraisal could only show him the name of the monster and nothing more. Still, leveling up that skill would be easy since the monsters wouldn''t be able to notice him using it if Ryan hides somewhere. Besides, he has Meditation, so he was confident that after one day or two, Appraisal would be useful. However, such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he finally arrived at Shreveport. He finally understood why he didn''t see many peopleing from that ce¡­ it was because the whole city now was surrounded by a river of magma. It was crazy, but without a doubt, that had been the work of the dragons. "Shit¡­ those freaking monsters have the power even to melt asphalt," Ryan bit his lips. Ryan didn''t know how deep the river of magma was, nor did he want to know. All that he knew that anyone touching the magma would die screaming in agony and that the river was twenty metersrge. It was big enough to destroy any vehicle that the citizens of the city might try to use in order to cross that obstacle. However, weirdly enough, Ryan couldn''t see any signs of survivors in all directions. He couldn''t see monsters either. "Something is off¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. The city was destroyed, and Ryan could barely see buildings that were had more than three floors still standing, but even so, he didn''t see many signs of battles. Maybe he was counting too much on his eyesight, but he had hoped to see the corpses of the people who tried to escape the chaos the dragons created. There were some burned down cars near the magma river, but the number was too low, considering the city''s poption. It wouldn''t be hard to imagine that the shock of seeing dragons breathing fire made everyone unable to think, but¡­ Ryan shook his head. What happened wouldn''t help him in any way. Knowing how people reacted wouldn''t change a thing either. So, Ryan decided to focus on the problem in front of him. Since the dragons destroyed almost everything on sight, Ryan couldn''t use many ces to hide. So, choosing a roundabout way would be too dangerous. The best option was for him to jump over the river of magma. "Usually, magma would cool down after a while, but I can''t wait for that," Ryan muttered. "Besides, there is a chance that the magma won''t cool down at all since it was made by using mana¡­. Anyway, can I even jump over something thisrger?" Ryan''s physical strength increased slightly, but he still couldn''t imagine himself seeding in such a feat. He was crazy enough to consider that idea but not stupid enough to think that he could easily do it. Cole''s motorcycle was running out of fuel, so Ryan''s options were really limited. "Well, let''s hide it just in case¡­" Ryan said and then used some bushes to hide the motorcycle. After doing that, Ryan began to test his body and see if he could actually jump over the river of magma. In the end, he somehow managed to jump over a distance of ten meters¡­ he just needed to double that. If he could jump over ten meters with ten points in strength, Herculean Strength would increase that amount by two meters. He also could increase that amount without relying on status points, but Ryan would have to abandon some of his things. After tossing away his dirty clothes, some iron bolts, his wooden crossbow, and his wooden bow, Ryan managed to increase the distance by fifteen meters. However, he couldn''t throw away anything else. "I guess I need to level up some skill and put some points into strength¡­" Ryan sighed. "I guess this is a good opportunity to see the skills that I learned when I obtained the Elementalist ss." He would have to use too much mana if he uses those spells alongside his iron crossbow, so Ryan decided to enchant the short spear he had before throwing it away. Much for his surprise, when he enchanted the weapon with fire, the spear easily burned the ground when it touched. The scent was quite strong even though there was no fire, and the tip only glowed, emitting a red tone. "Interesting¡­ I like this," Ryan smirked while thinking about new ways of using those skills." Chapter 58 - Learning Congrattions! Your ss Elementalist has leveled up. Elementalist Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Intelligence + 2, Mana + 2, Health + 1, stamina + 1, recovery + 1, control +1. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Fire Enchantment has leveled up. Stealth Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 15%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Wind Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of wind. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 15%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Water Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of water. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 15%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. While Ryan was training those new spells, he learned their ins and outs. Basically, the spell could increase the power of a single attack, and even if Ryan doesn''t attack anything, the spell will stay active for five seconds. Those skills were useful to the point where Ryan could use them on his fists without worrying about wounding himself. It was weird to touch something and then make it burn while his hands didn''t feel any heat, but considering that was happening thanks to his mana, it wasn''t that surprising. "Let''s see¡­ the fire causes damage, the water slows down the enemies, and wind makes my attacks faster," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Not bad, considering those spells increase the power of my attacks." While Ryan was training, he discovered that he didn''t have to throw away all his possessions. He just had to toss them to the other side of the river before he jumps. Still, he threw away his dirty clothes because he was expecting to find some new ones in the city. Without the luggage and with the added strength, Ryan managed to jump over a distance of twenty-five meters, and so he proceeds to jump over the river of magma. Still, even though he knew he was physically strong for the jump, he couldn''t help but sweat cold before doing it. "Please don''t trip, dear legs," Ryan muttered. "I''m counting on you¡­ I didn''t survive until now just to die after tripping." After tossing his things to the other side of the river, Ryan readied himself to make the jump. As expected, the more he waited to calm down, the more nervous he got. So, he suddenly decided to run, and when he got close enough, he jumped. It onlysted for a moment, but Ryan sweated cold while his body was flying over the river of magma. The smell of burned asphalt, concrete, and whatever else had fallen there made Ryan feel dizzy, but fortunately, hended on the other side without passing out. However, his ass was quite hot thanks to the heat the river was emitting. "Phew¡­ I guess I got nervous for no reason," Ryan sighed while he was collecting his things. Much to his surprise, probably thanks to the adrenaline boost, Ryan managed to jump over thirty meters¡­ it was quite weird. Still, considering the potential of mana, it didn''t surprise Ryan that he obtained a superhuman body just after a few days of fighting. That being said, considering the number of times he almost died and got wounded, he felt like he deserved his current power. "I guess my first step here shall be finding food and clothes," Ryan said while he was looking around. "I have to make good use of these moments before some monsters appear." Finding a clothing store still standing would be heard, but Ryan was confident that he would find one even while he walks in a straight line toward the north of the city. However, those thoughts left his mind for a moment when he began to feel weird. It was the same feeling he had before he met Zoe. However, this time Ryan was sure that someone actually was watching him through their eyes, but he couldn''t find a single house that hadn''t been attacked by monsters. "I guess some survivors decided to hide even in destroyed houses¡­" Ryan could see signs of human flesh on the streets, he didn''t feel it before due to the magma river, but the scent of rotten bodies and flesh was strong in Shreveport. As if monsters were troublesome enough, a city in that state would certainly make the survivors get sick in a few days. Getting sick in an apocalyptic situation was one of the worst things that could happen since finding medicine would beplicated. However, that situation made Ryan ponder about other things. Since he couldn''t see monsters, why the people were hiding in destroyed houses? Soon Ryan obtained the answer to that question. After walking for two hundred meters in a straight line, he found a group of ten or so blue monsters walking around the streets as if they were looking for something or patrolling. They were bipedal, but they had fish heads¡­ "I thoughts this city would be attacked by velociraptors¡­ what is that?" Ryan frowned. Sahuagin ¨C Lv 01 When Ryan saw that name, he recalled that species of monster. He saw it in some games, but since they were somewhat simr to the goblins, the Sahuagins were most of the time ignored or even left behind. At the same time, Ryan used Appraisal. The monsters looked at him. Maybe it was thanks to the wildest instincts, but it was clear that using and leveling up that skill wouldn''t be so easy. The creatures dashed toward Ryan, but he didn''t even have the need to worry. His crossbow was already ready to be used. However, as expected, he was having a hard time making the weapon steady. "Shit¡­" Ryan bit his lips. Chapter 59 - Weapon Materialization It was a pain, but he would have to let the monsters get closer. Still, Ryan fired me Arrows toward the group while he was picking a mana potion. Aiming with his left arm was easy, but much to his surprise, three of his seven me Arrows got repelled by water spears that suddenly appeared in the monster''s hands. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Ryan watched, shocked while he was drinking the mana potion, the water bing solid like iron. In just two seconds, that happened¡­ even though they were monsters, Ryan didn''t imagine that they could create their weapons like that. "Weapon materialization¡­ that is convenient," Ryan muttered. Still, since the Sahuagins were aquatic creatures, their running speed wasn''t that impressive. Besides, they were aware of Ryan''s attacks, so they weren''t charging like goblins. Thanks to it, Ryan had a lot of time to recover his mana. "Let''s see if I canbine some attacks¡­" Ryan equipped his crossbow again and then aimed. Suddenly, a high pitching sound exploded from Ryan''s crossbow. Despite that, he barely felt the kick of his attack. Two bolts suddenly left his crossbow and flew into a straight line toward the Sahuagins heads. This time the two died instantaneously without having the chance to react, the Lesser Wind Enchantment enhanced the speed of the bolts, and Rapid Shot duplicated the power. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. "Twenty mana points¡­ this will be hard," Ryan frowned. Much to his surprise, the four remaining Sahuagins stopped twenty meters away from Ryan. Although he was thankful for the chance to recover more mana and attack again, he didn''t lower his guard. It was clear that the Sahuagins were preparing something. Ryan equipped the buckler that was on his back on his left arm and unequipped his crossbow, his movements matched with monsters that they aimed their spears at him. A momentter, some water balls that appeared in front of them were shot toward Ryan. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Shield Mastery. Effect: Decreases the power of all types of attacks by one point per level when blocking them. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan rolled to his left side while making sure to protect his head, but he still felt the shield getting hit two times, and all the air inside his lungs left when he got hit in the stomach by the third one. He couldn''t tell what happened to the fourth Water Ball, but Ryan couldn''t care less at that moment. Somehow, Ryan had enough time to get up and see the Sahuagins preparing for the next attack. Ryan checked his health and saw that he lost twenty percent of it. Running away wasn''t an option, and dodging wasn''t something he was used to. So, Ryan used all his mana and fired seven me Arrows. His magic projectiles made the Water Balls evaporate, and the remaining three hit the heads of three of them. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. The remaining Sahuagin tried to throw his spear toward Ryan, but he shot an iron bolt on the creature''s head. Ryan sighed in relief, but he was forced to drink a mana potion since he was slightly lightheaded. That was the price of using all his mana, but it couldn''t be helped given the situation. You obtained four coins. Congrattions! Your ss Elementalist has leveled up. Elementalist Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Intelligence + 2, Mana + 2, Health + 1, stamina + 1, recovery + 1, control +1. Ryan approached the monster''s corpses only to see that they didn''t drop anything. To make things worse, their weapons evaporated¡­ It looked like raising his luck wouldn''t make things all that convenient unless Ryan allocates all his status points into it. "I guess this exins why people are hiding¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin while he looked around. "I probably didn''t see them near the river of magma because they dislike high temperatures. Still¡­ it is weird that they can move in high numbers when the velociraptors dungeon is supposed to be closer." Maybe there was a dungeon even closer than Ryan had imagined. He then recalled the Cross Lake¡­ Ryan was pretty sure Sahuagins only lived near the ocean. Then again, his knowledge was based on games, so it wasn''t a good idea to use them as an absolute source of information. In any case, it looked like with his current amount of mana. He wouldn''t be able to fight without relying on mana potions. Although he had bought them to use, they wouldn''tst forever, so Ryan had to think of a way to fight without spending too much mana. Since the Sahuagins could block his attacks, a half-assed measure wouldn''t help. "I can''t just create a stock of iron bolts, reloading the crossbow with a single arm in the middle of a battle. It is impossible," Ryan muttered. "My spells won''t help, perhaps¡­" Ryan turned around the very moment he heard a steping from behind. Even though he wasn''t used to it yet, his left arm aimed his weapon at the head of the individual behind him. However, he rxed a little when he saw a single unarmed and tired middle-aged man wearing what seemed to be a clerk''s clothes. His whole body was covered in dust and ashes¡­ almost as if a building had fallen over him or if he had hidden underneath some rubble. "Please don''t shoot. I just want to talk," The middle-aged man raised his hands nervously to show that he didn''t have any weapons. "You are one of them, right?" "One of who?" Ryan frowned, still pointing his crossbow at the man. "Are you not one of the people who are sheltering survivors?" The middle-aged man asked, visibly surprised. "¡­ I just arrived in this city." Ryan replied. "If there is a group helping survivors in this city, why didn''t you join them?" "We only heard about them on a radio," The middle-aged man said. "It looks like they are looking for survivors, but they are located in the northern part of the city. We heard that they would look for survivors in this area this morning, but until now, they didn''t appear." Chapter 60 - Extra Ryan frowned upon hearing that, it was almost noon, so if they didn''t appear until now, it means something happened and forced the group to give up on their ns. Something troublesome happened that didn''t let them inform what happened using the radios¡­ At the north of Shreveport, one could find the bridge and Cross Lake. So, the chances of a dungeon existing there increased. After all, upon recognizing the dungeon''s existence, it would be wiser to put a force of soldiers there. That was what probably happened, but that didn''t exin how Ryan found a group of ten Sahuagins a few kilometers away from there. "When was thest time they transmitted any message?" Ryan asked. "At sunrise, their leader told us that they were finishing the preparations for the operation," The middle-aged man replied. "¡­ Are you going in that direction?" "Yeah¡­ that was my goal from the beginning," Ryan said, a bit annoyed when he noticed the man gazing at his right arm. "If you want to, you cane with me, but you will have to make yourself useful." "H-how?" The middle-aged man asked, even though he already had an idea of what Ryan was nning. "As you just saw, I can''t fight against so many of these enemies alone," Ryan said and then passed the buckler to the middle-aged man. "Use this to protect yourself while you draw the attention of the monsters." "¡­ Yes," The man gulped while he was equipping the shield. "There is another thing I need to tell you¡­" "Yeah, I know. They cane too," Ryan said and then turned around in search of enemies. Ryan felt that he was still being watched, even after the man suddenly appeared, so it was clear that he wasn''t alone. Surprisingly, a middle-aged woman and a boy appeared out of a pile of rubble. They had been used a brown curtain to hide themselves¡­ it was like a ninja trick; Ryan didn''t notice at any moment their existence there. The woman and the boy hid behind the middle-aged man. It looked like they saw what Ryan could do, and even though he was a human, they didn''t feel all thatfortable in getting close to a man that could fire magic fire arrows. "I don''t think that it is necessary, but I will tell anyway," Ryan said. "Don''t make too much noise. If you do, I won''t be able to hear the monster''s approach. By the way¡­ didn''t you guys try to fight the monsters until now?" "No¡­" The middle-aged man said while he was trying to get used to the weight of the buckler. "The dragons didn''t leave this city until yesterday afternoon, so we didn''t dare to do it. When they suddenly left, those other monsters appeared¡­ some survivors tried to fight them, but¡­ they didn''t seed." "I see¡­" Ryan said. "May I ask you something?" The middle-aged man looking at Ryan uneasily. "Didn''t you already ask?" Ryan frowned. "Anyway, I guess this is the best time for us to exchange information." "You don''t look, but are you in the army?" The middle-aged man asked. "No¡­ I''m just a former PE teacher that has some experience hunting deer and rabbits, "Ryan said. "The name is Ryan, by the way." "A teacher? Well, you can call me Jacob. These are my wife and son, Be and Edward," Jacob frowned a little. It would be a pain if Jacob keeps asking things, so Ryan gave him a brief summary of the things he learned. It was only obvious that he would want the power Ryan obtained to protect his family. Still, Jacob had a hard time believing that Ryan cleared two dungeons and killed hundreds of monsters alone¡­ but considering the wound in his right arm seemed quite recent, he understood that he didn''t lie. Ryan began to wonder if he shouldn''t take his time and see how his old house was but soon shook out those thoughts out of his head. The house was located on the eastern side of the city, so he would to waste a lot of time to go there. Maybe he could once he confirm some things about this new group of survivors and if there is a dungeon near theke, but he discarded that idea for the time being. Besides, going back to his old house would only make him depressed¡­ to survive, Ryan couldn''t second guess himself, and he had to keep his focus, and thinking about his parents'' death wouldn''t let him do that. "¡­ What should I do?" Be asked. "I don''t think I can be of much use with a bow, but perhaps with the crossbow¡­" "I don''t have any other weapons," Ryan exined. "The cost to use the crossbow is high, so you probably won''t be able to help to shoot all that much. Just stay behind us and keep an eye on enemiesing from the back." Although his reasoning was sound, Ryan didn''t want to trust the people that watched him fight the Sahuagins. They only approached him because he survived, after all. So, it wasn''t a good idea to give a weapon to those people. Still, even if Jacob seeds in drawing the monsters'' attention, Ryan wouldn''t be able to kill a group of ten without relying on mana potions. Unless¡­ "Maybe I can use throw alongside the iron bolts¡­" Ryan muttered. Jacob and his family were ready to depart, but Ryan decided to test his theory. He wasn''t expecting too much since he wasn''t left-handed, but as long as he can hit the enemies'' heads and make them flinch, having a few extra iron bolts would be worth the hassle. Besides, they weighed over five hundred grams, so at the very least, they would stun the enemies, as long as Ryan hit their heads. After a while, Ryan confirmed that his uracy wasn''t that bad, even with his left hand. However, only one out of three times he could make the bolt''s tip hit the target. "Oh, well¡­ it is not like I have any other option," Ryan sighed. Chapter 61 - Hurry Ryan also considered making Jacob and Be use the iron bolts since anyone could learn the skill Throw, but the points they obtained were used to increase their health. So, that idea was discarded. "Let''s get going," Ryan said. "I want to find those survivors before sunset." Jacob and his family nodded, but they looked as pale as ghosts. It looked like since the monsters appeared, they didn''t try to walk in the streets. Ryan concluded that since he somehow heard their stomachs grumbling. "Did you guys live around here?" Ryan asked. "It isn''t a good idea to travel while carrying many things, but since we don''t know if we will find any supermarket near the area where those survivors you mentioned are, we should gather water and food in the ces we find still intact." "There are a few nearby, but¡­" Jacob hesitated. "ording to what we heard via radio, most ces that had food had been attacked by monsters or destroyed by dragons." "Figures¡­" Ryan sighed. "Well, we can always eat monsters, so we won''t starve to death." Jacob, Be, and Edward showed a shocked expression when they heard that. It was only obvious, even though Ryan didn''t want to eat the monster''s meat. It would take a long while for humanity to produce their food again. So, he couldn''t think of any other solution given that the damn monsters were attacking every ce with food. Although they had human-like arms and legs, Ryan wouldn''t mind eating the rest of their bodies¡­ probably. Regardless, the streets of Shreveport changed quite a lot in thest few days. Signs of blood were easy to find, and most buildings had be piles of rubble as if some cannon bullets had hit them. Although some houses still standing could be found, Ryan could see that they had been abandoned since monsters would probably look for humans there first. It didn''t take long for Ryan; Jacob and his family find a group of ten Sahuagins. Precisely, they just walked three hundred meters and found that group patrolling. Ryan sighed but then begun to question why their numbers were so high, given that some survivors were trying to help others¡­ "There is a dungeon near theke. It is the only exnation," Ryan muttered. "And something happened in that dungeon that made the purple crystal spawn hundreds, perhaps thousands of Sahuagins." Before Ryan and the others could even begin to think of hiding, all of the monsters looked at Ryan. Those were some crazy instincts¡­ but Ryan didn''t waste time wondering why they all looked at him at the same time. "Now that I think about it¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "I can also use Power Shot to solve the problem of my aim with the left side¡­ how could I forget that? I guess I''m too tired." Ryan''s firing speed would decrease a little, but it was better to take a while to fire a guaranteed headshot, anyway. When Ryan pulled the trigger, all the Sahuagins summoned their water spears and tried to protect their heads, but one of them still died since the speed of that projectile increased. The creature fell dead on the ground, and its allies hesitated for a little bit. "You won''t die unless they hit your head," Ryan said. "If you want to keep your wife and son safe, then do your best to hold them back." "Yes!" Jacob clenched his teeth while he was observing the Sahuagins approaching. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Ryan managed to kill five Sahuagins before the creatures could get too close, but even so, that hadn''t been enough. He grabbed the bolts he had prepared to throw and then used Lesser Wind Enchantment. The beasts raised their spears to block again, but they didn''t react on time. One of his bolts pierced one of the eyes of a Sahuagin, while the other fell unconscious when the butt of the bolt hit its forehead. Three remaining Sahuagins prepared to attack Ryan and Jacob, but only that much didn''t faze Ryan. One of the Sahuagin jumped and tried to stab Jacob''s head, but he stopped the creature with his shield. Meanwhile, one tried to attack Ryan by the front, and others tried to stab Ryan in the air. Instead of waiting, Ryan charged forward, activating Dash and Herculean Strength. The sudden movement caught the monsters by surprise, but Ryan ignored it, and he shed one of the bolts he still had on the monster''s eyes. The creature screamed in pain while the remaining monster passed over Ryan andnded on the ground. Instead of finishing that creature, Ryan grabbed another bolt and threw it on the neck of the Sahuagin that justnded. Surprisingly, this time the projectile flew in a straight line and pierced the back of the monster''s head. Ryan kicked both of the blinded Sahuagins, making them fall on the ground before grabbing two other bolts. This time he used all the weight of his body to make his bolts pierce their faces all the way to their brains. In agony, the creatures didn''t even try to resist. Hot blood gushed on Ryan''s left arm and body, but he ignored that disgusting feeling. He turned to the side and saw Jacob being overwhelmed by the Sahuagin''s thrusts. Fortunately, he was fast enough to follow the monster''s movement with his eyes and block the attacks before they could hit his guts. However, suddenly, the Sahuagin fell on the ground thanks to Ryan that had hit it with another crossbow. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ "I shouldn''t have thrown away my short spear and knife¡­" Ryan sighed. Sahuagins weren''t that resilient, but Ryan didn''t have much choice but attack the monsters up-close since the bolts were short. Regardless, Ryan finished off the monsters that fell unconscious when his bolts hit them without even blinking. Dirt with the monsters'' blood, Ryan looked like a monster himself¡­ at least that was what Jacob and his family thought when they saw the blood gushing on his clothes. Chapter 62 - Improvising Congrattions! The skill Throw has leveled up. Throw Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Causes damage by throwing objects. The weight of the object will increase the damage caused. The final damage will be the object''s weight divided by ten and multiplied by 12% of your strength. Cost: 01 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Herculean Strength has leveled up. Herculean Strength Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level temporarily. Cost: 1.2 stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Ryan nodded in satisfaction when he received those notifications. Fortunately, the good news didn''t end there. He saw a wooden spear on the ground. It wasn''t short, so it was probably a little better than the short spear he obtained from the goblins. Wooden Spear Effect: Strength + 4, Endurance + 2 Durability: 45/45 "Mmm¡­ I guess this will do," Ryan said after picking the spear, and then he looked at Be. "Use this to cover your husband." "What?" Jacob asked, shocked. "Don''t worry, she won''t get the chance to fight in the frontlines likes us," Ryan said. "She will only help you¡­ as you just noticed, you can''t deal any damage to a Sahuagin with a shield alone. In any other situation, I would give the spear to you, but since you don''t know how to use it with a single hand, it would be a waste." "Understood," Be said and readily epted the spear. "Just stay a few meters behind your husband," Ryan said. "And don''t do anything before Jacob stops a monster. You only should attack when the enemies focus on him." Jacob didn''t like the idea of letting his wife dirtying his hands like that, but he was fully aware that he was putting too much pressure on someone who had a single arm. So, he didn''tin. If anything, as long as he works properly, nothing would happen to her. Regardless, Ryan tried to recover the bolts he used, but since the smell of blood was too strong, and he didn''t have time or water to clean them, he decided to create new ones. Dirt with blood and fat, Ryan''s grip over them would be weak, and the piercing power would decrease as well. So, the smart thing to do was to meditate and make new ones. The third time is a charm¡­ after walking two hundred more meters, Ryan began to hear the approach of another group of Sahuagins. After noticing that they were another group of ten, Ryan confirmed his suspicious¡­ something definitely happened in the northern part of the city. However, this time Ryan had enough time to prepare before the monsters could feel his presence. When the monster group finally found Ryan and the others, one of them immediately fell on the ground with an iron bolt on the head. Since Sahuagins were aquatic monsters, their speed wasn''t impressive onnd. Thanks to it, Ryan had enough time to kill five more of them before they could get too close. Once again, two beasts tried to attack him, but Ryan decided to do things differently this time since none of them jumped to attack him. Attacking them one at a time, even with Dash and Herculean Strength, wouldn''t be possible. However, Ryan still had something he could use: Rage. The few points of mana he had begun to decrease at an astonishing speed, and he felt like his judgment got clouded, but Ryan also felt an inexplicable feeling of power surging inside him. When both monsters tried to stab him at the same time, Ryan''s body blurred as he moved forward, and the next moment, he pierced the head of one of the monsters with his iron bolts. Even though he had to pierce the skull, Ryan felt no resistance. The remaining monster reacted on time to see what Ryan did, but not on time to dodge the attack when Ryan kicked the dead Sahuagin toward him. The creature managed to free himself from the dead body that made it fall on the ground¡­ only to see an iron bolt moving toward his eyes, and the next moment¡­ nothing. Ryan had killed the creature. Ryan''s mana became empty after that. Still, the battle wasn''t over. He focused on himself too much, and he had no idea how Jacob and Be were. Much to his surprise, he saw the very moment they finished off thest Sahuagin. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Art of Sniping has leveled up. Art of Sniping Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases the chance of hitting targets over long distances when they are not aware of your presence by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Knife Mastery has leveled up. Knife Mastery Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases damage when using knives by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Things didn''t go perfectly. For Ryan, the best scenario was to kill the Sahuagins before they could attack, but he wasn''t skilled enough to pull that off as expected. Regardless, Ryan got surprised when he received those notifications. It seemed that when used like that, the iron bolts were considered knives¡­ "Are you all right?" Jacob asked. "Y-yeah," Be replied while trembling slightly. Ryan thought that they had worked well, but it looked like it would take a while for them to get used to the battles. It was only evident given that they were ordinary people before the monsters appeared. However, Ryan was still expecting that they could get used to it as fast as possible because, at that moment, he had to hurry to decrease the monster''s numbers before they could get too closer and overwhelm them with sheer numbers. "If only I still had my right arm¡­" There was no sense inining since that resulted from Ryan trying to do everything by himself. Still, Ryan learned his lesson¡­ the next time, he would grind more before challenging a boss alone. Chapter 63 - Dungeon Break Ryan''s mana finally reached a point where he could create eight iron bolts during a battle. It was a pain to sit down and use Meditation since his recovery wasn''t at the same level, but at the very least, that gave him the chance to use the skill. ss: Hunter Lv 06 / Elementalist Lv 03/-- Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1534th Health: 29/29 (0, 0566) Mana: 40/40 (0, 0566) Stamina: 36/36 (0, 0566) Strength: 10 (+3) Dexterity: 47 (+19) (+12) Speed: 27 (+6) Intelligence: 06 (+6) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+8) Control: 06 (+3) (+6) Mentality: 07 Luck: 13 Recovery: 30 (+1) (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 168 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 07, Throw Lv 02, Dash Lv 02, Rapid Shot Lv 02, Herculean Strength Lv 03, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 07, Concentration Lv 07, Archery Lv 07, uracy Lv 06, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 03, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 02, Tracking Lv 01, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 03, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 03, Meditation Lv 05, me Arrow Lv 06, Appraisal Lv 01, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 02, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 02, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 02, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 02, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 01 "It looks like my rank improved before I could notice, but I didn''t receive any notification¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "I guess it is only obvious that I won''t be rewarded for every single change in the ranks¡­ Still, besides rewarding those who constantly fight, what is the point of the rank?" That was something Ryan couldn''t understand, not even after thinking for quite a while, but he could feel that it was an important piece of information, so he couldn''t just shake it off from his head either. Regardless, soon after the third battle against the Sahuagins, Ryan could see in the distance a convenience store. Half of the store had fallen due to some monster''s attack, but the other half was still standing, and Ryan found some drinks and food that hadn''t been taken by the monsters. "¡­ The location is a bit bad," Ryan said while looking around. "But we can make a stop here to rest and eat, but don''t lower your guards. We don''t know when the monsters might appear. Be ready to fight at any moment." "Are you sure?" Jacob asked. "Shouldn''t we hurry and reach the other side of the city as soon as possible?" "Yeah¡­ I''m quite thirsty," Ryan replied. "Besides, I can tell that you guys are starving. The fights won''t get any easier, so we have to refill our tanks whenever possible. I''m better suited for the guard duty, so you guys can fill your bellies. Just don''t exaggerate, or you guys will get slower." There were signs of monsters in that convenience store, and thanks to it, Ryan hesitated in even drinking the water bottles that didn''t look damaged. Still, considering that he didn''t feel weird until now despite getting hit, almost crushed, and now being covered in the monsters'' blood, he probably wouldn''t feel anything in eating the things that the monsters left behind. Still, despite being hungry, Ryan only drunk some water because he didn''t want to rx. Unless he keeps some level of tension, he wouldn''t hear the enemies'' approach. Much to Ryan''s surprise, it didn''t take long for Ryan to hear some footsteps. However, those footsteps didn''t look like the ones from the Sahuagins. Those were much more irregr¡­ a few secondster, Ryan saw three men and two womening from the direction he came from. "Human beings sure are a pain in the ass¡­" Ryan sighed. Jacob didn''t hear Ryan''s words, but he heard him sighing. He got up and gulped when he saw those people approaching. Ryan frowned upon seeing that, and he only understood why he did that when he saw the weapons on their backs. "Maybe I''m worrying too much about monsters and not enough about humans¡­" Although he found some groups until now, Ryan got lucky. Still, it looked like Jacob and his family already saw humans acting like animals in the previous days¡­ Regardless, Ryan raised his right arm to stop those people, but that only made him feel frustrated. After sighing, Ryan raised his left arm, and they understood the meaning behind his actions. A single woman stepped forward, she was incredibly beautiful, and despite the city''s current situation, she was clean¡­ even though she was unarmed. Her long straight blond hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her eyes were emerald green. She was also wearing a pair of somewhat thick sses¡­ it looked like her eyesight wasn''t that good. So, Ryan couldn''t help but frown while imagining how she fought without getting dirt, unarmed, and with bad eyesight. "My name is Lilian," The blond woman said after she stepped forward. "I belong to the group of survivors whomunicated with other survivors via radio." Ryan looked at Jacob, and he approached and then nodded. Although he didn''t mention it, it looked like he had given his position to others via radio. That was quite surprising given his previous reaction. "Did you guyse to look for him and his family?" Ryan asked. "Yes," Lilian replied. "Why didn''t you guys told him that you woulde?" Ryan frowned. "Something unexpected happened, and the equipment we used got destroyed," Lilian replied. "We also were forced to abandon our previous camp¡­ it pains me to say this, but we came looking for survivors in order to get help from all the survivors of this city." "¡­ What happened?" Ryan hesitated. "A forced dungeon break¡­" Lilian answered. Chapter 64 - Explanation Ryan massaged his eyebrows while Lilian exined to him and Jacob''s family what had happened. Just like Ryan, they understood that they had to hurry and obtain power as fast as possible. Since a Sahuagins'' dungeon appeared near theke, they decided to use it as a base and strengthen the group. They had twenty or so survivors, and since the very moment the dragons disappeared, they began to hunt the Sahuagins. After twenty or so hours of fight, they found the dungeon''s boss, and even though they lost five of their allies, they won. Much to his surprise, all of the fifteen survivors had the chance to obtain a ss. However, an idiot attacked the purple crystal, and that caused a forced dungeon break. "Thousands of Sahuagins spawned in the next minutes, and thirty bosses appeared as well," Lilian exined with a dark expression. "We lost five other allies while trying to escape¡­" "What about the guy who attacked the purple crystal?" Ryan asked. "¡­ He died when it happened," Lilian hesitated for a few seconds. Ryan wondered if she had told the truth. Even though Lilian didn''t avoid his gaze, her hesitation was clear in her voice. Regardless, even if the idiot were alive, it wouldn''t change the fact that Ryan had a massive problem in front of him, he probably would find the treasure box at the end of the dungeon, but he would have to defeat a few bosses instead of a single boss. "You don''t seem surprised¡­" Lilian looked at Ryan without hiding her surprise. "Did you already obtain a ss?" "Yes¡­" Ryan replied. "In any case, what sses can be obtained in the dungeon?" "The sses are Monk, Gunslinger, and Siren," Lilian replied. "I''m a Monk. May I ask what ss did you choose and where is the dungeon you cleared?" "You can, but I don''t have to answer," Ryan shrugged. "But at the very least, I can tell you where you can find the dungeons I found." Everything was making sense now. While Ryan ignored Lilian''s irritated eyes, he began to wonder what he should do. He didn''t want to work with someone who was lying to him, but Ryan decided to forget that point because she did it to protect someone. So, at the very least, due to that kind of behavior, Ryan felt a bit rxed around her. If anything, she looked to be the group leader, and she was the one who said she would look for other survivors, so she wasn''t a bad person. Lilian was a monk, a melee fighter. If she could fight against the Sahuagins up close, she was the perfect ally, at least for the time being. In order to reach thest part of the dungeon as fast as possible, Ryan couldn''t work alone. Although he was secretive, everyone knew that it was the smart thing to do. Lilian couldn''t do that because she was the leader of the group. Even if she wanted, she couldn''t act like that. In order to make a decent survivor''s group, Lilian couldn''t act considering her only interests. "It looks like you guys are looking for survivors to exterminate the Sahuagins," Ryan said. "You saw us fighting, right? Do you think we can help?" "We don''t have any other option but ept all the help we can get¡­" Lilian sighed. "We need to help as many people as possible and make them obtain their sses. I don''t know how or when you lost your arm, but considering that you still look fine despite having a single hand, you will be a great asset for us. However, our ultimate goal is to help all the survivors. So, the things we obtain will be shared equally among all the survivors." That sounded like a pain, but as long as the items obtained are shared among those who contribute to monsters'' extermination, he wouldn''t mind. Ryan didn''t want to spend weeks working hard alone to clean the streets from the Sahuagins, after all. "I don''t mind sharing items. As for the coins, they are shared by the system, so it isn''t a problem," Ryan said. "However, if I find a tome, I won''t give it to others." "There are certain exceptions for those rules¡­ that is one of them," Lilian exined. "As for items, if you find a better item than the current one that you use, you can keep it. But it would be wiser to give the old one to someone else." "I guess that is fine," Ryan said. "It looks like everything is decided then. What about you three?" Lilian asked while facing Jacob, Be, and Edward. "You guys still want toe with us knowing that we messed up before creating a decent survivors'' camp?" "We want toe with you," Jacob said after looking at his wife and son. "We don''t know how many of us survived, but I think that all the survivors need to band together to recover our society." Ryan couldn''t help but let out a long sigh after hearing that. He honestly couldn''t believe that humanity would be able to recover in his generation. Das got nuked and probably wasn''t the only city that was destroyed by that kind of weapon. Dragons still were around, and they would keep destroying cities¡­ their only option was to kill all the monsters before trying to rebuild anything. "Well, before get going, we should get all the food we can get from this ce," Lilian said and then entered the convenience store. "We lost all our supplies, so we need to scavenge all the food we can find." Ryan frowned when he saw Lilian moving a fallen wall and then repaired a destroyed cart with her bare hands. She didn''t look like it, but she was absurdly strong and perhaps an airhead since she filled that, and several other carts with food, and those would make a lot of noise. Chapter 65 - Monks Skills Lilian''s friends were quite a diverse bunch. Two of the man were monks, just like Lilian. They used swords. Still, despite that, they weren''t nearly as powerful as her. Despite her appearance, Lilian was a boxer, and pretty good at that. Even when the Sahuagins dashed at her while pointing their weapons at her, she didn''t hesitate in dashing toward them as well. Even though she had an absurd strength, she also could move faster and dodge the attacks of three of those monsters with ease. Not only that, before those monsters could even finish their attack movement, she could hit two of them in the face and knock them down. "I guess those are the skills of a monk¡­" Lilian was strong, and she focused on speed as well, but it looked like she didn''t increase her health, mana, and stamina all that much. After killing only two monsters, she would begin to sweat quite a lot, even though she looked pretty fine. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The ss: Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 6 ? Lv 7 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. "Are you holding back?" Lilian asked while looking at Ryan. "You aren''t wounded, so you managed to defeat more than a few Sahuagins without letting them get closer." "I was just studying you guys'' fighting style¡­" Ryan replied. "Besides, If I use too much mana, I will have to stop and meditate to recover my mana." Although Ryan could do better, he only killed four of the ten Sahuagins that appeared. After they got closer, he couldn''t attack since Lilian and her friends were blocking his view. In any case, Ryan decided to tell the truth because he was interested in the skills she obtained when she became a Monk. "A skill that boosts her strength and another that increases her speed¡­ thest one is probably a healing skill." Still, Ryan could be wrong, but even if he was, he doubted that a monk would have the skill he was looking for. Considering theck of wounds on Lilian''s body, the chances of him being right were high. Ryan didn''t know if Lilian was the type of person who would ignore Ryan''s right arm if she could help him, but he didn''t want to ask either. If he asks, he would be forced to answer some questions as well. Ryan didn''t want to reveal the things he could do for the time being because it would take a while for him to trust other people after Daniel and Mia. Besides, eventually, Ryan would confirm his suspicions. If Lilian had the power to heal his right arm, he would discover, but his instincts were telling him that it would take quite a while for that to happen. Although Ryan wasn''t leading anymore, he felt an indescribable sense of relief, knowing that he didn''t have to kill almost all monsters alone. They weren''t heading toward theke anymore, but fortunately, Lilian had a map that marked the locations of all survivors they managed tomunicate with. In the next few hours, they found thirty survivors, but then the sun was setting. They began to walk toward the center of the city, and there they found another group of twenty survivors. Some of them looked different from the others, and soon Ryan understood why. They were the other five survivors of Lilian''s group. "It looks like you manage to find some survivors," Lilian stopped in front of a blond teenager who also had green eyes. "Did you find any bosses?" "No, it looks like they still are guarding the dungeon," A blond young man said. It didn''t take long for Ryan to connect the dots; the teenager was Lilian''s little brother, and he was the guy who caused the dungeon break. He looked pretty tired and somewhat depressed, but the other group members didn''t mind following him. Since that was the case, Ryan understood that he tried to destroy the purple crystal imagining that it would make the monsters stop from spawning. Ryan recalled the times that the bosses tried to taunt him in doing that, but rather than that, he felt alleviated that the monsters couldn''t cause dungeon breaks themselves. Regardless, even though they just lost their old camp early that day, Lilian''s group found a new one¡­ the police station of the city. Half of the building had fallen but still could be used against the Sahuagins. Without wasting time, Ryanid on a random table and then begun to sleep. He was too tired to care if strangers surrounded him, but considering that those people looked as if they had just woken up from a nightmare, they wouldn''t do anything to him. Congrattions! The skill Sleep Resistance has leveled up. Sleep Resistance Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of tiredness and spells that might induce you to sleep by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan even got that notification before falling asleep. It was a pity that Ryan couldn''t make good use of his powers as a night demon, but then again, he was too tired to care about that. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have the chance to sleep for long. Things suddenly got noisy, and that made Ryan wake up feeling a terrible headache. Ryan got up, and his headache only got worse when he realized that the survivors were arguing about something. The fifty or so survivors were facing each other divided into two groups. "Are you insane?" A random gray-haired man raised his voice. "We can''t fight those monsters! Our only option is to leave the city and wait for the government to help us!" "Like I said¡­ We can''t leave the city," Lilian face-palmed. "Well, some of us can, but you can''t. Do you think you can jump over a river of magma?" "River of magma? What kind of joke is that?" The man asked. " Ryan sighed, he had imagined that something like would happen, but he was praying that he would find unreasonable idiotster. Chapter 66 - Argument That argumentsted for quite a while. Some people were demanding Lilian and his group to escort the people out of the city. Fortunately, some people already recognized that they couldn''t rely on anyone else to protect themselves. Still¡­ those people were just a small fraction of those fifty survivors. Lilian noticed that Ryan had woken up and moved to talk with him. He already knew what she was nning... still, even though it was a pain, Ryan didn''t have any other choice but to help her in order to end themotion there. He wanted to sleep until sunrise, after all. "This guy came from out of the city," Lilian said. "You can confirm with him that we are telling the truth. The situation outside the city isn''t better¡­ it is worse." Ryan wanted to deny that since Cole''s group was training in the slime''s dungeon while John''s group was keeping the goblins in check. Still, then again, how many dungeons were nearby that wasn''t being watched, and how many idiots out there were also causing dungeon breaks? Even without confirming that, Lilian was probably right. "How can we tell if he isn''t part of your group and won''t say whatever you want?" The gray-haired man asked. "We saw him jumping over the river of magma, and he found my family and me before Lilian did it," Jacob stepped forward and said. "He definitely came from out of the city." "How can we know that you also aren''t working for her?" The gray-haired man raised his voice again. "As far as we know, there is a chance that you all are trying to use the people you just found." Ryan massaged his eyebrows. There was a limit of how skeptical someone could be, considering that he did see dragons a few days ago. Although Ryan was also skeptical of many things, that man just got rescued by Lilian''s friends, and instead of thanking them, the first thing he does is to cause amotion. "Can you guys lower your voice, please?" Ryan said. "Tomorrow is an early day. Besides, your voice might attract the Sahuagins. As you can see, all the people here are just survivors that once were ordinary people¡­ not a single person here worked for the government or something like that. So, they don''t have to sacrifice their lives to protect you." "What? Do you want to force us to fight those creatures as well?" The man asked. "Nope, for all that I care, you guys can leave the city," Ryan said. "I can even give you some directions to find some ces that might be more secure than here, but you and anyone else who wants to go there will have to go alone. Just like we can''t force you to fight to protect your life, you can''t force anyone here to protect you." "As if I would need to be protected by a man who only has one hand," The gray-haired man smirked. Ryan didn''t want to, but he considered to show the man the power of his me Arrow. He didn''t have to kill the man just because of a single insult, nor did he want to kill another human being in cold blood, but there was another way to make all those people shut up. Ryan began to move toward the man, and Lilian didn''t stop him since Ryan left his crossbow on the table. The gray-haired man frowned when he saw it, but he didn''t show a single sign of fear as expected. Ryan was unarmed and only had a single-arm, after all. "I can give you my crossbow if you want," Ryan said. "That way, you will be able to protect yourself and anyone who wants to follow you. I can guarantee that that weapon is as powerful as a firearm." "¡­ Why would you do that?" The man frowned. "Rather, where did you find such a weapon?" "It doesn''t matter, right?" Ryan smiled and offered a handshake. "All that you need to do is to hold my hand for five seconds." Once again, the man frowned. He saw how powerful Lilian''s brother was, so he hesitated a little bit, but even if it hurts a little, he doubted that someone could break his hand so easily. The grey-haired man epted the handshake but soon regretted his decision when his hand begun to burn. There was no fire, but his hand was burning. Meanwhile, Ryan was smiling as if nothing was happening. "AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!" The gray-haired man shouted in pain In the end, the man onlysted for two seconds and pulled back his hand¡­ Ryan didn''t even try to hold him because he didn''t want to wound the man. Despite that, his hand got so red and burned to the point where he could see some bubbles. Those were the signs of first-degree burns. "That was unnecessary," Lilian red at Ryan before approaching the man and touching his burned hand. Suddenly her own hands begun to shine, and then little by little, the burns began to disappear. After just ten seconds, his hand was back to normal, but Lilian was pale as a ghost. She used all her mana just to heal some small wounds¡­ she couldn''t heal his right arm. "This is it, folks," Ryan said. "People can obtain these kinds of powers; all you have to do is fight. Eventually, you will receive a ss and be able to heal wounded people¡­ or hurt them. I wonder how the world will be in a few months if some people have powers while others don''t. Anyway¡­ if someone needs a handshake, all that you need to do is wake me up. By the way,¡­ did you learn a new skill?" "¡­ Yes¡­ I learned Fire Resistance," The gray-haired man replied while ring at Ryan. "I guess we can use this¡­" Ryan said. "You survived the pain and got rewarded for it¡­ remember, power has a price. Do you want to pay the price?" Chapter 67 - Weird Favor Ryan was a bit sleepy, so before he could wake up for real, heid on the table again and closed his eyes. This time, he didn''t wake up for several hours, so he felt refreshed when he woke up. The police station''s interior was still dark with the exception of a few shlights, so it looked like he still had some time before sunrise. "I guess I went too far¡­" Ryan sighed once he recalled the things he did with a middle-aged man. "Yes, you went too far," Lilian said. Ryan''s heart almost stopped when he suddenly heard a voiceing from behind. Little by little, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and then he saw Lilian and the blonde teenager behind him and near the police station entrance. Now that he noticed, the other survivors weren''t around, and only Lilian''s group and Jacob''s family were close to the entrance and sleeping. "Where are the others?" Ryan asked. "Are they sleeping in the cells or something?" "Yes, they are," Lilian answered as if it was a matter of fact. "Those weren''t destroyed, and there were some beds there¡­ Regardless, I have a favor to ask you. I want you to burn my hands." "¡­ What?" Ryan frowned. "If you are a masochist, I''m not into that kind of roley. Look for someone else." "I want to learn the skill that man learned," Lilian said. "Besides, you will be able to train the skill as well, so you don''t have anything to lose." "I guess it is fine¡­" Ryan sighed. "Don''t regret itter, though." Ryan offered a handshake, and Lilian readied held his hand, but then she began to tremble when Ryan activated Lesser Fire Enchantment. However, she countered those effects by using the healing skill she used before. Unfortunately, since she had less mana than Ryan and thus she was forced to retreat. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Fire Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 20%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. "Ouch¡­ which ss did you pick to be able to do this?" Lilian asked. "Ten kilometers south of here, there is a goblins'' dungeon," Ryan replied. "If you go there, you will find the answer to your question." "¡­ You said that you could tell that man the location of some secure ces," Lilian said. "Are you talking about other survivors'' camps near dungeons? You managed to clear two dungeons beforeing to Shreveport?" "Who knows¡­" Ryan shrugged. "Rather than waste time asking questions, you should meditate and recover your mana. If you want, I can help you level up Fire Resistance. That being said, I don''t think that will be of much use against Sahuagins. I also can make you learn some other skills, so hurry up and recover your mana." Fortunately, it looked like Lilian knew about Meditation. Ryan didn''t know if that skill could level up like that, but Ryan kept his other enchantments active, and when his mana was empty, he began to meditate. Congrattions! For meditating for the equivalent of six hours, your mana and intelligence have increased by one point. Ryan frowned when he received that notification¡­ it looked like he could do other things aside from fighting monsters and level up skills in order to increase his status. That being said, it wouldn''t be easy, and it would be very time-consuming. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Wind Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser WindEnchantment Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 20%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Water Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 20%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Two hourster, the sun began to rise, and Ryan felt quite satisfied in knowing that he could train some of his skills outside battles and even do some things like meditate to increase his status. Meanwhile, even though Lilian obtained three skills, she looked exhausted. "That is why I told you should rest," The blond teenager suddenly said even though his eyes were closed. "We still have to look for more survivors, and you didn''t sleep in two days." "I didn''t raise you to pretend that you are sleeping while observes other people, Luke," Lilian before pinching Luke''s nose. "It will be painful, but I rmend that you at least learn those three skills and train them once your health increases." "Nice to meet you. My name is Luke," Luke said and then offered a handshake. Ryan nodded and then activated Lesser Fire Enchantment. When he noticed what was happening, Luke pulled his hand back and red at Ryan. It looked like he only wanted to greet him and would leave the training forter. "My bad," Ryan forced a smile. Just like Lilian, Luke didn''t have any weapons. Since those were rare, he didn''t have any protective gear either. So, Ryan couldn''t help but frown, imagining how they spend the coins they obtained. In any case, despite his age, Luke looked quite strong¡­ as if he was a boxer as well. "¡­ How did you lose your right arm?" Luke said after hesitating a little bit. "It is a long story¡­" Ryan shrugged. "We have time," Luke said. "We will only look for more survivors after everyone wakes up and eat something. Thanks to your demonstration, everyone looked pretty eager to hunt monsters and obtain some skills." "In that case, instead of wasting time talking, I will make good use of my time to train my skills." Chapter 68 - Plot As expected, it was convenient to move in groups since the battles got much easier, but waiting for others to do most things was a pain. Still, as long as Ryan needs to work with Lilian''s group, he would have to follow their rules. Besides, he was a bit worried about the boss they mentioned the previous day. Judging by the number of coins he could obtain alone, goblins and Sahuagins were at the same level. However, he didn''t know if the same could be said of the bosses. Ryan also had to worry about their numbers¡­ "I don''t know why they are protecting the dungeon, but it is clear that they are plotting something. Maybe I can''t jump to conclusions, but I''m pretty sure we are in a race against time. Even monsters need to eat to live, but the bosses aren''t hunting¡­ that only means that their job is more important than their lives." Regardless, Ryan decided to train his skills since worrying endlessly wouldn''t help him in any way. The most important skill he needed to train was Appraisal, so he used that until his mana was empty on the humans nearby and then meditated. He repeated that a few times, and then he finally leveled up the skill. Congrattions! The skill Appraisal has leveled up. Appraisal Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: This shows you the basic information of all living beings. The amount of information shown will increase the more the skill levels up. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Lilian ¨C Monk Lv 05 Health: 32/32 "Yep¡­ I have to keep leveling up this skill," Ryan muttered. Luke and Lilian frowned since Ryan was constantly stopping his meditation to look at them. They couldn''t tell that he was using Appraisal, but it was obvious that he was training some useful skills. Since it could be used on allies, Ryan didn''t know if there was a difference in efficiency in using it on humans or monsters, but if there were a difference, it would be pretty obvious that it would be more convenient use on monsters. Regardless, Ryan was starving so after leveling up Appraisal. He had his breakfast. Today''s menu was orange juice and bread¡­ and as if that wasn''t worrisome enough, all the food they obtained the previous day was already ending since sixty people had to eat. "I think we should divide ourselves into four groups today," Luke said. "Like yesterday, two groups will look for survivors while the other two will search for food." "That seems like a good idea, but given that only a few of us can kill the Sahuagins, it will be difficult to divide our forces," Lilian nodded. "What do you think, Ryan?" "What I think?" Ryan frowned. "I think today is a nice day to hunt monsters. The sky is clear, and I don''t think the forecast warned about the possibility of dragons." "¡­ I was asking about what we should do about Luke''s idea," Lilian massaged her eyebrows. "Do whatever you want," Ryan shrugged. "I will help for the time being." Lilian and Luke looked at each other, wondering what Ryan meant by that. It looked like they never considered that Ryan had his own goals and would only help them for a while. Ryan didn''t want to involve himself with them because it would be a pain in the long run. Still, it looked like Lilian noticed that he didn''t want that. "Ryan¡­ what is your goal?" Lilian asked. "Why did youe to this city knowing that the dragons might still be around and have destroyed almost everything." "My current goal is to clear the Sahuagins'' dungeon and get the next ss," Ryan replied. "And after that?" Lilian asked. "After that, I will look for the velociraptor''s dungeon and then clear it," Ryan answered. "Before you ask the same question again, I will keep looking for dungeons and clear them." "¡­ Why?" Lilian frowned. "Because everyone needs the power to survive in this world, and I''m no different," Ryan replied. "Besides, the few experiences of interacting with other survivors led me to believe that it is better if I keep doing my own things." "You don''t look like a bad person. Are you sure this is the time to pursue power?" Lilian asked. "There isn''t someone that you need to look for?" "Nope," Ryan answered. "Those who I cared about are no longer among us. Now, I will be thankful if you don''t keep asking me questions. Our goals are aligned, so we can work together, but that doesn''t mean we have to be friends or that we have to exin to each other our motives¡­ even though I already did it. That reminds me¡­" Ryan got up and approached the group of survivors that were eating their breakfast silently and then tried to look for a couple that seemed to be rich. However, it was hard to identify people like that, considering the things that they had to endure to survive. "Does any of you have a house outside of the city?" Ryan asked after drawing everyone''s attention. "¡­ Why are you asking us that?" The gray-haired man asked after a few moments of hesitation. "Don''t answer my question with another question¡­" Ryan sighed. "Does any of you has a twelve years old daughter? I found a girl around that age beforeing to this city." "I have¡­" The gray-haired man said. "¡­ What is her name?" Ryan was already ready to face-palm before even receiving an answer. "Zoe¡­ she has short-blond hair, she wears sses, and she can''t walk¡­ did you¡­ did you find her?" The gray-haired man approached Ryan and grabbed his shoulders. "You found her, right? Is she fine?" "Yes¡­ she is fine," Ryan face-palmed. "She is with a group of survivors a few kilometers away from here¡­ now let me go." The gray-haired man was Zoe''s father¡­ coincidences are really scary. Still, now he could understand why he was so unreasonable the previous night. Although he didn''t mention her, he talked as if he really wanted to leave the city and the motive as Zoe¡­ even though he tried to speak for the sake of those who didn''t want to fight. Chapter 69 - Small World "Rejoice, Gramps," Ryan said. "Your daughter is stronger than you now. At this very moment, she is probably capable of killing Sahuagins without breaking a sweat." "Don''t call me Gramps¡­ My name is Miles, and I''m just fifty years old," Miles said while he was clearing the tears off his face. "What do you mean by my daughter can kill monsters? Did you force her to fight those grotesque creatures?" "No¡­ I just gave her a weapon," Ryan avoided Miles'' annoyed eyes. "Why did you do that?" Miles raised his voice. "She can''t even walk!" "Would you trust the safety of your daughter on the hands of strangers?" Ryan frowned. "I know the people who are looking after her, but I wouldn''t trust my life on their hands, much less the life of a kid. That is why I taught her how to use a bow. Anyway, you can go to where she is and be a burden since you don''t have any power yet, or you can fight alongside the people here and safely obtain power. Believe me,¡­ fighting alone is much more difficult than you think." Miles gulped when Ryan raised his right arm. He was fully aware that Ryan wasn''t the type who would say empty words. Given that he still was dirt with monster''s blood, Ryan''s words had an even heavier meaning. Regardless, Zoe asked Ryan to find his parents, but since he didn''t see anyone talking with Miles, then it was most likely that his wife had passed away during the dragon''s attack. It was a pity, but finding her father was already a miracle, to begin with. Putting such things aside, Lilian got the whole group''s attention and then divided everyone''s roles. Some people still didn''t want to fight, even though they were quite interested in obtaining Ryan and Lilian''s skills. So, those would work to scavenge and carry everything they might find useful for the time being. Besides, the number of weapons in their possession was low, so, it was only obvious. Only one group would be responsible for looking for supplies. Meanwhile, two other groups would look for survivors. As for thest group, they would approach the dungeon and see how things are there. Since the dungeon was the dangerous area, that group would be the smallest. Besides, the other three groups would need a lot of manpower to protect those that didn''t obtain much status. "Thest group members will be Ryan, Luke, and me," Lilian dered. "Fighting near the dungeon will grant us the chance to encounter more monsters and obtain more drops. Tomorrow the strength of our group will be higher, so more people will be able to help, so look forward to it." Although that was a bit surprising, it was only obvious that they needed to watch the dungeon from a distance. Besides, even though the encounter rate was pretty high thanks to the dungeon break, decreasing the number of Sahuagins would be much easier near the dungeon. "I thought you wouldn''t like my n," Lilian said while looking at Ryan. "If you tried to send me alone, then I wouldn''t like it, and in fact, I would abandon this group," Ryan said. "However, since you two will take care of the enemies when they approach, then I don''t have any reason to dislike the n." "Are you sure about this?" Luke asked. "I''m not the best person to doubt your ns, but going with three people to that ce sounds a little risky." "Don''t worry," Lilian patted her little brother''s head. "You didn''t see him in action yet, but Ryan isn''t half bad¡­ Considering that he just lost his dominating hand." "So, you already figured it out, huh," Ryan said, a bit surprised. "The smell of blood still is pretty strong, and while you were sleeping, I checked your right arm," Lilian said as if it was a matter of fact. "¡­ I''m starting to wonder if I shouldn''t give up on this group and challenge the Sahuagins alone," Ryan frowned. "I think I would rather die in the hands of monsters than trust on someone so creepy." "By the way, which type of monsters you fought so far?" Lilian asked. "I know that you want to keep your abilities as hidden as possible, but you are fully aware that at the very least, you need to tell us the dungeons which you found and the monsters you found there." "What do you mean by ''by the way¡­" Ryan sighed. "Slimes and goblins¡­ as you can imagine, slimes are rtively easy to deal with as long as you are fast enough or you are a ranged fighter. As for the goblins, they more or less possess the same level of strength as the Sahuagins. Give me your map. I will show you the location of the dungeons." Although making more people obtain sses could ease Ryan''s work, it could also cause himter. Still, he was confident that none of the people that might actually cause him problems would. The first reason was that he would never stay in a group for a long time, and the second was because he is a trained hunter. Just power wouldn''t be enough to defeat him. Some experience and skills were also necessary. If anything, he would rather give a chance to all people to obtain power. That way, he would be able to identify the troublesome individuals with ease and then get rid of them if necessary. "I should prepare myself when the timees¡­ For the time being, I only found a few slightly troublesome people, but I feel like it is only a matter of time before I find some real assholes." So far, Ryan only found people who suffered thanks to the monsters, but his instincts were telling him that soon he would find those who were enjoying the situation. Right now, the human race was in a war against monsters, but that was just the beginning¡­ everything could change at any moment. Chapter 70 - Another Weirdo After readying themselves, Ryan, Lilian, and Luke left the police station alongside everyone else. Since none of them left anything behind, it was unnecessary to leave someone guarding the ce. Besides, if the monsters try to destroy the building, only a handful of survivors wouldn''t be enough to stop them. "You mentioned that thirty bosses are guarding the entrance of the dungeon, but how do they differ from the other Sahuagins?" Ryan asked. "The only real difference is their size and the fact that they wield two short swords," Lilian replied, showing a weird smile. "They are two meters tall, and their muscles are amazing¡­ their attacks will hurt even if you block them with your shield." "Lilian¡­" Luke looked at Lilian reproachfully. "Oops, sorry¡­" Lilian forced a smile Ryan recovered his shield from Jacob since they wouldn''t work together for the time being. While moving toward the dungeon, Ryan was more in danger than Jacob, and his family was due to the fact that they became part of the teams that were searching for other survivors. In any case, it looked like Lilian drooled while recalling the bosses'' bodies¡­ maybe she was a weirdo, or she just liked guys that looked like the terminator. Regardless, it didn''t take long for them to find the next group of Sahuagins. Although Ryan wanted to level up Appraisal more than any other skill at the moment, he focused on using all his mana to hit those creatures. Instead of headshots, Ryan focused on wounding the Sahuagins as much as possible with his iron bolts, and thanks to it, before the monsters could get too close, he killed four of them and wounded the other two. "Heh, not bad¡­" Luke smiled. "Leave the rest to us." Luke and Lilian looked at each other and then nodded. Even though they weren''t twins, their movements were almost identical¡­ both of them dashed and knocked down a pair of Sahuagins at the same time. The other two that were unscathed aimed their spears at the siblings'' faces but using a long-ranged attack from up close wasn''t a good idea. Even though they were boxers, they kicked the enemies'' spears and thus canceled the spells. The difference in speed was just too big¡­ Lilian and Luke finished the enemies in just a few seconds and unharmed. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. You obtained four coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The ss: Hunter, has leveled up. Hunter Lv 7 ? Lv 8 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Congrattions! The skill Precision has leveled up. Precision Lv 3 ? Lv 4 Effect: Increases the chance of causing a critical hit by one percent per level on the targets, the longer the battlests. You obtained 01 status point. "Finally, the Hunter ss leveled up¡­ Well, I shouldn''t worry too much about it since today we are going to hunt the Sahuagins almost non-stop." Ryan didn''t know if it was just a coincidence or if the chances of finding drops increased while fighting in groups, but they found a sword amidst the Sahuagins corpses, a sword that was identical to the ones their teammates used. "Carry this around will slow us down," Lilian said while looking around. "We should hide these for the time being and collect them back once we return to our base." There weren''t many ces they could use to hide the drops. Even though monsters'' chances of using that path would be low since they would exterminate them, Lilian didn''t want to leave the items in the middle of the street. So, she left them behind the energy poles that were still standing. As expected, heading in a straight line toward the dungeon increased the encounter rate a lot. Before, Ryan would find a group of scouts once every three hundred meters, but his group was now finding once every one hundred meters. Although he wasn''t fighting alone, he had to meditate for a few minutes to recover his mana, and the same thing could be said of Luke and Lilian''s. "What a pain¡­" Luke bit his nails. "Now that we are stronger, the monsters want to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. I don''t believe that I''m doing this¡­ Ryan, could you help me learn the skills my sister learned earlier?" "I don''t mind," Ryan said. Luke didn''t like the idea of getting hurt outside the battles, but he recognized the fact that he needed more status points if he wanted to reach the dungeon. Although they would need all their mana, it was worth the hassle to lose some minutes there to learn Water Resistance and Wind Resistance. Ryan wanted to learn those skills, but since he couldn''t heal himself, he couldn''t do that at that moment. Even though his hand wouldn''t burn, the other body parts probably would if he touches them while activating Lesser Fire Enchantment. Self-inflicting harm was worrisome, but Ryan was determined to do everything to be stronger. After two hours of walking, they finally reached their destination. Ryan was mostly fine despite the fact that he used a lot of mana, but Luke and Lilian were exhausted since they had to kill hundreds of Sahuagins in just two hours. They obtained a few items aside from weapons, and that made things easier for them, but it looked like using and recovering energy that frequently wasn''t easy for the bodies. While Lilian and Luke were resting behind a pile of rubble, Ryan observed theke¡­ a few hundred meters ahead of them. The bridge had fallen thanks to the dragons'' work, so crossing it would be a massive pain in the ass. However, he didn''t have to worry about that for the time being. He was more worried about the dungeon that appeared on theke''s shore. As weird as it looked, the dungeon''s entrance was like the front door of a castle¡­ even though the dungeon was underground¡­ Regardless, just like Luke and Lilian mentioned, thirty or so bosses were in front of the dungeon entrance while it was spawning several Sahuagins. "This will be hard¡­" Chapter 71 - Grinding Time Sahuagin Duelist ¨C Lv 10 Health: 600/600 After using Appraisal, Ryan understood why a single of those monsters managed to kill five of twenty survivors. He didn''t know if those who died were Luke''s friend or something, but the anger he felt after the battle probably made him attack the purple crystal, and that lead to their current situation. Regardless, even though the situation was dire, at the price of five lives, the people of that city discovered that they shouldn''t attack the purple crystal. "Can you see their status?" Lilian asked. "What do you think?" Ryan frowned when he heard that question¡­ then again, why would he stare so much at the enemies if he couldn''t do it? The only possibility was that he could see their status, or he liked muscr men like Lilian. "It will be difficult¡­" Ryan replied and then sighed. "I don''t think I''m powerful enough to snipe them from so far away. If we get too close, there is always the chance that all of them might try to hunt us down." "You can strengthen your attacks with mana and stamina, right?" Lilian asked again. "Can''t you kill not even a single of them if you use all your mana and stamina?" "How did you¡­ forget about it," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Yeah, I can do something like that¡­ but they have too much health. Given that a single one of them took five of your friends, it is evident that they have a lot of endurance¡­ I have some ideas as to how to snipe them, but I will need to level up some skills first." "We don''t know how much time we have¡­ we don''t even know if we are in a race against time, after all," Lilian crossed her arms and began to think. "In any case, we need to obtain more weapons and train all the survivors before trying to kill all the bosses. So, I guess we don''t have any other choice¡­ it is grinding time." After dinner, Lilian, Luke, and her friends would teach all the other survivors the skills they learned and could be taught since every single stat point was valuable. Still, they would need weapons as well, but despite the fact that they killed hundreds of Sahuagins, Ryan, Lilian and Luke only obtained two swords, two spears, and a bow. Depending on the number of survivors they find the next few days, it would be hard to imagine every single survivor in that group obtaining a weapon along the week. Maybe it would be wise to wait or even call John''s group in the task of recovering the city from the hands of the monsters, but Ryan wasn''t an official member of Lilian''s group, nor did he want to be one, so he couldn''t speak for them. Since he also didn''t want to meet with Daniel and Mia ever again, he wanted to finish his business in Shreveport in less than one week¡­ it would be a difficult task, but Ryan was training hard to achieve that. Congrattions! The skill Art of Sniping has leveled up. Art of Sniping Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the chance of hitting targets over long distances when they are not aware of your presence by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Rapid Shot has leveled up. Rapid Shot Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: You can shoot an additional arrow. The number of arrows will increase every ten levels. Cost: 02 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Wind Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 20%. Cost: 05 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. While Luke and Lilian were working as bait to lure the Sahuagins, Ryan hid between the branches of a tree in order to attack the monsters by surprise. Thanks to it, he increased the efficacy of certain skills like Art of Sniping. Since he also didn''t have to worry about being found anymore, his power increased quite a bit. Instead of four, he could kill six Sahuagins before they could get close enough to attack. Still¡­ it wasn''t enough. If ordinary Sahuagins could block his attacks, the bosses could do too. That was why he decided to train Rapid Shot and Lesser Wind Enchantment, to decrease their chances of reacting on time. At the end of that day, those were the skills he managed to level up. It wasn''t enough, but considering that Ryan also would hunt monsters at night, that much progress was eptable. In the end, all groups reunited at the police station and celebrated the sess of their missions. Thanks to Ryan, Lilian, and Luke''s hard work, the other groups only fought a few times and, thanks to it, had a lot of time to search for food and survivors. Their numbers increased by ten, and they also managed to find enough food to feed that whole group for three days. Inparison, Ryan''s group only brought back to the camp ten weapons and some rings, it didn''t look like much, but those who received the weapons became impressed by the feeling of power those weapons gave them. In any case, Ryan had nned to hunt monsters at night, but it looked he would have to help the survivors learn some skills. His job was easy. He just has to use his enchantments and make everyone learn the elemental resistances. That work took him a few hours, but given that he also trained those spells, he didn''t feel that bothered by it. ss: Hunter Lv 08 / Elementalist Lv 03/-- Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1501h Health: 31/31 (0, 0566) Mana: 48/48 (0, 0566) Stamina: 40/40 (0, 0566) Strength: 10 (+3) Dexterity: 51 (+23) (+12) Speed: 27 (+8) Intelligence: 08 (+6) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+8) Control: 06 (+5) (+6) Mentality: 07 Luck: 13 Recovery: 30 (+1) (+3) Willpower: 09 Coins: 3652 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 07, Throw Lv 02, Dash Lv 02, Rapid Shot Lv 03, Herculean Strength Lv 03, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 07, Concentration Lv 07, Archery Lv 07, uracy Lv 06, Stealth Lv 03, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 02, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 04, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 01, Stalk Lv 01, Art of Sniping Lv 02, Tracking Lv 01, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 03, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01, Mana Transfusion Lv 03, Meditation Lv 05, me Arrow Lv 06, Appraisal Lv 02, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 03, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 01 Chapter 72 - Traces "Hey, Tristan¡­" Cole said while looking at Tristan with dubious eyes. "Are you sure he came this way?" "Yeah¡­ Ryan asked if I knew something about dungeons," Tristan replied while looking around. "I didn''t know anything about them since he was the one who exined about their existence to me. Still, he stopped asking about it when I mentioned a swarm of goblins that appeared around here¡­" It took a few days, but Cole''s group managed to clear the slime''s dungeon and make everyone in the group obtain a ss. The group now had fifteen people, thanks to the addition of Tristan and Natalia¡­ Still, maybe it was because Tristan talked about the me Arrows Ryan used. The group had ten hunters, five swordsmen, and nothing a single thief. It wasn''t wise to lose the chance to obtain information about a ss, but given that their survival was on the line, no one wanted to be the sacrificial fodder, and no one couldn''t force each other to do so. Regardless, they cleared the dungeon the previous day, but they only left the dungeon at sunrise of the next day because they didn''t know when or if they would find the next dungeon. Fighting against slimes was still scary even for Cole, Carter, and Anna, but they couldn''t show that. Just like Ryan, they realized the potential of the sses, so they needed to get more sses and make more humans obtain them as well. Even though they spent the day walking, not a single survivorined because their leaders weren''t showing their doubts, and there were few things moreforting than a confident leader. "It should be around here¡­ I''m sure of it," Tristan while looking around. "You shouldn''t trust your memories too much," Natalia said. "What you saw happened a week ago, after all. Since many things happened, that memory probably isn''t trustworthy anymore." "Thank you for the encouragement¡­" Tristan sighed. "Since you are so eager to thank Ryan for helping us, then you can look for his traces since my memories can''t be trusted." "Shut up¡­" Natalia looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Based on the things I heard of him, it seems he is quite harsh and imprudent¡­ and he didn''t hesitate in leaving a group that needed his help. So, I''m not eager to thank him¡­ Still, he kept you alive and even brought something to heal my wounds, so at the very least, he needs to hear my thank you." "Yes, yes¡­" Tristan sighed again. "The world is ending, and everyone needs to hear a thank you." "¡­ I can see something up ahead," Carter said while looking in the distance. "Hey, isn''t that grass weird?" Anna said, pointing to the tall grass on the right side of the road. "Tristan, Natalia, and Carter," Cole said. "You guys go and check what Carter saw in the middle of the road. We will check the grass around here¡­" Everyone readied their weapons, even though Cole''s group had to sacrifice a lot of coins, they armed everyone. After all, even with sses, they wouldn''t be of much help without weapons. However, they didn''t find any monster nearby¡­ "Ah¡­ Ryan hid my motorcycle here," Coleughed. "Are you sure?" Anna frowned. "Yes¡­ this is definitely the marks of a motorcycle," Cole replied. "Besides, I recognize the marks of tires on the ground. It is barely visible, but those definitely belonged to my motorcycle." "Then, what Carter saw ahead¡­" Anna hesitated. "Ryan probably saw that too and then decided to hide the motorcycle here¡­ Mmm?" Cole frowned. "It is weird, but I can see some marks indicating that the motorcycle left this ce more than a few times." "He isn''t here anymore, right?" Anna asked. "Yeah¡­ the chances of that are quite high," Cole rubbed his chin. "It is a pity, but our goal is to get the next ss. We can always look for Ryanter¡­ wait a minute." Cole also found some weird marks on the ground¡­ the marks that someone had dug a hole there, and soon he regretted digging that hole. The survivors that were around puked when they saw a human arm there¡­ it was already rotting, so the smell was strong and very unpleasant. "Hey, we found signs of blood¡­ ugh!" Tristan suddenly approached and puked when he saw the arm. "Shit¡­ why am I so curious," Cole bit his lips in annoyance when he noticed that his actions dropped the morale of the group. Anna wanted to ask, but it was unnecessary. It was obvious who''s that arm belonged to. Still, if only a part of Ryan''s arm was there, it meant that he was alive. They didn''t know what he fought that made him lose his arm, but it was clear that was something fearsome. "¡­ What did you guys find?" Cole asked while he covered the arm with dirt again. "Something got dragged down to East of here," Carter replied. "We found a lot of blood, most likely¡­" "Human''s blood¡­ "Cole looked around in search of enemies, but he didn''t find a single one. "Let''s follow the trail. Ryan probably did the same thing to find the dungeon. Although some survivors didn''t like the idea, they didn''tin. As much as Cole, Carter, and Anna were insane for having that idea, they were reliable to sacrifice their coins to help others, and if they wouldn''t lose anything by following their leadership¡­ probably. After walking for half an hour, they finally found the dungeon and what seemed to be a humans'' camp. Unfortunately, Cole''s group tracking skills sucked, so at the same time, they found that group, they were noticed by the same group. Cole panicked when he saw the people in the distance, grabbing their weapons and preparing for battle. He couldn''t let humans kill each other, not when the world was in such a situation, so he left his weapon behind and approached the group with his arms raised. A middle-aged man did the same, and they met each other at the entrance of the camp. Chapter 73 - Meeting "Hello, my name is Cole," Cole said while he was studying the tall, middle-aged man in front of him. "My group and I aren''t looking for trouble." "Cole?" John frowned. "What is the name of your two other friends?" Cole frowned when he heard that. Somehow the middle-aged man knew about Anna and Carter, but then the dots began to connect, and then Cole rxed. Ryan certainly had been there, and he had mentioned them to that man. "Carter and Anna¡­ Ryan told you about us, right?" Cole asked, but then he got tense again, imagining that perhaps that group had tortured or done something worse to Ryan, but then he rxed when he saw a little girl in a wheelchair inside the camp. "¡­ He never said that your group would be so big," John sighed. "He only mentioned you three¡­ anyway. You guys cane. You look exhausted, and it would be rude to keep a police officer standing like that. My name is John. Nice to meet you." All of Cole''s worries disappeared. His instincts told him that that man wasn''t an enemy. Besides, if he were an enemy, he would have lured he and his friends to the dungeon by saying that Ryan was there. In any case, despite the fact that Cole wasn''t worried, Anna and Carter weren''t that rxed. Even though they had the numerical advantage, they didn''t drop their guard when they entered the camp. After talking for a while, Cole and the others heard what happened to Ryan and how those people were rted to him. It was quite fortunate that he found some friends so soon, and that was why Cole couldn''t understand why he left his friends so readily. "I see¡­" Cole sighed. "Ryan really looked like a stubborn guy, but I didn''t think he would challenge another boss alone¡­ thanks to it, he lost part of his right arm." "Excuse me¡­" Anna said. "Why would he leave his fiancee behind?" "Well¡­ there are some reasons for that¡­" John face-palmed, while Daniel and Mia lowered her face. "It will make us look suspicious, but talking about such personal matters behind Ryan''s back would only make him mad. So, I will refrain from doing so." "Ah¡­ I can easily imagine that," Coleughed. "Anyway, when he left this ce and where he went?" "Four days ago, and he headed to Shreveport¡­" John sighed. "Even though he just lost an arm, he was already looking for another dungeon to clear¡­ that boy is really something else." "Four days¡­ since then, your group has been training inside the dungeon," Cole said, a bit surprised. "I imagine that you aren''t confident in your power to defeat the boss yet. Well, given the information you gave us, that is more than understandable¡­ Do you think we can join forces and defeat the boss? I believe that will benefit us all." "Of course, if you guys already obtained your first ss, then you will be of great help," John smiled. "But even if all of us fight, I can''t imagine we defeating the boss without suffering some losses. We need at least one more week to get powerful enough to pull that off." "I see¡­ then how about we escort a part of your group to the slime''s dungeon?" Cole asked. "We will help your group obtain the first ss, and that will increase our survivability even more." "Mmm¡­ what do you two think of this idea?" John rubbed his chin while looking at Daniel and Mia. "I think it is a good idea," Daniel nodded. "We don''t have spells like me Arrow yet, but we will need to bombard the Hobgoblin with it." "I also think that the hunter ss will benefit a lot of us," Mia said. "Well then¡­ we will depart tomorrow," John dered and then offered a handshake. "I''m counting on you from today onward. "Likewise," Cole epted the handshake. That was how Cole and John''s group joined forces. Since both of them didn''t like to take too many risks, they got along really well. In any case, time was something they couldn''t afford to lose, so John and Daniel spent the night looking for a vehicle that would give them the chance to transport the survivors to the slimes'' dungeon. They found one, and thanks to it, their movement increased quite a bit. Although some of the survivors didn''t get along at the beginning, all the feelings of uneasiness disappeared when all the members of John''s group obtained their first ss. From that day onward, they began to be more proactive and also taught others how they should fight the goblins. Exactly one week after they joined forces, Cole and John decided to challenge the Hobgoblin with all their survivors. They didn''t want to lose a single one of them. No one wants to lose part of their limbs either. So, to avoid that, they made a formation. Eight swordsmen would be the frontline, and their sole job was to stop the Hobgoblin''s attack. Meanwhile, all the other survivors would attack the monster with me Arrows. As expected, the swordsmen wouldn''t be able to stop Hobgoblin''s rampage if they tried to attack as well, but even though they broke some bones, the frontline held back the monster while the backline attacked with me Arrows. They didn''t use gasoline, so the mes only burned the boss. After just two minutes, the creature died. It was only obvious given that almost twenty people attacked it with me Arrows¡­ Still, only twenty-four people had the chance to obtain a ss. So, three of the survivors didn''t obtain it. However, the next day, a new boss appeared, and those who didn''t obtain a ss, finally had their chance. They didn''t have much food, but Cole and John decided to make a party and celebrate the fact that they cleared the dungeon and obtained their second ss. Unfortunately, the rank they obtained wasn''t that high, so the reward they received was just a few extra coins. "Well, I guess it is time to go to Shreveport," John said. "You are right," Cole nodded. Chapter 74 - Doubts Five days had passed since Ryan joined Lilian''s group and began to train his skills to snipe the bosses. He didn''t know if he was strong enough to do so, but it was time to check if he could do it. ss: Hunter Lv 08 / Elementalist Lv 05/-- Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1501st Health: 32/32 (0, 0, 0765) Mana: 58/58 (0, 0, 0765) Stamina: 47/47(0, 0,0765) Strength: 10 (+3) Dexterity: 61 (+23) (+12) Speed: 30 (+8) Intelligence: 09 (+10) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+8) Control: 06 (+5) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 18 Recovery: 40 (+1) (+5) Willpower: 09 Coins: 9321 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 09, Throw Lv 04, Dash Lv 04, Rapid Shot Lv 05, Herculean Strength Lv 04, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 08, Concentration Lv 08, Archery Lv 08, uracy Lv 07, Stealth Lv 04, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 03, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 05, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 02, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 04, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 03, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Spells: Analysis Lv 03, Lurk Lv 03, Mana Transfusion Lv 05, Meditation Lv 06, me Arrow Lv 07, Appraisal Lv 04, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 05, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 01 Just looking at his status screen wasn''t enough to make Ryan feel confident. As a hunter, he learned that results were everything, and the result that would make him feel confident was to kill a Sahuagin Duelist in a single moment. "Are you ready?" Lilian asked. "Yes¡­ for the fifth time, I''m ready," Ryan sighed. Ryan was two hundred meters away from the entrance of the Sahuagins'' dungeon, and he was sitting above a truck that the survivors found. He would fire his bolts from there since it was evident that his projectile would lose altitude and speed at that distance. If Ryan seeds or fails, he probably will have to run, but if the Sahuagins leave their position, one hundred or so survivors were already hidden nearby to attack the monsters from the sides. Even if he doesn''t kill a single one with a pre-emptive strike, he will lure them toward a trap. The ordinary survivors weren''t that impressive, but all of them had weapons, so at the very least, they would be able to buy Ryan''s time in order to let him attack the monsters'' heads. It was hard to believe that Lilian came up with that n. The chances of more than a few survivors dying were very high, after all. But everyone was fully aware that the bosses were protecting the dungeon for a reason¡­ a reason that wouldn''t be good for humans. The survivors didn''t want to die, but they have no other choice but to fight. "Why did I ept this crazy idea?" Ryan muttered and then sighed. Ryan was in a perfect position. No matter what happens, the truck driver would move away from the Sahuagins, and Ryan''s life would be safe. However, that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t feel guilty if people die while he survives since he was the core part of the n. "Whatever¡­ Let''s finish this," Ryan said and then prepared to aim. Even though the wind was a bit strong, Ryan''s Lesser Enchantment could make the projectile ignore the wind, so he didn''t have to worry about it. His sole worry was to aim and pierce the head of what seemed to be the leader of the Sahuagins Duelists. Still, the trigger seemed heavy that day, and his eyes weren''t focusing like usual. Ryan was nervous¡­ because many people could die or survive, ording to his performance. Sahuagin Duelist - Lv 10 Health: 600/600 Mana: 300/300 Stamina: 400/400 Ryan sighed. Thanks to the apprehension, he ended up using mana without the need. However, he didn''t, and he couldn''t use all his mana to increase the power of a single attack¡­ only stamina could, so that was fine. Ryan got tired of taking his sweet time to deal the first blow, so this time he focused for real. The atmosphere around him changed, and everything disappeared from Ryan''s eyesight¡­ Ryan was in another world, a world where he could only see himself, the crossbow, the invisible line that connected his bolt and target. Suddenly, Ryan felt the line getting straight, and then he concentrated. The line began to move, but he was confident that while using Power Shot, the line would eventually stop on the target, and so it did. After exactly ten seconds, the line stopped right in the target''s right eye. The creature moved and then found Ryan, but before it could try anything, the iron bolt pierced its eye, and then the skull, and the brain¡­ Ryan didn''t expect that, but the monster''s head exploded thanks to his Wind Enchantment and the power of a fully powered Power Shot. You obtained two hundred coins. Ryan sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Lilian and Luke opened their eyes widely when they saw that Ryan killed a boss in a single strike. They didn''t know that several skills had to work together for that to happen, and they assumed that a single skill was the cause of that. Ignoring the annoying eyes full of surprise, Ryan readied the next bolt and then activated Lesser Wind Enchantment. He didn''t have the stamina to kill another monster in the same manner, but he could wound the other twenty-nine as much as possible. Ryan was determined to use all his mana potions that day. When his line of sight, his bolt, and the target aligned even on the slightest, Ryan pulled the trigger. It didn''t matter if he hit the monsters'' feet, arms, or even fin. He just wants to hit them before they get close. When the fifth of them got injured, they finally found Ryan, and they began to run. Chapter 75 - Good Job You obtained two hundred coins. You obtained two hundred coins. Ryan managed to wound the other five Sahuagin Duelists before they finally approached, and somehow, he also killed two others. The enemy''s force decreased to thirty strong to seventeen strong and ten others not so strong. "Good job, leave the rest to us," Luke patted Ryan''s shoulder and then jumped from the truck. "If they get too close, run and don''t look back," Lilian said to the bus driver. "Don''t worry. We can handle this." Ryan did his job. In fact, he did more than everyone had expected from a man that only had one hand. Still, he didn''t feel satisfied with just that. He didn''t want to y the hero, but his conscience was annoying, and he wanted to prevent as many deaths as possible. Besides, if he escapes and Lilian, Luke, and other survivors fail, he would have a harder time clearing the dungeon. "Just move fifty meters backward," Ryan said. "What?" The bus driver said, astonished. "But the leader said¡­" "Just shut up and obey it," Ryan said, a bit annoyed. "Don''t worry. You won''t die by the hands of those monsters." The truck driver gulped when he heard that. It sounded like a threat, but Ryan didn''t look at him, not even for a second. Besides, he also saw Ryan''s skills, so he was confident that Ryan could, at the very least, slow down the monsters if they try to approach. Ryan still had five mana potions. That would be enough to shot twenty iron bolts enchanted with the power of the wind. The monsters wouldn''t be able to block them, so he just had to aim properly, and now that they were running toward him, that wasn''t a problem. The truck driver moved the vehicle and stopped at the ce Ryan indicated. The Sahuagins looked ecstatic while moving, but they were forced to stop when the survivors left the piles of rubble in which they were hiding. The monsters got caught by surprise, but those who didn''t have been wounded by Ryan managed to react on time and sh their sword at the survivors. While drinking a mana potion, Ryan aimed his crossbow at the monsters. The very moment his aim was over the creatures, he pulled the trigger. Since the survivors attacked the monsters by the sides, Ryan had a clear view and didn''t have to worry about wounding an ally, but he still lost some time looking for those who were being overwhelmed by the monsters. You obtained 115 coins. While Ryan was looking for his next target, he saw Luke and Lilian fighting a single Sahuagin. The monster tried to pierce them at the same time, but after moving to the sides, they evaded the blow. Then suddenly, their bodies blurred, and in the next moment, they attacked the monster''s arms. The creature dropped its weapons, and in the next moment, Luke and Lilian crushed the monster''s skulls with their elbows. Ryan wondered how much stronger they got considering that a party of twenty people had to fight to defeat a creature like that¡­ in any case, Ryan found another target and soon forgot about it. Even though the survivors had divided into teams of five to attack the monsters, it wasn''t enough to stop the enraged creatures. Ryan saw the weapon of a skinny teenager being cut in half, and then he aimed to offer support, but before his arrow could pierce the monster''s neck, the creature beheaded the boy. Ryan''s heart grew cold while the head was falling on the ground, but he endured the grief and chose the next target. A person he didn''t know just died in front of him, but that still upset him greatly, but he couldn''t stop now. That would make things difficult, but at the very least, it would increase Ryan''s hit rate and attack speed. Since the monsters were busy fighting the survivors, he didn''t have to worry about using Lesser Wind Enchantment. Instead of that, he used Rapid Shot. Lilian and Luke frowned when they finally noticed the sound of sharp objects hissing through the air, but they didn''t have time to worry about it. Instead of looking for wounded Sahuagins, they looked for those that were causing problems to the survivors. Ryan''s firing and hit rate increased, and he managed to wound several Sahuagins in just a few seconds, now he was having difficulties to see the ones who weren''t wounded. Still, it didn''t take long for Ryan to feel that annoying feeling again. While he was drinking a potion, he found his next target, but he didn''t have enough mana to hit the monster. When the iron bolt finally appeared, Ryan pulled the trigger, but at the same time, a short-haired woman got split in half from head to toe. "Shit¡­ Shit!" Ryan bit his lips, and due to it, the taste of iron quickly spread through his mouth. That happened again and again¡­ it was a war, it was unavoidable that he would see humans being dying, but even so¡­ Ryan couldn''t just ept it so readily. It didn''t take long for Ryan to drink all his mana potions and be forced to see the survivors being killed by Sahuagin Duelists. He killed alone ten of ten, but thirty survivors still died in just a few minutes. Like Luke and Lilian, some survivors who were skilled survived almost unharmed, but others like Jacob suffered serious wounds. As long as they don''t bleed to death or their hearts and brains were destroyed, they would recover, but no one felt like celebrating despite the victory. Men, women, teenagers, elders¡­ that afternoon, a lot of people died. It couldn''t even bepared to the number of people who died due to the dragons'' rampage, but that still shocked Ryan. He just watched the corpses being carried from the top of the truck¡­ while he was thinking about a few things. "Those were weak died¡­ They died because I was weak too. I didn''t have any obligation to save them, but I didn''t want to see them die either¡­ but I had to¡­ because I am weak." Chapter 76 - Rewards As far as he could tell, Ryan didn''t have to work with Lilian anymore. Still, he decided to wait for her and her friends before heading to the dungeon. Some Sahuagins left the dungeon while they were dealing with the corpses, but Ryan killed them with ease. Around noon, the battlefield had been somewhat cleaned, and Lilian approached Ryan while carrying an iron bow, a pair of boots, and chainmail. He hadpletely forgotten about drops, but the other survivors didn''t miss it because they found them near the dead bodies of theirrades. "Here, it is yours," Lilian said. "You deserve it. I won''t ept a no for an answer." Iron Bow Effect: Consumes five points of mana to create an iron arrow. Dexterity + 7 Durability: 45/45 Chainmail Effect: Health + 5, Endurance + 4 Durability: 55/45 Leather Boots Effect: Speed + 3, Stamina + 5 Durability: 55/45 "Well, I will ept them," Ryan said. "Even though the bow is useless on my hands right now." "You showed me some impressive feats this week," Lilian said with a serious expression on her face. "Without using words, you even convinced several survivors that they should fight for their lives. So, I''m sure you will find a way to heal your arm soon enough." Ryan didn''t like that. That sense of familiarity¡­ feeling as if Lilian was a pretty good friend. Truth to be told, he hated it. Ryan didn''t want to risk feeling the same things he felt before. It was unreasonable, and even though having a few good friends was worth the trouble of maybe losing them one day or, even worse, be betrayed by them, Ryan didn''t want that. The status quo was boring, but it was better than live his life where he constantly fears the possibility of losing things or of being betrayed. "I don''t think you will need our help, but I would like to ask you to let us go with you to the end of the dungeon," Lilian said. "The sooner the survivors obtain their ss, the better." Ryan was too tired to say no and start an argument. Besides, the feeling he had right at that moment will only get worse if he refuses Lilian and someone diester. If anything, the sense of guilty would be stronger than the fear, so Ryan only nodded at her words. Besides, truth to be told, Ryan was exhausted. Even though his health, mana, and stamina had been recovered already, he was exhausted. The mental strain of such arge battle had been that intense. "I guess this is another reason to keep fighting solo." Even if most of them were strangers, it was only natural that Ryan would feel bad after seeing so many people die. Ryan noticed that was a weakness of his part¡­ his mind was weak, but that only showed him that he had room for improvement. After Lilian divided the survivors into two teams, she sent half of them back to the base. Most of them were too injured and needed to rest as much as possible. Thanks to that, Lilian made half of the strongest survivors escort them. The number of people entering the dungeon was twenty-one, more than enough to decimate the Sahuagins that tried to mess with them. Given the battle experience they umted that day, the survivors dealt with them with ease. Ryan didn''t even have to use his crossbow. However, when they reached the end of the dungeon, they found the monsters''st present¡ªa group of fifteen bosses waiting for them. "¡­ I should have known," Ryan sighed and then equipped his crossbow. "I''m so fucking tired of all of you. Be thankful that I won''t have time to waste." The other survivors felt the same way. Thanks to it, the number of monsters didn''t surprise them. Lilian and Luke led the charge. Their movements were even sharper than before. Before they even could reach the monsters, the monsters charged at them as well. However, before five of those creatures could even take the first step, they fell to the ground. Something had happened that not even the survivors or the Sahuagin duelists noticed. Only Ryan noticed because that was the result of his attacks. The iron bolts'' power added with Lesser Wind Enchantment hit the monster''s legs and heavily wounded them. After that, the battle became much simpler since now the survivors could fight 2 against one. In the end, the battle onlysted for a couple of minutes. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Earth Bullet. Effect: It fires an Earth Bullet. The damage caused will be your intelligence + 20% Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. Ryan didn''t want to believe in craps such a fate and destiny. So, he decided to think that increasing his luck was finally paying off since he obtained a tome after that fight. It was better to think that way instead of thinking that destiny was trying to cheer him up. In any case, the day was far from over. Ryan headed toward the treasure box the very moment thest Sahuagin fell. He was finally going to obtain his third ss, which might be thest one, so he had to choose wisely. Be a merchant was out of the question. He had no use for that ss, so Ryan had to choose between Monk and Gunslinger. It was clear that the monk''s healing skill won''t grant him the chance to regenerate his arm. Considering that, Ryan felt morepelled to be a gunslinger and increase his firepower even more, but was that the right choice? Chapter 77 - Class: Monk In the end, Ryan decided to choose the Monk ss. For the good or for worst, Ryan needed the power to heal himself now more than never since he decided to fight solo as much as possible. Even though he had already been doing that since the very beginning, still, Heal would make Ryan save some coins, coins that he would have to use to buy potions since things were getting harder by the minute. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Monk! You obtained the following skills: Fighter''s Spirit, Monk''s Style, and Heal. Your strength and speed will increase by two points, your health, mana, stamina, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fighter''s Spirit. Effect: Increases your speed and strength by one point per level when fighting without weapons. Cost: 10 mana and 10 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Monk''s Style. Effect: Decreases your foes'' endurance by one point per level when attacking using punches and kicks. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heal. Effect: Heals one point of health per second. Cost: 01 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan''s fears were right on the spot. Two of those three skills will onlye in handy in very specific moments. That wasn''t so bad given that the exchange rate between mana and health was pretty good and could even get better, but Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. Congrattions! You have obtained your third ss! As such, you have be one of the 1200 humans who obtained three sses! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 1200th You obtained 5.000 coins. "I had forgotten about this¡­" Ryan muttered. "Coins this time, huh? While this isn''t so bad, I was expecting something more impressive." Ryan didn''t receive anything while he increased his rank by three hundred. So, it looked like those rewards will onlye when he clear dungeons. That was fine by him. Even though he was imagining he wouldn''t get anything by reaching the eleventh hundredth position, he knew that he certainly would get something interesting once he bes part of the one thousand strongest humans on Earth. Maybe they weren''t the strongest, but they certainly were the ones who had morebat experience. Regardless, Ryan''s job was over, so he headed toward the exit of the dungeon. Only to be stopped by Lilian and Luke. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" Lilian asked. "Yeah, although we lost somerades, we recovered the city," Luke said. "We have to celebrate this victory." "Celebrate for me then," Ryan said. "I''m going to the next dungeon." Lilian and Luke were left speechless, even though they were both two of the most fearsome survivors, not even then wanted to keep fighting for that long. While they knew that clearing dungeons were important, they needed a break. Thest few days have been pretty intense, after all. "It is getting dark, Ryan," Lilian said. "You need to at least rest during the night." "Don''t worry about me," Ryan said. "I have the skills to fight without any problems even at night." "I guess we can''t stop you," Luke sighed. "Having someone like you around would be reassuring, but I guess it can''t be helped. Just make sure toe now and then." "That will probably be impossible," Ryan said. "I have no intention of returning to Shreveport." "Not even if you find some survivors might be looking for a survivor camp like ours?" Luke asked. "I will make sure to give them the right directions," Ryan replied. Lilian touched her little brother''s shoulder and then shrugged. Ryan was resolute in his decision, and it wasn''t their ce to stop them. Although he was a quiet guy, the siblings grew fond of his presence. Someone reliable was always a goodpany when things start to getplicated, after all. "I wish you luck, Ryan," Lilian said. "I don''t think we will leave Shreveport, so if you need a ce to rest and friends to count, you can always return." "¡­ Good luck to you too," Ryan sighed and then headed toward the entrance. Ryan felt that he had heard that sentence pretty frequently, but it was only natural since he didn''t want to stay in the same ce for long. He didn''t even remember some people who greeted him while Ryan was leaving the dungeon, it looked like they heard about his ns, but that really didn''t matter. Regardless, before leaving, Ryan had to make good use of his coins. Apparently, the nearest dungeon wasn''t that far away, but he couldn''t tell when he would be able to use the shop. So, it was better to use all his coins with decent equipment. Much to Ryan''s surprise, he found a steel crossbow. The cost was pretty reasonable. The problem was that Ryan didn''t find any crossbow better than that. There were other crossbows better than one, but they were just steel crossbows with special effects. For example, some of them could shoot firebolts. Steel Crossbow Effect: Consumes eight points of mana to create a steel dart. Dexterity + 15 Durability: 60/60 Price: 10.000 coins zing Steel Crossbow Effect: Consumes ten points of mana to create a steel dart enchanted with fire. Dexterity + 15, intelligence + 5 Durability: 60/60 Price: 15.000 coins While the second option wasn''t bad, Ryan would be in a bind if he finds some opponents that can resist fire attacks. That kind of weapon would be exceptional against some kinds of foes, but that advantage woulde with a price. Chapter 78 - Shopping Ryan already had some magic projectiles, and he also could enchant his attacks to a certain extent, so most likely, the enchanted crossbow was supposed to be a weapon that didn''t have the skills he had. The extra status points were sweet, but not enough for Ryan to decide to be someone who only hunts monsters of a certain attribute. So, he bought the steel crossbow. Although Ryan could buy other items that were better than the current ones he was wearing, Ryan decided to trust his luck and hope that the monsters eventually would drop them. For the time being, he decided to do something a bit risky with his remaining coins¡­ he used all of them to buy seven copies of the same ring. Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by five points. Durability: 25/25 "Well, now¡­ this is more like it," Ryan smiled in satisfaction. ss: Hunter Lv 08 / Elementalist Lv 05/ Monk Lv 01 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1200th Health: 43/43 (0, 1399) Mana: 59/59 (0, 1399) Stamina: 53/53 (0,1399) Strength: 10 (+5) Dexterity: 61 (+23) (+12) Speed: 30 (+10) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+10) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+6) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 18 Recovery: 40 (+1) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 523 Status: 04 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 09, Throw Lv 04, Dash Lv 04, Rapid Shot Lv 05, Herculean Strength Lv 04, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 08, Concentration Lv 08, Archery Lv 08, uracy Lv 07, Stealth Lv 04, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 03, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 05, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 02, Cook Lv 02, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 04, Tracking Lv 06, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 03, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk Style Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 03, Lurk Lv 03, Mana Transfusion Lv 05, Meditation Lv 06, me Arrow Lv 07, Appraisal Lv 04, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Earth Bullet Lv 01, Heal Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 05, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 01 Ryan''s recovery doubled, and so was his capacity to attack. Well, not really since his new weapon consumed a bit more mana, but that didn''t change the fact that he was satisfied. With more recovery, he would be able to recover his stamina and mana faster, thus increasing the leveling up the speed of his skills. As well as increasing his health regeneration, but to health work properly, he would have to eat quite a lot. Regardless, Ryan left the dungeon once and for all and then headed toward the east side of theke. Although his status increased, he couldn''t hope to cross the river by swimming while carrying chainmail. That was impossible. Besides, there was no telling what he would find inside theke. Maybe some Sahuagins were hiding in there, and fighting them in their habitat was close to suicide. Although Ryan was forced to take the roundabout way, he reached the other side of theke before sunset. It was all thanks to his new recovery and Dash. That being said, Ryan''s muscles were quite sure since the number of things he was carrying increased. "The velociraptors dungeon must be North of here¡­ still, why I didn''t find any of them?" Even if the Sahuagins imed that region to them, the monsters should have noticed that they lost control over it. They were beasts that had some crazy senses, after all. There were two possible exnations, another group of humans was controlling the dungeon, or the velociraptors found a big number of foes somewhere else. Either way, Ryan was going to investigate since he needed to see what would happen if he gains another ss at that moment. "I''m pretty sure I can obtain an unlimited number of sses. Those parameters in the ss option are proof of that. If people could only have three, such a thing wouldn''t be shown. Does that mean that I can also have the blood of more than three types of monsters? If that is possible with my ss, then it should be possible with my race. Still, I have to confirm it." Although it was dark and that area had many trees, and the vegetation was pretty dense, Ryan could see things pretty well. At least well enough to not get spooked by the shadows of some bushes and rocks. It was pretty early, but suddenly, the air around that area changed. For a second, Ryan thought the temperature had dropped, but that hadn''t been the case. It was his instincts alerting him of danger. Some monsters were lurking around in the darkness and they were getting closer. As if that situation wasn''t tense enough, Ryan suddenly heard a cry¡­ a newborn baby''s cry. "Seriously?" Ryan opened his eyes widely in shock. The air around the area changed again and Ryan felt a little more rxed, or at least his nervousness tried to make him feel that way. It looked like the monsters changed their targets, and Ryan wasn''t supposed to be their dinner anymore. However, knowing that a newborn kid was out, there didn''t make things as easy for him. Amidst the darkness, Ryan sped up toward where the cry and that feeling of danger wereing from. There was no mistake. The monsters really were aiming at the kid. Still, even with his current speed, Ryan didn''t find the monsters fast enough. Suddenly, things got eerily silent. "Shit, shit¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Chapter 79 - Someone Strong Eventually, Ryan began to smell the scent of blood, and thanks to that, he couldn''t help but frown. If the monsters really found the baby, they were supposed to be making a lot of noise, but they weren''t. Without having any other choice, Ryan took a deep breath and then stopped moving to concentrate. The smell of blood was too strong, so he had to find another way to look for the monsters. Even though he could see pretty well in the darkness of the night, Ryan was at a level where he could identify someone hiding within it. So, he had to use his ears. Fortunately, it didn''t take long for him to feel something. It was faint, but Ryan heard the rough breathing of something. It was probablying from a human since the sound was barely audible and not wild. With his new crossbow in hand, Ryan approached the origin of that sound. Only to find after a couple of minutes the corpses of several velociraptors¡­ "What happened here¡­ the body of monsters were supposed to disappear after a while, but those didn''t. So, it is clear that a fight broke out recently, and yet, I didn''t notice? It happened before I reached this area?" It was barely noticeable, but Ryan found a trail of blood. Whoever defeated those monsters suffered some wounds. Ryan followed the trail only to find even more velociraptors¡­ as expected, he was getting close to the dungeon. However, such thoughts disappeared from his mind when he found a woman sitting on the floor with her back against a tree. Although she was covered in blood from head to toe, the baby she was carrying in her arms waspletely fine. "¡­" Ryan closed his eyes and bit his lips when he got closer and noticed that the woman had lost both of her legs. When he looked to the sides, he found other piles of velociraptors¡­ the woman looked pretty young, and the baby was enveloped in a cloth that didn''t seem appropriate. By the look of things, she gave birth in thest few days, and even in her weakened state, she was forced to fight for her life and to protect her child. Suddenly, the young woman opened her eyes, and after a while, she finally recognized the figure in front of her. Without knowing if Ryan was a friend or a foe, she grabbed a kitchen knife from behind her and pointed at him. "Hang in there," Ryan said. "I''m going to grab some potions for you. I will be back in an hour. No, wait! I can heal wounds!" The very moment Ryan approached her, he saw the knife falling on the ground, and the woman began to mutter something. Ryan had to approach in order to hear what she was saying. "Protect him¡­ I no longer can¡­" The woman said. "The blood loss¡­ the camp, north of¡­" Ryan already knew that; she wouldn''tst long since he found a lot of her blood on the way. Still, he didn''t want to give up without trying. There is no way in hell a kid that young will be an orphan in front of him. Ryan won''t let that happen. He decided to carry the woman and the boy back to Shreveport. Even if he didn''t want to return, his wishes were meaningless in that kind of situation. Still, before he could close her wounds by using healing, she stopped breathing after muttering onest word. "Ar¡­ thur¡­" The woman said and then her head fell to the side. Somehow, even in that state, her body managed to hold Arthur tightly. Ryan dropped his head and let out a long sigh. It was the only thing he could do because he had no real right to feel bad about it, just like he didn''t have the right to feel bad about the death of the people who died while fighting the Sahuagin. They were fighting for survival, while Ryan was fighting to gain power. "That is a strong mother for you¡­" Ryan said. "No¡­ all mothers are strong." Arthur was sleeping soundly, even in that kind of situation. It was amazing that his mother did so much for him, protecting his life and even calming him down until the veryst moment. That was good, and all, but Ryan now had to look after him. Not even adults will have a good time alongside him since Ryan wanted to challenge as many monsters as possible, so it was only natural that a newborn baby shouldn''t stay with him. Leaving Arthur behind was out of the question, so Ryan had to found someone to look after him. "It is annoying, but I can''t think of anyone better than Mia," Ryan said and then sighed. "It is her sole redeeming quality, but she truly loves kids from the bottom of her heart." Although that was the best option, Ryan recalled that Arthur''s mother mentioned something else. About a camp North of there¡­ and that raised several questions, if she knew about the camp, why didn''t she go there? If she knew about it, was it because she had gotten close enough to see it. Or perhaps she hade from there; "Maybe I can find your rtives there, Arthur," Ryan said while he was taking the newborn baby from his mother''s arms. "Let''s confirm if that is the case¡­ If I don''t find anyone reliable there, you will have to deal with Mia." As soon as Ryan took Arthur on his left arm, the kid began to cry. No¡­ the cry was an understatement. Arthur began to let out the loudest screams that wereing from the deepest parts of his soul. He was crying as if he was being carried by the scariest looking creature out there. "This won''t be easy to you, nor for me," Ryan sighed when he felt the approach of some monsters. Chapter 80 - Headache Ryan wasn''t by any means, someone clumsy. Some dexterity was required to handle a bow, after all. Still, he was a man that lost a good part of his main arm. So, the hope that he would carry a baby steadily and use a crossbow with a single hand was a bit too much. "Oh, well¡­" Ryan sighed. "At least it is easier to aim with magic." me arrow reached a point where Ryan could easily kill velociraptors with a single shot, as long as he hit their head. Even in the darkness of the night, he exterminated the creatures. However, Arthur''s cry didn''t stop. You obtained eight coins. You obtained eight coins. You obtained eight coins. It didn''t take long for new monsters to appear. If anything, Arthur had an excellent skill to lure the monsters. Although that was convenient for Ryan in some ways, he didn''t want to let him cry for long. He was probably scared, after all. If that was the case, Ryan might be able to calm him down, but if he was hungry¡­ "Don''t cry, Arthur. Don''t cry," Ryan tried to whisper in his ears to calm him down while he was moving around, trying to emte a baby crib. "Be good, be good, and I will give you some tasty mana potions¡­ I wonder if potions can substitute milk¡­" Now that Ryan thought about it, he didn''t feel hungry or thirsty after drinking the mana potions. He was getting hungry as well, but considering that he didn''t eat anything since noon, it was highly probable that potions could work as a meal¡­ at least for a while. However, even if that was enough for him, the same logic doesn''t apply to a newborn baby. Suddenly, Ryan had another idea. He recalled the feeling that he had when recovery healed his body and recovered his energy. Since recovery had increased, the feeling had grown weaker, but now had be more constant. In any case, feeling his energy been restored was quite rxed. Arthur wasn''t wounded, but he probably would feel rxed if Ryan uses Heal on him. "Let''s give it a shot," Ryan said. Although Ryan had to conserve his mana as much as possible since he couldn''t use his crossbow, he didn''t hesitate in doing that. Surprisingly enough, Arthur''s cry decreased in volume quite fast, and after just five seconds, he was sleeping again. "This should be enough for the time being," Ryan sighed. "¡­ I willeter and give you a proper burial." Ryan couldn''t help but wonder he could dig a grave with a single hand, but that was a problem forter. Before other monsters coulde or worse, before Arthur wakes up, he had to find this camp on the North. The dungeon of the velociraptors was in that direction, so he won''t lose anything by following that path. Although Ryan was imagined that something like that would happen, he couldn''t have imagined things could be so rough. He was just walking, but faster and faster, he was getting exhausted. The tension of having to protect such a frail life was something that he never experienced before. Ryan didn''t know many people that had kids, so the chances of him having to carry a newborn baby in his arms never came. Thanks to his inexperience, he couldn''t help but worry if he was doing things right. He had be a rough individual in thest few days, so much a worry was only natural. Congrattions! The skill Alert has leveled up. Alert Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the effective range of your hearing outside battles by one meter per level in order to avoid ambushes. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skills Nocturnal Eyes has leveled up. Nocturnal Eyes Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases your eyesight in dark ces and at night by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Although that task had been difficult, Ryan had the chance to put some other skills to good use. That was fine, and all, but such thoughts quickly disappeared from his mind. After walking for one hour, he noticed that the area ahead was pretty bright. As far as Ryan knew, there was nomunity in that area, so it became clear that he found the camp. However, there was a problem¡­ Ryan could see a bright area in front of him, but there was another a few hundred meters west of there. "The hell is going on here¡­" Ryan frowned. "Maybe I should use Heal on Arthur again, just in case. That will make him rx more, and that will decrease the chances of him waking up. I can''t let myself be discovered before I see what is going on here." Ryan had to be fast because that strategy could only work for so long. His mother apparently fed him even while she was wounding, but eventually, Arthur would get hungry, and his cry wouldn''t stop unless Ryan finds some milk. After approaching slowly, Ryan saw a few tents up ahead and some bonfires too. There were some guards as well¡­ but all of them were only guarding the same direction¡­ the direction where Ryan found the other bright area. "This is definitely suspicious¡­" Ryan muttered. It was beyond stupid to guard a single direction when velociraptors were around, but now that Ryan thought about it, he hadn''t seen a single monster in quite a while. Although he was supposed to have approached the dungeon, their numbers decreased¡­ something smelled really fishy there. Chapter 81 - Weird Camp As if things weren''t weird enough, Ryan noticed something unexpected when he approached the next bright area. There was a camp there¡­ a camp in which he only found female guards. At the center of the camp, he found a hill and a cave¡­ it was the velociraptor''s dungeon. "I didn''t see female guards on the other camp, but I thought it was just a coincidence¡­" Ryan frowned. "This is hard to believe, but for some reason, they have two camps here. One camp has only men, and the other has only women¡­" Things were way too weird. However, that exined why Arthur''s mother was alone, even though she was close to both camps. She didn''t like how things worked in both of them, so she decided to stay away, but since she was pregnant, she didn''t have the strength to reach Shreveport. In any case, something pretty weird or severe happened to make the survivors divide themselves into two groups and by gender. "That is so stupid¡­" Ryan sighed. "I don''t really care what happened here. What I care about is the fact that we are at war against monsters, and we don''t have time to fight each other. Well, at least I confirmed that this ce isn''t a good ce for Arthur." Ryan wanted to clear the dungeon, but that could be der. Besides, it would be impossible for him to clear it alone while carrying a newborn baby. It was a pain in the ass, but he had to look for Mia. For all the damage she did to him, at the very least, he knew that she would treat Arthur like a real son. "Even if they are slow, at this point in time, they should have cleared that dungeon," Ryan muttered and then turned around. "If that didn''t happen, I will have to run and head there." Congrattions! The skill Lurk has leveled up. Effect: Decreases the sounds of your steps while moving. Lurk Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Cost: 0.3 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Stealth has leveled up. Stealth Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Increases the chances of you dealing critical damage when attacking first by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Heal has leveled up. Effect: Heals 1.1 points of health per second. Heal Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Cost: 01 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. It took him the whole night, but eventually, Ryan was back in Shreveport. Although he was exhausted since Arthur woke up more than a few times and immediately started to cry, at the very least, he managed to level up some skills. Regardless, the sun was rising, and Ryan could finally see Arthur with more detail. As expected, he was quite a cute baby. A round face, his cheeks were a bit pinky, and his eyes were deep blue like the sky. However, now that he saw his eyes, Ryan let out a long sigh because that was the sign that he had woken up. Again, Arthur began to cry¡­ the cry was so loud and deep that the only exnation that Ryan came up with was that Arthur hated to be carried by men. Ryan tried to calm him down with Heal, but this time, it didn''t help. Arthur was hungry¡­ Fortunately, Ryan was back in the dungeon, and there he found some familiar faces. "Ryan?" Daniel asked while frowning. "What¡­ How¡­ Holy crap, this kid is loud!" Daniel tried to ask some things, but Arthur''s cry prevented him from doing so. Regardless, Cole''s group and Daniel''s group joined Lilian''s survivor''s camp. Apparently, they appeared a few minutes after Ryan left. So, he made a mental note to rely on the speed of his decision making more frequently. Although Ryan hade determined to ask Mia to look after Arthur, in thest moment, his cheap pride prevented him from doing so. It was growing weaker with each passing day, but those dark thoughts were still affecting Ryan''s behavior. "His mother died yesterday. His name is Arthur," Ryan said. "I''m looking for someone to look after him since a kid this small shouldn''t stay with someone like me." "What happened?" John asked. "You seem a little more on edge than usual." "Long story short¡­" Ryan said and then took a deep breath. "There are two groups of survivors on the other side of theke, but they are a bunch of morons, and Arthur''s mother concluded that she couldn''t trust neither of them. She fought, but since she gave birth recently, she was too weak and passed away." "I can look after him¡­ if you don''t mind," Mia said. "¡­ I will be counting on you then," Ryan said after a few seconds of silence. Truth to be told, Ryan knew things would end that way. His whole act caused by his pride had been a waste of time. Still, he was quite relieved since Arthur couldn''t have been looked after by someone better. As expected, the very moment Ryan passed him to Mia, Arthur stopped crying. Either Ryan emanated a dark aura that was terrible, or Arthur was a boy destined to be a cheeky kid. "Ryan, those survivors¡­" Cole said. "Are they going to be a problem for us?" "Who knows¡­" Ryan shrugged. "I hope they won''t be a problem for me. I''m in a bad mood, so maybe I won''t be able to hold back against them. Lilian, do you have a shovel lying around? I will need it." Ryan wanted to shovel to bury Arthur''s mother, but everyone thought that he was determined to dirty his hands with human blood. That was worrisome, but if he decided to do it, everyone there knew that no one could stop him. ss: Hunter Lv 08 / Elementalist Lv 05/ Monk Lv 01 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1200th Health: 43/43 (0, 1399) Mana: 59/59 (0, 1399) Stamina: 53/53 (0,1399) Strength: 10 (+5) Dexterity: 61 (+23) (+12) Speed: 30 (+10) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+10) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+6) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 18 Recovery: 40 (+1) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 895 Status: 11 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 09, Throw Lv 04, Dash Lv 05, Rapid Shot Lv 05, Herculean Strength Lv 04, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 08, Concentration Lv 08, Archery Lv 08, uracy Lv 07, Stealth Lv 04, Pain Resistance Lv 01, Perception Lv 03, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 05, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Alert Lv 03, Cook Lv 02, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 04, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 02, Knife Mastery Lv 03, Martial Arts Lv 02, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 03, Lurk Lv 05, Mana Transfusion Lv 05, Meditation Lv 06, me Arrow Lv 07, Appraisal Lv 04, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Earth Bullet Lv 01, Heal Lv 02, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 05, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 02 Chapter 82 - Chance "Ryan, at least give them a chance," Lilian said while giving a shovel to Ryan. "We can''t lose any more humans in this war, much less while fighting against each other." "That goes without saying," Ryan said. "Still, I won''t take any chances." For the first time, no one tried to stop Ryan or go with him. Shreveport was their home, after all. There was no point in abandoning after finally recovering or returning. Besides, even though most of the things there had been lost, it still was the best ce to create a decent base and then make it stronger. Before leaving, Ryan saw in the corner of his vision Zoe and her father talking about something. Even though one member of their family died, they were all smiles. It was only natural, Ryan thought, considering that they thought that they had lost everything. It wouldn''t be easy, but they could rebuild their home and their lives there. Such an option wasn''t avable for Ryan. "Ryan, we just discovered something incredible!" Lilian said just when Ryan began to walk. "What now?" Ryan asked, visibly annoyed by the interruption. "Apparently, people can give each other coins if they hold their hands," Lilian said. "So what?" Ryan frowned. "We can use coins to trade things with each other now," Lilian said. "For example, we can buy information with them." "That is kind of obvious," Ryan frowned and then looked toward Cole''s and Daniel''s group, but they avoided his gaze. "So, you are going to clear another dungeon, right?" Lilian tried to smile and look as normal as possible. "If you seed, we want to buy the information on how you did. In order to decrease the number of casualties, learn how to defeat a boss before the fight is absolutely necessary." Those guy''s act sucked. It was clear as a day that John and probably Cole created a method for them to keep contact with Ryan. That was meaningless since Ryan was nning to share information, to begin with, at least when dungeons were rted. After all, he couldn''t help to think that he would find dungeons just by walking around in a direction. While some dungeons were easy to find, others weren''t. In any case, let things go as they wanted was annoying. So, Ryan decided to leave a doubt in their minds. "I don''t think I need coins from others," Ryan said and then began to walk. "I can get them myself by fighting. If I''m in a good mood, I wille and sell the information you want." Without wasting any more time, Ryan decided to activate Dash since he saw Cole''s group approaching and it looked like they would keep him there all day. Moving like the wind, and he disappeared in the distance. All that traveling was kind of wearing down his nerves, so Ryan made a mental note of taking a day off once he clears the next dungeon. Most likely, he wouldn''t be able to do that, but taking it easy for a few hours should be enough. "It looks like fatigue can build up even while mana and stamina are full¡­ I should be fine for one or two, but might performance will probably decrease even if that is the case. I need to be careful." For the sake of efficiency, Ryan used me Arrow when monsters approached. His stamina was being used to train Dash, so he needed to put his mana to good use as well. That being said, Ryan didn''t feel like his growth was being fast enough. It was only natural since the more they level up, the harder it gets for the skills to level up again. Still, Ryan wanted more. Eventually, Ryan reached the ce where Arthur''s mother was. Since it was day, he decided to hurry up since there was no telling if those two groups of idiots would send scouts to keep the area around watched. Still, in the meantime, Ryan decided to think of the options avable to him. "To speed my training, I can use items that increase my recovery, use potions, and even use Meditation. While Meditation seemed the best option, in the long run, the others are more efficient in the beginning¡­ However, given that these weapons have game-like effects, maybe there is something else I can do. Like using weapons that drain the energy of my foes and give them to me." Such items could only be found in thete stages of most games, but Ryan wasn''t living a game. That was reality. So, perhaps he could find those. However, he will have to increase his luck a lot or save some coins for a while. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Strong Arms. Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level on your arms temporarily. Cost: 01 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. While Ryan was thinking about that, he received a pleasant surprise. He learned the version of Herculean Strength that consumes mana instead of stamina. That was amazing since he somehow used mana without activating any other skill. However, the surprises didn''t end there. Congrattions! Your ss Monk has leveled up. Monk Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Strength + 2, Speed + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Stamina + 1, Control +1. "¡­ It looks like I leveled up just by doing some physical exercise," Ryan rubbed his chin. "I need to study the system even further." Based on his experience, Ryan concluded that he could level up all his sses while fighting. However, he could do almost the same outside fighting. Certain activities could train the skills of certain sses, after all. The training is just as important as gaining battle experience. As a hunter, Ryan knew that very well. Chapter 83 - Annoyance Although Ryan could use only one hand, thanks to Herculean Strength and Strong Arms, he finished Arthur''s mother''s grave pretty fast. In the end, he even prayed for her to find peace in the afterlife. However, despite all that, he was in a bad mood because he noticed that he had been watched for a while, and they have been watching for him to get tired. "Come out, or are you afraid of a one-handed man?" Ryan asked. He didn''t notice that, but Ryan confirmed that both camps'' scouts have been keeping their eyes on him for a while when a group of five men and another group of four women appeared. Apparently, they didn''t notice each other''s presence as well, so even though they had nned to talk with Ryan, a fight immediately broke out. "These guys¡­" Ryan sighed. "They can''t be for real¡­" For the first time in a while, Ryan didn''t know what to do. Despite the small difference in numbers, the fight was quite even for both sides. However, since Ryan stayed quiet and didn''t do anything for quite a while, both groups noticed that he wasn''t a member of neither. "Hey, help us here. I will make sure to reward you," A tall man said. "Don''t listen to him. If you do, he will only use you as he did with us!" A ck-haired woman shouted. The tall man had ck, short hair and quite a physique. He looked like someone who spent decades hitting the gym. His main weapon was a long sword as big as himself. However, even though the woman was small and thin, she could stop the guy''s attack with rtive ease and even counterattack with a short sword. Ryan knew more than anyone else the power of status points and skills. Still, he couldn''t imagine someone obtaining the physical strength to stop a massive sword like that with a short one. After watching things for a while, Ryan noticed that the woman was using some kind of magic. At the veryst moment before the impact, the big guy''s sword slowed down, and the power of his attacks decreased. "Is that¡­ Telekinesis?" Ryan frowned. "That is a pretty useful skill¡­ still, I can''t imagine monsters dropping that kind of thing so soon." Velociraptors weren''t that strong, so they shouldn''t drop something as convenient as that. Maybe the boss of their dungeon could drop that, but Ryan was having a hard time imagining the boss of such monsters. He was having even more difficulties imagining their strength. For a while, Ryan thought of ignoring their fight and head straight for the dungeon. However, he felt that those two were the leaders of each group. So, maybe it was a good idea to wait for them a little bit. They were stronger than the others and also were the only ones who had the confidence to shout and talk with a stranger in the middle of a fight. It took a while, but both sides were forced to back down when their leaders simultaneously hit each other and when their shoulders began to bleed deeply. "Are you done?" Ryan asked. "Who are you?" The ck-haired woman asked. "It doesn''t matter who I am," Ryan replied. "What does matter is the fact that thanks to your groups, a certain pregnant woman was forced to give birth here and then protect her child in her weakened state. Maybe you two didn''t realize, but your petty squabbles, in a way, caused her death." "¡­ Where is her kid?" The woman asked. "Why do you care?" Ryan red at her. "Are you feeling responsible for it? It is toote now; her kid is with someone that will look after him." "You can me these crazy bitches for Sydney''s death," The tall man said. "They decided to take the dungeons to themselves, they failed, and thanks to it, many monsters are around and eating humans." "That is because you guys attacked us before!" The woman howled. "You always attack when some of us are having difficulties clearing the dungeon!" "Don''t me us for your weakness," The man said. "You asshole¡­" The woman bit her lips. "I don''t care¡­ I don''t fucking care," Ryan said. "For all that I care, you two can keep fighting until both of you die. I just waited until now to say one thing: I will use the dungeon, whether you like it or not. If any of you do anything suspicious, I will kill you and your friends. That way, I will be able to use your camp for a while longer." Neither of them liked to be threatened, but those two noticed that Ryan wasn''t bluffing. They could see the madness in his eyes¡­ he wasn''t joking. Even though he didn''t know Sydney, her death messed with his head quite a bit, or perhaps it was the fact that Arthur became an orphan and would never see his mother''s face. "You seem to be a good man," The woman said. "I''m willing to let you use the dungeon if you ept some of our conditions." "If you join her side, you will make an enemy out of us," The man said. "Believe me, you will regret itter." "¡­ I think you two are misunderstanding something here," Ryan red at them. "I''m not asking for permission; I''m telling you what I''m going to do if you get on my way. Still, it looks like words aren''t enough to convince you, so maybe I should make an example out of you. I will bet that this will make things simpler for meter." Chapter 84 - T-Rex Ryan was prepared to cause some pain, but in the end, both leaders decided to back down. They were wounded, and for some reason, they didn''t feel like threatening a one-handed man who seemed pretty confident about himself. Still, since he was going to the dungeon no matter what, his path ovepped with the woman. "My name is Ang. Thank you for helping Sydney," Ang said with her face down. "She was a member of our camp, but she disappeared three days ago when our group split. Some people of both sides died, so that must have been what made her stay away from us." Ryan didn''t have anything to say, so he just stayed silent. Whatever Ang might say was bound to be some pathetic excuses, so there was no point in wasting his time. Still, he couldn''t force Ang to shut up, so he heard her side of the story. Apparently, she and many other people used the bridge to escape when the dragons appeared. However, they ended up finding the velociraptors dungeon and couldn''t move in any direction. After much fighting, they managed to get some skills and fight the monsters. At first, things worked well since everyone was trying hard, but some individuals started to get greedy and decided to keep the loot to themselves after a while. Apparently, the big guy was the one who wanted to be the leader of the group, and since he was the strongest, they should focus on increasing his strength. That was logical in Ryan''s mind. If he had the right mindset to a leader and weren''t afraid of monsters, the loot would be better in his hands. However, the big guy and his friends changed and decided to treat the other survivors like servants. They even tried to force themselves on the women of the group. Three days ago, a fight broke out, and the survivor''s group that didn''t have fifty members were divided in two. Obviously, not all people who decided to follow the big guy were assholes. In fact, he was just a bit arrogant. The people who followed him just did because he seemed more reliable. The same thing could be said by the women who are following Ang. They just thought having a female leader would make things easier for them. In the end, it was a mess caused by idiots. Ryan felt even more determined to leave them alone. "You came from Shreveport, right?" Ang asked. "I assume that is where you left Sydney''s child. Do you have friends there? It became peaceful just after a few days?" "Go see yourself," Ryan said. "You only need to know that the people there won''t ept to work with idiots." Although those words had been directed to Ang, only herpanions red at Ryan. Those kinds of people were no good. When things start to get messy, they whisper sweet words in the ear of some people in order to gain some advantages. The fact that they have the dungeon under their control was probably they never tried to take Ang''s ce, that and because of her Telekinesis. For the good or the worse, they couldn''t keep the other group of survivors away without her. "I can''t me you for not being friendly," Ang said. "Still, it would be in your and our best interest if at least we trade some information. You want to clear the dungeon because you know what happens when one dungeon is cleared. We want to know that too. As for the intel we have, it is about the boss of the dungeon." "If you defeat the boss, you can open that treasure box and gain one of three sses," Ryan exined. "Alongside with it, you will gain three skills. Now then, tell me about the boss." Although his words were a bit suspicious, Ang and her friends didn''t doubt Ryan. They knew about the ss option in the menu, and he was probably confident in dealing with them because he had some skills, like Ang had Telekinesis. It was obvious. "What are the sses we can get?" Ang asked. "I will answer only this question¡­ try not to test my patience any further," Ryan said. "The sses change from dungeon to dungeon, so I don''t know which sses I will get by clearing that one." "Is that so¡­" Ang rubbed her chin thoughtfully since she didn''t sense any hesitation in Ryan''s words. "Well, it must be a pretty decent power up¡­ after all, to get our hands in the ss, we have to beat a T-rex." "Excuse me?" Ryan frowned. "Can you say that again?" "Your reaction is kind of weak¡­" Ang said. "I guess I can assume you didn''t face anything that big until now. That is why I said I would let you use our dungeon with some conditions. Well, if you think that you still can do it, feel free to do so." Ryan had a hard time believing in those words, but then again, all the bosses he faced so far were some sort of evolution of the base monsters that spawn in the dungeon. However, it looked like the difficulty was increased by more than a few levels. Their camp was surprisingly small, and Ryan could only count thirteen survivors, half of them were heavily wounded and have teeth marks all over their bodies. The dungeon entrance was at the base of a prettyrge mountain, but that wasn''t the problem. The problem was the size of the entrance¡­ it was like fifteen meters tall and ten meters wide¡­ a T-rex probably could pass through that. Until now, all the dungeons Ryan found were pretty small, but it was because the monsters inside of it didn''t need arge path. Chapter 85 - Progress Ryan didn''t feel like wasting time and confirming if Ang was lying or not. If his next opponent was really a T-rex, then he will try to challenge it the very moment he sees it. Ryan felt he would do that because he couldn''t imagine the rewards such a creature would give him. His greedy would put him in a bad situation, and given that he had survived some tough fights in thest few days, his confidence had grown a bit too much to the point where he could threaten several survivors, even though he only had a single hand. "You guys can go somewhere else," Ryan said to the five guards watching the entrance of the dungeon. "I will handle this." Ryan wasn''t the only one who grew arrogant in thest few days, those five women stepped on the ground trying to intimidate Ryan, but they retreated when they saw Ang looking at them. Ang herself also wanted to see the power of someone who had a ss. She couldn''t have imagined that Ryan had three. Velociraptor- Lv 05 Health: 150/150 Mana: 50/50 Stamina: 200/200 "Level five, huh," Ryan muttered. "I guess this will do." Ryan could easily kill an opponent with that much health, even with his old crossbow, but his goal wasn''t to kill the monsters as fast as possible. His goal was to be stronger. So, he shot several Earth Bullets on the monster''s head. The beast was much tougher than Ryan, though, or maybe it was due to the fact that his intelligence was low¡­ either way, he had to fire six bullets to kill it. However¡­ Congrattions! The skill Earth Bullet has leveled up. Earth Bullet Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: It fires an Earth Bullet. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence + 30% Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. You obtained eight coins. "I can do this for a while," Ryan nodded to himself and then sat on the ground to meditate. When the next monster appeared, Ryan defeated it after firing five Earth Bullets. That was progress, but his mana was quickly decreasing. It was kind of a waste to do that only to defeat monsters of that level, but he bought several mana potions when his mana became empty and only stopped after one hour when Earth Bullet reached level four. "Now it is time to put me at risk a little bit," Ryan sighed since he also could see the insanity of his next n. "No pain, no gain." Ang watched Ryan patiently for one hour. Although it was rather impressive that he could defeat so many velociraptors on his own, it wasn''t that amazing since he was buying potions. However, now she saw him running toward the next monster, unarmed. A one-handed man wanted to have a fistfight with a velociraptor. If that wasn''t madness, she didn''t know what it was. Ryan was also of the same mind, but then again: no pain, no gain. When the monster saw Ryan moving towards itself, it just wasted time and tried to attack his neck. That had been a bad move. As a hunter, Ryan had learned that he should use all opportunities to make his arrowsnd on the target. He didn''t have a weapon, but he had his legs. For a second, Ryan activated Herculean Strength and Fighter''s Spirit. When that happened, the monster got kicked in the neck and immediately began to tremble in pain. As one would expect, they didn''t have many muscles there. While the monster was busy trying to alleviate the pain, Ryan corrected his posture by moving his gravity center to the right side a little bit. When the monster recovered from the first attack, the beast found Ryan''s right leg moving toward his face. A perfect roundhouse kick not only cracked the beast''s skull but also broke its neck. You obtained eight coins. Congrattions! The skill Fighter''s Spirit has leveled up. Fighter''s Spirit Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Increases your speed and strength by one point per level when fighting without weapons. Cost: 10 mana and 10 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Monk''s Style has leveled up. Monk''s Style Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Decreases your foes'' endurance by one point per level when attacking using punches and kicks. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Pain Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Decreases the pain caused by all types of attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Ouch¡­ that hurts!" Ryan howled since the throbbing pain in his feet was more than annoying. "Still, I''m d I didn''t forget how to do that." In any case, Ryan confirmed once again that the stronger the opponent, the fast his skills level up. If Ryan level-ups his ss after fighting another velociraptor with kicks alone, then that would only confirm things once and for all. However, before doing that, he had to heal his feet. Although he attacked just two times, he lost fifteen points of health. "A melee fighting style saves a lot of mana and stamina," Ryan nodded to himself. "However, there is always the chance to lose one''s neck while fighting so close to the monsters. Even though I''m faster than them since my endurance isn''t high, my attacks also wound me¡­ this system really is trying to screw with me." Although Ryan had some martial knowledge, that had been a good experience for him. After all, he had experience in fighting against humans, and he never really fought them seriously, so he never broke his bones or the opponents'' bones. Still, that wasn''t so bad. Even though it wasn''t efficient, Ryan was enjoying himself. Chapter 86 - Reasons Just like before, Ryan fought until the skills he used reached level four. Fortunately, when that happened, his Monk ss also reached the same level, so things looked good. Congrattions! The skill Heal has leveled up. Effect: Heals 1.2 points of health per second. Heal Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Cost: 01 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "You really can heal your wounds¡­" Ang said, a bit surprised. "Does that prevent you from getting hungry? Did you get that skill from a tome, or it was when you obtained your ss?" "Now that you mentioned, I don''t feel hungry when I use this¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. "Yeah¡­ I obtained it when I got a ss. There is a dungeon on the other side of theke. If you defeat the boss, you and your friends can learn it." Although they have been healing thanks to recovery, Ryan noticed that Ang and her friends had a lot of scars on their bodies. They were idiots, but they were idiots who survived when the city was getting attacked by dragons. For the good or worse, the human race would need all survivors in the war against monsters. Besides, there was no point in getting overly worried about them, the number of survivors in Shreveport was high, and most of them were loyal to Lilian, Cole, and John. Although they were a bit na?ve, Anna had sharp eyes. Carter also seemed the type who knew how to read between the lines, so they probably will notice if some troublemakers join them or if someone tries anything funny. Regardless, Ryan had trained his melee skills, so it was time to select other skills to train. Based on his experience, Ryan concluded that the skills get twenty percent more practice to level up after each level up. While that wasn''t so bad, he didn''t want to spend more than one or two days at that dungeon. It was unreasonable to hope to obtain the strength to defeat a Jurassic predator with just that level of strength, but that kind of unrealistic goal would keep Ryan focused if anything. "What kind of weapons you guys have here?" Ryan asked. "I want to borrow some for a while." At that point in time, Ang had already noticed what Ryan was doing. Although he was a bit wild, if not bloodthirsty, he wasn''t stupid. Even before seeing the boss, he knew that he wasn''t strong enough, so he decided to train his skills and gain status points. That was exactly what Ang and her friends had been doing since they obtained control over the dungeon, but since the big guy and his friends attack pretty often, they haven''t been progressing as much as they wanted. "I can sell you some, but I want intel, not coins," Ang said. "You don''t have to tell me which sses you picked, but I want to know the locations of the dungeons, you know. If you convince me that I can obtain sses in those ces without risking our lives, I can leave this ce to you. I don''t know many things about games, but I do know that the dungeons you cleared were easier than this one. You seem the type who likes to work alone, after all." That was a bit unreasonable, but it was because Ang had confidence that she and her friends could achieve the same thing a man with a single hand could. While Ryan knew that something like that was only obvious, things weren''t that simple. "Bring that guy and his friends here," Ryan said. "What?" Ang frowned. "Do you want the power to survive?" Ryan asked. "Then learn topromise. You don''t have to forgive them, and you don''t have to work with them. Still, if your goal is the survival of your group, then you know what you need to do. What is more important for you? The pride of your group or the opportunity to gain three sses?" Ang opened her eyes widely after hearing that. She couldn''t believe that Ryan obtained three sses, and he was offering that power to her and her friends. That was based on the experience she had with the big guy''s group, but those with power only want the power to themselves and don''t want to share it. While that was amon way of thinking, it only showed how little confidence some people had in them. That couldn''t be applied to Ryan. "¡­ Why do you want to give this information to them?" Ang hesitated. "He threatened you, didn''t he?" "That is true, but I have my own reasons," Ryan replied. "Bring him here, and you will understand." Ang still was hesitating, but given that some of her friends liked that proposal, she decided to follow Ryan''s instructions. Still, that was only part of the reason. The memories of a few days ago were still engraved in their minds. Dragons destroying buildings in mere moments, people being burned to a crisp while others were buried alive¡­ Not a single sane person would want to experience that again, and in order to prevent that, everyone needed power. Ryan nodded to himself when he saw Ang and her friends heading to the other camp. He had some preparations to make in order to make things as convenient as possible for him. So, he opened his status screen. "In the end, it looks like I can''t snipe a boss," Ryan said. "That being said, I don''t feel like relying on mana that frequently. While doing that will give me the chance to face hordes of enemies, I feel like facing only big guns will be more rewarding, and to do that, I only need to keep increasing my dexterity." ss: Hunter Lv 08 / Elementalist Lv 05/ Monk Lv 04 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1200th Health: 32/46 (0, 1399) Mana: 58/62 (0, 1399) Stamina: 47/56 (0,1399) Strength: 10 (+11) Dexterity: 89 (+23) (+12) Speed: 30 (+16) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+10) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+9) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 18 Recovery: 40 (+1) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 1152 Status: 00 Chapter 87 - Proposal Ryan had twenty-eight status points, and he allocated them all in dexterity without a hint of hesitation. Thanks to that, he noticed a few changes. His eyesight got much better all of a sudden, and his left hand wasn''t trembling while he was holding the steel crossbow. While that was nice and all, it hadn''t been Ryan''s goal. It took a while, probably because they thought it was some kind of trap, but the big guy and his friends eventually came. Those people don''t really know when to rx. Both sides had weapons in their hands and were ready to fight. "What is your name?" Ryan asked. "Hond," The big buy replied. "Well, Hond, I have an offer for you and your friends, just like I have one for Ang and her friends," Ryan said. "But first, why don''t you sit down for a little bit and then we talk. Ang, I''m a bit thirsty. Do you have some water?" "¡­ Yeah." Ang frowned. While Ang was grabbing a water bottle, a velociraptor appeared. Since Ryan was pretty rxed while sitting on the ground, Hond and his friends prepared for a fight. However, Ryan just turned around for a second and then fired a me Arrow. The magic projectile hit the monster''s head and exploded it. When the smoke disappeared, everything above the creature''s neck had be a small chunk of burned flesh. It was quite a grueling sight. Some of the survivors even threw up. As for Ang and Hond, they gulped. "This is the power that I offer you, well, not really," Ryan said. "I''m just going to tell you about the ces where you can obtain this power. The rest is up to you." "Why would you tell that to us?" Hond asked. "Well, the main reason is because you will be forced to leave this ce, and I will be able to focus on my own things," Ryan replied. "The second reason is that for the good or the worst, all humans, even people like you, need to grow stronger as fast as possible. The third reason is that I know you will notice something when you clear the second dungeon. For example, I noticed that there are at least one thousand survivors more powerful than me. I wonder what you guys will notice at that moment¡­" Ryan''s words seemed really ominous, but that wasn''t enough to faze Ang and Hond. They will only understand the difference of power when they get their second ss, after all. Still, if they don''t realize it even at that moment, then they were a lost cause. "Now, I can tell you the locations of two rtively easy dungeons to clear," Ryan said. "I can give you the location of three, but if you mess up, there will be some consequences." "What kind of consequences?" Ang asked. "Well, a group of people that I know is currently guarding one of those dungeons," Ryan said. "While I don''t care about them, Arthur is with them. Arthur is the child of your friend Sydney¡­ so, considering that, you might even gain their help. They probably won''t hesitate since they will know I gave this information to you. However, if you do something, like backstabbing them, I will not forgive you. Did you see that? You will wish that you had the same fate. If only one of you try anything funny, I will exterminate all the members of that group. Believe me, I may not be around when you get your ss or in the near future, but I will know that you are plotting something, and before you put your ns into action, I will stop you and make you regret being born in this world." Another velociraptor appeared, and Ryan exploded the head of the beast as well. The idea of suffering a destiny worst than that made most of the survivors turn pale. They weren''t quite sure if Ryan had the power to know what they were thinking or doing from far away, but they didn''t feel like testing if that was the face. "I will hear your answer in one hour," Ryan said and thenid on the grass. Although he looked pretty rxed, Ryan killed mercilessly all the monsters that came from the dungeon. Ang and Hond could also do the same and without help, but they couldn''t do it in that same position. They wanted that power¡­ no, they needed that power. Still, it seemed that to obtain it, they had to involve themselves with some difficult people, and if they try anything suspicious, Ryan will exterminate them even by ident. He certainly has the power since he killed the velociraptors that way for one hour without getting tired. Not only that, he was nning to fight an apex predator of the Jurassic period alone. It was clear that he was insane enough to turn all his threats into reality. As if that wasn''t enough, he was getting stronger by the minute, and they clearly could see that. Congrattions! Your ss Hunter has leveled up. Hunter Lv 8 ? Lv 9 Dexterity + 2, Stamina + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Speed + 1, Control +1. Congrattions! Your ss Elementalist has leveled up. Elementalist Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Intelligence + 2, Mana + 2, Health + 1, stamina + 1, recovery + 1, control +1. "We ept your offer," Ang dered after one hour. "We don''t want to work directly with them, but we don''t see any reason why we shouldn''t ally ourselves with other groups." "Although we didn''t like your words, we share the same opinion in some aspects," Hond said. "We will also ept your offer." Chapter 88 - Warning Without wasting any time, both groups began to prepare their things in order to carry them back to Shreveport. They didn''t have much, so it was fine. Regardless, to avoid any problems, Ryan gave them the order to choose a side of the river, and the other group would choose the opposite direction. "When you find the survivor''s camp, look for Cole or John," Ryan said. "When you see them say those words: Ryan sent us if we mess up, he said that he is going to do the dirty job. If you change a single word, they will know, and I will know. So, try to work hard in order to be real survivors and stop being morons." His words were harsh, but even though they were difficult to ept, some of them knew that Ryan was right. They messed up when things got a little better and let the idea of power get on their heads. In any case, no one protested, and both groups left the dungeon and headed toward Shreveport. "Well, now¡­ it is time to y with my new toys," Ryan said while looking at the weapons Ang have to him. Ax, sword, spear, dagger, and there was even a whip. As expected, camping outside a dungeon was really a pretty decent business. Even though Ryan killed who knows how many monsters, he never found a whip¡­ or perhaps one of Ang''s friends bought them through the dungeon shop. "Let''s start with this bad boy," Ryan picked the whip and then started to move it around. "Although it is in my best interest to level up my sses, leveling up this should be faster." Ryan had no experience in using whips, but the weapon didn''t get any close to hitting him, thanks to his high dexterity. Also, surprisingly enough, the power behind the weapon was the real deal. When Ryan hit a velociraptor with it, the creature screamed in agony since the whip left a massive wound on its face. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Whip Mastery. Effect: Increases your damage when using whips by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Mmm¡­ it looks like the whip''s damage is rted with my dexterity, just like in the games I yed in the past," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. Although that seemed urate, whips weren''t that strong ifpared to crossbows. So, Ryan had to attack four times before killing a velociraptor. In any case, at some point, Ryan realized that fighting with a single hand with any other weapon aside from whip was going to be pretty difficult, even if he uses Heal frequently. So, he decided to damage the monster''s legs with the whip and then finish them off with other weapons. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ax Mastery. Effect: Increases your damage when using axes by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "I guess I can also damage their legs with me Arrow and use the other weapons," Ryan nodded to himself. "That way, I will also level up my sses." It wasn''t easy to properly calcte how much time Ryan needed to level up his low-level skills to a certain point. However, since he managed to level up Whip and Ax Mastery to level five in just two hours, he decided that it would be a pretty good idea to return to his fundamentals. "Let''s see, with my current recovery," Ryan opened his skill list and then checked Power Shot. "I can keep the skill active for three seconds in order to kill each velociraptor. Considering that I don''t need mana for that, I will use my mana to level up Lesser Water Enchantment." It was quite weird to be some mathematical and precise while hunting monsters, but since the system was in its core an RPG, Ryan didn''t have any other choice. It would be more fun if he could find a dungeon whose current strength was barely enough to stop the monsters for the sake of efficiency, but that was a bit too much to ask for. ss: Hunter Lv 09 / Elementalist Lv 06/ Monk Lv 04 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1165th Health: 32/48 (0, 1399) Mana: 58/65 (0, 1399) Stamina: 47/59 (0,1399) Strength: 10 (+11) Dexterity: 89 (+25) (+12) Speed: 30 (+17) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+12) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+11) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 18 Recovery: 40 (+5) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 9052 Status: 52 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 09, Throw Lv 04, Dash Lv 05, Rapid Shot Lv 05, Herculean Strength Lv 04, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 04, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 10, Concentration Lv 10, Archery Lv 10, uracy Lv 09, Stealth Lv 05, Pain Resistance Lv 02, Perception Lv 05, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 07, Swordsmanship Lv 05, Alert Lv 05, Cook Lv 02, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 06, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 05, Mana Transfusion Lv 07, Meditation Lv 06, me Arrow Lv 07, Appraisal Lv 06, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 06, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 05, Strong Arms Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 05, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 04 "Holy crap¡­ this ce is much better than I thought," Ryan muttered in surprise after killing velociraptors for more than one day straight. "Putting the coins aside¡­ how could I have thought that my skills could level up so fast here¡­" Even Ryan''s sses progressed quite a bit. That was awesome, considering that he didn''t see himself in danger, not even a single time. Although that felt like a very boring manual work, things were actually different since Ryan could see his progress, and it was more than decent. With so many free statuses, he even began to think that if he puts all of them into dexterity, he might kill in one shot the T-rex. "Ha-ha, as if¡­ it must be my tired mind trying to fool me." Ryan forced a smile. Chapter 89 - Earth Manipulation Tome Ryan decided not to get carried away because he lost his dominant arm thest time he did that. Still, he was running out of time because his food supply was over. Returning to Shreveport and leave the dungeon alone was out of the question since the monsters would spread out and make thingsplicated for himter. So, without having any other choice, Ryan decided to cook some velociraptor''s meat. "It looks like my ability to cut meat increased alongside my Swordsmanship," Ryan frowned while he was cutting thest velociraptor he killed and separating the meat from the hide. After a while, Ryan began to cook the meat. Truth to be told, it didn''t look that good. Even more so considering that the hide was close by and the dismantled dinosaur was creepy as hell. Fortunately, after a while, Ryan began to feel a good smell. "I wish I had some salt¡­ that way, I would be able to disguise the taste," Ryan sighed. He just wanted to fill his belly. Ryan wasn''t the type who eats anything for the taste, after all. In any case, despite the interruptions, Ryan was caught off-guard by the good taste of the meat. It wasn''t excellent and, by far, wasn''t the beast meat he had ever had, but it wasn''t half bad either. "It has quite a unique vor¡­" Ryan muttered in satisfaction. "Let''s just hope this isn''t poisonous or can make me sick." Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all Poison-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan gulped after receiving that notification. Only at that moment, he noticed that he was sweating quite a bit, and his health had decreased¡­ maybe it was some kind of poison that would dehydrate him to death¡­ Ryan''s heart began to beat faster, but then when he used to Heal on this stomach, the effects disappeared immediately. "Well, it is not like I need mana to defeat the velociraptors," Ryan shrugged. "If anything, it will be more convenient if I keep leveling up Poison Resistance." Congrattions! The skill Cook has leveled up. Cook Lv 2 ? Lv 3 Effect: Increases the effectiveness and speed of your cooking. It also increases your ability when using monster''s meat. You obtained 01 status point. "Heal, Cook, Poison Resistance¡­" Ryan muttered. "Three birds, one stone. Not bad, I guess." Although Ryan was making a lot of progress, he wasn''t satisfied. Mostly because he was trying to learn other skills but didn''t obtain any result, somehow, he could intuitively control his mana. That was why he obtained Strong Arms. However, he was having a hard time trying to do anything simr. It would be really convenient if he could learn Telekinesis, but since that seemed like a high-level magic skill, Ryan was pretty sure he wouldn''t be able to learn it anytime soon. "I can''t even create a Fireball or craft my own arrows," Ryan sighed. "There is no way that I will be able to learn Telekinesis." Although Ryan was having a hard time learning new skills by himself, he could get tomes at any given time. He had plenty of coins, and the velociraptors dropped several things that he could sell to the people on Shreveport, so coins weren''t a problem. Well, it was a problem since with ten thousand coins, the best thing Ryan could learn was an Ice Arrow. "There is no Telekinesis tome in the shop¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If there was one, I don''t think I would have enough coins to buy. Still, that makes me wonder why there are certain tomes be sold while others weren''t. Anyway, instead of learning a single spell, maybe I should learn a skill that will help me learn others." The prices were terrible, but at least the variety of things that one could obtain weren''t half bad. Still, Ryan had to look for a while to find what he was looking for, and as expected, the price was insane. Earth Maniption Tome Effect: Grants you the power to manipte the earth element. Price: 100.000 coins That kind of power will certainly help Ryan learn other skills. Unfortunately, Ryan will have to fight for more than ten days nonstop in that dungeon to obtain enough coins. That was beyond crazy. "It feels like saving coins to buy that is worth the hassle," Ryan nodded to himself. "That being said, I can''t afford to stay here for ten days¡­" In the end, Ryan decided to increase his luck a little bit in order to give him the chance to obtain a tome or two. The problem was: for how long should he stay in that ce, killing velociraptors? While his skills were growing, Ryan himself didn''t feel that growth since he wasn''t being challenged. The real challenge was at the end of the dungeon¡­ "One more day¡­" Ryan said. "I will stay here for another day and then challenge the boss. If I fail, then that is it. That was the limit of my existence. There is no meaning in grinding endlessly if, in the end, not even the boss will pose to be a challenge." Considering his n to keep increasing his dexterity non-stop, Ryan wouldn''t have many chances to attack the boss. That being said, with his dexterity at that level, missing a shot in a confined space was virtually impossible. It was a bit reckless to think that things would go as exactly as he nned, but he knew the best way to eliminate a massive enemy. Chapter 90 - Tyranossaurus Rex After another day of grinding, Ryan nodded in satisfaction while looking at his status and skills. Thanks to his increased dexterity, Ryan reached a point where he could hit enemies 150 meters away from him with ease, even though he was using his left arm. ss: Hunter Lv 11 / Elementalist Lv 08/ Monk Lv 05 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1112th Health: 48/48 (0, 1500) Mana: 73/73 (0, 1500) Stamina: 67/67 (0,1500) Strength: 10 (+15) Dexterity: 193 (+29) (+12) Speed: 30 (+23) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+16) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+17) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 40 (+7) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 17022 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 15, Throw Lv 07, Dash Lv 07, Rapid Shot Lv 08, Herculean Strength Lv 06, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 06, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 12, Concentration Lv 12, Archery Lv 12, uracy Lv 11, Stealth Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 02, Perception Lv 08, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 10, Swordsmanship Lv 06, Alert Lv 05, Cook Lv 03, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 10, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 10, Meditation Lv 09, me Arrow Lv 07, Appraisal Lv 09, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 09, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 05, Strong Arms Lv 04, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 02, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 06, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 06, Poison Resistance Lv 05, After using all the free points, he had, Ryan decided to test his offensive power and he actually felt pity toward the poor velociraptor. His steel bolt hit the monster''s head and made it explode. Probably not even a grenade could do that¡­ Ryan''s attack reached a point that was even influencing his steel bolt. The weapon trembled every time Ryan used it, and when the bolts crossed the air, it flew, causing a high-pitching sound he never heard before. Although his eyes were good, the projectiles could fly at a speed that not even he could see. "I guess dexterity even influences the speed of projectiles," Ryan frowned. "Anyway, it looks like focusing on a single stat also has its own demerits¡­ since bows and crossbows rely alone of dexterity, focusing on that alone makes them reach their true potential much faster than they should." Given that his normal attacks could cause that much damage, Ryan was looking forward to the power of his level fifteen Power Shot. In any case, he couldn''t but once again think that he was getting powerful too fast. It was true that he had a dungeon to himself, and that wasn''t something that others had, but still¡­ "Oh, well," Ryan shrugged. "It is not like I''m some sort of idiot who will n world domination with this power. I just need and want power because I can obtain it now, just like everyone else. Besides, it is not like it is an option considering that there are dragons on Earth. Anyway, let''s y with the T-rex." Although Ryan wanted to test his skills, just to be safe, he left his things at the dungeon entrance and decided to carry only the gear that he was wearing, his steel crossbow and ten mana potions, and other ten stamina potions. Although he could buy more, he wouldn''t feel satisfied if he defeats the monster only because he had such an advantage over the beast. Ryan knew that the dungeon was immense, but it looked like he underestimated its true dimensions. Even though he walked for a full hour, he didn''t find the end of it. As if that wasn''t enough, the path was heading downward at a steady pace, and the temperature was rising to the point where even Ryan began to sweat. Still, eventually, they found their of the beast. As expected, he found a purple crystal, a treasure box, and the dungeon''s boss. Ryan gulped when he saw that massive beast. It was exactly like the monster he saw in that movie¡­ even though the boss was sleeping in front of the crystal, Ryan felt a massive pressure. As far as he could remember, T-rexes could weight between four tons, and who knows what could be the limit of those beasts¡­ and that one seemed to be on therge size. "Well¡­ let''s hope a good loot from this one since I didn''t get any tome despite having increased my luck yesterday," Ryan said, and then pointed his crossbow at the beast. "Cheers to the fact that I always have the right for the pre-emptive strike." There was no point in attacking first if Ryan doesn''t attack with the maximum of his power. So, he held his crossbow steadily and began to charge his Power Shot alongside Lesser Wind Enchantment. It would be nice if his spell could work like Power Shot which its power would increase with every passing moment, but that wasn''t the case. Still, after receiving so much energy, the crossbow began to tremble, and Ryan was having a hard time keeping the aim steady. Fortunately, the very moment Ryan''s stamina was emptied, his aim was perfectly aligned with the beast''s left eye. So, he pulled the trigger. Although the T-rex woke up at the very moment, it didn''t have time to react. Ryan''s steel bot hit the monster''s left eye and made the eyeball and every piece of flesh nearby explode. The sight of a velociraptor getting destroyed by his arrows couldn''t even bepared to that. If his ordinary shots had the power of a grenade, that full-powered shot had the power of a tank. Tyrannosaurus Rex- Lv 25 Health: 2535/3500 Mana: 1500/1500 Stamina: 2000/2000 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 40 Spells: Scream Lv 20 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50 However, it looked like this time. He might have tried to bite more than he could chew¡­ Chapter 91 - Agony The beast screamed from the depths of its soul in agony. Ryan certainly caused one hell of critical damage. A force-field appeared immediately, dividing the tunnel and thest of the dungeon in two, Ryan was pushed forward to thest area, but when that happened, he already had two stamina potions on his mouth. When the beast finally found Ryan, he was already preparing another attack. Ryan didn''t know if the monster had some wild senses, but he decided to blind the beast for good and aimed at the other eye, even if that were the case. As much as he wanted to charge another full-powered shot, Ryan didn''t since the beast began to move toward him, and the boss was surprisingly fast for its size. "Oh, crap¡­" Ryan bit his lips and then pulled the trigger. Even with that size, the monster reacted on time to dodge the bolt and avoid losing another eye. That being said, Ryan''s bolt still scratched the face of the beast, taking off a huge chunk of flesh from it. It caused some damage, but that only enraged the monster. "It is time to n F¡­ n fucking fire me Arrows like there is no tomorrow!" Ryan said. In just two seconds, Ryan created ten me Arrows, and they exploded the monster''s face. Rising a curtain of smoke and, at the same time, making him feel the smell of burned flesh. Ryan prepared another Power Shot since that attack slowed down the monster quite a bit, but then suddenly, the monster charged even more ferociously than before. Most of the beast''s face was burned or was still on fire, but Ryan''s magic projectiles didn''t hit the monster''s remaining eye. Thanks to it, the furiously look of the beast sent shivers down his spine. When Ryan finally recovered from the shock, the beast was just five meters from him and with its massive jaw wide open to devour. The mouth of the beast alone was bigger than him¡­ Ryan jumped to his left side to avoid that attack because that was all he could do. Still, feeling the breath of the wild beast so close to his body made Ryan wonder why he had been in such a hurry to face it. For a second, he wondered if he had a death wish. Even though he had only one arm and that arm held his crossbow, Ryan got up faster than the monster could recover from the attack. It was only natural that the beast couldn''t change directions that fast. Still, even could he was a bit faster, Ryan couldn''t do anything in such a short amount of time, aside from gain some distance over the beast and grab some mana potions. "New n¡­ keep distance and attack with magic," Ryan turned around and then began to run. Thest area of the dungeon was long enough for Ryan to run and gain some distance over the beast, but with his current speed and stamina, he wouldn''t be able to do that for more than a few seconds. He had a few potions left, but Ryan concluded that it was better not to take his time. After confirming that he was fifty or so meters away from the beast, Ryan stopped and attacked with me Arrows. The beast charged mindlessly again, so it got directly. The damage was pilling up¡­ although the situation wasn''t good, it wasn''t that bad either, if Ryan pulls of that four more times, he probably will kill the beast. Tyrannosaurus Rex- Lv 25 Health: 1954/3500 Mana: 1400/1500 Stamina: 1920/2000 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 40 Spells: Scream Lv 20 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50 However, when Ryan tried to repeat that. The monster did something unexpected. It opened its mouth and then let out a roar that made the entire dungeon tremble. Ryan''s ears trembled, and after a while, he felt then getting a bit wet while the high-pitching sound still was echoing through his head. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan''s magic projectiles were dispersed. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "Ugh¡­" The situation seemed like it couldn''t get any worse, but it got even worse. The hoar damaged Ryan''s ears, and now he could slightly see the scenario in front of him, rotating slightly to the side. He even fell on the ground but prevented the worst by using his right knee as a support. "Not good¡­" Ryan said. The beast was charging at him, and Ryan couldn''t expect that he would be able to recover from the dizziness before he gets run over by it, or worse before he gets eater. Killing the beast in that kind of situation was too unrealistic, so Ryan decided to buy some time. He aimed his crossbow at the leg of the beast and then activated Lesser Water Enchantment. The bolt flew in a straight line and somehow hit the monster''s right leg piercing it all the other way to the other side. As if that hadn''t been enough, the area hit froze for a few seconds, and that made the beast trip. Ryan avoided getting run over and eaten by the beast, but the monster''s momentum still made the boss slip through the ground of the dungeon until its face hit him. Ryan felt as if he had been hit by a truck and rolled on the ground several times before hitting the dungeon''s walls. Immediately, Ryan felt something on his sides cracking, more than a few of his ribs were broken, but at least the pain made the dizziness go away. Still, looking at his health, Ryan wasn''t quite sure if he had won that exchange. ss: Hunter Lv 11 / Elementalist Lv 08/ Monk Lv 05 (--) Race: Night Demon /--/-- Rank: 1165th Health: 08/48 (0, 1500) Mana: 13/73 (0, 1500) Stamina: 44/67 (0,1500) Strength: 10 (+15) Dexterity: 193 (+29) (+12) Speed: 30 (+23) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+16) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+17) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 40 (+7) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 17022 Status: 00 Chapter 92 - More Handicaps? "Argh¡­ I should have brought some health potions as well," Ryan said, and then he started to drink mana and a stamina potion at the same time. Ryan started to use Heal, but at least from his perspective, the skill wasn''t healing him fast enough. Fortunately, the T-rex still was trying to get up using a single leg. That was quite difficult, given that it had a massive size. If Ryan had used his head and not have let his greedy control him, he should have noticed that destroying the monster''s legs first was his best option. It was toote to think about now¡­ to heal a would, Ryan had to touch his body with his only hand. Also, while using Heal, he couldn''t concentrate on using other skills¡­ because it was a skill which its effects happen over time. Fortunately, the monster wasn''t smart enough to understand that its scream was more than enough to finish Ryan off. Still, he had to thank himself for that, since the beast was in pain thanks to himself. When Ryan''s health reached the halfway point, he tried to get up. However, he soon fell to the ground again. His sense of bnce was gone since his eardrums had been damaged. Noticing that its enemy was weak, the T-rex got up. Even though it still was in pain, it moved slowly toward Ryan. "Bad boy, bad boy¡­" Ryan said and then picked his crossbow and aimed at the other leg of the beast. Before Ryan could pull the trigger, the monster moved its head and used it to block his attack. Although his steel crossbow was pretty powerful and caused some damage, the beast was willing to get hurt in the face even more because it would be better than losing its mobility. By the look of things, the monster had cooled its head enough to understand that Ryan would win if he destroys the other leg. Although that was bad, it wasn''tpletely bad for Ryan. He used all his mana and fired several steel bolts on the monster''s face. His uracy had decreased a lot, but the damage was pilling up, and more important than that, the monster couldn''t move while it blocks his attack. Tyrannosaurus Rex- Lv 25 Health: 1234/3500 Mana: 1400/1500 Stamina: 1750/2000 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 40 Spells: Scream Lv 20 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50 Ryan didn''t have time to use Power Shot, so his stamina was unneeded. Thanks to that, he began to drink his mana potions one after the other and kept firing his steel bolts. me Arrow wasn''t the best option since the monster''s Fire Resistance was at level fifty, so Ryan only used his crossbow until he drank thest mana potion. The T-rex''s face looked like a hedgehog, the beast was bleeding all over, but it hadn''t given up yet. More important than that, it was only five meters away from Ryan. In a few more seconds, the beast will have the chance to crush him to bits or eat him alive. Hell, even if Ryan kills the beast, he probably was going to get crushed anyway. "At the very least, I will take you down with me," Ryan smirked. Ryan used thest points of mana he still had to create a steel bolt and then began to prepare his Power Shot alongside Lesser Wind Enchantment. The very moment the beast noticed that Ryan was nning hisst attack, it used all its remaining strength to jump while moving toward Ryan. The fucking beast didn''t want to open its mouth and risk getting its inside hit by an attack of that level. That was pretty smart for a monster of the Jurassic period. Still, Ryan didn''t give in to despair. The action of the monster gave Ryan the chance to see a path toward the monster''s heart. A path was thatpletely unprotected. Besides, Ryan was expecting what woulde next. When Ryan was sure that his steel bolt would hit the monster''s vital, he pulled the trigger. The bolt flew in a straight line and only stopped when it hit the heart of the monster. In the next moment, Ryan received several notifications and status points. In the blink of an eye, he put several points into mana and then activated Herculean Strength and Strong Arms. Ryan hit the ground with both of his arms and then forcefully made his body move to the side. Still, not even that had been enough to save himpletely. Ryan''s legs got crushed by the monster''s body, and the pain made him faint. Somehow, Ryan woke up. He didn''t die due to the blood loss, but he still was bleeding. Apparently, just a few minutes had passed. He only woke up because recovery did its magic. However, even though his health, mana, and stamina were full again, his legs were still destroyed and beneath the T-rex body. "Crap¡­ I need to move," Ryan muttered in pain. "Other velociraptors may appear at any moment." Ryan tried to use Strong Arms and Herculean Strength to move the corpse of the beast. However, his current strength wasn''t nearly enough to move a monster that weighed tons. "I guess it can''t be helped¡­ this is going to hurt," Ryan sighed and then cast a me Arrow. Little by little, Ryan exploded the monster''s body until only he destroyed enough flesh and separated a huge chunk from the corpse. This time he managed to move that piece of flesh, but his legs'' situation was worse than Ryan thought, the pain had decreased thanks to recovery, but as far as he could tell, every single piece of bone and muscles had been destroyed. If recovery doesn''t heal that¡­ then Ryan was screwed. Chapter 93 - Class: Blacksmith Fortunately, even though Ryan thought many times that his legs were long gone, his legs healed after just ten minutes. Apparently, as long as the parts are there, recovery could do its magic perfectly. Still, that miracle came with a price. Ryan began to feel hungry like he never felt before. Hungry to the point where he was thinking to chew the damaged and burned flesh of the T-rex, even with the hide. "The velociraptors didn''t spawn¡­ is it because I''m still here and didn''t get my rewards?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let''s my rewards already." Before eating anything, Ryan checked for his loot. Although he was happy to find a bow near the corpse of the T-rex, he couldn''t help but sigh. It was another bow¡­ but he couldn''t use it with a single hand. Bone Bow Effect: Consumes ten points of mana to create a bone arrow. Dexterity + 30 Durability: 60/60 "Not bad, not bad at all," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "This is definitely the most powerful weapon currently on my hands." Ryan could only expect that he would heal his arms before he finds an even more powerful bow. Or maybe it was a bit dangerous to wish for that since he couldn''t tell when or if he would obtain a more powerful weapon. Ryan hurried to the treasure box and then received that message again. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Sorcerer, Knight, and cksmith. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Sorcerer, Knight, and cksmith¡­" Ryan said. "Knight won''t be useful for me, at least for the time being. Sorcerer seems the best option. After all, what I can forge with a single hand?" Maybe Ryan will gain some skills that will give him the chance to forge things even with a single hand. However, he couldn''t help but wonder if it wouldn''t be better to spend most of his time fighting monsters and to level up his skills instead of making things. Even though fighting was quite exciting, Ryan recalled once more that he was made of meat and bones and almost died since he challenged a monster of the Jurassic period alone. Still, despite everything, the idea of crafting things seemed quite appealing. Not only that, but cksmiths also need high levels of dexterity to produce good weapons¡­ at least that was the case considering Ryan''s knowledge of games. Congrattions! You have be a Level one cksmith! You obtained the following skills: Repair, Auto-Production, and Ma. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Repair. Effect: it restores the durability of all types of equipment. Cost: 10 mana restores 01 durability You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Auto-Production. Effect: You can skip the production process of something if you sacrifice your mana. Beware that the harder the material, the more mana you will have to spend. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ma. Effect: Gives you a chance to obtain ores as drops from monsters. Current chance: 01% chance of finding one iron ore from monsters. You obtained 01 status point. Those were some¡­ unexpected skills. Ryan thought he would learn things like forge knife, forge sword¡­ and so on. While those weren''t so bad, the fact that they wouldn''t help him directly in a fight was kind of troublesome. Still, the surprises weren''t over yet. Congrattions! You have obtained your fourth ss! As such, you have be one of the 1100 humans who obtained three sses! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 1080th You obtained Reptilian''s blood. "Reptilian''s Blood¡­ what the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. Ryan imagined that he would reach the one-thousandth position, but it looked like he underestimated Earth''s survivors. In any case, he finally got the chance to obtain the blood of another species, but Ryan hesitated a bit this time. Well, just for a while, until he tried to Analyze the item. Reptilian''s Blood. It grants you the following skills: Passive Recovery, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment, Iplete Reptilian Transformation. Ryan didn''t know if this skill wasn''t at the level where it should show him the demerits of drinking that, or if, just like the night demon''s blood, it has no downsides. Those three skills seemed pretty interesting, so Ryan felt the urge to drink it, even though he might turn into a half-reptile. "Ah, screw it¡­" Ryan said, and then drink the blood. "It is not like I will change that much. Maybe my appearance will, but it is not like I intend to find another girlfriend." As usual, Ryan''s speed of decision making was almost unrivaled. Fortunately, Ryan didn''t notice any change in his body. If anything, he just felt a wave of power flowing through his body, which gave him a sense of relief. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Passive Recovery. Effect: it increases your recovery passively by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lesser Poisonous Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of poison. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 10%, and it willst for five seconds. Cost: 20 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Iplete Reptilian Transformation. Effect: it gives you the power to change one part of your body and strengthen your status by twenty percent based on the part that will be transformed. Cost: 10 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Upon seeing the description of those skills, Ryan couldn''t help but grin. Chapter 94 - Dragon Without wasting any time, Ryan used Iplete Reptilian Transformation on his right arm, and just as he had expected, a new arm appeared right there. It wasn''t quite human since it had scales and had a green glow in some areas, but it didn''t feel much different than his left arm. In fact, it felt much better and stronger. Not only that, Ryan''s dexterity and strength increased by twenty percent¡­ which was the bonus of the skill. "Perfect¡­ now things are finally looking good," Ryan smiled. "Although I can only keep this arm for a few seconds, eventually, I will be able to keep it at all times." When Ryan deactivated the skill, his right arm disappeared, and he didn''t feel any pain. In any case, Ryan finally finished his business in that hellhole, so it was time to leave¡­ but not before eating the T-rex. Ryan wasn''t only hungry; he was exhausted since all his fuel and more had been consumed to heal his legs. "I guess I more or less achieved my goal of recovering my dominate arm," Ryan muttered while he was cooking the T-rex meat. "Since it looks, I lost twenty pounds to heal my legs. Maybe I should look for the blood of a race of monsters that can store a lot of energy by eating and without getting fat. That would be perfect¡­" It looks like Ryan was getting carried away, but he couldn''t think of any better goals for the time being, even though finding monster''s blood that could grant him a new race was even more difficult to find than tomes. If he could, Ryan would have to keep eating the T-rex flesh until he recovered the weight that he lost, but unfortunately, after one hour of eating the same meat non-stop, not only he got sick of it, but his stomach was also about to explode. Some velociraptors spawned and tried to his meal, but Ryan quickly disposed of them with his new arm. A single punch was more than enough to send them to the afterlife. "I have more than enough coins toplete the set of rings of the immortal, considering that my current goal is to have enough recovery to keep that transformation at all times, that is the best thing I can do right now," Ryan nodded to himself while he was heading toward the exit of the dungeon. "Still, maybe it is time to upgrade them¡­ their better versions will be more expensive, but if I use this dungeon for a while¡­" As far as he could tell, no one had better use of that dungeon than Ryan. Although there are the survivors in Shreveport, and they might want their fourth sses at some point, things should be fine if Ryan gives them a hand on defeating the boss while he gets the coins from the velociraptors. He needed some time to train his new skills anyway, so there was no need to rush. "Based on my calctions, I will need six thousand points in recovery to have enough mana to keep that skill active all the time," Ryan said. "Reach that number won''t be easy, but I bet it is achievable. I have a passive recovery, so that is already a big help, and¡­ what the heck?" The very moment Ryan stepped out of the dungeon, he frowned when he saw a massive smokescreening from Shreveport. It has been a while since he saw that scene, and he couldn''t quite understand why he saw it again. Ryan''s first thought had been that Ang and Hond had done something, but then that appeared¡­ a red creature flying in the sky. Even at that distance, Ryan could see what that thing was. It was obvious what it was¡­ since it was breathing fire. "A dragon returned¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan couldn''t quite understand why suddenly a dragon appeared. It was hard to believe that they had destroyed every sign of civilization in the world in just a few weeks, and now they were hunting those whosted until now. However, Ryan changed his mind because he could only see a single dragon. Like a bird that had separated from a group¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if it was a weakened one or if it was looking for small camps since thepetition was high against other dragons. Either way, it didn''t matter. "Crap¡­ I will have to leave my weapons here!" Ryan said and then began to throw away everything that he wasn''t wearing. Ryan''s backpack would be able to store only so many potions, but he quickly filled it with mana and stamina potions. In the blink of an eye, he spent ten thousand of his coins. Killing a single dragon probably won''t give him that much coins, but Ryan wasn''t making such calctions right at that moment. "Why am I heading there anyway?" Ryan pondered while he was filling his backpack with potions. "Whether they live or die, it is none of my concern." While that was true, the idea of ignoring the dragon never crossed Ryan''s mind. Arthur wasn''t his son, but for some reason, Ryan didn''t feel like let the newborn baby lost everything again. The kid deserved a better life than the one of constantly running away from monsters¡­ "Let''s just hope I won''t die trying to y hero," Ryan took a deep breath and then began to run in a straight line. At some point, theke blocked Ryan''s path, but as expected, he could run over water with his current speed. ss: Hunter Lv 14 / Elementalist Lv 11/ Monk Lv 05 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 1080th Health: 55/55 (0, 1733) Mana: 110/110 (0, 1733) Stamina: 78/78 (0,1733) Strength: 10 (+15) Dexterity: 193 (+37) (+27) Speed: 30 (+27) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+22) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+16) Control: 06 (+24) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 40 (+21) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 19422 Status: 06 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 17, Throw Lv 07, Dash Lv 07, Rapid Shot Lv 08, Herculean Strength Lv 06, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 06, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 14, Concentration Lv 14, Archery Lv 14, uracy Lv 13, Stealth Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 06, Perception Lv 08, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 12, Swordsmanship Lv 06, Alert Lv 05, Cook Lv 03, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 12, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Ma Lv 01, Passive Recovery Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 12, Meditation Lv 09, me Arrow Lv 10, Appraisal Lv 09, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 10, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 06, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 06, Strong Arms Lv 04, Repair Lv 01, Auto-Production Lv 01, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 01, Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 04, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 06, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 06, Poison Resistance Lv 05, sses: Combat: Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 01 Chapter 95 - Dragons Breath Ryan didn''t know for how long that dragon had been running wild, but when he reached the other side of theke, the camp that Lilian had created had beenpletely destroyed and have been abandoned. Sahuagins were leaving the dungeon again, and those fuckers would be a pain to huntter due to their long-ranged attacks. After confirming the dragon''s position and looking at the things around him, Ryan concluded that the monster was chasing the survivors. Somehow, there was no corpse behind, but it was only a matter of time before he could find one. Dragons could fly and spitfire, so chasing humans was just a minor nuisance to them. Ryan used Dash and headed toward to the beast that was two miles away from his current position. Fortunately, the beast apparently appeared a few minutes ago. If Ryan had left the dungeon five or ten minutester, he probably would only find smoke and the city destroyed. Although he came prepared to a fight, Ryan couldn''t help but gulp when he saw that red dragon from up-close. The beast was massive and could maneuver in midair with an elegance one couldn''t expect with that size. They were fifty meters long, after all. As expected, the monster was chasing a group of survival that was heading toward the south side of Shreveport, but since they were slow, Ryan understood that they were only heading to a dead-end. They didn''t have the stats to run over the river of magma. "Where are those idiots¡­ dumbasses, at least try to fight," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance and then activated his Iplete Reptilian Transformation. As much as Ryan wanted, he couldn''t use any spells because his mana would be used solely to create his right arm. When it appeared, he immediately created a bone arrow and aimed it at the beast. Somehow, even though it was two hundred meters away from it, and Ryan could be considered an ant in front of such a monster, the dragon felt its presence and looked at him. "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan frowned. "Those are some wild instincts¡­" At first, the dragon didn''t do anything upon finding him, but when Ryan began to concentrate his Power Shot, the beast slowed down and eventually turned around. It was hard to believe that Ryan could one-shot kill a monster like that with his current strength, but that action told him that he could damage the monster if he uses a full-powered attack¡­ and so he did it. The beast had underestimated Ryan''s power, or maybe it couldn''t fly faster than that. Either way, when the creature was fifty meters away from him, Ryan fired his arrow. The beast didn''t even have time to see that oneing. It straight hit its face causing a massive impact that made the monster even lose some altitude and speed. Pieces of dragon''s flesh and blood began to drip over the city''s street¡­ Ryan had caused even more damage than he had expected. He had underestimated the bonus of status his Iplete Reptilian Transformation could give him. Red Dragon - Lv 50 Health: 44852/50.000 Mana: 25.700/30.000 Stamina: 35.400/40.000 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 60 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 90 Spells: Fire Breath Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 150 "Holy crap¡­ what the hell are those statues?" Ryan opened his eyes in shock. "How are we supposed to fight those things?" Although apparently, hisst attack could have killed in one shot a T-rex, that was thest thing Ryan would think in such a moment. Among all the creatures Ryan found so far, dragons seemed to be at the top of the food chain, which looked kind of obvious. Still, how one would expect the human race to survive against that level of power¡­ even more so when hundreds of them appeared to destroy only a medium-sized city like Shreveport? Those were some good questions, but Ryan didn''t have time for them. Instead, he grabbed several potions and began to drink to the point where he almost choked since he tried to drink four at the same time. Even before Ryan could recover all his energy, the dragon was already close to him. That was really bad since he was slower, but Ryan had imagined that was the case since the very beginning. The dragon approached him and instead of using fire, it just opened its mouth the eat him whole. "You should eat this instead of me," Ryan pointed his bow and arrow toward the open mouth of the beast and then fired. The dragon trembled when the bone arrow hit the inside of its mouth, and that movement gave Ryan the chance to jump to the side and avoid being crushed. However, that had been just the first part of his attack. A second after, the beast fell on the ground and began to hit its head against the ground. Ryan had used a poison attack, and apparently, poison is quite effective when it directly hits the insides of a monster. Even if the damage wasn''t quite there, it must be quite annoying to taste a poisoned bone arrow. Ryan didn''t waste time and immediately got up and prepared for his next attack. A full-powered Power Shot probably will be enough to damage the beast''s eyes, even though they have scales on their eyelids. However, Ryan only had five seconds to charge the attack. The massive beast fell the danger again and immediately used its arms to protect its face. However, Ryan didn''t let that happen. He fired, and even though his attack was weaker, it pierced the monster''s eyelids and destroyed its left eye. "ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Ryan wished that there was some skill that could prevent his ears from being damaged over and over again, but since he didn''t receive any after hearing the scream of a dragon, then it doesn''t exist. Regardless, even without using Appraisal, Ryan confirmed that he had caused critical damage. That was good, and it was bad because the monster probably wouldn''t underestimate him any further, and just like Ryan expected, the monster opened its mouth, and Ryan saw a fireball growing in there. Chapter 96 - New Knowledge A poisoned arrow would probably stop the Fire Breath, but it wouldn''t prevent itpletely. So, Ryan decided to jump with all his might in order to escape the attack. After all, in that position, the dragon could only raise its head up to a certain point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Strong Legs. Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level on your legs temporarily. Cost: 01 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Ryan had no idea why he learned that skill at such a moment when he tried hundreds of times in the previous days only to fail, but it didn''t matter. What did matter be the fact that Ryan managed to jump over the beast and escape the possible range of the Fire Breath? Thanks to all that, Ryan managed to see the attack in its max power. The range was approximately fifty meters, and the mes were so powerful that Ryan couldn''t even look at it even thirty meters away from it. If he gets hit by that for just one second, he will die, and no potion or skill will prevent that. "What?" Ryan opened their eyes in surprise when hended on the back of the dragon. He only tried to escape the attack, now that Ryannded in an unexpected ce, he waspletely taken aback. Was that bad or an excellent chance? Ryan had no idea. However, he knew that he had to do something before the dragon realizes where he is. It would be awesome if Ryan had brought his steel crossbow, but since he didn''t have to aim, Ryan could be that fast even while using a bow as big as that. In the blink of an eye, Ryan fired five bone arrows. For some reason, he fired all of them around himself. Why? Because he knew what was about to happen. As expected, the dragon began to fly with Ryan on its back. Even without thinking too much about it, Ryan knew that fighting a flying enemy was the worst type of challenge for him, even more so when the opponent was a dragon that had a ranged attack that probably could melt whole buildings in seconds. So, he put those arrows around him to offer some support. As expected, the fucking beast flew to the sky in a straight line as if it was a rocket. It was trying to make Ryan fall, but the arrows were strong. So, they offered decent support to Ryan, even though his mana was empty and he could only use a single hand. Ryan needed to attack. Even moment counts against such a beast. However, he could barely keep his eyes open when the dragon was flying due to its speed. So, that was out of the question. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wind Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all wind-type attacks by one point. You obtained 01 status point. The situation was so insane that Ryan even obtained a skill that he shouldn''t have, given that the dragon didn''t use any wind-type attacks. Going up at that speed eventually made Ryan feel dizzy. He had no idea exactly how high he was, but he began to worry when the temperature began to drop, and breathing became difficult. "Fucking monster¡­ if you want to freeze to death in outer space, don''t to take me with you," Ryan clenched his teeth and mustered all the courage he had and then let go of the bone arrows. Ryan began to fall uncontrobly, but eventually, he managed to stop spinning in the air. Only to find the fucking beast slowing down with the dark sky right above it. The dragon tried to scare Ryan, and it actually seeded, or maybe it really had nned to go to outer space since it somehow could survive there. Either way, it didn''t matter anymore. Ryan was on a freefall, probably thirty kilometers above soil¡­ if the fall doesn''t kill him, the dragon will. "Screw it," Ryan bit his lips. "It is all or nothing." Ryan wouldn''t be able to use all his potions in that situation, so he decided to do what he could. He began to hit the backpack until most of the bottles inside of it broke. He probably will have one hell of a stomachache if he survives, but he began to drink the liquid after opening the backpack a little. Much to his surprise, there were no signs of the sses, and the liquid went to his throat without issues. When his mana and stamina were full again, Ryan used Iplete Reptilian Transformation and then concentrated his Power Shot. The dragon still was gaining speed while flying downward, so there was a good distance between him and Ryan. That was perfect. If he hits, he will make the beast waste even more time trying to gain speed again. Even if he misses, the beast will lose some speed to move to the side. Ryan fired his arrow, and the dragon used the Fire Breath to destroy the projectile. Fortunately, Ryan imagined the beast would try that or dodge the attack. So, he just charged the Power Shot for a few seconds and used his remaining mana to enchant the projectile with the power of the wind. The projectile lost some raw power, but it gained speed and some piercing power. As expected, the bone arrow hit the inside of the beast''s mouth and made it stop while it trembled through the air. "Serves you right," Ryan smirked. "Damned monster¡­" Ryan gained some time, but he couldn''t stop there and began to prepare for his next attack, but then he noticed that his stamina and mana were full again. He frowned when he saw that, but then Ryan noticed¡­ the backpack couldn''t keep all the liquid inside of it for long. Some of the potions'' liquid was flowing through small holes, and some of it was getting absorbed by his body. "I lost a lot of potions, but fortunately, I learned something useful¡­" Ryan said. "Herees a big one¡­" On his back, the backpack and the liquid will probably make Ryan recover his energy for a minute or two. He tried to look to the ground beneath him, and he concluded that he had more or less that same amount of time before hitting the ground. So, Ryan decided to bet everything on onest attack. Chapter 97 - Victory Or Defeat? Ryan never tried that before because he worked alone, and it was impossible for him to use a bow or a crossbow with a single hand and keep drinking potions. However, now that he knew that potions didn''t have to be drunk and they can be absorbed by skin, things changed more than a little bit. Starting to charge the most amazing Power Shot he had ever used, Ryan couldn''t help but frown when the bow began to tremble after twenty or so seconds. Power Shot was at level seventeen, but that doesn''t mean Ryan could only charge it for seventeen seconds. As long as he has stamina, he could charge indefinitely. "I wonder if my bow won''t break, if that happens, then I will just ept being eater alive the dragon," Ryan sighed. "Because that would be a n that only someone very stupid would try to pull off." Although the boss was trembling, there were no signs of cracks in the weapon. However, when Ryan used Analysis, he noticed that the weapon was losing one point of durability every two seconds. That wasn''t so bad¡­ at least it would resist until Ryan fires his arrow. At that point in time, even though the giant beast noticed that Ryan was preparing one hell of an attack, it didn''t slow down or tried to run away, even though the chances of him dying due to the fall weren''t that small. It was a matter of pride now for the red dragon. A puny human challenged its power not once or twice and even dared to blind the dragon, that small man needed to die, or the dragon wouldn''t have the right to live as a dragon any longer. Ryan felt thankful for the dragon''s stupidity; his most powerful attack would definitely cause some damage against the target that wasing from the opposite direction at unbelievable speeds. The problem was what would happen during and after the impact, but Ryan could think about itter¡­ even though thatter might never exist to him. When the beast was five hundred meters away from Ryan, he fired his arrow. There was so much energy in his attack that the sole act of letting the arrow loose caused a powerful shockwave that hit Ryan and even makes him fall faster. The impact had been so powerful that Ryan''s health fell to dangerous levels¡­ if he was having doubt that he could survive the fall with his current body and status, now that he was almost falling unconscious, it became quite evident that he wouldn''t survive. Still, before Ryan pass out, he saw his bone arrow hit the dragon. A massive explosion urred, and at thest moment, Ryan smirked. His attack reached a level where it could be considered at the level of a tactical missile. The explosion covered the dragon''s whole body, and the entire area vibrated until it even reached Ryan. Strangely enough, the smoke caused by the explosion wasn''t grey or ck. It was blue and green as if the use of Ryan''s mana and stamina had caused that. It was quite a sight, but it couldn''t bepared to the sight of the red dragon falling down without its head. Ryan closed his eyes in satisfaction, even before he could receive his notifications. ----- ----- Five minutes earlier¡­ Daniel, Mia, John, and another number of survivors were heading to the city''s Eastside. Although their previous homes could be found in that area, they weren''t heading there for the sake of nostalgia¡­ they were trying to escape from the dragon. "Shit¡­ why now of all times?" Daniel asked with a dark expression on his face. Several survivors had left Shreveport in order to obtain their sses in the dungeons. Since things have been progressing so well, the people there decided to even create a base near those dungeons in order to prevent forced dungeon breaks from happening. Still, that decision came back to haunt them much sooner than anyone could have imagined. Currently, the number of survivors at Shreveport who could defeat Sahuagins alone were didn''t even reach the number ten. So, the only thing they could do was to run away from the monster. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Suddenly, those three heard that scream and felt shivers. That was one hell of a scream that came from the depths of the dragon''s soul. It has been so powerful that Arthur, who had been sleeping until now, woke up and began to cry. "What was that?" John frowned. "Did that beast bite its tongue or something?" "It must have received considerable damage if its scream reached us this far¡­" Mia said, showing a worried expression and while it was trying to calm down Arthur. That was obvious, but none of them could even imagine how such a beast could suffer enough damage for that to happen. Just the steps of the dragon were enough to make the earth tremble, after all. Still¡­ Daniel quickly understood what had happened. "Ryan came back¡­ and he is fighting that dragon," Daniel said and then stopped running. None of them wanted to admit it, but that sounded pretty logical. Ryan had been fighting day in a day out alone, and since the very beginning, no one obtained strength faster than him. Still¡­ so what? Ryan couldn''t defeat such a beast even if all the survivors of the are fight alongside him. Those three were having a hard time imagining them emerging victorious without losing at least half of their forces. "We have to help him!" Daniel dered. "¡­ I understand the feeling, but we can''t," John said. "We can''t fight battles that can''t be won. We don''t have enough numbers even to consider doing something like that." "Then we at least need to buy him some time to retreat," Daniel insisted. "That is no longer possible," John shook his head. "If Ryan was the one who damaged the beast and made it scream like that, the dragon will chase him until one of them die. We can only hope that he obtained some skill and will be able to¡­" Suddenly, the red dragon soared through the sky. Danie, Mia, and John couldn''t help but stare in amazement while the beast was flying at supersonic speeds like a missile. Yet, they couldn''t understand why the dragon suddenly acted like that. Among those three, only Mia saw Ryan on the back of the dragon since she also increased her dexterity and her eyesight improved considerably. "Ryan¡­" Mia muttered. Daniel and John had a hard time believing in Mia''s exnation. Still, they knew that Ryan was crazy enough to put himself on the back of a dragon. Unfortunately, their surprises didn''t end there. After the red dragon disappeared in the skies, it reappeared while falling down¡­ alongside a small, dark point. Before both of them could hit the ground, an explosion happened, and the dragon lost its head. At some point, even Daniel and John realized that the other point falling was Ryan¡­ they tried to help him somehow, but before he couldnd, another dragon appeared and took him away. John, Cole, and Lilian''s group looked for him in the area for days, but they never found him. Chapter 98 - A Silver-haired Woman Ryan didn''t know for how long he slept. All that he knew what that he began to wake up when his hunger began to win the battle against his tiredness. The cold and the sound of wood burning made him realize that it was night. That was weird. He didn''t remember making a campfire. Regardless, before he could even open his eyes, Ryan recalled his battle against the red dragon. Suddenly, he got up and up opened his eyes. In front of him, Ryan saw a weird looking woman. She had long white¡­ no, long silver-like hair, and her eyes were of the same color. Although she was pretty, her body looked frail since she was kind of unhealthily pale and seemed to be underweight. Despite all that, Ryan could feel a powerful auraing from her¡­ a simr aura that he felt when he faced the red dragon. "Good evening," The silver-haired woman said while smiling. "My name is Alissa. What is yours?" "¡­ Who the hell are you?" Ryan frowned when he tried to use Appraisal, and the skill failed. "You are not human¡­" "Quite the rude fellow, I warned you. Most people from your race can''t even understand their ce¡­ this puny human was saved by you, and he didn''t even think of thanking you." Ryan opened his eyes widely when he heard that voice¡­ it was very rough and monster-like, it looked like it would be the perfect voice of a dragon, but Adam couldn''t see anyone aside from that weird looking woman. "While I think that he is exaggerating, there is an exnation to what you are feeling right now," Alissa said and then looked to the said and then crossed her arms. "However, I won''t exin it until you introduce yourself properly." Something was off¡­ that whole situation was weird. Ryan decided to step back and then grab his bow. However, he found that he only had his clothes on this body. The things that he had while facing the red dragon were behind Alissa, and some other things were there as well. "See? Ungrateful fellow¡­ can''t even have a proper conversation without thinking about using his weapons. Truly, one of the lowest types of lifeforms." "You forget that I am also human," Alissa said. "You are¡­ a bit different." Ryan''s confusion was bing even more apparent. That situation was too much¡­ yet, he couldn''t find a way out of it. Despite looking frail, that woman was stronger than him. She was probably stronger than the red dragon, despite iming to be human, and now she was talking with something Ryan couldn''t see. In any case, after a while, Ryan managed to calm down. If she was an enemy, she could have killed him many times while he was unconscious. Maybe that woman was a dragon in disguise, and she just wanted to y with her prey. Either way, there was nothing Ryan could do right now. He had to y it cool while he waits for a chance. "Ryan," Ryan said and then sat on the ground. "That is my name." "See?" Alissa smiled and then said. "He isn''t so bad." "Your standards are just too low." "Well, where should I start?" Alissa looked to the side and then began to think. "On the day the monsters appeared, I was in a hospital. The ce got attacked by dragons, and it was destroyed. Somehow, I survived and managed to crawl to the outside of the building. However, a group of velociraptors found me and decided that I could be a good snack. Unfortunately for them, my hero appeared to save the day. The super, awesome, marvelous, heroic, legendary, and cool dragon called Orgar saved me from the monsters and even gave me a strong body." Ryan was speechless, putting aside all the nonsense that was just praise for a dragon. It looked like Alissa was a woman who had some kind of serious disease. The dragon Orgar saved her twice¡­ it was hard to believe, but he became a spirit to restore her body back to health. That would exin why her hair and eyes had such a strange color. As well as her presence. "Now, I know what you are thinking," Alissa said. "This might be too good to be true, right? Why would a dragon help a weak, puny woman on the verge of death while all the others have humans for their breakfast? At first, I also thought it was suspicious, but then Orgar exined to me that he has a serious case of Amnesia. Apparently, all the dragons have." "Amnesia?" Ryan frowned. "Yep, they don''t remember anything that happened before they suddenly appeared here on Earth," Alissa replied. "While they act as if they are owners of the ce, that is just a trait of them, they defend their territories with everything they have, but now that they suddenly appeared in a foreigner world, they feltpelled to dominate it since many other monsters are also appearing everywhere." That was odd¡­ considering that Orgar could talk, dragons should be smart and then try to understand their situation rather than destroying everything just because their instincts told them to do it. Then again, maybe some of them are smarter than others. "Let me guess," Ryan said. "He wants your help with that. He asked you to help him find why he and the others lost their memories." "That and why they are being summoned to this world while the other monsters are spawning from dungeons," Alissa nodded. That made sense¡­ now that Ryan thought about it, he never thought seriously about why the dragons appeared in the sky instead of spawning through dungeons. He just concluded that they were too big for that, but since he just found a dungeon which a T-Rex could cross, then that didn''t make any sense. "While I decided to help Orgar, I don''t think I am up to the task," Alissa forced a small smile. "I have spent most of my time in a hospital bed, and I don''t know much about the outside world. While I now can have a normal life thanks to him, my presence and my new appearance make me stand out. That is why I decided to look for help and then we found you." Chapter 99 - Flame Sword "We found you when you were killing the velociraptors at the entrance of that dungeon," Alissa exined. "Although, Orgar didn''t think you were anything special, we didn''t find anyone in thousands of kilometers soloing dungeons." "¡­ What do you mean by that?" Ryan frowned. "Can you teleport or something? Besides, if you were watching me, I would have noticed." "I don''t think so," Alissa said. "Can you feel the presence of someone twenty kilometers above you? While I inherited some of Orgar''s power, he can''t teleport, but he can fly pretty fast. So, in thest few days, we studied and watched many survivors'' camp. While we found some individuals with potential, I didn''t like them. Even though Orgar told me that they could be useful." "¡­ What is the difference between them and me?" Ryan asked. "While you can help others now and then, you don''t want to be a leader and rebuild human society," Alissa replied. "You want to keep improving yourself without having to be a member of other survivors'' camps. More importantly, you are not a hypocrite that wanted to make a good ce for the survivors now that the world is in this situation." Those were some harsh words, but Ryan could see where Alissa wasing from. He couldn''t quite imagine how his past self would cope with life in the hospital, a weak body, and disease that slowly might kill him, but the current self wouldn''t cope well with it. Still, even Ryan couldn''t think that Cole, John, and Lilian were hypocrites. They were a bunch of idiots, but not hypocrites, at least from his perspective. It was quite weird seeing a woman who could show such a pure smile to have so many dark thoughts inside her, but it was understandable. In any case, thest thing Ryan wanted was to get involved with others, but in the current situation, he couldn''t exactly refuse Alissa''s favor. Even though she didn''t say that yet, it was clear that she was the one who saved him after he defeated the red dragon. He owed her, and Ryan hated that feeling, and he would hate it even more if he keeps owing her for a long time. "All right then," Ryan said. "Since I owe you, I will try to obtain the intel you need. However, I n to do it alone." "That won''t do," Alissa shook her head. "Your movement speed can''t even bepared to ours. While we don''t want to slow down on your goal of seeking power, it will be more efficient if we work together. Besides, I doubt that you will find useful information on the human said." "¡­ Where exactly do you n to obtain that information then?" Ryan frowned. "Although Orgar doesn''t remember about his past, he is a dragon that knows how magic usually works," Alissa said. "The process was different, but the basis is the same, dragons came from somewhere, but they don''t know since they were forcefully teleported and have amnesia. However, things change when we are talking about dungeons. Those purple crystals don''t spawn monsters¡­ they bring them to Earth from other worlds." That made sense¡­ even if it was a crazy magic apocalypse, the amount of energy to create aplex lifeform was supposed to be hard and expensive in terms of mana. However, teleportation probably is much simpler. "I see¡­ so you want to investigate those other worlds and search for clues," Ryan said. "That seems interesting, but I don''t n to do that often if I don''t find dungeons in those other worlds." "I already knew that, but your hunger for power is really quite something," Alissa frowned. "Well, you don''t have to worry about that. Right, Orgar?" "Why are you asking me? Don''t forcefully put me in the conversation¡­ Regardless, I doubt that any useful information can be found ons where you will find only slimes or creatures like goblins and those small reptiles. We need to look for dungeons that spawn intelligent creatures." That also made a lot of sense, but while that would be efficient, it would be equally dangerous. Even if they were weaker, smart monsters might be even more troublesome to deal with. Still, that looked interesting. Now then, the problem was for how long Ryan would have to work with them. While Alissa wasn''t as troublesome as his goody-two-shoes ex-friends, Ryan didn''t want to work with them forever. Besides, who knows if they will find anything exploring other worlds. "You saved my life, but that doesn''t mean I will be your subordinate or ve," Ryan said. "Six months¡­ I will work with you guys for six months and nothing more." "I guess that is fine then," Alissa said. "Right, Orgar?" "Hopefully, he will die in just a few weeks, and we won''t have to endure his behavior." Ryan immediately regretted his choice¡­ he should have said three months. He had never been good at bargaining, and now he had to deal with those two. Still, that was more or less fine given how faster Ryan would be able to travel. "Here are your things," Alissa said. "And here are the things that you obtained by killing that dragon. It is kind of cool that such things can be obtained by humans now." me Sword Effect: It burns the foe upon contact. The fire damage is equal to your intelligence per second. Strength + 30, Endurance + 20 Durability: 60/60 Fire Maniption Tome Effect: Grants you the power to manipte the fire element. Ryan opened his eyes widely when he saw the tome, and without wasting any time, he learned that skill. It would take a while, but with that new skill, his offensive powers would increase a lot. Chapter 100 - Planning Ryan''s surprises didn''t end there. Almost dying have already been worth the hassle, considering that he got the Fire Maniption spell but had received much more than he had expected. Ryan only realized that when he opened his status screen. He leveled up many skills while he was fighting. Most of them were rted to his Hunter ss. ss: Hunter Lv 18 / Elementalist Lv 15/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 950th Health: 67/67 (0, 2466) Mana: 126/126 (0, 2466) Stamina: 90/90 (0,2466) Strength: 10 (+24) (+30) Dexterity: 193 (+45) (+27) Speed: 30 (+35) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+30) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+40) Control: 06 (+28) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 40 (+65) (+43) Willpower: 09 Coins: 29422 Status: 56 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 21, Throw Lv 07, Dash Lv 07, Rapid Shot Lv 08, Herculean Strength Lv 06, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 06, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 17, Concentration Lv 17, Archery Lv 17, uracy Lv 17, Stealth Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 09, Perception Lv 10, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 14, Swordsmanship Lv 06, Alert Lv 08, Cook Lv 03, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 15, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Ma Lv 01, Passive Recovery Lv 05, Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 16, Meditation Lv 09, me Arrow Lv 10, Appraisal Lv 09, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 10, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 10, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 06, Strong Arms Lv 04, Repair Lv 01, Auto-Production Lv 01, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 01, Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 05, Strong Legs Lv 01, Fire Maniption Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 04, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 06, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 06, Poison Resistance Lv 05, Wind Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 01, "I guess the tome was a reward for reaching the top one thousand survivors," Ryan muttered. "Twenty thousand coins for killing a single dragon is much more than I expected to receive." "It looks like you are underestimating us. For some reason, I feel weakened, so it looks like the amnesia also weakened us. My instincts tell me that an ordinary dragon can give you ten thousand coins. The rest you obtained was due to the fact that the red dragon killed many humans." "So, you guys also have ess to the system," Ryan said. "In any case, this amnesia of yours is certainly suspicious." "We have ess to the system, but I can tell that the human''s system is moreplex. Based on what Alissa told me, we don''t have a ranking, and while we can transform and obtain the properties of certain species, it is only temporary. So, drinking their blood won''t change our blood." It was weird enough that the dragons were part of the system instead of just a tool to massacre several species, but it was even weirder that they don''t have certain system features. Regardless, that wasn''t Ryan''s problem. So, he just focused on thinking of what he should do with those status points. His power had reached a point where he probably could kill in one shot a T-rex, so for the time being, in terms of offensive power, Ryan was fine. Thanks to it, he decided to put those points into recovery in order to reach his goal of having a right arm at all times. Without wasting any more time, Ryan decided to check his new skill and status on the bonfire. Even though he didn''t touch the mes, they obeyed him just when his hands began to feel the fire a bit more intensively. For a while, Ryan made a fireball the size of a baseball fly around him, and his skill reached level three before his mana could be empty. "I can do that too," Alissa said. Instead of using the campfire, Alissa created a fireball of her head''s size, and then it made a spin around the area. The fireball illuminated the ce, and Ryan saw that he was in some sort of grove, but he couldn''t quite recognize the ce aside from that. "Well, I can''t feel that proud since this is the power that I inherited from Orgar," Alissa said. "I feel like I should hunt some monsters too and learn some skills by myself, but he gave me all the skills I could try to learn by myself of by using tomes." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. That only showed how powerful Orgar was, but that only put more doubts inside Ryan''s mind. Apparently, he sacrificed his body to reside as a spirit inside Alissa. Since humans weren''t that strong, he also sacrificed a fair part of his power¡­ it didn''t make any sense from Ryan''s perspective from a dragon to do that. Love at first sight? Respect for someone who tried hard to live despite the situation? The wish to practice his parenting skills? Ryan had no idea what his motive was¡­ "If you don''t mind, I would like to sleep for a bit," Alissa said. "Can you stay on guard duty? Transforming into a dragon is quite tiring." "¡­ Sure," Ryan frowned. Alissa sure was rxed, or just stupidly na?ve since sheid her back against a tree, and after a few seconds, she was already snoring. For the good or the worse, he owed her, so Ryan had to help with her mission. Still, he had to take most of the situation to help himself. "I guess I need to repair my equipment. I almost broke my bow in that fight¡­ considering that the cksmith ss didn''t level up, I guess that will only happen when I use the skills rted to the ss." It took a while since Ryan decreased the durability of the weapon quite a bit, but in the end, his bow was back in shape, and he also confirmed his theory by leveling up Repair two times since his cksmith ss had leveled up. Thanks to that, Ryan had an idea that using Repair and Auto-Production to make his arrows wasn''t that efficient, but what if he could use some weapons like the me Sword as throwable projectiles then repair them after some fights? The effects of weapons like that would stack up while damaging his foes, and he would be able to level up the cksmith ss faster than he was supposed to. "Yes¡­ I already can see how my fighting style will look like in the future. This might be even more interesting than I thought." While Ryan was smiling to himself and making some preparations, he never imagined that Orgar was keeping an eye on him. His future while working with those suddenly looked much more obscure. Chapter 101 - Salamanders When the sun started to rise, Alissa woke up and then soon saw Ryan facing her. It looked like he was in a bad mood for some reason. "Do I snore too loudly?" Alissa asked. "Yes, but that is not the problem here," Ryan said. "Look around and tell me what you see." "A peaceful¡­ grove?" Alissa frowned. "Yes¡­ a peaceful grove," Ryan said. "How can exist a peaceful grove when the world is ending thanks to the invasion of monsters and dragons?" "Ah¡­ about that," Alissa forced an awkward smile. "Sorry, but apparently, the monster can''t approach me due to Orgar''s spirit inside my body. Even monsters are afraid of death, and since the difference of power is too big, they keep a certain distance." Ryan sighed. At some point, he began to imagine that was the case. Still, it would be troublesome if he only faces monsters inside dungeons unless the speed of her dragon form makes him cross hundreds of kilometers in a couple of hours. "Anyway¡­ you said that you looked for other people to help you, right?" Ryan asked. "How were things in other cities? Did you investigate any ce other than America?" "¡­ You had to make me remember that," Alissa sighed. "Most of the major cities have been nuked, I found some monsters nearby even though those areas probably have a high-level of radiation, but I found no-survivors near them. That being said, I didn''t have time to check all states, but I do know that New York, Washington, San Diego, and Miami are still standing. The dragons destroyed most of the things in those ces, but they haven''t been nuked. And no, I didn''t go to other countries, I can only speak English, after all." Maybe Ryan was super estimating the power of a dragon. After all, Orgar did say that he thinks that their powers have decreased. In any case, some cities were still standing despite being overrun by monsters. While that wasn''t exactly good, at least the whole country hadn''t gone to hell. "What? Do you want to go to those ces and y the hero?" Alissa asked. "If I have the opportunity and I am close enough, I would like to go there and kill the monsters," Ryan said. "After all, the more monsters I fight, the more coins I gain and the faster my skills level up." "Mmm¡­ I guess that is fine then," Alissa rubbed her chin and then said. What was fine? The fact that the person she decided to work with was working with only his goals in mind or the fact that he wasn''t interested in helping on the construction of other survivors'' camps? Either way, that kind of word made Ryan confirm that Alissa really hated goody-two-shoes. Probably because not a single one of them never did anything for her. Although that kind of thinking was dangerous, Ryan had no reason to correct her. "We don''t have anything to eat here," Alissa said. "So, let''s find a dungeon." "Good thinking. While you can hold your own with your current powers, he needs to be stronger since most likely. We will face more powerful foes on other worlds." Ryan was aware that without some preparations and the surprise element, he probably couldn''t even kill a T-Rex, but hear that from a monster whose species was destroying Earth was annoying. Even though Orgar was probably unrted to all the destruction caused by his brothers and the sisters or whatever they call themselves. In any case, Ryan''s job would start with him cleaning a dungeon, so he couldn''t ask for more. "Hop on," Alissa said. In the next moment, and very suddenly, Alissa turned into a massive ck dragon. Even Ryan was left speechless since the whole transformation happened without him seeing a smoke curtain or seeing her body bing grossly massive. In any case, after recovery from the shock, Ryan jumped on her back and immediately began to hold a scale with his left hand. "Heh¡­ I thought you would be more careful while jumping on a girl''s back," Alissa said. "I don''t see any girls here," Ryan said. "Just shut up and find the nearest dungeon." "Ugh," Alissa grunted. "Who died and made you the leader of this team?" "A team? Where? I don''t see any," Ryan said. "We are only working together for the sake of convenience. If you guys hadn''t saved me, I would have refused your offer without thinking twice." "Really? Even though you would be able to cross long distances without moving your legs?" Alissa asked. "Yes," Ryan said. "Now, just like I said, start to fly. There are monsters to be killed and coins to be received." Although she started slowly since Alissa wasn''t that used yet to the massive body of a dragon. Eventually, she began to fly at unbelievable speed and several kilometers above the soil. From that distance, no one would recognize a dragon¡­ only another dragon. That kind of thing gave Ryan another idea¡­ shouldn''t he hunt other dragons with the help of those two? In the end, he changed his mind because he wanted to do that alone. Besides, even though he was different, Orgar probably wouldn''t fight against other members of his race. Regardless, Ryan had a hard time trying not to fall while using a single hand. Fortunately, Alissa''s speed was impressive, and she found another dungeon several dozens of kilometers away from Shreveport. The monsters being spawned there were smanders, so Ryan wasn''t quite sure if they would be a tasty breakfast. Smander - Lv 10 Health: 300/300 Mana: 800 /800 Stamina: 400/400 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 10 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 15 Spells: methrower Lv 15 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 40 "It is just me, or they are bing quite stronger by the day?" Ryan muttered while Alissa was approaching the dungeon. "Apparently, while monsters don''t have some parts of the system that humans have, they have a certain characteristic," Alissa said. "They can be naturally stronger if the level of mana in a certain increases. Although I didn''t do anything for a few days after Orgar gave me his powers, some skills just leveled up by themselves." Chapter 102 - Appetite That was bad¡­ really bad. Humans could grow stronger pretty fast, but if dragons and monsters continue to get even stronger just like that¡­ the war against monsters wouldn''t end well for the humans. Ryan was doing his part, so he didn''t have to worry about too much. As expected, the smanders began to run away when they felt the approach of a dragon. "It looks like the limit of their senses is two hundred meters," Ryan said and then pulled his bow. "I guess this isn''t half bad." Without wasting time, Ryan began to fire. Even at that distance and while the monsters were running, he hit several of them before running out of mana. It was all thanks to his high dexterity that also increase the speed of his projectiles. You obtained eighteen coins. You obtained eighteen coins. You obtained eighteen coins. ¡­ "Not bad, not bad at all," Ryan said after he jumped from Alissa''s back and thennded. "Although this might not be the best ce to use the me sword, it is a decent ce to¡­ hunt." Ryan frowned, and then his mouth was hanging open when he saw Alissa, on her dragon form, taking out the bone arrows and then eating the smanders as a whole. It was quite a gruesome sight, considering that her normal form was of a human. "Didn''t I mention you?" Alissa asked. "Dragons have a pretty impressive appetite. Unless I eat in this form, I will have to spend the entire day eating things to satisfy my hunger." That wasn''t quite what Ryan was worried about, but¡­ Regardless, he decided to focus on his job ahead. For some reason, the smanders left the dungeon as usual, even though Alissa was nearby. They only felt her presence and started to run when they stepped out of the dungeon. While that was weird, Ryan decided to think that it was because the whole dungeon was like a part of the purple crystal, and due to the mana of the crystal, they couldn''t tell what was waiting for them outside the dungeon. "This reminds me¡­ I left a decent amount of equipment on that dungeon," Ryan sighed. "Oh, well¡­ returning with Alissa would be a pain in the ass since those guys will annoy me with their questions." Although his coins were pilling up nicely, Ryan decided to do something else instead of just firing arrows. He was twenty meters away from the dungeon, and from that distance, the chances of him missing were virtually none. That wasn''t much training for his aim, so he decided to use Fire Maniption. When the smanders opened their mouth and used methrower, Ryan blocked the attack with their left hand. Although the heat was quite strong, hepletely could stop their attacks¡­ for three seconds. The level of the skill was low, so Ryan had to use a lot of mana to stop it. "I guess this is fine," Ryan said. "Since I can train Heat Resistance and Fire Maniption." "You should hurry up. Our goal here is to make you obtain a new ss and get stronger just like that. While coins can be useful, killing monsters at this speed isn''t worth the hassle." It wasn''t from a dragon''s perspective, but from Ryan''s was. Humans weren''t born unbelievably powerful like dragons, so they had to proceed steadily. Still, it''s kind of makes sense. It would be more efficient if Ryan clears as many dungeons as possible. "I want to obtain a ss, too," Alissa said. "I don''t know when I will be able to train it, though." "I guess that is fine," Ryan said. "Just don''t attack, but stay inside thest part of the dungeon, and that should be enough." Smanders were stronger than velociraptors. At least the system recognized that since they could methrower pretty frequently. That being said, Ryan couldn''t imagine the boss of that dungeon being stronger than a T-rex. Still, Ryan bought those same ten potions of mana and stamina. "I guess this much is fine," Ryan nodded to himself. "It is just enough for we have to have a fair fight." "You sure worry about the weirdest things," Alissa said, and then she began pulling to the outside of the dungeon thest smander Ryan killed. "I guess this is a male''s pride, right Orgar?" "You aren''t that off the mark. Still, he is far from the level of pride of dragons. Creatures like us would never bring potions to a fight." "If I were born knowing how to fly and breathe fire, I probably wouldn''t prepare this much either," Ryan shrugged. Without wasting any more time, Ryan and Alissa entered the dungeon. Although they couldn''t see anything that was emitting that, the ce was quite hot. The theory that the dungeon itself was part of the purple crystal was bing more and more logical. In any case, Ryan began to wonder how Alissa was nning to take all the smanders'' bodies to outside the dungeon, but the truth is, she wasn''t nning to do that. When Ryan turned around to ask that, he saw her head transforming and then in a single bite. She chews the smander before returning back to normal. That didn''t make any sense since the monsters couldn''t have been digested that fast. "What?" Alissa asked. "From all the weirdest things I saw since the monsters appeared, you definitely take the first ce," Ryan frowned. "I can imagine that hospital food isn''t that good, but from my perspective, you adapted yourself to the diet of a dragon pretty fast." "Well, you know what they say: there is no better sauce than hunger," Alissa said. Chapter 103 - Dungeon Cleared As expected, the boss of the dungeon was just a big smander. Although Ryan was disappointed, the status of the monsters was anything but disappointing. Most people would have a hard time against the monster, but not Ryan, who could cause a lot of damage with the first strike. Elder Smander - Lv 40 Health: 4.000 /4.000 Mana: 8.000 /8.000 Stamina: 7.000/7.000 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 20 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 35 Spells: methrower Lv 35 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 80 Congrattions! The skill Appraisal has leveled up. Appraisal Lv 9 ? Lv 10 Effect: This shows you the basic information of all living beings. The amount of information shown will increase the more the skill levels up. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Mmm¡­ As expected, the stronger the monster, the faster the skills used on them level up," Ryan nodded to himself. "Hey, do you guys mind if I level up Appraisal a little bit here?" "I don''t mind," Alissa said. "I am not sure how long humans consider a little bit in terms of time. If it is ten minutes, then sure go ahead." It wasn''t very pleasant to ask for the opinions of others, but Ryan didn''t have much another choice there, even though he wanted to train an essential skill. It was a bit risky, but Ryan decided to use all his mana potions to level up Appraisal as much as possible in a short amount of time. He was more or less confident that he wouldn''t need much mana to defeat that monster, after all. In the end, Ryan leveled up Appraisal three more times by using those potions. Elder Smander - Lv 40 Health: 4.000 /4.00 Mana: 8.000 /8.000 Stamina: 7.000/7.000 Strength: 350 (+30) Dexterity: 450 (+40) Speed: 500 (+80) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 20 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 35 Spells: methrower Lv 35 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 80 "You are such a serious guy¡­" Alissa said. "Orgar was joking, you know." "I was not." "We are a team now, Orgar," Alissa said. "We have to act in a manner that will benefit us all." "He said that we are not a team, and he is right. Besides, he owes you and not the other way around. Until he shows some result, you shouldn''t let him do whatever he wants." "But I will get a ss for free after this," Alissa said. " True, but you could have obtained yourself much faster alone." Ryan sighed. Things were much noisier than he expected they would be. Next time, he would give all the coins and the items he has; if someone saves his life again, it would be better than be forced to hear all that bullshit. After making a mental note of not epting such a partnership even again, Ryan began to prepare for the attack. Ryan used his Iplete Reptilian Transformation and then created a bone arrow. He wouldn''t be able to use a full-powered Power Shot without mana potions, but that was fine. He just needs to hit the target''s head a single time, and then the rest would be easy. When his transformation was about to be canceled, Ryan fired the arrow, and in the next moment, a huge impact happened at the end of the dungeon. Even though Ryan only the Elder smander''s head, the dungeon trembled slightly, and some dust fell on his head. The creature didn''t die instantly, but Ryan confirmed that his attack destroyed a good part of the monster''s head. Even pieces of the monster''s brain were left on the ground. "That is a monster''s vitality for you," Ryan said after he was forcefully moved to thest part of the dungeon. "Its brain suffered a lot of damage, but it is alive." "What a gruesome sight¡­ I don''t think I will be able to eat this one," Alissa frowned. "You should see yourself transforming and eating the smanders¡­" Ryan said and then began to meditate to recover his mana. Although the boss had more health than T-rex, it didn''t have nearly the same amount of endurance. That was probably because the monster could use magic. Regardless, after a while, Ryan finished the boss, but he didn''t receive any notification aside from the coins that he received. The boss was that weak¡­ You obtained 800 coins. "That was pretty impressive," Alissa said while pointing at his potions on Ryan''s backpack. "No wonder you defeated that red dragon. Still, it is quite surprising that you are the type who worries too much." The boss dropped a single ring¡­ conveniently enough. It was another ring of the immortal. After that, he headed toward the treasure chest, hoping that the sses there would excite him more than the boss did. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Spy, Marine, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Those were some weird sses¡­" Ryan frowned. "It looks like your luck isn''t that good this time." "It looks like I can''t see the sses unless you choose yours," Alissa said. "Well, it doesn''t matter if the sses are useful or not. My status thanks to Orgar are stupidly high, and so is the skill list." Now that Ryan thought about it, what would happen if Alissa obtains a ss that will grant her skills that she already has? That piece of information seemed interesting, so Ryan hurried to choose his next ss. Chapter 104 - Class: Sage Since Ryan wasn''t nning to fight on the sea anytime soon and he already was satisfied with his stealth skills, for the time being, he decided to pick the Sage ss. He had no idea which skills he would obtain from getting that, so he was kind of excited. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sage! You obtained the following skills: Mana Shield, Meditation, and Active Spiritual Recovery. Your mana and intelligence will increase by two points, your health, stamina, recovery, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Shield. Effect: It creates a shield of mana that can block attacks from a single direction. The shield willst until it suffers enough damage to be destroyed. Durability: Intelligence x 10% Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! Considering that you already have the skill Meditation, your skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Active Spiritual Recovery. Effect: Recovers your mana after defeating your enemies. The amount of mana recovered will be equal to the level of this skill. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan didn''t have to wait. He learned the answer to hisst question by himself. While not learning a new skill was a bit disappointing, leveling up one that he had fives in the blink of an eye and even obtain the status points wasn''t half bad. "You look satisfied," Alissa frowned. "I guess even you can smile now and then¡­ herees the frowning again." "¡­ Whatever," Ryan sighed. "You can choose your ss now." While Alissa was busy considering her options, Ryan resumed his task of hunting smanders. While he was doing that, he confirmed that Alissa was right. Even with the world in that situation, he still could enjoy himself. At first, it looked like he was pursuing power for the sake of pursuing power, but Ryan realized that wasn''t the case. He was pursuing that sense of aplishment that he could only feel after getting a new ss. He worked hard and deserved that reward. The stronger were rewarded in that world, and Ryan felt good while being rewarded for his aplishments, but he couldn''t help but wonder¡­ was that really fine? Many others out there didn''t have the same luck as him of finding a perfect dungeon near his home. "I thought I was an unlucky guy¡­ I lost my parents, my fianc¨¦e cheated on me with my best friend, and then the end of the world came. However, there are people out there who have been even more unlucky than me." Zoe, Arthur¡­ even Alissa had it harder than Ryan. For obvious reasons, Ryan started to feel pretty pathetic while recalling how he acted in thest weeks¡­ he truly lost everything in a single week, but he also had everything for twenty-two years. Maybe, Ryan was¡­ "I should stop thinking. I survive until now with this mindset, and I don''t n to change it." "Our mission here is over. Let''s move on." Only now, Ryan realized that he wasn''t actually hearing Orgar. The dragon was using Telepathy to talk directly into his and Alissa''s mind. While that was impressive, Ryan was more interested in what else the dragons could do since they looked like a limitless source of power. "You sure are in a hurry," Ryan said. "Do dragons have a short lifespan or something?" "Fool. Dragons are the creatures who have the strongest life force, add that with the source of power know as mana and even the weakest of us can live for hundreds of years." "I thought you had amnesia," Ryan said. "How do you know that?" "I conclude that afterbining the information I obtained after using certain skills. For example, I have a skill that can tell me your lifespan, and I use that information and then make some calctions every time you increase one of your attributes." Dragons really had some useful skills¡­ to a point where Ryan thought it was pretty unfair. They were already very powerful, to begin with, and they could even see the lifespan of all creatures¡­ "Sorry, Ryan, but we all will have topromise here," Alissa said when they left the dungeon. "Orgar keeps nagging me that we focus on looking for the information we want. So, in order for all of us to feel satisfied, we will investigate one big city every day and explore a single dungeon after." "I don''t mind, considering that some cities got nuked, then it is pretty obvious that we will find some dungeons there," Ryan said. "Besides, as I said before, I won''t mind hunting the thousands of monsters that are in those ces. Still¡­ you decided that to make me and Orgarfortable, but what about you? What do you really want to do?" "Me? I am fine with whatever happens," Alissa smiled. "I can walk, fly and go to anywhere I want. That is more than I ever asked for, so I am more than satisfied." Alissa didn''t have a goal¡­ she was helping Orgar, but she didn''t want to do anything else. While that wasn''t unexpected given that she was sick in a hospital and slowly dying a few weeks ago and now she has draconic powers, it was a bit sad. Still, it was better than seeking world domination¡­ a huge deal of people in her position would try that, after all. "This nearest big city that I didn''t investigate was Houston," Alissa said. "We are going there, and I think you should prepare yourself because I can feel the presence of some dragons in that direction." Chapter 105 - The Terrors Of The Sea... Dragons¡­ Ryan wouldn''t mind hunting more of them since those beasts were destroying his home. However, even though he was a hot-blooded guy, Ryan knew that his chances of dying fighting against another dragon were pretty high under normal circumstances. First of all, he was nning to fight alone. After all, Orgar was a dragon, and Alissa wanted to help a dragon. Although Orgar didn''t seem angry at Ryan for killing one, he wouldn''t work together with him to y his kin. Not that he was nning to do that in the first ce. "Well, now¡­ what should I do?" Currently, Ryan was on Alissa''s back on her dragon form while she was flying toward Houston. With that speed, they would arrive in less than an hour. So, Ryan had less than one hour toe up with a n of how to fight the dragons. "Don''t worry, Ryan," Alissa said. "Even though I am not a real dragon, they won''t attack me, and thus they will leave you alone as well. I saw some of them before, and they couldn''t even look at me directly." Ryan considered that, but that wasn''t the problem. Would he ignore the creatures that were destroying his even though he didn''t have to fight? The answer was no. Although he couldn''t care less about most people, he couldn''t just turn a blind eye to the monsters that were attacking Earth for no good reason. "What are you going to do if I decide to fight them?" Ryan asked. "Just watch, I guess," Alissa replied. "Orgar has no reason to fight them, so I don''t have it either. Still, I can understand why you would want to fight them. That being said, I won''t help if that happens." "While that is fine by me, are you sure that you are fine with that?" Ryan asked. "Should you really use the opinions and wishes of others to create your own opinions and wishes?" "Yes, he is my savior, after all," Alissa said. "Whether human civilization falls or not, it doesn''t matter to me. Whatever happens, even if all humans perish, I know that this will continue to exist in the end. Even if that doesn''t happen, I won''t feel bothered by it. I will just move to another while I search for the answer Orgar wants." That was a pretty harsh way of thinking for a human¡­ considering the stories of sick women Ryan saw in countless movies, people in Alissa''s position were supposed to think that all life was precious. However, for some reason, while Alissa was on the bed of a hospital for who knows how long, she epted from the deepest parts of her heart that the survival of the fittest was absolute even though she wasn''t one of the fittest. Was that due to Orgar''s power? Did Orgar make Alissa change her mindset? Or Alissa truly believed in that since the very beginning? Ryan had no idea which was the correct option. Things were a bit moreplicated for him. While he doesn''t mind helping a few people here and there, ultimately, Ryan only wanted to focus on clearing dungeons. However, considering that most dragons saw humans as an easy pretty and they were destroying everything, they will always be Ryan''s enemies. "I guess things aren''t as simple as I thought they were¡­" In the end, Ryan decided to fight. He was determined not to run away from those who see him as an enemy or food. Even if the odds were against him, he would fight. One would have to try really hard to force Ryan to be a part of the food chain''s bottom. Unfortunately, all that thinking was for naught. When they reached Houston, they found that the city hadn''t been nuked. However, the dragons weren''t there¡­ even though the ce had been burned down almostpletely due to them. "Did you make a mistake?" Ryan asked. "No, they are in this direction, but they are a bit further south," Alissa replied. "It looks like they are fighting in the ocean." "Against the navy?" Ryan asked. "Against other monsters¡­" Alissa replied. "Dragons are probably the most powerful race of monsters, but they can''t exactly fight in all ambients. It looks like the megalodons are giving them quite a lot of trouble." "Megalodons? Seriously?" Ryan opened his eyes widely. "Yep, we will find other species of dinosaurs in other continents¡­ probably," Alissa said. "Anyway, it looks like this is a jackpot." Ryan had looked only for dragons, so he missed the small monsters that could fly. When he focused his eyes on them, Ryan couldn''t help but frown. It was a species of monster than he had never seen before, even in games¡­ he saw it in some animations and movies, but¡­ he never expected to see them in real life. Those creatures were humanoid, but they were far from humans, even farthest than any kind of monster. They had a pair of horns on their heads, fallen angel wings full of holes were on their backs. Their skin was red¡­ so red that it looked like they didn''t have severalyers of skin that they should have. Their eyes werepletely ck, and even though some of them looked like men and women, they had no genitals. "Those are¡­" Ryan frowned. "Humanoid demons," Alissa said. "Maybe the dragons left this ce since they got tired of fighting those creatures." Now that Alissa mentioned it, Ryan looked down and saw those creatures fighting against other monsters. While some were on their side, the vast majority was against them, and what''s more¡­ they werepletely ruthless. Some of them were evenughing just after cutting off the limbs of their foes. Chapter 106 - Corrupted Slime "You said this is a jackpot¡­ how so?" Ryan asked. "I can''t imagine us getting any information from those creatures. Even if we torture them, they look like they would enjoy the torture." "The creatures outside the dungeon are just minions," Alissa said. "We will find their boss inside the dungeon, and the creature will probably be even more intelligent than humans and less vicious than demons." Ryan wasn''t so sure of that. When Alissa stopped flying above one of the few buildings that still was standing and then became a human again, a demon flew toward them as if they were the most delicious meal in the world. That was weird. Even in her human form, Alissa still had the presence of a dragon¡­ yet, the demon didn''t care about that. Ryan fired a me Arrow, and then it exploded on the creature''s head. For a while, the headless demon began to fall, but after a few seconds, the head was back in its ce. That was some crazy level of regenerative ability. "Try to destroy its head and heart at the same time." Although he was about to fire a rain of magic arrows on the demon, Ryan decided to follow Orgar''s instructions. As expected, his next two attacksnded on those ces, and this time, the demon died for good. You obtained 50 coins. "I can feel that the dungeon is in the center of Houston, but the ce is crowded with monsters," Alissa said. "Those which sided with the demons won''t let us advance in peace, and if we ignore them, we will get surrounded inside the dungeon." "This is a pretty good hunt spot," Ryan said. "So, I guess it is my turn now." "If we wait for you to defeat all of them alone, we will have to stay here for weeks. Alissa, you should just decimate them." Ryan clicked his tongue. Truth be told, he wanted all the coins those demons would give to himself. Also, considering how troublesome they were, it was evident that Ryan would be able to level up his skills at a crazy pace. "Come on, Orgar," Alissa said. "It would be a waste if I were to do that. I won''t be able to level up a single skill, and I don''t have any use for the coins. However, Ryan would be able to benefit a lot if he were to do this alone." "She ispletely right, Orgar," Ryan nodded with a smile on his face. "You should listen to Alissa more often." "Besides, he would owe us another one if we let him do that," Alissa said. "No matter what you say, even you recognize his potential." "¡­ Now that I think about it," Ryan said. "You should listen to Orgar more often. Go on. You can decimate the demons." It was a pity, but Ryan would rather let that chance go than make his debt increase. Although that opportunity wouldn''t be the same as saving his life, Ryan didn''t want to feel indebted to anyone. If he let that happen, it wille a time where he will be forced to make a decision: do whatever he wants or let his conscience bother him. While working alone, few things could bother Ryan more than his conscience, after all. "You really hate to owe things to others, huh," Alissa sighed. "Although I can do that, I won''t. Fighting while using draconic powers isn''t easy and takes a toll on my mind and body. While I can nullify that toll on my body by eating a lot of monsters, the same can''t be said about my mind. Just like you saw yesterday, I need to sleep like a log to recharge my batteries. There is no way that I can sleep like that every night, not while there is a hungry male so close." "Don''t tter yourself¡­" Ryan sighed. "Sorry, Orgar," Alissa said. "I have been improving. My body can''t withstand all your power yet, so we will take to it slowly for a while." "It can''t be helped. In any case, fighting against this type of enemy will probably help you in that regard, so this will be an investment." It was really weird that a dragon couldn''t get angry at humans even in that situation. That being said, Ryan decided not to think too much about it since he had no idea if the monster could read his mind or not. Despite the fact that Houston was pretty huge, the demons flew toward the building they were in the very moment they felt Alissa''s presence. Thanks to the level ups of Meditation, Ryan was managing to hold them back, but Alissa was forced to join the fray in the end. Although Ryan was killing the flying demons, other troublesome creatures were attacking the building. Corrupted Slime - Lv 20 Health: 500 /500 Mana: 800 /800 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 150 (+20) Dexterity: 250 (+80) Speed: 100 (+30) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Corrupted Touch Lv 20 Passive Physical Skills: Regeneration Lv 80 Spells: Corrupted Ball Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 80 "Corrupted Slime?" Ryan frowned. "Their name is like that because the demons corrupted them or something?" "Maybe, well, we don''t have to worry about it, right?" Alissa asked and then fired some Ice Arrows that froze the slimes instantly and made them crack. "Since we can defeat them before they can get close enough." True, but Ryan wasn''t worried about their safety. He was worried about what would happen if those creatures spread around the country and corrupt every single monster, or worse, what would happen if they corrupt every single human. Would they be demons? That kind of virus has a cure? Ryan was worried about that, but Alissa couldn''t care less about it. Chapter 107 - Wishes Since that had been the first-time monsters didn''t run away from her, Alissa was enjoying herself while obtaining the coins even though she had no use for them. She also obtained several items since they spent the entire day at the top of that building killing monsters. Again, she had no use for items, but she felt happy just by wearing them. As for Ryan''s loot, he didn''t have much luck. "It looks like they are heading toward every direction without thinking too much about it," Ryan said while watching the creatures moving through the darkness of the night. "You can rest if you want. The slimes apparently will leave us alone during the night. They don''t have the same senses as the demons, and they certainly don''t have good eyesight." "If you say so," Alissa said. "I guess I will grab a few things from the interior of this building." With a single punch, Alissa broke the floor of the top of the building, and then she jumped inside the hole. Even though that building had been originally a hotel, it somehow survived the dragons'' attack, only to be damaged after by a human. After a while, Alissa appeared carrying a bed. "What am I doing with my life¡­" Who could have imagined that one day monsters would appear out nowhere? Still, not even in his wildest dreams, Ryan would have imagined that one day he would work with a woman who couldn''t care less about the life and death of other humans and with a dragon, while other dragons were destroying every single thing created by humans. Although Alissa held back on the use of her powers a little bit, as soon as sheid on the bed, she began to snore. Still, not even that made Ryan think seriously about certain things. What was going to see inside that dungeon that in the middle of Houston? He always thought that the night demon''s blood that he drank was just another thing that referred to a random monster species, but it wasn''t. After drinking that, he could have turned into a monster, just like them, if he had been unlucky. Ryan had been relying on luck too much¡­ even though he lost his dominating hand, and even though he survived after defeating the red dragon, thanks to Alissa. "I need to develop that fighting style¡­ that way, I will save mana and only use it when it is absolutely necessary." Ryan had plenty of crap items that he could use to train after that day''s hunting, but he decided to use his bone arrows since he could create an unlimited supply of them. When the demons began to approach, as usual, he exploded their heads with me Arrows, but instead of using another to hit their heats, Ryan threw the bone arrows using only his left hand. Although his uracy was amazing, the arrows weren''t prating enough to hit the monster''s hearts. After Ryan leveled up Appraisal a few more times, he understood why that was happening. Corrupted Slime - Lv 20 Health: 500 /500 Mana: 800 /800 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 350 (+200) Dexterity: 350 (+80) Speed: 300 (+30) Intelligence: 50 (+10) Endurance: 550 (+110) Control: 120 (+50) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Ecstasy Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Regeneration Lv 150 Spells: Fly Lv 50 Support Skills: Night Vision Lv 80 "Can these freaks get even more annoying? Damn¡­ high endurance and this crazy level of regeneration. Still, to think that they are flying using magic as well¡­ no wonder they are so fast." Even if he uses Lesser Wind Enchantment, Ryan wasn''t sure the bone arrows would pierce the flesh and hit the hearts. Fortunately, just as he had expected, Throw was leveling up like crazy, and the power behind it was improving. If he puts the few points he had into strength, Ryan was confident that the problem would be solved, but he didn''t. He wanted to focus solely on increasing his dexterity and recovery unless a tough situation forces him to change his mind. Although spending another night without sleeping was rough, Ryan was more than satisfied with his progress. Aside from the Monk and cksmith ss, the others leveled up more than once, and also his main skills improved considerably. When Alissa woke up, it was already morning again, she approached Ryan to apologize, but then she stopped when she saw the mountain of demon corpses in front of the building and the hundreds of bone arrows that were aimed at their hearts. "Sorry for making you take all turns of the watch¡­" Alissa said. "Anyway, did you torture them or something? I am pretty sure your arrows were supposed to pierce right through them." "No problem, and I was just using them as test subjects," Ryan shrugged. "Regardless, I think we can approach the dungeon a little today since from a while, the number of demonsing to this direction decreased." "I see¡­" Alissa rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Orgar, do you think I can eat those slimes? I am kind of hungry, but I don''t want to eat the humanoid demons. Should I look for other monsters around this area?" "You can eat them just fine; their corruption might transform or curse human beings, but your stomach is much more powerful now. You can resist it." Ryan didn''t think that was the real problem, but he didn''t intend to join that weird conversation. Regardless, before leaving the building, Ryan decided to recover the bone arrows that sill could be used. Fortunately, most of them werepletely fine, even though the demons fell from forty meters of height. Suddenly, all the bone arrows began to leave the demons'' body, and then they were aligned in front of Ryan. He looked around only to see Alissa smiling pridefully¡­ another person who could use Telekinesis. "I really want to learn that¡­" ss: Hunter Lv 20 / Elementalist Lv 18/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 930th Health: 67/75 (0, 4116) Mana: 126/138 (0, 4116) Stamina: 90/96 (0,4116) Strength: 10 (+24) (+30) Dexterity: 193 (+51) (+27) Speed: 30 (+38) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+47) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+40) Control: 06 (+37) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 96 (+103) (+48) Willpower: 09 Coins: 45525 Status: 74 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 21, Throw Lv 15 (+ 08 UP), Herculean Strength Lv 10 (+ 04 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 18 (+ 04 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 08 (+ 03 UP) Spells: Appraisal Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Arms Lv 10 (+ 04 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 08 (+ 02 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 08 (+ 02 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 04 Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 02, Chapter 108 - Pride Much to Ryan''s despair, Alissa, just by seeing his face, she discovered that he really wanted to learn Telekinesis. Weirdly enough, even though that was the power and the knowledge she obtained through Orgar''s spirit, she knew how to teach someone the best way to learn Telekinesis. While that was awesome, Ryan didn''t want to owe her a single more thing. "I''m fine," Ryan said. "You don''t need to teach me. I will find my own way to learn it or buy the tome." "¡­ What do you think, Orgar?" Alissa asked. "His pride is reaching the same level of dragons at a crazy speed, right?" "I do not think so." Although it would be convenient to learn Telekinesis as soon as possible, it would be inconvenient in the long run. When people help each other, a bond is formed, and even if that isn''t something they decided to do consciously if an opportunity arises, they will help each other again. Ryan didn''t want that, not anymore. He truly wanted to live by his own rules and doing whatever he wanted alone. So, it would be great if Ryan could save Alissa''s life to cancel his debt, but with the power that she had, that chance probably will nevere. That is why he decided to help her, but at the same time, he would do everything in his power for when the timees to cut all his ties with her. It looked like a pretty harsh way of life, but it was perfect for Ryan since he wouldn''t have to worry about small stuff that would keep bothering him if he isn''t careful. Regardless, so many things happened that Ryan forgot that he learned some spells by himself. The fact that he was also so focused on leveling up his main skills also contributed to that, but it was time to keep improving his magic skills, even though the only thing he wanted was to keep increase his attack range and power. "Learning Telekinesis by myself seems impossible without getting incredibly lucky, but I should be able to learn more simple spells. The problem is: all the magical knowledge that I obtained is quiteplicated to understand and study. The tomes don''t give me all the details of how to use mana, and they just make me able to use it. It is like trying to teach someone who to breathe¡­" While Ryan was thinking about that, they approached the demons'' territory, and the creatures began to bother them even more frequently. Thanks to Strong Arms and Herculean Strength, Ryan was also to pierce the demons'' head and heart with his bone arrows just by throwing them and thus save some mana. Now he just has to find a way to use that mana to learn new things. "It is quite a weird fighting style," Alissa said while she was freezing some slimes with ice shards, and then she ate them after transforming for a second. "Yep, this isn''t as good as ice cream, but it will do." Ryan thought thest person who could say anything about weirdness was Alissa, but he decided not to say that out loud. Thanks to the trainingst night, Ryan could fight the demons without having to use too much of his mana. Still, that was only possible because the demons were vicious but stupid enough always to try to attack him by flying in a straight line. Besides, they didn''t have long-ranged attacks. Against an enemy with sharp instincts or a bit smarter, Ryan wouldn''t be able to hit the mark that frequently. Still, that much was fine since he was only starting to develop that fighting style. Unfortunately, even though Ryan had some mana to use and experiment with new techniques and spells, he had no idea how to perform them. He wanted to learn things like Fireball, Firewall, Fire Tornado, but he didn''t have a single clue as to how to make his mana be turn like that. Rather, he didn''t even know to use his mana outside his body without a medium. "You look troubled," Alissa said. "What is going on?" "It is nothing," Ryan said and then cast a Mana Shield in front of them to block the dark sphere that a slime fired. Ryan tried to apply the principles of Mana Transfusion and Fire Maniption in order to control some earth, but he failed. Weirdly enough, he thought that was the exact thing would have to do in order to learn Earth Maniption, but he failed anyway. It wasn''t that surprising that he wasn''t skilled at using mana since he wasn''t that creative. Still, it was a bit annoying. "I guess I will have to improvise with the cards that I have on my hand¡­" Manipte earth wasn''t possible, but then Ryan tried to create an earth knife by using Auto-Production. Somehow, by using one hundred points of mana, Ryan created the knife, but the system didn''t even recognize that as a weapon since it was so weak and frail. Congrattions! The skill Auto-Production has leveled up. Auto-Production Lv 1 ? Lv 3 You obtained 02 status points. "I need to level up skills like these and make them more efficient. Maybe in the future, they will give me some insight. Besides, it is much less troublesome to trust in this kind of skill instead of something like magic training." Magic would be necessary to fight from now on, but given that he wasn''t skilled at learning new things and spells were stupidly expensive, Ryan decided to use the things that he already knew and improve the simple tools in his hands. Throwing arrows like darts wasn''t impressive for the time being, but if Ryan keeps improving it, he will probably reach a crazy level at it one day. Chapter 109 - Anger Surprisingly enough, Ryan and Alissa managed to walk inside of Houston for several kilometers before they were forced to stop. The number of monsters attacking them increased, but their hard work paid off. ording to Orgar, Alissa was bing stronger just by using the draconic powers, and thus the toll on her body and mind was decreasing. Ryan also obtained a useful tome. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bronze Skin. Effect: It passively increases your endurance by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Although Ryan didn''t have a real need to increase his endurance since he killed his opponents from pretty far away, he weed that skill. He would wee all other passive ones since they could level up without consuming his mana or stamina. In any case, at some points, there were forces to stop their progress. Not because of monsters, but because they found some humans still in Houston. That was very surprising considering that almost a month passed since the monsters appeared. However, some survivors managed to survive with the little food they have by sheltering themselves in semi-buried parking lots. "You two are from the government?" A skinny and weary old man asked. "Thank god someone came to rescue us, and¡­" "We are not from the government," Alissa said in a harsh tone. "If you didn''t notice, one month has passed, and you waited this whole time to be rescued?" Even Ryan felt troubled by Alissa''s words. Although he also was annoyed by finding some survivors who, even after this long, decided not to fight, he wasn''t a hypocrite not to see their side. Ryan was lucky since he could face beatable enemies at the very beginning, but those survivors weren''t since they had to deal with the vicious and powerful demons. The middle-aged man was taken aback by Alissa''s words, and so were the people behind him since Alissa looked strange and she emanated a powerful aura. Thanks to that, he and the people stayed silent for quite a while. "¡­ Do you guys know where Shreveport is?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "Go North-East, and you will find the city. There you will find a group of morons that will be willing to help you guys out." "But¡­ the monsters¡­" The man said. "We came from that direction, so the path is more or less safe to a certain extent," Ryan said. "We also left some weapons behind since they were useless to us. You can pick them if you want. Still, they are just a tool. Unless you sharpen your resolve to fight, they will be useless. Don''t wait to be rescued again. Otherwise, you will starve to death waiting." Although Ryan tried to be asprehensible as possible, that man and hispanions spent several minutes looking at the direction they came from in order to confirm that there were no monsters. Even though they saw several corpses, they were taking their sweet time. "Just go already!" Alissa shouted. "Yes!" The old man trembled and then escaped to the direction Ryan mentioned. Alissa clicked her tongue while watching the survivors leaving the city and picking the weapons left behind. Truth to be told, she couldn''t imagine them reaching Shreveport, even though they probably will only find slimes, giant bees, and velociraptors along the way. "You are na?ve, Ryan," Alissa said. "Someday, that naivety wille to bite and may even cause your downfall." "Maybe, but at the very least, with this, I bought some time," Ryan shrugged. "My noisy conscience won''t force me to make a mistake somewhere." At first, Ryan thought Alissa would be a bit more flexible after seeing some survivors struggling, but he was wrong. Alissa got so mad seeing people that she considered cowards that she almost attacked them. If they had spent just a few more seconds there, perhaps she would have attacked them. "Anyway, it is getting dark again," Ryan said after looking around. "Let''s find a ce to stay during the night." Unfortunately, there weren''t many tall buildings so close to the center of the city still standing. Ryan had to thank the demons for that, so he had to be content with a three-store tall mall. Fortunately, even though they lost the advantage of the high ground, the mall was rtively intact. Unlike the giant bees, the demons didn''t find pleasure in collecting the human food. They only found pleasure in violence. Thus, for most of its part, the mall was fine. "I''m not tired, so I will stay on guard duty," Alissa said. "You can go and sleep." Instead of sleeping, Ryan looked for anything inside the mall that still could be eaten, and he stuffs himself with it. Although Alissa was in a bad mood thanks to the survivors'' encounter, that wasn''t his problem. Ryan probably won''t be as harsh as her, and he couldn''t see any point in trying to change her perspective. Besides, the more he involves himself with others'' problems, the more problems Ryan will be bringing to himself. "I will prevent that from happening at any cost." Although that was a rare chance for him to sleep while someone else was guarding the area, Ryan didn''t rx all that much. Not even Heal helped him with that. It looked like his body got stronger, and he didn''t need to sleep all that often anymore. Still, Ryan made sure to let this body rest and rx as much as possible. For some reason, his instincts were telling him that the survivors would be the least annoying thing they would find in their path to the demons'' dungeon, and as far as Ryan was concerned, that made a lot of sense. Chapter 110 - Unavoidable. The next day when Ryan woke up, he headed to the top of the mall only to find Alissa snoring loudly. He sighed. By some miracle, the demons didn''t find her and destroyed the mall. However, it looked like that hadn''t been the case. Even though she was sleeping, a me Arrow appeared right above and flew in a straight line. Ryan looked in that direction and saw the exact moment a flying demon exploded and died. "I guess Orgar doesn''t need to sleep much¡­ he is obviously the one who did that." After a while, Alissa woke up confused. She didn''t even notice that she falls asleep at some point, but she quickly fixed her posture and cleaned the drool out of her mouth. "My bad," Alissa forced a smile and then scratched the back of her head. "Don''t apologize," Ryan said. "It was also my fault for leaving such an important job on the hands of someone so¡­ so¡­ Anyway, I guess we can reach the dungeon today." "At least finish your sentence¡­" Alissa sighed. Although Orgar could cover for Alissa, that wasn''t really the issue. She was trying to obtain power by her own merits, but it was clear that Alissa wasn''t suited for several types of jobs. The chances of them challenging the boss that day were quite low, but even though Ryan wanted some time to prepare, he thought it would be best if they talk with the boss as early as possible since some serious problems might happen by camping near the dungeon. "The chances of me finding a decent ss there is pretty high as well¡­ since the demons are the strongest type of enemy, I found so far aside from the dragons." After reading themselves, Ryan and Alissa headed to the dungeon. Since they were only a few kilometers away from it, they finally were forced to face another type of demonic creature. Corrupted Giant Bee - Lv 20 Health: 700 /700 Mana: 700 /700 Stamina: 1.000/1.000 Strength: 350 (+50) Dexterity: 350 (+40) Speed: 400 (+30) Intelligence: 50 (+10) Endurance: 150 (+40) Control: 120 (+50) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Frenzy Lv 40 Passive Physical Skills: Regeneration Lv 40 Spells: Fly Lv 30 Support Skills: Night Vision Lv 40 "I guess at this point in time, it is pretty obvious that they be stronger when they be demons," Ryan frowned when he saw the ck eyes of the giant bees. "Oh, well¡­ more coins for us." Alissa was responsible for killing the slimes, and since she had to spend some time eating them, the job of attacking the bees was Ryan''s. Although their endurance was low, the bees weren''t as stupid as the flying demons. They could fly to the side the very moment they saw Ryan throwing his bone arrows andpletely avoid them. It was annoying, but Ryan had to use the me Arrows to kill them. "Since I can''t learn new spells on my own, I might as well train the offensive ones that I already have." Fortunately, even though the number of enemies had increased, Ryan and Alissa''s movement speed didn''t decrease since the previous day they got some room to breathe thanks to Ryan''s new fighting style. Even if that weren''t the case, it was fine since Ryan has been saving some status points. If things get harder, he can always use them. Fortunately, that never happened, and even better, they reached the dungeon, and there was a single sign of a dragon nearby. "Something is off¡­" Ryan frowned. "At this point in time, our presence here should have been noticed by the dragons. Some of them are fighting together, right? Why not a single one of them came to see you?" " Probably because they think I disgraced the pride of our race by siding with a weak species." That makes sense since Orgar was also pretty prideful. Still, that was a bit too convenient¡­ and Ryan didn''t like that. It felt like an important piece of the puzzle was missing, and Ryan had no idea where he would find it. "We still have some hours before sunset," Alissa said while looking at the sky. "What should we do? Rest and enter the dungeon tomorrow or attack right now? I am fine with either." In any other situation, Ryan would have said to enter the dungeon and challenge the boss. He did that many times before, even when he had many doubts in his head. However, the situation was different, anding up with an answer wasn''t so simple when dragons were a part of the equation. "You should enter now and clear it. Even if the boss is stronger than we had imagined, you should be able to defeat it with ease, even though that will be a bit mentally taxing. If they don''t give the answers, we are looking for. We will go to the other side of the dungeon." That had been the n since the very beginning, but now that he thought about it, Ryan began to imagine what he would see on the other side¡­ a world of demons? A world of demons being invaded by monsters? Hell? Either way, all possibilities were quite scary. "I wonder why I am getting nervous now¡­ I faced worse odds by fighting alone the red dragon, and this time I am not alone¡­ even though I n to fight alone." Regardless, Ryan was getting ahead of himself since they had to talk with the boss first and then fight if they don''t find the answers they were looking for. Hell, Ryan was nning to fight the boss even if they give him the answer they want because there is no way in hell he would leave those creatures to roam around his home. ss: Hunter Lv 20 / Elementalist Lv 18/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 909th Health: 75/75 (0, 4933) Mana: 150 /150 (0, 4933) Stamina: 96/96 (0,4933) Strength: 10 (+24) (+30) Dexterity: 250 (+60) (+27) Speed: 30 (+38) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+47) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+41) Control: 06 (+37) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 125 (+123) (+48) Willpower: 09 Coins: 60099 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 21, Throw Lv 19 (+ 4UP), Dash Lv 07, Rapid Shot Lv 08, Herculean Strength Lv 12 (+ 2UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 06, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 21 (+ 1UP), Concentration Lv 21 (+ 1UP), Archery Lv 21, uracy Lv 21 (+ 1UP), Stealth Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 09, Perception Lv 12, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 20 (+ 2UP), Swordsmanship Lv 06, Alert Lv 12 (+ 2UP), Cook Lv 03, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 20, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Ma Lv 01, Passive Recovery Lv 10, Bronze Skin Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 20, Meditation Lv 14, me Arrow Lv 14, Appraisal Lv 16, Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 10, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 10, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 06, Strong Arms Lv 12 (+ 2UP), Repair Lv 03, Auto-Production Lv 03, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 01, Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 05, Strong Legs Lv 01, Fire Maniption Lv 02, Mana Shield Lv 04, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 08, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 04, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 08, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 08, Poison Resistance Lv 05, Wind Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 04 Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 02, Chapter 111 - Bolvath, The Demon. Although Ryan spent his status usual in dexterity and recovery, this time, he also put some into mana in order to increase the time his transformation couldst. Aside from that, Ryan bought a tome that cost him forty thousand coins. Although he could buy several cheaper tomes in order to obtain a few status points, Ryan decided to buy something that would be useful for the next battle. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bleed. Effect: It makes your foes bleed for five seconds by every wounded caused by you. The damage per second will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. The effects weren''t incredible at level one, but Ryan could see the potential of the skill. After that, he bought ten rings that increased his recovery even further. Ryan used all his coins, but once again, he felt satisfied with the investment. Silver Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by ten points. Durability: 25/25 "You sure like to wear a lot of rings," Alissa frowned. "And here I thought you were a boring guy that only wears simple clothes without putting too much into it, but with those rings, you look like someone with a weird fashion sense." "No, I am definitely a boring guy that uses whatever without caring about fashion and that kind of nonsense," Ryan said. Maybe it was because of that that Mia cheated on him¡­ she was pretty but also fashionable. In any case, recalling that only made a vein pop out on Ryan''s forehead. In any case, he could only hope that his anger would strengthen the power of his attacks. In any case, before entering the dungeon, Ryan took several things from his backpack and put them near the entrance of the dungeon. Those things were his old rings and the pieces of iron he got here and there. After that, he killed just enough demons to buy ten mana potions and ten stamina potions. "Not that I don''t trust you," Alissa said. "but I don''t intend to let you fight alone this time. Orgar''s goal is important to me, and you still owe me one, so I can''t let you die yet." "Yet?" Ryan frowned. "Well, I understand. Just do whatever you want. You are the leader here." "Am I?" Alissa asked. "Is that right, Orgar?" "I would like to say no, but since my spirit is inside of you and you can only control the body, I can''t exactly disagree." "I see¡­" Alissa smirked. "In that case¡­ follow my lead, maggots! Today we will feast on their blood and entrails! I always wanted to say that." Ryan decided to stay quiet since nothing that he says would make him feel less ufortable. Despite her words, Alissa didn''t want to attack first and askter¡­ unless the boss proves to be troublesome and uncooperative. After that, they began to walk toward the end of the dungeon. When some demons appeared, Ryan readied himself to fight, but Alissa stopped him. "Leave this to me," Alissa said. "We need to make some preparations in order to make the boss listen to us." Although he wasn''t quite sure what Alissa meant by that, he began to understand when she transformed her right hand into a dragon hand and then grabbed the demon. After that, she just began to walk while carrying the demon as if nothing had happened. The same thing happened several times until, by the moment they reached thest part of the dungeon, Alissa had ten demons under her absolute mercy. When Ryan finally reached the dungeon''sst section, he saw the usual purple crystal and treasure box. However, this time the boss was very different from all the others. He was sitting on a throne of bones¡­ as if he was trying to show that he was the king of something. Ryan decided to refer to the creature as he since the monster looked more masculine than he actually was. The beast was tall, and its muscles were amazing. Unlike the other creatures, the skin of that one didn''t look as if it had been yed. The horns of that one were longer, and Ryan was pretty sure he used it as weapons, and the wings on his back werepletely dark, but there were no holes. On his right hand, Ryan could see a trident¡­ it looked pretty fearsome since it was red and ck. Bolvath - Lv 60 Health: 25.000 /25.000 Mana: 20.000 /20.000 Stamina: 15.000/15.000 Strength: 1250 (+150) Dexterity: 1500 (+400) Speed: 1400 (+230) Intelligence: 500 (+160) Endurance: 1100 (+150) Control: 800 (+150) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Corrupting Touch Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Regeneration Lv 200 Spells: Summon Skeleton Lv 100 Support Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 100 In the end, Ryan''s instincts were right. He had been nervous for a very good reason. The enemy this time was very different from the others. Although it wasn''t at the level of a dragon, he could see by watching the eyes of the creature that he wouldn''t be underestimated, and a few tricks wouldn''t help him. In any case, Ryan couldn''t attack first since they hade to talk before anything, so he was forced to walk to thest part of the dungeon alongside Alissa. "I didn''t expect to receive visitors so soon¡­" Bolvath said while ignoring Ryan and looking solely at Alissa. "Still, I can understand why my predictions were off the mark. It is a pity; we were so close." Those were some weird words¡­ was the demon trying to buy time? Why would he say those words? He was expecting for something to happen inside the dungeon? After thinking for a while, Ryan concluded. The bosses didn''t exist inside the dungeons for no good reason. Their existence had a meaning¡­ almost one month had passed since the dungeons appeared and Ryan couldn''t believe that some bosses would stay there for a month without reason. There was only one exnation¡­ their existences were bound to cause dungeon breaks. Chapter 112 - Dungeon Breaks "Hey, asshole," Ryan said. "What were you waiting for here? A dungeon break is going to happen, isn''t it?" "Don''t talk to me, worm," Bolvath said. "If you were alone here, I would be feasting on your entrails right now. Be thankful that you are not alone." "Sorry, Alissa," Ryan pulled his bow and then began to charge one Power Shot. "I am going to start the interrogation myself." After a few seconds, just when his mana and stamina became empty, Ryan fired his bone arrow. At that exact same time, Bolvath summoned several skeletons in front of him. The monsters got destroyed one after another with ease, but in the end, the arrow lost a lot of power after hitting so many targets, and Bolvath stopped the bone arrow with his right hand. However, he paid the price for underestimating Ryan. The arrow stopped before it reached his face, but it passed through his right hand. "Interesting¡­ even worms can cause this much damage if they are given a chance," Bolvath said. "But as you can see, you can only do this much." Ryan picked several other potions, but then Alissa stopped him. She let him do what he wanted once, but that was enough. Even if it was temporary, they were a team, and they couldn''t just do whatever they want without considering the others. "Answer his question," Alissa said. "I thought you weren''t interested in other humans," Bolvath frowned. "Well¡­ if you need to know, I will answer it. It won''t change anything on the grand scale, after all. Your little friend is right. Dungeon breaks will happen all over the world when the dungeons that have been cleared yetplete one month of existence." Ryan was left speechless after hearing that. He couldn''t even begin to imagine what else would be left of the earth if the vast majority of the world dungeons break at the same time. Dozens of demons like Bolvath, T-rexes, would roam free on Earth for who knows how long. Although a good number of humans cleared dungeons, Ryan was certain that most of them were working together. So, things weren''t looking good. "Why do you look so surprised?" Alissa asked. "If you are that worried about humans, you shouldn''t always try to work alone." "This and that are different things," Ryan said. "You are right. I n to work alone until the day of death, but that doesn''t change the fact that I am fighting on the human side. Those dungeon breaks will deal a massive force to our forces." "You are right, but so what?" Alissa frowned. "What can you do to prevent that? Absolutely nothing. So, I don''t understand why you look so troubled." That was an understatement, but all in all, Alissa was right. In two or three days, the dungeons will break. Even if Ryan ns to clear some dungeons or alert other survivors, he won''t be able to change the overall severity of the situation. Besides, even if he wanted, he couldn''t. Ryan owed Alissa, and he didn''t n to go back on his word. It was just¡­ the situation got so muchplicated that Ryan couldn''t help but panic for a second. "Well, back to the topic," Alissa said. "We are here because we want to ask you a few things. Answer the questions honestly, because if you lie, I will know, and I will do this." Without a hint of hesitation, Alissa closed her hand and smashed the demons until they be a pulp of things that couldn''t be recognized or described. Now was the time to say that Ryan was troubled since his temporary partner was basically acting like a maniacal homicide. "What was the point of that?" Bolvath asked. "You are going to do that anyway in the end since I don''t have the answers you are looking for. It is unfortunate, but the current me can''t do a thing against even in your weakened state." The current me¡­ that proved that monsters were getting stronger by the day. That was bad¡­ and the situation wouldn''t improve. Now, more than ever, Ryan had to hunt the monsters like there is no tomorrow. "Still, before dying¡­ I need to warn you of something," Bolvath said. "You are trying to mess with forces that you can''t understand. I don''t respect your attitude, but I respect your power. To understand what I am mean by this,e tomorrow twenty-four hours after killing me, and you will see the meaning of my words." If the demon was begging for his life, that certainly didn''t look like the case, or hecked in persuasive power. Ryan looked at Alissa, trying to hear some exnation, but she just shrugged. As for Orgar, he just stayed silent the whole time. "Thank you for your cooperation," Alissa said. "As a sign of my gratitude, I will kill you without, and you won''t even feel a thing." Although Alissa said he would die without feeling any pain, she didn''t say anything about fear or anxiety. She slowly created a fireball in front of her right hand, and the fireball grew until it was five meters wide, and the mes were so strong that Ryan was forced to move backward several meters. When Alissa fired, the projectile hit the demon and didn''t leave anything behind¡­ that was the power of Orgar in a weakened state. It couldn''t even bepared to that red dragon. You obtained 200 coins. "Well, now¡­ what should we do?" Alissa asked. "As much as I am interested in seeing the other side of the crystal, I think we should see what that demon was talking about. Let''s wait twenty-four hours, and after that, we will decide our next move." "Is that fine with you, Ryan?" Alissa asked. "Yeah," Ryan nodded. Chapter 113 - Class: Beastmaster Ryan couldn''t have asked for more since he will be able to y demons for twenty-four hours straight and increase his power even more. That being said, he was feeling quite conflicted about the treasure chest. He wounded the demon, but was that enough to make him deserve a new ss? He honestly didn''t believe that was the case. Still, considering that the dungeon breaks will happen in a few days, he would need all the strength he can get. "You can go first," Ryan said. "You did most of the job by yourself, after all." "All right then," Alissa nodded. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Barbarian, Beastmaster, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Now we are talking," Ryan smiled. "I didn''t do much to deserve a new ss, but my feeling was right¡­ the sses here are better than the usual." As usual, Ryan was interested in the melee ss. Besides, it would be weird to be a Barbarian with a single arm. Alchemist also seemed interesting; Ryan had a feeling that he would obtain some interesting skills even better than the ones he gained when he became a cksmith. Perhaps he would be able to create potions and save some coins. While that was nice and all, Ryan knew from the very moment he saw the name Beastmaster that he would choose that ss. Not only seemed interesting, but in a way, it was what Ryan needed as a long-ranged fighter, something that would tank the monsters for him and would be one hundred percent loyal thanks to magic. That was the only type of loyalty Ryan could trust right now. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Beastmaster! You obtained the following skills: Tame, Call, and Master''s Support. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tame. Effect: It gives you the chance to tame a monster or an animal. The more wounded the creature, the higher are the chances of the Tame skill to work. If the creature is too strong and the skill level is low, the skill won''t work. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Call. Effect: It doesn''t matter where your tamed beast is. Whenever you use this skill, the monster will hear your call and head toward you. Extra Effect: for every five levels you have in this skill, you will be able to tame another beast. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Master''s Support. Effect: Whenever you are around, your tamed beasts recover their energy faster. The rate of recovery is equal to the level of this skill per minute. You obtained 01 status point. The skills were so interesting that Ryan even frowned a little. The effects of Tame made him recall Pok¨¦mon. As for the other skills, they were essentially support skills for the beasts that he might tame in the future. "Let me guess," Alissa said. "You picked the Beastmaster ss." "I guess my way of thinking isn''t thatplex," Ryan said. "You are right," Alissa shrugged. "But you also look the type who like animals." That wasn''t true. Ryan never had a pet in his entire life, not because he didn''t like animals, but because he always thought they should be as free as they could since, in a sense, humans can also create their own jails due to their intelligence. "I am not someone that needy," Ryan said. "I just thought that I could only do so much by myself, and having a few monsters here and there to help wille in handy to clean this world from those invaders." "Well, I choose the Alchemist ss since I already have a wild beast inside of me," Alissa said. You might want to rephrase that; it was what Ryan thought but decided not to say it out loud. In any case, Ryan began to y demons since they began to spawn as usual. Taming them was out of the question since they were vicious, and most people wouldn''t recognize them as an ally even if they save their lives. Unfortunately, the options weren''t that diverse in that area, so Ryan would have to look for monsters to tame outside Houston. However, that would have to wait since Ryan would be responsible for ying the demons that wille out from the dungeon. "If you don''t mind, I would like to test the skills of the alchemist ss," Alissa said. "You can stay and fight demons alone." "That was my n, to begin with¡­" Ryan said. "Are you nning to go somewhere? Besides, didn''t you already have those skills?" "Yeah, but only now I discovered what they could do," Alissa replied. "There is a number of skills I didn''t test, after all." Ryan thought Alchemists could only create potions or things like that, but it looked like things weren''t so simple. That became obvious since Alissa turned into a dragon and left the area to do something. Now that he had the dungeon for himself, Ryan would have the chance to improve his new fighting style. When the first demon left the dungeon, the beast was weed with the me sword on its head. The weapon not only destroyed it, but it also prevented that crazy regeneration for five seconds. After those five seconds, the mes died out because apparently, it wasn''t in Ryan''s possession anymore. "All right, as expected, the attack power is more than satisfactory even without buffs," Ryan nodded to himself. "Now I just need another weapon with a different effect, and then I will be able to y these demons without spending a single point of mana." Chapter 114 - Azure Edge Although the variety on the dungeon shop was amazing, and by killing demons, Ryan would be able to obtain forty thousand coins every day, he didn''t find anything at the same level as his me sword. How could he? That was the item he received after killing a red dragon, after all. "Maybe the dungeon shop will improve in the future, but I can''t exactly wait for it," Ryan scratched the back of his head. "For that fighting style to work, I need several weapons with a decent durability, and that has different effects." Ryan would need a way to create his own magic weapon, but doing that seemed impossible since he couldn''t create a single Fireball. To make matters worse, Ryan didn''t find a single tome that could help him with that. Confirming his theory that the dungeon shop could improve, he saw a few tomes that he hadn''t seen before, but then again, he couldn''t just wait for it. "I guess the only way is to keep killing bosses and hope that they will drop something decent, at least for the time being," Ryan sighed. "Speaking of which, that demon didn''t drop anything¡­ Considering that Alissa was the one who killed maybe her luck influenced that. Knowing how dragons can be prideful, her luck is probably low." Although Ryan didn''t get anything decent since he killed so many demons, the number of items they dropped increased. That was the downside of trying to work solo. He couldn''t sell those items to others. He wasn''t exactly solo anymore, but thest person who needed items was Alissa. Aside from new magic weapons, Ryan needed a magic bag, or whatever is the name of the thing that can store a crazy number of things. That way wouldn''t just have to leave his loot behind. The problem was a magic item that could do that was supposed to be even more powerful than the ones he already wanted for his new fighting style. "So many problems¡­" Ryan sighed again. After a few hours and before the sun could set, Alissa returned while humming. She seemed in a good mood. While that was fine and all, Ryan didn''t want to ask what happened. It would be better if their rtionship stays as neutral as possible. Besides, he still was thinking of how to solve his own problems. "Hey, Ryan," Alissa said and then made a massive blue-edged sword appear out of nowhere. "I created this with Orgar''s help." Azure Edge (Ice) (+5) Effect: It freezes the foe upon contact. The ice damage is equal to your intelligence + (400%) per second. Strength + 150, Endurance + 120 Durability: 150/150 Ryan froze due to the shock. Putting the fact that Alissa seemed like a little kid who found a new toy, the fact that she created something like that was insane. The effects, the bonus statuses¡­ even the fact that she took the sword from what seemed to be a storage dimension was amazing. It wasn''t crazy to say that she had all the skills that Ryan wanted, or to be more specific, Orgar had. Still, it wasn''t insane either to say that Ryan wanted the dragons'' power for himself. "How exactly did you make that?" Ryan asked. "Well, you see," Alissa said with arge smile on her face. "I was hunting some megalodons to test my new skills, and this sword was dropped by one of them. Then, I used some high-level alchemist skills to seal their spirits in this. Orgar knew exactly what I had to do. I ended up forgetting to use the ones that I wanted because this is too amazing." "Indeed¡­" Ryan said while thinking about those high-level alchemist skills. "Now, I will be able to fight while holding back my draconic powers," Alissa said while swinging around that massive sword. "Thus, I won''t have to sleep so much after a single day of fighting." Alissa still looked quite frail despite all the monsters that she was eating. Thanks to it, her swinging around a sword bigger than her was really weird. Having an existence like her nearby was really troublesome in some aspects, but at least her power was so far above Ryan''s level that he would never feel satisfied with his current level. In that sense, she was really useful. "Good, you can test that theory tomorrow morning," Ryan said. "I don''t want to leave the guard duty to you again until we confirm that." "I already confirmed that. I just killed a megalodon using only this sword," Alissa frowned. "Anyway, are you nning to go somewhere tomorrow morning?" "More or less, but I will be back before the twenty-four hours pass," Ryan said. Although he probably could kill his tamed beasts, Ryan didn''t want to use the demons the test his new skills. He was fighting them as enemies, but even though they were vicious bastards, he couldn''t go down another level in his decency and treat them likeb rats. Although he did something simr when he was throwing bone arrows, this time would be different since tame would bound them to his will¡­ probably. In any case, Ryan spent the night thinking of how to solve his current problems, but unfortunately, not a single solution had been found. Although his decision-making speed was insane, his creativity was seriouslycking. ss: Hunter Lv 22 / Elementalist Lv 20/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 903rd Health: 75/85 (0, 6566) Mana: 150 /162 (0, 6566) Stamina: 96/110 (0,6566) Strength: 10 (+32) (+30) Dexterity: 250 (+71) (+27) Speed: 30 (+44) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+47) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+41) Control: 06 (+43) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 125 (+169) (+100) Willpower: 09 Coins: 43500 Status: 40 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 21, Throw Lv 22 (+3 UP), Dash Lv 07, Rapid Shot Lv 08, Herculean Strength Lv 12, Fighter''s Spirit Lv 06, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 22 (+1UP), Concentration Lv 22 (+1 UP), Archery Lv 22 (+1 UP), uracy Lv 22 (+1 UP), Stealth Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 09, Perception Lv 12, Rage Lv 05, Precision Lv 22 (+2UP), Swordsmanship Lv 12 (+6 UP), Alert Lv 12, Cook Lv 03, Stalk Lv 02, Art of Sniping Lv 20, Tracking Lv 05, Spearmanship Lv 05, Knife Mastery Lv 05, Martial Arts Lv 05, Craft Lv 02, Shield Mastery Lv 03, Monk''s Style Lv 04, Whip Mastery Lv 05, Ax Mastery Lv 05, Ma Lv 08 (+3 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 14 (+4 UP), Bronze Skin Lv 01, Bleed Lv 10 (+9 UP), Spells: Analysis Lv 05, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 20, Meditation Lv 14, me Arrow Lv 14, Appraisal Lv 19 (+3 UP), Lesser Fire Enchantment Lv 03, Lesser Water Enchantment Lv 10, Lesser Wind Enchantment Lv 10, Earth Bullet Lv 04, Heal Lv 06, Strong Arms Lv 12, Repair Lv 06 (+3 UP), Auto-Production Lv 03, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 01, Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 05, Strong Legs Lv 01, Fire Maniption Lv 03 (+3 UP), Mana Shield Lv 04, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 12 (+4 UP), Tame Lv 01, Call Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 01, Fear Resistance Lv 04, Fire Resistance Lv 03, Heat Resistance Lv 04, Sleep Resistance Lv 08, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 08, Poison Resistance Lv 05, Wind Resistance Lv 01, Master''s Support Lv 01 sses: Combat: Sage Lv 07, Beastmaster Lv 01, Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 04, Chapter 115 - Dungeon Boss Blessing Although Ryan had some coins to spend, he decided to look for a monster to summon instead of using the coins already when morning came. Maybe that change of pace would refresh his head and give him some insight into what he should do¡­ hopefully. "You know¡­" Alissa sighed. "If we help you, that kind of thing can be done easily." "Who will guard the dungeon, then?" Ryan asked. "Is there a need to guard the dungeon?" Alissa frowned. "There is no one here aside from us, so you don''t need to worry about the demons killing your innocent civilians." "I wasn''t thinking about that," Ryan said. "It is just that I would feel more relieved knowing that there aren''t many demons on this side corrupting monsters. Soon, the number of monsters on Earth will spike, and things will be even more troublesome if those crazy numbers be even more powerful due to the corruption." It was clear that the demons could strengthen the monsters by corrupting them. Maybe, if they corrupt a megalodon, even a dragon wouldn''t be able to hunt them, but as far as Ryan was concerned, it would be great if those beasts could just kill each other until they be extinct again. "Well, I can''t exactly give you any orders, and now that I think about it, it will be faster if you give me a lift," Ryan said. "So, do as you see fit." Alissa didn''t have to hear it twice. She transformed into a dragon, and then she used Telekinesis to make Ryan hop in. that had been a bit annoying, but Ryan knew that he had to endure it for the time being. Besides, so far, he received more inparison to all the problems he had to deal with Alissa''s presence. "So, what monster are you looking for?" Alissa asked. "A T-rex would be perfect, but it would be a pain to get so close to Shreveport again and find those guys," Ryan replied. "You look unexpectedly excited for this. Dragons can''t use Tame?" "We don''t need such low-level magic that has so many restrictions. We don''t need minions either, but if some of us want, we can turn most monsters into our ves without much difficulty." "You sure sound proud while saying that," Ryan said. Ryan''s goal was to leave his tamed beast behind ying demons, and since he didn''t know if they could grow stronger just like him, he had decided that his first tamed beast had to be something at least at the same level as a T-rex. The problem was, Ryan didn''t find such a monster yet. "Well, even I didn''t find many monsters with that level of power," Alissa said. "If we had time, we could keep searching, but we don''t have. I guess you will have to contend yourself with an Elder Smander." "I suppose so," Ryan said. The smander''s dungeon was still the same as ever, and there wasn''t a sign of humans getting close to the area. Without wasting too much time, Ryan bought some mana potions and then headed toward thest part of the dungeon. In the end, Ryan didn''t even use the potions, not as he had nned to. The potions were to keep using Tame if the skill fails more than a few times. Ryan shot four bone arrows at the limbs of the monster and immobilized it. After that, he fired several Earth Bullets until the beast copsed after getting hit so many times in the head. The monster had less than ten percent of its health, so Ryan decided to use Tame. A light blue auraing from Ryan''s hands moved toward the monster and enveloped the beast. However, the smander trembled at thest minute, and the aura dissipated. "Not unconscious enough, huh," Ryan said and then hit the monster''s head with the hilt of his me sword. Although the monster''s health dropped to five percent, Ryan still had to try more than a few times. However, eventually, perhaps because Tame leveled up quite a bit, the skill worked. Congrattions! You tamed the Elder Smander! The Elder Smander lost his blessing as a dungeon boss. Elder Smander Health: 35/800 Mana: 1.600/1.600 Stamina: 1.400/1.400 Strength: 150 Dexterity: 250 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 450 Endurance: 100 Control: 400 Mentality: 350 Luck: 20 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 150 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 10 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 15 Spells: methrower Lv 15 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 30 "What the heck is this¡­" Ryan frowned. "Dungeon boss blessing?" Something very weird was going on, but then Ryan recalled the demons'' words the previous day. It made sense that the elder smander would lose something by abandoning its role as a dungeon boss, but Ryan didn''t expect it would be so much weaker. Its health, mana, and stamina decreased until it bes twenty percent of its original point. The fact that the monster only had four skills despite having so many points allocated was also weird. "Well, look on the bright side," Alissa said. "The value of status is 00, so your pet can learn new skills and allocate those points in whatever you want." "¡­ You can read my mind?" Ryan asked. "Nope, you are just that easy to read," Alissa smiled. Ryan didn''t believe in that. Several times, Alissa acted as if she could read Ryan''s mind. At first, he thought that he was just a simple guy, but even so, for a girl who spent years on a hospital bed, Alissa was too good at reading people. Strangely good. "Although you don''t have many curves, your body is quite attractive." Ryan thought that just to confirm his suspicions. As expected, Alissa''s smile broke a little, and she looked to the side, a little embarrassed¡­ she really could read his mind. That was beyond annoying. It was disgusting¡­ Still, Ryan didn''t say anything. He just turned around to mind his own problems. Now, more than ever, he was decided to pay his debt and get away from this pair of powerful and equally annoying beasts. Chapter 116 - Are You Stupid? "Sorry, sorry!" Alissa said. "I won''t do it again!" While Ryan was healing the Elder Smander, Alissa asked for forgiveness several times, but he just ignored her and kept working. He already knew more or less how he could strengthen the smander, so he had to work fast. "Please, don''t ignore me," Alissa said. "I am not ignoring you, you can read my mind, so I don''t need to see or talk to you," Ryan said. "I said that I wouldn''t use it again!" Alissa said. After a while, the smander woke up, and Ryan felt a strange glint in the monster''s eyes. There was no malice or violence. There was only a sense of familiarity. Weirdly enough, Ryan also could feel a connection between him and the monster as if their thoughts were in harmony and they could understand each other just with their eyes. "Come on, say something," Alissa said. "Something," Ryan said and then sat on the back of the smander. "Kid, you should show more respect to the person who saved your life." "Dragon, I am showing my respect by working with you two," Ryan said. "Don''t expect anything more than this." Even without giving the order, the smander began to run toward the exit of the dungeon, and after a while, the monster learned Dash. As expected, training his first beast wouldn''t be thatplicated, but it would be a bit time-consuming since the smander learned that skill and just obtained a single status point. After a while, Alissa also left the dungeon and joined Ryan, but it didn''t look like he wanted to fly on her back again. He didn''t have any reason to do that again. After all, the elder smander was quite fast. A bit ufortable to use as a vehicle, but fast. "I will see you back at the entrance of the demons'' dungeon," Ryan said. "I should be able to arrive in time with my smander." Ryan left without waiting for an answer. Even though Alissa looked really sorry for what she did, it didn''t change the fact that she did it. Ryan was determined not to be allies or friends of anyone. A good reason for that was because he had be merciless in that kind of rtionship. He did his best not to offend or make others sad, but everything he received in return was deceptions. Staying away from everyone as much as possible, he wouldn''t have to deal with that kind of problem again, and he was more than satisfied with it. Although the smander had to stop to rest a few times, Ryan and his new monster arrived one hour before the time limit. The fact that Dash leveled up several times contributed to that. Still, Ryan had nned to train the monster a little more, but no monster approached since Alissa flew close to them. "Come on, Ryan, try to be a bit reasonable," Alissa said. "You can''t be this harsh after a single mess up." Ryan turned around and red at Alissa, but in the end, he shook his head. She probably didn''t have much experience in dealing with other people since she spent a good part of her life in a hospital bed. That was probably why she was treating what she did like a little mistake. It was indeed a small mistake, but just enough to make Ryan threaten her like everyone else. "You sure are insistent," Ryan said. "Why do you care if I forgive you or not? I thought that you don''t care if other humans live or die since you waited to be helped for who knows how long while you were in the hospital, but none helped you." "You can read minds too?" Alissa frowned. "If that is the case, we are even." "Are you stupid?" Ryan asked. "Anyone with half of a brain would have concluded that." "Come on, Ryan," Alissa pleaded. "We are friends, right? You are my first human friend." "Use your power and see if I am lying now," Ryan said. "We are not friends and will never be. Although you saved my life once, you are no better than any other human, not even with your powers. As such, I will treat you like I treat everyone else, like strangers." Surprisingly, Ryan saw some tears appearing in Alissa''s eyes, but not even that made his resolve tremble. He had already chosen his path, and in his path, he won''t forgive anyone that messes with him in any sort of way. He may not want to kill Mia and Alissa, but he won''t show any mercy even while talking to them. Suddenly, the aura around Alissa''s body changed. It was obvious that Orgar got mad at Ryan. However, he couldn''t care less. "Little worm¡­ if you say anything that will hurt Alissa''s feelings again, I will make you regret being born in this world. Death won''t be a mercy that will give you and¡­" "Wow, such clich¨¦ lines," Ryan said. "I guess I couldn''t have expected anything more from an oversized lizard. Don''t underestimate me, monster. I may not be able to defeat you now, but I won''t run from a fight against you, not today, nor never. Don''t think that your strength scares me." "¡­ All right, stop fighting," Alissa said with her head down. "I did something wrong, and you two don''t have any reason to fight, so stop." Ryan didn''t feel like talking, and since Alissa and Orgar didn''t say anything after that, he didn''t have any reason to do so. Instead of wasting time with that, he decided to train his smander as much as possible. After all, he nned to use the purple crystal soon alongside Alissa and Orgar, and Ryan had no idea when he would return. Chapter 117 - Putting Pride Aside Although that whole situation with Alissa messed up with his rhythm, Ryan still didn''t forget to think about what he learned when he tamed the smander, so he considered a few possibilities. It looked a bit unrealistic, but it was highly probable that bosses had a certain level of immortality. Although he defeated the elder smander a few days ago, the next boss had the exact same strength. If he were living a game, Ryan would think that would make sense, but he wasn''t. So that was the only exnation. "Monsters can grow stronger the more mana Earth absorbs¡­ that would exin why we still can defeat certain monsters despite the fact that they probably had decades to grow stronger, and we humans only had a single month. I can understand why the elder smander was supposed to be one of the strongest monsters in its own world, but I can''t imagine Bolvath being the strongest in the world of the demons." Ryan had too little information, so he could only presume that kind of thing, and since Orgar and Alissa were looking for another type of information, they weren''t interested in that. As far as they were concerned, dragons seemed above the system. "I guess I will put my pride aside for a little bit¡­" The elder smander was quite smart, so the monster could learn skills rtively fast and even things that weren''t skills. Thanks to that, Ryan found a way to kill Bolvath alone. That bothered him a little, but since he had decided to put his pride aside, in the end, Ryan decided to do it. When the time came, Ryan entered the dungeon without waiting for Alissa and Orgar. Still, they followed him alongside the elder smander. Despite the fact that he didn''t have a watch, Ryan knew exactly the time the boss would spawn. Exactly one minute before that could happen, Ryan began to prepare his attack. That would be his most powerful shot, and he was quite looking forward to it. When Power Shot and Iplete Reptilian Transformation emptied his mana, the elder smander tossed several potions using its tongue toward Ryan, the potions broke, and the liquid restores his energy. At the same time, the durability of his bow began to decrease. Still, Ryan continued to charge the attack because he knew that his bow would endure until thest second. Exactly one minute after he began to charge the attack, Bolvath appeared in front of the crystal, and then he frowned when he saw Ryan pointing his bow at his head. Meanwhile, Ryan smirked from ear to ear. "Hello again, mother fucker," Ryan said. Ryan fired the arrow, and Bolvath summoned his skeletons to block the attack. However, all the skeletons became dust after getting hit by that arrow. Even faster than he could blink, the bone arrow hit the demon''s head, and the impact caused an explosion that destroyed the whole body into several pieces. You obtained 10.000 coins. "Pretty good for a worm, right?" Ryan asked and then smashed one of the flesh pieces that once had been a part of the Bolvath body. "Cockroach-looking bastard." Alissa couldn''t help but look away while Ryan was enjoying himself. He never looked like he had any fun while fighting, but now it looked like he had a lot of fun, but that was only because he was angry, and it was due to her actions. Ryan wasn''t the type to shout and scream when he was angry and frustrated. His own way to cope with that was to make his enemies suffer. Even though Alissa wasn''t much better, she didn''t like to see Ryan like that. "It looks like the dungeon masters have some privileges. The capacity to revive in their dungeon is one of them. Still, he wasn''t supposed to be the strongest of his species. So, that means¡­" "The demons are invading others as well," Alissa said. "They only send Bolvath to look after this dungeon because they thought he would be enough¡­ they were almost right." The existence of someone like Alissa wasn''t on anyone''s ns, but Ryan was also an anomaly. Given time, he would be able to take even dragons since his growth seems superior to them, and he always chooses the best method to fight his enemies without letting anyone or anything hold him back. "Be prepared because the chances of you fighting several enemies of the level of that demon at the same time is pretty high." "Well, we will see that once we arrive on their," Alissa said. "The problem is: against that type of opponent, only the big shots might have the answers we are looking for, and considering their attitude, the demons are probably divided hierarchy with their power as a basis." "Indeed, but worry not. I can still offer you some assistance even in a spiritual form, and if something happens, I have a contingency n." While Alissa and Orgar were talking, Ryan grabbed the spoils of that battle. He was quite interested in the trident Orgar had on his hands since the skeletons only appeared when he swung it. Still, the trident always disappeared when he died. Fortunately, Ryan had been nicely rewarded. Spiked Steel Shield Effect: Reflects one percent of the damage back to the enemy. Health + 30, Endurance + 20 Durability: 100/100 "It is not what I wanted, but I guess this will do," Ryan equipped the shield on his left arm. "Even after all this fighting, my defensive attributes are incredibly low, after all." Alissa approached, and then she looked at the crystal. It was time to investigate the world on the other side. Still, before going, Ryan gave some orders to his smander. Like not to leave the dungeon and kill all demons. At the same time, the smander was supposed to meditate between battles in order to recover its mana. It would be nice if the monster could fulfill that job, but Ryan wouldn''t be much of it since he didn''t have time to properly train the monster. Chapter 118 - Baal Ryan and Alissa touched the purple crystal at the same time, and when they did, a powerful light enveloped them and forced them to close their eyes. The light soon disappeared, and they saw themselves in the middle of a forest, and they couldn''t see a single demon nearby. "I see now¡­ it looks like they have a lot more information than us." "What do you mean?" Alissa asked. "The crystal is behind us, but there is no one nearby. That means that the demons can control the flow of demons even from far away. Speaking of which, they already noticed our presence. Unless you want to be attacked by an army, you should prepare for battle or hide." That was weird. Not only could the demons spawn endless on Earth, but they also could control the purple crystal. Why couldn''t humans do the same? It was not like they had the leisure to invade others. "What do you think, Ryan?" Alissa asked. "You are the leader here, and this mission is to discover something you want," Ryan replied while looking around. "It is your call." "¡­ Do you know what is the limit of their tracking skills, Orgar?" Alissa asked. "They are using the crystal to find us, so if we get away from the crystal, it should be enough for the time being. They are a race of warriors, and their senses aren''t that good, after all." "All right, let''s be invisible and see how they will proceed from a safe distance," Alissa said. Ryan wondered how she nned to make him be invisible, but much to his surprised, Alissa touched his shoulder for a single instant, and then he saw his body bing transparent alongside everything that was touching him. Without wasting any time, they began to run and left the forest. Finally, Ryan saw something that was more like a dense grove than a real forest. He wasn''t in hell. In fact, he was in a pretty peaceful looking world. Ryan and Alissa saw a massive medieval-ish city at the north of their current position, but they didn''t see any signs of smoke or destruction, but they did find a castle in the middle of the city. After a while, they saw a dark pointing from the city, those were the flying demons that had been sent to investigate the purple crystal, and their numbers were close to five hundred. "They sent a small army of minions¡­ their power level is no different from the ones that are spawned on the dungeon." "It looks like they aren''t that worried that someone came to their world," Alissa said. "Is this even their world? I imagined that this ce would be an entire warzone where demons would fight each other to death every single moment." "In any case, this at least confirms that Bolvath didn''t return to this world upon death. Otherwise, a proper and stronger army would have been sent to fight us." Ryan was also thinking among those lines. It didn''t make sense that the demons would have such a ce as their real-world¡­ maybe it was just a base they conquered after exterminating the previous inhabitants. Still, that made Ryan think that the demons were fighting in a muchrger scale war. After all, any decentmander would feel threatened if enemies suddenly appear on their base. It was insane, but it looked like the demons might try to invade several others, and Earth wasn''t that important to them. "What we should do now, Orgar?" Alissa said. "We need to find their leader, but it is wise just invade without any proper n?" "You have my power, so you don''t have to be that cautious. That being said, even you might find some problems if you don''t defeat the leader of the demons in that castle fast enough and ask what we want. A single one and might not be able to kill you, but thousands of them can certainly stop you for a while and give them time to their leader prepare a big attack or run away." "I guess we need to decrease their fighting force, huh," Alissa said. "Good, I feel like I am getting the hang of your power, and little by little, the tiredness is decreasing as well." Ryan didn''t have to receive any order, even from far away, and despite the fact that they were in the grove, he could see the demons around the purple crystal. So, he bombarded them with his me Arrows. Thanks to his Active Spiritual Recovery, Ryan could recover more mana than he used by killing a single demon. Thanks to it, he didn''t hold back. Alissa did the same. Alissa did the same, but instead of using magic, she crushed the demons with her big sword. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 900 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 895th You obtained 10.000 coins. While Ryan was thankful for the reward, it was a pity that the things he could obtain were always random. Still, instead of worried about that, he was impressed by his own growth. He got lucky that the sses he obtained had certain useful skills, but that doesn''t change the fact that he just killed almost two hundred demons in a couple of minutes. Much to his surprise, while Ryan was looking for the loot, Alissa grabbed a demon by the neck. Apparently, she managed to leave one alive in order to question the beast. "Where can I find your leader?" Alissa asked. Although Alissa was suffocating the monster, she didn''t alleviate the grip on the beast''s neck. She didn''t need to hear one, she just had to make the monster think about something, and she would be able to clearly read the thought. "Baal¡­ is in the castle," Alissa clicked her tongue. "This might be a bit difficult." Ryan had no idea what she was referring to, but he could imagine even without a proper exnation. More important than that, he was a bit worried by the name he heard¡­ Baal. It was the name of a demon that he saw in some games, and that was just too weird to be a coincidence. Chapter 119 - Lord Of Corruption After thinking for a while, Ryan decided that whatever appears in front of him it wouldn''t surprise him anymore. Dragons were supposed only to exist in humans'' imagination, and now they were roaming on the Earth, so why get surprised that some demons also had the names of the ones he saw in games. "Based on the things I discovered by reading the mind of that demon, our opponent this time might prove to be a bit difficult," Alissa said. "His name is Baal, a demon and lord of corruption. His body is covered with his own blood-like armor, and apparently, whatever or whoever he touches or touches him bes corrupt. If it is an inanimate object, it will be a mindless monster that only wants the blood of all living things. If it is another living being, it will be a demon just like the ones we have been fighting so far." "It is a problem that you can''t touch him, but you have plenty of other ways to attack." While that was true, that wasn''t the real problem. The problem was that they couldn''t let themselves be touched a single time since the power of the demon''s corruption is unrivaled. Maybe even a dragon wouldn''t be able to resist for more than a few seconds. As for Ryan, a single touch might transform him into a demon. "Apparently, he is the only leader here," Alissa said. "However, he isn''t the supreme leader of the demons'' army. There are four other generals like him and one leader." "What are their names?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know. It isn''t important, right?" Alissa said. "He is at that castle, and the generals act independently, and they aren''t in this world, so we don''t have to worry about him asking for help or othersing to help him. That being said, that will only be true for a while. If they notice that something is weird, all of them mighte to attack us." Ryan couldn''t evenin since he couldn''t obtain information as fast as her. In any case, he wanted to learn the other generals and leaders'' names to prepare himself mentally. In any case, even if the demon was as terrifying as it was in the game or in the legends the creature was mentioned, as long as it was made of flesh and bones, it wasn''t supposed to be impossible to kill¡­ probably. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but think that perhaps this time, he was going to pick a fight with someone way out of his league. Even though he already dered openly that he would face Orgar if he has to. "I am not too sure, but it also looks like that Baal is invading five others," Alissa said. "So, his focus is divided. We can do this." Ryan sighed. He wished that things were that simple. If a demon was trying to invade five worlds using five dungeons, that means that he had the confidence to do so. Considering how many demons he could control at once, maybe he already invaded and countered a once or twice. Ryan would need all the help he can get, but unfortunately, those five hundred demons only dropped crappy items. "Anyway, even though this isn''t as bad as thought, I don''t want to risk facing the five generals and the supreme leader of the demons," Alissa said. "So, I think it would be in our best interest to deal with this Ball guy as fast as possible and then leave." "It is Baal. Still, you have a point. However, how do you n with him and his army of demons?" "It is simple," Alissa replied. "I will face the Ball person, and Ryan will take out his minions. He has the skills to keep fighting against an army for an undetermined amount of time now. Are you okay with that, Ryan?" "No problem," Ryan said, imagining how things would turn out. While two me Arrows were enough to kill ordinary demons, and Ryan could recover his mana by killing them, things weren''t that simple. If he makes a mistake, he will end up using more mana than he could recover. So, his capacity to fight non-stop was depending on his aim of always hit the targets. While he barely missed a shot since the monsters appeared, things might change in a war of attrition. After all, the longer someone stays focused, the easier it is to that focus wane. Still, that would be a chance like no other. While fighting the demons in just a few minutes, he received almost twenty thousand coins. Who knows how much he will earn by fighting the entire army under that demon''s control¡­? "It is decided then," Alissa said. "Still, we have to see the city and look for the best ce to attack the castle. If that demon is the type to summon the demons from another dimension with magic, then we will have to start the fight inside the castle. If that isn''t the case, we have to find a good ce for Ryan to have aplete battlefield vision. I am kind of bad at keeping looking on my surroundings, so I might mess up if some demon attacks my blind spots." Although Ryan was used to be the main attacker and always have the spotlight for himself, he didn''t feel bothered by his new role. Since the very moment he decided to help those two, it was clear that he would have a support role outside and during the battles. Besides, that was a good chance for him to see the full power of a dragon like Orgar. After all, Ryan truly believed that all dragons were his enemies, and he was determined to hunt them all. Chapter 120 - Target While invisible, Ryan and Alissa moved toward that castle. Although they didn''t notice from far away, when they entered that city, they confirmed several things. First of all, the ce waspletely desert, which only showed them that Baal was a demon able to summon demons from another dimension. The second thing they confirmed was the fate of the worlds'' inhabitants who failed at fighting against the invasion. Half of the city was in ruins, and they couldn''t feel a single presence of anything close to demons or any other species. Given that the shape of the houses was pretty simr to the humans of Earth, Ryan thought they were supposed pretty simr to humans, but it was hard to tell since here and there, Ryan found certain tools that had magic stones engraved in them. Unfortunately, those magic stones lost their power a long time ago. "This is weird, we exterminated his army, but he didn''t send any other demon to fight us after that," Alissa said. "Most likely, he already knows that we are nning to attack him, and thus, he is conserving his strength." That fight was going to be a pain in the ass for Ryan. Fighting in a confined ce was something that he was used to, but only against small numbers of enemies. Even though the castle was massive, Ryan''s range already surpassed the size of any conventional room. "Orgar, how do you think this Ball guy will proceed with this battle?" Alissa asked. "Will he really wait for us to knock down his castle?" "It is Baal¡­ Unless he is a unicellr lifeform, he will not do something that stupid. My instincts are telling me that he will attack once you get on his range. I will bet that he will attack once you are five hundred meters away from the castle." Ryan didn''t know if he was thankful for the fact that the fight wouldn''t happen inside the castle or if he would feel annoyed that once again, he won''t have the chance to deal the first strike. In any case, Orgar''s words really hit the mark. When Alissa and Ryan got around that range, a purple beam came from the castle and destroyed everything on its way. Even from that distance, the power of that attack was something, but Ryan had the chance to dodge. For some reason, Alissa just turned into a dragon and blocked the attack with her right hand. Although Ryan thought that was some kind of magic that would have some kind of debuff as an extra effect, the purple ray made Alissa, even in her transformed form being pushed back quite a bit. Their foe continued to fire that spell for quite a while, but after noticing that Alissa was only using a single hand, he stopped. Unfortunately, in the next moment, Ryan saw a dark cloud leaving the castle¡­ another army of demons. Ryan never did that before, but he decided to cast me Arrows with both hands hoping that would help him attack faster, and somehow¡­ it did. Demons began to explode left and right, and even those who didn''t get hit were forced to slow down due to the explosions. That bought Ryan so many times that he didn''t see his mana bar getting empty. It was all thanks to his Active Spiritual Recovery. "It looks like you have things under control here," Alissa said and then began to fly. "So, it is my turn to greet this Ball demon." Strangely enough, Alissa didn''t fly toward the castle. She just flew upward and then stopped at some point. Suddenly, the atmosphere stopped when she opened her mouth. A dark sphere of fire began to grow in front of her, and even though Ryan was a hundred meters away, the heat was distorting his vision. Even the demons were unable to keep flying with all that heat¡­ it was like a sun was right above them. "I guess I am not the only one who can charge attacks like that." Even though Ryan was making aparison, the difference in power of his attacks and with that was obvious. Suddenly, a shadow left the castle and flew toward Alissa. The shadow was pretty big, and even though Ryan was busy ying demons, he had the chance to look at it. As expected, the demon was very different from the games Ryan saw the creature, but it still was terrifying. The beast was like five meters tall and had the body of the hulk. It was quite weird since Baal had summoning magic. Regardless, the demon didn''t have a weapon in its hands, but its body had several spikes like in the back of its hands, elbows, and knees. The demon had four wings, and they were blood-like red. Even though the attack wasn''t ready, Alissa was forced to fire. For some reason, when the ball of dark fire hit the demon, it stopped. Ryan couldn''t even look at it due to its power, but he could imagine the demon trying to hold back the attack. Still, the sh didn''tst even a few seconds. The demon did something, and Alissa''s attack exploded, and a small dark fireball began to hit and destroy the rest of the city. A few seconds after that, Baal could be seen, and there wasn''t a single wound on its body¡­ now more than ever, Ryan concluded that he was an opponent that he couldn''t defeat right now. Just like with Alissa, he couldn''t even use Appraisal on him. Well, he could, but the skill always failed. "To think that a dragon would side with the humans," Baal said. "Even though your power is above most of your species, you dishonor them." "Watch your tongue, vicious beast. I did not side with the humans. I sided with a single human." "The number doesn''t matter," Baal said and then looked at Ryan for a second. "Still, it looks like I underestimated the worms known as humans. Did you give your powers to him too?" "No." "That is good, then," Baal said and then disappeared before he reappeared, flying toward Ryan. Chapter 121 - Shock Everything happened so fast that Ryan didn''t even have time to get angry when he should have. All he saw was that suddenly Alissa and Baal were much closer than before, and then Alissa punched the demon with all her might. Baal was forced to slow down since he had to stop her attack with both hands. "Asshole¡­ he aimed at me because I am the weakest one here." It has been a while since Ryan felt that frustrated¡­ to be the weakest in the middle of the battlefield. Clenching his teeth, Ryan felt his mind getting clouded by anger, but even despite that, he kept exploding demons left and right with machine-like precision. He couldn''t let anger control his judgment. Besides, if Ryan really wanted to reach that level of power, he would need to keep fighting more and more, and he won''t feel satisfied until those beasts that look down on him die or stay far away from Earth. So, Ryan decided to burn the image of that battle in his mind. In the end, due to the difference in size, Alissa won the melee, and Baal was sent flying downward and only stopped when it hit the ground. The entire city trembled, but Baal was back on his feet two secondster as if nothing had happened. "What do you know about dragons?" Alissa asked. "Why they were teleported to Earth while the other monsters spawned through dungeons?" That was weird, Alissa was determined to question Baal only after defeating him, but it looked like she changed her mind for some reason. Maybe the few exchanges they had made her realize that she couldn''t defeat with her current strength. Or maybe, she realized that she couldn''t fight for long while going all-out. Regardless, Baal didn''t answer. Instead, it disappeared again and reappeared behind Alissa. With both hands, he shot that purple beam again. Alissa blocked the attack, but this time, she was pushed back much more than before. Alissa opened her mouth and fired a massive wave of mes toward Baal. Much to everyone''s surprise, hepletely ignored the attack and just kept firing whatever that purple beam was. When Alissa gave up, they only saw some smoke rising from Baal''s body¡­ the Fire Breath of a dragon didn''t damage him in the least. However, suddenly, Baal stopped his attack, and he fell to the ground. "What the¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. "Ah¡­ gravity magic." It was obvious after thinking for a while what Alissa used, it really looked like she was going all-out for once, but instead of using that chance to smash Baal, she took her time to recover her breath. As expected, she couldn''t use her draconic powers without paying the toll against that level''s opponent. "Where can I find your leader?" Alissa asked. Unfortunately, it became evident that Baal didn''t have the answers they were looking for. Although defeating him would benefit them, it looked like he was a bit too much for the current Alissa. However, even though she changed the tactics, she didn''t lose the will to fight. "Well, it looks like my chance to repay my debt wille sooner than I expected," Ryan said. "The problem is: can I escape from that thing?" Ryan couldn''t see Alissa making a miraculouseback. Although she had a good part of Orgar''s powers, she wasn''t used to fighting. Not only that, the opponent this time was a mythical demon, a being that deserved the title of one of the six strongest of the demon army, and the leader was probably the devil himself. That was insane¡­ After the first exchange, Alissa decided not to fight up-close again. Unfortunately, she didn''t have time to prepare a powerful enough attack to wound Baal. The best she could do was to use gravity magic and stop the demon. Much faster than anyone expected, Alissa tried to use gravity at some point, but the effect of the spell had been much weaker. Baal used that chance and charged toward Alissa and with all his might. The demon kicked her face. The power of the attack had been so powerful that the shockwave caused by it almost knocked down Ryan, who was a hundred meters away from it. As for the demons that still were leaving the castle, they all fell on the ground like dominoes. At the same time, Ryan felt Alissa''s presence getting weaker. "She is unconscious¡­" Ryan said when he saw Alissa''s body returning to normal while rolling on the ground. "Shit, it is now or never." Ryan used Iplete Reptilian Transformation and summoned a bone arrow, but before he could pull the string of his bow, he saw Alissa getting up and then flying toward him. "Save your arrows. We are leaving." Ryan lost the chance to pay his debt since Orgar took control over Alissa''s body. Fortunately, he used all the strength he had to escape and even grabbed Ryan since Alissa probably would hate him if escapes leaving him behind. Baal tried to chase them. However, by using several of his skills, Orgar reached a speed at which not even the demon could apany them. At the same time, Ryan couldn''t even open his eyes, and his skin was burning due to the friction. Instead of just touching the purple crystal, Orgar hit Alissa''s and Ryan''s bodies against it. When they returned to Earth, Ryan fell on the ground alongside Alissa. Orgar, who had taken over her body apparently had gone to sleep as well since his presence was even weaker than before, and Alissa wasn''t getting up. They sure were rxed given that Baal could chase them, but after a while, Ryan concluded that he couldn''t do it for some reason. Chapter 122 - Earth Manipulation That had been one tiring battle, even though it didn''tst that long and despite the fact that Ryan didn''t suffer a single wound thanks to Baal''s attacks. Regardless, he put Alissa on his shoulders and then moved toward the dungeon''s entrance since demons were still spawning. "We still need to understand how this purple crystal works¡­" Ryan sighed. "Are they automatic, or despite being powerful, Baal is stupid enough to send demons knowing that I can easily kill them?" Ryan couldn''t believe that was the case. Even though it looked like a waste of time, Baal was doing that with some n in mind. Although he wanted to find some answers to the other world, Ryan only returned with even more questions. Fortunately, not everything was bad news. Ryan found his smander still guarding the entrance of the dungeon, and he received several notifications. You obtained 4.500 coins. Surprisingly enough, Ryan''s taming skills leveled up while he was away, and he already could tame another beast. That was quite interesting given that they spent just a couple of hours on the other world, and the elder smander had some status points to be allocated. "I knew things would be interesting, but not this much," Ryan said and thenid Alissa''s back against the wall of the dungeon. "I guess it was only natural given that the smander fought demons. You did good, buddy." It was a pity that Ryan didn''t have the time to get the loot the demons he killed dropped, but fortunately, he obtained more than a few coins and status points. Now he just had to rest a little while Alissa sleeps. ss: Hunter Lv 23 / Elementalist Lv 25/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 875th Health: 75/130 (0, 7550) Mana: 150 /214 (0, 7550) Stamina: 96/126 (0,7550) Strength: 10 (+32) (+30) Dexterity: 300 (+73) (+27) Speed: 50 (+45) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+75) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+61) Control: 06 (+57) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 150 (+203) (+100) Willpower: 09 Coins: 99.950 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 24 (+ 2 UP), Concentration Lv 24 (+ 2 UP), Archery Lv 24 (+ 2 UP), uracy Lv 24 (+ 2 UP), Precision Lv 24 (+ 2 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 23 (+ 1 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 07 (+ 5 UP), Ma Lv 10 (+ 2 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 16 (+ 2 UP), Bleed Lv 13 (+ 3 UP), Spells: Mana Transfusion Lv 24 (+ 6 UP), me Arrow Lv 29 (+ 15 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 16 (+ 2 UP), Tame Lv 09 (+ 4 UP), Call Lv 05 (+ 4 UP), Support Skills: Heat Resistance Lv 08 (+ 4 UP), Master''s Support Lv 05 (+ 4 UP) sses: Combat: Sage Lv 14, Beastmaster Lv 06, Non-Combat: cksmith Lv 04, "Not bad, not bad at all for a few hours of fighting," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction." Despite the progress, Ryan was too tired to do anything. Still, he trained his smander for a while, trying to muster any will to leave the dungeon and let his smander work. He also needed to rx a little in order to cool his head, Ryan had some coins to spend, and he needed to spend them wisely. In the end, Ryan didn''t even need to use his head a lot to decided what to do with those coins. He had forgotten about it, but he could buy an Earth Maniption Tome for 100.000 coins, and so he did it. "This looks quite promising¡­" Ryan said after he slowly made an arrow made of Earth and then made it fly around him. "I wonder if I can learn other spells this way." Although Ryan created an Earth Arrow just like the slimes used, he didn''t receive any notification. He was missing something¡­ it was probably the speed the monsters could create the projectiles and fire them. Still, it would take a while for Ryan to learn any spell by using Earth Maniption if that was the case. Although he could control a prettyrge chunk of earth, he was nowhere as fast as a slime could create a magic projectile. "Well, I just need to keep training," Ryan said. "Besides, this type of skill wille in handy when I decide to attack the legs of a foe." It was quite fun to use that kind of magic to pass the time. It was so much that Ryan recovered some of his energy and understood that he needed to obtain another tamed beast and make those skills level up even faster. Unfortunately, he couldn''t leave the unconscious Alissa behind. "Hey, Orgar," Ryan said. "You are awake, aren''t you? Move Alissa''s body because it is time to go." It would be a pain to leave the smander behind to keep ying the demons since the beast could only return the coins to Ryan when they get close enough. Still, he couldn''t just stay in that area forever. The loot that the smander would obtain was another problem. Unfortunately, if Ryan wanted all of those, he would have toe back asionally. After all, there are some dragons in the area, and they might attack the smander, so his pet couldn''t leave the ce. "No response, huh?" Ryan frowned. "Is he ignoring me, or is he just tired as well?" Ryan sighed, but in the end, he decided to use that rare chance to rest as much as possible since he had no idea what would happen next. Hopefully, Alissa and Orgar won''t try to pick a fight with another enemy way out of their league. Still, hope for that was anything but realistic. Chapter 123 - The Devil Himself In the end, Alissa''s presence only recovered its usual power just before the sun could rise on the next day. As one would expect, Orgar woke up first, and he looked much more annoyed than usual. "We underestimated our foe and that world¡­ the level of mana here and there were too different. Due to that, Alissa got tired faster, and she didn''t use her powers efficiently." That sounded like a bunch of excuses, and Ryan wasn''t really interested in that, so he just stayed silent. He didn''t like Orgar''s attitude as well, and he had no intention of trying to be friendly with any dragon. "Regardless, Baal didn''t have the intel we were looking for. That being said, he knows of somes where the invasion began, and dragons appeared, in the same manner, they appeared on Earth. However, he never discovered why that happened." "Still, his boss must have some clue," Alissa said after slowly opening her eyes. "His name is Lucifer Morningstar." "Great¡­ the devil himself is the next target," Ryan said and then sighed. "Not exactly," Alissa shook her head. "I didn''t have time to ask him where I could find him. Besides, even I know after that fight that we can''t face them yet." "So, what is your next n?" Ryan asked. "Get stronger by obtaining new sses and getting used to Orgar''s powers," Alissa replied. "Meanwhile, we will also look for information in other dungeons. I highly doubt that demons are the only sapient species invading Earth." "Very well," Ryan said, and then he began to separate the loot that he obtained in thest hours and put the small ones on his backpack. "I am ready to go." "¡­ Thanks, Ryan, for looking after us while we were unconscious," Alissa said. "I was just repaying my debt," Ryan replied without looking. "Don''t get used to it." Alissa transformed into a dragon again, and then Ryan jumped on her back since his smander will stay behind. Hopefully, the monster won''t lose the coins before Ryan returns. In any case, since Alissa was still weak, her flying speed had decreased a little. Thanks to it, Ryan had plenty of time and chances to level up his Earth Maniption. Although he had decided not to rely too much on magic, he was determined to learn some skills by himself. Besides, even if it wasn''t the same thing, Ryan could always make dirt emte the powers of telekinesis. It would be great if he could reach a level where he could fire arrows at greater speed without using too much mana. Unfortunately, it looked like it would take a while for him to reach that level of mastery. "Do you want to stop by your friends and sell the things that you obtained?" Alissa asked. "They are not my friends and don''t try to be nice to me," Ryan said. "It won''t change anything." Truth to be told, Ryan was already getting tired of those harsh replies, but unfortunately, they were necessary to keep a distance from Alissa. Besides, he didn''t lie. In the end, even though some dragons were nearby, none of them approached even when Alissa and Orgar were weakened. Thanks to it, Ryan was a bit disappointed. It became kind of obvious after he thought for a while, but Alissa decided to check things around Las Vegas. Why? Because it was rtively close to the ocean, and most likely, the chances of them finding dragons there were rtively low since the monsters could fight megalodons on the ocean. Knowing Ryan, despite all his talk of wanting to do his own things, he wouldn''t just watch a dragon trashing a city and the survivors in it. He was brave and fooled enough to challenge even more than a dragon at a time, and that would be troublesome since Alissa wouldn''t be able to help. Along the way, they even thought of stopping at Phoenix, but even from a distance, Alissa could tell that the city got nuked, so they changed their mind and head straight for Las Vegas. There were some dungeons along the way, but they needed to know how things were there before cleared them. Surprisingly enough, they found a good part of the city still standing, and, in some parts, they found walls blocking the monster''s approach. "It looks like we will find a good number of survivors here," Alissa said. "My presence will probablyplicate things, so I think you should investigate things inside the city alone." "I guess so," Ryan said. "I will investigate the area while you see how things are in there," Alissa said, and then she prepared tond. "Considering that they had enough leisure to build those walls, they must have some camps near the dungeons. I will check those ces and confirm if there is any monster it would be useful for you to tame." Ryan sighed after jumping from Alissa''s back, she sure was insistent, and his level as an asshole didn''t reach a point where he could say harsh things every single fucking time. So, he just walked toward Las Vegas. In the end, Ryan didn''t even have to wait for Alissa''s report. Along the way, he probably found all the monsters of the area. They were Desert Wolves, Harpies, Smanders, and Earth Worms. "I guess I will tame the boss of the Desert Wolvester," Ryan muttered. "That one will be as useful as mount just like the elder smander." The smanders were a bit troublesome since they had a high level of Fire Resistance, but the other monsters died rather quickly after getting hit by the me Arrows. It was only natural since the skill leveled up fifteen times while Ryan was fighting demons. Chapter 124 - Survivors It didn''t take long for Ryan to see that some survivors were guarding the walls that were protecting some parts of Las Vegas. It became clear since Ryan saw some monsters scratching the walls, and eventually, they would fall dead. At the same time, the people on the walls also noticed his approach since his me Arrows were leaving a trail of corpses behind. "I guess it is time to increase my luck again. As ofte, I am only getting crappy items, and tomes are scarce considering the number of monsters I killed." As one would expect, a good part of Las Vegas had been destroyed by dragons. The massive buildings had be piles of rubble that also now served as a defensive barrier like the walls. Although some small buildings had been left alone by them, the other monsters attacked and destroyed those. At first, the survivors pointed their long-ranged weapons at Ryan since they thought that he was just a monster disguised as a human. After all, they didn''t see many survivors casually ying monsters while walking. They just saw them while running for their lives. In any case, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh when he saw a man wearing military clothes above the wall. Those types would make him lose a lot of time. "Halt!" The military-looking man shouted. "Who are you, and what you want?" Ryan looked at the man and confirmed that he had a pair of pistols on his legs and several grenades. His hair had been cut pretty short, and he also had a well-built body and an air of authority. There was no mistaking that he was a high-ranked officer in the army. "My name is Ryan," Ryan replied while raising both of his arms. "I am here because I noticed that you had built a decent survivors'' camp and imagined you would have ess to a dungeon inside the city. I just came to learn what kind of monster that dungeon spawns." There was a weird motive, Ryan was fully aware of it, but it was better to be sincere than say some lies and those lies being exposedter. Regardless, the military man studied Ryan for a while since she only had a single hand, but he also had a bow on his back. At first, he couldn''t imagine the harm of revealing that kind of information, but he decided to be more careful. "I also came here to trade the few items that I have and some information that I obtained for some coins," Ryan said. "Those are my only goals. Please tell me what does the dungeon spawn and show some proof of it." "What do you n to do with that kind of information?" The military man asked. "Currently, I am investigating why dragons appeared out of nowhere while monsters came through dungeons," Ryan replied. "I already went to another world and confirmed that there are certain monsters that have a great level of intelligence. That is why I am looking for other dungeons like that one." "You used the purple crystal to go to another world?" The man frowned and smiled a little. "Alone and with that arm?" It was annoying to be looked down, so Ryan activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation. The man showed a shocked expression but then rxed when Ryan made the arm disappear. "The information that I have will grant you the knowledge and ess to some sses easy to obtain," Ryan said. "I mean no harm, and I also havee to warn you about something." "What is it?" The man asked. "Tomorrow, it willplete a month that monsters appeared, right?" Ryan asked. "Then, tomorrow at 06 AM, all the dungeons in the world that have been cleared yet will break, and swarms of monsters will invade Earth." The man didn''t look shocked by the news. Instead, he was just studying Ryan. With the world in that situation, few people would be able to imagine problems like that and even give a proper reason as to why they would happen. Most of them would probably be lunatics, but Ryan didn''t look like one. "You can enter the city and talk to our leader about what you know," The man said. "Thank you," Ryan nodded. "If you leave your weapons and items with us," The man added. Ryan sighed, but then he saw a chance when some desert wolves began to run toward him. Still, with his arms raised, Ryan fired several me Arrows and killed the beasts instantly. Proving that taking away his weapons and items was a waste of time. You obtained 30 coins. You obtained 30 coins. You obtained 30 coins. "Is there any meaning in doing that?" Ryan said. "I warned you about a big problem that is about to take ce all over the world, didn''t I? Besides, if I wanted to attack you or anyone else in the city, I could do it from here. You can imagine the power one needs to cross this area filled with monsters without getting scratched, right?" Ryan had a point, and that man, alongside the other survivors, could only nod at it. For some reason, even though that guy had ten or so survivors at his side and they had quite a bit of experience hunting monsters, they didn''t feel like they could take down Ryan. In truth, the reason was quite simple, few people dared to venture outside Las Vegas since the number of dungeons nearby was rather big, and those who ventured, only a few returned with some serious injuries. Now there was a man in front of them who not only crossed arger distance alone and fought who knows how many monsters. If the people of Las Vegas could obtain the same sses he obtained¡­ they finally would be able to strike back at the monsters. Chapter 125 - Warning Although it was annoying, Ryan had to wait for a while. The military-looking man seemed really troubled with his existence. It was evident that he wanted the knowledge that Ryan had, but he couldn''t just let a stranger enter the city without confirming if that stranger could be a threat. "It is a bit soon for that, but I guess I don''t need to feel so tense around the people here. If this guy is troubled, thanks to me, he probably isn''t an asshole." Still, time was of the essence, and Ryan decided to help the guy reach a conclusion a bit faster. The problem was: what could he do to make a serious guy like that understand once and for all that he wasn''t an enemy? "How about this," Ryan said and then picked his me Sword. "I will let you have this weapon while staying inside the city. It is my best weapon, so you won''t have to worry about me suddenly picking it up and shing people left and right. I can''t give any of my bows, but you must be aware that sometimes it is required to fire an arrow." After saying that, Ryan tossed the sword, and the man grabbed it. After he read the status, he confirmed that it was indeed a powerful weapon. In fact, it was the strongest weapon he had seen, and yet, that stranger easily gave it away¡­ temporarily. "If it is just temporary, you certainly won''t mind giving us that shield on your back," The man said. "Don''t be unreasonable," Ryan said. Ryan was getting impatient, but fortunately, the military-looking man gave the other survivors the order to rx. That being said, he only gave permission for Ryan to approach when two other squads of heavily armed survivors approached. "You have the permission to enter Las Vegas," The man said. "However, these people and I will keep an eye on you." "I don''t mind," Ryan said. Although he jumped here and there, Ryan never really tested the power of his body. Still, with a single jump, he easily passed over those ten meters tall walls. For an archer, his body sure was strong. Still, without wasting any more time, the military-looking man began to lead him to their leader while twenty or so people armed with firearms were behind Ryan. "Can I assume that you guys have a dungeon inside the city which spawns somewhat intelligent monsters?" Ryan asked. "Well, you said that you want to see a proof, right?" The man said. "So, it will be better to see for yourself. By the way, my name is Victor, and I apologize for all that time wasted back there." "No need to apologize," Ryan said. "You don''t trust me yet, so it is only natural that he would be cautious." "¡­ Right," Victor said. "Still, can you give me some details as to how you discovered about the dungeon breaks? I assume you want to sell other types of information unrted to this, Am I correct?" "Yes, about that¡­" Ryan frowned, thinking of how hard it would be to believe about the things he experienced the previous day. "There is a dungeon which spawns demons in Houston, and the boss of there was a highly intelligent demon. After defeating the monster, I forced him to tell me what he knew." Ryan kept Alissa''s existence a secret because he didn''t know if he could trust that people yet. If they know that he is working with a human who has draconic powers, they won''t try anything funny, but if they were scum, they would try to steal Ryan''s items if they think that he is alone. "Demons?" Victor frowned. "Yes, demons," Ryan said. "You saw dragons, but you can''t believe in the existence of demons? Anyway, that is not even the crazy part of the story." "Really?" Victor asked. "I was thinking that you crossing almost two thousand of kilometers was the unbelievable part of the story." "After interrogating the demon, I used the purple crystal and appeared on another world, a world that demons had exterminated the dominant species and now a single demon was the owner of the ce," Ryan exined. "One of the five generals of the demons'' army was there; his name is Baal, and he is much more powerful than any dragon." "Baal? That Baal from the games and the Bible?" Victor frowned even more. "Is he mentioned in the Bible?" Ryan asked, surprised. "I didn''t know that. Well, I guess it makes sense now since his boss is the devil himself." "¡­ This is a bit hard to process," Victor looked behind and saw the survivors whispering among themselves. "You need to forgive me for not buying this story entirely." "Understandable," Ryan said. "Anyway, for the time being, they won''t be a threat since I left someone behind watching the dungeon they spawn, but if you want to confirm my theory, you are free to go to Houston and see the dungeon yourself." That was improbably, so Ryan was fully aware that no one would be able to prove if he was lying or not. In any case, Ryan would have to stay for a few days in Las Vegas, so at the very least, he will prove his information about the dungeon breaks. Around ny percent of Las Vegas had been destroyed due to the dragon''s attack, but there were plenty of survivors around despite that. However, most of them were just trying to scavenge things amidst the rubble since their previous technology might still be useful. Still, even though there were a few dungeons around, the number of fighters was lowpared to the total number of survivors. Thanks to that, the walls that had been created using the Earth Wall spell only could be found at a few points. "You guys need to be a bit more cautious while working during the day," Ryan said. "Even though the dragons left most of the cities, they attacked behind. They might return." "I don''t think so," Victor said. "They already destroyed everything they could destroy here, and the poption decreased drastically." "Well, you probably won''t believe this a single dragon returned to attack two hundred or so survivors," Ryan said. "When that happened, even those who had three sses didn''t have the chance to fight. The only thing they did was run." Chapter 126 - Berserk Lionel Once again, Victor had a hard time believing in Ryan''s words¡­ it was only natural, but even Ryan had a limit to his patience. Instead of talking more or exining, Ryan decided to only open his mouth again after finding the survivors'' leader in the area and then say what he knew, get his reward and then explore the dungeon. Much to Ryan''s surprise, they were walking in a straight line toward the dungeon. The survivors built their camp around it just was one would expect, but things looked quite noisy in there. Some fight was happening in front of the dungeon. After a while, Ryan got close enough to see a ck-haired woman kicking and punching what seemed to be a minotaur¡­ no, it wasn''t a minotaur. It was something that had a humanoid body but had the head of a lion. The creature had a lot of fun around the arms and legs, and it has even ws there¡­ At the same time, the beast also had some scary-looking fangs. Berserk Lionel - Lv 30 Health: 1.000 /1.000 Mana: 600/600 Stamina: 1.200/1.200 Strength: 250 (+100) Dexterity: 150 (+40) Speed: 300 (+60) Intelligence: 50 (+10) Endurance: 550 (+150) Control: 120 (+20) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 50 Spells: Strong Arms Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 40 "Mmm¡­ that looks like a troublesome opponent," Ryan said since that creature was stronger than the monsters he saw outside the city. That level of endurance and Pain Resistance were a problem, but the ck-haired woman was fighting while hitting the monster''s arms and legs when it was trying to use those. Her weapons were¡­ a pair of bracers. It was a weird choice of weapon considering that monsters can smash humans with ease since just one month had passed since they appeared. Still, the ck-haired woman had the advantage in the fight, she was tall, and it looked like she had plenty of fighting experience since her muscles were well-defined. Even while covered in sweat, she didn''t have a single wound on her body. Meanwhile, the lion-like monster was already covered in bruises and had a hard time raising its arms. For some reason, the woman was fighting solo even though several armed survivors were around. That was a problem since Ryan already could hear another monster''s footstepsing out from the dungeon. However, before the second appearance, the woman jumped backward and then prepared her final attack. It was like Ryan''s Power Shot, but she used her entire body to concentrate a single attack. In the end, the woman disappeared for a second, and then she reappeared, punching the monster and ripping off its head from the body. "That is our leader. Her name is Chloe," Victor said. "I will suggest you not to anger her. She has a short-temper." "I suspected as much," Ryan said. Chloe stepped aside when the next monster appeared, and several other survivors took her ce. It was kind of satisfying to see another human who also had gotten pretty strong as well. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but frown a little when he saw the woman sitting in an armchair, and then several survivors began to¡­ fan her with some¡­ fans. Las Vegas was pretty hot at that time of the year, but still¡­ "Ma''am, we have a visitor," Victor said. "This is Ryan, and he came from Houston to warn us about some problems that are about to happen." Chloe looked at Ryan from head to toe. Although she didn''t underestimate him for having lost one arm, she didn''t seem interested in talking. Instead of that, someone brought her a juice, and she began to drink it. "It looks like the end of the world has been pretty rxing to some people," Ryan said. "You should enjoy this moment more because this is probably thest day of you guys in Las Vegas." This time Chloe not only looked at Ryan, but she also red at him. That sounded like a threat. Although Victor seemed surprised by that statement, he more or less could understand the meaning behind Ryan''s words. After all, they haven''t cleared that dungeon yet. "Ma''am, Ryan came to warn us that all the dungeons in the world that haven''t been cleared yet will break tomorrow at six in the morning," Victor said. "He also came to sell the information of some easy to clear dungeons." "¡­ Are you really from Houston?" Chloe asked. "I imagined you had to pass by many dungeons just to warn us." "No, I am not from Houston," Ryan said. "I came from a ce close to Das. I just went to investigate the biggest city in the region that hadn''t been nuked. Anyway, you don''t need to believe me. I just ask you to let me clear the dungeon as a sign of goodwill for the information that I already gave you. If the dungeon breaks, dozens of bosses will spawn, and all of them will leave the dungeon. Also, thousands of those lion-like creatures wille out as well. I don''t think you want to see that." Chloe studied Ryan again. Despite his words, he was pretty calm, and he also sounded pretty convincing, as if he had experienced one of those dungeon breaks. Still, Chloe didn''t get nervous or worried. "I guess we will have to abandon Las Vegas," Chloe said and then sighed. "All that fighting for nothing, huh. We will have to start over somewhere else again." "You are strong, and yet, you don''t n to clear the dungeon?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you already faced the boss of this dungeon." "Indeed¡­ that fucker almost killed me one week ago," Chloe clenched her teeth in annoyance. "And before that happened, he killed twenty of strongest survivors I had trained myself in less than a minute." Chapter 127 - It Is A Deal Apparently, Chloe''s behavior only changed since her defeat. Although she seemed to look cold and calctive, she lost a lot of friends in that battle a week ago. After the loss, she decided to focus on herself instead of getting close to others again. It was a backstory simr to Ryan. The only difference was that Ryan worked alone almost every single time. "I have been training to have my rematch, but as expected, I won''t have time for that," Chloe said. "It would be too convenient if we could train forever while that fucker''s level only increases once every five days." Based on the few seconds of fight he saw, Ryan concluded that those Berserk Lionel had some certain level of intelligence, but much like the demons, the creatures that spawned were just the minions of someone much smarter and stronger. "This bad news made me depressed," Chloe said and then sighed. "You can take my ce if you want." "So, you believe me?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you are far less cautious than your survivors." "Don''t be mistaken, I will wait here until morning and confirm your words," Chloe said. "Besides, I need a break. Show me something interesting, one-handed dude, and then I will consider listening to the other things you have to say and not treat them like nonsense." Being called that wasn''t very pleasant, but in the end, Ryan was exactly that¡­ a man with a single hand. In any case, Ryan wouldn''t throw away his chance to practice his skills and gain coins, so he just headed toward the dungeon. Several of the survivors frowned when Ryan equipped his bow, but they frowned even more when they saw his right arm appearing. It looked like the right arm of a monster, after all. "Let''s see¡­ with my recovery at his level. I can maintain this skill for forty-five seconds. I guess that I can charge an attack of seven seconds per enemy then. That should be enough." To confirm that theory, a new lion-like monster appeared, and then Rya did exactly that: charged Power Shot for seven seconds. When his bone arrow hit the monster, the whole body of the creature exploded, and the shockwave caused by the impact made everyone nearby step backward a little bit. You obtained sixty coins. "Not bad," Chloe said. "But you will never hit the boss with an attack of that level. Besides, it isn''t nearly enough to kill it." "It wouldn''t be fun if it could," Ryan said. " Regardless, seven seconds of charged Power Shot had been overkill. It was only natural since Ryan''s dexterity was four hundred now. Ryan had to adjust his strength, but in the end, he still had four seconds of charge to kill the beasts. Not only that, his me Arrows were close to useless against the monster. Ryan had to use ten of them to kill a single monster, thus making it almost impractical to use. "In terms of cost, both methods use almost the same amount. Still, I need to save time here¡­ like usual." In the meantime, Ryan decided to train his Meditation and recover a little more mana. The effect was still low inparison to his recovery, but it was better than nothing. While he was doing that, Ryan began to wonder if he would be able to tame the boss of the dungeon. It was only obvious that taming an intelligent creature would prove to be far moreplicated. "How many sses do you have?" Chloe asked. "It is embarrassing to answer such a personal question," Ryan shrugged. "Would you answer your three sizes if a man asks?" "No problem, mine are¡­" Chloe said. "Well, good for you, but I don''t want to hear it," Ryan said. "You are smarter than you look," Chloeughed. "Only someone stupid or incredibly na?ve would answer that since others would be able to estimate how many skills you have and how many status points you earned. Regardless, you don''t look like someone who was trained in the army like I was. Despite that, you have a certain air of confidence while using the bow." "My father taught me how to use one for years," Ryan said. Ryan didn''t have to hide that kind of information since he took pride in that. Besides, if he was alive right now, it was all thanks to his teachings. Still, when Chloe began to ask other things like what he was doing before the monsters appeared, he stayed quiet. He was the leader of the survivors in the area and more or less the owner of that dungeon. Although Ryan had to stay on her good side to use the dungeon, he wouldn''t do everything to achieve that. He had his job, and as far as he was concerned, he could just wait until the dungeon break happens, and then he and Alissa will have the chance that they want if Chloe decides that he is no longer weed there. Fortunately, or maybe surprisingly, no one did anything to take his ce. Even after several hours, Ryan still was killing the Berserk Lionels with a single shot. Although Chloe could do the same thing, she didn''t have the mana, stamina, and recovery to do that for several hours. "I am listening, Ryan," Chloe said. "What else do you have to say to us? After reaching this level of power, someone wouldn''t waste time inventing crazy stories about dungeon breaks." "I already said everything I know. The only left is about the location of the dungeons to obtain the sses," Ryan said. "Obviously, I intend to sell that information only. I think ten thousand coins per dungeon is a pretty reasonable price, don''t you think?" "I guess so," Chloe nodded. "Still, we spent all the coins we obtain to buy tomes and potions, so not even I have all that many coins to use. That being said, this information will be useful to us all, so I bet everyone will offer some coins to obtain that intel. In a few hours, I will return with the right amount." Chapter 128 - Unavoidable Although Chloe and Victor left the area, Ryan still was being watched by a few dozens of survivors. While he was fine with that, he felt like he was missing something¡­ it couldn''t be that he was missing Alissa''s presence. Still, that doubt didn''t leave his mind. Regardless, Power Shot was leveling a lot since the opponents were tough and Ryan had to charge the attack for several seconds, and his other skills were also increasing at a steady pace. The problem was: could Ryan clear the dungeon alone before sunrise? It was already midnight, and considering that he couldn''t do anything against Baal, Ryan started to think that brute strength wouldn''t be enough to defeat other intelligent foes. ss: Hunter Lv 27 / Elementalist Lv 25/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/-- Rank: 842nd Health: 75/138 (0, 7950) Mana: 150 /226 (0, 7950) Stamina: 96/138 (0,7950) Strength: 10 (+32) (+30) Dexterity: 300 (+83) (+27) Speed: 50 (+51) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+79) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+61) Control: 06 (+65) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 150 (+227) (+100) Willpower: 09 Coins: 72.350 Status: 77 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 27 (+6 UP), Herculean Strength Lv 12 (+3 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 26 (+2 UP), Concentration Lv 26 (+2 UP), Archery Lv 26 (+2 UP), uracy Lv 26 (+2 UP), Stealth Lv 11 (+3 UP), Perception Lv 15 (+2 UP), Precision Lv 26 (+2 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 26 (+2 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 10 (+3 UP), Ma Lv 12 (+2 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 18 (+2 UP), Bleed Lv 17 (+3 UP), Spells: Meditation Lv 17, Appraisal Lv 22, Repair Lv 08, Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 09, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 18, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 16, Beastmaster Lv 06, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 06, Things progressed so well that Ryan even forgot about that feeling. However, one hour before sunrise, that feeling returned in spades when Ryan finally noticed that the people that were watching him suddenly disappeared. "Good grief¡­" Ryan sighed. "They can''t be that stupid, right?" Even with his Nocturnal Vision, Ryan couldn''t see anyone. If the people of that city were nning anything, they knew exactly the time to do it. When Ryan heard the sound of another monster approaching, he prepared a Power Shot, but then he heard a hissing sounding from his right side. Immediately, he jumped in that direction while his back was pointing toward that direction. Ryan heard a powerful thud when his spiked shield got hit. At the same time, he heard a small grunting from that direction as well. "The time has finallye¡­" Ryan sighed and fired his bone arrow, and killed the Berserk Lionel. "For a while, I even forgot about this possibility thanks to those idiots." By those idiots, Ryan was referring to the people of Shreveport. Lilian, Cole, John, and all the others¡­ Noticing that they couldn''t wait for the next monster, several projectiles flew toward Ryan. Even Fireballs, Earth Arrows, Wind des were among the projectiles. His back was well-protected thanks to the spiked shield, but Ryan was forced to use Mana Shield to block those who were aimed at his heart and head. Ryan heard some grunts again thanks to the effect of the spiked shield¡­ apparently, that effect doesn''t have a limit of the range. While that was cool, Ryan could think about itter. First, he had to steel his resolve¡­ he killed thousands of monsters until now, but now¡­ he had to kill humans. Without a hint of hesitation, Ryan destroyed the bonfire with an Earth Arrow. The people who tried to kill him panicked when they suddenly lost sight of him and then some began to run away. However, the vast majority calmed down after hearing someone''s voice. "Calm down!" Chloe shouted. "He can''t see well in this darkness too, just burn everything close to you, and he won''t be able to find any of us." Chloe really had nned that attack¡­ her excuse of collecting coins from everyone was just a big lie. She probably thought all the power Ryan had was due to some magic items that he had and others that were hidden. She couldn''t be more wrong about so many things. Ryan leaped and then fired several me Arrows in the direction where Chloe''s voice came from. Although he didn''t hit her, he saw her when the arrows hit some survivors nearby her. "Found you," Ryan said. "Let''s hope Father and Mother in the beyond won''t feel much disgusted by this." When Ryannded, several other projectiles flew toward him, but he dodged them all by lowering his posture and running. However, when he was thirty or so meters away from Chloe, a new group of enemies appeared. Ryan didn''t see them, but he heard the sound of triggers being pulled. A barrage of bullets was shot toward him, and even though Ryan reacted as fast as possible, his right arm still got hit in several ces. "Ouch¡­ this hurts like hell," Ryan said after noticing that each bullet took five points off his health. "She had a squad armed with firearms behind her¡­ pretty smart." While Ryan wasn''t suffering much damage and his foes were getting scratched thanks to his shield''s effect, the situation wasn''t good. He could hear footsteps, and the people were trying to surround him. Although they didn''t know all the things that Ryan could do, they knew his mana had a limit. "Oh, well¡­" Ryan sighed. "I guess they won''t mind¡­ since they aren''t going to receive a proper funeral, after all." When Chloe''s allies began to fire magic projectiles again, they frowned when they saw that the Fireballs were stopping before hitting Ryan. More important than that, the Fireballs agglomerated in a single ce until it wasrger than a human. When that happened, Ryan fired it toward the squad of armed survivors. They screamed in agony, unable to dissipate the fire on their clothes. The smell of human flesh burning bothered Ryan, but he didn''t stop there. You obtained 212 coins. You obtained 359 coins. You obtained 411 coins. ¡­ Chapter 129 - A Misunderstanding... Chloe clicked her tongue in annoyance after recovering from the shock. Somehow, an archer could control the magic attack of the enemies and even use it against them. Thanks to that miscalction, Chloe lost thirty survivors that were armed with firearms. She had nned to weaken Ryan a bit more with long-ranged attacks, but that was no longer a luxury that she has. At the very least, after all that fighting, she learned something, Ryan wasn''t a melee fighter. There was no telling if Ryan could concentrate the elemental attacks of another type, so Chloe dashed toward him. Confirming her theory that he wasn''t a melee fighter, Ryan tried to stop her charge with the shield, but he wasn''t fast enough, and she hit him in the stomach and made him fly for several meters. That had been a mistake. The very moment the survivors noticed that Chloe decided to fight, her allies stopped attacking. Knowing that Ryan was an excellent archer, they couldn''t just light some torches either. Otherwise, they would be easy targets. Before Ryan could evennd on the ground, Chloe was already running toward him, and this time, she wasing to finish him off once and for all. Using half of the remaining mana that he had, Ryan fired several Earth Bullets. Chloe''s first instinct was to protect her head, and so she did it. That had been another mistake since Ryan only aimed at her stomach. The pain made her lost all the air in her lungs and, at the same time, made her trip. As much as Ryan wanted to finish her off as fast as possible, the very moment she fell, he alsonded on the ground and rolled several times. When he got up, Ryan saw that his health had decreased to thirty percent, and his ribcage hurt the hell out of him whenever he breathed. More than a few ribs had been broken, but only that much didn''t stop Ryan from equipping his bow and summoning a bone arrow. At the same time, Chloe got up, trying to recover from the damage to her stomach. She tried to move, but her legs were stuck on the ground. Chloe touched them and confirmed that while she was lying down, the earth had swallowed her feet. That had been, without a doubt, one of Ryan''s actions. Ryan pulled the string, and then Chloe began to sweat cold. She didn''t have the courage to pull her legs from the earth and rip his feet to survive that predicament. Even if she survives that, she couldn''t imagine winning that battle without her feet. "Wait!" Chloe shouted. The Ryan of one month ago would have stopped, perhaps he would even show some mercy, or at the very least, he would ask why she tried to kill him. However, the current Ryan wasn''t interested in anything that would make him waste his time. Nonchntly, he fired the arrow when he confirmed it had just enough power to destroy Chloe''s bracers alongside everything behind it. As expected, the bone arrow pierced through the bracers and Chloe''s arms, but in the end, it pierced her heart. For a while, Ryan wondered if he had underestimated her defensive capabilities or if he just held back in order not to make her body explode in several pieces. In the end, it didn''t matter. You obtained 19.256 coins. Ryan sighed¡­ to think that someone could have killed him in just two attacks. He knew that he had been neglecting his defense, but¡­ Regardless, Ryan still could see some shadows moving around, trying to see what had happened. So, he still had some work to do, and he wouldn''t stop until all those who tried to kill him share the same fate as Chloe. After half an hour, the sun began to rise, and the light revted one hundred or so corpses around the dungeon of the lion-like monsters. Killing these people had been much easier than Ryan had expected. After all, even without heat-vision sses or anything like it, he could see in the darkness thanks to his night demon''s blood. Still, the number surprised me a little. He had seen around five hundred survivors on the previous day, so it didn''t make any sense that only one hundred attacked him. Apparently, Chloe only selected those who worked in the protection of the city to help on this ambush. Suddenly, Ryan heard the sound of something moving. It was weak, but Ryan also felt a presence. When he approached, he saw Victor, half-dead with deep burn marks all over his body. "You monster¡­" Victor said. "Yeah, I am a monster, and you are the innocent one here," Ryan said. "Why did you attack me? Just to save some coins? Are you guys retarded?" "We have lookouts outside¡­ the city¡­" Victor said. "They saw you with a dragon¡­ you are working¡­ with them¡­" Ryan couldn''t believe that¡­ everything happened over a misunderstanding. That was so crazy and stupid¡­ why would a dragon work with a human? A single dragon was more than enough to kill five hundred people and their survivors'' camp. If those idiots had just used their heads a little¡­ "I am working with a dragon, but not for the motives you imagined," Ryan said. "I guess this was inevitable¡­" "Don''t involve the others in this¡­" Victor said. "They know nothing of this¡­ they are unrted." "As if I could me them for your stupidity," Ryan said. "Still, I wonder how they are going to survive here without your help." Strangely enough, Victor didn''t say anything after that. There was nothing more to say. He couldn''t beg for his life, nor could he ask Ryan to look after the other survivors. Still, there was no point in Ryan pondering about dirtying his hands again at that point in time. So, he just ended Victor''s suffering with an arrow on his heart. Chapter 130 - Battle For Survival Ryan obtained a lot of loot and coins thanks to the previous battle, but he didn''t feel like a winner or as if he had hit the jackpot. If anything, he felt like he had eaten the worst meal of his life. This disturbing taste in his mouth wasn''t going away. Regardless, the dungeon was about to break, so Ryan had other problems to worry about. Just when Ryan was about to enter the dungeon, Alissa suddenly appeared. "It looked like some serious shit happened here," Alissa said while she wasnding. "You didn''t give me any sign, so I was forced toe and check things since the dungeons are about to break. By the way, when they saw me, the survivors in the area began to run away in all directions. They are probably going to leave the city." "Is that so?" Ryan said without looking much interested in the subject. "Anyway, it looks like the boss of this dungeon isn''t an ordinary monster. So, if you want to check this as fast as possible, we have to hurry." "While it seems fun to experience a dungeon break, I am here to help Orgar," Alissa said. "So, let''s talk to the boss and clear this dungeon." Although Ryan wasn''t much excited to keep fighting, and that was pretty rare for his usual behavior, he still kept killing the monsters. Despite everything, he didn''t forget the humiliation he suffered when they talked to Baal. He had been treated like a worm, and he didn''t have the chance to do anything to prove otherwise. Still, with so many thoughts in his mind, he forgot to prepare himself for the battle, and he didn''t buy a single potion. Ryan didn''t even use a single coin, even though he had more than 150.000 coins after all that killing. Regardless, since they hurried, Ryan and Alissa arrived at the end of the dungeon pretty fast, and Ryan finally discovered why Chloe felt like abandoning the city instead of facing the boss onest time. The boss was like the other monsters, but he was like two times taller andrger. That was more than enough to prove that he was several times strong, but the fact that really impressed me was that he was sitting cross-legged, and it was meditating. When they arrived, the monster opened its eyes, but unlike the demons'' dungeon''s boss, he didn''t lose the will to fight after noticing the difference in power between him and Alissa. Berserk Lionel - Lv 60 Health: 5.000 /5.000 Mana: 3.000/3.000 Stamina: 6.000/6.000 Strength: 1250 (+200) Dexterity: 750 (+140) Speed: 1500 (+260) Intelligence: 250 (+100) Endurance: 2750 (+350) Control: 600 (+120) Mentality: 450 Luck: 250 (+50) Recovery: 1600 (+200) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 150 Spells: Strong Arms Lv 120 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100 The boss was even stronger than Ryan imagined. In the end, a boss with such statuses was the worst type of enemy against humans who still were getting the hang of the system. With that endurance and recovery, not even Ryan would be able to take him down fast enough. "I sensed the smell of blooding from outside," The boss said. "To think that the cause of it would be two humans and the spirit of the dragon. Your race has gone mad much faster than I predicted." The cause had been a single human, but Ryan didn''t feel like talking, much less correcting the monster. The creature got up, but before the fighting could start. Alissa increased the gravity around the monster, locking him in that ce. "Before we fight, why don''t you answer some questions?" Alissa asked. "We don''t know if I will be able to hold back or if in the very end, you still will be able to talk, after all." "I wouldn''t be so sure of that¡­" The boss said. "But sure, why don''t you say the questions you have in mind. Then, I might understand why a dragon sided with a human." The boss looked pretty confident, and that didn''t feel like a bluff to annoy Alissa and Orgar. For some reason, Ryan''s instincts were telling him that the battle would be heard, even though Alissa had the upper hand in terms of raw power. In any case, Alissa asked about what the monster knew regarding dragons. Unfortunately, he didn''t know anything that they didn''t already know. The only thing new was that apparently, to be able to control a dungeon and the purple crystal, the inhabitants of a had to exterminate at least all the monsters or creatures that attacked their world. The berserk lionels had twos under their control, but they are still being invaded by other monsters, even by dragons. "I see¡­ so you are a low-life that decides to attack others even knowing the hardships a certain species has to endure while being attacked by monsters from all sides," Ryan said. "Perhaps I should exterminate all the inhabitants of your world and then earn the right to be the owner of a dungeon." "You can try, but I don''t think you will seed," The boss said. "Besides, would things be different we hadn''t attacked your? I don''t think so. This is a battle for survival, and one has to do anything to ensure the survival of their species." That argument was sound, and that made Ryan question if there was some sort of advantage in owning a dungeon to attack others. Considering the boss''s words, Ryan felt that there was, so his interest was increasing, but he would have to work quite a bit to eliminate all the creatures of any monster, even if they were only slimes. However, Ryan was determined to try. At that point in time, he knew too little about the system, so he had to do everything possible to obtain the intel that only those troublesome creatures had... even if he had to be like them in some aspects. Chapter 131 - Tough Foe The talk wasn''t over yet. Alissa wanted to ask more things about the boss'' allies and confirm right there if he has to hide something. However, after emanating a weird blue aura from his body, the monster freed himself from the gravity trap Alissa had created and then disappeared. Ryan immediately cast Mana Shield, and he barely managed to stop the boss from crushing him. Once again, he was being treated like the weakest in the ce. Before the Mana Shield could shatter, Alissa transformed his right hand and tried to smash the monster. However, her attack wasn''t as nearly as fast enough to hit the boss. The creature jumped back and avoided the attack. "I can see now where all that confidence wasing from. He knows that Alissa doesn''t have much experience in battle, and she isn''t that good at controlling Orgar''s power or even his body. As expected, if she isn''t fast or skilled enough, all that power is useless against some opponents." In order not to be stopped by Alissa''s gravity, the boss began to jump around as fast as he could move. The difference in speed was so big that Ryan couldn''t even see the monster. The only thing he could do was to react on instinct alone. Still, even though that was beneficial, relying on speed alone might be troublesome, and Ryan knew how to take advantage of that. "He is trying to buy time for the dungeon break, Alissa. Just step back and burn this entire area with the Fire Breath." "But if I hit the crystal¡­" Alissa said. "Then just don''t attack that area. You can control at least that much the mes." "If I do that, he will notice it, and he will run the on the only ce I can''t attack," Alissa said. "Just do it," Ryan said, and then he equipped his bow. "I will deal with him if he decides to do that." Everyone knew that a single arrow wouldn''t kill the boss. In the end, Ryan cursed hisck of concentration. He let the previous incident take a big toll on his head. While that was only natural, it was annoying to fight against a much stronger opponent without potions¡­ he couldn''t let that happen again. Otherwise, his options will be limited in the future. Regardless, they stepped back, and even in her human form, Alissa used Fire Breath. As expected, the entirest part of the dungeon was engulfed in mes. The only part which wasn''t being burned has a few centimeters above the ground, which Ryan used to confirm the boss''s location. As expected, the very moment the beast confirmed that Alissa didn''t want to attack the purple crystal, he ran to there. Even if he had a high endurance and recovery, he could onlyst for so long against a direct hit. Ryan nocked his arrow and prepared the attack, he didn''t need it, but in the end, he charged Power Shot for a few seconds. Even while surrounded by the mes, the boss noticed Ryan''s attack. It was only obvious that Ryan would attack at that moment since a human using the powers of a dragon could only keep using Fire Breath with that much power for so long. The boss grabbed the bone arrow without much difficulty, and it only suffered a small scratch on his hand. However, when the beast broke the arrow, he felt a shiver for some reason. He didn''t sense any other attacking since no attack came yet¡­ it was only being prepared. When the boss noticed that the ground was swallowing his feet, he immediately punched it. However, he only slowed down the process a bit. In the end, the monster used both hands and wed the ground beneath his right feet when he saw that Ryan made his choice and smashed the left foot of the boss. "It looks like his endurance isn''t that impressive against magic attacks¡­ I guess mentality works better against that type of attack." Ryan tried topletely destroy the monster''s feet in order to prevent any healing or regeneration, but in the end, the monster endured the pain, and he had been fast enough also to pull his left feet from the ground. As much as Ryan wanted to repeat that again, he couldn''t since he spent eighteen percent of his mana in that single attack. After all, he attacked from very far away, and he didn''t hold back. At the same time, the Fire Breath ended, and Alissa appeared with a pale expression on her face. "Sorry¡­ let me¡­ catch my breath a little bit," Alissa said. Alissa probably used a lot of mana in a short amount of time in a technique she didn''t use often. Although the situation was a bitplicated, Ryan still had plenty of stamina to fight, so he put away his bow and equipped his me Sword. Alissa did the same and readied her long blue sword. "I admit that I underestimated you two a little bit," The boss said. "But I think you two are going a bit too far¡­" "A little bit, huh," Ryan said. "I wonder if that is the case. Maybe you are right, but you are guilty of the same crime" The boss frowned since he also sensed that Ryan wasn''t bluffing. In the end, he finally noticed that his wounds made him bleed more than he had expected. Thanks to it, even if recovery helps him a little bit, he would have to pay a great toll in order for his right feet to be usable again. Besides, it wasn''t like Ryan and Alissa would wait for it. "You shouldn''t think that you only lost half of your speed," Ryan said and then smirked. For some reason, Ryan was feeling pretty good at that moment. It was probably because the enemy wasn''t another brain-dead monster, but it wasn''t a seemingly invincible powerhouse like Baal either. Defeating the creature here truly would make him feel like he won a battle for his home. Chapter 132 - Multiple Dungeon Breaks Just as Ryan said, the boss''s speed decreased considerably. To the point where even Ryan could cut him here and there thanks to the fact that Alissa was in the opposite directions and she was more robust. Thanks to it, the boss focused on her. Still, despite that, Ryan was the one who was causing more damage thanks to Bleed. The boss jumped as high as he could in order to escape from them, and then he only stopped when he hit the ceiling and pierced it with his hand to use it as a support. He had underestimated Ryan''s instincts and skills, both of them were inexperienced, but they had other talents to make up for that. "Shit¡­" The boss clenched his teeth. "I just need five more minutes." It was clear that he wouldn''t have those five minutes. Although his right feet were almostpletely healed, the rest of his body was a mess due to the blood loss and the fact that recovery also was using the nutrients of his body to heal those wounds. In any case, Ryan equipped his bow again since he was tired of waiting, and he really didn''t want to throw the me Sword as a projectile and risk give it to the boss a weapon. In the end, the boss decided to go all out onest time, his defeat was already assured, and the dungeon won''t break. Still, he will have other chances¡­ However, he couldn''t let those two have other chances. Killing Alissa, who was tired, wasn''t impossible, but it would very hard. On the other hand, crush Ryan was very usible since they had low endurance. The boss tensed his legs against the ceiling and then leaped toward Ryan. If he had the chance to sigh, Ryan would have done that, but he didn''t. What the boss was thinking was so obvious that he couldn''t help but feel disappointed. No¡­ the whole battle had been disappointing since it had been a battle of two against one. Alone and without potions, Ryan wouldn''t be able to win, but since he wasn''t alone, he managed to use some tactics that granted their victory. Ryan didn''t recover all his mana, but he had nned something that would grant him a massive boost of power in a single moment, and he wouldn''t have to charge any attack. In the blink of an eye, he activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation on his head. Ryan felt his mana and magic powers growing, so he didn''t hesitate and used Earth Maniption. A five meters tall stctite was raised from the ground, and the boss head straight to it. Although the beast tried to attack the object, he only hurt his fists and didn''t stop the momentum. In the end, the monster was impaled from head to toe. You obtained 7.500 coins. "Dumbass¡­ That is what you get from having so little mentality," Ryan said and then fell on the ground since he was dizzy. "My head hurts¡­ so that is what happens when I use more mana than I should have." "This was fun," Alissa sat on the ground, smiling. "As expected, defeating an enemy in a close battle while use tactics are much more rewarding than just overpowering them." Ryan didn''t share of the same opinion. As long as he defeats his enemies from far away and they are just about his strength, he wouldn''t mind anything else. In any case, this time, the boss dropped something a bottle of blood¡­ it was the blood of another monster, and Ryan would be able to obtain a new race. Weirdly enough, his rank didn''t increase after all that fighting. "Well, now what should we do about this?" Ryan picked the bottle. "You can have it," Alissa said. "Although we worked together and should share the rewards, I don''t think Orgar will like to possess a body that has the blood of other species." While that made sense, Ryan didn''t want to owe Alissa any other favors, so he offered a handshake gave her the coins he just obtained. Even Alissa knew that arguing wouldn''t change anything at this point in time, and Ryan was stubborn as a mule. Ice Fox'' Blood. It grants you the following skills: Frozen Arrow, Water Maniption, Icebound. "Mmm¡­ I don''t know if I should feel thankful or not since Water Maniption would cost me one hundred thousand coins. Still, I wanted something more useful for my fighting style like Elves'' blood¡­ well, whatever." Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Frozen Arrow. Summon and fire a Frozen Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence + 20%. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Water Maniption. It grants you the power to manipte the water element. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Icebound. It increases by one percent your recovery while fighting in cold terrains. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, it made sense that Ryan obtained Water Maniption. After all, he would only be able to use and level up Icebound in extremely rare situations. Still, considering that Ryan would have to choose a new ss as well, things were proceeding extremely favorably to him. However, before he or Alissa could open the treasure chest, the entire dungeon began to tremble¡­ no, the entire world trembled. "It is happening," Alissa said. The dungeon breaks were happening at that very moment. In the end, Ryan didn''t think too much about it. After all, after that fighting where he had such a hard time even while fighting alongside Alissa, he understood that he was only a weak human. There was no way that he alone could have prevented that disaster or decreased the damage caused. The only thing he could do was to prevent a few dungeons from breaking. It was a bit annoying, but it was the absolute truth... at least for the time being. Chapter 133 - Class: Archer Although the number of problems increased exponentially now that dozens of bosses of who knows how many dungeons will wander around the earth, Ryan couldn''t waste any time thinking about it because thinking about it wouldn''t solve anything. So, he did the only thing he could do. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guard, Archer, and Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Good, even though I forgot to increase my luck, it looks like things are going on my way for once. From now on, whenever possible, I will choose sses that are rted to the use of long-ranged weapons. I got satisfied since I could fight and defeat vast numbers of small fries, but there are creatures out there that are way out of my league. I can''t rx until I obtain the power to defeat them alone. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Archer! You obtained the following skills: Brute Arrow, Arrow Shower, and Quick Legs. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Brute Arrow. Effect: Increases the power of your arrows by ten percent and pushes the enemy away. The lighter the target, therger the distance they will move. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Arrow Shower. Effect: You can shoot an arrow upward, and several smaller magic arrows will rain over your foe. The damage will be equal to your dexterity + intelligence /2. Cost: 20 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Quick Legs. Effect: It increases your speed by five points per level while the skill is active. Cost: 05 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "Good, with this new ss, my growth will increase considerably even though I am not leveling up the hunter ss that frequently. Besides, even though it is disastrous, those dungeon breaks are a good opportunity for me." 0he wouldn''t be benefited in the slightest with those dungeon breaks. However, he still had to consider what Alissa was nning to do. "Our job here is done," Alissa dered. "Let''s leave this ce." "Aren''t you going to investigate the other world?" Ryan asked. "Those guys weren''t older than the demons. Apparently, their became of this¡­ game a few years ago while the demons have been doing this for hundreds of years," Alissa exined. "The chances of them knowing anything are close to none." That made sense. Still, Ryan didn''t expect that Orgar wouldn''t at least investigate things on the other side a little bit. He probably didn''t want to look desperate for information. In any case, usually, Alissa would dere their next move, but she stayed silent about it for some reason. Instead of that, she stopped at the dungeon shop to buy something. "Would you mind if I buy a crossbow? The one you used it before?" Alissa asked. "¡­ Why would you want that?" Ryan asked after his eyebrows twitched a little. "Well, it seems like fun firing those bolts non-stop," Alissa forced a smile. "Besides, I think I need to train my aim. Also, I don''t want to be useless after I get tired even when my mana and stamina arepletely full." It would be useless to use a bow with her mind exhausted, but Ryan didn''t have any real reason to go against her. They were working together for the time being, but they didn''t have to tell each other what to do. "Whatever, what you decide to do isn''t my business," Ryan said and then decided to check the shop as well. Earth and Fire Maniption proved themselves to be much more useful than expected, so Ryan had many expectations from Water Maniption as well. Still, that was somewhat a problem since he would need mana to train all those skills. Considering that he couldn''t find any other bow stronger than his current one, Ryan''s only option left was to buy another tome or buy better rings to increase his recovery. Although there was another ring that was the upgraded version of the ones he was currently using it. However, there were no other rings better than those, and their price was ten thousand coins. "It would be nice if I could use more than one ring per finger and still get their effects, but that isn''t possible," Ryan muttered. "Oh, well¡­ I will need more mana to train those three skills, after all. So, I don''t have any other choice." Gold Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by twenty points. Durability: 25/25 "Well¡­ now I just have to increase my recovery ten times, and I will have two hands forever." ss: Hunter Lv 27 / Elementalist Lv 25/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 812th Health: 75/140 (1/s) Mana: 150 /250 (1/s) Stamina: 96/170 (1/s) Strength: 10 (+32) (+30) Dexterity: 360 (+87) (+27) Speed: 50 (+53) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+79) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+10) (+61) Control: 06 (+67) (+10) Mentality: 07 Luck: 30 Recovery: 174 (+227) (+200) Willpower: 09 Coins: 66.350 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Brute Arrow Lv 01, Arrow Shower Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Rage Lv 10 (+5 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 17 (+5 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 15 (+5 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 20 (+2 UP), Bronze Skin Lv 10 (+5 UP), Bleed Lv 20 (+2 UP), Spells: Strong Arms Lv 15 (+3 UP), Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 13 (+5 UP), Earth Maniption Lv 23 (+4 UP), Frozen Arrow Lv 01, Water Maniption Lv 01, Quick Legs Lv 01, Support Skills: Ice Bound Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 16, Beastmaster Lv 06, Archer Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 06, It seemed like an unrealistic goal but considering that one month ago, Ryan had no magical powers and his skill with the bow was just a bit above average, everything might happen given the right amount of time. In any case, Ryan finished his business only to see Alissa ying with the crossbows. Her mana and recovery were so high that she could afford to fire an unlimited number of projectiles without worrying about anything. As if that wasn''t unfair enough, the projectiles could pass through severalyers of stone. It was as amazing as it was noisy. "This is so fun," Alissa said with a giant smile on her face. "I thought that this was a silly idea, but now that I saw the results, it is a pretty convenient way to get used to my mana without tiring yourself out and wasting energy." Ryan didn''t have the right to be the only person in the world who uses bows and crossbows, but he felt really annoyed whenever he saw someone with one. He got even more annoyed at those who didn''t practice as much as him, like Alissa. Chapter 134 - Anomalies After leaving the dungeon, Ryan confirmed that to learn Wind Maniption, he would need one hundred thousand coins. While obtaining that number of coins wasn''t out of the question, Ryan was wondering if he would have time to level those skills at a decent pace and at the same time. Still, it was necessary against enemies that could use magic. "Ryan, can you tell me the locations where you got your first sses?" Alissa asked. "¡­ Why do you want to learn that?" Ryan asked while furrowing his eyebrows. "I was talking with Orgar, and we concluded that I would probably master his powers faster if I obtain some power on my own," Alissa replied. "For the time being, the bonuses of sses are weak, but considering that you already can face a dragon, it isn''t a bonus that can''t be ignored." Although the reasoning was sound, Ryan wasn''t convinced. After thinking for a while, Ryan finally concluded that she was just using a reason to return to Shreveport in order to check things in there due to the dungeon breaks. She didn''t have any reason to check the survivors, but she was considerate since Ryan knew some people there. That was annoying. Besides, Ryan was pretty sure Shreveport would be fine for the time being since he and others cleaned most of the dungeons in the area. "You are going to work with us for six months, right?" Alissa said. "So, there is no need to rush it. Besides, after investigating two species, Orgar concluded that finding the answers he wants will take a lot more time and effort than he had imagined. Instead of risking ourselves again, we should use this time to prepare ordingly." More sounds arguments and yet¡­ Ryan only felt more annoyed. Even though it was risky and it wasn''t his goal, facing those opponents to gather intel had been worth the hassle, despite the fact that Ryan couldn''t do much against Baal. Still, since Alissa and Orgar''s ns changed, he wouldn''t be able to pay his debt as fast as possible, just like he nned. Again, it made sense, but Ryan couldn''t just ept it. Yet, he couldn''t do anything about it. "Whatever," Ryan said. "That being said, we should first clear the dungeons around this area, right?" Alissa asked. "I don''t know if we are lucky or not, but they have already been cleaned in the past weeks." That made sense. It would be weird if Chloe reached that level of power without sses. Besides, Ryan also needs to tame a new monster. Given that he wouldn''t need to train the beast for a while, Alissa decided to go to that dungeon first. She was considerate in order to repair the damage caused by her mistake. Unfortunately, Alissa couldn''t see that nothing that she does will make Ryan change his mind. Although it would be faster to just fly in her dragon form, Alissa decided to just walk toward the dungeons since they were just a few kilometers away from each other. Besides, she wanted to train aim, even though it waspletely unnecessary. Thanks to her draconic status, she could hit enemies five hundred meters away from her with ease. The problem was the crossbows since their range was half of that. "This isn''t much of a training," Alissa frowned. "Orgar, what should I do about this?" "Don''t ask me. I never had problems with my powers before. Let''s see¡­ if you increase the gravity around your body, it will probablypensate for the status I granted to you." Those two really were an anomaly¡­ they were thinking of ways to fighting while giving the monsters a handicap. In any case, it was better for them to solve those problems by themselves than ask for Ryan''s opinion. Although Ryan wasn''t earning any coins, he wouldn''tin since he would soon get other sses. Besides, he was training his Water Maniption. Currently, his goal was to be skilled enough to drain the water from the bodies of his foes. The problem was to do that. He would have to touch their bodies, and the fact that he would need to level up that skill for a very long time. Although the dungeon breaks only happened one hour ago, the very moment Ryan and Alissa reached the desert wolves'' dungeon. They already could see the changes. Dozens, if not hundreds, of flying monsters, were flying everywhere and changing the color of the sky¡­ it had been a long while since Ryan saw some pterodactyls, and that only made him sigh since they weren''t supposed to be around that area. Obviously, none of them approached, thanks to Alissa''s presence. "I wonder if you tame the boss, the system will recognize it as defeated," Alissa said. "Well, I guess it isn''t really a problem. If the system doesn''t recognize that, we just have to return tomorrow morning. Anyway, the dungeon is all yours since I cleaned the path." "I am fine. You can continue," Ryan said while a sphere of water was flying around him. "Are you sure?" Alissa asked. "You probably will feel conflicted again if I do everything alone and wonder if you deserve the next ss." It looked like Alissa didn''t learn her lesson, or perhaps some of Ryan''s expressions were really easy to read. Regardless, he was determined to master all the elemental Maniptions. After the battle that happened a few hours ago, Ryan recognized the potential of having those four spells at his disposal. Essentially, as long as he has mana and his skills were at a decent level, he would be able to counter all monsters'' magic when he wouldn''t be able to dodge them. For someone like Ryan, who had low endurance and mentality, a power like that was absolutely necessary. While he was quite certain that he could obtain at some point spells that can block certain attacks as long as he as mana, Ryan would only be able to use the strength of his foes against them, with the elemental maniptions. Chapter 135 - Class: Mercenary In the end, Ryan regretted a little letting Alissa do all the work. Due to the fact that her status was high and the desert wolves weren''t really that strong when she tried to immobilize the boss, she ended up destroying all of its limbs. The sorry sight of the boss made Ryan frown and wonder if it was really a good idea to use that monster... "Sorry, I am really sorry," Alissa forced an awkward smile while Ryan was healing his new beast. Desert Wolf Alpha Health: 750/1.200 Mana: 1.200 /1.200 Stamina: 1.400/1.400 Strength: 350 Dexterity: 350 Speed: 350 Intelligence: 300 Endurance: 250 Control: 200 Mentality: 250 Luck: 200 Recovery: 350 Willpower: 150 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 40 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 30 Spells: Quick Legs Lv 50 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 40 Ryan ignored her because, in the end, that was partly his fault, and they also obtained ess to the treasure chest, even though they didn''t receive a single coin for ''defeating'' the boss of the dungeon. "You need to eat a bit in order to recover the weight you just lost," Ryan said to his new pet. "That being said, you will have a hard time facing Earthworms, so you should stay with us for a little bit." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Mercenary, Scavenger, and Dancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. The sses weren''t anything special this time. It was only natural given that the desert wolves weren''t much stronger than smanders. In any case, the harpies and the earthworms were just a bit more troublesome since they could attack from a distance, and they could also surprise the enemies. That being said, Ryan wasn''t surprised a single time since he left Las Vegas due to Alissa''s presence. "It is a bitte to notice that, but the sses of those treasure chests are divided as melee, ranged, and magical. Although sometimes there are some variations, the sses are mostly in those categories. So, theoretically, I should choose Scavenger. However, for some reason, I feel a bit interested in the mercenary ss. Dancer is out of the question¡­ I don''t know how to dance, and even if there is a skill that helps with that, I will only make a fool out of myself by doing anything like it during a fight." Given that he wanted to keep increasing his dexterity, Ryan had a hard time choosing between mercenary and scavenger. Still, in the end, he chose the mercenary ss. Besides, he could always obtain the other sster, given that Alissa wanted to obtain some sses to control her draconic powers, which will eventually happen without a doubt. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Mercenary! You obtained the following skills: Focus, Morale, and Tackle. Your health and strength will increase by two points. Your endurance, stamina, mana, and mentality will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Focus. Effect: It passively increases your mentality by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Morale. Effect: It passively increases your willpower by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tackle. Effect: Attacks your enemy with your shoulder by using the full weight of your body. Damage: Your weight + strength + 10% Cost: 10 Stamina You obtained 01 status point. "It looks like I messed up this time¡­ my intuition isn''t that good, after all." Still, despite the surprise and disappointment, Ryan obtained two passive skills that will increase his survivability a little bit. As for what ss Alissa picked, Ryan didn''t even ask. Although it was a bit rash given that the desert wolf was still underweight, Ryan began to use his elemental attacks on him. In the blink of an eye, the monster obtained those elemental resistances, and they reached level ten. And after they left the dungeon, Ryan made the beast run around them until it could barely move. He also made the monster repeat that several times until Dash reached level twenty in just a few hours. "You are pretty harsh with yourpanions," Alissa said. "Even more with those that arepletely loyal to you." "That only shows how much faith I have in them," Ryan said. "Unlike others who don''t deserve my time." Ryan felt Alissa''s aura getting intense, but that was just Orgar getting mad. It would be weird if he didn''t get angry after hearing that. While that was pretty harsh a bit cruel on Ryan''s part, he had no intention of lying or hiding the things he thinks about others. Regardless, while Ryan was feeding the desert wolf with the monsters Alissa was killing, he continued to attack it with his elemental attacks while he also healed the beast. That was the weirdest carrot and stuck Ryan had seen, but he didn''t stop, neither the wolf. The monster ate dozens of harpies and smanders as if his stomach was endless. "Let''s not make this bad boy retort to cannibalism. Hopefully, the tamer skills will level up before we clear these dungeons, and then I will tame another monster, but if that doesn''t happen. I can''t just wait for it." It was a pity that Ryan had a lot of recovery and mana, but he couldn''t use it to level up those tamer skills. That being said, considering that they could level up by themselves, they weren''t half bad. Once he has a few monsters, those skills will level up much faster than any other. So, Ryan only needed to be a bit patient. Chapter 136 - Worried Since Ryan was pretty bored and he wasn''t using his stamina, he decided to use Tackle and level up the skill. It would be more efficient if he uses it against a monster, but he wasn''t crazy enough to do that with the weak body that he had. Maybe with some armor, without would be less dangerous. Regardless, Tackle was pretty impressive even without a target. Ryan could use the skill and move at the same speed he does while running for ten meters. When the skill leveled up, the range increased by two meters. "Maybe in some moment, moving like this will be more efficient than running¡­ maybe not." The cost of some skills increased the more they leveled up, so maybe the same thing would be applied to Tackle. In any case, Ryan was looking forward to the day he would be able to move two hundred meters without letting his legs touching the ground. Regardless, suddenly, Ryan noticed that Alissa was no longer walking at his side. Maybe she frowned at the fact that Ryan looked really weird using Tackle on the empty space, but then when he turned around, he saw her looking at the West. He didn''t feel like asking what was going on, but Ryan was forced to after five minutes of waiting for her. "What is going on?" Ryan asked. "Why are you looking in that direction?" "It is nothing¡­" Alissa said. "I just noticed that the dragons are suddenly returning to the continent. That is weird, but¡­" "It looks like there are more than a few dungeons spawning megalodons in this world. Their numbers suddenly increase, so the dragons can''t hunt them properly any longer." That was indeed a big problem. If the dragons can''t hunt and eat the megalodons, they will for food in the continent. It would be nice if they could kill other monsters that are spawning thanks to the dungeon breaks, but Ryan didn''t want to believe that things would proceed so favorably. Regardless, it would be great if Ryan gets the chance to kill a few of them. That being said, he had no idea if he would be lucky enough to find another dragon that would underestimate him and that could be beatable. All that he wanted was another weapon like the me Sword. "Speaking of which, I didn''t use this as much as I wanted¡­ I can use it as a throwable weapon, but to do that and not risk losing it, I will need to level up Earth Maniption." So many things to do, so little time and mana¡­ suddenly, Ryan had a crazy idea to solve those problems. What if he causes a dungeon break in the slimes'' dungeon? He would be able to kill all of them using the minimal amount of mana and then recover much more by using Active Spiritual Recovery. That idea was fantastic, but he had to work with Alissa, so he couldn''t do that at the moment. However, eventually¡­ "Are you worried about your friends?" Alissa asked. "You seem more lost in thought than me. We can check things there if you want." "¡­ There is no need," Ryan sighed to calm down since being rude and sarcastic all the time is too tiresome. "Let''s do what we have to do." Despite saying that, a single image popped inside Ryan''s head: Mia holding Arthur in her arms. Ryan almost cursed himself for not imagining Arthur in his arms or, at the very least, the kid alone. In any case, he was worried. He didn''t want to, but he was worried about him because he could rte to his situation. The real problem was the fact that Arthur couldn''t protect himself, and for all intentions and purposes, Ryan didn''t want to rely too much on Mia. In any case, Ryan couldn''t just ask Alissa to head there, and he didn''t want to see those guys again either. So, he was in a bind. For the good or for the worse, Ryan was a harsh person who couldn''t forgive others'' mistakes. However, he wasn''t a hypocrite, so he couldn''t forgive his mistakes as well. If something were to happen with Arthur, and he could have avoided it¡­ "Why am I trying to take the responsibility of his fate for myself? I can''t even guarantee that I will be alive next week with the world in this state¡­" After thinking for a while, Ryan had another crazy idea¡­ if dragons were a problem most humans couldn''t deal with, then he should tame a dragon to be Arthur''s guardian. It was the only thing he could think of to solve the things bothering his mind. Still¡­ was that even possible? Ryan didn''t want to share the things he was thinking with others, so he had no intention of talking with Orgar and Alissa about that. "Maybe I am too greedy. Orgar mentioned a skill that he could make other creatures turn into his ves, so most likely, that is the only skill that works on intelligent foes. Considering that, I have to lower the bar a little bit¡­" Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t know many monsters who could work well as a newborn baby''s guardian. In fact, he knew a pretty low number of species of monsters. In any case, before Ryan could solve the problem, they arrived at the harpy''s dungeon. "I wonder if an item can solve this¡­ no, in the end, the only way out of this situation is if I kill all the monsters in the world. However, that is beyond unlikely. After all, I can''t even defeat a single dragon without relying on potions¡­ arge number of potions." Regardless, Ryan still has some time before any dragon reaches Shreveport. So, he didn''t have to hurry since Alissa was faster than any of the ordinary dragons. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t see any way out of that predicament. He will have to throw away his pride in order to confirm that Arthur will be all right. Chapter 137 - Class: Spy In the end, Alissa cleared the dungeon without any issues since the power of her dexterity alongside the crossbows was enough to make the harpies explode. Although the boss caused a few problems since the bitch could create tornadoes capable of slicing apart monsters and humans'' limbs, Alissa finished it off pretty fast. Regardless, Ryan wanted to train his desert wolf a little more, but he couldn''t waste any more time with it. So, he decided to make the monster level up his direction as much as possible while Alissa and Ryan choose their new ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Brawler, Spy, and Siren. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "This must be my punishment for letting Alissa do all the work¡­ Although Brawler is a new ss that I didn''t see before, I already saw Spry Siren. In any case, I can''t risk it anymore. I already made a mistake once, and I won''t repeat it again." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Spy! You obtained the following skills: Detection, Disarm, and Mirage. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points; your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Detection. Effect: It grants you the chance to locate traps located nearby. The range is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Disarm. Effect: It grants you the power to disarm all the nearby traps that you have found. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mirage. Effect: It grants you the power to use the darkness to conceal yourself. As long as you don''t move, you won''t be found or felt. Cost: 10 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan hadplicated feelings about those skills¡­ Although the ss increased the status that he wanted, the skills cost a lot of mana, and they would only be useful on certain asions. In any case, it was probably better than the other sses. While Ryan and Alissa were heading toward the exit of the dungeon, Ryan had to muster all his willpower to negate his pride. Sacrifices had to be done¡­ sometimes, it can''t be helped and avoided and now was one of those times. For the sake of Arthur and his conscience, Ryan had to ask Alissa for a favor. "Let''s go to Shreveport," Ryan said. "It will be easy to obtain some sses for you there." "Is that how you ask someone a favor?" Apparently, Alissa stopped reading Ryan''s mind, but Orgar never promised that he would do the same. Still, he decided to ignore the oversized lizard. Despite that, the pure white smile on Alissa''s face still annoyed the hell out of him. "All right," Alissa said, still smiling. It was annoying¡­ it was so fricking annoying, and yet Ryan couldn''t do anything to calm down his nerves. There was no real reason to return to Shreveport aside from seeing the survivors from there since he already cleared probably all the dungeons in the area. Regardless, Ryan flew toward his hometown on Alissa''s back without saying a single word. Ryan thought the trip to Shreveport would be less annoying, but thoseplicated feelings didn''t leave him. Although it was a good sign that he was worried about the well-being of a life that was entrusted to him, Ryan couldn''t help but feel a headache due to his choices. Currently, his sole goal was to fight as many monsters as possible and prevent theplete obliteration of the. Aside from that, he also wanted power because he needed to achieve his first goal. Still, here was Ryan abandoning his goals and wishes just to confirm the safety of another life. "I shouldn''t think too much about this. The more I think about it, the stronger this headache gets." In the end, Ryan couldn''t just leave his life alone without caring about the others. It was a pain to admit that, but after analyzing the choices that he made, it was only obvious. He helped Tristan and his sister. He helped Zoe, that family when he returned to Shreveport, Arthur, and his mother¡­ As much as he wanted, he couldn''t be a cold blood person. At least not entirely. Regardless, the tripsted less than one hour, and somehow, Ryan noticed that Alissa got faster. It was probably the result of fighting and obtaining sses here and there. Still, that was one heck of a flying vehicle¡­ to cross more than one thousand kilometers in less than a single hour. "As you know, there is a dungeon near theke," Ryan said. "However, I don''t know if the boss is alive. So, you should." "It is fine, I can wait," Alissa interrupted Ryan and spoke. Ryan sighed because, in the end, he couldn''t just make Alissa go away while he tells the others about her existence. She wanted to appear in the middle of the city, and that would cause a massive headache for him. Regardless, as one would expect, the very moment Alissa began to fly down and the survivors'' camp entered their field of vision, they saw the survivors moving around toward the dungeon. "At least they are smart enough to put some guards to watch the sky. Maybe I wasted my timeing here¡­ dragons can''t enter this dungeon, after all. Can they destroy it? That could be a problem if they have only this hideout." Ryan couldn''t help but frown as to why he was thinking about that. However, it was necessary since Daniel''s opinions were valued by many and in Ryan''s eyes, he was an ipetent idiot. Chapter 138 - A Troublesome Smirk When Alissa and Ryannded, they didn''t find a single survivor. They learned their lesson after the red dragon attacked them. Still, Alissa sighed since the only n they had in case a dragon appear was to hide. "I am kind of disappointed with your friends," Alissa said. "They don''t have the courage to face a single dragon even with those numbers." "They are not my friends," Ryan said. "But I guess some of them can be considered brothers in arms or something like that." "Then why are you worried about them?" Alissa asked. "Are you making fun of me, or you really don''t know?" Ryan frowned. "There is only a single person here who I am worried about. Someone that can''t look after himself and won''t be able to do so for many years." "A newborn baby?" Alissa asked, shocked. "I didn''t know you were a father." "I am not," Ryan said and then began to walk toward the dungeon. Much sooner than Ryan expected, he had to stop. The ground was a bit weird in some ces¡­ as if something had been dug there. Ryan frowned since the skills he thought wouldn''t be used for many days toe could be used right at that moment. Ryan used the detection and then found dozens of traps around the dungeon. Alissa had already noticed them, so they just zig-zagged through them and finally arrived in the dungeon. "Hey, I know that you guys are inside the dungeon," Ryan shouted. "Come out, now, and stop wasting my time." "¡­ Can you give me the proof that you are the real Ryan and not a dragon with his form?" Daniel asked. "Yes, I can," Ryan said. "If you don''t appear now, I will enter the dungeon and explode your head." "Hahaha," Danielughed. "That sounds like something the real Ryan would say¡­ to think that you would be alive after all that." Daniel appeared alongside the others who already knew Ryan. Cole and his friends, Tristan and his sister, Lilian, her little brother, and the people he fought alongside against the Sahuagins. He could feel the presence of several others behind, but those didn''t know Ryan, nor did they feel safe knowing that a dragon just appeared. Regardless, they couldn''t help but frown when they saw Alissa and the aura that she was emanating. Although she looked like a sickly girl, her presence was something else. Despite all that, since she looked in a bad mood, she looked like someone who would get along well with Ryan. "For much of my disappointment, it looks like you are fine," Ryan said. "Anyway, I don''t know if you guys noticed, but all dungeons that haven''t been cleared yet broke this morning. I don''t need to exin what that means, right?" "That tremor¡­" Daniel furrowed his eyebrows. "This is bad¡­" "How is he?" Ryan asked while looking at Mia and ignoring Daniel''s worried expression. "He is all right," Mia smiled with Arthur in her arms. "Despite everything, he doesn''t make much fuss." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. "What a cute baby!" Alissa suddenly approached with arge smile on her face that Ryan never saw before. "Can I hold him? Please?" "Er¡­" Mia frowned and then looked at Ryan. "Don''t look at me. You are his guardian. You decide," Ryan said. In the end, Mia didn''t feel any ill intentionsing from Alissa. Besides, Ryan wouldn''t bring someone who could hurt Arthur. It was pretty obvious that the only person he was worried about was him, after all. Despite her presence and much to everyone''s surprise, Arthur didn''t make a fuss while Alissa held him. For someone who doesn''t care whether the human race survives or not, she sure was happy while holding Arthur. Still, it made sense after a while. Even Alissa wasn''t unreasonable enough to hate a newborn baby. There was no point in ming her misfortune on someone who couldn''t even take care of himself. "Ryan, we saw a dragon approaching," Daniel said. "Did you and your friend kill it?" "No, she is the dragon that you saw," Ryan said. "Don''t ask me more than that. Anyway, I just came to inform you of that. Due to the dungeon breaks, the megalodons poption increased, and the dragons are returning to the continent to look for food." "Megalodons?" Daniel asked, his face was pale as a ghost. "¡­ Don''t interrupt me," Ryan sighed. "Regardless, I don''t know if dragons can''t bury dungeons, so you guys should look for a n B. Create an underground shelter or something. Anyway, let''s get going, Alissa." "We can rx a little," Alissa said while she was making faces to Arthur. "I want to clear this dungeon first because it would be a pain to move around when there is a ss to get so close to us." Ryan sighed again. In the end, as far as Ryan was concerned, Alissa could do whatever the hell she wants. After all, she didn''t owe Ryan anything, but Ryan owed a lot to her. Still, he wouldn''t just waste time watching her while she ys with Arthur. "Do as you see fit, then," Ryan said. "When is the boss going to spawn?" "Around 10 PM¡­ Hey, Ryan," Daniel hesitated. "What did you mean by¡­" Before Daniel could finish his question, Ryan activated Dash and Quick legs to get the hell out of there. Only Alissa was able to follow him with her eyes, but she only did that. At the moment, she was more interested in ying with Arthur. "It looks like you were too slow again, Natalia," Tristan stepped forward and then said. "In any case, Ryan still is as straightforward as ever, huh." "It can''t be helped," Natalia said. "He is just like the wind, and he is quite unapproachable. Only people like Daniel and Mia who knows him for a very long time can deal with him and march at his pace." "You guys know Ryan for a long time?" Alissa smirked while looking at Daniel. Chapter 139 - Forced Dungeon Break Ryan ran as fast as possible toward the slime''s dungeon. However, in the end, he regretted that choice a little. Although Daniel and the others were annoying, as long as he stays there, Alissa wouldn''t do anything to anger Ryan even further, but now she was free to ask all sorts of questions and read the people''s minds when she doesn''t get as much information as she wants. "Whatever, it is not like I am letting my past control my life¡­ well, in a sense, it is controlling my life since I am using the things that I learned. Regardless, I just have to endure her presence for a while longer. Let''s just hope she won''t be any more annoying than she already is after this. I don''t Orgar all that much, but he probably also works like the logical side of her brain." It looked like Daniel had a problem to deal with. At least he looked like that was the case after hearing about the dungeon breaks. While Ryan was a bit interested, he decided to do his own things instead of worrying about someone else''s problems. In any case, Ryan didn''t imagine he would be able to test that thing he thought previously so soon¡­ to cause dungeon breaks and use the high number of monsters to train his skills. "Let''s just hope that this won''t turn out to be a massive waste of time or that I will cause a disaster¡­ Now that I think about it¡­ I wonder if the dungeon breaks only have the purpose of making a massive number of enemies roam around the. I guess that is something I will only discover once I be a dungeon master or a dungeon boss, whatever the hell I will be after exterminating all the monsters of an enemy." Previously, Ryan had to travel for three hours on a motorcycle to go from the slime''s dungeon to Shreveport, but with his current speed, Ryan reached his destination after just half an hour. That being said, moving that fast wasn''t easy for his body. Thanks to the friction, even small particles of dust could harm his body. So, Ryan had to run while protecting his head, and he also had to heal his body now and then. Slime ¨C Lv 20 Health: 80/80 Mana: 80/80 Stamina: 80/80 Strength: 15 Dexterity: 15 Speed: 15 Intelligence: 15 Endurance: 15 Control: 15 Mentality: 15 Luck: 15 Recovery: 15 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Earth Arrow Lv 15, Water de Lv 15, Wind Arrow Lv 15, Fireball Lv 15 Support Skills: "Those dumbasses¡­." Ryan sighed. "They decided not to guard the dungeon. I can understand that not many people would feel satisfied in fighting slimes since they give few coins, but¡­ I guess this is convenient to me." Still, that was convenient for Ryan. He wouldn''t have to exin anything to anyone, and he wouldn''t have to worry about anyone bothering him. Without wasting any more time, Ryan killed the slimes with his me Arrows. However, he got some surprises. You received 03 coins. You received 03 coins. You received 03 coins. "Mmm? I am pretty sure they were supposed to give only one coin¡­ maybe the rewards increase with their level¡­ That reminds me, I need to test that as well." Instead of attacking, Ryan let the slimes attacking him first. The first slime fired an Earth Arrow, but unlike the first time, Ryan managed to see the projectile flying in a straight line toward his head. He used the palm of his head to stop the attack alongside Earth Maniption. However, even though he tried to be as fast as possible, Ryan didn''t obtain total control over the arrow before it wounded his left hand a little bit. "As I suspected, it is possible, but I need a lot more practice topletely stop the magic attacks of my foes. Maybe I need more speed to increase my reaction time or perhaps control. It is hard to know¡­" Ryan wouldn''t have the chance to train that ''skill'' once he causes the dungeon break, so he decided to train it as much as possible before fighting the boss. Little by little, he was getting the hang of the timing, and he was also getting better at it. However, Ryan couldn''t manipte anything before touching. The sole exception was fire magic since he could control the fire after feeling the mes'' heat with his body. Still, at the same time, he could only do it when he was already suffering some damage due to the heat. "This will be useful, but it will take a long time to master and pull it off just by thinking and without concentrating too much¡­ in any case, I can''t take my time here to master just this technique. Besides, those elemental maniptions need to level up a lot more as well." Without wasting any more time, Ryan decided to face the boss. However, the poor creature was so weak that it didn''t evenst four seconds of a concentrated Power Shot. Ryan didn''t even waste his time checking the treasure chest or for drops. From a certain distance, he just shot a single arrow toward the purple crystal. As expected, the crystal didn''t break, but the very moment it was hit, the entire dungeon began to tremble, and dozens of slimes began to spawn every single second. "I don''t think this is good¡­" Ryan forced a smile and then began to fire his me Arrows. Like a machine gun, Ryan attacked, and his mana was also being recovered faster than he could use. Despite that, the number of slimes wasn''t decreasing. In fact, after just ten seconds, the entirest room of the dungeon was filled with slimes, one above the other, and like a disgusting tsunami, they began to move toward Ryan. Although he had imagined that something like that would happen, imagine and see the real thing from so up close were two very different things. Chapter 140 - Troublesome News Ryan used Dash to escape from the monsters since he wasn''t using stamina to fight, he didn''t have to worry about it. When he was from a distance in which he couldn''t even see the slimes again thanks to the darkness of the dungeon, he stopped and turned around. At the same time, Ryan fired his me Arrows nonstop. He knew his attacks would hit them anyway, so he didn''t have to aim properly. As expected, his mana was being used, but it was also being recovered much faster than that. While that was good and all, Ryan didn''te to level up his me Arrows. "I guess that will do it," Ryan said and then picked up his bow and activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation. "Probably¡­" Ryan summoned a bone arrow and then activated Rapid Shot. At that level, the skill could only summon two more magic arrows, but given that his dexterity reached an absurd level, Ryan was confident that his attacks would kill more than a few slimes. As expected, it did. With those skills alone, he managed to hold back the monsters for several seconds. However, eventually, they appeared in the middle of the dungeon where he was. "Ah¡­ there is a better method to do this," Ryan smirked and then ran toward the exit of the dungeon. When he arrived there, Ryan pointed his bow upward, and then when the first slime left the dungeon, he activated Arrow Shower. For several seconds, the rain of magic arrows killed every single slime that tried to leave the dungeon. Ryan''s mana was being sucked every second, but it was being recovered at the same time since those weak arrows were enough to kill at least one slime. After thirty minutes, the slimes finally stopped leaving the dungeon. It was insane, but Arrow Shower reached level thirty¡­ against slimes! As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan found several iron ores on the ce the slimes had been killed. "I need to find a use for this already. My backpack is already full of them¡­ Anyway, it is time to kill the bosses." Since they were big and slow, the bosses took their sweet time to leave the dungeon. Even though they were more resilient, they got wiped out by Ryan in just a few seconds. As expected, Ryan got so powerful that not even forty slime bosses were a problem to him. However, Ryan soon noticed something weird after the dungeon break. The slimes'' level had increased. Slime ¨C Lv 24 Health: 88/88 Mana: 88/88 Stamina: 88/88 Strength: 17 Dexterity: 17 Speed: 17 Intelligence: 17 Endurance: 17 Control: 17 Mentality: 17 Luck: 17 Recovery: 17 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Earth Arrow Lv 17, Water de Lv 17, Wind Arrow Lv 17, Fireball Lv 17 Support Skills: "This is weird¡­" Ryan frowned. "Did the dungeon break cause this?" That seemed like the only exnation. Ryan was willing to test that theory, but first, he had to collect the loot he obtained. It had no use for him, but the slimes dropped a lot of crappy items. In the end, Ryan used the cores he obtained to create a pretty half-assed iron cart, which he would use to sell the items for Daniel and the others. "Those guys are goody-two-shoes idiots, so they must be looking for other survivors. They will need this," Ryan said. "Besides, even while having an entire dungeon for themselves, I doubt that all the survivors are fully equipped." Even though Ryan wanted to keep a distance from them, he needed coins to buy the Wind Maniption tome, and he didn''t want to wait until he goes to another high-level dungeon. Regardless, before causing another dungeon break, Ryan decided to test the power of his Earth Maniption. Although the skill leveled up quite a bit in thest few days, Ryan needed at least one hundred grams of dirt to control a sword that weighed one kilogram. Anyone with half a brain would notice that he wasn''t using Telekinesis. Besides, Ryan could only do that for a while because the more the earth he was manipted to do or works, the more mana he would have to spend. "As expected, if I n to use this in ce of Telekinesis, the skill needs to level up a lot more to be stronger and more efficient," Ryan nodded to himself. "Besides, I shouldn''t use it for long periods of time." Ryan was caught off guard when he caused the second dungeon break, and this time, he made sure to solve things without using Arrow Shower. Instead, Ryan used Rapid Shot and Power Shot when the slimes got too greedy. Regardless, he noticed the same thing happening again. The slimes gained four levels, their skills leveled up, and their other attributes increased as well. "Why? I can''t understand why the heck the dungeon breaks make the monsters stronger," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he also was biting his lips in annoyance. "What is the connection between those factors?" After thinking for a while, Ryan recalled Orgar''s words after the battle against Baal. He said that the level of mana in boths was different. Thanks to it, Alissa got tired faster. Considering that, Baal wouldn''t be able to pull the same level of power he had in that world on Earth. Why? Was it because Earth wasn''t his dominion or because Earth became part of a big game only recently and didn''t have enough mana flowing around? If that was the case, does that mean that the dungeon breaks cause mana''s flow on Earth to grow stronger, or the dungeon breaks only favor the creatures of dungeons from which they appear from? Ryan couldn''t think of any proper answers, but that didn''t mean he would forget these questions. Still, he knew was that causing dungeon breaks wasn''t something he could do just to make himself stronger... it was like sharpening the knife that one day might take his life. Chapter 141 - Missing The Old Days As much convenient as it was, causing dungeon breaks was dangerous. It was only natural that Ryan wouldn''t be able to use such an efficient method to grow stronger. Regardless, after finishing the monsters of the second dungeon break and getting his hands on his loot. Ryan decided to return to Shreveport since it waste, and he will have to waste sometime carrying everything he got on his improvised iron cart. As expected, it made a lot of noise, but Ryan didn''t face any problems due to the monsters the noisy attracted. ss: Hunter Lv 31 / Elementalist Lv 30/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 812th Health: 204/204 (1/s) Mana: 371/371 (1/s) Stamina: 265/265 (1/s) Strength: 10 (+39) (+30) Dexterity: 400 (+163) (+27) Speed: 50 (+91) (+3) Intelligence: 09 (+107) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+15) (+61) Control: 06 (+130) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+5) Luck: 30 Recovery: 250 (+262) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+5) Coins: 79.350 Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 30 (+2 UP), Dash Lv 12 (+5 UP), Rapid Shot Lv 24 (+13 UP), Arrow Shower Lv 30 (+29 UP), Tackle Lv 06 (+5 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 29 (+2 UP), Concentration Lv 29 (+2 UP), Archery Lv 29 (+2 UP), uracy Lv 29 (+2 UP), Perception Lv 20 (+2 UP), Precision Lv 29 (+2 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 30 (+2 UP), Craft Lv 15 (+14 UP), Ma Lv 16 (+5 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 23 (+2 UP), Bronze Skin Lv 13 (+7 UP), Bleed Lv 23 (+2 UP), Focus Lv 04 (+3 UP), Morale Lv 04 (+3 UP), Spells: Mana Transfusion Lv 26 (+3 UP), Repair Lv 12 (+6 UP), Auto-Production Lv 18 (+15 UP), Mana Shield Lv 09, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 20 (+2 UP), Quick Legs Lv 07 (+6 UP), Detection Lv 05 (+5 UP) Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 10 (+2 UP) sses: Combat: Sage Lv 25, Beastmaster Lv 06, Archer Lv 15, Mercenary Lv 05, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 11, "Who could have imagined that I would be able to progress this much by fighting slimes¡­" Ryan frowned while checking his status. "That being said, it came with a cost¡­" Ryan obtained around one hundred status points thanks to the slimes, and he divided them between recovery, mana, and dexterity. Still, what really made his progress was the level-ups of his Archer ss since each level up increased his status by fourteen points. While that was insanely useful and convenient, it was also quite scary... Ryan couldn''t help but ponder if something weird won''t happen considering that his body was getting stronger too fast. Regardless, when Ryan returned to Shreveport, it was already prettyte. Still, despite his warnings, a massive bonfire was illuminating the area around the dungeon. If those idiots die or not, it was none of Ryan''s business, but Ryan couldn''t think the same if Arthur dies. In any case, Alissa was probably the one who made the bonfire, and since her presence could be felt from very far away by other dragons, then Shreveport was fine. Ryan found some lookouts before getting closer to the dungeon, but they recognized him and didn''t make a fuss, even though he had no idea who they were. There were several tents around the dungeon as well, more than enough to grant the chance to one hundred or so people to rest while others stay on guard duty. Much to Ryan''s displeasure, Daniel was one of the people who was still working. For some reason, he looked pretty tired. "Hey¡­ you finally returned," Daniel said. "Your friend is over there on Mia and Arthur''s tent. I told her that the boss spawned one hour ago, but she ignored me." Ryan sighed. He could understand that some people would need a break now and then with the world in that state, but Alissa wasn''t normal, and she didn''t need to rest as much as the others. In any case, she was enjoying too much looking after Arthur, and Ryan was afraid that she would ask something unreasonable pretty soon. She definitely was that kind of girl, after all. "I got all this while I was cleaning a dungeon, and I also obtained some interesting pieces of information," Ryan said. "Do you want to buy them?" "Sure, we can deal with thister when Tristan and Natalia wake up," Daniel said. "They are responsible for this kind of thing since they have some useful skills. Let''s talk for a little bit meanwhile." "I am not here to talk. I am here to do business," Ryan said, and then he headed toward Mia''s tent. When Ryan arrived there, he saw Arthur sleeping and Alissa looking at him. She looked pretty satisfied for some odd reason, as for Mia, who was on the opposite side of the tent, she looked exhausted. "Why didn''t you clear the dungeon yet?" Ryan asked. "Didn''t you say you want to obtain some sses?" "That can wait," Alissa said. "Besides, it is alreadyte. We can do this tomorrow." While that was a reasonable argument, it doesn''t matter if it iste or not. Alissa could clear most dungeons in less than five minutes if she wants to. Still, while that was true, Alissa''s body still wasn''t that efficient at using draconic powers. So, he decided to leave her alone for the time being. "When you intend to clear the dungeon?" Ryan asked. "There are others in this area. I want you to clear all of them tomorrow." "Before breakfast is fine with you?" Alissa asked. Ryan sighed. More and more, he was missing the days when he was working alone, and he didn''t have to endure that bullshit. Regardless, Ryan was also a bit tired since the events of Las Vegas still were bothering him. So, heid in a ce where the grass wasn''t that tall, and the warmth of the bonfire still could reach him while he rests. Unfortunately, Daniel had other ns. Ryan was too tired to be sarcastic, but in the end, Daniel deserved to hear some bullshit. Chapter 142 - Unreasonable Request "I must admit," Ryan said. "You have nerves of steel and the tenacity of a cockroach. It doesn''t matter how many times I tell you to fuck off. You always return to piss me off. You are not starting to like this, are you?" "My stubbornness is one of the few virtues that I have, after all," Daniel said. "Who said that could be considered a virtue?" Ryan frowned. "Seriously, Ryan," Daniel said. "Alissa is really a dragon? I am starting to believe that is the case since the dragon we saw earlier seemed like the one who caught you after you killed the red dragon." Ryan didn''t want to talk, but Daniel was annoying to the point where only harsh words wouldn''t make him stop. So, Ryan decided to annoy him as well by forcing him to lose coins if he wants to get some answers. It was time to rip off some idiots. "One hundred coins," Ryan said. "What?" Daniel frowned. "The answer to your question will cost you one hundred coins," Ryan replied. Strangely enough, Daniel gave Ryan the coins. Either he had a lot, or Ryan just asked for too little. Regardless, Ryan wouldn''t do the same mistake again. Still, he had to keep his words, even to Daniel. "She is that dragon that you saw after I killed the red dragon," Ryan exined. "I am only with her now because I owe her a little bit, and I still have to help her for a while longer, or until she finds the answer, she is looking for." Which is?" Daniel asked. "That will cost you three hundred coins," Ryan replied. "She is looking for three hundred coins?" Daniel frowned again. "¡­ The answer to that question will cost you three hundred coins," Ryan said. "I fought goblins smarter than you." Once again, Daniel paid the coins. At that point in time, it was obvious that Ryan was selling information. While the free coins weren''t so bad, he wasn''t feeling good since he had to talk with Daniel. That was a sign that Ryan still was immature since he couldn''t put his feelings aside while he was doing business. "The dragon inside her wants to know why dragons are the only creatures that were teleported to others without the use of the crystal," Ryan said, trying to end the conversation there. "I can''t even imagine where you will find the answer to that question¡­" Daniel said, a bit surprised. "Can you tell me what are you guys exactly doing to find that answer?" "Five hundred coins," Ryan said. "Man¡­ you sure are greedy," Daniel sighed. "All the coins that I worked hard to save are quickly disappearing." That gave Ryan an odd sense of satisfaction, but Daniel still paid for the answer. Ryan should have asked for more because the answer to that question was very long. For the time being, humans didn''t have to worry about Baal, but eventually, if the human race survives the effects of those dungeon breaks, they will have to deal with the demons. "Baal¡­ seriously?" Daniel asked with a pale expression. "From the game and from the myths?" "I don''t know if the demon has any rtion with the games or with the myths," Ryan replied. "All that I know is that he is damn powerful. Enough to take down more than a few dragons alone, and that his boss is called Lucifer Morningstar." "Oh, crap¡­ this is really bad," Daniel said. "Still, I am thankful for getting some answers from you. We tried to talk with Alissa, but she ignored our questions and never stopped asking things about us. Although we didn''t answer any of them, she never stopped asking more." Ryan facepalmed. Alissa did the exact way Ryan had imagined she would. Regardless, what was done was done, and something like that was practical. Even without asking things, she would read the others'' minds, and little by little would discover more about Ryan. That was annoying as hell, but Ryan doubted that she would have the nerve to use that knowledge against him. Besides, warning them about her powers would bepletely useless. Mind reading was that useful, after all. "About the things that you learned and about the location of the dungeons," Daniel said. "How much are you going to ask for them?" "One thousand coins for each piece of information," Ryan said. "If you don''t have it, go look for someone who has at least ten thousand coins. This isn''t up for debate since I already gave you guys too much information for free. Don''t even try to bargain since this kind of informationes with the cost of my life." "All right, I will solve this problem by morning," Daniel said, and then he left. Ryan finally had some time to rest and have some peace of mind. Still, he couldn''t quite rx since so many tents with strangers were around him. Although he was the stranger in the camp, only that didn''t make him feel less ufortable. Regardless, he only needed to endure that for a while longer, and then he and Alissa will leave Shreveport. The problem with Arthur wasn''t solved yet, but Ryan was confident that after his warning, the camp wouldn''t fall by the dragons'' attacks so easily. In any case, now that he had some peace of mind, Ryan noticed that he didn''t see Ang and Hond around. If they had caused some problem, Daniel would have mentioned them. Still, not knowing what happened to them was a bit annoying since he was the one who gave them the information about the camp. It took a while, but eventually, Ryan managed to fall asleep and have a good night''s rest. However, a massive headache was waiting for him when he woke up. Alissa left the tent while holding Arthur in her arms, and she said to him that they should take him with them. That girl has finally done it... Chapter 143 - Combat Mode "No," Ryan said. "This isn''t up for debate." "Why not?" Alissa asked. "Because I said so," Ryan replied. "Besides, Mia is his guardian, and it doesn''t look like she agreed to this." "It doesn''t matter. You are the one whose his mother asked to protect him," Alissa said. "Together, we can protect him better than anyone else." "Incredible, you can still say this with a straight face after getting unconscious while fighting Baal," Ryan said. "I didn''t do anything in that fight, so I can''tin. Still, that doesn''t change that fact. Anyway, let me say this as bluntly as possible: Alissa, you can decide everything rted to our work while I have to help you. However, this is the only thing I won''t ept. Insist, and our temporary partnership will end right here, and I won''t care if I will end up ignoring my debt. Aside from that, if you insist on taking Arthur on this journey to find the answers you are looking for, you will be my enemy. Maybe I won''t be able to defeat you, but I am pretty sure that I will be able to buy time in order for you not to ever seeing him again." "All right, all right. My bad¡­ I got carried away," Alissa said, a bit pale. "Geez¡­ you can really be a pain in the ass sometimes. Still, you won''t mind if I visit him now and then, right?" "That is none of my business," Ryan said. "However, try to do anything more than that, and you will be my enemy." Even Ryan was a bit surprised with his reaction. Still, it was understandable since he had a strong sense of responsibility toward Arthur even though the kid apparently hated him. It wouldn''t be weird to say that Arthur was the only thing preventing Ryan from bing a power-seeking cold-blood man. After all, even though he felt bad about the death of Las Vegas survivors, he didn''t drop a single tear for them. He was bothered by it, but only to the extent where he thought that it was regrettable. Regardless, in order to calm down Ryan, who apparently woke up in a bad mood, Alissa decided to clear the dungeon and receive her new ss. Meanwhile, Ryan was doing business with Tristan and Natalia. Fortunately, he obtained enough coins to buy the Wind Maniption tome. However, he was more worried as to why Natalia was staring at him. "What?" Ryan asked. "You helped me before, and I am thankful for it, but why did you abandon your friends even though you helped so many strangers?" Natalia asked. "I don''t remember abandoning any friends," Ryan shrugged. "As to why I helped some strangers, it is because I imagined they would be useful down the road, just like now you two are being useful." "Ouch, that was harsh, Ryan," Tristan forced a smile. "What do you prefer: the harsh truth or a sweet lie?" Ryan asked. "Can I have a mix of them?" Tristan asked. "I don''t like things that are too sour or too sweet." "Good luck finding someone who can do that for you," Ryan said and then headed to the dungeon and bought the tome. "Hahaha, Ryan looks like a soldier who is constantly in thebat mode," Tristanughed a little. "This is a bit sad, but don''t feel too bad about it, Natalia. We know what he experienced in the past months, so it can''t be helped." "I am not feeling bad for myself," Natalia and then she began to pull the iron cart filled with the equipment. As far as Ryan was concerned, most of his equipment was already more powerful than those that could be acquired through the dungeon shop. The only exception were his gloves, boots, chainmail, and helmet that he never got. Apparently, he could use amulets as well. In any case, he could buy five types of equipment. That being said, the best of each type cost around twenty thousand coins. To buy five, he would need one hundred thousand¡­ it was an amount Ryan could easily get if he causes a few dungeons breaks on the goblins'' dungeon. So, he decided to buy mana potions with the coins he still had. All in order to train his Wind Maniption as fast as possible. In the blink of an eye, just by controlling his bone arrows with the Wind Maniption and by using the potions, the skill reached level twenty even before Alissa could return. In any case, even though the wind was quite useful, Ryan couldn''t just attack his foes with invisible attacks. The very moment he starts to the concentrated wind in a certain area, the wind bes more ''visible,'' mana probably also had an influence over that, but that much was okay with him. "Let''s get going," Alissa said. "I want to return before lunch." "For what reason are you nning to return to this ce so soon?" Ryan asked. "To y with Arthur, obviously," Alissa said. "What happened to your goal?" Ryan frowned. "Like I said, we don''t have to hurry," Alissa said. "Also, Orgar said that I should focus on my building my strength in case we find another troublesome enemy in the future. So, it is fine." "That is not fine. If you really want to build your own strength, you should get more sses and level them up," Ryan said. "Don''t try to mess with me, Alissa. Our agreement was to work for six months in order to find the answers you want. I don''t n to work those six months, so you can''t ck off now." "I guess you have a point," Alissa rubbed her chin. "What do you think of working two days and then have a day off? No, I won''t ept working more than three days straight without a break." Alissa truly was a pain in the ass, but unfortunately, she was the leader of the operations regarding the things that she wanted to learn. Besides, that wasn''t so bad. Some time away from that massive pain in the ass would help him a lot. Chapter 144 - Next Destination In the end, as silly as that sounded, Alissa decided that she would have a day off every three days. Ryan sighed because her sole goal was to have an excuse to see Arthur. With the world ending due to the invasion of monsters, any sane person wouldn''t decide or have the leisure to have a day off. Regardless, she was the one to give the calls anything rted to their mission, so Ryan couldn''t say no to her decision. Although Ryan had no real reason to go with Alissa, he went to the dungeons with her. Unlike the slimes'' dungeon, some survivors who were working with Daniel, Cole, and Lilian were guarding the velociraptors and the globins'' dungeon. Thankfully, they didn''t cause any problems for them. So, before lunch, Alissa had already cleared the four dungeons of that area. Leveling up the sses could be done anywhere, so their job there was over. "Where are we heading next?" Ryan asked. "Apparently, your friends managed tomunicate with the survivors of Indianapolis somehow," Alissa replied. "The people there, after having to hide from the dragons, are surrounded by three species of monsters, and they can''t leave the region. So, we can face a lot of monsters there thanks to the dungeon breaks and clear three dungeons at the same time." The idea of rescuing the survivors didn''t even pass by Alissa''s mind, and yet, she looked so ready to take Arthur with her on her dangerous trips. Although Ryan tantly refused, perhaps looking after a defenseless child would fix her attitude. That being said, the idea of ying hero never crossed Ryan''s mind as well. "It is your call," Ryan said. Alissa didn''t have to hear that twice. Without wasting any more time, she flew toward Indianapolis. In any case, after seeing so many big cities being destroyed by monsters, it became evident to Ryan that dungeons appeared conveniently close to where high numbers of people lived. After flying for several hours, Alissa and Ryan finally arrived at their destination, and there they found a few species of somewhat troublesome monsters. Golem ¨C Lv 30 Health: 600/600 Mana: 300/300 Stamina: 600/600 Strength: 450 Dexterity: 100 Speed: 50 Intelligence: 50 Endurance: 500 Control: 250 Mentality: 500 Luck: 100 Recovery: 600 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Earthquake Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 50 Spells: Earth Bullet Lv 50 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 150 Giant Bee ¨C Lv 30 Health: 300/300 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 150 Dexterity: 400 Speed: 450 Intelligence: 100 Endurance: 150 Control: 350 Mentality: 150 Luck: 250 Recovery: 250 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 45 Passive Physical Skills: Bleed Lv 15 Spells: Fly Lv 25 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 50 Poisonous Frog ¨C Lv 30 Health: 400/400 Mana: 400/400 Stamina: 300/300 Strength: 250 Dexterity: 300 Speed: 100 Intelligence: 250 Endurance: 200 Control: 250 Mentality: 350 Luck: 150 Recovery: 250 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous Touch Lv 40 Passive Physical Skills: Leap Lv 50 Spells: Poison Bullet Lv 50 Support Skills: Poison Resistance Lv 150 "This is odd¡­ the city is crowded with those three species of monsters, but I am pretty sure the golems have the advantage against the other species. So, why the number of creatures in all species is nearly identycal?" Golems were supposed to be inorganic monsters, so even though frogs might damage them, it wouldn''t be as nearly as effective in an organic target. As for the giant bees, even though they are fast and have a high attack, the golems are sturdy, and Bleed is useless against them. "I would bet a Golem would be a decent pet for you," Alissa said. "Unfortunately, your skill can only level up when you are close to your pets, and right now, you can''t tame a third monster." "¡­ You are correct," Ryan said. As much as Ryan wanted, he couldn''t just ignore Alissa. He had to maintain a certain level of friendliness at least while working, even though it was just an act. Regardless, after studying the city from above for a while, Alissa decided tond on the southern side of the city and then attack the poisonous frogs first. "You will have to deal with them for a while," Alissa said. "I am hungry, but since they are poisonous, I will have to nullify their poison and heal the damage that they might cause to my stomach." Ryan really didn''t need to hear that¡­ Still, considering that Alissa spends the previous day ying with Arthur, it was understandable that she would go as far as eating poisonous monsters. Ryan also felt of doing the same since he needed to level up his Poison Resistance, and he would rather do it outside ofbats instead of in the middle of a fight. "Come to think of it¡­ I can create poison to some extent. Can I use that on myself to train Poison Resistance and Lesser Poisonous Enchantment?" It would be a rather convenient method of training, but at the same time dubious way of training if it were possible. Still, self-harm wouldn''t be the first thing that would make Ryan question his sanity at this point in time. Besides, in order to take down anyone or anything that may stand in his way, Ryan wouldn''t have the luxury to chose his methods to get stronger. He would choose them all and worry about small thingster. Regardless, after a while, Ryan finally understood the real meaning of Alissa''s words. Although she could hit her foes from a long distance, sometimes, she misses, and when she misses not only she alerts the foe that she tried to kill but all the other creatures in the area. Ryan barely missed, but even if he misses while he was four hundred meters away from his targets, the impact wouldn''t be that powerful. So, without any ceremony and while hidden behind a grove, Ryan began to snipe the poisonous frogs. You obtained twenty-four coins. You obtained twenty-four coins. You obtained twenty-four coins. ¡­ Chapter 145 - Paralyzing Spear After nonchntly killing the monsters who were hundreds of kilometers away from him, Ryan finally understood how powerful he had be. Although he had to stop now and then since he emptied his mana, he didn''t miss a single time, and his arrows flew so fast that the monsters didn''t even have the chance to react. With a bow and without a scope, he probably was at the level of the best snipers in the world. To progress so much in a single month, it was as impressive as it was scary. Still, Ryan felt pretty good about that. "Well, I guess this is what humans can do. Can they pursue a single goal without caring about anything else? Even though I didn''t do exactly that all the time, I still gained a lot by changing my focus now and then." "This is taking too long," Alissa said. "I will transfer some of my mana to you. That way, you will use more skills and y them faster." "You can transfer mana to other living beings?" Ryan frowned. "Of course," Alissa said. "If you obtain the ss that is the upgraded version of Sage, you will be able to do that too." Although it was weird, that made sense. After all, Archer was like the upgraded version of Hunter. Not only that, the status he gained by each level up was two times better than the hunter ss. "No, I don''t need your help," Ryan said. "Besides, we don''t need to hurry. Once you fill your belly, our pace will increase many times more, after all." "Seriously," Alissa sighed. "Didn''t you say that you would leave all the decisions about our mission to me?" Ryan grunted in annoyance. Although he did say that in the heat of the moment and to make it clear that they wouldn''t take Arthur anywhere, he couldn''t just go back on his word now for the sake of convenience. In the end, Ryan was forced to obey Alissa. Regardless, he made a mental note to watch out for his words in the future. "She is probably doing this to make sure that we will clear this area in the next three days, so I guess it is fine." In any case, even though Alissa was helping him with mana, Ryan had to work for some time since, despite his long-range, he still needed some time to aim. That was probably one of the things he needed to work with. A slow sniper wasn''t that efficient, after all. After a while, Ryan noticed that he couldn''t see any other monster in the area close to the poisonous frog''s dungeon. That was weird, given that three dungeons broke in areas very close by. Maybe despite the high numbers, the monsters didn''t want to challenge each other near their territories since the bosses always stayed close to the dungeon. Instead of fighting each other and decreasing their numbers, even without an agreement between them, the monsters felt better just by keeping their forces spawning endlessly. "I guess this is one of the things I will only understand once I obtain the chance to create a dungeon on another." Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 800 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 798th You obtained Paralyzing Spear. While Ryan was busy thinking, he received a notification that he didn''t receive in a while. Still, he couldn''t help but smile when he saw that. Not because of his position, but because of his reward. Even without analyzing the weapon, he knew it was on par with his me Sword, a weapon that a dragon dropped. Paralyzing Spear Effect: It electrocutes the foe upon contact. The electric damage is equal to your intelligence per second. Strength + 30, Speed + 20 Durability: 60/60 The yellow spear was like a modified version of his sword, and of course, it was more appropriate to be used as a thrown weapon than the sword. It was quite weird that he would feel that satisfied after receiving something thanks to his luck, but Ryan couldn''t negate that he was in a good mood. "It is time to level up my Wind Maniption seriously. With wind, it will be harder, or at least it will take some time for my foes to see what I am doing." To do some tests, Ryan decided to control his me Sword with the wind around. After throwing, the sword would burn everything it was touching for five seconds, but while Ryan had some wind around the weapon, the effect didn''t end after five seconds. It was perfect. "Do you want to make a collection of weapons with cool effects or something?" Alissa asked. "I can help you with that." "That is not necessary," Ryan said. "I won''t feel satisfied in obtaining weapons without working hard to get them." Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. Spearmanship Lv 5 ? Lv 6 Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan got caught off guard by receiving that notification, but after thinking for a while, it made sense since he was controlling the spear directly with his Wind Maniption. Now Ryan had one more reason to keep improving that weird fighting style of his. Still, he sticks with his bow and arrow for the mission for the sake of convenience and speed. After six hours of hunting, they finally dealt with the monsters that were one kilometer away from the dungeon. So, it was time to challenge the bosses. However, before that could happen, he suddenly heard the sound of something noisy and heavy approach. Ryan thought were the golems for a moment, but the sound was too rhythmic to be them. Besides, the noise wasing from the south. After he jumped to see things from a better angle, Ryan saw several tanks heading to the dungeon. Chapter 146 - Foolishness "I guess humans don''t need to be careful inside those," Ryan said while he was watching the tanks hitting the frogs and passing over them. "At least against this type of enemy." Alissa and Ryan tried to finish the monsters quietly, and they killed more than one thousand without warning any of them. However, the tanks were so noisy that all the frogs in the area were moving toward the tanks. Still, Ryan couldn''t see the tanks being stopped. After all, the best weapon of the frogs was their poison. "Something is off¡­" Alissa said. "I feel kind of weird." "It is because you are being watched from above. Those things made by human hands are watching you, and I am guessing this isn''t the first time." "We are being watched by satellites?" Ryan asked, surprised. "This isn''t good¡­ it looks like some troublesome humans known about your draconic powers." "I can''t see how that is a problem, but it is a bit annoying," Alissa said. Alissacked the imagination to see how troublesome things could get with her existence as the center. Regardless, that was something they would have to deal with, and now they were being watched by satellites, Ryan couldn''t do anything about it. "Whatever, I can''t let them get all the coins and drops for themselves," Ryan said and then began to run to approach the dungeon and the battle. When Ryan got close enough, he used Arrow Shower. It didn''t kill the monsters as fast as it did with the slimes, but thanks to Alissa''s support, he didn''t have to worry about running out of mana. In any case, whoever was driving the tanks, at least, was smart enough not to use their cannons. Otherwise, their presence would be revealed to the other monsters on the other sides of the city. Surprisingly, the battle didn''tst that long, even against forty or so bosses. Apparently, only the monsters that were spawned thanks to the dungeon breaks stayed around the dungeon while all the others spread around the country. Truth to be told, Ryan didn''t know if that was bad or good. "What should we do?" Alissa asked. "I want toin to those guys'' boss for a vition of my privacy." Ryan frowned¡­ as if someone had the leisure to worry about that kind of thing in a war against countless species of monsters. In any case, Ryan was quite interested as to why he didn''t see any sign of the army in three months. Those who were police officers probably couldn''t do much and probably had to hid their identities since ordinary people would demand to be protected by them. Only idiots like Cole and his friends would tantly say that they were cops. "Let''s clear the dungeon and move on after checking the drops," Ryan said. "We don''t have anything to do with the army, and we have our own business here." Although Ryan killed a lot of monsters, even more than the ten or so tanks, he only picked the small ores and things like rings that could increase statuses since he didn''t have a big backpack, and he didn''t want to hear Alissain that she was being treated like a truck or something. Silently, Alissa and Ryan approached the dungeon, but then one of the tanks blocked their way. Ryan sighed¡­ to think that things would go that way, he felt more and morepelled not to work with humans in the future. "This dungeon is a property of the United States of America," A tall and muscr man said after leaving the tank. "As such, its control and use arepletely under the control of the government. We can''t let you use it for a while." "You are joking, right?" Ryan asked. "Do I look like someone who tells jokes, young man?" The man said after stepping forward and looking at Ryan from above since he was pretty tall. "No, you don''t look like someone who tells jokes, old man," Ryan said. "At least not the funny ones." The man wearing a military uniform and several symbols and medals that Ryan had not a single idea of they each represented red at him after his eyebrows twitched. Ryan had nned to be courteous enough since those guys helped him and saved him a lot of time, but there was no point in going too far if he was nning to demand some unreasonable things. "We arrived here first, and you only attacked after confirming that we decreased the monsters'' forces by half," Alissa said. "You have no right to im anything." "I have no idea what you are talking about, youngdy," The man said. "We are in times of war, and citizens like yourselves need to listen to certain authorities if you want to survive." Alissa frowned, and at the same time, the other soldiers in the other tanks left their position and stayed behind the tall man. All of them were heavily armed, and Alissa could also sense a weird smelling from all of them. Alissa just raised her right arm a little, and then twenty-soldiers pointed their guns at her. "You guys are pretty cautious of this youngdy," Ryan said. "I wonder why? Does she look dangerous to you? It is almost like you knew she could do something dangerous just by moving her arm." That was a huge farce, but Ryan and Alissa couldn''t just y on those guys'' hands. Brute strength was enough to deal with monsters, but not when the foes were other humans. Killing them would be easy, but they shouldn''t do it even if they have a good reason because they are supposed to be working for the country. "Careful, now," The tall man said. "I am a high-ranked officer of the country. Harming my soldiers and me can be considered an act of treason and terrorism, and in times like this, every single people close to terrorists won''t be treated well." Ryan got the message, if they do anything to those guys, they will be treated like terrorists, and so were the people who were even just a bit closer to them. In the end, things became clear as the day, it was unreasonable, but that guy was working for someone who wanted Shreveport and perhaps even Alissa''s power. His blood began to boil, imagining what could happen if someone close to that guy decides to attack the survivors there¡­ what would happen to Arthur? Before Ryan could think or do anything. Alissa created a magic barrier and sealed herself and those guys inside it. "This idiot¡­" Ryan sighed. Chapter 147 - Old-fashioned Dragon. "What did you say? Huh?" Alissa red at the tall man with vicious eyes. "Who were you threatening before? I dare you to say it out loud!" "Hey, Alissa," Ryan said. "Don''t kill any of them. If you do, things will get tooplicated and my hands are already full." "But they threatened Arthur!" Alissa said. "No buts," Ryan said. "If you make an enemy out of them, I won''t let you get closer to Arthur ever again. I can''t let him get close to someone who makes enemies out of everyone this easily." While Ryan and Alissa were talking, the tall man and his subordinates finally noticed the situation they were in. Without any other choice, they decided to do what they came to do. They equipped their guns and fired some weird darts at Alissa. "Ah, that weird smell wasing from this," Alissa said after she created a Mana Shield to block the projectiles. Ryan had no idea what that was, but most likely, those guys came prepared to taunt Alissa and put her to sleep with some paralyzing dart. Too bad for them, but the darts never hit her. However, they kept firing them, and after a while, the darts began to emit a thick gas. In the blink of an eye, the gas covered the entire magic barrier. Suddenly, the barrier disappeared, and when the gas dissipated, Ryan saw Alissa and the soldiers unconscious on the floor. "She can even be more hotblooded than me," Ryan sighed. "Hey, Orgar. Is she alright?" Ryan checked Alissa''s pulse and confirmed that she was only sleeping and the same happened to the soldiers. Regardless, Orgar didn''t answer Ryan, and Alissa''s presence was weak, so somehow, he had been put to sleep as well. That was no normal sleeping gas¡­ Suddenly, Ryan turned around when he heard the high pitching sound of projectiles flying. At the same time, he activated Mana Shield. He already knew what those darts could do, so the very moment they touched the ground, Ryan buried them with Earth Maniption. That situation continued for a while until the projectiles stoppeding, and attackers wondered why the sleeping gas wasn''t appearing. At the same time, Ryan ran toward the direction where the attacks came from and almost passed by a group of suspicious individuals wearing green clothes and trying to disguise themselves with the ambient. Ryan activated Herculean Strength and Strong Arms. Alongside his Monk''s skills, he punched everyone in the stomach before they could get up properly. In the blink of an eye, Ryan knocked out ten individuals that were probably partners of the soldiers. "Geez¡­ just what the heck is going on all of a sudden?" Ryan sighed. "So many problems keeping one after the other..." While Ryan was thinking about it, he put all of those agents and soldiers in a line and then proceeded to bury their limbs underground. Ryan didn''t wound them, but he couldn''t let them move freely since they had some statuses here and there. Besides, they got close enough to use darts without letting Ryan notice them. "I can''t let my guard down since humans have weapons strong enough to put dragons to sleep." Regardless, now more than ever, it was clear that whoever was giving orders to those people, they wanted Alissa. Ryan was hoping for a more borate n to capture her, but it was only natural that the options to capture a dragon were rather limited. Ryan tried to heal Alissa in order to make her wake up, but not even that worked. Without any other choice, Ryan was forced to wait for her to wake up. Ryan was pretty bored since the frogs were very slowly leaving the dungeon, so in the time between the battles, he decided to check the interior of the tanks. "This is quite interesting¡­" Ryan smirked. "I need to use chances like these whenever possible for future reference." Amidst all the things inside the tank, Ryan saw a weird radio that had a red light glowing. It was probably the superiors of these guys¡­ truth to be told, Ryan wanted to investigate the matter a bit more, even though that would slow them their progress of clearing those three dungeons. Why? Because he wanted to learn who was the asshole who gave the order to nuke Das. Since allmunications got cut off, no one had any idea what the government was up to or if the president was alive, but it looked like they were securing some dungeons here and there to build their forces, just like the survivors on Shreveport. "I don''t need to talk with them now," Ryan concluded. "Alissa can read their minds, and learn where their base is will be easy." After waiting for one hour, Ryan felt Orgar''s presence growing again, and the dragon cursed when he woke up. Apparently, he was quite ashamed of falling asleep due to the attack of such weak lifeforms. "To think that your species would be able to use monsters'' blood like this¡­ Still, as expected, you are not a warrior race. Such a method is only used by cowards who have no pride and honor. The chances of the people of this world surviving for long is low." "What are you?" Ryan frowned. "Knight from the Middle Ages? Anyway, can''t you force Alissa to wake up? We don''t have time to waste here." Orgar didn''t answer Ryan, but little by little, a certain gas began to leave Alissa''s body through her nose. After a while, she woke up and rubbed her eyes as if she had really taken a nap and if nothing was wrong. She only recalled what happened when she saw the soldiers and agents sleeping nearby. A vein started to bulge on her forehead, but in the end, she didn''t do anything with them. Alissa knew that Ryan wasn''t the type to bluff about certain things. "You almost ended up digging your own grave¡­" Ryan said. "I hope you learned your lesson." Chapter 148 - Class: Trickster In the end, Ryan and Alissa couldn''t just leave the soldiers behind while they clear the dungeon, and they couldn''t go separately as well. So, Alissa made sure to lock them in some spheres of earth and then rolled the spheres toward the dungeon. That was probably a not ce to sleep, but Ryan didn''t feel any pity, they tried to kill or at least put him to sleep to do who knows what. Besides, he certainly wouldn''t bring them to the boss room after they tried to knock them out. Regardless, clearing the dungeon went as smoothly as always. The boss was basically a big frog that could spit a lot of poison, but it didn''t do anything against Ryan and Alissa since the creature was slow. Training his Poison Resistance could wait, so Ryan hurried to finish off the creature. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Viking, Trickster, and Teacher. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two new sses¡­ Viking I already saw before, and Teacher seems interesting, but I won''t bet this time either. Besides, the name Trickster is also quite¡­ fascinating." Ryan thought that while he was smiling. Considering that Viking was a ss that he saw when he obtained a basic ss, he wasn''t expecting much from Trickster, and yet, Ryan could feel that his ss wasn''t going to disappoint him. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Trickster! You obtained the following skills: Extra Leap, sh, and Sprinter. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Extra Leap. Effect: It grants you the chance to use jump in mid-air. Cost: 20 mana and 20 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: sh. Effect: It grants you the power to move instantly to a ce in your field of vision. The distance will be the level of the skill in meters. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sprinter. Effect: It passively increases your speed by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. As expected, Ryan got very surprised with the skills he obtained¡­ a bit too surprised in the face thanks to their usefulness and their crazy cost. sh was amazing. It was basically a teleportation, but the range sucked, and training that skill will take a long while due to the price. "Now¡­ what should we do with those guys outside?" Alissa asked. "We can''t exactly ignore them since they have their eyes on Shreveport and on us," Ryan said. "We also can''t cause too many problems since, for the good or the worse, they are a part of what is left of the government of this country. Regardless, they tried to capture you, and they threatened Shreveport, so I guess we can get some answers from their boss." "Excellent an idea!" Alissa hit her fists. "I will give a piece of my mind to the asshole who threatened my little cute Arthur." Ryan didn''t want to ask when Arthur became her property since that would be a huge pain in the ass. Still, inparison with what they were about to do, it looked like a small problem. "We will have to interrogate them when they wake up," Alissa said. "I flew for quite a while over this country, and I have been in this area before, but I don''t remember seeing anything close to a military base." It was a secret base¡­ it was only obvious since most dragons had good instincts, and they knew what they should destroy. Only a hidden base would survive the first attack since they couldn''t evaluate something that they couldn''t see. "Anyway, if you don''t want to waste any more time, you should try to cancel the gas inside their bodies," Ryan said. "After all, if it weren''t for Orgar, you would still be sleeping right now." Alissa was forced to use some purification spell, and after a while, the soldiers and agents began to wake up. Torture waspletely unnecessary when the interrogator could read minds, so Alissa just asked once how she could reach their base. The tall man just looked away and waited for the torture that never came. "I got it," Alissa said. "Let''s go." After turning into a dragon, Alissa freed those guys, and without wasting any more time, Ryan and she left for the secret military base. Surprisingly enough, the base was hidden beneath a golf field ten kilometers away from there. As weird as that sounded, the entrance for those who worked and now lived inside that base was what once had been a pet shop. After looking for a while, Alissa found a hidden door that had an electronic lock. With a single punch, she broke everything and revealed a staircase that would lead them underground. "I am d to see that our taxes were used to build cool ces like this," Ryan said. Faster than they had imagined, Ryan and Alissa began to hear the tanks approach. However, they ignored them since they couldn''t attack them while they were so close to the base. Ryan and Alissa found several other massive locks along the way, but as usual, Alissa broke everything. Locks had no meaning against her¡­ even two meters thick iron walls were useless against her in her human form. After a while, they finally found the base¡­ at least a massive room which the soldiers used to train their marksmanship, and there they found hundreds of snipers pointing their weapons at them. As expected, they were trying to mess with a nest of some troublesome bees. Chapter 149 - Last Warning "Don''t forget what I said, Alissa," Ryan said. "If you be an enemy of the big guns of this country, I won''t let you get close to Arthur again." "You don''t have to repeat it," Alissa said, a bit annoyed. "I know that already." Against that number of snipers, it doesn''t matter what they try to do. They will get hit by bullets or by paralyzing darts since that floor was only five meters tall. Still, for some reason, the snipers didn''t attack first. They were waiting for something¡­ "Hello, everyone," Ryan said with a smile on his face. "Can you guys bring the people who are the leaders of this ce? We came to negotiate. As you know, if this girl wanted, she could have exploded this cepletely, but instead of that, she used the doors¡­ in a certain sense." It looked like Ryan''s social skills rusted a lot in thest weeks because the snipers didn''t even flinch at his words. Now that he thought about it, only weirdoes and suspicious people would try to be friendly in a moment like that. "I don''t have time for this shit," Alissa said. "Hey, what are you nning to¡­" Ryan said. Alissa suddenly opened her mouth, and then that same gas that knocked her out filled that massive room in just a few seconds. The snipers tried to attack, but this time Alissa made sure to create a magic barrier where she would stay on the outside. In the blink of an eye, three hundred snipers were knocked out. Having such convenient power was pretty boring, but it was pretty convenient because alone, Ryan couldn''t imagine any other way of solving things without killing everyone. "Let''s hurry," Alissa said. "When I read that guy''s mind, I learned that they don''t have many soldiers here. We just knocked out most of them. Still, the leader of this ce has an escape route, and he is probably going to use it." Alissa hurried ahead since she couldn''t let that chance go away, Ryan had no idea what she was nning to do going ahead and alone, but he already gave his warning twice. If despite that, she still messes up, then it wouldn''t be his problem. The underground base was pretty big, much bigger than the golf field. There was a small town above it, but it probably had been built as a disguise. The number of bedrooms, warehouses, training rooms was pretty big. Ryan could even feel the presence of the families of the soldiers Alissa just knocked out. After running for quite a while, Ryan heard the sound of something pretty massive opening. On thest part of the massive secret base, Ryan found a parking lot that was filled with choppers and those high-tech airnes used by the air force. Ryan found one of those choppers being piloted by a grey-haired old man, but Alissa was preventing the chopper from flying with a single hand. He was probably the leader of the ce. It was quite the sight to see a golf field opening just give room for aircraft to fly. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. That was a pretty decent base, but the number of people there was rtively small, and they were crazy enough to try to go against a dragon in order to do who knows what. In the end, the old man gave up since he knew very well what Alissa was capable of. Regardless, at the very least, he had the decency of not begging for his life in front of the might of a dragon. He just waited for the inevitable¡­ "You were the one who threatened my little Arthur and me, right?" Alissa asked. "If you do that again¡­ no, if you even think about it, you will regret it." After saying that, she touched the old man''s forehead and used some spell. What she did was impossible to know, and she didn''t exin either, but at the very least, the glint on the old man''s eyes proved that he understood the message. "My name is Ryan," Ryan said. "What is your name and rank?" "I am Colonel Mark Hughes, the man inmand of this base," The old man who was wearing clothes as if he was on vacation in Hawaii said. "Why are you trying to be so polite now after all you did with my men?" "They are alive, and well, so I think I held back pretty well considering that you tried to knock us out to do who knows what," Ryan replied. "Regardless, my father served in the army, so I have some respect for you and the others who are still serving in times like these. As such, I am willing to forget what you did if you give me some information." "If it is a secret of the country, I don''t intend to reveal anything," The colonel said. "Do you know who nuked Das?" Ryan asked. "Do you know who nuked the other cities of our country?" Although the colonel stayed silent, it was useless since Alissa could read his mind. Ryan looked at her, but she just shook her head. He didn''t know anything, or he waspletely unrted to everything that happened. Honestly, Ryan felt good after learning because he didn''t know what he would do when he finds the bastard who pushed the button. Das was just another city to Ryan, but the fact that his parents'' grave was nuked was something he couldn''t forgive. "Well, that is all," Ryan said. "Don''t do something against the idiots or against us on Shreveport. Also, after we clear the dungeons around Indianapolis, you can do whatever you want with them." ss: Hunter Lv 33 / Elementalist Lv 30/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 785th Health: 204/217 (1.32/s) Mana: 371/412 (1.32/s) Stamina: 265/283 (1.32/s) Strength: 10 (+39) (+60) Dexterity: 421 (+184) (+27) Speed: 50 (+99) (+23) Intelligence: 09 (+107) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+15) (+61) Control: 06 (+140) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+5) Luck: 30 Recovery: 290 (+292) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+5) Coins: 39.550 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Arrow Shower Lv 30 (+ 5 UP), Extra Jump Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Precision Lv 33 (+ 4 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 34 (+ 5 UP), Ma Lv 21 (+ 3 UP), Passive Recovery Lv 26 (+ 3 UP), Bleed Lv 26 (+ 3 UP), Focus Lv 0 (+ 4 UP), Morale Lv 08 (+ 4 UP), Sprinter Lv 01 Spells: Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 24 (+ 2 UP) Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 27, Beastmaster Lv 06, Archer Lv 19, Mercenary Lv 05, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 11, Trickster Lv 01, Chapter 150 - Using Those Who Want To Use You. After saying that, Ryan and Alissa decided to leave through thepartment the old man had nned to use to escape. However, it looked like he wanted to bother them a little more. "Wait, your country needs you," The colonel said. "As you can see, we have limited personnel, and¡­" "No thanks, uncle Sam," Ryan said. "Although I respected those who serve, I have no intention of joining your ranks. I know very well how the game of power is yed, and I don''t want to be a piece. That being said, I believe the idiots in Shreveport may want to join you. Do you want to negotiate with them?" "Hey, Ryan¡­ What are you nning?" Alissa frowned. "Think about it, Arthur would be pretty safe in a ce which dragons never found before," Ryan replied. "Whatever you did to him, you made sure that he won''t be able to touch him and the others, right?" "Yeah, but¡­" Alissa hesitated. "They threatened us and the others." "Yes, and thanks to it, we found a good ce for Arthur to live," Ryan said. "Besides, the people here have ess to satellites, so we will be able to save a lot of time looking for the dungeons. The time which you will be able to save and use to stay with Arthur." "Why are you suddenly being so considerate?" Alissa frowned. "It is making me feel a bit ufortable, actually." "¡­ I am practical and logical, that is all," Ryan said and then turned around. "What do you say about this, Colonel? Do you want their help? They are idiots, but they can be useful as long as you change your ways slightly. I am sure you will gain a lot more than just trying to use them to do some shady work tantly. Think carefully because a chance like this doesn''te often." As soon as Ryan finished saying that, the soldiers and agents who he fought outside appeared and pointed their guns at him and Alissa, but the Colonel gave them the sign to stop. Although the offer wasn''t so bad, the Colonel wasn''t so sure if he should ept it. He was a sixty-five-year-old man who earned all the authority that he had, and he always made full use of it. So, he wasn''t quite sure if he would be able to change his way and be a leader of powerful survivors or just an authority that demands respect no matter what. "¡­ I need to talk with them first and see if this can work," The colonel said. "Still, you talk like you don''t belong to their group, but you still are interested in having ess to our resources and technology. Do you n to work with us or not?" "I will clear the dungeons; you clean the path for you and the others," Ryan said. "Do you want even more than that? Anyway, we can take you to Shreveport after we clear the dungeons around Indianapolis. So, wait patiently." "Sir!" The tall man which threatened Alissa and Ryan before stepped forward. "You can''t leave this base, sir. It is not safe." "It is necessary," The colonel said. "We didn''t do much in an entire month, and we need to adapt faster because the dragons are returning." His men respect the Colonel quite a bit, so even though they wanted to protest, they couldn''t go against his decision more than that. Besides, even if it was dangerous, he would have a dragon as an escort. No one could ask for more. "Well, we will go now and return once we clear the dungeons," Ryan said. "Make your preparations because this girl here has a reason to return fast. Also, send some of your men to guard the frog''s dungeon. With guns, it will be faster and more efficient to kill them inside the dungeon while their numbers are low. Do the sameter after we clear the other dungeons." "You! Mind your tongue while you speak with the Colonel!" The tall man said. "Sorry, sorry," Ryan shrugged. "I am not very knowledgeable with this serious stuff of the army." Prideful and angry people were too noisy, so Ryan and Alissa left before they could give that mana any other reason to shout. Although the situation had been more or less solved pacifically, Alissa seemed in a bad mood. She was too clingy to Arthur, and she didn''t want to let him live in a military base. "What else did you discover from the Colonel?" Ryan asked. "Not much¡­" Alissa said, a bit annoyed. "All that I discovered is that it has been a while since the people here managed to contact other military bases. Due to the megalodons'' attacks, the navy has been almostpletely wiped out. Aside from that, it looks like ces like these don''t have to follow or obey the rules of people from outside since the chain ofmand is in a mess due to theck ofmunications." It made sense, but Ryan was a bit disappointed since somehow, the people there still could control one satellite. Regardless, Ryan wanted to make use of that because he needed to know how the people in the other countries were doing. As far as he knows, the monsters were a threat to every single human being, but if creatures like demons decide to make alliances with humans to wipe out some countries and save others¡­ things could be disastrous. "I don''t like this n of yours," Alissa said. "I can say the same about your working policies," Ryan said. "Regardless, if things don''t work out with the people of this base, you can always overthrow themter, as long as you have a good excuse and don''t massacre the people here, they will follow you. Humans will do pretty much everything to survive. Still, before doing that, you will have to make someone learn how to operate the satellites. I want to use them for a long time." Chapter 151 - Class: Corsair Before leaving the military base, Alissa made sure to repair to some extent the things that she destroyed, and after leaving the ce, she exined to Ryan what she did to the old man. It was called the subordinate''s seal, a spell that a dragon could use to control other living beings. Alissa made sure to hold back, so the Colonel wouldn''t suddenly change his behavior, and the only thing he would be unable to do was to give the order for his men to hurt any other human. There were some holes in that technique, but for the time being, it was sufficient. At least Alissa said so. "It is all right. I put a spell on Arthur," Alissa said. "If any spell hits him, the mana will be dispersed, and at the same time, he will be teleported to where I am." Ryan red at her¡­ to do such a thing without asking for permission or telling anyone... Although that was the perfect protection for Arthur, it didn''t change the fact that Alissa was going too far. Still¡­ to think that dragons could even teleport things and even other living beings¡­ their power seemed endless. "Let''s kill the bees this time," Alissa dered. "I can''t eat them, so this time I will help on the fight." Although her bolts, when missed, scared the bees, and some of them ran away after noticing her presence, Alissa managed to kill around ny percent of the giant bees that she tried to skill. It was a pity, but Ryan received a lot fewer coins. On the other hand, they managed to finish off the monsters that the dungeon spawned before sunset, and now they just have to worry about the bosses and clear the dungeon. Some of Ryan''s skill and sses leveled up a few times, but Trickster wasn''t one of them since it wasn''t abat ss. That was a real pity since that ss granted the bonus that he needed. Still, even though they managed to free two-thirds of the city, they didn''t find any survivors. It was because of Alissa''s presence that could make even humans who never used mana before trembling in fear, but in the end, that wasn''t really a problem. Their goal there was to kill the monsters and clear the dungeons, not save people and make another survivors'' camp. If they had a brain, the Colonel and his men would help the survivorster. Otherwise, they will never obtain the cooperation of those in Shreveport. At some point, Ryan noticed that he was losing a good chance to train and see the shorings of the fighting style he wanted to have. So, he bought some mana potions at the dungeon shop before challenging the giant bee, which was the dungeon''s boss. It wasn''t at the level of his arrows as expected, but by using Wind Maniption, Ryan could control the me Sword and the Paralyzing Spear and make them fly around twenty meters per second. It was probably just enough to fight the boss. "I will take care of this boss," Ryan said. "It shouldn''t take too much time, even with only two weapons." "It is fine," Alissa said. "Although the golems will be a bit more troublesome, I bet we will wrap up things here tomorrow." Although Ryan could make his weapons move at that speed, he could only do so for a full minute with his mana and recovery. That was why he bought some potions, he decided to be cautious, but he just worried too much in the end. Once he fired the Paralyzing Spear and hit the target, the boss was done. Flying monsters were weak against electricity¡­ and that wasn''t just the logic of a game. Adding that to the fact that the boss was just a giant insect, the beast suffered even more damage when the me Sword began to do its magic. In the end, the monster didn''t do anything and onlysted for twenty seconds. "Nice¡­ this is the exact thing that I envisioned that I would be able to do with this fighting style. Still, I can''t get carried away. This time the target was weak against both of my weapons, after all. Besides, the speed of the projectiles needs to be improved for surprise attacks." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: yer, Corsair, and Priest. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Three new sses¡­ that is good, but now that I know that even the second ss might enhance the status that I want, it won''t be that helpful if I can''t level up during the fights." Ryan was fully aware that it would be weird if he could level up several sses at the same time, even more, those which would increase the status that he wanted. Still, he wouldn''t stop looking until he finds the sses, which were the upgraded versions of Hunter and Archer. Regardless, the name was weird, but Ryan still chose Corsair. Hopefully, it wouldn''t be another one in which he can only level up by using certain skills. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Corsair! You obtained the following skills: Power of Money, Tax, and Lady Luck. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Power of Money. Effect: It grants you the chance to cause direct damage to your foe''s health by using coins. You can cause one hundred points of damage per level, and the cost will be equal to the damage caused. Cost: 10 coins per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tax. Effect: It increases passively the number of coins you can obtain by defeating a target by 0.1 percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lady Luck. Effect: It passively increases your luck by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 152 - Tips "If anything, those sure are some interesting skill¡­" Ryan frowned while reading the description of the skills he obtained. Truth to be told, they weren''t half-bad. They would be useful in the long run, and as far as Ryan knew, he could damage with one hundred percent of uracy every enemy in his field of vision with the Power of Money. He would have to use a lot of coins, but¡­ even so, the skill had a lot of potential. As usual, Ryan didn''t ask the ss which Alissa picked, and at that point in time, she wouldn''t show any emotion by getting one of those weak sses. Unless she gets the dragon knight or dragon archer ss, nothing would surprise or excite her. When Ryan and Alissa left the dungeon, they found the Colonel''s men waiting for them. Although they weren''t friendly, they weren''t crazy enough to pick up a fight with them. Besides, as far as both parties were concerned, they were the ones who started the first fight. "We will watch this dungeon," A female officer said. At the very least, even though they caused some problems, they were working hard since it was already dark and most people couldn''t see anything without some devices that the soldiers were using. In any case, Ryan wondered where the tall man was. Ryan didn''t use Appraisal on him, but he looked to be the strongest of the group. "All right," Ryan said. Even amidst the destroyed city, Alissa managed to recover two beds and some sheets. Ryan didn''t know if she had done that on purpose, but she decided to put them in front of the dungeon where everyone could see her sleepingfortably in the open¡­ while she was snoring. As for Ryan, he couldn''t quite trust his new semi-temporary allies yet, and since he couldn''t read minds like Alissa and he didn''t have a dragon as a watchdog either, he spent the night resting with his eyes closed but with his ears wide open. When morning came, Ryan was surprised to see the Colonel visiting his men who were guarding the dungeon. Ryan saw the tall man studying him with a serious and angry expression on his face alongside him. Now that he thought about it, those two seemed pretty simr with the exception of their size. Maybe they were father and son or something. That would exin why the tall man was still annoyed. "It looks like even you two have to stop now and then to rest," Colonel said while watching Alissa snoring. "Regardless, I havee to inform you that the preparations arepleted. Hugo and I are going with you two." "You didn''t have toe all this way to inform us," Ryan said. "We were nning to pick you up on the base." "It is all right," The colonel said while looking around. "It has been a while since I left the base and breathed some fresh air. Regardless, I am still having trouble believing that only a human and¡­ a human who has the power of the dragons managed to secure this entire area by themselves. I must apologize for what we did yesterday. We have been watching you two for a few days and imagining that we could obtain this power by ourselves. We did what we did." "Desperate times, I am sure," Ryan frowned, imagining what the colonel had nned to do with him to obtain his power. Ryan had no intention of forgiving the Colonel and his men for their actions. However, there was no reason to hold a grudge when they could be useful to him. He wanted to believe that he wouldn''t have done the same in their position, but Ryan didn''t know if he would be able to if he hadn''t been lucky when the monsters appeared. After a while, Alissa woke up, and they began to prepare to work again. For some reason, the Colonel and the tall man wanted to apany them. While it was fine since they were using surprise attacks to kill the monsters instead of some tricks or techniques, even Ryan didn''t like to be watched while he was working. As for Alissa, she hated the idea with a passion. "You aren''t going to learn anything just by watching," Alissa said. "If you truly wanted to obtain power, you should follow Ryan''s footsteps. Kill some slimes and then goblins and slowly build your strength until you are strong enough to face a dragon alone. Well, I am not sure if just following his footsteps is enough, he can be reckless sometimes, and you two don''t look like you will do the same." Ryan facepalmed¡­ as if Alissa weren''t even more reckless. Regardless, Ryan decided to forget about it and just focus on the task ahead because whether he liked it or not, he was helping other humans to gain power, and he needed even more strength in order not to get screwed in a world where humans can fire arrows that have the same power of cannon bullets. Against golems, sniping them without making much noise was close to impossible since their bodies were sturdy as hell. Although only exploding their heads was enough to destroy them, the noise caused was pretty loud. Fortunately, they were slow, and since they were inorganic creatures, they couldn''t feel fear for their lives. The only thing they felt was the desire to attack any opponents that entered their territory. "You have a pretty good aim for someone who is using a weird bow and weird arrows," The colonel said. "Are you using some sort of skill to improve your aim and the range of your arrows?" "Nope, I am not using any skill to do that," Ryan replied. "If you want to do the same, you just have to have high dexterity and a good weapon that can emte your dexterity. With those two, and a few moments of concentration, you can hit your targets from a pretty significant distance." Chapter 153 - Iron Golem In the end, Ryan gave some pointers to the Colonel and his men. Although he was giving for free the information, that was basically the secret of the best method he could use to hunt the monsters. He didn''t feel bad or worried. Ryan intended to use only long-ranged attacks against arge number of enemies and while his other fighting style was being developed. Besides, he had other secrets that were more useful, and other people weren''t aware of it. So, it was fine. As for Alissa, no one could learn much by watching her. She was impatient, and since she relied too much on her draconic powers, one could easily notice that shecked discipline and technique. For others, it may look like she was wasting her draconic powers, but for Ryan, who knew the life she had before the monsters'' arrival, it was only natural that she would be like that. "Now that I think about it¡­" Ryan turned around and faced the Colonel," Alissa, didn''t you say that Cole and the others weremunicating with survivors of Indianapolis? I can''t imagine the people having the leisure to do that with so many monsters around this area." "Yes¡­ we were the ones who were talking with your friends," the Colonel sighed. "There is no point in denying. We intended to lure you two to this ce. Alissa''s existence intrigued us and I thought..." "I see¡­" Ryan frowned. "It looks like the situation forced you to make several bad moves. You have been lucky and unlucky at the same time, Colonel." "I am fully aware of it," the Colonel said. It looked like the Colonel politics were changing little by little. At least it looked that way since he was less secretive and more sincere. By the look of things, his partnership with the people of Shreveport was going to seed. Thanks to that, Ryan noticed that he would have to do something about the dungeons, and the only thing he could do was to leave a tamed monster behind. The problem was: would his skills level up fast enough if he goes to check things with his smander and desert wolf? "I also need to keep in check the dungeons and the date that I cleared them. Considering that each dungeon break makes the monsters level up by four levels, things might get reallyplicated in a few years if those dungeon breaks continue to happen over and over again." Without having any means tomunicate with others over long distances, leaving some survivors behind wasn''t wise. Not only because it wasn''t safe, but because those people wouldn''t be monitored. In the worst-case scenario, they might end up creating camps and forcing other people who join them to do whatever the heck they want. Considering the skills that he had, using the tamed monsters was the only solution, but truth to be told, Ryan couldn''t imagine those skills leveling up fast enough and give him the chance to guard all the dungeons he already cleared. While Ryan was being troubled by that problem, the day ended, and they finally killed all the ordinary golems around the dungeon, and now they just have to worry about the bosses. Iron Golem ¨C Lv 60 Health: 9.000/9.000 Mana: 4.500/4.500 Stamina: 6.000/6.000 Strength: 2.500 Dexterity: 600 Speed: 300 Intelligence: 350 Endurance: 3.000 Control: 1000 Mentality: 2.000 Luck: 700 Recovery: 3.500 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Earthquake Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 100 Spells: Earth Bullet Lv 100 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 250 "I think you guys should fall back for now," Ryan said after using Appraisal and analyzing the monster''s status in the distance. "Even if Alissa goes all out, something still might go wrong against fifty of those monsters. "They are tough?" the Colonel asked. "They are very tough," Ryan said. Ryan felt that something was off somewhere regarding the golems, but he couldn''t pinpoint exactly what that was. In any case, sniping those creatures wasn''tpletely out of the question since they were evenrger than the ordinary golems and easier targets. However, Ryan would need to use Power Shot, and it doesn''t matter how much stronger he gets against an even more powerful creature. He would need some time to charge his attacks. So, even if he attacks five hundred meters away from the monsters before he can kill even ten of them, the others will reach his location. "Solving this by transforming into a dragon would be easy, but not fun," Alissa said. "So, I will only use my bolts and some simple elemental magic." Although someone might think that Alissa was underestimating the golems, even basic magic on her hands was deadly. Besides, she wasn''t exactly dumb to do something that would end up making her waste time and thus dy her work. In any case, the first strike was on Ryan''s hands. "Let''s see what I can do with ten seconds." Ryan prepared his arrow and then activated Power Shot. Hopefully, he wouldn''t need to charge his attacks for ten seconds to kill a single boss. However, given the endurance of those creatures, Ryan couldn''t expect much. In the end, just to make sure that he would cause as much damage as possible, Ryan even used Lesser Water Enchantment. When he fired his projectile, the damage knocked down the monster and even froze and cracked a good part of the golem''s head. Ryan saw the creature''s core there, but since it hadn''t beenpletely destroyed. The monster began to regenerate. "Ah,e on¡­" Ryan sighed and fired another arrow to finish the job. The monsters finally noticed Ryan''s presence, and they began to move toward him. It was a bit annoying to know that even with all his power, Ryan alone could only take down three of those beasts without running out of mana. Fortunately, that also made Ryan aware that he had a lot of room to grow. You obtained 2.000 coins. Chapter 154 - Class: Summoner Ryan wasn''t the type to make the same mistakes twice, so when his mana got empty, he retreated a little, grabbed his backpack, and used the potions he had bought to use in emergencies. He had to hurry since the golems were approaching, and he killed only three. However, his tension and hurry had been for naught. Alongside her bolts, Alissa fired Ice Spears thatpletely froze the golems'' heads. Before they could even fell due to that, she destroyed their frozen head with those bolts. "For the good or the worse, Alissa''s presence is useful. The number of times in which my life had been in danger decreased since I met her, but I will never stop being motivated to keep improving thanks to her. After all, while she is holding back, she can kill ten times more monsters while I am serious." Ryan and Alissa killed thirty of the bosses before the remaining of them could get close enough to attack with Earth Bullets. Alissa frowned since he didn''t expect they would reach that far. Still, she solved that problem easily by increasing the size of her Ice Spears. Not only she managed to destroy the enemies'' projectiles with that, but she also killed some golems with her magic. In the end, Alissa killed forty-three iron golems, and Ryan, who gave his all, killed only seven. "You are not good enough to estimate your foe''s strength with your eyes alone. You need a lot more practice. Against an opponent of this level, it isughable that they got this close." While Orgar was nitpicky, Ryan decided to check the loot. Although a lot of items were dropped, and some of them were pretty decent, Ryan only picked those there were dropped from the monsters he killed. Fortunately, his luck had been good, and his equipment was finally going to be upgraded a little bit. Iron Breastte Effect: Health + 10, Endurance + 8 Durability: 45/45 Mantle of the Wanderer Effect: Speed + 5, Stamina + 15 Durability: 45/45 "It looks like I can use the breastte over the chainmail and still get the statuses¡­ not bad. As for the cloak, I am more interested in this old piece of clothing will be useful against the cold wind of the night." "Mmm¡­ what am I going to do with all this?" Alissa said, looking troubled by the items that she obtained but had no use for. "Sell, donate, trade¡­ you can do a lot of things with it," Ryan replied. "I don''t need any more coins than I already have, and I certainly don''t want to help other humans for free," Alissa said. "As for thest option, I doubt that other humans have the things that I can''t find." Alissa wasining because she had problems others would beg to have. Still, Ryan decided to ignore her. Nothing good woulde from arguing with someone whoins when they don''t have any reason to do so. Regardless, before she could solve her problems, she just put away her items on the dimension which she used to store all sorts of things. "Now that I think about it, even though she says that, she never leaves anything behind. All the drops she obtained, she stored in wherever she put her things. Which reminds me, she stored some beds there before, but she always looks for other beds when we arrive in other cities." That was beyond weird, but then again, Ryan decided to forget about it. It was only natural that they defeated the dungeon''s final boss with ease after fighting against fifty of them earlier. This time, Ryan''s expectations were quite high since both of them worked a lot more than they did on the previous dungeons. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: diator, Ninja, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "We hit the jackpot this time, three new sses, and all of them look interesting¡­ that being said, I don''t need a melee ss, so diator is out. Well, about the others¡­ what should I do?" Ninja seemed pretty cool, and Ryan was quite certain the status bonuses would help him increase his power with a bow even more. However, Summoner seemed like the ss Ryan would need to keep the dungeons in check¡­ For the first time in a while, Ryan had no idea what he should do. "Mmm¡­ maybe Summoner doesn''t have the limitations of the Beastmaster ss¡­ that would be really helpful. Still, I feel like relying too much on monsters is making me stray away from the fighting style that I want." In the end, Ryan decided to make a bet¡­ if he losses, hopefully, he will have another chance to get the Ninja ss in the near future, and he wouldn''t hate himself for too long. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Summoner! You obtained the following skills: Summon Slime, Summon Giant Bee, and Protect. Your intelligence and mana will increase by four points, your stamina, health, recovery, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Slime. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a slime. Cost: 250 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Giant Bee. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a Giant Bee. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Protect. Effect: It grants you the power to cast a barrier around your or your allies. The spell can onlyst for three hundred seconds, and it increases the target endurance by five points per level. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 155 - Harsh Trip Ryan facepalmed because it looked like he messed up again. Although the skills seemed useful and have apparently no limitations, the cost to use them was too damn high. Ryan couldn''t even use one of them with his current mana. To test the skill, Ryan used Summon Slime, but when he saw the monster''s status, his head began to ache. Slime Lv 01 Health: 50/50 Mana: 50/50 Stamina: 50/50 Strength: 10 Dexterity: 10 Speed: 10 Intelligence: 10 Endurance: 10 Control: 10 Mentality: 10 Luck: 10 Recovery: 10 Willpower: 10 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Earth Arrow Lv 10, Fireball Lv 10, Wind Arrow Lv 10, Water de Lv 10 Support Skills: "It looks like summoned monsters can''t obtain status points like the tamed ones¡­ which means they can only grow stronger when they level up, and I can''t teach this guy new skills. Shit¡­ this one here can''t even defeat a single slime that is spawning on this world." Ryan didn''t know if he was supposed to be happy since the monster was stronger than him when the monsters appeared or if he should feel sad that humans before were pathetically weak. In any case, maybe things weren''t that bad¡­ As far as Ryan knew, he could summon as many slimes as he wanted, and they wouldn''t consume his mana after being summoned. So just by being alive, maybe they could make the skill level up, or at the very least, when they use their skills. "If I learn the spell that Alissa used to transfer mana to me, they will be able to fight for longer¡­ then again. Maybe it will be more efficient if I use all my mana to summon more of them." It looked like Ryan was a natural gambler. Instead of properly following the safe path, he liked to take some risks even though there was a path of him that was pretty steady¡ªall for the sake of an unstable path that could grant him with some impressive rewards. Regardless, Ryan learned he wasn''t disciplined as much as he thought he was¡­ "It looks like our job here is over," Alissa said after choosing a new ss without putting much thought into it. "Can we finally go home now?" "Home?" Ryan frowned. "My home is wherever Arthur is," Alissa said. "Right¡­ we can return whenever you decide. It is your call," Ryan said. "You are the one who is going to carry us, after all." "Let''s say that your friends decide to work the Colonel. How do you intend to make cross such arge distance?" Alissa asked. "For thest time¡­ they are not my friends," Ryan said after a long sigh. "That is up to you. Do you intend to let Arthur cross several hundred kilometers of monster territory alone, or do you intend to help Mia and the others? I will just have to let you know that you can''t take him away from her." "So, you are passing that problem to me?" Alissa asked. "Well, I guess that is fine if we take things slowly. That way, I will have a lot of time to spend with Arthur." Ryan sighed¡­ maybe he made a mistake by trying to annoy Alissa the same way she could annoy him. Regardless, Ryan began to use his head and think of what he should do while Alissa transports Shreveport''s survivors toward the secret military base. It wasn''t set in stone that Cole, John, and the others woulde, but if Ryan had to bet, he would say they would ept to work with some military guys for the sake of efficiency. That way, they will be able to find more survivors and rescue them faster. After leaving the dungeon, Ryan wondered if he should buy something, but in the end, he decided to do thatter. If his tamed monsters were still alive, he would probably get a lot more coins from them. So, it would be better to make his decision after checking that. "It looks like you already reached your goal," Mark said, visibly surprised. "When do you n to depart?" "Right now," Alissa said, and then she transformed into her dragon form. Although Mark and his men knew that Alissa wasn''t as bloodthirsty as the other dragons, they couldn''t help but flinch and gulp while that massive thing was so close to them. Still, despite their obvious reluctance, Mark and Hugo still climbed Alissa''s back and then prepared themselves since they were fully aware the trip would be anything butfortable. "Don''t go too fast," Ryan said. "If the colonel dies and his men at his base never see him again, they will know who to me for that." "What a pain¡­" Alissa sighed. Ryan couldn''t quite understand why Alissa got so attached to Arthur, but in the end, she endured the wish of just rushing ahead to return to Shreveport. Although she was only flying at half of her usual speed, the colonel passed out many times along, and Hugo looked like he was about to throw up during the whole trip. Fortunately, he endured the feeling because he didn''t want to anger Alissa anymore than he already was by treating her like a vehicle. ss: Hunter Lv 33 / Elementalist Lv 30/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 739th Health: 230/230 (1.32/s) Mana: 417/417 (1.32/s) Stamina: 297/297 (1.32/s) Strength: 10 (+39) (+60) Dexterity: 421 (+186) (+27) Speed: 50 (+100) (+28) Intelligence: 09 (+111) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+15) (+69) Control: 06 (+142) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+5) Luck: 30 (+1) Recovery: 290 (+294) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+5) Coins: 94.550 Status: 29 Skill List Offensive Extra Jump Lv 01, Power of Money Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Sprinter Lv 01, Tax Lv 01, Lady Luck Lv 01, Spells: sh Lv 01, Summon Slime Lv 01, Summon Giant Bee Lv 01, Protect Lv 01, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 27, Beastmaster Lv 06, Archer Lv 19, Mercenary Lv 05, Corsair Lv 01, Summoner Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 11, Trickster Lv 01, Chapter 156 - Long Talk It was around midnight when they finally arrived in Shreveport. Somehow, some lookouts managed to see Alissa''s approach and warn all of the survivors despite the darkness. Just like before, all of them ran to the dungeon, and also, just like before, Ryan had to solve that mess again. "This isn''t good for our heart," Daniel sighed. "Anyway, it looks like you found some survivors." Alissapletely ignored Daniel, and she ran to see Arthur sleeping in Mia''s arms. Ryan also ignored him because this time he saw some faces he didn''t see thest time he had been there, John was one of them, as well as Hond and Ang. "This is colonel Mark Hughes. He has a proposal to all of you," Ryan said. "Just give him a minute to recover from the trip." After a few minutes, the Colonel recovered and began to talk. Surprisingly, he talked about how the world ended from his perspective and about the number of men he lost who tried to protect those same men''s families. He also mentioned that he has been keeping an eye on the survivors of Shreveport for thest few days, thanks to Alissa and Ryan''s presence. It was a bit too sudden given his usual methods, but the colonel really was trying to change his ways. As expected, Cole and John didn''t find the prospect of joining the army in this situation a bad idea. After all, they wouldn''t be soldiers but an independent force that would work with Mark and his men. However, Lilian and Daniel didn''t seem that eager to ept the proposal for some reason. "While I think that is the best thing we could do considering our whole group, I can''t decide this for every single person here," Lilian said. "While I think the majority will want to join, a good part won''t ept it," Daniel said. "What do you think, Ryan?" "Don''t ask me. I am not a part of any group," Ryan replied. "But aren''t you going to work with the general now and then?" Daniel insisted. "He is a colonel, and yes, but only now and then when I see fit," Ryan replied. "He has some resources. I think it will be useful. I am sure he can also find my skills useful in some sort of way." "I think we should leave some people behind," Mia said. "Mia?" Daniel frowned at her words. "You know, because of the dungeons," Mia added. "We can''t let the monsters multiply, and in terms of efficiency, it will be better if we leave at least six of us in each dungeon." That was an option that Ryan considered, but he didn''t want to use. Things go wrong somewhere, and those survivors might be a problem in the future. He would rather leave his tamed beasts behind and obtain all the possible coins and rewards of a certain dungeon to himself. Ryan knew that he was bing quite greedy as ofte, but things would be better that way since the chance of a bad turn of events would decrease. "If you don''t mind, we need some time to talk among ourselves," John said. "Can we give you a proper answer tomorrow morning?" "Of course," Mark said. Ryan wanted to see things being solved as fast as possible since he nned to check his tamed beasts while Alissa moves the survivors to Indianapolis. However, even though he could face most monsters, facing more than one dragon at a time was out of the question. Besides, Ryan would need some time to prepare. Considering all that, it would be better if he moves at night since he was going to separate from Alissa for a while. In any case, since Ryan didn''t have anything better to do, he decided to train his elemental maniptions as well as level up Meditation. However, it looked like fate had other ns for him. "Big bro!" Zoe waved her hands while she was approaching alongside her father. "¡­ I am not your big bro," Ryan replied after a few seconds of silence and then closed his eyes again. "Thank you for helping Daddy!" Zoe said. Ryan sighed. In the end, he could be harsh as much as he wanted to adults, but not to such a sweet child. Still, getting close to others wasn''t something he was interested in any longer, so he decided to finish that conversation as fast as possible. "I don''t need your thanks," Ryan said. "Rather than that, repay the favor with some information. Did you guys see many dragonsing and going around these parts?" "Yes," Miles replied. "I believe we saw between fifteen and twenty dragons in thest three days. It is quite tiring to be at alert for so long. Fortunately, nothing happened, and we all responded to the threat in time." That was good. It showed that those idiots weren''t a lost cause. Still, the number was smaller than Ryan thought¡­ maybe even though they can''t fight the megalodons on the sea, they are still trying to fight them close to those areas. Fantasy stories taught Ryan that dragons were prideful creatures. Orgar was a fine example of that. "I see, that is all, now we are even," Ryan said. "Big bro, are you going to stay with us now?" Zoe asked. "Daddy and I are going with everyone to the ce you said, right Daddy?" "Yes," Miles nodded. "I am not your¡­" Ryan took a deep breath to calm down again. "I don''t intend to stay to any ce for long. That is all you need to know." Zoe changed quite a bit in thest few days. Before, she was a timid child who had some attitude, but now she was happy that he was with her father¡­ the loss of her mother was something said, but she already had moved on from it. Looking at Zoe, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he shouldn''t do the same¡­ move on from his past instead of letting the pain he felt before control most of his actions. Chapter 157 - A Man And His Harem... When morning came, Ryan confirmed his suspicion. Those who wanted to stay behind were quite the suspicious group. One of them and who decided to stay in the velociraptor''s dungeon was that tall friend of Daniel. Weirdly enough, five girls would stay and guard that dungeon with him. While looking at the guy and the harem he formed in thest month, Ryan couldn''t help butugh a little. "Why are youughing, asshole?" Daniel''s friend asked. "For absolutely no reason in particr," Ryan turned around, but he didn''t stopughing. The world was ending, and most people don''t have the leisure to do anything aside from struggle, but that guy was¡­ Ryan shook his head and decided to forget about it. In any case, it was just too weird that someone could be that carefree when the only thing he could do when a dragon appeared was to run. "Are you sure of that, Adrian?" Daniel asked, visibly troubled by his friends'' actions. "Yeah, sorry, but¡­ I am not good with stiff rules," Adrian said. "We lost everything when those monsters appeared, and I don''t want to lose my freedom as well." He would be more convincing if five curvy women weren''t behind him. In any case, at least that gave Ryan a hint. After using Appraisal on all the groups that would stay behind, Ryan confirmed his worries. All of the people who would stay behind were like the second strongest parties of their respective groups. Maybe it was a coincidence, but Cole, Daniel, Lilian, and their respective friends were the strongest of each group. Maybe those guys who would stay behind weren''t plotting something, but it was very clear that they didn''t want to be the number two. "Around thirty survivors decided to stay behind while 120 are going to join your group," John said. "I hope we can get along well together." "Certainly," Mark said and then offered a handshake to John. Ryan wasn''t the type who would believe in those types of agreements. He would rather wait and see how things would proceed instead of blindly trusting someone. Still, he didn''t feel like mock those who still thought that humans'' words had some value in them. "How do you guys intend to reach the base?" Alissa asked with Arthur in her arms. "We recovered some vehicles in thest few days that should help us with that," John replied. "Although running would be a bit faster, we have certain things that we can''t leave behind or carry in our arms alone. That being said, we will have to stop many times if the monsters get in our way or if the terrain isn''t appropriate." "I will help you guys with that," Alissa said. "We exchange. Arthur will stay with me the whole time." Before anyone could protest, Alissa began to fly in her human form toward the base''s direction. Eventually, she found out the vehicles John mentioned, and then she began to open the path ahead. While the survivors were heading toward the vehicles, Ryan turned around and headed toward the opposite direction. As expected, he shocked many people since he didn''t tell anyone what he nned, but eventually, Orgar would tell Alissa, and then she would exin everything. Now that Ryan was alone, he felt a sense of freedom that he couldn''t express with words. However, at the same time, he didn''t drop his guard. He was alone, and he couldn''t only rely on himself to survive and avoid problems. That was great, but at the same time, it was risky. "I can''t waste too much time fighting since that can draw the attention of dragons. A trail of corpses is something I can''t leave behind¡­ I guess my best bet is to use Dash and train Stealth as much as possible. That way, maybe I will be able to avoid the dragons." That was a bit tiring, but Ryan only used Dash after he checked. The whole area ahead was free of monsters, and he always stopped when he found an appropriate ce to hide, like the back of trees and some rocks. When he was crossing urbanized areas, he made sure to hide behind cars, fences, and energy poles. Ryan found a few monsters here and there, but he managed to avoid them relying solely on Dash and Stealth. Although that had been quite nerve-wracking, Ryan reached Houston at sunset without having to kill a single monster. Even better, he couldn''t see a single demon walking around the streets. "Good, it looks like the elder smander has been doing a good job." Unfortunately, Ryan was forced to stop and use Earth Maniption to dig a hole in the ground and then hid inside of it. He heard the familiar sound of a massive monster pping its wings in the distance, and he didn''t have to see with his own eyes to confirm that was a dragon passing nearby. Fortunately, Ryan trained that skill just enough to be able to hide in just two seconds. He didn''t feel the approach of the dragon, so the creature passed by him without noticing. "I need to be careful since manipting asphalt and concrete isn''t possible for some reason¡­" Fortunately, the night came, and Ryan was now able to hide with more ease, but he didn''t have to worry since he didn''t find any monster while he headed toward the demons'' dungeon. Congrattions! The skill Tame has leveled up. Tame Lv 12 ? Lv 20 Effect: It gives you the chance to tame a monster or an animal. The more wounded the creature, the higher are the chances of the Tame skill to work. If the creature is too strong and the skill level is low, the skill won''t work. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 08 status points. Congrattions! The skill Call has leveled up. Call Lv 10 ? Lv 20 Extra Effect: for every five levels you have in this skill, you will be able to tame another beast. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 10 status points. Elder Smander Health: 658/800 Mana: 1.600/1.600 Stamina: 1.400/1.400 Strength: 150 Dexterity: 250 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 450 Endurance: 100 Control: 400 Mentality: 350 Luck: 20 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 150 Coins: -- Status: 290 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 10 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 55, Dash Lv 60 Spells: methrower Lv 65, Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 30, Meditation Lv 40, Pain Resistance Lv 40 You received 245.600 coins. "Holy crap¡­ you have been working hard, haven''t you?" Ryan said, astonished after receiving those coins. With that crazy number of coins, Ryan had several ideas. The chances of them failing were quite high, but he decided to make some bets once again. Chapter 158 - Grandiose Goals Based on Ryan''s calctions, if they don''t stop, the survivors alongside Alissa will arrive at the military base in a little more than sixty hours. Although Ryan could reach the ce faster than then, he still had to stop and check things with the desert wolf he left guarding another dungeon near Las Vegas. Regardless, Ryan still forced himself to summon a slime and make the monster attack his smander. When the monster''s mana ran out, Ryan bought a potion and poured it over the creature. He did that many times for several hours¡­ Congrattions! The skill Summon Slime has leveled up. Summon Slime Lv 1 ? Lv 11 Effect: It grants you the power to summon a slime. Cost: 250 mana You obtained 01 status point. "I guess this is enough." Ryan had to spend twenty thousand coins in mana potions to make the skill reach that level, but at the same time, he also made his smander learn some elemental resistances and level them up. So, if anything, that had been a good investment. Based on the slime status, Ryan confirmed that the monster''s strength was equal to the ordinary slimes spawned by that dungeon. Meaning, his slimes could face level eleven slimes spawned by the dungeon. It wasn''t his current goal, but at least that taught Ryan some things. "Let''s see what I can buy with this¡­ not a single weapon here is at the same level of my bow, sword, and spear. This is a pity. Let''s see what tomes I can get¡­" Unlike the weapons section, the tomes session was quite weird. The tomes sold there were quite expensive. Some of them cost exactly the same amount of coins that he had. That raised some questions in Ryan''s head, but he understood one thing. All types of skills could be learned using tomes, as long as he had enough coins to pay for them. Regardless, even though there were some spells Ryan could learn, he didn''t find many that could fit his fighting style. He also confirmed that the Telekinesis tome was very expensive¡­ hopefully, if he saves his coins and adds them with the ones he is probably going to receive by finding his desert wolf, it would be enough. However, was it really worth spending so many coins on a single skill? Ryan''s luck hasn''t been impressive as ofte, but there is always a chance that he might get that tome. After all, he was ying monsters day and night. "Speaking of drops, I don''t see many of them here¡­" There were some items inside the dungeon, but they weren''t that valuable. Still, considering the number of days which his smander stayed there, Ryan imagined he would find a lot more. Maybe its low luck was the cause of it, or maybe just like some monsters disappear after dying after a while, the items also disappear. That was unreasonable, butining won''t change anything. "For some reason, all the monsters that Alissa kills never disappear¡­ is it because they always explode when she attacks?" Ryan insisted on finding some useful tomes, but most of the ones he found were offensive spells that only would be useful in the hands of those who stupid amounts of mana. Considering the utility of his elemental maniptions, Ryan decided to look for the improved version of those spells, but he didn''t find them. It probably would be more costly, but it would be awesome if Ryan could create the elements using his mana alone. "Not good¡­ I am not finding anything that will be useful for the fighting style I am developing¡­ I guess I just need to keep working hard and hope that eventually, I will find something useful in the shop." Just when Ryan was about to give up and move on, he found a single tome that would, without a doubt, help him quite a bit. However, the cost was insane. Fortunately, it was a passive skill, so Ryan would be able to level it up without worrying about mana. Improved Concentration Tome Effect: Passively increases your dexterity by five points per level. Price: 300.000 coins "Oh, well¡­ who cares about this imaginary money," Ryan said. "I can''t let something like that get in my way." Although Ryan said that, he spent several seconds forcing his finger to buy the tome. As expected, Ryan was really greedy, and just having a massive number of coins was enough to make him feel good even though the numbers by themselves didn''t have any use aside from buying things. Ryan left the dungeon and then filled his backpack with mana and stamina potions. It was midnight, and he wanted to arrive in Las Vegas before sunrise. In fact, he wanted to finish all his business there and leave before sunrise since, in that area, he couldn''t do anything aside from using Earth Maniption to hide from dragons. "I also need to tame two other monsters¡­ harpies don''t have much durability, so they are a no. As for the Earthworms¡­ I would rather avoid them. My only options are the desert wolves and smanders again." Although Ryan could have reached Las Vegas in time with his speed alone, he didn''t because he found several problems along the way¡­ surprisingly enough, he found ten dragons along the way to Las Vegas. Apparently, dragons were also nocturnal creatures. Since they were getting on his nerves by dying his ns, Ryan considered more than once killing those bastards, but in the end, he controlled his instincts since all those dragons were stronger than the red dragon he faced before. "Let''s steadily build my strength, and then one day, I will kill every single of those fuckers with a single attack." Now more than ever, Ryan was greedy, but once he recognized that he was that kind of person, that didn''t bother him anymore. If anything, it was nice to have those grandiose goals¡­ even though they might lead him to his death one day. Chapter 159 - Bad Sign Congrattions! The skill Tame has leveled up. Tame Lv 20 ? Lv 26 Effect: It gives you the chance to tame a monster or an animal. The more wounded the creature, the higher are the chances of the Tame skill to work. If the creature is too strong and the skill level is low, the skill won''t work. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 06 status points. Congrattions! The skill Call has leveled up. Call Lv 20 ? Lv 25 Extra Effect: for every five levels you have in this skill, you will be able to tame another beast. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 05 status points. Desert Wolf Alpha Health: 1.150/1.200 Mana: 1.200 /1.200 Stamina: 1.400/1.400 Strength: 350 Dexterity: 350 Speed: 350 Intelligence: 300 Endurance: 250 Control: 200 Mentality: 250 Luck: 200 Recovery: 350 Willpower: 150 Coins: -- Status: 190 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 60 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 50, Dash Lv 50, Spells: Quick Legs Lv 70, Meditation Lv 40, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 50, Wind Resistance Lv 40, Pain Resistance Lv 30 You obtained 189.760 coins. "It looks like you also worked quite a bit," Ryan said and then patted the head of the oversized wolf. "Let''s see¡­ few items here as well and no tomes. The wolf''s luck is ten times higher than the smander, so maybe the items really disappear after a while." Although Ryan patted his monster''s head, he soon stopped after feeling the smell of blooding from the wolf''s mouth. There were some signs of dried blood on the ground as well, the beast really all of its foes¡­ Suddenly, Ryan didn''t feel like treating those creatures like pets. Although they were living beings, they weren''t much different than weapons of war. Regardless, Ryan now has the power to have five beasts under his control. Although that was good, it was also bad since he didn''t have much time. It would be a pain to stop too many times at night because of the dragons. "I guess I will just train another desert wolf in order to make it hunt the smander in the other dungeon. I can''t think of any creature that can take down an earthworm aside from another earthworm. Still, even if I tame such a beast, the monster won''tst for long since their strength won''t be much higher than the ordinary monsters." As expected, Ryan went to the dungeon and tamed the boss pretty fast. While they were still at the dungeon, Ryan decided to make the monster endure some spartan training. After all, the smanders were pretty fast long-ranged fighters. Although he focused on training the Fire Resistance of the monster, he also made the wolf learn other skills and trained them up to level ten. That was all he could do before noon. "Things would be a bit simpler if I could make my monsters wear some gear, but I can''t. Strangely enough, all equipment found in the dungeon shops is all human-sized." Ryan thought that while he left the area. In the end, some things didn''t work out the way he wanted before, so he decided not to let some failure bother him in the future again. Some things would work while others won''t. Things were supposed to be that way. On the way back, Ryan avoided fighting with monsters again. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but Ryan felt that he was bing quite good at being stealthy. After all, he didn''t have to fight a single time. In any case, Ryan probably had some time left, so he decided to return to Shreveport and check if the survivors that stayed behind were up to no good. He couldn''t always ask Mark to check things now and then, but it was better to solve some problems early on. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t find anything in the three dungeons he visited. The survivors were just hunting monsters and living their lives as usual. "Mmm¡­ maybe a single betrayal messed with my mind more than I thought." After finishing his business in Shreveport, Ryan began to follow Alissa''s trail and the others. Although he was managing to keep a decent pace, his mind was quite tired. So, Ryan began to wonder if he shouldn''t stop to rest. The group was probably just one day and a half ahead of him, after all. Not sleeping for five days straight was finally affecting Ryan''s mind. "Nah, I need to continue¡­ I can sleep as much as I wantter on that base. Alissa won''t mind since she will be thankful for having more time to stay with Arthur." Ryan hurried and used every chance to move. It would be a pain if he finds a dragon along the way, and his tiredness ends up making his stealthy skills be sloppy. In order to avoid facing that problem again in the future, Ryan made a mental note to take a one-hour nap every single day. That should do the trick, and Ryan wouldn''t feel guilty by wasting too much time not practicing his skills. "Something is wrong¡­" After running for an entire night, Ryan noticed that something was off. He didn''t find a single monster throughout the entire night, and even though on the previous one he saw ten dragons, he didn''t find a single one that night. Ryan''s instincts alerted him that something very troublesome was about to happen¡­ maybe a dragon noticed his presence and decided to y dumb in order to prepare a sure-kill trap on his path. Or perhaps one of them decided to call their friends after analyzing Ryan and concluding that he wasn''t an enemy they should mess with. However, Ryan didn''t find anything in all directions. He sharpened his senses, but aside from theck of monsters, nothing seemed out of ce. Come to think of it, Alissa said that she would help the survivors in that aspect. However, Ryan''s predictions were far off the mark this time. Around noon of the next day, he noticed that the trail left by Alissa and the other was getting warmer. At the same time, he saw ten or so figures flying in the sky and heading toward the same directions¡­ as expected, whenever something good happens in Ryan''s life, something terrible happens soon after. Chapter 160 - What Now? It didn''t take long for Ryan to notice that ten dragons were following Alissa and the others. That was odd¡­ Alissa and Orgar should have noticed them and decided to attack the monsters since they nned to do the same with them. After thinking for a while, Ryan understood that the dragons were just following the humans from a safe distance because they wanted to see where the base was. All in order topletely wipe out their numbers and turn their base upside down. That was some devilish n¡­ as expected of dragons. "Maybe Alissa is too distracted by ying with Arthur. However, I can''t imagine Orgar dropping his guard for any reason¡­ what now?" Attacking the monsters was out of the question since if Ryan does that, the chances of the dragons ganging up on him were pretty high, and if that happens¡­ he will die, for sure. Trying to take a roundabout route wouldn''t work either. Ryan was one thousand kilometers away from Indianapolis. Maybe Alissa and the others were at half of that distance. So, he had less than eight hours to warn them. "Oh man¡­ what now?" Whatever happens, Ryan couldn''t let the dragons find the secret base, and he couldn''t let them attack first either. Not only would the first make him lose a precious source of surveince, but the second would decimate the survivors. Without a dungeon to hide inside, they would be sitting ducks. Even if Alissa has powers and she is stronger than the average dragon, she couldn''t possibly defeat ten of them alone, much less trying to protect Arthur. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t think of any possible solution to that situation. Ryan''s luck really sucked¡­ why he couldn''t peacefully defeat just the right monsters to build his strength at a decent pace? Why always something unexpected had to happen so often? In any case, Ryan made up his mind. He would try to find a solution to that problem in the next two hours. If Ryan didn''t find one, he would attack the dragons. He didn''t want to be a sacrifice for the likes of Daniel and Mia, but strangely enough, he didn''t mind putting his life at risk for Arthur''s sake. The kid hated him down to an instinctual level, but that doesn''t matter. He would do anything for that kid to have a future. That was the only thing he couldn''t fail at. Unfortunately, it looked like that was the only option. Ryan used his head for two hours to find a solution to that situation, but nothing came to his mind. It was unavoidable. He will have to fight ten dragons by himself. Hopefully, he will die buying enough time for Arthur to reach the secret base and to stroke his pride a little bit. He will at least take down two of those ten dragons. "Yep, this is a decent goal considering this situation." Ryan ran toward the dragons in order to enter the range of his bow. At the same time, he prepared his mind for that crazy battle. It wasn''t much, but he used his ny-two free status points in dexterity¡­ all for the sake of increasing his attack power to the limit. Weirdly enough, even though Ryan was nervous as hell, the dragons never noticed his approach, probably because they were too focused on Alissa in order not to be detected by her and Orgar. "Maybe they are using some spell to conceal their presences¡­ However, that doesn''t exin why they are so close to each other." Things would be different if Ryan were good at feeling the mana of their foes¡­ Still, as long as he enters his range of attack, he will be able to use Appraisal and confirm that. The problem was: was that a good idea? Dragons were the most troublesome monsters Ryan faced so far, and Alissa could do many things with the powers she received from Orgar¡­ in the end, Ryan decided not to try anything aside from attacking. "This angle should be all right¡­" Ryan moved to the Northeast a little bit until he confirmed that he was in a position where his attack would make the dragon that he hits collide against others. As much as he wanted to pierce an arrow deep down their asses as a payment for what they have been doing to Earth, Ryan couldn''t since that only would enrage the beasts. In the end, the time finally came. Ryan began to concentrate his Power Shot, and even though the air around him changed due to the massive concentration of energy, none of the dragons noticed him. When his mana and stamina got empty, Ryan fired the arrow. Even before hitting the target, Ryan was already smiling because his attack had been so powerful that his bow began to lose durability. That was all thanks to his massive dexterity¡­ Regardless, half a secondter, his bone arrow pierced the right-wing of a ck dragon and also pierced deeply on its right side. The beast screamed in pain while the impact made the monster forcefully move to the side. As expected, his Power Shot''s impact not only wounded deeply one of the dragons, but it also made the monster hit three others. At the same time, Ryan felt a wave of mana dispersing from them. They really were using some spell to conceal their presences¡­ Regardless, before the dragons could see what attacked them, Ryan hid behind a tree¡­ fortunately, he had chosen to attack in a ce in which he could hide very well. ss: Hunter Lv 33 / Elementalist Lv 30/ Monk Lv 09 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 739th Health: 230/248 (1.32/s) Mana: 425/451 (1.32/s) Stamina: 297/325 (1.32/s) Strength: 10 (+39) (+60) Dexterity: 513 (+223) (+27) Speed: 50 (+114) (+28) Intelligence: 09 (+111) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+15) (+69) Control: 06 (+156) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+5) Luck: 30 (+5) Recovery: 290 (+302) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+5) Coins: 205.650 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 19 (+ 07 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Stealth Lv 22 (+ 05 UP), Sprinter Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Tax Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Lady Luck Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Improved Concentration Lv 01, Spells: Meditation Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), Fire Maniption Lv 20 (+ 03 UP), Mana Shield Lv 09, Earth Maniption Lv 25 (+ 02 UP), Water Maniption Lv 18 (+ 03 UP), Wind Maniption Lv 26 (+ 02 UP), Summon Slime Lv 11 (+ 10 UP) Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 11 (+ 03 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 13 (+ 03 UP), Master''s Support Lv 08 (+ 03 UP), Ice Bound Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 27, Beastmaster Lv 11, Archer Lv 19, Mercenary Lv 05, Corsair Lv 03, Summoner Lv 03, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 11, Trickster Lv 01, Chapter 161 - Hunting Dragons You obtained 25.000 coins. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 30 ? Lv 35 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by two points per second. Cost: 17,5 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Surprisingly enough, before Ryan could sit down to meditate and recover some of his mana to dig a hole and hide, he received that notification. Somehow, he managed to kill the ck dragon with a single attack. Still, Ryan didn''t get carried away because he knew something was off¡­ the dragons did something to hide their presence, and that something probably weakened them. That also would exin the wave of mana dispersing that he felt¡­ Regardless, the enemies were dragons that could kill him just with their weight. So, he couldn''t rx yet. Suddenly, in the distance, Ryan began to hear the sound of explosions. The dragons decided to burn the entire area since the number of trees was too high¡­ Ryan didn''t expect that. Still, as long as he digs deep, their Fire Breath won''t reach him. In the blink of an eye, the entire area was burned by the dragons. However, when the mes finally reached Ryan, he was already deep underground. "Shit¡­ I can''t see a thing here, and the smoke will suffocate me if I don''t do something." Unfortunately, the only thing Ryan could really do in that situation was to wait and recover his mana and stamina and then repeat the same process: kill one dragon while its focus is in somewhere else. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Fear Resistance Lv 4 ? Lv 5 Effect: Decreases the effect of magic attacks that may cause fear by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Hey, are you kidding me? Why this message appeared at such time?" Although Ryan was trying to keep his nerves in check, there was no sense in denying that he was feeling fear amidst all that tension. It was only natural given that he picked a fight with ten dragons. Still, he refused to ept that. Now and then, the ground around Ryan trembled while the dragons walked around and used their Fire Breath. Also, now and then, he was forced to close his only source of light and oxygen in that hole to stop the smoke. Somewhere inside his heart, Ryan hoped that the dragons would give up on him and just fly to somewhere else, but they never did. They wanted to avenge theirrade no matter what. It felt like an eternity, but eventually, Ryan recovered his mana and stamina. It was time to choose another damn dragon to put down. The problem was: how to attack them when the monsters surrounded him? In the end, Ryan had an idea¡­ before attacking again, he moved to where the fallen dragon was. It was a risky n since he wouldn''t have to move near the surface. However, at the very least, Ryan knew that the monsters wouldn''t guard the corpse. They had no reason to do so, and thus he would be able to surprise them. With some luck, he may find even a decent item. Since Ryan had to move just the right amount of earth to preserve his mana, it took a while, but he eventually reached his destination, and as expected, the dragons were near it. Ryan even put his head outside the hole to look for the drop since the nearest dragon was three hundred meters away from him. In the end, he didn''t find an item but a tome. Sting Tome Effect: It grants you the power to decrease the enemy''s endurance by one point per level. Cost: 20 mana It was a useful skill with a lot of potentials. However, at level one, it wouldn''t help Ryan all that much. Regardless, he learned the skill anyway and prepared to recover his mana. After a few minutes of rest, Ryan was ready to attack, and this time, he chose the thinnest of the dragons. One that had green scales all over its body¡­ Ryan could tell that the monster was good at attacking from a distance, but their endurance wasn''t that high. "Good, I can do this¡­ I can analyze my foes'' strength with my eyes alone. That needs some training, but this should be fine for now." Ryan couldn''t move that much while he concentrates his Power Shot since his uracy would drop considerably. So, he had to concentrate and hid as much as possible his bloodlust. He had no idea how to do that exactly, but for starters. Ryan decided to just charge the attack without properly aim at his target. When he felt that his energy was about to get empty again, Ryan adjusted his aim toward the green dragon. As expected, the beast''s sharp instincts made it notice Ryan''s presence as soon he aimed. However, Ryan fired and hit the monster''s head before the creature could do anything¡­ that gigantic size could also be a weakness. You obtained 25.000 coins. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 35 ? Lv 38 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by two points per second. Cost: 19 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. The powerful impact exploded half of the dragon''s head, killing the beast. Fortunately, Ryan''s assumptions were correct, but it will be harder to choose another target since they didn''t look much different from each other. Regardless, Ryan''s attack also made the dragon''s body move to the side considerably. So, the monsters never had the chance to notice that Ryan attacked so near the corpse of the first fallen dragon. They had good instincts, but since they were blinded by rage, they couldn''t feel Ryan''s presence that easily. Or perhaps Ryan''s presence was being overwhelmed by the massive presence of the dragons nearby, that was a question only the future would be able to make Ryan find an answer. In any case, the fight was finally nearing its end... Chapter 162 - Guts "Two down, eight to go¡­" Ryan reached his first goal much sooner than he had expected. Now he could die feeling good about himself, right? The past him thought that, but now he wanted more. He wanted to survive as well. It was only natural since it would be a waste to die now. Regardless, he was hiding underground again, but Ryan could feel a lot of tremors after he killed the second dragon. Those beasts weren''t idiots. They knew Ryan was hiding underground. Fortunately, it didn''t look like any of those dragons seemed good at earth magic. Otherwise, they would have found him. "Just in case, I guess I should hide in a hole below the corpses." Although he wanted to check if the second dragon dropped something, Ryan couldn''t risk it in that situation. Now more than ever, the dragons knew that they couldn''t underestimate Ryan, so they had to be cautious. Hopefully, if they are as smart and cautious as Ryan thought they were, they will give up after another dragon dies. Besides, they had another problem¡­ "Just moving the earth to open a path won''t be enough¡­ I have to make a clear escape route underground. However, to do that, I will have to get rid of some of this earth, and the only way to do it is by putting to the surface¡­ such aplicated life." Ryan began to work as fast as he could. Although he focused on magic to dig, he also used his spear to help a little bit. At that point in time, he would use all he could get. Just in case something happens, Ryan decided to keep his mana at a decent level. After all, it would be troublesome if the dragons find him and he has no mana. In the end, what Ryan didn''t want to happen, happened. Suddenly, he felt the whole area moving upward¡­ the dragons found him, and they were using their magic to make an enormous chunk of earth levitate. Just crushing Ryan would be easy since he was inside of that, but that was a mercy they didn''t want to grant him. "Screw it," Ryan bit his lips and nocked a bone arrow. "I won''t go down without a fight!" Ryan jumped and left the hole he was in. At the same time, he saw three dragons around him¡­ which was weird. There were eight dragons left. Still, that didn''t matter. The very moment the beasts entered his field of vision, Ryan attacked. There was no time to use Power Shot, so Ryan used Rapid Shot while aiming at the monsters'' eyes. Even their eyelids had scales, so even though Ryan damaged the monsters a little bit before they could do anything, he didn''t achieve his goal of blinding them. A few momentster, Ryan began to fall again, and this time, he felt shivers when he saw the monsters opening their mouths toward him. He was going to be burned to a crisp¡­ However, in the end, their Fire Breath didn''t burn anything. Suddenly, a red dragon felt something piercing the back of their neck, and the other two dragons saw Ryan right there. Although he used all his mana, Ryan avoided their attack and managed tond on the back of a red dragon. "Too bad for you, but right now, red is my least favorite color!" Ryan said and then pierced the monster''s neck with his sword as well. Thanks to his Iplete Reptilian Transformation, Ryan had a pretty decent strength. So, his sword and spear pierced the dragon''s neck quite deeply. He didn''t have much mana left to keep the skill active, but as long as he touches both weapons now and then, their effects would ur. The me sword was causing much damage since the main element of that monster was fire, but the spear, on the other hand, was making the dragon tremble quite a bit. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan also was using Bleed''s effect. So, the red dragon was losing two hundred points of health per second! Even the dragons showed baffled expressions at the audacity of that human. Still, eventually, they recovered from the surprise and tried to attack Ryan. However, the red dragon didn''t want to get hurt more than he already was. So, he moved away from the others in order to escape their breath attack. Ryan smirked when he saw that¡­ even though they have been working together to trail Alissa, they certainly weren''t allies at that moment. However, with their telepathy or something, the dragons reached an agreement not to use their breath attack. Since the red dragon couldn''t hit Ryan with its arms, the monster just showed its back to the other dragons in order for them to get rid of Ryan. "Shit¡­" There was no other way. Ryan will have to grab his weapons again and then try to blind the dragons up-close. Still, he could only attack one at a time, and in the meantime, the other two will be free to attack him. However, to Ryan''s surprise, the creatures stopped midway just when he grabbed his weapons and was about to pull them out. At the same time, the monsters looked toward the north. Ryan eventually understood what had happened. Using his me Sword as a tform for his feet, Ryan jumped toward the head of the red dragon. The creature got caught off-guard, and when it tried to do something, it was alreadyte. Ryan attacked and destroyed one of the dragon''s eyes with his spear. Not even the scale of the eyelid stopped him. "HHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The monster screamed from the depths of its soul, but Ryan didn''t let that faze him. Even though his ears were ringing, Ryan used all his mana that he had left to summon his Iplete Reptilian Transformation for a single second, and then he punched the remaining eye of the dragon. The scales pierced his hand, but the pain didn''t stop Ryan as well. Eventually, he surpassed the monster''s defense and destroyed its other eye. Chapter 163 - Magic Amulet Ryan turned around to try to blind the other dragons as well. However, the monsters also turned around and began to fly in the opposite direction¡­ they had no sense of responsibility toward their wounded ally. Still, that wasn''t something Ryan had to worry about. Now that he was on the face of the dragon, the creature finally could attack him, but before that could happen, Ryan jumped off from there andnded on the ground. The monster hit its own face and ended up making the Paralyzing Spear pierce even more. At that point in time, the monster hadpletely lost its reason and didn''t even notice Alissa approaching in her dragon form. Just as Ryan thought, it was her presence that made the dragons ran away. Those three thought they could take Ryan down before she appears, but the others weren''t so dumb and left earlier. "Phew, it looks like I arrived on time," Alissa said. "Incredible, you still are in one piece¡­ well, almost. Anyway, you owe me another one, huh, Ryan? I guess you are going to work with me for more than six months." "Keep dreaming," Ryan said. "Why don''t you ask Orgar what happened? " "He attacked the dragons because we were going to be attacked by behind once they discover about the secret base." "Eh?" Alissa said, astonished. "Ryan did that? To think that he would go that for us." "Don''t get ahead of yourself," Ryan said. "You already know why I did this." "For Arthur, huh," Alissa said. "You sure are nice to him. Anyway, I guess you ended up paying your debt, and we don''t have to work together anymore." "Is that supposed to be a joke?" Ryan frowned. He didn''t want to say it out loud, so Ryan stayed quiet about it. However, Ryan was fully aware that he didn''t have any chance of defeating the ten dragons alone. He defeated three somehow, but in the end, if Alissa hadn''t noticed everything ande to his aid, Ryan would probably be digested in the stomach of a dragon at that moment. "I see¡­" Alissa said. "Well, shall I finish this guy here?" "I can do this myself," Ryan said. The third dragon wasn''t wounded enough to be considered half-dead. However, since the Paralyzing Spear pierced deeply on the monster''s head, its effect prevented the monster from controlling its body. In such a situation, Ryan just had to use Wind Maniption now and then to touch the spear, and then the monster would suffer damage. As expected, after three minutes, the dragon died. You obtained 25.000 coins. Ryan sighed in relief when the monster died. That battle had been the longest of Ryan''s battles so far¡­ itsted over an hour, after all. Fortunately, it had been worth the hassle. Not only Ryan received a lot of coins, but he also received a tome and two other items. Those were the drops of thest two dragons he killed. Magic Amulet of the Toughness Effect: Increases the user''s Endurance by thirty points Durability: 20/20 Seismic Hammer Effect: It gives you a chance to stun your foes for one second every five seconds. Strength + 40, Endurance + 30. Durability: 80/80 Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 700 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 688th You obtained Sprinter''s Boots. Sprinter''s Boots. Effect: It automatically activates Haste Lv 20 on the user. Durability: 30/30 Those were some nice rewards, but since Ryan was greedy, he couldn''t help butin a little in his head¡­ he wanted a new bow. It has been a while since he changed his main weapon, after all. Regardless, all those items would be beneficial, but now that Ryan thought about it, the fighting style that he wanted to develop had a serious w¡­ he couldn''t have several weapons and use them as throwable objects unless he obtains a skill or item that lets him store them in a storage dimension. Just carrying around the sword and the spear was troublesome enough, and now, with a hammer that wasrge as himself, Ryan''s speed would decrease considerably. "It looks like the more Iin, the more problems appear¡­ I should stay quiet then." "Hey, Orgar, are you sure of that?" Alissa asked while frowning. "You don''t mind? "Yes, if he had lost, he would be in the dragons'' stomach. That is the kind of world you live in right now. The winner can do whatever they want with the losers, do as you see fit." Ryan had no idea what those two were talking about, but he decided not to get involved since he had enough problems. Still, Alissa told Ryan what she was nning to do. "Don''t you think we should take the dragons'' corpses with us?" Alissa asked. "I don''t feel like eating them, but your friends might like the meat. Also, the bones and scares of dragons can make a lot of weapons." So that was what they were talking about¡­ It wasn''t like Ryan thought of doing that before. However, it was impossible for several reasons. First, carrying a monster with that size was nearly impossible. Second, humans didn''t have the skills to use the part of monsters to do anything yet. Maybe they could develop those skills, but it would take a while¡­ Maybe Ryan could try to do something with them by using Auto-Production, but he would stop in the middle of nowhere just to do that. "It is fine. We don''t have time to waste," Ryan said. "Just go and join the others. They are waiting for you, right?" "I don''t need to carry them," Alissa said. "I can just put all of them inside my dimension, which I use to store the things I want." Ryan hadn''t forgotten about that, but he didn''t think Alissa would be able to put three forty meters long dragons in there¡­ her powers were really fearsome. Chapter 164 - Butcher After considering that proposal for a while, Ryan decided to ept it. In the end, he would need to make many items as he wants to face all the monsters, and it would be a pain to rely only on drops. He had some skills to make items, so it was a good chance to level some sses as well. "You can keep one of the bodies to yourself as a payment," Ryan said. "The other two will be mine." "I don''t really need a corpse¡­" Alissa frowned. "Then give them to someone who wants. If you give it to the colonel, you will win his favor, and the chances of him causing problemster will decrease," Ryan said. "At the same time, he will probably give a good treatment for Arthur." "I guess that is a good idea," Alissa said. "I want to see his face when I mention that." Alissa just pointed her right hand to the corpses for a second, and then they disappeared¡­ maybe it was time for Ryan to save some coins in order to buy the tome that would grant him such convenient power. It would be expensive as hell, but the benefits would be worth the hassle. For one, Ryan would be able to surprise his enemies since his weapons wouldn''t be in clear view. "Let''s get going," Alissa said. "You can go ahead," Ryan said. "I will catch up in no time." In the end, Alissa didn''t insist on it. Ryan wouldn''t obtain any coins along the way, but he would be able to keep training his stealth skills since he rarely used them nowadays, thanks to Alissa''s presence. In the end, Ryan reached the secret base after three hours. Considering that Alissa crossed the same distance in one hour, Ryan was pretty satisfied with his speed. Still, the difference in size was also an important factor, and Ryan also had to worry about his stamina. "It looks like you are all right," Colonel Mark said, a bit surprised. "When Alissa said that she suddenly felt the presence of several dragons behind us, we imagined that you would face some problems. I didn''t imagine that you the responsibility for saving us." "I didn''t save anyone. I only got rid of some insects that were blocking my path," Ryan said. "Rather than that, did your men learn something while you were away?" "Insects¡­ Actually, no." Colonel Mark shook his head. "They used the satellites to confirm our positions, and they didn''t do anything aside from that." "Is that so¡­ in any case, I think I did more than a few favors to you in thest few days," Ryan said. "So, I will be hoping that you will give me some privileged information now and then." "Certainly," Colonel Mark said. As usual, Hugo was with Mark, and he kept ring at Ryan since he didn''t like his attitude or words toward his father. Regardless, he was ignored through and through since Ryan eventually left them alone and then searched for Alissa. While everyone was unpacking their things, Alissa yed with Arthur on the ''park'' of the secret base. They were where on the choppers and some other aircraft could be found. "Did you already choose our next destination?" Ryan asked. "Not yet," Alissa replied. "What are you waiting for?" Ryan frowned. "You can decide right now." "Mmm¡­ it is alreadyte. We can depart tomorrow morning," Alissa said after thinking for a while. "Maybe we should wait a little longer in order to give the general some time to collect information about other dungeons." Ryan sighed and took a deep breath to calm down¡­ Alissa wanted to ck off and stay with Arthur for another whole day. Although she was partially correct since it was midafternoon, people like them don''t have to wait for daylight to do anything. Regardless, instead ofining, Ryan decided to sleep a little. It was better to do that while Alissa is unreliable on the guard duty, and Ryan didn''t feel like trusting Orgar. "The dragons are on the warehouse. The General said that you could leave and go as you see fit," Alissa said while Ryan left the ce. A warehouse¡­ it was the perfect ce that Ryan could use to be left alone. No one would want to stay close to some decaying corpses. Regardless, Ryan also had to work fast since he didn''t know for how long those corpses could exist. After taking a quick nap, Ryan was determined to separate those two dragons'' bones and scales. It took a while, but Ryan eventually found the warehouse Alissa mentioned, and unfortunately, some people were already there working to dismantle the corpse that Alissa gave to Mark. They frowned when they saw Ryan, but only that. "Go on, don''t mind me," Ryan said and then headed behind to one of the two dragons. Based on his experience, the corpses would disappear at some point after midnight. So, if he sleeps for a few hours, it should be fine. All that Ryan had to do was to cut the limbs and the heads of the dragons, and they probably won''t disappear. He already confirmed that when he moved around with Alissa. "If I remember well, the monsters that are killed after midnight, don''t disappear on the same night, but they disappear on the next night if their corpses are almost intact¡­ this needs to be researched, but maybe, the corpses won''t disappear if they are damaged every day." Ryan couldn''t test that theory since he couldn''t risk losing such precious materials. Regardless, after sleeping for a few hours, Ryan began to split apart the dragons'' parts with his sword and spear. Fortunately, now that they were dead, their elemental resistances were meaningless. So, Ryan managed to cut them down with some ease. The only problems were that he got pretty dirty with their blood and their warehouse also looked like a torture room after he finished his job and Ryan himself looked like a butcher. Chapter 165 - A Suspicious Place In the end, Ryan had to work through the entire night to clean his mess since he didn''t feel like asking for help. In any case, he seeded in his task of separating bones and scales from the rest of the body. After seeing how he looked like, Ryan sighed. "I need some new clothes¡­" Ryan muttered after he finished his job. "Even though I can manipte water, I can only do so much cleaning with it. I barely can withstand the smell of blood in my clothes now. This smell might cause some problems in the future, like making me more detectable by monsters... Let''s hope that I won''t get some weird disease as well." It was a pain, but that kind of thing had to be considered even while monsters are overrunning the world. Regardless, Ryan didn''t need protection, and Indianapolis was more or less safe from monsters thanks to him and Alissa, so he left the base to look for some clothes before Alissa wakes up. "Something easy to clean and move should be fine. Still, I can''t neglect some aspects like the durability of some clothes and the adherence of shoes and gloves¡­ let''s just pick whatever fits me." Truth be told, Ryan could find the best clothes for him in the secret base. A military uniform would fit his needs perfectly since he looked forfort and utility instead of fashion when he bought clothes in the past. In the end, Ryan ''robbed'' some stores of the city but only picked some jeans, sneakers, dark-blue t-shirts, and brown coats. Just enough toplete a set of ten identical clothes. "Now I will be able to change my clothes pretty frequently and not worry about that. I look like a maniac covered in blood. Just like a maniac without any fashion sense." After packing his things and guarding them in a hard-to-find ce, Ryan returned to the base and found Colonel Mark returning from the warehouse¡­ that was one of the downsides of staying in a ce with a lot of people¡­ many would know what he did or is doing. "Any news?" Ryan asked. "Yes, I was just looking for you," Colonel Mark nodded. "Alissa told me that you two want to clear as many dungeons as possible, but she also said that she is focusing on dungeons where you two can find sapient creatures. I believe you can find in Washington one of those creatures." "Washington D.C.?" Ryan frowned. "That sounds a bit suspicious¡­ what are you plotting Mark?" "I can''t deny that," Colonel Mark nodded once again. "While we intend to help you two, we also need to try to find as many survivors as possible and hopefully find the leaders of this country as well. Maybe we can find what you are looking for in other ces, but those are the first results." Ryan didn''t like that¡­ as expected, Mark wouldn''t change overnight. Even though Ryan and Alissa just helped him increase his forces by one hundred strong men and women, he still wanted to use them to some extent. It couldn''t be helped since he couldn''t just forcefully make the neers work with his men to check things on Washington. Still, Ryan didn''t have to ept that just because he could understand him. "How many dungeons are in that area?" Ryan asked. "And what is that type of monster you think is sapient? Before you get carried away, you should be more careful. I am very patient since I only kill those who point their weapons at me, but if the dragon inside Alissa thinks that you are trying to use her¡­ well, you can imagine what will happen. Dying will be the least of your worries." "I am fully aware of it. In any case, my conscience is clear," Mark said. "As for the monsters, we discovered four types: Giant Ants, some Red Bats, Treants, and what seems to be some female demons. Some of my men called them Subus. I did some research since I never heard of that term before. I am shocked that such creatures can exist. Hopefully, the creatures of the myths and the demons won''t have many simrities aside from their names." "Subus? Are those the intelligence species you mentioned?" Ryan frowned. "Yes, we noticed that some of them were bringing survivors alive to the dungeons, and until now, we didn''t find any of those survivors returning," Mark nodded. "I guess it is safe to assume that they are the intelligent species you two are looking for." Only Alissa wanted to find them. Still, Ryan would be lying by saying that he wasn''t curious about those other sapient beings were plotting. Regardless, it was probably safe to assume that Subus was a species of demons¡­ so, the chances of finding someone rted to the six demonic generals was quite high in the dungeon and near Washington were pretty high. While that was bad or true, Ryan didn''t know, knowing how hot-blooded Alissa was, they probably weren''t good news. While Ryan was thinking about that, Hugo and Daniel appeared. Maybe it was because it was still early, but Hugo didn''t seem that annoyed this time. Despite the fact that both of them were unnerving idiots, but they were having a good influence on each other. "A new outfit, Ryan?" Daniel said. "Shut up," Ryan said. "Harsh as usual¡­" Daniel shrugged. "Sorry to bother you with this, but you should talk with your friend. She has been troubling Mia quite a lot thesest few days." "That is none of my business," Ryan said. "I have real problems to deal with right now, so scram." Hugo showed his displeased expression again. Meanwhile, Mark frowned¡­ Although Ryan didn''t mention Daniel a single time, Daniel and his father talked many things about him. Practically all of them were good things. So, they couldn''t understand why Ryan was so¡­ unpleasant, to say the least. After some time, it became obvious to them that they had some history. Chapter 166 - Not Again As if things weren''t troublesome enough with Hugo and Daniel, Alissa appeared carrying Arthur, who was crying, Mia also approached, and she looked exhausted for some reason. Ryan didn''t even have to ask to know what was going on. "Don''t look at me like that. I am not in the wrong here," Alissa said. "I didn''t say anything¡­ yet," Ryan said. "Regardless, if you said that, then it means you did something you feel guilty about." "Not really¡­" Alissa looked away, trying to keep herposure. Alissa was really easy to read like a child. Maybe due to herck of life experience, she was acting like that. Still, Ryan had no intention of spoiling her or taking any side on the matter. He would always stay neutral and say the in and cruel truth. "You may think that you can do whatever you want because you have the backing of a dragon, and you may be right. This world now is dominated by stupidly powerful creatures," Ryan said. "However, you also need to know that for every action, there is a reaction. Sometimes, the reaction is weak, and you can ignore it. Sometimes you can''t¡­ you know, I really don''t mind in letting Arthur on your care." "Really?" Alissa asked with arge smile on her face. "Yes, all you have to do is to promise me that you will abandon your current goal," Ryan said. "If you can''t do that, then forget it. You can help on raising Arthur, but you are not his guardian. He is not your toy either or an object you may use for your rxation. So, don''t get carried away, Alissa. Don''t cause trouble to him." The around got a bit chilly quite suddenly. Ryan didn''t hold back his words, after all. However, what caused that wasn''t Alissa''s anger or anything. It was the fear inside Daniel, Mia, Mark, and Hugo. They didn''t have the nerves to say such a thing to someone so powerful, and that was probably why it would take a long while for them to reach Ryan''s level and someday fight against the dragons instead of just running away from them. "That isn''t fair, you know," Alissa said. "I just wanted¡­" "I don''t care about your wishes or intentions," Ryan said. "I can only see the results and I act based on them. Don''tin about what is fair and what isn''t. I can''t me you for choosing your path, but since you decided to help Orgar no matter what, you lost some chances. One of them was to find Arthur and his mother at the right moment. Anyway, his mother entrusted his life to me, but I am not¡­ someone appropriate to look after him. Neither are you. After all, you don''t care if humans live or die, right? Arthur is the sole exception, and I can understand since I am the same. The question is: do you understand that?" After much effort, Alissa managed to calm Arthur down, but she passed him to Mia''s arms in the end. Ryan''s words were harsh, but they had a lot of truth in them. Neither of them was fit to look after a newborn baby since they were very egocentric. "Sorry," Alissa said. "¡­ It is okay," Mia forced a smile. "I can understand you more or less, and you don''t need to feel so bad about it. We can look after Arthur together¡­ you just need to be a bit less selfish." Ryan clicked his tongue. He tried to make Alissa understand something serious, and here was Mia spoiling her. Still, that wouldn''t change anything. If that incident happens again, Ryan just had to remind Alissa of it. Despite everything, she had a conscience, and at least for now, she wasn''t self-centered enough to ignore the obvious and just act to fulfill her own desires. Still, Ryan knew that she might be like that one day with all that power she gets, so he had to be careful. "Colonel Mark found a ce where we might find some clues to reach your goal," Ryan said. "The problem is, I think the enemy may be rted to Baal." "Demons again?" Alissa sighed. "So, you two really faced a demon called Baal, the one from the myths," Mark said. "I am too old for this¡­ What the hell is going on with this?" Apparently, Daniel and others told him about their fight with one of the demon army generals. The question was: did Alissa told them that they got their ass kicked? Somehow, Ryan was pretty sure that she didn''t mention that. The power of the demon was much more fearsome than anyone could imagine and Alissa liked quite a bit the amount of respect and fear she could impose just by making others know that she had the power of a dragon. They seemed invincible, after all. "Well, let''s see what we will find there," Alissa said. "I don''t think I am ready to face another enemy of that level, but given that you will probably get furious by spending another day here, we can''t wait for the General to find other ces to check." "You couldn''t be more wrong about that," Ryan said. "My sole objective here is to pay my debt as soon as possible. Everything else is mostly inconsequential and meaningless." "Yes, yes, whatever you say," Alissa shrugged. "Give me more details about the things that you discovered. Orgar seems quite mad, so you shouldn''t hide anything. Sometimes, even I can''t stop him, you know." In the end, it didn''t look like Mark was nning anything shady. At least Ryan concluded that since Orgar didn''t make his sinister aura more apparent. After hearing the details, Alissa decided to at least help feed Arthur with the breakfast before leaving for Washington. After all, not even her knew when they would return or if they would return if they try to mess with another creature like Baal. With that in mind, Ryan decided just to wait patiently. Chapter 167 - Monsters Hunting Monsters "While we are away, try to focus on finding as many dungeons as possible and registering their exact coordinates somewhere," Ryan said to Colonel Mark. "It will be easy to monitor and notice any changester if you do this." "Do you think the situation can be even worse?" Mark asked. "If you act with that in mind, nothing will surprise you in the future," Ryan replied. "I don''t know if the dungeons can change or if the situation can be worse. All I know is that with each dungeon break, the monsters'' level increases, and those sapient beings that we are looking for are operating with that in mind. It would be insane to think that they are stupid enough to send their minions to their deaths without reason." Mark nodded since that seemed logical. Regardless, even though he was a military high-ranked officer, Mark didn''t want to believe that things could be even worse. He was already too old for that kind of job, after all. After saying that, Ryan left Indianapolis alongside Alissa and headed toward Washington. The trip wouldst for a few hours, so Ryan made sure to pack some things in order to make the trip less boring and more worthwhile, like mana potions to train his elemental maniptions. "Orgar, do you think dealing with those Subus will be difficult?" Alissa asked. "It will be difficult for him since he is a male, their magic can affect females as well to a certain extent, but you have the resistances to deal with." "How exactly do you know that?" Ryan asked. "Didn''t you lose your memories?" "While that is true, certain things aremon sense. For example, I didn''t forget how to use most of my powers. Therefore, it is only natural that I wouldn''t forget certain things about other monsters." Although those words were quite convincing, Ryan didn''t want to believe that things would be that convenient. Then again, he never lost his memories, so Ryan wasn''t exactly a specialist on the subject. "So, they are more powerful against men," Alissa frowned. "The general also mentioned that they capture some of them. What for?" "I am not sure if humans'' seed can help them reproduce, but if anything, their essence can make the subus stronger. All males'' essence can make them stronger." Now that was a weird topic¡­ Ryan was fine in fighting monsters that just treated him like lunch, he couldn''t feel the same way when a new species appeared, and they tended to treat males like their ything. A ything that could make them stronger¡­ Regardless, Ryan was a sniper, more or less. So, he didn''t have to worry about that. "What a disgusting bunch of monsters¡­" Alissa said, visibly disgusted. "Still, some men would love to be treated like that. So, shall we rescue all of them?" "I thought your mission was to find clues as to why Orgar has amnesia," Ryan said. "Why would you care if the survivors we might find will dislike your actions. You can ignore them just as usual." "That was my n from the very beginning," Alissa nodded. "However, the General is expecting us to find the people who are above him in the chain ofmand. He was sure that if we clear the dungeons, the people in the area will contact us. All in all, he wants someone to receive orders from. He can''t bear the responsibility of his current position." Ryan sighed¡­ the old man was troublesome in many ways. Why doesn''t he just take things into his hands and try to solve things in the best way possible? It was probably because he was too much of a patriot. Everything he does or thinks is for the country. While Ryan could admire that, he wasn''t na?ve enough to put his future in the hands of others. While he was pretty sure he could look after himself in most situations, Mark had to worry about others, many others¡­ and he couldn''t see himself as someone appropriate for that task when the world is in such a state. "Still¡­ why would you care about what he wants?" Ryan frowned. "It is just like you said before¡­ he will treat Arthur well if I help him now and then," Alissa said. Although Alissa sounded confident, Ryan felt her hesitation a little. She probably had something else in mind. Alissa wasn''t someone who would help others without reason. As far as she was concerned, the body of the dragon she gave to Mark was an excellent gift, more than enough to gain his trust. Even if that wasn''t enough for that, she had plenty of more direct ways to gain his favor. Regardless, Ryan decided just to wait and see for the time being. After a while, those two finally arrived at their destination. However, unlike in the other ces, things were a bit weird in Washington. While three monster species were living more or less in peace in Indianapolis before, in Washington, the subus was putting the other monsters to run away. When they had the chance to kill the other species, they didn''t hesitate. Subus ¨C Lv 45 Health: 400/400 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 600/600 Strength: 200 (+50) Dexterity: 300 (+100) Speed: 250 (+50) Intelligence: 500 (+100) Endurance: 200 (+50) Control: 450 (+150) Mentality: 500 (+150) Luck: 300 Recovery: 400 (+150) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Seducing Touch Lv 70 Spells: Charm Lv 60, Illusory Adaptation Lv 90 Support Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 150 "Level 45¡­ this isn''t good. It looks like what Orgar said is true¡­ or maybe by killing other monsters, those creatures can level up as well." Subus were demons that had red skin. Like the other demons, they had a pair of horns in their foreheads, but their wings were more wasp-like than bat-like. That being said, their main feature was the fact that all of them didn''t have any clothes¡­ they werepletely naked. Although that would probably contribute to their cause, the Subus wasn''t that pretty. At least that was Ryan''s opinion by seeing them from far away. Maybe their skills helped them in that regard. In any case, the poption of Subus was so high that Ryan was pretty sure it would take a week or two for them to exterminate all of them. That would work well as training. The problem was Alissa¡­ will she endure work that much non-stop? However, much to Ryan''s surprise, it looked like she was nning to make that missionst for quite a while¡­ "Let''s clear the other dungeons first," Alissa said. "After that, our job will be easier." Chapter 168 - A Short Life When Ryan and Alissa found the first dungeon of the area, they didn''t know if they should feel thankful or not for the existence of the Subus. They thought the monsters had run away from the area due to the subus, but that wasn''t the case. They were building their strength and using the area around the dungeon as a base. At least that was the case with the treants since there was a massive and incredibly dense forest around the dungeon. Still, the chances of the Giants Ants and Red Bats doing the same was pretty high. "What is the n?" Ryan asked. "Burning all of them would be easy, but then you wouldn''t receive any coin, and the other monsters would probablye to check things here," Alissa said. "So, our only option is to take them down one by one." Ryan was d that Alissa was using her head for a change, but he also frowned since her consideration was pretty annoying. True, he wanted the coins, but he wouldn''tin if she decided to monopolize the rewards. For the good or the worse, he was more working for her than with her. Regardless, Ryan used Appraisal to check a few things. Treant ¨C Lv 35 Health: 1.500/1.500 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 300/300 Strength: 200 (+40) Dexterity: 300 (+30) Speed: 50 Intelligence: 200 (+50) Endurance: 700 (+250) Control: 450 (+10) Mentality: 700 (+250) Luck: 300 Recovery: 600 (+500) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sharp Leaves Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 50 Spells: Earth Spear Lv 50 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100, Water Resistance Lv 100 Treants were troublesome like golems. In fact, they were even more annoying since they didn''t have any obvious weak spots, and their recovery was quite high. In any case, that was only a problem for Ryan. Alissa, with her crossbows, could make the monster explode with just a single blow. Fortunately, making noise was fine since the other dungeons were very far away from their current position. "Let''s see¡­ Bleed won''t work in them since they don''t have blood," Ryan rubbed his chin while considering his possibilities. "I can''t use fire for obvious reasons, and they have high resistance against earth and water¡­ wind isn''t a good option against opponents that have high endurance. The number of enemies is too high, so Power Shot is no good¡­ in that case¡­" It wasn''t the same thing as relying on raw power. Still, Ryan used Rapid Shot to attack the treants one after the other. Surprisingly, by using the skill a single time, he could fire three additional magic arrows and cause just enough damage to make the monsters fall dead. You obtained 60 coins. "Although I managed to save my stamina, I used more mana than I could recover thanks to Active Spiritual Recovery. Still, I can''t think of any other way to kill these monsters as fast as possible without alerting the other species." Ryan also had a high recovery, but since just to attack, he needed to use Iplete Reptilian Transformation, his consumption of mana was incredibly high as well. Regardless, he didn''t let that bother him. Although he could fight dragons, it was insane topete against one in a fair and squarepetition. While Ryan was trying to think of new ways to increase his efficiency in hunting the treants, he noticed that Alissa missed a lot of her shots. However, that wasn''t really a problem since her bolts were bound to hit one or two treants behind her real targets. It was annoying because the monsters were slowly moving in their direction and because it looked like she wasn''t fighting for real. "Say, Ryan¡­" Alissa hesitated. "Focus on the task in front of you," Ryan said. "Good grief..." "Isn''t that fine?" Alissa asked. "Those monsters will never reach us, and besides, you will be able to obtain a lot more coins if I don''t focus all that much." "That is a pretty interesting way to see the things," Ryan frowned. "I can''t care less about it since they are monsters, but this is a war. Are you seriously fighting in a war with such an attitude? That is a lot of arrogance." "My war is against those who have the information I want, not with those weaklings," Alissa dered. "That sure sounds the words of someone who has the power of the dragons," Ryan said. "Let''s hope that won''te back to torment you in the future." "Anyway, what are you nning to do after we find the information we want?" Alissa asked. "That is none of your business," Ryan replied. "Everyone I met until now has a goal¡­ you are the sole exception," Alissa said. "You fight because you have nothing else to do. You do your best to make sure Arthur isn''t in danger, but only because you feel responsible for him, not because you actually want to protect him." "So what?" Ryan asked. "What I am trying to say is¡­ you kind of look like those monsters," Alissa said. "They don''t have a goal, and they only act based on their instincts." Ryan frowned when he heard that. To bepared with the monster was unpleasant, to say the least, but Ryan was calm enough to realize that Alissa wasn''tpletely wrong about it. He indeed wasn''t much different from monsters¡­ just like them. When he sees a foe, he attacks without thinking. Ryan said to himself many times that he was fighting for his home, but was that really the case? If that were true, he would ally himself with others to make sure that they wouldn''t lose the fight. Yet, he had no intentions of doing that¡­ "I guess you are right?" Ryan asked. "What is your point? Please, don''t use this chance to say something cheesy." "I am just worried about you¡­" Alissa said. "I learned something recently, and I fear that if you continue like this, you won''t live for long." Chapter 169 - Orgars Warning Alissa''s words puzzled Ryan. She learned something new¡­ when? He had no idea when that happened and why she kept it a secret. After thinking for a while, Ryan realized that she did that because she wanted to use it as a bargain. Regardless, Ryan wouldn''t fall for her or Orgar''s tricks. "That is riching from you," Ryanughed. "I am not much better, but I at least recognize that as a fault. However, do you recognize that the fact that you don''t care if others live or die is one of your shorings? Don''t waste time worrying about me. Your mental health is as much if not worse than mine." "I am serious, Ryan," Alissa raised her voice. "Although you say that, I just confirmed that the human race is doomed. If you keep acting like you usually do, you will die. Instead of being so stubborn and prideful, you should join us for good. If you do that, we will help you grow stronger much faster than you think." "Of course, you will," Ryan said. "It is not like you wouldn''t gain anything by helping me, right? Regardless, not all the power and the money of the universe can buy my freedom. I would rather die doing whatever I want than being the ve of someone else." "I never you said you would be a ve; you will be our ally!" Alissa shouted. "I always treated you like one." "Spare me of that crap," Ryan said. "If that were the case, you wouldn''t have hidden the fact that you read my mind for who knows how long, and you wouldn''t be hiding another piece of information. A wise man once wrote in a book: "People work together when it suits them. They''re loyal when it suits them." Now more than never, this is a fact. So, don''t try to convince me by using your cheap sentimentalism. You never saw me as an ally, or like a friend. You saw in me someone who could be useful. If I hadn''t killed the red dragon that day, you wouldn''t have helped me." To Ryan''s words, Alissa didn''t say anything. Much to his surprise, Orgar didn''t react in any way. Usually, after saying such things to Alissa, he would get pretty mad. What Ryan didn''t know was the fact that Orgar was the one who convinced Alissa to watch the fight to the very end because only someone that much powerful would be able to help them. That being said, it doesn''t change the fact that Alissa recognized the fact and obeyed. Ryan''s words were harsh, but they weren''t exactly false facts. As much as it was annoying, it was scary the fact that Ryan could read Alissa''s mind so well even though he didn''t have the skill to do so. Her n of scaring him with a new piece of information backfired splendidly. Since she never met her real family, Alissa couldn''t help but think of those two as the family she never had. Orgar was the father that spoiled her most of the time, and Ryan was the harsh older brother that cared so much about her that he never held back his words. At least that was the image Alissa had of Ryan. Someone once said that you could only be harsh and fight with those they loved, but Ryan was even harsher with those he hated¡­ In any case, while they were busy arguing, one of the treants finally got close enough to see them and fire Earth Spear. Alissa''s mind wasn''t focused, and she didn''t notice the attack. On the other hand, Ryan noticed, but blocking or attacking such magic projectile didn''t seem like a good idea. In the end, Ryan stopped the projectile with Earth Maniption, but before he couldpletely stop the spear, the tip pierced his left hand quite deeply. Not only that, half of his mana was consumed. "Crap¡­ I really need to improve this." After that discussion, those two killed the treants in silence. As expected, once Alissa shut up, her hunting speed increased considerably to the point where a massive mountain of dead trees began to form a few hundred meters ahead of them and block their vision of the dungeon. The other monsters had to walk around the pile of corpses, and thanks to that and their speed, they became even easier targets. The battle against the treants had been pretty anticlimactic, even though itsted for a full day and night. Although they were troublesome opponents, theirpatibility with Ryan and Alissa was that bad. Still¡­ something was off. Considering the number of monsters, the dungeon should have spawned in a full month, and the number that also should have appeared thanks to the dungeon breaks, the number of corpses was rtively small. Ryan killed around 2.500 treants while Alissa killed ten times more. So, something really smelled fishy. Alissa and Ryan still had to face the boss inside the dungeon and the ones guarding the ce, but Alissa dered that they would rest before proceeding. Surprisingly enough, she didn''t ask for Ryan''s opinion on the matter, even though they still had a lot of daylight left. While Ryan was separating the loot, he suddenly heard¡­ "We need to talk about Alissa." "I''d rather not to talk behind anyone''s back," Ryan said. "Usually, you report most of the things I think to her, right? So, why are you so secretive all of a sudden?" "Because this is a delicate subject. As you already know, Alissa isn''t an ordinary human in many ways, but most of this is due to herck of life experience. So, things may get out of hand if she hears me talking about her like this. Regardless, I am here to warn you about several things. One of them is that Alissa really cares about you since you are the only human who she met this far who doesn''t fear her for her powers. Another one is that you may really die you are not careful around her." Chapter 170 - Cursed Dragon That sounded like a threat, but a pretty weak one since Ryan knew that Orgar could emit a dreadful aura powerful enough to paralyze most humans. That wasn''t a threat¡­ it was a warning. "I will not give details as the circumstances as to why I decided to help her. Still, I can talk about other things. For example, when I left my body and gave my powers to Alissa, I epted my inevitable death. One person can have two personalities inside of her, but one person can''t have two spirits in a single body. Eventually, since I am not the true owner of this body, my powers and spirit will bepletely absorbed by Alissa. She will be a powerful half-dragon. A human who has the same potential you have, but the raw power dragons are born with." "Why are you telling me all of this?" Ryan asked. "Because Alissa is immature and fusing two minds isn''t something that happens without some issues. Although once that happens, Alissa won''t changepletely, in overall, her choices will be harsher and savage." "So, she will inherit your behavior," Ryan said. "The dragons'' behavior. We are proud creatures with unrivaled strength, so she will inherit most of those traits to a certain extent. Another trait that dragons that excel inparison to other species are our hatred. When we find an opponent that messes with us, we hunt them down until the opponent is annihted. However, in some cases, a few dragons aren''t strong enough for that. So, their hatred grows stronger topensate for theirck of power. Their grudges feed their soul until they be a real source of power¡­ and that is how a cursed dragon is born." "Cursed dragon?" Ryan frowned. "A cursed dragon is one of the strongest species of dragons¡­ if you think that dragons are all monsters, you will freeze in fear when you find one cursed dragon. They are vicious creatures that can be described as natural disasters. Wherever they go, they destroy everything. To obtain even more power, they even ate other dragons." "And?" Ryan asked. "While I can''t say that Alissa has some grudges thanks to you, she has been developing some dark feelings inside her. You only spoke the truth of her ways, but you forced her to face her own shorings too directly, and now she is feeling inadequate in some aspects. She can''t ept that since she already thinks that she already suffered enough for a lifetime¡­ if you keep pushing her too far, eventually, those dark feelings will grow stronger, and once my mindpletely disappears inside her, there is a small chance that she will be a cursed dragon and you¡­ you will be the main focus of her hatred." That was quite a fascinating theory. It didn''t look like Orgar was lying. Still, Ryan couldn''t bring himself to care all that much about the subject. As if he could change his ways to for the sake of convenience. If Alissa were to be a cursed dragon, that would happen with or without his influence. Besides, it wasn''t him who wanted to work with her. It was the other way around. "I will keep that in mind," Ryan said and then turned around to resume his job. "You really are a troublesome human¡­ let''s make a deal. If you promise not to be too harsh with Alissa in the future, I will tell you an interesting piece of information." "If it about what Alissa mentioned, I am not interested," Ryan said. "I will eventually discover what she was talking about." "No, it is about something else. She would know that I opened my mouth to talk about it if I tell you about it. What I am going to tell you is something that even she doesn''t know. Just by knowing that, you will gain a huge deal of power, and every time you defeat a dragon, you will grow much stronger." That sounded way too convenient¡­ Still, Ryan was interested in it. He had decided that he wouldn''t change his ways for the sake of convenience, but Ryan also decided that he wouldn''t choose his path to gain power. In the end, Ryan made his choice since it was also tiring, to be honest, and harsh all the time with Alissa. "All right, if the formation is worth of it, I promise that I won''t be so harsh with Alissa in the future," Ryan dered. "Eat dragon hearts. Whenever you do, your status will increase by twenty points." "All of my status?" Ryan asked in shock. "No¡­ only a single one." "Can I at least choose which status will increase?" Ryan asked. "No, it will vary from dragon to dragon. For example, if you kill a dragon and the highest attribute of that dragon was endurance, their dragon heart will increase your endurance." "That seems annoying¡­" Ryan frowned. "Not satisfied yet? You can also obtain dragon hearts from T-rexes and earth dragons. They are a weak variation of us, the real dragons. Their hearts will also increase your attributes on a weaker scale." "I guess that is fine¡­" Ryan sighed. "Although I think it is weird that T-rexes are considered dragons." The only real thing that dragons and dinosaurs had inmon was the fact that they looked like oversized lizards. Regardless, Ryan learned some interesting things with that conversation. To think that humans and monsters could be one like that¡­ it wasn''t that surprising. After all, Ryan himself had the blood of three different types of monsters inside him. Another interesting fact was that Ryan couldn''t understand why Orgar would lead to such lengths to help a single strange human. Ryan didn''t like that analogy, but Orgar sacrificing himself to give Alissa a chance to live was like a human giving their life to save an ant. It was different from Ryan, who risked himself and decided to fight ten dragons for Arthur''s sake. They were both humans, after all. Still, he decided not to pry about that subject. Thest thing that Ryan needed in his life was sentimentalism. Chapter 171 - Meeting At The Base Sitting around a round table, one could see John with his arms crossed waiting for the other survivors, Daniel with his face buried on the table, and Mia holding Arthur in her arms. Now and then, one would be able to hear Daniel sighing, and that was starting to get on the nerves of his father. "Sorry for the wait," Tristan said while entering the room alongside Natalia. "No worries, we just got here," Daniel said. "You look a bit down, Daniel," Tristan said. "Are you having a hard time popping on your new home? I can understand that." "The hell are you talking about in a ce like this?" Natalia asked and then kicked her little brother''s left leg. "Hahaha, it wasn''t that, Tristan," Daniel forced a smile. "It is about Ryan¡­ more than one has already passed since all this started, and he still treating me like the dirt underneath his shoes." "Well¡­" Tristan hesitated since he had no idea what to say. "He acts like that because you are too nice all the time," Anna said while entering the room alongside Cole and Carter. "You aren''t a high school girl. Stop spoiling him." "I am not particrly nice. I just talk to him the way I used to," Daniel said. "I just hoped that by doing so, things would be a little like they were in the past¡­ I guess I was wrong." "You can''t give up now, Daniel," Cole said. "You three are probably the only like Ryan has to the life he once had. Without that, he will be just another battle-hardened survivor. Although with the world in this state, everyone needs to toughen up a little, we can''t let ourselves be cold-blood machines." Daniel knew that Cole was right. Still, that was easier said than done. While he and Mia were one of the two that were two important pieces to Ryan''s past, they were two pieces that caused a lot of pain to him. Enduring his harsh words were the things he had to endure, they were his punishment, but Daniel was getting tired of being treated like that by the person he always considered his brother. After a while, Ang, Hond, Hugo, and Mark entered the room. Finally, the meeting that Mark had nned could start. Although he wanted to make Alissa and Ryan join them, he knew that those two were too much of a loose cannon for them to ept such things as strategic meetings and whatnot. "Thank you foring," Mark said. "I already talked with all of you about the things I n to do alongside all of you, but I believe we should talk about this in more detail now." "Rescuing survivors is our number one priority, right?" John asked. "What will be our other goals?" "Strengthening our forces and adapting to the nature of this new world," Mark replied. "In that regard, I believe all of you are ahead of the soldiers we have in this base. We are trying to make them obtain their sses as fast as possible, but¡­ given our numbers and the limitations of a fight against the bosses, this will take a while. So, the gap between you and us will only increase over time. With that in mind, I would ask all of you to choose a few of the people on our side and train them as much as possible." "While I think that such a first step is necessary, shouldn''t we think of gathering other resources as well?" Cole asked. "If we keep finding survivors, we will eventually run of them, and with the world in such state, it will be hard to produce food or even get enough clean water." "This base has an excellent system to obtain clean water, just enough for twenty thousand people daily, so that isn''t a problem," Mark said. "As for resources like food, I believe that from now on, we will have to adapt to this environment. People have super strength and magic powers, so that will help us in that regard." "I see¡­ it makes sense," Tristan nodded. "A single person with enough mana can do just well the work of a heavy machine used for agriculture. Still, to reach that level, it will take a few weeks, maybe months." "Indianapolis is under our control, and not all of the ces where we can obtain food have been destroyed, so that isn''t a problem," Natalia added. "Before such a thing can be a problem, the survivors will be ready to use their skills for that." "Won''t that be a waste?" Hond asked. "While I recognize that we can''t fight with an empty stomach, it would be more convenient to use all of our forces to wipe out the monsters." "How do you n to make them reach all parts of our country that are dominated by monsters? Are you stupid?" Ang asked. "The only thing we can do is to bring more survivors to our side slowly, and then when we are strong enough, take our country back from the dragons." "That is our ultimate n," Mark said. "However, we must be aware that we can''t do that. At least not without taking some serious risks. I heard that Ryan and Alissa could take a few dragons on their own, but their circumstances are a bit different from others. While Alissa somehow gained the favor of a dragon, Ryan almost died several times to obtain his current strength. With the world in such a state, we can''t take any risks. Also, honestly speaking, I think it will be best for all of us if we increase our strength equally. It is regrettable, but with power, humans can be arrogant. Those two didn''t reach the other extreme, but the fact that they are uncooperative is also a problem." Daniel didn''t like to hear that, but since it was a fact, he couldn''t just say that Mark was wrong. As for Mia, she just looked at Arthur, wondering if just focusing on their strength as a group would be the real solution to their many problems. Chapter 172 - Class: Bard Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Barbarian, Bard, and Mystic. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. After clearing the first dungeon, that was the reward Alissa and Ryan obtained. Although it wasn''t so bad, the sses didn''t look that amazing either. Ryan expected a lot more since he didn''t gain a single tome after killing so many treants. Alissa gained some, but she just stored them inside her dimensional storage. Ryan had no idea what she was nning to do with those. "I can''t rely on some skills to increase my luck; I need to actually spend some free points if I want to obtain decent gear and tomes. Anyway, given that I have been a bit unlucky as ofte, I can''t risk taking some possibly useful sses. Let''s go with what will help me for certain." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Bard! You obtained the following skills: Luby, War Drum, and Scream. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Luby. Effect: When active, this skill can put your foes to sleep. The closer you are to your target, the more effective the skill will be and possibly will negate the effects of Sleep Resistance. Range: skill level x 10 Cost: 10 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: War Drum. Effect: Summon two magic drums in order to buff your allies'' strength for sixty seconds. The bonus of strength will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five. Range: skill level x 10 Cost: 40 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Scream. Effect: It causes damage at one specific target over time, and when the foe is close enough, the scream will stun them for two seconds. Range: skill level x 10 Cost: 10 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Ryan hoped that the skills would be different from that, but he waspletely wrong in the end. Fortunately, he was so disappointed that he couldn''t even bring himself to sigh. The fact that Ryan was tone-deaf waspletely unrted to the matter. He was disappointed because none of those skills would help him with his furtive attacks. Maybe Luby could help him with that, but it will take a long while for the skill to reach his effective range of attack, and most likely, it will never reach that range because Ryan''s dexterity was increasing his range every single day. "Let''s go," Alissa said. "I want to finish this job as fast as possible." Alissa was angry. Although that wasn''t unexpected, usually, Orgar would help her with that. Regardless, Ryan decided to prepare for the fight against the subus leader since, with Alissa in that state, things go wrong at any minute. Still, there was only so much he could do with his backpack filled with those low-quality mana potions. Ryan needed a magic item that could give him a magic space to store his items, but knowing his luck, he wouldn''t get that anytime soon. So, he needed another option. Before leaving the dungeon, Ryan checked one more time the loot he had obtained and sighed, knowing they will probably disappear in a few hours. It was a pity, but it couldn''t be helped. Ryan thought he had seen things pretty well from a distance, but the destruction that he could see now while he was walking was far worse. Although the city wasn''t nuked for obvious reasons, the dragons made sure to knock down every single slightly tall building. As if they knew that was one of the most, if not the most important, city of the country, they even burned the rubble until it bes like magma. Considering that the dragons went that far, it was quite surprising that the few survivors in the area didn''t try to risk their lives while trying to escape the city. That being said, the very moment they saw an opportunity, they left their hideouts. Ryan didn''t know how they noticed that someone had dealt with the treants, but as soon as Ryan and Alissa began to walk toward the next dungeon, they saw some survivors heading in their direction. However, they stopped when they saw the one-handed man who looked like someone who didn''t have many friends and a weird woman who had silver hair and eyes. "¡­ Are you the two who killed the treants?" A certain short-haired blond woman asked after hesitating a little bit. "No," Ryan replied. "The people you are looking for just left the city." "What are you talking about?" Alissa frowned. "Did you forget that the General wanted us to find the survivors?" "When did you be his most loyal subject?" Ryan asked. It was a bit cruel on Ryan''s part, but those people were too suspicious as well. How the heck did they know about that, and why they appeared at such a convenient time? Ryan wouldn''t of helping some survivors here and there, but he would rather avoid the suspicious ones. In any case, even though their timing was too suspicious, the woman and those survivors didn''t look like people who would backstab him on the first opportunity. Their bodies were covered with dust and ashes, their clothes were ragged, and judging by their physiques, it looked like they didn''t have a decent meal in weeks. "Who are the people who mentioned us to you guys?" Alissa asked. "Don''t even try to lie. I can read minds, and I know that someone contacted your group via radio." Chapter 173 - Unknown Plans That exined a lot of things¡­ although the city had been devastated by dragons and the other monsters were doing whatever they wanted in the streets, some individuals still could monitor things to a certain extent. One didn''t have to be a genius to understand that someone close to the government was doing that. Only the government had the resources to do with the world in such a state. "¡­ I don''t know, really." The blond woman said nervously. "They just contacted us a few times and warned us not to move. Then, a few minutes ago, they said that it was fine to leave because help has finally arrived. However, if I had to make a bet¡­" "The white house, huh," Alissa said. "That would exin a lot. Still, why they didn''t tell you guys to ask for help?" "The answer is simple, whoever told them about you two, decided to use them and check if you were an enemy or an ally." Again, that made a lot of sense¡­ Ryan didn''t want to believe that the government had fallen so low to do that kind of thing. Then again, Ryan wouldn''t be surprised if that had happened. He was betrayed by the woman he loved, so why not the country''s leaders couldn''t do the same? "You guys cane with us if you don''t slow us down," Alissa said. "However, we will only fight, food, water, clothes, whatever you need, you will have to find yourselves." The blond woman and herpanions didn''t seem too keen on following Ryan and Alissa. By the look of things, they have been waiting for some knights in shining golden armor to rescue them with smiles on their faces. Still, all of them decided to follow the strangers since they had no idea if the situation was worse outside the city. Besides, now and then, they could hear the sounds of dragons flying over the city. Despite her words, Alissa made sure to watch her pace. Still, that probably hasn''t been necessary since, after a while, they found the new monsters they were going to fight: The Giant Ants. The survivors shrieked in fear when they those monsters that had the size of arge dog approaching. The ants not only have some sharp des in the ce of their arms, but their fangs also looked like some sharp scissors. However, they rxed when Alissa killed the monsters in a single instant with her crossbows. "How weird¡­" Alissa''s behavior changed quite a bit, to the point where Ryan wondered if she was trying to make fun of him since her behavior seemed strangely familiar to Ryan. He wanted to be as efficient as possible while hunting, but now that he saw things from another perspective, it looked like that was the fighting style of people who wanted to look cool. Giant Ant ¨C Lv 35 Health: 350 /350 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 700/700 Strength: 240 (+40) Dexterity: 400 (+80) Speed: 500 (+150) Intelligence: 200 (+50) Endurance: 250 (+50) Control: 250 (+100) Mentality: 250 (+50) Luck: 150 Recovery: 250 (+80) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 50 Spells: Earth Maniption Lv 100 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100 You obtained 30 coins. You obtained 30 coins. You obtained 30 coins. ¡­ The giant ants were weak but fast. Still, their speed wasn''t their sole weapon. Ryan and the others learned after they killed several of the monsters, and then another group digs on the ground as if their ws were a hot knife and the ground was butter. "It is all right," Alissa dered. "They won''t approach while they feel my presence." Now all doubts inside Ryan''s head disappeared. Alissa really was acting out of character for some reason¡­ in any case, the ants didn''t approach them as expected, but Ryan didn''t drop his guard. "You can snipe them from here," Alissa said. "I will train these guys for a while." While those were some good news, Ryan couldn''t help but show disbelief at Alissa''s words, to the point where he began to wonder if she ate something weird or if she hit her head somewhere. For Alissa of all persons to do that was really weird¡­ Still, Ryan didn''t feel like asking about her intentions. "The General was nning to train the survivors with the help of your friends, so I will give him a hand and make him owe me more than a few favors," Alissa said. The survivors frowned when Alissa looked at them, and they flinched when she took magic weapons out of nowhere. However, they rxed again when Alissa started to give them magic items and even tomespletely for free. It looked like Orgar wasn''t joking around when heined that Ryan was too harsh with her¡­ in any case, Ryan could only hope that she wasn''t nning to do anything suspicious. Otherwise, Ryan will have to get involved with something messy. Hopefully, she wasn''t nning to make them her ''allies'' like Ryan. Still, for the first time, Ryan had no idea what she was plotting. ss: Hunter Lv 37 / Elementalist Lv 34/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 669th Health: 317/317 (1. 54/s) Mana: 533/533 (1. 54/s) Stamina: 405/405 (1.54/s) Strength: 10 (+56) (+60) Dexterity: 600 (+323) (+27) Speed: 50 (+145) (+28) Intelligence: 09 (+159) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+56) (+69) Control: 06 (+188) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+11) Luck: 50 (+9) Recovery: 337 (+391) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+11) Coins: 459.600 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Rapid Shot Lv 32 (+ 08 UP), Sting Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 37 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 37 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 37 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 37 (+ 04 UP), Spells: Mana Transfusion Lv 30 (+ 04 UP), Appraisal Lv 25 (+ 03 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 28 (+ 04 UP), Luby Lv 01, War Drum Lv 01, Scream Lv 01, Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 13 (+ 02 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 30, Beastmaster Lv 11, Archer Lv 24, Mercenary Lv 09, Corsair Lv 07, Summoner Lv 03, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 14, Trickster Lv 06, Bard Lv 01, Chapter 174 - Mana Arrow Ryan thought that Alissa would eventually get bored of training others. However, much to his surprise, she kept training the survivors for two days straight, only stopping to eat and sleep. Moreover, when the survivors'' mana and stamina werepletely empty, she would restore them with magic. After a while, Ryan decided to forget about them. Whatever Alissa was nning, hopefully, it wouldn''t be his business. Besides, Ryan had many things to do aside from killing the giant ants. Organizing the loot and also cutting off their fangs and arms were also something he had to do. "I don''t know those parts are made hard like metal, but if I can use this¡­" At first, Ryan nned to trade those materials with someone else, but after noticing that the giant ants'' poption was mostly hidden underground, he decided to use those parts to craft some things. Since Ryan was a long-ranged fighter who more or less was specialized in defeating the enemies before they could get too close, crafting defensive gear was a waster of time. Besides, he needed to be quick on his feet since his defensive attributes were pathetically low. So, he used all his mana to craft projectiles with the giant ants'' parts in his free time. Surprisingly, he received some good and bad news. Kunai Effect: Speed + 05 Durability: 05/05 "So, I actually can forge items that can increase my status¡­ that is good. Still, the durability is so low? Is it because my skill sucks, or is it due to the materials?" After some tests, Ryan discovered that both of the exnations were correct. The more Craft leveled up, the more the equipment durability increased, even the effects improved as well. However, after reforging the same weapon over and over again, Ryan noticed that the materials began to lose their durability. Probably because they were somehow parts of a creature, and even though they didn''t look like it, they were an organic matter. On the other hand, the projectiles Ryan made with the iron ores he usually received now, and they were pretty sturdy and could be reforged many times more. Although Ryan couldn''t make arrows as powerful as the bone arrows yet, that was good training for his skill and because in one day, he possibly will be able to produce projectiles that couldst longer. Without much difficulty, Ryan also sniped the bosses guarding the dungeon, and he finally received a decent reward for his hard work. It wasn''t much impressive, but Ryan received a tome that would help him with his current fighting style and possibly, will also be useful in the future. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Arrow. Effect: Summon and fire a Mana Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status point. "An offensive spell that doesn''t an elemental attribute¡­ I guess this is good and bad at the same time. Good because I won''t have to worry about the elemental resistances of the enemies, but it also bad because I won''t be able to use it to exploit the enemies'' weaknesses unless they have the low mentality." In any case, the spell will help Ryan save some mana¡­ at least against the small fries. Regardless, before clearing the dungeon for good, Alissa decided to stop and rest. It was already dark when Ryan defeated all the creatures around the dungeon, after all. While Ryan on guard duty, the blond woman suddenly approached him around midnight. "We didn''t introduce ourselves, did we?" The blond woman asked. "My name is ire. What is yours?" "¡­ Ryan," Ryan replied after a long sigh. "You should rest while you can. I don''t know what Alissa is nning, but her training probably has some goal in mind that involves all of you." "That is what I wanted to talk about," ire said. "Even though you two are working together, you two barely talk with each other¡­ while I am thankful for her help, I am also quite afraid of what she is nning to do with us. I mean¡­ because she looks human, but at the same time, she feels like something else." "You can rx. She isn''t that unreasonable," Ryan said. "Her circumstances are a bitplicated, and I don''t want to talk about it. All what I can say is that she won''t do anything unreasonable while I am around." ire frowned when she heard that. Although Ryan was reliable with a bow, anyone could tell that the difference in power between him and Alissa was obvious. What they didn''t know was the fact that Alissa had a good reason not to be his enemy. Besides, she had no real reason to cause deaths on the humans'' side, and she wasn''t a cold blood killer. "Just stick around with her, and I am sure you won''t lose anything," Ryan said. "Besides, you already obtained a strength that most people would only obtain after training hard for weeks, thanks to her. So, all that you can do right now is to wait and repay the favor." She knew about that, but that didn''t change the fact that ire was uneasy. It would be weird if she weren''t given the state of the world and the city''s current situation. In any case, it looked like her worries weren''t only rted to Alissa''s weirdness. "You two came here with a goal, right?" ire asked. "Are you two government agents? Although I don''t think that is the case, I should ask." "No, we are not," Ryan replied. "However, we are working with some people that are high-ranked officials in the army." "¡­ What is the government doing outside Washington? Are they even doing something?" ire asked. "I can''t believe they abandoned the capital without reason." It was a pity to crush the hopes of someone who tried so hard to survive for several weeks with the city in that state. However, Ryan wasn''t a liar, and he certainly wouldn''t give false hopes to anyone. So, he told ire the undeniable truth: unless the citizens do something themselves, the country was pretty much done for. Chapter 175 - Class: Combat Archer ire had a hard time believing in what Ryan said, but when he mentioned the nukes being used to destroy several cities and their inhabitants just to take down the dragons, she epted everything else. Considering the aircraft vehicles, Ryan saw in the secret base. It was pretty much obvious that all the military leaders decided to conserve their strength since they knew a few of them would be useless against dragons. What they didn''t know was that things would only get worse since dragons and all other creatures were leveling up and bing stronger. The only real option left to humans was to fight with their lives on the line. "Don''t feel so bad about it," Ryan said. "Humans can grow stronger pretty fast now, and since Alissa is training you, if you work harder, someday, you will be able to take down a dragon or two." ire could only force a small smile since those words seemed like a joke. Come to think of it, Ryan couldn''t understand why he was trying tofort a stranger. It was better to throw the hard truth on their faces and let the shock do the rest of the job. Maybe he was bing softer now that Alissa wasn''t bothering him like before anymore. Regardless, after sunrise, the first thing everyone did was to enter the dungeon alongside Ryan and Alissa. Although those two had exined how things would happen inside the dungeon, the survivors were pretty anxious about entering the nest of the monsters that have been tormenting them for several weeks. However, things proceeded quite smoothly since Alissa hurried to smash the boss with a single strike. "I guess these people need to obtain some sses but are this fine? They didn''t do much to clear this ce¡­ Still, I guess for surviving this far without help. They more or less deserve this." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Berserker, Combat Archer, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two new sses, not bad, I guess. Still, I think I will need to clear the dungeons that spawn some pretty strong monster to obtain the sses that will grant me the ability to store items on another dimension or to use Telekinesis. That may be impossible for me right now, but with this, I can take a step further to that goal." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Combat Archer! You obtained the following skills: Leg Shot, Perfect Aim, Magic Trap. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Leg Shot. Effect: When active, this skill can decrease your targets'' speed by one point per level and per hit. This effectsts for five seconds. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Perfect Aim. Effect: It grants you the power to select a target and hit them no matter what as long as your speed exceeds the target. Cost: 20 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Trap. Effect: It creates a magic trap hidden underground. When your target passes above it, the trap is activated, causing magic damage equal to your intelligence. When the enemy''s mentality is lower than your intelligence, the target will also be snared for two seconds. Cost: 30 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Considering the name of this ss, I didn''t expect to learn four spells¡­ Still, their effects will be useful." Not to mention the bonus points Ryan would receive by each level up. Those tier two sses were that amazing, and Ryan thought that even other sses granted even more status points. Still, he couldn''t bring himself to feel excited about it because, based on the things he knew, monsters more or less still could be stronger faster than humans. "What sses should we choose?" ire asked after watching her friends and understanding that they also had the same question in their minds. "Pick whatever ss you want," Alissa replied. "I can''t choose the way you will fight from now on. You can''t rely on others to make such choices for you." That was good. Alissa was training those people with something in mind, but at least she didn''t want to be their tyrant leader or anything like that¡­ apparently. In any case, while they were busy, Ryan decided to check the dungeon shop. As expected, he didn''t find the skills he was looking for even though he almost had sixty hundred thousand coins." "I might as well train Mana Arrow a little bit¡­" Another good aspect of the Mana Arrow was that the projectile was almost invisible and didn''t make any sound while it was flying. So, it could be a decent weapon for Ryan''s stealth skills. Regardless, much sooner than he had expected, Ryan was interrupted¡­ not by the survivors inside the dungeon and a new grouping from Washington. "Excuse me¡­ Are you the help that the people on the radio mentioned?" A thin, ck-haired man asked. "¡­ Well, that will depend," Ryan replied. "Are you guys willing to obey the orders of a woman who is too hard to understand right now?" The new group of survivors got pretty uneasy thanks to Ryan''s strange words, but then they eventually learned the meaning behind them when Alissa appeared and said that she would train as well. At that point in time, it became pretty obvious that Alissa decided to change. She wasn''t just trying to help Orgar without thinking too much about things, now she had some sort of goal, and she was working towards it. The problem was: what was her goal? Chapter 176 - His Turn Until now, Alissa and Ryan have been avoiding the areas in which they saw the Subus wandering around. How were they doing that, considering that they definitely were the strongest species of monster in the area? That was simple, Ryan and Alissa decided to clear the area on the east side of Washington since, in that direction, they only would find the ocean. The subus didn''t feel any need to head toward there. However, things would change now since the Red Bats dungeon was pretty close to the subus dungeon, and even though their goal was to fight and capture some humans, asionally, the subus and bats would fight. "For the next two days, I will train you guys pretty hard," Alissa dered to all the survivors. "After that, your job will be to assist this guy in eliminating all the subus inside this city." Alissa stopped referring to Ryan as Ryan, and now she called him ''this guy. She finally got tired of hearing that Ryan didn''t consider her a friend or ally. Still, that much was expected, considering that she had somewhat a lot of pride in who she was. Regardless, the survivors didn''t like what they heard, but no one protested. Besides, after seeing the status they obtained after leveling up their sses a few times, they also began to understand that fighting wasn''t the only option. Still, it was also possible to fight without dying. They reached a point where they thought that only insane people would try to face the monsters¡­ However, two dayster, things had already changed, and Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at it. "Ma''am, we are ready tounch an offensive against the subus," Victor said while saluting Alissa. Victor was the skinny man Ryan talked about when he left the giant ants'' dungeon. His attitude changedpletely, and now he was acting like Hugo. Perhaps he was even worse than him since his eyes shined whenever he talked with Alissa. The other survivors weren''t much different. They looked far worse than fanboys and fangirls when they get close to their idols. Even ire, who was quite afraid of Alissa two days ago, now had be another one of Alissa''s loyal subjects. "Not yet," Alissa said. "First, we will clear the giant bats'' dungeon and then obtain our new sses. Only after that, we will proceed." Although they only had one ss each, the survivors were stronger than Ryan when he cleared the Sahuagins'' dungeon. Alissa''s presents and training helped them a lot, but Ryan couldn''t help but feel annoyed by it. As if that wasn''t enough, she even restored their energy several times a day to increase their pace. "Well, whatever¡­ if she is nning to use to find the answers that she wants, that is excellent for me as well." Thanks to Ryan''s hard work, the group managed to stay away from the subus'' radar. He focused on sniping the giant bats, and neither species noticed that there was a third party nearby. The only problem with that strategy was the fact that Ryan did things very slowly, so more or less half of the giant bats were still alive. "This will be a decent warm-up for the real battle," Alissa said while facing the two thousand red bats that were blocking her path toward the dungeon. "However, I won''t fight. I will just offer my support. You guys go and deal with it." "Yes, Ma''am!" ire said. "You will stay behind and watch as well," Alissa said while looking at Ryan. "No way," Ryan said. "I am helping you, but I am not yourckey." "That is true, but I let you fight alone the way you like for thest few days, right?" Alissa smiled. "Now, things will be on my way." Although that was annoying, Ryan couldn''t protest. He obtained a lot by fighting alone, and since he hated unfairness, he had to let Alissa do what he wanted now. Shepromised before, and now it was his turn. It seemed pretty unreasonably to make thirty or so survivors fight against two thousand monsters, even more, when they had so little battle experience. None of them seemed fazed by Alissa''s orders. Maybe they were getting carried away with the power they obtained, or maybe they just had that much trust in Alissa. When the monsters entered their field of vision, the survivors didn''t hesitate andunched their assault. Although some of them had long-ranged attacks, all of them charged at the same time. They were probably trying to conserve their mana¡­ in any case, the red bats began to get ughtered pretty fast, but before the battle couldst for more than five minutes, the survivors were already exhausted. Without mana and stamina, no one could do anything, and so the red bats began to bit them and recover their own vitality. Red Bat ¨C Lv 36 Health: 400 /400 Mana: 600/600 Stamina: 700/700 Strength: 230 (+30) Dexterity: 450 (+50) Speed: 300 (+250) Intelligence: 200 (+50) Endurance: 250 (+50) Control: 250 (+50) Mentality: 350 (+150) Luck: 150 Recovery: 350 (+100) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Drain Bite Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 50 Spells: Fly Lv 80 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 50, Water Resistance Lv 50, Alissa stepped forward to give her support, but no one expected that she would recover everyone''s mana and stamina and then step back again. As expected, Alissa wasn''t quite sane. At least that was what Ryan thought. Her idea of training and warm-up was even more spartan than Ryan''s. "Fight, fight and keep fighting," Alissa said. "The world isn''t peaceful anymore. If you want to have back your hometown, then kill all those beasts with your bare hands! Or do you want to keep hiding in fear of those monsters like before? Do you want to have such pathetic life again? Answer me!" After hearing Alissa''s speech, the survivors began to fight even more fiercely than before. Although the monsters had the advantage in numbers, the survivors who stopped caring about their wounds and exhaustion began to sweep the floor with them. Chapter 177 - Second Chance Ryan wasn''t nning to build an army of humans, but he could learn a thing or two from Alissa, it seems. Those thirty survivors who a few days ago were about to die of starvationpletely wiped out the red bats in less than one hour¡­ they even defeated the fifty or so bosses that were nearby. When they noticed that they had won, the survivors shouted to the skies to celebrate their victory. Since they were covered in blood and monster''s flesh, they looked like lunatics. "An army of humans¡­ is Alissa nning to build her own army? Why? She said that she doesn''t care if humans live or die, so this doesn''t make any sense." Before Ryan could find a proper exnation for that, he heard the sound of something approaching¡­ after a few seconds, dozens of subus appeared and began to move toward the survivors. "I knew things wouldn''t be so easy¡­" Ryan sighed. However, before anyone could do anything, Alissa used her powers and make a wave of earth appear out of nowhere andpletely smashed that group of monsters. Although she seemed pretty crazy, Alissa was smart enough to know that the survivors wouldn''t be able to fight the subus close by. It was too risky. "Good job," Alissa said after approaching the survivors. "You guys recovered a part of your hometown. You can feel proud about yourselves." It was even weirder to see those madmen and women smiling so cheerfully in that kind of situation. Regardless, it was time to defeat thest boss of the red bats'' dungeon and then receive their new sses¡­ but then that scene repeated itself again. However, this time, several groups of survivors approached them at the same time. "Where in the hell those people were hiding? I can''t imagine that every single of them had a bunker beneath their homes¡­" Although those guys would be a fine addition to Alissa''s army, she didn''t seem very pleased by seeing them. Alissa stood in front of the group with her arms crossed and with her chin quite raised. "What do you want?" Alissa asked. "Don''t tell me that you want to join the others. If that were the case, you wouldn''t have watched us for several days." The survivors gulped when they heard that. It looked like Alissa gained more than just raw power from Orgar¡­ maybe it was because he was too focused on his task ahead, but Ryan never noticed them and that was worrisome. He needed new tracking skills, if he doesn''t get them, he will be an easy target for ambushes. "Sorry, we were scared, and¡­" A middle-aged woman stepped forward and spoke. "Spare me of your excuses," Alissa interrupted. "Just say what you want. Be quick about it, I don''t have much patience with cowards." "We are tired of waiting for the government to rescue us¡­" The woman said. "We want to fight and regain our freedom." "You can do that somewhere else," Alissa said. "You won''t have my help with it." In the end, even the other survivors agreed with Alissa. Noticing that this new group had just watched everything and waited for them to do most of the job, they didn''t feel even a shred of pity toward them because they imagined the first group would die in that battle. Although they got hurt pretty badly, no one died. Now the atmosphere got a bit weird thanks to Alissa. The new group didn''t want to risk leaving Washington, or at least the areas that were free of monsters now. However, Alissa didn''t leave any room for discussion on that matter and once their business is over, most likely, the group that trained with Alissa will force the others to leave. "I guess I will have to intervene¡­" Ryan couldn''t care less about those who didn''t have the will to fight, but in the end, he couldn''t just let those people go away knowing that they will die. Besides, it would be a good idea to make Mark owe him a few more favors by letting those people join his side. They made a mistake and decided to run instead of fight and now they couldn''t fight anymore since the monsters'''' strength increased. However, if they try topensate by showing their guts¡­ maybe there was hope for them. "She isn''t going to help you," Ryan said. "So, what are you guys going to do?" "¡­. We don''t know," The middle-aged woman hesitated to wonder if that answer wouldn''t make things even moreplicated. "Then think harder and faster," Ryan raised his voice. "You guys don''t have the luxury to take your time anymore. Make your decision and move on." The survivors whispered among themselves and although that annoyed Ryan, he decided to at least give them that much. Thinking fast was important, but thinking too little wasn''t good either. Regardless, after everything they experienced, the survivors knew that looking for guns wouldn''t help them. Most monsters could endure the damage caused by several bullets and guns fails all the time. So, their only options were to rely on someone stronger, which Alissa just said no, or develop the few skills they had and learn new ones before Alissa and the others clear the remaining dungeons. "We will¡­ use our remaining time to get stronger here," The woman said. "Yeah, you should do that," Ryan said. "Show me that you aren''t all talk." Alissa didn''t seem very pleased when Ryan turned around and entered the dungeon. It was hard to know if she was reading his thoughts again or if she didn''t like the idea that he gave a second chance to those people. Ryan could understand that since he didn''t give a second chance to Alissa, Mia, and Daniel. That was unfair, but at the same time, the things in the bnce were different. Those people didn''t want to die while those three wanted to be close to Ryan. In any case, if she couldn''t understand that by herself, exining would be a waste of time. Chapter 178 - Class: Rogue Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Brawler, Rogue, and Disciple. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Again, huh¡­ Three new sses, Brawler, aren''t for me. Although the name is suspicious, Rogue will give me the bonus points that I want¡­ Still, Disciple seems interesting." After clearing the dungeon, Ryan received those options. Based on his experience, the dungeon level wasn''t that high, so each ss''s bonus would be like the tier one sses. Thanks to that, Ryan felt like gambling and choosing the Disciple ss. After all, most magic sses gave him some points in recovery, and he will always wee those. Still, in the end, Ryan chose the Rogue ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Rogue! You obtained the following skills: Intimidation, giarism, Backstab. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Intimidation. Effect: Decreases the strength and endurance of your foes by two points per level for thirty seconds. Cost: 10 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: giarism. Effect: It grants you the power to use thest skill used by your foe. The level of the skill will be equal to the giarism''s level. If you try to use any other skills, the skill will be canceled. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Backstab. Effect: It grants you the chance to cause critical damage when the opponent is unaware of your presence and applying the status ''shock.'' This skill only works with melee weapons. Cost: 10 stamina You obtained 01 status point. "Mmm¡­ this isn''t so bad." Although that was true, Ryan felt like he could have received an even better surprise by choosing the Disciple ss. Regardless, what was done was done, and there was no point in wondering about such things. While Alissa and the others were choosing their new sses, Ryan left the dungeon and then headed toward the Treant''s dungeon. Ryan had forgotten about it, but he just recalled that he still could tame two other monsters. He didn''t know when they wouldplete their job there, so it was better to hurry up and tame those two monsters and train them. The n was to make one of them guard the treants'' dungeon and the subus'' dungeon, but with the world in such a state, nning that far ahead was most of the timepletely useless. Treant Health: 1.500/1.500 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 300/300 Strength: 200 (+40) Dexterity: 300 (+30) Speed: 50 Intelligence: 200 (+50) Endurance: 700 (+250) Control: 450 (+10) Mentality: 700 (+250) Luck: 300 Recovery: 600 (+500) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sharp Leaves Lv 30 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 50 Spells: Earth Spear Lv 50 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100, Water Resistance Lv 100 His new tamed monster wasn''t much stronger than the average treat. In fact, it had exactly the same level of strength. Since the monster was slow and had little mana and stamina, Ryan couldn''t think of many ways of training the beast to be able to defeat other treants. "Can''t be helped, for the time being, you will guard the Red Bats dungeon," Ryan said. "Your affinity against is just right since you don''t have blood." Ryan will have to think of another way to ''seal'' the treants'' dungeon since they were the most troublesome species before the demons. Still, that was a problem forter. He returned where he left thest group of survivors only to find them punching each other pretty hard¡­ it was quite the sight to see middle-aged women punching each other like that. "I guess after one month, it is only natural that they can endure that much. Besides, they know what recovery can do." It seemed like Ryan could give them a hand since he could use elemental attacks, but first, he had to check things with Alissa and the others. If they n to kill some subus, he will have to go with them. However, when Ryan found them, they were raising their camp. "We still have some daylight," Ryan said. "So, why are we going to stop here?" "They lost too much blood," Alissa said. "They will need a good night''s rest and some food to recover before the real showdown." That had been a good call. Although Alissa said that she doesn''t care, she was smart enough to be a good leader, and now she wasn''t rushing ahead using Arthur as an excuse. Still, her goals were unclean, so Ryan couldn''t drop his guard. As much as he didn''t want to admit it, he influenced Alissa to change, and if he does something unexpected, he will be partially at fault. "I will return before sunset to stay on the guard duty," Ryan said and then returned to where the second group of survivors was. That hadn''t been the first time Ryan had shown up, so the survivors didn''t pay much attention to him, but they changed their minds when they saw Ryan controlling two spheres around him, one of water and another one of earth. "I will give you guys a hand," Ryan dered. "¡­ Are you sure of that?" The middle-aged woman asked. "Your previous decision probably already caused some discord within your group." "Why do you care about other people''s problems?" Ryan asked. "Which is more important, my problems or your life? Besides, I am working with her to repay a favor. A thing like animosity doesn''t matter. Now, stop wasting time and prepare yourselves¡­ this is going to hurt more in you than in me." Chapter 179 - Absolute Loyalty Since Ryan didn''t have all the time in the world and the two groups of survivors won''t mix well, he didn''t hold back in training the second group''s elemental resistances. Time was of the essence, after all. Still, when night came, the survivors had be resistant enough to endure the attacks of Ryan''s slimes. So, he left some of them behind in order to make them help the survivors for quite a while. Although a good part of Washington had been recovered from the monsters'' hands, Ryan didn''t ck off on the guard duty. His tracking skills needed some work, but hepensated in what hecked with his concentration and with a good viewpoint of the area. Basically, Ryan created a forty meters town watchtower with his Earth Maniption and stood at the top of it watching the area. From that ce, he could see the subus'' dungeon and their movement, as well as he could watch both camps. "We need to talk." "What now¡­" Ryan sighed. The guard duty was quite boring, but Ryan liked these peaceful moments. Those were the only moments where he couldn''t feel annoyed by thinking about anything after all. The worst that could happen was a wave of mncholy that would make him feel a bit depressed, but it looked like he wouldn''t have that right now. In any case, Orgar sure was talking a lot with him, and it was weird since he only did so when Alissa was sleeping. Besides, a secret in the middle of the night made Ryan think that he was up to no good for some reason. "Alissa began to change¡­ while I do think that is a positive change for her considering her previous world view, I am not sure you are going to like this change." "I couldn''t care less about it," Ryan said. "As long as she doesn''t cause problems for others, it doesn''t really matter how she will change." "You may be right, but still, I feel like I should warn you about other things. I thought that Alissa would eventually talk with you about it, but it looks like she got tired of the way you treated her." "Howe despite that, you feel like giving me other warnings?" Ryan asked. "Aren''t you on her side?" "I am. However, while dragons act most of the time based purely on their instincts, that doesn''t mean they can''t act based out of curiosity." "In other words¡­" Ryan frowned. "I want to see how well you and other humans will perform with your world facing its current problems. After reading the mind of the demons and those dragons, we discovered that your is suffering changes that other species didn''t experiment." "Are you sure you should talk to me about it?" Ryan asked. "What will happen if Alissa decides to read my mind?" "She won''t. Shepletely lost her interest in you. That being said, she is smart enough to figure out some things just by seeing some of your actions, so I can''t give you many details. Regardless, I don''t know for how long I, the dragon Orgar, will continue to exist as a single being. Still, I want to see how ordinary humans such as yourselves will deal with those situations through Alissa''s eyes." That kind of talk was really talking. Ryan liked things to be as clear and concise as possible, but Orgar couldn''t tell much since he knew that Ryan wasn''t dumb enough just to stay out of Alissa''s radar. "I don''t want to risk angering Alissa. Unlike you, I cherish our rtionship. So, I can only tell you that Alissa recognized that she couldn''t survive in this new world on her own. That is why she is getting allies and training them." That made sense. Still, to think that she would reach that kind of realization without making Ryan notice that she was conflicted about something¡­ in any case, since Orgar didn''t try to stop her, it looked like he also recognized that with his powers alone, they wouldn''t survive. "Just what the hell they learned thanks to those dragons?" Ryan was curious, but as expected, he couldn''t read minds, and he wouldn''t ask directly to Alissa what she learned. The only thing Ryan could do was to keep increasing his powers¡­ but would that be enough? He didn''t know if one day he would be as powerful as Alissa, and she already epted that her powers weren''t enough for the possibly bleak future. Ryan spent the night trying to imagine how things could get worse, but he couldn''t imagine anything worse than dragons and demons. Regardless, he was determined not to change his ways, so if his power alone wasn''t enough to grant Ryan the chance to survive in that new world, then he could only die. Someone once said that there is strength in numbers, Alissa recognized that strength and wanted that for her, but Ryan didn''t want that kind of strength. Congrattions! The skill Summon Slime has leveled up. Summon Slime Lv 11 ? Lv 12 Effect: It grants you the power to summon a slime. Cost: 250 mana You obtained 01 status point. "I guess this kind of strength in numbers is fine¡­" Ryan didn''t have to worry about betrayal from monsters summoned by him. They had no reason to do so, after all. So, he decided to bet on that. With their resistance against water and earth being pretty strong, Ryan summoned two slimes and made them attack the treant that was guarding the red bats'' dungeon with Water des and Earth Arrows. After a while, the slimes leveled up again. "As expected, it is better to make them fight against more powerful creatures." Ryan had no idea about what would happen in the future, but unlike Alissa, he wouldn''t build an army of humans to increase his own strength. He would be a one-man army. That would be hard and probably was impractical and insane. However, those were just small details for Ryan. Chapter 180 - Devilish Charm "We will exterminate all the subus now," Alissa dered after breakfast. "This time, I will join the fight for real in order to prevent losses on our side." Alissa didn''t say that Ryan shouldn''t help, but she also didn''t say that she needed his help. Things became quiteplicated between them, but weirdly enough, Alissa couldn''t bring herself to say that Ryan didn''t have to help her any longer. Still, Ryan was fine with the things going that way. He would feel annoyed if he doesn''t pay his debt, after all. Without wasting any more time, the operation to exterminate the subus started. As much as Ryan wanted to snipe them all, that would take a long time. So, he had to focus on speed and by firing his arrows at a pretty close distance. Thanks to that, he began to feel the effects of the subus magic. "The heck is this¡­" Ryan frowned when he felt his sense getting all messed up. When a subus group was fifty meters away from him, Ryan''s vision began to get blurred. Aiming was nearly impossible in that state, but such effect onlysted for a few moments. However, those creatures had more surprises in hand¡­ when Ryan''s eyesight returned to normal, the subus changed. Suddenly, they looked human, and their body looked far more appealing than before. That was weird, but Ryan''s heart began to beat faster, but suddenly he felt annoyed when he saw that some of them looked a lot like Mia. "I shouldn''t expect any less from monsters¡­" Before Ryan could do anything, their appearances changed, and those effects disappeared the very moment the subus got killed by Alissa. She had to work fast because some of her ''soldiers'' also began to act weird. As if that wasn''t bad enough, Ryan noticed that the subus also made of their allies look like enemies. He had to be careful. Otherwise, he might kill some of the survivors by ident. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Charm Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect of spells and abilities that might charm you by one percent. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Illusion Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect of spells and abilities that might confuse you by one percent. You obtained 01 status point. "If fifty meters their range¡­ I have to keep that distance from them." Ryan had to move a lot in order to achieve that, but eventually, he found a better way to counter the subus magic: attack first and cause them pain. While they scream in agony, the monsters were unable to use their magic and control the humans. A good me Arrow on their faces was more than enough for that. "I see¡­" Alissa nodded in satisfaction when she realized that. "In the end, it looks like they still will have decent training." Instead of me Arrows, Alissa used Fire Bullets. Still, her projectiles were powerful enough to destroy the limbs of the monsters. So, the difficulty of the battle decreased more than she wanted. In any case, the noise caused by the start of the fights attracted all the monsters in the area, so things got a little bit more bnced. "If the ordinary subus can be this troublesome¡­ what about the bosses near the dungeon? Come to think of it, the previous boss of that demons'' dungeon was smart like a human¡­ what will happen when a dungeon breaks happen, and several of those creatures appear?" Those were only some of several troublesome questions that were bothering Ryan''s mind. Although their chances of losing with Alissa on their side was pretty low, Ryan still wanted to think of a way to solve the situation by himself. He managed to snipe Bolvath and kill it with a single arrow before, but he had to concentrate a Power Shot for a full minute. Maybe he could do that and defeat a boss with a single strike without emptying all of his mana and stamina, but Ryan was fully aware that he wouldn''t be able to do that more than two or three times. "So much to be a one-man army¡­" Ryan still had a long way ahead of him, and in order to shorten his path toward his goal, he could only do a single thing: fight as much as possible. Regardless, even though the survivors were much weaker than the subus, the fight proceeded quite well for several hours, but then the subus began to appear from all sides. "What is this?" Alissa asked, confused. "Maybe the bosses noticed that something is happening, and they decided to call back the subus that had left the city and headed toward other areas." That seemed like a usible exnation¡­ but to think that those creatures could control their minions to that point was beyond troublesome. In any case, there was no point inining or wondering if that was true or not. Ryan only focused on attacking the monsters before they could use their troublesome skills. Alissa also stopped holding back in order to make her soldiers gain as much battle experience as possible. She pulled her crossbows and then began to massacre the subus before they could get surrounded. Although none of the survivors had died yet, their exhaustion was reaching the limit. Alissa could help them recover their energy, but then she will have to stop attacking the monsters¡­ it was only a matter of time before the bnce of the battle breaks. Without any other choice, Ryan decided to use Call and make his treant join the battle, but before that happens, he heard some footstepsing from behind¡­ when he turned around, Ryan saw the survivors who were training with his slimes approaching, picking the weapons that were dropped by the monsters and then joining the fight. "Well¡­ I didn''t expect that." Ryan told them to show their guts by training as hard as possible, but it looked like they decided to do that by fighting as well. Even though with their strength, not even five humans could take down a single subus. "Ah¡­ I can use that." Ryan used War Drum, and the sound caused by his spell increased the strength of all his allies in the area. Things got a lot easier after that, not because of the bonus in the spell''s strength, but because the spell leveled up several times by affecting many people. Chapter 181 - Not Good... Even Alissa didn''t have the nerve toin about the help that she never asked. After all, those people were fighting to free their hometown from the monsters'' clutches. Besides, thanks to them and Ryan''s area of effect buffs, the tide of the battle turned in their favor. However, they still would have some more surprises that day. "They areing¡­" When they heard Orgar''s voice, Alissa and Ryan finally noticed. Flying in the direction of the battle, they saw more than fifty demons. Even without using Appraisal, Ryan recognized them as the bosses that were spawned when the dungeon break urred. Besides, unlike the ordinary subus, those new monsters had wings, weapons, and they were also wearing pieces of armor that protect their vitals. The only thing that they had inmon with the subus is that they were all females. Ryan used Appraisal to confirm his suspicions, but he quite didn''t believe in what he saw. "Usintia, Charlith, Helova¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "They are all different demons. How can this be?" To think that different demons could have the same purpose¡­ In any case, once again, Ryan felt that something was out of ce. Just like before, he couldn''t quite pinpoint what was wrong, but he noticed one thing. That weird feeling¡­ he only had when he saw several bosses in the same ce. Regardless, before Ryan could think of why he felt that, Alissa transformed into her dragon form. "I will deal with them," Alissa dered. "Don''t let a single one of my soldiers die. If you do that, we can negotiate the terms of cooperation." It looked like if Ryan seeds in that, Alissa will decrease the time they will have to work together. While that wasn''t so bad since that was a good reason to do it, Ryan didn''t want to face those monsters¡­ He wanted to test his strength once more against powerful foes. Unfortunately, since he couldn''t fly, Ryan couldn''t join the battle. Alissa made sure to draw the bosses'' attention and made them pursue her pretty fly in the sky, where his arrows couldn''t reach. She was getting better at getting on his nerves... still, her awareness of the situation also improved. "I guess she really doesn''t want to lose a single one of her soldiers¡­" Ryan also didn''t feel like letting humans fighting so hard die. It wasn''t his style, but he began to offer support to all of the survivors by attacking those who were having a hard time against the subus. However, instead of using his bow or magic projectiles, he used his magic weapons. A single scratch of his spear was enough to make the subus get paralyzed for a second, while the sword could burn the monsters and make them scream in agony. After that, they would be easy targets for the survivors. However, ¡­ "Crap¡­ this isn''t enough¡­" Ryan was focusing on speed, but even so, slowly but certainly, the survivors were losing the fight against those massive numbers. If he couldn''t kill the monsters, Ryan couldn''t recover mana fast enough. If he kills the monsters, Ryan will spend more time and thus won''t be able to help those who are needed. "Hey, you!" Ryan shouted. "Pick that spear on your right! Pay more attention to the drops, dumbass!" Without any other choice, Ryan was forced to shout and give thosemands. Although some survivors got geared up and thus decreased Ryan''s workload, things weren''t looking good. Some survivors began to faint due to exhaustion. It was only natural since they were only ordinary survivors less than a week ago. Still, Ryan didn''t feel like spoiling them due to that. Suddenly, something fell from the sky and then hit a good number of the subus, killing them instantly. Since the size was small, Ryan concluded that it was one boss that Alissa had defeated and thrown down in order to help the battle. However, much to Ryan''s despair, the boss began to levitate, even though all the bones of her limbs were broken. "That idiot¡­ at least finish them off before using them as projectiles," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Ryan decided to finish the creature off as fast as possible, but before he could attack, the blood of the creatures that just died began to move toward the demon. In a matter of seconds after absorbing all that blood, the demon was back to normal. As if things weren''t bad enough, the demon who was about to fly and join the others in the battle against Alissa stopped and then began to look directly at Ryan. It looked like the subus found her new target. "Not good¡­" Ryan said. "Things are about to go downhill..." ss: Hunter Lv 39 / Elementalist Lv 38/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 669th Health: 345/345 (1. 67/s) Mana: 609/609 (1. 67/s) Stamina: 444/444 (1.67/s) Strength: 10 (+63) (+60) Dexterity: 650 (+381) (+27) Speed: 50 (+162) (+28) Intelligence: 09 (+191) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+71) (+69) Control: 06 (+205) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+11) Luck: 50 (+11) Recovery: 375 (+429) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+11) Coins: 669.600 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Intimidation Lv 01, Backstab Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 39 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 39 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 39 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 39 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 29 (+ 04 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 09, Perception Lv 30 (+ 02 UP), Precision Lv 35 (+ 02 UP), Spells: Mana Transfusion Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), me Arrow Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Appraisal Lv 27 (+ 02 UP), Heal Lv 14 (+ 04 UP), Leg Shot Lv 01, Perfect Aim Lv 01, Magic Trap Lv 01, giarism Lv 01, Support Skills: Master''s Support Lv 10 (+ 02 UP) sses: Combat: Sage Lv 35, Beastmaster Lv 13, Archer Lv 27, Mercenary Lv 11, Corsair Lv 09, Summoner Lv 05, Combat Archer Lv 03, Rogue Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 17, Trickster Lv 08, Bard Lv 03, Chapter 182 - Difficult Fight Ryan wasn''t a good Samaritan, so even though that would be dangerous for the survivors, he decided topletely ignore them and focus his attack on the monster that was looking at him. The demon grinned, imagining how useful Ryan could be, but the grim disappeared when she began to feel the massive amount of energy Ryan was pouring into his bone arrow. For a moment, the monster didn''t think Ryan would be stupid enough to empty all his energy against a single enemy when there were thousands of subus nearby. The creature seriously underestimated Ryan''s insanity¡­ When Ryan''s mana and stamina dropped to twenty percent, the monster realized that Ryan wasn''t joking, and he was determined to finish it off in a single strike. Fearing for its life, the demon flew toward Ryan, but then when the creature was ten meters away from him, it changed its direction and moved to his right side. "Stupid monsters¡­" Ryan grinned and then adjusted his aim. "This is the oldest trick of the book." Before firing the arrow, Ryan also activated Brute Arrow. The attack''s power increased just a little bit, but he didn''t do that to increase his firing power but because he wanted to make the demon hit and kill several other subi again. Ryan seeded in doing that, but his heart almost stopped when the corpse almost hit some survivors. He didn''t think that such a thing could happen¡­ You obtained 28.950 coins. The monster also dropped a weird bow¡­ a bow that had the shape of the subus wings, and at the same time, it was ck and pink. Ryan picked the weapon, but he didn''t even check its attributes¡­ he didn''t have mana to use it. "Well, now¡­ it looks I don''t have any other choice," Ryan sighed while watching the battlefield. The conscious survivors were trying to protect the unconscious ones, but they were about to fall as well. In the end, Ryan had to choose between letting the survivors be sacrifices, or he makes all the sacrifices. It was a pity, but he didn''t have to think all that much in the end. Suddenly, the subus eyes began to explode, and the survivors frowned when they saw that since they didn''t notice anything that caused that. Even the monsters were shocked by that, but they eventually noticed that a single human was causing all that¡­ Ryan. Using the Power of Money, Ryan attacked the monster''s eyes. At the current level of the skill, it couldn''t kill a single slime, but Ryan could do that by aiming properly, and since the subus was that close, doing that was easy. You spent 10 coins You spent 10 coins Congrattions! The skill Power of Money has leveled up. Power of Money Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: It grants you the chance to cause direct damage to your foe''s health by using coins. You can cause one hundred points of damage per level, and the cost will be equal to the damage caused. Cost: 100 coins per level You obtained 01 status point. You spent 200 coins You spent 200 coins ¡­ "¡­ Shut up, already," Ryan said, annoyed. Ryan''s mood worsened when he noticed that he didn''t obtain a single coin when the monsters'' died whenever he used that skill. It couldn''t be helped since that was to save the survivors, but¡­ At the end of the world, the worst enemy of the human race was their damn conscience. Ryan just confirmed that. In the blink of an eye, Power of Money leveled up many times, and thus Ryan''s attacking speed increased greatly. Thanks to all that fighting, he confirmed that he could attack many times in a second. Maybe he also could do that with a bow, but as expected, he needed to train properly to be able to do that, and he also would need to increase his mana pool. Once again, another boss fell from the sky, but this time, the creature didn''t get up. The same thing happened several times, but since Ryan had already recovered his mana, he wasn''t worried about them. He was worried about the fact that despite all that, they didn''t try to retreat. They weren''t mindless monsters, so why fight a battle that they couldn''t win? However, eventually, Ryan began to wonder if they would be really defeated¡­ blood began to fall from the sky, and Ryan knew that it was Alissa''s blood. "As expected, not even Alissa can fight against fifty mid-tier bosses by herself¡­ I need to clean up things here before she is forced to retreat." Even though his mana was full, Ryan was forced to keep using Power of Money to help the survivors. Attacking with that skill was much more effective and faster, after all. Although the survivors began to feel unconscious one after the other, the battle somehow ended without a single loss on the human side¡­ Ryan had to sacrifice more than two hundred thousand coins to achieve that, but fortunately, the monsters still dropped items, so not everything was bad news. Before Ryan could pick them up, he looked to the sky and saw the very moment several shooting starts falling. However, Ryan knew that those weren''t exactly shooting stars. They were the bosses¡­ still, he couldn''t quite imagine how Alissa managed to attack all of them at the same time¡­ When the monsters hit the ground, the entire city trembled, and some dust waves spread toward all directions. Fortunately, nothing happened to the survivors since the impact had happened pretty far away. Ryan used Earth Maniption to see the point of the impacts, only to see several ten metersrge craters¡­ and the corpses of the monsters without their limbs. After a while, Alissa appeared covered in bruises and bleeding from her nose and ears. "Ah, that was refreshing¡­" Alissa said with a smile on her face. "I guess I underestimated these mid-tier bosses. Well, no matter, at least they dropped a lot of items. Now everyone will have some decent equipment." Chapter 183 - Charm Bow For some reason, Ryan didn''t feel like asking about what happened with the other bosses'' bodies. In any case, several of them dropped weapons, and Alissa made sure to distribute them among her soldiers when they woke up. Meanwhile, Ryan decided to check his new bow. As expected of a weapon that a demon dropped... Charm Bow Effect: Consumes ten mana points to create an arrow capable of putting the target into a charmed status. This effect can only take ce if the target has less intelligence and it onlysts for five seconds. The effect disappears when the target is attacked. Dexterity + 20, intelligence + 20. Durability: 60/60 "This is a very suspicious bow¡­ in any case, it is a little better than my bone bow, but in terms of raw power, the bone bow still is the best option. I guess I will trade it." Suddenly, Alissa approached. The wounds on her body hadpletely disappeared, but one could tell that fight has taken quite a toll on her. She looked tired, and she was pale as well¡­ it was only natural since she went as far as transforming into a dragon to defeat all of those monsters. "Everyone said that you did something to protect them. They didn''t understand what exactly," Alissa said. "So, I guess you deserve half of the loot." "I can sell them or trade for the weapons you obtained by killing the bosses," Ryan said. "I will buy them. The weapons will be given to those who decided to fight alongside me." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. "I guess I will sell only half of them, then." "Why half?" Alissa asked. "I will give the other half to those guys, they deserved it, and your new group looks like the type who doesn''t want to share their toys with others." "Why are you spoiling these cowards?" Alissa asked while frowning. "Without them, your soldiers would have died. They bought enough time for us," Ryan said. "I am stubborn and prideful, but I am not blind and ungrateful." Alissa left after hearing that. As usual, she didn''t seem satisfied with Ryan''s choices. After all, he seemed fair to some people and unfair to others. Regardless, even though the monsters dropped some decent gear, only the bosses dropped items that interested Ryan, and those already belong to Alissa and her groupies. So, Ryan sold half of his drops for one hundred thousand coins. The items probably were most valuable than that, but Ryan didn''t feel like wasting checking their prices on the shop. "Are you giving all of this to us?" The middle-aged woman asked while watching dozens of items that the subus dropped. "Why?" "Because they are useless to me, but they may have some to you," Ryan replied. "Besides, you deserved it. Hopefully, with this, all of you will understand that this is the current world we live in. You fight and win, and then you can enjoy another day and perhaps some rewards like this. Everything is over if you die. As for running away¡­ you already know what will happens if you do that again. By the way, what is your name?" "¡­ Helena," The middle-aged woman replied. "You and the others can go and y with the giant ants," Ryan said. "With this equipment, you probably won''t die. Use the dungeon while you can because I don''t know what will happen once this job is over." Ryan has yet to find a way to ''seal'' the treants and giant ants'' dungeons. The first was impossible for Helena and the others, but they could hold their own against the ants. Regardless, now Ryan just had to wait for Alissa and the others to recover and for the things to solve themselves. As expected, before noon, some things began to change in Washington. Suddenly, a curtain of dusting from the north began to approach, and after a while, Ryan and the others identified some military vehicles approaching. Those were probably the guys who talked with the survivors via radio. Still, to think that they would only show themselves now¡­ Alissa was even angrier at them than she was inparison to the second group of survivors. Ryan could even feel Orgar''s aura getting agitated¡­ which wasn''t good. Although Ryan was also pretty angry, he decided to ignore that group. As for Alissa, she crossed her arms and put herself on the way of the vehicles. Since it was evident that this group watched the whole battle, they knew what Alissa could do, so the vehicles stopped several meters away from her. Seeing who was inside them was impossible since the sses were dark and bullet-proof, but it looked like Alissa could see everyone inside of it anyway. Her expression only got worse when a tall, pale man left one of the vehicles and walked toward Alissa. "Hello, my name is Matthew Rockfield," The man said, and he slightly bowed his head. "I am the director of Washington''s Police Department." "And?" Alissa asked. "I would like to thank you for saving the citizens of our city," Matthew said. "Don''t you mean: I would like to thank you for using me to kill all the monsters of your city?" Alissa asked. "Maybe you should also thank them for using them to confirm if we were enemies or not." "Although that may seem suspicious, I did what I did, imagining that you two weren''t enemies," Matthew said. "We only didn''t help because we thought we only would get in the way. We lost many of our forces and resources trying to fight these beasts." "You may be satisfied with this excuse, but I am not," Alissa said and then turned around and left. Although Ryan didn''t feel like talking with them, he was forced to in order to obtain some answers. He was pretty sure Mark would need the help of a director of the Washington Police Department. After all, those vehicles probably belonged to the white house. He came from that direction. Chapter 184 - Death Flag "You seem to be a bit calmer," Matthew said. "Can we talk about our circumstances?" "I am fine with it, but I also have some questions," Ryan said. "I will try to answer them to the best of my ability," Matthew said. "I am sure¡­" Ryan frowned. "You were in the white house, right? What are you doing there, and howe you were monitoring us?" "Although we lost control over most of our technology, we still can use some devices," Matthew exined. They may not be useful forbat, but they were more than enough to observe the city''s situations. As to why I came from the white house, I solved some business that morning in the area when the monsters appeared. My family and I took refuge there, as well as many other individuals." "The president?" Ryan asked. "¡­ This information isn''t something I can discuss with you," Matthew said. "Then, this talk is over," Ryan said and then turned. "I only need to talk with the person who is your first inmand." "I am the first inmand of this city," Matthew said, and then he whispered. "Every single other person above in the chain inmand died when the monsters appeared, or they went missing." Matthew wasn''t so dumb. Apparently, he couldn''t openly say the president''s status, but he was smart enough not to let Ryan lose interest in any negotiation with him. Still¡­ the president was probably missing. Ryan would bet that he probably died. He just needed a single piece of information to confirm that. "if you tell me where the president was when the monsters appeared, I will tell you everything I know, except the things about her," Ryan said and then pointed toward Alissa. Matthew bit his lips in exasperation. Information was one of the things he needed the most, but he couldn''t risk and spread about what may happen to the president. However, after eight weeks without receiving a single piece of information from outside Washington, he didn''t have many hopes about it. "¡­ He was on an airne when it happened," Matthew whispered. "Please, don''t share this information with anyone¡­ if some countries hear about this¡­" "You sure are optimistic about the situation of other countries," Ryan said. "Do you seriously think anyone has the leisure to worry about world domination right now?" Ryan wasn''t stupid enough to spread that news. Still, he wasn''t so sure if Alissa cared about the country''s information as much as him. However, what was the worse thing that could happen to a semi-destroyed country? Unless some asshole has a lot of nukes to use, only an idiot will use such weapons to make sure that not another American would be able to see another day. In any case, Matthew decided to ask several things to Ryan. About what he knew regarding dungeons, monsters, the situation outside Washington, and why they came to the city. Ryan exined some things, but he kept others as a secret as usual. There was no need for his sses to others, and the location of the secret base was only interested in those who wanted to work with Mark. As expected, Matthew didn''t like what he heard. After a while, he gave the sign to some of his men leave the cars and join their conversation. Apparently, he needed their perspective before deciding anything. "So, you are saying that people like us who live near dungeons but have no sses are screwed?" Matthew asked. "Pretty much," Ryan nodded. "You can obtain four sses with the dungeons here, but I doubt you can grow strong enough to survive by yourselves. The monsters grow stronger each day, and the dungeon breaks create an army of them every month and also strengthen. Besides, all this fighting isn''t the problem is what lies in the other side of the dungeons." Matthew was aware of it. Thanks to his surveince system, he saw many men being captured by the subus, and they never saw them again. Unfortunately, the drones they used couldn''t work inside dungeons. "That is the gist of things," Ryan added. "Still, you are really clueless about everything. Can I assume that you don''t know that some cities were nuked?" "I imagined that such a thing would happen¡­ but I have no idea which cities suffered such fate," Matthew said. Maybe Matthew was lying. Still, Ryan decided to trust him. A man in his position wouldn''t dare to push the button, which would instantly kill so many people. Few people would have the nerve to do it, and they could only be found in even higher positions in the government. Regardless, Ryan will have to work harder in order to find who nuked Das and destroyed his parents'' graves. He won''t rest until he makes the bastard regret being born on this world¡­ "Well¡­ I once more I apologize for not helping you and the others on the fight," Matthew said. "I once again thank you for freeing us from the clutches of the monsters, but it is time to take my leave here." Ryan nodded. Since Matthew didn''t even bring the idea of joining whatever group Ryan belonged to, he also didn''t feel the need to invite him. Somehow, Ryan could tell that Matthew and his men would stay behind and wait for the president. Many of those who worked for him were still hidden below the white house, after all. "Are you done talking with them?" Alissa appeared and asked. "Yeah," Ryan nodded. "We are going to challenge the dungeon and check the thing on the other side," Alissa dered. "After this, since you managed to protect everyone, you are free to go to wherever you want. We won''t have to work together anymore." "What a death g¡­" Ryan sighed. That was pretty good, and Ryan didn''t feel like he owed Alissa anything anymore. After all, he protected her subordinates. Still, Ryan was worried about what Alissa will do in the future. She changed, and she was more proactive now, but at the same time, she grew, giving less value to Ryan''s intentions and opinions. He had to see how things will change back in the base and if she will change regarding Arthur as well. Chapter 185 - Class: Navigator When Ryan approached the dungeon, he understood what Alissa meant by we are going to challenge the dungeon. Although her subordinates were going to obtain their new sses, they seemed far less ready for battle than before. It was obvious that Alissa wasn''t nning to take them to the other side. Still¡­ that raised some questions. Why not go alone? Why go with Ryan when she just said that they don''t have to work together anymore? Maybe Alissa still recognized his usefulness, even though she now clearly disliked Ryan. "Well, it doesn''t really matter¡­ now that my debt has been paid, I don''t have to worry about several things. Collecting intel and moving around won''t be that convenient, but at least, I will be able to measure my own strength with more ease. I also won''t have to worry about the amount of time I will have to stay on a single dungeon." Since Alissa didn''t mention if she learned anything by reading the bosses'' minds, Ryan was looking forward to the conversation they were going to have with thest boss. However, when the group approached thest part of the dungeon, Alissa created a ck Fireball and then increased the magic projectile''s power. It was clear that she wanted to kill the boss without wasting a single second. "I thought she could only use that on her dragon form¡­ I guess I was wrong." Ryan didn''t even have the time to check the name of the demon. The very moment Alissa saw a clear path to hit the target, she fired her Fireball of dark mes¡­ the monster was burned to a crisp instantly. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guard, Navigator, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two sses that I already saw before¡­ Navigator seems like a nonbat ss, but it is the only option to keep increasing my primary status." Once again, Ryan feltpelled to make a bet. He recalled that Alissa picked the Alchemist ss and was able to make some potions using monsters'' parts. If Ryan finds the right dungeon, not only will he be able to train that ss quite a bit, but he also will create a decent stock of potions for free¡­ but in the end, Ryan decided to y it safe. After that job was over, he will have to fight alone again, and that means that dragons won''t leave him alone. Ryan will have to keep increasing his dexterity to be able to kill them as fast as possible. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Navigator! You obtained the following skills: Search, Radar, Destination. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Search. Effect: Looks for the localization of people and monsters registered in your memory. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Radar. Effect: This shows you the position of all creatures around you. The range is ten meters multiplied by the level of the skills. Cost: 10 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Destination. Effect: It grants you the power to select a destination and find the best route to reach it. You also will be warned of monsters'' approach when this skill is active. Cost: 05 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. As expected, Ryan''s guess was right. It was a nonbat ss, so he will have some trouble leveling it up. However, the skills were quite interesting and seemed pretty useful. Ryan tested the Search skill once and then confirmed that Arthur still was in the base. He couldn''t see him or the surroundings, but he could feel the ce¡­ probably because that skill should be used along with Destination for the purpose of finding monsters and humans. Still, while Alissa and the others were choosing their new sses, Ryan decided to train Radar since that was one of the skills he needed most. Although it will take a while before the skill bes really useful with a decent range, it wouldn''t level up unless Ryan uses it in moments like that. "All right, you guys can wait outside," Alissa said. "We will return after a while. Even if we take some time there, don''t do anything reckless and don''t even think about using the purple crystal to follow me. Is that clear?" "Yes, Ma''am." While Alissa was giving orders, Ryan finally recalled something. They didn''t find any sign of the men who the subus had captured. In the end, it was clear that they had been teleported to the other world. However, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if the monsters went there with them or if they just made them touch the crystal. If the monsters could go back and forth by using the crystal, they wouldn''t have to die and fight like they had no other choice¡­ unless even their death serves some purpose. Ryan couldn''t understand why the minions would sacrifice themselves like that, but at the very least, the bosses don''t have any reason to fear death. After all, they will respawn twenty-four hours after their death. "Let''s hope that they didn''t join their side¡­ I don''t want to kill any more humans. Too many humans already died since all of this started." After she finished giving her orders, Alissa faced Ryan. Both of them were rtively ready. Rtively because they had no idea what they will find on the other side¡­ Alissa didn''t seem very much worried about the risk of failure, but Ryan was. He didn''t want to die while knowing so little about this crazy situation. Regardless, eventually, they touched the purple crystal. Chapter 186 - Trap When they opened their eyes again, Ryan and Alissa saw themselves in the middle of a weird garden. The ce was quite dense, and the nts around had been cut in a manner that now they looked like walls. The ''walls'' were green, but they could thousands of a weird ref flower that they had never seen before emanating pollen every single moment. The smell wasn''t unpleasant. It actually was quite good, but¡­ Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Poison Resistance Lv 5 ? Lv 6 You obtained 01 status point. Ryan immediately covered his nose, but when he did that, the pollen began to fly around his body and then eventually touched his skin. He felt like those were ants that were biting him. The points where the pollen touched began to turn green. It was a poison that caused damage, so he could counter with Heal, but the more Ryan lets the pollen touch him, the stronger the damage over time will be. Suddenly, Alissa cast a magic barrier around them. As expected, she wasn''t dumb enough to use only on herself. In any case, now that Ryan looked at her, he noticed that she was looking at the sky for some reason. When Ryan did the same¡­ he found a massive chunk of earth flying in the distance. "Floating blocks of earth¡­" Ryan sighed. "Oh boy." That was probably the location of their target. While that was fine and all, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ why their enemies always had to be so damn more powerful than him? Not only could they create their base in a flying fortress, but they also managed to create a massive garden that could emit so many pollens that the color of the sky changed from blue to pinkish red. "I want to conserve my energy, so I will fly on human form," Alissa said. "You should create an earth tform and fly using that." Ryan thought that something like that was possible, but he could only do so for a couple of minutes with his current magic powers. Although he had some mana potions, those were for the fight¡­ in any case, spending them would be better than flying, always depending on Alissa. Against dragons, Ryan will need the battle experience to fight and fly at the same time, so that was a good chance for that. Although that flying chunk of earth could be seen pretty easily, the ce wasn''t quite close as Ryan imagined. However, thanks to the fact that he had to fly for several minutes, he managed to notice several things. First of all, the garden wasn''t a real garden¡­ it was like abyrinth of poisonous nts created to weaken all the invaders. In the distance, the only color Ryan could see was green and red, so perhaps, thebyrinth had been created to kill the previous species of that. It was insane, but it was also highly possible that thebyrinth covered the whole. "I guess we are close enough," Alissa said, and then she began to fly low. Ryan apanied her, already imagining what she was nning to do. Still, he couldn''t help but shrug at the idea of attacking their base without seeing things from another angle. After all, they only saw the lower part of the massive floating rock. In any case, Ryan could only watch since the rock was like ten kilometers above the ground level, and Alissa was always the one who decides what to do during those jobs. Alissa transformed into her dragon form, and then she began to create another massive fireball of dark mes. However, before her attack could grow any further, some vines raised from the ground and grabbed her legs. Several other vines did the same in just a few moments until Alissa suddenly lost all her sense of touching from her legs. Alissa tried to fly, but before that also could happen, all thebyrinth moved toward her whilepletely ignoring Ryan. In the blink of an eye, Alissa was enveloped by thebyrinth and became a massive sphere of nts. That also revted the true state of that world¡­ it was a lifelessnd where Ryan could only see the colors: brown, white, and ck. It looked like all the resources and nutrients of that had been drained by something. "Hopefully, I will learn something from this¡­ if I manage to escape." Alissa wasn''t dead. Ryan could feel her presence, and the sphere enveloping her still was moving. So, she was fighting back. The problem was: will she able to free herself? Ryan had no idea. Before he could think of any way to solve that situation, Ryan suddenly heard a voice. "Are you the two that Baal mentioned? How utterly pathetic!" That voice was filled with amazement and absolute contempt. Still, it didn''t surprise Ryan since it was clear that it belonged to a demon¡­ing from that massive rock, a single being came flying. As usual, Ryan tried to use Appraisal, but the skill failed¡­ it looked like it was time to learn the improved version of that skill. Based on the voice, Ryan already knew that the demon was a female. However, she was much bigger ifpared to ordinary women. The demon was like two and a half meters long, and she was also quite fit. Ryan didn''t expect any less, given that she had a green great sword on her back. Unlike the demons, Ryan saw before, that one only had a single horn in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes werepletely ck, but the irises had a silver tone. The demon also had two pairs of bat-like wings. One pair was recurved upward and the other downward. Still, the demons'' most prominent features were her red hair, her smile full of confidence, and her bikini armor. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what she thought when she chose that bikini armor. At the very least, she didn''t think that will protect her vitals. Still, as expected of the leader of the subus. Chapter 187 - Provocation "Oh?" The female demon said while looking at Ryan. "I didn''t expect the human Baal mentioned would be this interesting. You look quite average, but your eyes¡­ I like them." Ryan didn''t have time to concentrate on Power Shot, so the best way to cause damage was to rely on his magic weapons. He didn''t have much time to train using all of them with wind magic and also use that magic to recover Ryan''s mana with potions, but he will have to learn by trying now that it hade to this. "I see, I see," The demon said. "After losing your parents, you learned that your best friend and fianc¨¦e had an affair. No wonder you are so conflicted inside. You can''t bring yourself to trust others, but at the same time, you can''tpletely ignore them. It must be tough to try to honor the memories of others when your world is on the brink of annihtion, huh?" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance,¡­ to find another monster that could read his mind was so freaking annoying that he was having a hard time controlling his urges to punch the fucking demon. Even worse, it was a demon who liked to hear her own voice. "Ah, such sweet despair!" The demon said. "It is so nice to see someone so conflicted struggling not to show how much in pain they are. It is even better to see all that energy being used in a battle that you cannot win alone. Still, you insist on rushing toward your death¡­ Ah. What a pity¡­ it looks like you are really seeking your death." Ryan opened his eyes widely when he heard that. Was that true? He was doing something like that without even noticing? Or was that the words of a demon trying to make him lose his cool? Ryan couldn''t tell¡­ "My name is Lilith, fourth general of Lucifer''s army," Lilith stopped smiling and then faced Ryan with a serious expression. "I thought you would be a fine addition to my collection, but I am not interested in toys that already want to die before I start to ying with them." Lilith¡­ another name of a pretty known demon. It looked like things were bound to be worse while dealing with those unknown forces. Regardless, Ryan just learned what happened to the men who were captured. Judging by Lilith''s words, they probably didn''t have a nice time since her goal was to make them wish for their own deaths. Still¡­ she couldn''t have a collection of dead toys¡­ "I guess it makes sense, you are trying to find meaning in your life by helping others," Lilith said. "As much as you think it is annoying, you can''t move on without trying to convince yourself that you are doing something meaningful¡­ what aplicated man you are." "¡­ For a demon, you sure talk a lot," Ryan said and then fired dozens of me Arrows. Ryan went all out, but his projectiles stopped in front of Lilith when she raised her right hand. As if that wasn''t enough, all his me Arrows became a single arrow, and then the projectile turned in his direction. Ryan had nned to reach that level of control over the enemies'' spell, but it was quite shocking to see what he wanted to achieve being used against him. As if things couldn''t get any worse, his spear, sword, and hammer also stopped a few meters before they could hit Lilith. Ryan had used wind magic to move them when she was busy blocking the me Arrows, but the surprising attack failed miserably. "Telekinesis¡­" "I am impressed and disappointed," Lilith dered. "I am impressed that you reached this level of power in such a short time. The fact that you do everything to gain power and win maybe helped you with that. But I am disappointed that you thought only this level of power would be enough to face us. I heard that human arrogance knows no limits, but¡­ I didn''t think it was this bad." Lilith fired the giant me Arrow toward Ryan alongside his magic weapons. He tried to dodge to the side, but the weapons followed him. To make things worse, their speed far exceeded Ryan''s, and he barely had time to use his shield to block them. Although he seeded, Ryan was still sent flying toward the ground. The impact raised a prettyrge curtain of dust and also created a small crater. Ryan''s health dropped to dangerous levels, and a lot of his bones were broken. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Pain Resistance Lv 09 ? Lv 12 Effect: Decreases the pain caused by all types of attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Shit¡­ this is what I get from focusing solely on increasing my firing power." Ryan cursed after bitting his lips. Ryan''s backpack hit the ground, and all the potions inside of it broke. Some of the liquid recovered his mana, but most of them was flowing outside the backpack. Ryan used Heal to recover himself, but even though his health was full in no time, his broken bones didn''t mend that fast. Still, for some reason, Lilith didn''t try to finish him off. "You seem pretty confident that given time, you can one-shot kill anyone," Lilith said. "Go on, do it. Show me your best attack, and I will show you how utterly foolish you are. I need to get some fun out of this, at least." Ryan bit his lips in annoyance¡­ that was the chance he wanted, but he didn''t expect that the enemy would give him that opportunity and only to humiliate him. Still, he could make the damn monster regret its choice. With all the liquid inside the backpack, Ryan managed to concentrate Power Short for three full minutes. Thanks to that, his bow was about to break, but in the end, Lilith didn''t show any sign of concern on her face. Chapter 188 - The Harsh Truth At thest moment, Ryan hesitated. That would be his most powerful attack, and yet¡­ something inside him was telling that it wasn''t enough. Not against an opponent of that level. Lilith''s face, full of confidence, only made Ryan more certain of it. Then Ryan realized it¡­ Lilith almost killed him with a single magic attack. Abination of elemental maniptions and Telekinesis. However, she didn''t look like a mage¡­ her forte was probably her physical strength, and yet¡­ she defeated him with something she wasn''t good at. She never even tried to draw her sword¡­ "What is wrong?" Lilith asked. "Losing confidence? You certainly took your time for that? I honestly can''t believe that you never felt like this before. You have been pretty lucky, haven''t you? Always fighting enemies that could be defeated." That was true¡­ Ryan always knew that he had been lucky. A dungeon of the weakest species of monsters appeared close to him, and he was one of the first humans to obtain a ss. Still¡­ he always thought that he had worked hard, but¡­ perhaps that had been only his egoforting him. "SHUT UP!" Ryan shouted and then fired his arrow in his rage. In the end, thanks to all that power, the string of his bow broke, and Ryan was also sent flying backward due to the mass release of energy. However, when he stopped and got up, he saw that Lilith was holding the bone arrow with two fingers. She managed to disperse all that energy with two fingers¡­ after a few moments, the bone arrow turned into dust. "I guess this isn''t half bad," Lilith said while looking at her fingers slightly bleeding. "You probably have potential, but you won''t live to reach it." With his eyes wide open, Ryan heard all of that without showing a single reaction¡­ he had been utterly defeated. His most powerful attack, the best conditions, and yet¡­ he didn''t manage to do anything against the demon. What had he been doing for thest two months? He did nothing but fight. Ryan had be a power-seeking idiot who treated others harshly because they were stupid for trying to increase their strength with numbers, and yet¡­ that was all he could aplish. Was he just an arrogant man who didn''t have the skills to back-up his attitude? Those questions began to torment him¡­ Even Alissa had learned something that made her admit that she alone wouldn''t be able to defeat her enemies. Although she didn''t share that information, maybe it was rted to the current situation. Ryan refused to admit that he couldn''t survive alone, but if there are many more enemies like Lilith out there, then¡­ "I guess I can understand howe Baal didn''t defeat you," Lilith said while looking at the massive sphere that was enveloping Alissa. "Although he lost some of his powers, a high-ss dragon still is quite the troublesome foe." Suddenly, the sphere began to be burned by ck mes. Alissa finally was managing to free herself, but when she appeared, Alissa already looked exhausted¡­ that prison took quite the toll on her. "This is annoying, Orgar¡­ but it looks like only can fight her," Alissa said while she was trying to catch her breath. "Under normal circumstances, I would dly ept this task, but it is impossible. I can''t defeat her on her own territory. With my full mana, maybe, but not with this amount and while she has those damn nts under her control." Alissa also clicked her tongue in annoyance¡­ to think that she would be forced to retreat without obtaining a single piece of information. She understood when she saw those three dragons that things were much moreplicated than she thought, but still¡­ "I can''t read your mind, and I have no interest in other women," Lilith dered. "So, I will end this quickly." Lilith grabbed her sword, and at the same time, Alissa''s body began to shine. The light expanded until Lilith could barely keep her eyes open. As expected, against light magic, the demons were weak, but only that was everything that Alissa could do. She charged toward Lilith in order to fool her, but in thest moment, when Lilith prepared her attack, Alissa changed her direction. "We are leaving." Alissa dered via Telepathy. Ryan, who still was in trying to understand where he failed and how he reached that situation, managed to react to Alissa''s words. That was pathetic, but the only thing he could do was to run away. Ryan couldn''t fly fast enough while he stands above an earth tform, so he sent himself flying by creating an earth hand and throwing him like a spear. In the blink of an eye, they reached the teleportation point. However, before they could escape, they saw a massive green energy beam following them behind. Lilith finally had swung her sword¡­ The attack was splitting earth like grass, so it was clear that things will get pretty messy if they hit by it. "Hang in there, Alissa," Orgar said. Orgar took control over Alissa''s body and then be a dragon for a single moment, and then it happened¡­ for whatever reason, the magic projectile stopped moving. No¡­ the entire world stopped. Ryan''s consciousness still was working, but he couldn''t move a single finger. Before he could try to understand what happened, Orgar punched him, and then he touched the teleportation point. Soon after, Orgar and Alissa followed him. When Ryan returned to Earth, the pain of Orgar''s punch started to torment him. Still, despite that, Ryan couldn''t bring himself toin or even worry about that. The fight against Lilith still was bothering him¡­ the result, the things he heard¡­ he couldn''t ept any of them. Still,ing up with excuses will only make him feel like a fool, so the only thing Ryan could do was to deal with his frustration in silence. However, that only made things moreplicated than Ryan could have imagined. Chapter 189 - Decision When Alissa left the dungeon, her followers sighed in relief. She seemed exhausted and quite angry, but she was alive, and that was more than enough for them. As for Ryan, no one cared about his return, and he couldn''t care less about the fact that no one was waiting for him either. Still, before leaving the dungeon, he filled his backpack with stamina and mana potions again. "I can''t let these coins go to waste again. If I had died back there, those wouldn''t have served any purpose. From now on, I will use all of them to train my skills as fast as possible." Ryan didn''t know if he had done since the very beginning, things could have been different against Lilith, but still, at the moment, that was the only thing he could do to lessen the frustration he was feeling. He will have to think much harder topletely erase that feeling of his body or fight and train like there was no tomorrow and then obtain the power to kick those demons'' asses. That will definitely make him feel better. "Have you learned your lesson?" Alissa asked. "No," Ryan replied as if it was a matter of fact. "¡­ I guess the demon was right. You have a death wish," Alissa sighed and then shrugged. "I give up. You can go and die trying to satisfy your pride. I think that will be better for Arthur and me." By that, Alissa probably meant that she wouldn''t have to worry about anyone getting in her way if one day she decides to look after him alone. Or maybe that was just Ryan''s mindset making things bad things due to the situation. Alissa improved in some aspects, so she grew a little. Maybe she won''t be that unreasonable again. "So, you heard that, huh?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "You can''t trust the words of a demon that easily." "Indeed, but aren''t you pretty shaken by it?" Alissa asked. "Why would lies bother you so much? Anyway, this isn''t a topic that interests me any longer. Thanks for your help all this time and for treating me like a normal human being. Try not to die full of regrets." Alissa was all over the ce, so Ryan couldn''t tell if she was thankful for giving those warnings or if she was sarcastic. Regardless, her words had some truth in them, Ryan refuted what the demon said, but deep down¡­ he somewhat always knew that he was walking in a fair line that could cause his death any moment. After leaving with her soldiers to give them other sses, Ryan was left alone with his thoughts. In the end, he still had to solve the situation with the second group and how to ''seal'' the dungeons, but right at that moment, he wanted to do something else, and that was to train alone and increase his powers. "I wonder if I am not just repeating the same mistakes¡­ I focused only on myself in those two months, but in the end¡­" It wasn''t very pleasant to second-guess himself, but Ryan couldn''t help it given the circumstances. Still, Ryan decided to finish what he had started at the very least regarding the second group of survivors. As for sealing the dungeons, it wasn''t his job to make every single city peaceful again, so he decided to stop thinking about it since after thinking for several days, he didn''t find a proper answer. Helena and the survivors still were guarding the Giant Ants'' dungeon. Although they had some scars here and there, their numbers didn''t decrease, probably because they had more than enough coins to buy health potions. "My job here is over," Ryan approached then and dered. "Alissa and the others probably won''t bother you anymore, so you can stay here if you want. However, unless you want to repeat the same disaster, you guys will have to divide yourself to clear those three dungeons, and with your current strength, I don''t think that is possible. In any case, I can take you guys to a rtively safe ce. You will be able to sleep in a bad and not worry about being attacked while you sleep. The only real problem is that themander of the ce is a Colonel of the army." "The army¡­ you say," Helena frowned. "Can we trust them? We have been waiting for them for so long¡­" "I don''t think you should, but as you already know, the officers in our country aren''t receiving orders from anyone else, so you can''t exactly me them for something like that," Ryan exined. "Besides, if you feel unsatisfied, you can always leaveter. Just like me, you don''t have an obligation to be anyone''s soldier." Since Ryan felt that talking with Helena was easy, she became the voice of the group more or less. After giving their opinions to her, they reached an agreement. Although they wouldn''t work with Ryan, at least they knew he wouldn''t rmend them to go to an unreasonable ce. Also, considering that they learned from their previous mistakes, the survivors decided that they would keep their independence level while working with others. All that in order to be able to take their own decisions when the timees. "We will go with you," Helena dered. "All right, then pack your things and prepare yourselves," Ryan said. "The trip will be long, and you guys will have to make good use of Dash and stamina potions. That will serve as good training. Also¡­ if you guys cause problems while you stay in that base or if you leave it, I will have to deal with you, and depending on your actions, you may not like what I will do." The survivors gulped when they heard that. They recalled the moment Ryan made the eyes of the subus explode, and they still couldn''t understand how he did it. Although he was nning to do that with humans, Ryan reached a point where he couldn''t hesitate anymore. Whatever happens, he will try to avoid reliving that frustration, and maybe he will have to pay a high price to achieve that. Chapter 190 - Dragon Hearts Power Somehow, even though Ryan had to stop and slow down several times since he was the only one who could find monsters before the monsters find them, he and the survivors reached the base in less than a day. That was quite surprising given that some folks were over sixty, and there were a few kids as well among that group. Another fact thatpletely helped them in that regard was that they avoided dragonspletely, even though they saw three along the way. In any case, Mark was waiting for Ryan when he and the others arrived. "It seemed you seeded again," Mark said. "Still, I can''t understand why you and Alissa split up." "That is none of your business," Ryan said. "If you want to talk with me, that is fine, but you will have to do so while we walk. I will leave again soon. Sorry, but I have too many things to do and too little time." "All right," Mark said. "Alissa returned earlier with her¡­ followers? However, I didn''t hear a report from her. I tried to talk with her, but as usual... she is a difficult one." Ryan sighed¡­ that was the downside of working with people who valued stiff rules too much. In any case, Ryan gave a proper summary of the events because otherwise, Mark won''t be able to n his actions ordingly, and for the good or for the worse, his actions might help or prejudice Ryan, even if they weren''t originally his goals. "To think that the president¡­" Hugo muttered in shock. "Don''t speak of this, Hugo," Mark said. "We don''t know if¡­ anyway, we can''t let the situation scare any further than this. It is regrettable, but it looks like we can only rely on ourselves from now on. In any case, it is good that we learned this sooner thanter." Ryan, Mark, and Hugo finally reached the warehouse. Thankfully since the ce was well-cooled down, the meat of the dragons didn''t rot. However, Ryan had a hard time wondering how he was going to eat the frozen dragon hearts. If he cooks them, will they lose their effects? Hopefully not. "Do you want to sell your dragons'' heart?" Ryan asked. "Why do you want it?" Mark asked. "We started analyzing every single piece of the dragons, but¡­" Ryan began to wonder if he should even sell that valuable information about dragon hearts. It was a pity, but he couldn''t show interest in anything, and others won''t ask the reason behind it. Still, will that affect the world all that much? How many humans out there can fight dragons? It was possibly one hundred or even less¡­ although there were six hundred people stronger than Ryan, a good part of them wasn''t insane like he was. "I will sell you that information for one hundred thousand coins," Ryan said. "What?" Mark asked in shock. "Are you insane?" Hugo joined the conversation. "There is no way that we have so many avable coins!" "Well, I won''t give this information for free," Ryan said. "¡­ How about we sell the dragon heart for one hundred thousand coins?" Mark rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You are a real pain in the ass¡­" Ryan frowned. "I guess it is fine. If you give me dragon heart, I will tell you its use." After receiving the dragon heart, Ryan began to eat it like that. Although he never ate anything uncooked, something like that wouldn''t stop him now. As expected, the fact that it was frozen only made things worse, but in the end, after Ryan finished that terrible meal, he felt more than satisfied with it. Your speed increased by twenty points. Ryan told what just had happened, but Mark and Hugo had a hard time processing what they heard¡­ they couldn''t believe that just eating something would have such an effect even though that something was a dragon''s heart. In any case, despite the fact that the dragon hearts were bigger than a human''s head, Ryan ate the other two without ceremony. When he felt sick of it, he made everything go down by drinking water. He needed more power, much more power, and the best way to achieve it was by hunting dragons. Your dexterity increased by twenty points. Your intelligence increased by twenty points. "I was lucky, but I can''t rely on luck. I should kill as many dragons as I can, but I should focus on those that can increase my dexterity." "Although that piece of information is valuable, I don''t think we will be able to use it for the time being," Mark said. "In any case, I thank you for the help this time. However, I need to ask, what are your ns right now?" "I will clear as many dungeons as possible," Ryan dered. "Meanwhile, you should create a map with the location of all dungeons in our country. I will need that, and I helped more than I should to deserve that." "Certainly," Mark nodded. "We owe you quite a lot. Still, is there something else we can help you with?" "There is, but I will leave that forter," Ryan replied. "If you try to do too many things at once, you will end up doing a half-assed job at all of them. Just focus on finding the survivors that you want and finding the dungeons for me." Before leaving, Ryan decided to grab some bones and scales of the dragons he defeated. It was time to check if they could make better arrows than the ones his bows could make. Hopefully, Ryan will be able to create some reusable arrows, if that doesn''t happen¡­ He will have to use them to create projectiles to deal with small fries. Although tough opponents will make him stronger faster, the small fries will grant him enough coins to train for long periods of time. Ryan will definitely need both of those aspects. Besides, it wasn''t like the powerhouses were just lying around waiting for him. Chapter 191 - The Strength To Kick Some Asses Before leaving the base, Ryan checked Arthur by using Search. As expected, Alissa was with him. Apparently, her soldiers were also with her, but they were not foolish enough to cause a ruckus and make the kid cry. After that, Ryan left the base and went straight to the golems'' dungeon. Those creatures had a pretty sturdy body, so they will be the perfect test subjects. Somehow, even though the string broke when he attacks Lilith, the bow was back to normal when he used Repair, and durability wasplete again. So, now that he knew that, Ryan doesn''t have to hold back anymore. Using the dragon bones, he created a perfect copy of his bone arrows. Although the system didn''t recognize it as a weapon and showed its status, Ryan could tell that the projectile was much more powerful than the regr arrows he bow could produce. Not only were they heavier, but they also a much better bnce. Without a hint of hesitation, Ryan fired one of those at the middle of one of the golems'' bodies. Although the soldiers guarding the area frowned when Ryan suddenly appeared, they didn''tin when Ryan did their job. They wanted to ck off a little. Regardless¡­ the impact caused a loud noise, and like Alissa''s attacks, it made the golem explode into several pieces. When Ryan went to check the arrow, he noticed that the projectile only lost a little bit of its tip. "I guess using powerful arrows can also increase my attack power and save the durability of my bow¡­ it would be perfect if you could turn this kind of arrow into a magic item with a specific effect." Ryan did some tests and confirmed that he could repair those arrows, and each one of them could kill at least ten golems before they start to lose some piercing power. They will be useful when Ryan starts to hunt dragons, but their weight was a problem, and Ryan didn''t have a quiver to store those long arrows. In the end, he could only carry around five of them. "Well, if anything, they will be useful when I hit them alongside my hammer¡­ the bone arrows will resist the attacks and pierce the dragons'' body even deeper." The bones will be good arrows. The question was: what could the scales be? Defensive gear? Ryan certainly didn''t have the skills to make them, and unless they give bonus statuses, it would be a waste to wear in the ce of chainmail and breastte. Although another single attack almost killed him, Ryan still wanted to make more weapons. However, this time, throwing knives would be the best option. Thanks to the fact that they were incredibly sharp, Ryan would be able to kill several small fries with them easily, and if he uses Wind Maniption, things will be even more interesting since the scales weren''t heavy. "Although that seems interesting, the limit of their attack power and speed will always be rted to me. Also, if I have to rely on mana all the time, it will be meaningless when a really tough enemy appears¡­ I guess making my own rapid-fire crossbow and make the bolts with the scales will be more useful." Ryan always had some ores to use, so crafting a crossbow wasn''t a problem. Besides, he could use such a weapon with a single hand, so that wasn''t so bad. However, there were other problems. Without mana, the weapon won''t be able to reload magically fast, and Ryan still will have to recover his bolts after using them... he would save time during fights, but he will have to waste some in between. In the end, wasting time was necessary to level up his skills, and even though that would consume his mana, fighting like that would make his skills level up¡­ so, it wasn''t like wasting time. "Yep, the answer to everything is¡­ recovery." After deciding to keep the bones and scales of the dragon stored, for the time being, Ryan decided to head southeast this time. Based on the things he knew, Ryan had to keep hunting dragons for several reasons. The main reason was to strengthen himself and the second reason was to control the damage they might cause. Considering that they were fighting against the megalodons over dominance of the coast of the country, Ryan knew the perfect ce to find both monsters: Miami. "I don''t think I can gain anything like dragon hearts by fighting megalodons, and I can''t kill them unless they leave the ocean. Still, since they are tough opponents, my skills will level up fast. Besides, there are some big cities between here and there, and based on my experience, I am bound to found a few dungeons around those ces." Alone, Ryan will have to work hard to clear the dungeons that already broke and are about to break again. However, that itself was fine. He was expecting to return to the base in a few days. Ryan was determined to grind like there was no tomorrow for quite a while. Unless something happens, he won''t stop until he gets the strength to kick some demons'' asses. ss: Hunter Lv 41 (+ 02 UP) / Elementalist Lv 40 (+ 02 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 611th Health: 364/367 (1. 78/s) Mana: 676/676 (1. 78/s) Stamina: 495/495 (1.78/s) Strength: 10 (+63) (+60) Dexterity: 700 (+430) (+27) Speed: 70 (+184) (+28) Intelligence: 09 (+231) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+71) (+69) Control: 06 (+227) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+11) Luck: 50 (+9) Recovery: 400 (+469) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+11) Coins: 619.900 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 38 (+ 05 UP), Power of Money Lv 06 (+ 05 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 41 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 41 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 41 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 41 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 31 (+ 02 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Rage Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 25 (+ 03 UP), Spearmanship Lv 17 (+ 04 UP), Hammer Mastery Lv 01 Spells: Heal Lv 17 (+ 03 UP), Repair Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Auto-Production Lv 25 (+ 03 UP), Earth Maniption Lv 30 (+ 05 UP), Wind Maniption Lv 33 (+ 03 UP), War Drum Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Mana Arrow Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Search Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Radar Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Destination Lv 01 Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Charm Resistance Lv 01, Illusion Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 35, Beastmaster Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 30 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 07 (+ 03 UP), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), Bard Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Navigator Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Chapter 192 - Reptilians After seeing dragons flying more than a few times, Ryan noticed a few patterns. It was really simple, but if he were close to the east coast, the dragons would always appearing from the east and head west. In the opposite situation, the opposite would also happen. After thinking for a while, Ryan concluded that some dragons were just that weak. After noticing that the battle wouldn''t be easy against the megalodons, they would change their hunting spot. He will have to see the dragons fighting on the ocean to confirm that, but Ryan was fairly confident on that theory. So, right now, he was hiding a few kilometers away from the West side of Nashville, hunting reptilians and waiting for a dragon to show up. Reptilian ¨C Lv 45 Health: 750/750 Mana: 750/750 Stamina: 750/750 Strength: 350 (+40) Dexterity: 350 (+40) Speed: 350 (+100) Intelligence: 350 (+50) Endurance: 350 (+150) Control: 350 (+50) Mentality: 350 (+50) Luck: 350 Recovery: 350 (+200) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Furious Charge Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 20 Spells: Water Spear Lv 50 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 80, Wind Resistance Lv 40 "Mmm¡­ they have some well-bnced status. Still, it is kind of weird that I know I have their DNA on me. In any case, it is kind of surprising that they have the same level as the subus. They don''t seem much more troublesome like them. From my perspective, melee monsters are kind of easy to hunt. The only problem is their endurance and recovery." Reptilians were humanoid creatures that could walk on two feet and also had spears as their weapons. They were simr to Sahuagins, but their green hide seemed sturdier. Despite their status, they were heavy and could create small craters when they jump since they had a great physique and were two meters tall. Surprisingly enough, they were pretty quick on their feet as well. Although Ryan could easily kill them with his ordinary shots, he couldn''t because the monsters always walked in six groups. Ryan never saw them talking, but they were smart enough to use their numbers and make create a perfect encirclement around Nashville. The very moment Ryan starts a fight, the next two groups of Reptilians one hundred meters away will definitely appear before he finishes the first six. If things go wrong, other groups may also join the fight. That would be disastrous in more senses than one. "Shit¡­ I don''t have time to be cautious against small fries¡­ I have to keep advancing as fast as possible, but..." Although that also worked well for Ryan, the fact that Ryan had many obstacles, such as trees, prevented him from sniping the monsters from so much far away. If Ryan creates a tower with Earth Maniption, he might nullify that problem. However, he will also reveal himself to the monsters. In the end, he decided to do exactly that. First things first, he had to create holes in that encirclement, and Ryan will only achieve that by killing those creatures. "This will be a good practice¡­ I need to make the most out of this situation, anyway." After he created his vantage point, Ryan could see the city ahead of him quite well, and despite some exceptions, he also could see the Reptilians and their encirclement. His range had be greater than that, but currently, Ryan was five hundred meters away from the monsters. He decided to attack from that distance because even though his range was greater, he needed some time to aim. From that distance, Ryan only needed two seconds. Without wasting time, Ryan began his attack. When his first arrow struck the head of the first monster, the creature fell dead instantly. The other Reptilians frowned since they didn''t understand what had happened. When the creatures finally noticed the arrow, another victim had fallen. At that exact same moment, the monsters grunted, and Ryan heard that even from very far away. He didn''t know what they said, but Ryan imagined the trantion since four groups began to run toward his direction. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. Thanks to the obstacles, Ryan managed to eliminate two full entire parties before the monsters finally saw him. Enraged, the creatures fired Water Spears toward him, but they only hit Ryan''s vantage point and saved him from the trouble of destroying it. While Ryan was fallen after jumping from the tower, three other Reptilians fell dead after being attacked by behind by Ryan''s spear, sword and hammer. Ryan surprised the enemies by hiding his weapons behind some bushes. He thought the shock would also paralyze the other monsters¡­ but it didn''t. The creatures ignored their fallen friends and attacked Ryan with more Water Spears before he couldnd. Their attack sent Ryan flying for dozens of meters, but thanks to his shield''s effect, they also suffered some damage. Thanks to that surprise, Ryan gained a few more seconds to attack three other monsters with his magic weapons. At that point in time, the Reptilians were smart enough to understand that they couldn''t kill Ryan, so they did the only thing they could do¡­ run away. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance since it was clear that they wanted to alert their friends. Although he could chase them by using some buffs, he didn''t have enough mana. His backpack was filled with them, but he had decided to use them only against the big guns. In the end, Ryan managed to kill three of those six thanks to Power of Money. "Let''s hide and see what they are going to do now." Much to Ryan''s surprise, nothing really changed. For a while, the hole on the encirclement stayed there, but then eventually, four new parties arrived to close the hole. Although that wasn''t so bad, it wasn''t exactly good for Ryan either since it was just too weird. "Let''s see if they will keep doing that for long." Ryan smiled viciously. Chapter 193 - Live And Learn Much to Ryan''s annoyance, the same thing happened over and over again. Eventually, after he killed hundreds of Reptilians, they decreased the size of their encirclement by taking retreating a little. However, that much progress wasn''t enough for Ryan. "I wonder why I didn''t see any other species of monsters until now¡­ all the other big cities had at least four dungeons nearby them. Also, this encirclement is quite bold considering that dragons can appear left and right." It was gettingte, and the sun was setting, so Ryan could always infiltrate at night by flying using an earth tform. However, that was only avoiding the problem, not solving it, and he also could get surrounded by the monsters if something goes wrong. "I guess I will have to do that again in order to save time." By that, Ryan meant to use the Power of Money. By using that skill, he could attack and kill the monsters even faster than he could with his bow. The first attack would be the key. Ryan needed to exterminate an entire Reptilians party without giving them a single second to alert their allies. Fortunately, he already knew how to do that. After sunset, Ryan began to fly using an earth tform. Thanks to the darkness of the night and the fact the monsters made bonfires to illuminate things around them. The monsters never noticed their approach or when he used Wind Maniption to make his magic weapons fly toward the heads of a party of Reptilians. At the same time, Ryan fired a single arrow andpletely destroyed the head of one of them. A few momentster, the magic weapons did their magic, and Ryan finally finished things off with Power of Money. "Sess¡­ still, when those bastards are going to leave their weapons behind? Their spears always disappear when they die, but they seem pretty sharp¡­" Putting such things aside, Ryan decided to work fast. He couldn''t let the monsters notice that something happened. Even though everything was dark, every single bit of noise could be heard from hundred meters away. "The magic weapons can do half of the job, but things could be much faster if I had made some knives with the scales¡­ live and learn. Adapt, ovee, improvise." Ryan repeated the same thing he did several times previously, but instead of flying on an earth tform, he did it from the ground. Although his coins weren''t increasing since he was constantly using Power of Money, at the very least, he managed to eliminate several parties in just a few hours. Also, Ryan finally noticed why he didn''t see any other monster until now. It was because of the encirclement¡­ the Reptilians were killing all the monsters that were spawning in the area for some reason. Giant Bee ¨C Lv 34 Health: 330/330 Mana: 550/550 Stamina: 550/550 Strength: 160 Dexterity: 430 Speed: 470 Intelligence: 120 Endurance: 155 Control: 360 Mentality: 160 Luck: 250 Recovery: 270 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Bleed Lv 25 Spells: Fly Lv 35 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 60 Velociraptor¨C Lv 40 Health: 1200/500 Mana: 400/400 Stamina: 1100/700 Strength: 350 Dexterity: 150 Speed: 300 (+100) Intelligence: 250 (+50) Endurance: 550 (+100) Control: 150 (+50) Mentality: 430 (+100) Luck: 50 Recovery: 600 (+80) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 25 Spells: Haste Lv 35 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 60 "That is odd¡­ but I guess that would exin why their levels are higher." Again, Ryan could understand that fighting against other species will make the monsters stronger. Still, he couldn''t understand howe the Reptilians managed to take over Nashville''s entire territory. They were stronger than the Giant Bees and Velociraptors, but not enough to dominate thempletely. Considering the dungeon breaks, Ryan thought that the dinosaurs would have the upper hand thanks to the T-rexes. Still, it seemed a bit too soon to consider that since Ryan had no idea what were the Reptilian''s bosses. Against that level of power, only raw power wouldn''t be enough, but perhaps if the bosses were sapient creatures... "At-rex will definitely be a pretty good tamed monster in this area. Not only a creature like that will give me a decent vantage point, but it will also draw the monsters'' attention." In any case, despite the fact that Ryan broke and waspletely destroying the monsters'' encirclement, he didn''t find a single T-rex. That was quite surprising, but it looked like the reptilianspletely subjugated the monsters spawned during those seven weeks and those that appeared thanks to the dungeon break. Ryan''s blood began to boil since that was a sign that they concluded that humans were no longer a treat¡­ he will make sure to pay them dearly for that¡­ as if he was possessed by something, Ryan began to hunt the reptilians even faster than before. He didn''t want to let his rage control his actions, but the idea of another species of monsters looking down on him was unbearable. Fortunately, Ryan stuck with his tactics at the very least, and he kept ying those creatures without being noticed. However, eventually, Ryan was forced to stop because something interesting appeared. Elves Wand Effect: Grant you the power to use the skill: Thunder Arrow Lv 20. Intelligence + 30. Cost: 20 mana "Well, well¡­ it looks I finally got lucky. Although this isn''t a bow or a crossbow, such skill will definitelye in handy. The paralyzing effect of electric attacks is something I have been waiting for." Ryan wasn''t the type of person who believed in fate and destiny, but he decided to think that he had been rewarded for keeping his cool at a decent level. Regardless, despite the fact that such skill wasn''t actually his, the wand will join the ranks of his useful magic weapons. For someone like him who focused on surprise attacks and speed, electric attacks will decrease Ryan''s chances of getting caught off guard. Hopefully, he will learn a skill by using the weapon as well. Chapter 194 - The Price Of Power. You obtained 40 coins. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wand Mastery. Effect: Increases damage when using wands by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. As expected, Ryan learned a skill, and even though it wasn''t much, each level up would help him a lot because Ryan had many sses and skills that increased his intelligence. "My intelligence decides the speed and strength of my magic attacks, but since I am indirectly controlling my magic weapons with magic, magic projectiles will always be faster than them. I can use Thunder Arrow to paralyze my foes and then finish them off with other magic weapons or even with a charged Power Shot. It will depend on how resistant they are to electricity." Thunder Arrow was quite noisy, so Ryan wouldn''t be able to surprise all members of a full reptilian party. However, it could help Ryan with something else. After taking some deep breaths, Ryan pointed the wand to his hand, and then he cast Thunder Arrow. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all electric-type attacks by one point. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. Electric Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 5 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all electric-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 04 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Shock Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect caused by all electric-type attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Shock Resistance has leveled up. Shock Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 5 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all electric-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 04 status points. "Urgh¡­ damn it¡­ it was worse than I thought. Still, I guess it was worth the hassle¡­" Ryan only aimed to scratch his hand, but in the end, the electric current didn''t let him suffer just a little. Regardless, Ryan just confirmed several things with that, he could train his own resistance by wounding himself and that the system had skills that could resist negative effects. That will probably damage his psyche a little, but Ryan couldn''t care less about such small details. As far as he was concerned, the world needed more crazy individuals now since reason didn''t prevent the human race from being ughtered by monsters. Regardless, Ryan resumed his attack and proceeded to ughter the reptilians. They only noticed the amount of damage Ryan had caused toote. After sunrise, the monsters noticed that one-fourth of her allies had been killed overnight. Some monsters took the fallen ce, but this time, the encirclement had to shrink considerably. "How many of them did I kill? Around three thousand? As expected, their numbers don''t match. They can''t have less than ten thousand soldiers¡­" Ryan imagined that some reptilians died when they tried to face the giant bees and velociraptors. Still, considering that they had won, they should have more monsters on their side since they leveled up and obtained the numerical advantage. There was always the chance that a good number of them would be staying around their dungeon, but leaving them there while they knew about a powerful enemy was massacring their forces, was stupid. "No point in wondering about that¡­ eventually, I will get the answers that I want." Although the encirclement decreased in size, things didn''t get easier for Ryan. The distance between the parties still was one hundred meters. However, thanks to the fact that they retreated, the parties had fewer obstacles in their field of vision. Thus, they could notice Ryan''s attacks much easily and thus counterattack. Considering their caution level, it was only obvious that will send more than five parties to hunt him down. "Time to change tactics again¡­" Ryan had a few options, go all out to finish that job as fast as possible by using Power of Money. Or he could try to save his coins and slowly kill the monsters bybining skills like Earth Maniption and Luby. By creating an underground route, Ryan would be able to approach unnoticed, and then to save some mana, he will use Luby, put the enemies to sleep, and then finish them off quietly. Both of the options were fairly good, but in the end, the first one was the best. Why? Because Ryan could hide inside some bushes and then kill the monsters without showing his position. However, the cost of that was a problem¡­ Ryan will have to spend 750 coins per monster. "Screw it¡­ I will do this." Ryan muttered annoyed since he was sick of worrying about such a things. Instead of saving coins to buy things that might or might not appear in the dungeon shop, Ryan decided to use them to massacre the monsters. Thanks to that, the reptilians began to die so fast that some of them panicked without knowing what to do for the first time. When four hundred of them died in less than half an hour, the monsters finally decided to abandon their encirclement. Although Ryan had to spend three hundred thousand coins to do that, he only felt satisfied seeing those freaks running toward the hole they came from. "Now I have some peace to investigate this city¡­ Still, I wonder if I should do it, this might have been a tactic to make me lower my guard." Nashville was pretty much destroyed, so the number of ces the monsters could hide was absurdly high. Although Ryan has been training Radar, the skill still had a long way to go before it bes usable in that kind of situation. Still, Ryan decided to look for the giant bees and velociraptors'' dungeon before anything. He would need those sses, and he still can do several things to prevent the ambush from those monsters. As long as he finds one of those dungeons, Ryan will be able to buy as many potions as he can, and thus such things won''t be a problem anymore... hopefully. Chapter 195 - Deception Much to Ryan''s surprise, he found the dungeons pretty deep inside Nashville. However, he didn''t find any sign of other monsters aside from those three. That was quite unexpected given the size of the ce¡­ "Shit¡­ the smell here is terrible. It looks like most people got buried alive, and the monsters exterminated those which escaped." The streets were dirt with dust, debris, and some stains on the ground that were probably signs of dry blood. Aside from the nuked cities that Ryan never checked, that city was probably in the worst situation of all cities that he saw before. He didn''t know why, but the inhabitants didn''t have any chance to fight. "The least I can do for those who fall is to seal the dungeons, but¡­ should I do that? Do I have to do that?" Ryan recalled the conversation with Lilith and began to second-guess himself again. Should he try to work hard to exterminate the monsters when his intentions weren''t that honest? He worried pretty frequently about the things he could do for his world, but Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if that wasn''t just a mechanism of his head to make him feel good about himself. After all, he abandoned many groups of survivors. If he truly wished to improve the world''s situation, he would have made a lot of more difference if he had worked with everyone in Shreveport. "Shit¡­ why do I have to think about such things now? I don''t have time for this¡­" That was what Ryan got by listening to the words of a demon: doubts. To make matters worse, the more he tried to think those were empty words, the more his consciousness convinced him that it wasn''t the case. In the end, the best option was not to think and only fight. However, even that made Ryan wonder if it was enough¡­ he didn''t want to be like a monster who seeks power and nothing more. In the end, Ryan just gave up about forgetting such a thing and just entered the giant bees'' dungeon. As expected, he easily cleared the dungeon. A single arrow on the head using his special arrows had been enough to kill the boss. After that, Ryan used his mana potions to summon ten slimes. At the same time, he gave the order for them to use the only Fireball. When the next bee appeared, the creature died almost instantly. "I guess ten of those are enough to defeat ordinary monsters, as for the boss¡­ maybe fifty." Ryan didn''t want to wait for a full day to test that theory. In the end, he summoned only thirty more because he knew the skills would level up quite a bit in the meantime. Finally, after dealing with that business, Ryan opened the treasure box. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Mercenary, Elementalist, and Monk. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan was left speechless¡­ he imagined that such a thing would happen someday, but now that it happened, Ryan couldn''t help but let out a long sigh. He already has those three sses, so that Ryan wouldn''t gain any new skill or status points. He will get some status points, but only that. "Whatever¡­ let''s just move on." Congrattions! You have be a Level fifteen mercenary! The following skills will level up five times: Focus, Morale, and Tackle. Your health and strength increased by ten points, your endurance, stamina, mana, and mentality increased by five points. Things could have been worse, but fortunately, the ss leveled up, and Ryan still got some increase in his attributes. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have time to celebrate because the ground began to tremble, and he could hear a lot of noiseing from outside the dungeon. "Shit¡­ that really happened." Fortunately, Ryan didn''t use all his potions. So, he would be able to fight against the army. In fact, killing them will be easy while crossing the dungeon since they won''t have room to run away. However, even though Ryan waited for a while, not a single monster entered the dungeon. "So, monsters can''t really enter dungeons¡­ not even those who are small enough. Why? They used their dungeons to invade Earth, so¡­ maybe they can''t use dungeons like that when they went to another using a dungeon that was theirs." It seemed like a convoluted exnation, but it made sense in Ryan''s head. Humans could use all dungeons since their goal was survival and not an invasion. However, the moment they use a dungeon to invade a certain, they will only use that same dungeon toe and go. Ryan headed toward the entrance of the dungeon to confirm that. As expected, the ce was surrounded by reptilians, but they didn''t seem ready to fight, and a stranger individual seems their leader. The creature was just like the other monsters. However, that one had a pair of red long swords on his back. The creature was also using full silver armor. The equipment seemed like it had been made using some creature''s parts since the blocks of metal looked like scales of a monster. "Come forth, human," The monster using silver armor said. "Our master wants to have a word with you." That was a nice try. Ryan couldn''t help butugh a little. In the end, he took a few steps back until he disappeared in the darkness and prepared one of his special bone arrows. That creature was definitely a boss, and Ryan was quite sure that he could steal its equipment or at least kill it with a single good attack. However, the monster did something unexpected. "Here are some gifts as the sign of goodwill of our master," The monster said and then threw away his swords to inside the dungeon. "Come with us, and you might receive even more." Chapter 196 - Come To The Dark Side Well, now¡­ that seemed like a problem. That was too good to be true, but after using Analysis on the two swords, Ryan concluded that they weren''t cursed or anything. They were just really powerful swords. zing Long Sword Effect: It burns the foe upon contact. The fire damage is equal to your intelligence per second. It grants you the skill: Fire Storm Lv 50. Cost: 50 mana per second. Strength + 50, Endurance + 50 Durability: 90/90 Those were far stronger than any of his weapons and that only made Ryan more puzzled¡­ howe the reptilians have weapons better than the ones he obtained killing dragons? That didn''t make any sense. "You can take the swords, and you don''t want toe with me if you don''t want to," The reptilian said. "However, you must leave this city at this moment and promise that you won''t attack us again." Ryan waited for a while to see if they had some other crazy proposal to him, but apparently, that was all they had to say. Something was really fishy¡­ why give a gift to someone who decimated their forces? Why not attack the single human who did that when they had the numerical advantage? "¡­ Who is your boss, and what do they want with me?" Ryan asked. "I am just a messenger, and I don''t know the details," The reptilian said. "All that I know is that our master, Echidna, wants you to join our side or at the very least leave our base alone." Echidna¡­ Ryan heard that somewhere, but he couldn''t quite recall where or who had that name. In the first ce, it was weird that he could feel a sense of familiarity from a monster''s name¡­ "It seems you don''t trust. That is understandable," The reptilian said. "So, we will leave you alone for now. If you wish to speak with our master, you can head east to find our dungeon. If you don''t show up until sunset, we will acknowledge your refusal, but if you stay in our territory¡­ there won''t be any other attempt of negotiation." After saying that, all the reptilians left the area. Ryan used Radar and confirmed that they weren''t close any longer¡­ Still, he didn''t feel relieved, only puzzled. Using the weapons that a monster gave him seemed weird, but Ryan wouldn''t throw away such nice swords just for that. "Damn¡­ I really need an inventory or something." Ryan didn''t drop his guard, but after leaving the dungeon, he felt safe enough toin about his luggage that got heavier. Still, after a while, he returned to think about the question at hand. What should he do? ept the gifts and leave? Or go talk with this Echidna? First of all, those monsters were insane for thinking that just two swords could buy an entire city, destroyed or not. Second of all, there was no way Ryan would join the ranks of monsters. Not after seeing so much destruction they caused. In the end, Ryan chose the third option¡­ "I will keep the gifts and y every single reptilian in this city¡­ if there isn''t anyone toin, no one willin." Ryan felt like he was getting away despite all the doubts in his mind, but in the end, it was a fact that he couldn''t leave those monsters alone. Besides, nothing good woulde from leaving a monster that can negotiate with other alone, even more so when they can give powerful weapons like those swords so easily. "They will probably stay on guard for a while, so I should leave them alone for the time being¡­ I should search for the other dungeon." In a hurry, Ryan began to look for the velociraptors'' dungeon. The enemies will notice that he wants to fight if they see him looking for the dungeon, so time was essential. While keeping Radar active. Ryan looked for the dungeon, and he found it. Unfortunately, he also found some reptilians guarding the ce, and by some, Ryan meant hundreds of them. "As expected, they are hunting the monsters and killing them as soon as they leave the dungeons¡­ killing those isn''t impossible, but I won''t be able to do that without alerting the others." That was a pain in the ass, but Ryan will have to start with the hard part. It seemed like a waste of time, but Ryan decided to retreat for the time being and let the reptilians rx as much as possible. Once they are certain that Ryan left them alone, he will suddenly appear and surprise them. It was a simple n, but the chances of it seeding with the ideas he had in mind, it certainly would seed. For two days and one night, Ryan meditated outside Nashville. When he returned, the ce waspletely dark since it was around midnight, and the reptilian''s army had decreased considerably. However, they were using that encirclement again. Unfortunately, the parties now were fifty meters away from each other. "I guess they still are on guard¡­ I can''t waste any more time here." The smell of blood or any noise will alert the other parties, so Ryan will have to use one of his old ideas. Instead of using Water Maniption and Luby, he will only use Earth Maniption and then create an underground route below the encirclement and then bury the monsters alive. A lot of mana will be used to pull that off, but if things don''t proceed fast enough, Ryan can always use Power of Money or at least return and buy some potions in the giant bees'' dungeon. "No¡­ I need to save my coins. I don''t know how many of those bosses I will have to face, but if I want to kill all of them, I will need to save the coins forter." Ryan had to work fast, so in order to make his Earth Maniption be more effective, he put all his free status points into intelligence. Chapter 197 - Surprises Creating an underground path while killing the monsters made Ryan lose a lot of time since he had to make sure to kill all the members of a single party at the same moment. As if that wasn''t enough, he also had to create some earth statues around the campfires. Otherwise, the other camps would notice that their friends had been killed. Fortunately, things proceeded fairly well thanks to Active Spiritual Recovery. "This is good and all, but I wonder if I can improve all of this¡­ I feel like I need something else." Ryan used Iplete Reptilian Transformation on his head to increase his magic and recovery, and that helped a little, but that also increased his mana consumption. Suddenly, Ryan had the crazy idea of using that skill to invade the monsters'' camp while looking like one of them. Still, soon Ryan discarded that idea for obvious reasons like, there wasn''t a reptilian who was missing one hand. After doing that for several hours, Ryan began to feel the temperature rising. A new morning wasing, and by the look of things, Ryan didn''t even finish off half of the monsters, and he still had to deal with the bosses. "Shit¡­ now what? I can''t keep doing this forever." Fortunately, Ryan had closed the holes he had created to kill the reptilians, so the others will never know what killed their allies¡­ probably. That boss could talk, and apparently, it had the same level of intelligence as the demon bosses, so Ryan couldn''t just discard the possibility. In the end, Ryan decided to stay hidden underground and slowly kill the monsters one after the other while they investigate the surroundings. In the beginning, things went smoothly as they could. The reptilians retreated when they noticed that some of their allies disappeared, and they even abandoned the velociraptors'' dungeon. However, Ryan found some obstacles¡­ concrete and asphalt. Until now, he managed to approach through the areas that had only in old earth, but now the urbanized area of Nashville was getting in his way. "I will have to hide behind the rubble. There is plenty of destroyed building that I can use¡­ However, I am discovered while I am away from this hole¡­ things will get messy." To avoid problems, Ryan decided only to observe the area after leaving the underground path he created. His first instinct was to head to the dungeon and tame a T-rex and then get his next ss, but he couldn''t let the same thing that happened previously happen again while he is so close to their base. After slowly moving to East for a few minutes, Ryan finally found the reptilians'' dungeon. Surprisingly enough, the damn ce appeared in the middle of a park. Not so surprisingly enough, around forty reptilians heavily armed and wearing some impressive armor were guarding the ce. "The number of bosses decreased¡­ probably because these guys had to face some T-rexes. Ah¡­ now I understand that weird feeling. I overlooked before, the more a certain species of monster level up, the more bosses a dungeon spawns when a dungeon break happens¡­ that is some crazy shit." Although that was a serious problem, it wasn''t something Ryan had room to worry about. Those enemies were the only thing he could worry about at the moment. In any case, the things that didn''t look it couldn''t get worse. It got when Ryan used Appraisal. Eci ¨C Lv 65 Health: 3.500/3.500 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 3.000/3.000 Strength: 450 (+50) Dexterity: 350 (+100) Speed: 450 (+150) Intelligence: 550 (+100) Endurance: 400 (+150) Control: 450 (+150) Mentality: 550 (+150) Luck: 300 Recovery: 600 (+450) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Furious Charge Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 45, Swordsmanship Lv 80 Spells: Water Spear Lv 80 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 120, Wind Resistance Lv 60 "The heck? Why their levels¡­" The level of the enemies suddenly spiked, but then Ryan quickly found an exnation. In a battle, those who contributed most received more rewards. Considering that the number of minions was rtively small, but the number of bosses was rtively high, it was safe to conclude that the bosses did most of the job in the fight against the T-rexes. Or maybe they used their minions like cannon fodder. Although most of the bosses were pretty simr and used basically the same armor, their weapons varied. Swords, spears, hammers, knives¡­ just like the subus, each boss of the reptilians'' dungeon were different beings. Maybe that was amon feature for dungeons that were controlled by sapient beings, but the bosses that spawned in dungeon breaks couldn''t be the same¡­ "I keep thinking about those things when the easy way to obtain answers is to invade another¡­ Let''s focus on the task of eliminating all of them. The rest can wait." Ryan has focused on the task again. Still, he couldn''t think of any way of defeating those forty creatures before he gets surrounded. Maybe a shot with his special arrows and a few seconds of a charged Power Shot will do the trick. Still, it wasn''t nearly enough to win. Considering that another dungeon break was supposed to happen in less than a week, time wasn''t something Ryan didn''t have, and since they weren''t stupid, the reptilians will wait exactly for that. The mission will only be harder, so Ryan couldn''t just get his next ss in the T-Rexes dungeon and then leave. "Wait a minute¡­ maybe time is actually on my side. If I use certain skills, then I..." Ryan used Search and then confirmed that his slimes were still alive on the Giant Bees'' dungeon. That was weird since the skill didn''t level up¡­ most likely, it worked in the same manner as his taming skills. Regardless, the Giant Bees weren''t leaving the dungeon thanks to the slimes, and if Ryan also obtains full control over the velociraptors'' dungeon¡­ things were starting to get interesting. Chapter 198 - Class: Sorcerer Ryan retreated and then entered the velociraptors'' dungeon. If those freaks really wanted to protect their dungeon that badly, Ryan dly will let them. In exchange for that, they will have some unpleasant surprises in a few days. Just as Ryan had expected, a T-Rex was there waiting for him when he reached the final part of the dungeon. Without thinking too much about it, Ryan beat the crap out of the monster and then used Tame. Tyrannosaurus Rex- Lv 44 Health: 111/1800 Mana: 900/900 Stamina: 1500/1500 Strength: 450 Dexterity: 250 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 150 Endurance: 800 Control: 200 Mentality: 350 Luck: 200 Recovery: 500 Willpower: 350 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 40 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 50 Spells: Scream Lv 40 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 70 "Not bad, I guess¡­ Still, it won''t be enough to take even a single of reptilians'' bosses. My monsters can''t leave the dungeon, so I will have to train them here." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Knight, Pirate, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. With the things Ryan had in mind to do the next few days, the best option was to pick Sorcerer. Still, since that had been a regr urrence these days, he began to question whether if it was fine or not to choose such a ss. Magic sses were useful, but when ites down to it, they weren''t even close in terms of utility with his sses that are rted to physical long-ranged attacks. In the end, Ryan chose to be a Sorcerer. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sorcerer! You obtained the following skills: Fire Prison, Ice Chains, and Quagmire. Your intelligence and mana will increase by two points, your stamina, health, recovery, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Prison. Effect: it creates a prison of mes that causes damage over time on that inside of it. Cost: 10 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Chains. Effect: You summon Ice Chains from the ground to stop your foes'' movements and apply the slow effect on their legs. Cost: 30 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Quagmire. Effect: Creates a quagmire beneath your foes. Cost: 20 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. After that, Ryan healed the T-rex, he returned to the dungeon''s entrance and bought as many potions as he could. He also used them soon after because he summoned Giant Bees whenever he had the chance. In just a few hours, he had used all his coins, but in exchange, Ryan managed to summon six hundred giant bees, and now the dungeon was noisy as hell. Congrattions! The skill Summon Giant Bee has leveled up. Summon Giant Bee Lv 1 ? Lv 16 Effect: It grants you the power to summon a Giant Bee. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 16 status points. "Well, now¡­ you can go and y with the T-rex," Ryan gave the order to his monsters. Although Ryan said y, it was more like bullying. The giant bees attacked the T-rex non-stop, and in order to prevent its death, Ryan mounted on the creatures'' back and used Protect and Heal. Although that weird method of training wouldn''t make his archer skills better, it was crazily efficient. After all, Ryan was training four skills at the same time while increasing the Pain Resistance of the T-rex. It was even better since the Giant Bees didn''t have to use mana to keep attacking. At the end of the first day, Ryan made his Summon Giant Bee reach level twenty, and when the new T-rex appeared, Call already was at a level where Ryan could tame another monster. "Hehe, now we are talking¡­. It looks like be a monster tamer is an easy way to be strong. However, given that one needs a lot of mana, anyone who wants to follow this route will end up bing weak physically and probably won''t have many offensive skills." Such a thing wasn''t a problem if someone can find a safe ce to stay while the monsters do all the work. However, it was evident that the monsters needed some support. Otherwise, they would die quickly, and the tamer or summoner will have a hard time trying to find new monsters and train them. It didn''t take long for Ryan to notice that his training method couldn''t improve any further. Although he was using status points, the T-rexes obtained to increase their recovery. It wasn''t enough, given that the Giant Bees were also getting stronger. Heal was also leveling up quite nicely, but even so¡­ "Next time, I should specifically look for a monster that can use healing skills. However, instead of using it to guard a dungeon, I should keep it with me for this kind of situation." Although it was an advantage that the giant bees didn''t have to use mana, it also meant that the T-rexes couldn''t train a skill to counter their attacks. Although Pain Resistance was useful, it couldn''t decrease the power of their attacks. In any case, after five days, Ryan had five pretty well-trained T-rex under his control, and the Giant Bees were at level forty. Although he could make the skills level up a bit more, Ryan decided to stop that training and then focus on summoning more Giant Bees. When the entire dungeon was overflowing with monsters, Ryan decided that it was time to move on and put his ns in action. He didn''t know if he could win just by using some monsters, but at the very least, Ryan knew that he did everything he could. Chapter 199 - Alternative Fighting Style Outside the dungeon, the reptilians were getting impatient. For thest six days, they did nothing but worked to prevent losses and increase their strength. However, even though they achieved both of that and the second dungeon break was about to happen, the bosses didn''t feel satisfied. They knew the human who attacked them before was still around. The fact that they didn''t see a single velociraptor or giant bee was the proof that he did something or was doing something inside the dungeons. To make matters worse, they couldn''t afford to leave the surroundings of their base. It would be better to keep all their forces in a single ce. "To think that a single human-caused us so much trouble when thousands of others didn''t show any resistance¡­" Eci muttered in annoyance. "I hear stories of this, but to think I would actually see it from this perspective¡­" Eci heard stories like that a long time ago, and he heard them recently when he received his new weapons: another pair of fire swords. Regardless, Eci refused to admit that such species could cause such problems to him and his brothers. The most usible exnation is that the human had already joined the side of another dungeon master, and he obtained a good part of its powers. That wouldn''t exin why he was working alone, but that was a small detail. "We just have to endure this night, and then everything will be good as ours," Eci said while looking at the sunset. "In a few hours, we will expand our territory, and our species will grow much faster than before." In the end, Eci''s predictions were correct. That night would decide everything, but even though he prepared himself, his brothers, and his men, Eci still got caught off-guard. Suddenly, a weird sound began to be heard by the reptilians. However, they didn''t see anything approaching. They even had set several campfires in the distance to make them notice the enemy''s arrival, but that had been useless. When they finally noticed what had happened, it was already toote. A massive swarm of giant bees attacked them from above. Although the monsters focused on attacking the bosses and applying the effects of Bleed on them, soon the bees spread around and began to attack the ordinary reptilians. "They are just small fries! Don''t fear and cut them to pieces!" Eci shouted. Those creatures were nothing against the might of the reptilians. Moreover, not a single boss had fallen so far, so victory was more than assured. However, soon Eci heard other things, some high-pitching sounds began to be heard. It was almost inaudible thanks to the bees, but it was there. It didn''t take long for Eci to confirm that he didn''t imagine things because soon after, the bosses began to be hit with arrows on their heads, and they fell dead. "East! He is in the East!" Eci shouted again. "Follow me! Once we kill him, his monsters will be a useless mob!" Although that was absolutely true, Eci didn''t think that Ryan would have more than a few tricks up his sleeve. He thought Ryan would retreat after seeing the entire army of reptilians heading toward him, but his predictions were off the mark. Before they could notice that something was off, fifteen or so bosses fell from Ryan''s arrows. When the others got close enough to see him, they also saw the five T-rexes around him. "Go on," Ryan said. Just for a single second, the reptilians got surprised, but in that single second, the T-rexes attacked them and made several of the bosses fly. At the same time, Ryan fired three arrows and killed three other bosses. They thought the Giant Bees didn''t hurt them, but they couldn''t be more wrong. The Bleed status lowered their health just enough to grant Ryan the chance to kill them with a single attack. Still, Ryan''s turn to get surprised finally came. A T-rex tried to bit Eci, but he managed to stop the creature''s mouth with his weapons. His vision field was a little obstructed thanks to the T-rexes, so Ryan couldn''t use his bow. While he was thinking about what to do, Eci swung his swords and erged the smile on the T-rex face, and then he prepared a big swing. Suddenly, Eci''s legs got stuck on the ground, and when he finally noticed that he had somehow sunk on the ground, a spear pierced his heart and paralyzed his body. "Not enough, huh¡­" Ryan frowned. The monster''s thick skin prevented Ryan from finishing it off, but the attack gave just enough time for the T-rex to recover and then prepare to bit Eci¡­ Ryan couldn''t help furrow his eyebrows when he saw the creature being eaten alive. In any case, the shock onlysted for a second since Ryan saw one of his T-rexes falling. The battle had barely started, and they had already killed one of his five trump cards. Ryan couldn''t rx¡­ Ryan resumed his hunting, but this time, he focused on using the Paralyzing Spear whenever possible to save his T-rexes. They were his only shield that prevented the bosses from getting too close to him after all. However, despite his efforts, all of the T-rexes fell, and Ryan still could see five rtively well bosses facing him. "As expected, I am not a master tactician¡­" Although the odds were against him, Ryan still had one trump card the reptilians didn''t notice¡­ and that was the fact that Ryan''s mana never decreased a single point in the entire battle. Fighting like that would be very weird, but Ryan put his bow on his back and then equipped his wand and shield. When the bosses attacked him with a barrage of Water Spears, Ryan was sent flying backward even though he blocked the attacks. However, when he stopped, the monsters were still trembling due to the damage they suffered and gained just enough time to make Thunder Arrows fall over one of them. Another one fell. Ryan just had to kill four more. "I can do this..." Chapter 200 - New Tome The bosses only noticed what was going on when they attacked again, and another one fell due to the Thunder Arrows. As expected, they weren''t good against electric attacks. However, now they knew that they couldn''t let Ryan block their attacks. Slowly, the monsters began to walk around him, forming an encirclement. "I am starting to hate this habit of yours¡­" Ryan muttered. Fortunately, Ryan had a way to counter those freaks. He activated Radar and then used Wind Magic to control his hammer, spear, and sword. However, the monsters decided to be even more annoying, and they cast several Water Spears at the same time. Ryan was able to block only one of them with his shield, but the other magic projectiles stopped before hitting him. "That used a lot of mana¡­ I am lucky that my bees can restore it thanks to Active Spiritual Recovery," Ryan said and then turned the Water Lances into spheres of water. "You guys are resistant against water, right? But what will happen if I drench you and then attack with Thunder Arrows?" The bosses finally recovered from the surprise of their failure and used their spears to block the water spheres Ryan fired at them. However, Ryan didn''t lose control over it and managed to drench the monsters with water. After that, he made Thunder Arrows rain over the monsters. Unfortunately, before he could kill them, the remaining monster charged and tried to take Ryan''s head with a spear, but he reacted on time to block it with his shield. A part of the damage was reflected to the monster, and Ryan used that chance to finish off the beast. The other two were half-dead, so they weren''t much of a treat. In the end, Ryan sighed in relief since his n somehow worked¡­ to a certain extent. You obtained 25.000 coins. You obtained 25.000 coins. You obtained 25.000 coins. The battle wasn''t over yet, but Ryan was exhausted since he barely had time to sleep in thest week. So, he used the mana his monsters were obtaining to summon even more monsters¡­ he deserved at least a few minutes of rest. In any case, without their leaders, the reptilians weren''t much stronger than monsters like golems. In the end, Ryan''s bees finished things off for him. "Holy crap¡­" Ryan said, shocked at the scene he caused. "To think that I could cause so much destruction¡­ and gain so much loot." Although Eci gave Ryan a pair of powerful swords, the bosses didn''t drop anything close to it. Still, his defensive gear could finally be upgraded a little bit. Although Ryan also felt weird wearing it, he decided to equip a helmet as well. One that could cover his entire face. After noticing how useful Power of Money could be, it would be insanity to keep his eyes unprotected. The chances of him finding a monster or human who could use such skill were low, but Ryan decided to be careful anyway. Silver Chainmail Effect: Health + 15, Endurance + 15 Durability: 60/60 Iron Boots Effect: Endurance + 10, Mentality + 10 Durability: 50/50 Silver Helmet Effect: Endurance + 15, Mentality + 15 Durability: 50/50 "Enough resting," Ryan said and then got up. "The dungeon breaks will happen in a few hours. I don''t know what I will find south of here, but I guess I should retreat to the base. I need to see the results of Mark''s work and then research who this Echidna is. I don''t think it is the name of a demon, but¡­" After the things that happenedtely, Ryan wasn''t confident in his judgment anymore. He had a to arrive at Miami in a week, but he didn''t cover even one-third of that distance in the end. To make matters worse, dragons will be even more active on the continent since the number of megalodons will increase. Ryan needed to obtain new sses to obtain more power, but he also needed to find a way to deal with the oceans'' threat. Regardless, Ryan decided to check the dungeon shop before clearing the dungeon. Thanks to the bosses, now he had 1.5 million coins. Hopefully, he could buy an excellent tome with that. Fortunately, his guess was right this time. Ryan could obtain a tome that will teach him how to fly or how to summon a golem. Those seemed nice, but Ryan just saw some tomes that seemed far more appealing. Earth Transformation Tome Effect: It grants you the power to transform the earth element, and it also increases the power of all earth attacks by one percent. Price: 1.000.000 coins The tomes that also had the utility in the other elements had the same price. Thanks to that, Ryan had no idea which one to pick, all what he knew was that he needed them because they, without a doubt, will increase his skill at countering the elemental attacks of the enemies. "So far, most enemies had a high level of Fire Resistance. However, I didn''t see many who had high-level resistances of water and ice¡­ transform the elements is the same thing as making them stronger, right? The second effect is like that, so Water Transformation will grant me the power to make the water turn into ice¡­ hopefully." That seemed like another bet. Although Ryan still didn''t know which sses he will be able to pick in that dungeon, he still decided to select that tome. In the end, his suspicions were correct. With Water Transformation, he could transform water into ice and make it as hard as hell. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Water Transformation. Effect: It grants you the power to transform the water element, and it also increases the power of all water attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. After doing some tests, Ryan also confirmed that he could control the water in the atmosphere and then turn it into eventual ice. The process was kind of slow since he was preserving his mana, and the skill was at a low-level. However, Ryan understood that such a technique would help him a lot more than he had imagined. Chapter 201 - Class: Sniper For some reason, when Ryan headed to thest part of the dungeon, he found the boss patiently waiting for him. It was another reptilian who seemed as powerful as Eci, but the creature didn''t seem like it wanted to fight. The monster only red at Ryan as if he had done something unforgivable. "It was you who did all this?" The boss asked. "You humans indeed are worse than the dirt beneath our feet. Our master gave you gifts, forgave your actions, and even offered you power. However, you not only refused but even got in the way of her ns." "Sorry, I don''t think I would feelfortable joining the side of the monsters which decimated this city," Ryan shrugged. "You didn''t the same to us?" The boss asked. "I guess so, but you guys invaded this and took advantage of the chaos caused by dragons," Ryan said. "Such pathetic words¡­ howe you reached this level of power without understanding your new reality?" The boss asked again. "This is a total war, only those who make most of the situation can survive until the very end." "I think I am doing pretty well considering that," Ryan said. "¡­ My master knows about you now," The boss red at Ryan. "Her children will hunt you down until the moment of your death, and don''t you think that death will be the end for you." "Woah, so scary," Ryan faked, his body trembling. "Now die." Ryan nocked one of his special arrows, but it looked like that wasn''t even necessary. The boss knew that it couldn''t face Ryan, who defeated by himself an entire army of reptilians. That was kind of disappointing, but it wasn''t like he didn''t see that before. You obtained 25.000 coins. "Echidna''s children will hunt me¡­ so she is a woman," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, I can''t remember where I heard that name¡­" In the end, Ryan didn''t have any other option aside from research it. He certainly wasn''t going to use the purple crystal to go to another world when he doesn''t have a single pleasant memory of the times. He did that. In any case, it was time to receive the real rewards for his hard work. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Champion, Sniper, and War Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Although those were some sses he never saw before, Ryan didn''t have to waste time thinking about which one to choose. The answer was obvious. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sniper! You obtained the following skills: Hawkeye, Deadly Aim, and Force. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your mana, health, control, and speed will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hawkeye. Effect: it passively increases the range of your attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deadly Aim. Effect: It consumes mana to grant you a critical hit no matter what if a target is in your field of vision. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Force. Effect: It grants you the power to change the trajectory of your projectiles. Cost: 20 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "Interesting skills¡­ Hawkeye and Deadly Aim will certainly work well together." Although each level''s bonus up in that ss seemed nice, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if looking for new sses was really the best option. He had so many skills that he barely used, after all. If he had single-mindedly focused on leveling up Power Shot, perhaps he would have the firepower to shut beings like Lilith and Baal. Then again, without those sses, his attributes wouldn''t have grown all that much. "Whatever, let''s head back while still is dark¡­ hopefully, I will be able to carry my loot and sell to Mark. Considering the intelligence of dragons, they will probably stay away from dungeons since even they can have a hard time against thousands of monsters." In the end, Ryan created arge cart using the ores he obtained and some Earth Maniption. It wasn''t perfect, and it made a lot of noise, but it was enough to carry all the loot he obtained, and those which would pull the cart were the giant bees. Unfortunately, strength wasn''t their forte, so Ryan had to summon several others. It was a pity the T-rexes died. When Ryan returned, he let out a long sigh because Mark was in a meeting with most survivors'' leaders. The only ones who weren''t present were Ryan and Alissa since one liked to work alone and the other had her own followers. "It looks like you guys stopped due to the dungeon break that is about to happen," Ryan said. "Well, I will return when you finish things with them." "¡­ I believe you should stay and hear this," Mark said. Mark''s tone was kind of off. Even Hugo was showing a conflicted expression, and that was weird. As for the others, they also had an expression of disbelief on their faces. It looked like they learned or heard about something veryplicated. Ryan was quite interested in knowing if what they knew was weirder than the fact that he was invited to join the monsters'' side. "I am listening," Ryan said. "but please be quick. I have things to do as well." "When I was looking for all the dungeons in the country, I found several things," Mark said. "One of them is that half of Mexico has been destroyed due to a single species of monster, and something simr is happening in the north, in our border with Canada. For the time being, both species stopped their advance on Mexico and Canada, and now they are focusing their sights on our country." "And?" Ryan asked. "Yeah, that was bound to happen¡­ the problem is the species of monsters," Mark covered his face with both hands and then sighed. "They are called Chupacabra and Fenrir." ss: Hunter Lv 43 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 43 (+ 03 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 611th Health: 345/430 (2.00 /s) Mana: 609/775 (2.00 /s) Stamina: 444/560 (2.00 /s) Strength: 10 (+75) (+60) Dexterity: 750 (+535) (+27) Speed: 70 (+212) (+28) Intelligence: 60 (+259) (+3) Endurance: 07 (+76) (+100) Control: 06 (+249) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+16) (+30) Luck: 65 (+9) Recovery: 450 (+561) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+16) Coins: 545.000 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills Power of Money Lv 17 (+ 04 UP), Hawkeye Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 43 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 43 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 43 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 43 (+ 02 UP), Spells: Heal Lv 30 (+ 04 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Tame Lv 41 (+ 19 UP), Protect Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Fire Prison Lv 01, Ice Chains Lv 01, Quagmire Lv 01, Water Transformation Lv 01, Deadly Aim Lv 01, Force Lv 01, Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 19 (+ 03 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 18 (+ 05 UP), Poison Resistance Lv 15 (+ 09 UP), Master''s Support Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 40 (+ 05 UP), Beastmaster Lv 19 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), Mercenary Lv 17 (+ 02 UP), Corsair Lv 09, Summoner Lv 15 (+ 10 UP), Combat Archer Lv 10 (+ 03 UP), Rogue Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Sorcerer Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Sniper Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Chapter 202 - Weird Monster "Chupacabra?" Ryan frowned. "I know what you are thinking," Mark sighed again. "I am sure," Ryan said. Still, now that he thought about it, Fenrir was a giant wolf from Nordic mythology¡­ demons were also part of mythology. Although it isn''t that old, anything rted to Chupacabra is also mythology. That couldn''t be a coincidence¡­ Echidna was also part of Greek mythology. "That is not everything," Hugo added. "Even dragons are having a hard time dealing with those creatures. Maybe it is because of them that the dragons are spending much time hunting survivors like us." "Howe?" Ryan frowned. "I can understand they are having a hard time against a small army of Fenrir, but not against creatures like Chupacabra. ording to the legends, they only attack goats and some other animals, right?" "We don''t know the details since they mostly fight at night," Hugo shook his head. "But we do know that is what happens considering the corpses left off every time they sh." Those were some bad news, but Ryan was pretty sure that it wasn''t something everyone should feel so depressed about it. After all, they were well-hidden in a military base. The chances of the monsters finding them were quite low. "Is that all?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ we noticed that humans are entering the Fenrir''s dungeon," Mark''s face darkened. "And they aren''t going as prisoners, and they certainly weren''t going to fight." "I see¡­ I guess they received an invitation as well," Ryan nodded to himself. "Invitation?" Daniel asked. "¡­ While I was clearing a few dungeons in Nashville, a group of monsters invited me to join their side," Ryan replied after a few seconds since it wasn''t time to get annoyed at Daniel. "Someone called Echidna promised me the power to join her side." "Echidna? The mother of monsters?" Tristan got up and then asked in shock. "Do you know about her?" Ryan asked. "A little bit¡­ I know that she gave birth to many monsters of Greek mythology," Tristan replied. "Cerberus, Orthus, Sphinx, Chimera, Scy¡­ ording to mythology, she is a creature that has the upper body of a woman and the lower of a snake." "So, she is like medusa?" Ryan frowned. "No¡­ I am pretty sure she was supposed to be more humanoid than medusa, and she can''t petrify those who look at her," Tristan exined. Things were getting out of hand really quick. Still, that would exin why Alissa decided to change her modus operandi. If she knew that dragons were having a hard time, then she couldn''t underestimate those foes. Regardless, based on what Ryan knew, Fenrir was just a giant wolf. It wasn''t supposed to be that smart. So, someone else was the real dungeon master, but who? Ryan''s memory was quite fuzzy, but apparently, in the Ragnar?k, Loki used Fenrir to kill Odin or hurt him¡­ or something. "Well, anyway, is the map with the location of all dungeonspleted?" Ryan asked. "Yes, once this meeting is over, I will show you the details," Mark nodded. "Okay," Ryan said and then left the meeting room. Although some serious problems appeared in the South and North, Ryan didn''t get anxious. As long as a being is made of flesh and bones, that being could be killed, even if the thing belongs to some mythology. Even if his arrows were useless, Ryan could kill such creatures with Power of Money. It wouldn''t be cheap, but it was possible. Still, he knew he wouldn''t feel satisfied in winning like that, even if the other side has the numerical advantage. Ryan wanted to win and survive using the things he learned from his father. To do that, Ryan could only do one thing: keep hunting monsters and strengthening himself. "I am already doing that, so I guess I need to focus on some countermeasures to prevent the worst-case-scenario: my death." Ryan had an amazing firing power, but he wasn''t much more resilient than most humans, not even with his new equipment. So, he needed to improve his stealth and movement skills. Keep himself hidden while he moves at his top speed wasn''t something Ryan could do. However, there were other things he could do in order to keep his presence hidden. The first thing was to use Earth Maniption and always attack the enemies at night and from above. That worked well against the reptilians. However, Ryan couldn''t just wait for the sunset to hunt monsters, and sometimes, the moon might reveal his position. The second thing Ryan could do¡­ was to use sh. Although that skill was useful, the cost of mana was too high. So, Ryanpletely ignored it until now since he also could use some tricks to fool his enemy. However, the number of sapient beings that he had been facing was increasing, and cheap tactics won''t work against them more than once. Weirdly enough, the only ce which came to his mind to train was the warehouse¡­ Ryan had be a person who couldn''t care less about having a room to himself. Although that was weird, that was also the person who he had be in order to survive in this crazy world where Chupacabras exist. In order to train that skill as efficiently as possible, Ryan will have to go to an area where some dungeon breaks happened and then use the same tactic he used the night before: make his summoned monsters recover his mana by fighting. Or at least go to a weak area where he can finish off the creatures with a single me Arrow. "It would be great if I could recover my mana while I am not where my monsters are fighting¡­ but things aren''t that convenient." Eventually, the meeting ended, and Mark appeared, but in the end, everyone followed him since they more or less had to n their actions based on what Ryan might or might do. Although that was a pain in the ass, Ryan managed to hold back his sigh. Chapter 203 - Discipline Ryan actually wanted a map in paper form for him, but somehow, Mark was convinced that carrying such a detailed map around wasn''t a good idea. So, all the information he had in the base had been digitalized. He talked as if the monsters ate all the hackers in the world¡­ "We found around fifty species of monsters in our country, but that doesn''t mean we have to deal with fifty dungeons," Mark exined. "As you already know, some dungeons spawn the same monsters." "Yeah," Ryan nodded. "As for the precise number of dungeons, based on the dungeons already cleared and the ces where we can find a vast concentration of monsters¡­ we conclude that we have 204 dungeons in our country at this moment," Mark exined. "At this moment?" Ryan frowned. "What do you mean by that?" "Yes, because we saw seven new dungeons appearing over thest week," Mark answered. "Although they didn''t spawn a new species of monsters and they start to spawn level one monsters, we are worried about them." Ryan nodded¡­ it made sense that new dungeons could appear since other sapient beings were controlling them. Still, considering their goals, even though they were still unknown, it seemed like a bad idea to create dungeons when other creatures already dominated some areas, and most humans have died. "If you don''t mind, I would you to tell me the jobs you could have obtained on the dungeons you cleared," Mark said. "I guess that is fine¡­" Ryan said since the chances of them learning every single ss he chose were close to none. "Mmm¡­ those Summoner and Beastmaster ss seem pretty interesting," John said, visibly interested. "They would be very useful on the hands of those who don''t want to join the front lines." "Indeed," Mark nodded. "Ryan, the survivors you brought the other day mentioned that you used monsters to train them. Can you tell us your thoughts about these sses?" "¡­ They are useful, but you need a lot of mana to use them properly," Ryan said. "One of the skills of the summoner ss needs five hundred points of mana to be used. As for the Beastmaster ss, you need to beat the monster before making them join your side." "That is a lot of mana," Lilian said. "Most nonbatants survivors don''t focus on a single attribute like that. I suppose if they want to obtain those sses, they will have to increase their mana by meditating for a few months." "On the good side, the coins the monsters earn go directly to you," Ryan added. "If you have confidence in your monsters'' strength, you can do like me and use them to seal some dungeons." "That seems interesting," Danie said. "By the way, you seem a lot calmer today, Ryan. Did something happen?" "Come to think of it, I didn''t fuck you today, did I?" Ryan asked. "I don''t remember you ever saying that," Daniel smiled and then stopped when he saw a vein throbbing on Ryan''s forehead. "Back to the topic," Mark said. "We also should monitor the level of strength of the monsters and the date the dungeon is likely to break. Some of us can use Appraisal, but I guess you saw most dungeons of this entire group. Can I ask you to write the attributes of the monsters you see on a piece of paper?" "That will cost you," Ryan said. "Fair enough," Mark nodded. "How about one thousand coins for each type of monster you gather their data and more one thousand for each upgrade in their status that you consider noteworthy?" "That will do," Ryan nodded. In the end, Ryan will have to make use of low-level dungeons to level skills like sh, so he actually won''t lose anything by doing that. Besides, if the base survivors obtain some item and decide to sell, Ryan might hit the jackpot since it would be natural to sell anything below the price of the dungeon shops. "So, which direction are you going to follow?" Mark asked. "We managed to find some survivors in thest few days, but honestly, I don''t think we will achieve much sess in the future in these conditions and after the second dungeon breaks. So, it is finally time to focus on strengthening ourselves." Mark was pretty bold. Even though the poption will increase, he wanted to make sure he won''t send the survivors to areas where Ryan and probably Alissa is going to go. That made sense, but it was quite risky. "Mmm¡­ the Fenrir bosses are between Toronto and Montreal, right?" Ryan asked. "It is pretty close to New York¡­ considering that there are routes to reach the ocean even from there, maybe I can find the megalodons as well. I guess I am going to check things there. I can''t let those monsters eat all the dragon hearts." Although Ryan''s reasoning seemed pretty selfish, no one couldin since going there was also risky. Truth to be told, they were expecting that Alissa would go to that area at some point to ease their worries, but telling her what to do was anything but easy. "On your way, you will find Smanders, skeletons, and earthworms," Mark said. "The path will be hard since we didn''t explore anything in that direction yet, so the number of monsters will be high. Once you cross the border, you will find the Dire Wolves. Those are the monsters that the Fenrir''s dungeons spawn." Dire wolf¡­ that was a terrifying name. Still, Ryan wasn''t that worried about it because he will have plenty of time to train the skills that he needed. Besides, that part of the continent was pretty cold this time of the year, so it was the perfect chance for Ryan to make good use of his Icebound. "Should I pack some thick clothes for the cold, or should I just level up that skill? I guess I won''t pack anything. I will need to discipline myself in those harsh conditions. Otherwise, I won''t win against the monsters when they have the advantage of the terrain." Chapter 204 - Rage Before Ryan could finish his preparations for his next job, Alissa and her followers suddenly appeared. It wasn''t like Ryan thought they would never meet by ident in that giant base. Still, it looked like she came to talk with him. "It looks like you finally met one of them," Alissa crossed her arms and then said. "What did happen?" "You already know," Ryan replied. "They invited you to join their side while offering items and power, but you still refused?" Alissa said, visibly impressed. "You are obstinate. I will give you that." "I guess you didn''t learn much about me, huh." Ryan Shrugged. "I want power, but I won''t sell my soul to the enemy to obtain that. Those bastards killed every single person who survived the dragons'' attack and then imed Nashville for themselves. There was no way in hell I would join them after that." "I guess that sounds like you," Alissa said and then sighed. "Anyway, if you want to fight those kinds of enemies alone, be my guest, but don''t get in the way if we bump into each other on the battlefield. We aren''t working together anymore, so I don''t want to share even a single piece of the loot, much less the dragon hearts." "That will depend if you and yourckeys will do a decent job," Ryan said and then turned around and left. Ryan''s words enraged her followers, but they weren''t stupid enough to do anything or evenin while Alissa is nearby. Although they don''t work together anymore, Ryan was probably the only human Alissa respects. "I guess she is nning to head to that area eventually¡­ as soon as her soldiers are strong enough to deal with the Dire Wolves." Alissa changed for the good since she was considering things like that. Although that was none of his business, Ryan felt a little bothered by it. Everyone seemed to be changing. Meanwhile¡­ he still was doing the same things. Always trying to be alone and do things by himself. "Damn that fucking demon¡­ next time I see her, I won''t rest until I explode her body thousands of times." Ryan med the demon for the doubts on his head. Still, deep down, he knew that things weren''t that simple. Several weeks ago, he realized something like that when he saw Zoe and her father. Avoiding Mia and Daniel was one thing, but why run away from all human contact? Certainly, he could survive and start a new life with someone¡­ The problem was that after Mia, will never be able to trust someonepletely. "Forget about it and focus on the mission¡­" After Ryan memorized the routes, he will have to follow and the dungeons'' positions, he left the base. It took a while, but eventually, Ryan got rid of those useless thoughts and then began to think of the enemies he was going to face. Smanders probably won''t cause many problems to Ryan; the problem was the earthworms and skeletons. Bleed was one of the best skills Ryan had, but that one wouldn''t be useful against skeletons. As for the earthworms, the fact that they always had the chance to deal with the first strike was troublesome. "My strength isn''t that high, but against the skeletons, I should focus on using my hammer. Considering that leveling up sh is one of my main goals right now, using only that skills while fighting those creatures and smanders seems like the best option." Skeletons can''t feel pain, so unless Ryan smashes them to pieces and kill them, they might be a pain in the ass in a prolonged fight. Now that Ryan thought about it, using sh against the earthworms to prevent their surprise attack also seems like a good option. The problem was that Ryan probably wouldn''t have enough power to finish them off before they escape. In the end, Ryan hurried to find the first smanders after heading East at his top speed before sunset. He had grown quite fond of fighting at night and surprising his foes, so Ryan decided to use that again for a while, at least. Smander Lv 40 Health: 600/600 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 700/700 Strength: 250 Dexterity: 300 Speed: 250 Intelligence: 350 Endurance: 150 Control: 300 Mentality: 300 Luck: 40 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 150 Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 20 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv1 25 Spells: methrower Lv 35 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 40 "Level forty¡­ as expected, no one cleared the dungeon of this area, and thanks to this, those creatures reached this level. Well, the Paralyzing Spear still should be enough to deal with them." Ryan grabbed his spear and casually walked toward the first group of monsters. Although surprised attacks were one of the things he liked to do, he couldn''t do that while preserving his mana or without throwing his weapons. When the first creature opened its mouth to use methrower, Ryan used sh and appeared on the monster''s back. With a single swing of his weapon on the monster''s neck, Ryan beheaded it. You obtained 36 coins. "Come to think of it¡­ I can use Backstab since it only consumes stamina." It was the perfect moment also to use that skill. Also, as expected, when the next smander tried to bite him, Ryan reappeared behind the monster''s and pierced the creature''s neck quite easily until his weapon reached the other side. It wasn''t like Ryan hadn''t used melee weapons to kill his enemies before, but only this time, he felt a disturbing feeling inside his heart. "I don''t have time to worry about this kind of thing¡­ this is war." After steeling his resolve, Ryan repeated the same actions over and over again and, in the end, the monsters didn''t even have the chance to scratch him. Maybe Ryan couldn''t stop having doubts outside the fights, but when he was fighting, he could make those thoughts go away, at least for a while. Chapter 205 - Monsters Adaptation Since Ryan went on a straight line toward the smanders'' dungeon, he advanced quite fast, even though he always stopped when he could see a new monster on any direction. While that was good and all, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why he didn''t find a single elder smander until now. Logically speaking, considering that no one cleared the dungeon, they should have no real reason to stay stationed there when the number of bosses was probably over one hundred. "I guess that is also fine¡­ it only means that I will have the chance to kill all of them." After moving for a full day, Ryan found the smanders'' dungeon in the middle of a small town called Binghamton. Considering the number of smanders, it was kind of surprising that dragons didn''t notice them. Most likely, the town now had more smanders than it had inhabitants before. "Maybe it is high time to make good use of Hawkeye. The dragons didn''t destroypletely the town, neither did the smanders. So, there are some buildings in which I can use as a vantage point to snipe them. Still, should I do it right now?" Although the town was rtively small, it had plenty of buildings in which some survivors could hide. Things had be really difficult after hiding for two months, but that doesn''t mean the chances of him finding some people weren''t zero. In the end, Ryan decided not to wait, he was nning to take a look at New York D.C. before heading North. So, he had no idea for how long he would stay there. "Well, before anything, just to be safe, let''s summon some Giant Bees." Ryan spent a few hours summoning those monsters and then made them spread around the city in order to kill the smanders that are leaving the town. That will give him some extra mana recovery. Ryan also used that time to count the number of enemies because sniping all the bosses wouldn''t solve anything. As expected, the number of Elder Smanders was 105 and the ordinary smanders was over five thousand. The number was quite low, but considering that even monsters need to eat to survive, it would be insane to keep a numberrger than that when they can''t hunt humans or other monsters. Regardless, Ryan decided to put his n in ce after sunset. At night, it would be harder to find him, even if he fires several times from the same position. Although unlike the reptilians, the smanders didn''t create campfires to illuminate the area, asionally, some of them used their methrower to illuminate the ce. That even showed Ryan something unexpected, he could see the shadows of their silhouettes in the distance thanks to his Nocturnal Eyes, but Ryan didn''t notice that half of them were sleeping. "I guess it is weird that I didn''t see that happening until now¡­ even monsters need to sleep as well. In any case, I didn''t see that until now because I always put my enemies on high alert." It would be nice if Ryan could take half of the bosses just like that while they were sleeping, but even if he could, doing so without alerting other enemies was probably impossible¡­ without relying on Power of Money. That skill saved Ryan''s ass many times in thest few days, but he also didn''t want to spend his coins like that. In the end, Ryan attacked the monsters using his ordinary bone arrows. First, he concentrated his Power Shot for three seconds to kill a single boss, but then, after the third shot, Ryan learned that just two seconds of charge was enough. You obtained 2.250 coins. You obtained 2.250 coins. You obtained 2.250 coins. Little by little, the smanders began to wake up. However, only after twenty or so of the bosses died that they finally noticed that Ryan was hiding at some point at East of their localization. It was all thanks to the fact that Ryan focused on killing the bosses that were close to the ones that died first. In any case, things wouldn''t get easier that quickly. At least half of the bosses and of the ordinary smanders began to run toward Ryan''s location. Facing them directly was out of the question. "Half, huh¡­" The twin swords Ryan got from the reptilians would reallye in handy right now¡­ if the skill they granted him weren''t fire-based. In any case, Ryan kept firing for a few more seconds while the monsters were approaching and he managed to kill more than ten bosses before those creatures finally saw him standing at the top of a semi-destroyed radio tower. The smanders used their methrower to melt the structure, but Ryan didn''t fall because he had a block of earth underneath him. The monsters tried to attack him, but their methrower had a limited range, so the best they could do was to make him sweat a little. While the monsters were trying to reach him, Ryan made his giant bees attack the army from the sides and at the same time, he used Arrow Shower to y several of the ordinary smanders. For a skill like that, Ryan couldn''t ask for a better target than a conglomerated of monsters like that one. "Hehe, this isn''t half bad¡­" Thanks to his summoned monsters, even though his Arrow Shower couldn''t kill monsters fast enough, Ryan still was recovering enough mana to keep the skill active. While his coins were pilling up and his skills were leveling up, Ryan knew it was only a matter of time before things go south. Just as he had imagined, something unexpected happened. The bosses gave up on trying to hit him with methrower. Instead of that, they began to spit replicas of Fireballs. Fortunately, they weren''t good at that, but eventually, the magic projectiles began to look like Fire Spears and that type of projectile¡­ the smanders could control quite well¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but sweat cold when he watched the monsters learning a skill like that in a matter of seconds. Chapter 206 - Hot Blooded Using Wind Maniption, Ryan controlled his shield and made it block the Fire Spears. Although he had enough mana to do that, his mana bar began to decrease since the impact of the attacks forced him to use more energy. "Not good¡­" Ryan muttered. It looked like Ryan underestimated the smanders since, in the past, he didn''t have a hard time dealing with them. To make matters worse, his giant bees were starting to die at a worrisome pace. Ryan clicked his tongue¡­ it was time to stop being so greedy. He put his bow away and grabbed his wand. While his summoned monsters were still alive, Ryan had to kill at least the bosses that left the base. With a shield in his left hand and the wand on the right, Ryan fired Thunder Arrows at the bosses. Fortunately, they lost two seconds paralyzed every time they got hit while they recovered from the electric damage. However, Ryan was using too much mana. In the end, Ryan bit his wand and then canceled Iplete Reptilian Transformation, only to activate it again in his head. Without wasting any more time, Ryan used Thunder Arrows again, and their power and effects increased quite a bit. "I guess this will do¡­" The smanders tried to block the projectiles with their mes, but since Thunder Arrows got more condensed energy, they never aplished that. One by one, the bosses began to fall down, still, when only ten of them were left. Ryan noticed that his giant bees had fallen¡­ It was all or nothing now. Ryan jumped from his earth tform and equipped his Paralyzing Spear. When the monsters attacked him, he used sh to escape the mes andnd on one of the bosses'' back. Ryan wanted to use Tame on five of those, but he didn''t have the luxury to do so in that kind of situation. After activating all the buffs that increased his strength, Ryan used Backstab and killed another Elder Smander. You obtained 2.250 coins. Congrattions! The skill sh has leveled up. sh Lv 14 ? Lv 15 Effect: It grants you the power to move instantly to a ce in your field of vision. The distance will be the level of the skill in meters. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status point. The very moment the smanders realized that theirpanion was long gone, all of them aimed their methrowers at Ryan, but in the end, they only burned to a crisp the fallen monster. Ryan was already on the back of another creature and ready to strike, and when he did it, he had another idea. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared. Ryan got caught off-guard when his skill consumed more mana than it should have, but then he quickly understood what had happened. His Scream stunned all the bosses and even some ordinary smanders. In that single second, Ryan beheaded two other bosses. Things were proceeding well, but then Ryan began to feel the ground trembling and the sound of something approaching¡­ he didn''t even have to look at it to understand that the second wave of monsters wasing to finish the job of the first. It was regrettable, but Ryan decided to retreat. After using sh to appear several meters above the ground, Ryan used Wind Maniption to create a wind sphere, and then he hit himself with it¡­ it was the only thing he could do that wouldn''t make much noise. In the end, the monsters never realized in which direction Ryan escape, and Ryan only had to break a few ribs for that. "Why I always rush ahead in a hurry and cause these kinds of situations? I can''t take lightly the monsters of a dungeon that broke two times, even if they are monsters that I already defeated before." Thinking that only sapient beings were only those who could cause Ryan problems was a mistake. In any case, at least this time, he learned several things and decreased the power of the monsters'' army. "I can''t exactly save time and my coins at the same time¡­ if I want to rush ahead, sacrifices had to be made. Either I pay with my life for making this kind of mistake eventually, or I pay the price with coins." Instead of trying again, Ryan spends the night summoning Giant Bees and making them spread around town to hunt the smanders. Their strength was more or less the same level, but the smanders had the advantage due to their elemental attacks. Still, Ryan solved that problem easily by making his monsters move in groups of three. After all, until now, he didn''t the monsters moving in groups, not the smanders at least. When morning came, Ryan decided to change his tactics a little bit. In the previous night''s battle, the bosses caused quite a lot of problems, but the ordinary smanders didn''t. So, Ryan decided to snipe them again. However, instead of being greedy, Ryan would take things slowly. Sniping one Elder Smander and then changing his locations before the monsters could tell him where he was. That worked pretty well for a while, but then eventually, the bosses took refuge inside the dungeon. "For monsters who don''t have the level of intellect as humans, they sure can be annoying¡­" Regardless, it was only a matter of time before Ryan finishes his business in that down and kills all the smanders. Even if the bosses stay hidden inside the dungeon, things will proceed favorably once Ryan''s giant bees kill all of the ordinary smanders. After all, while Ryan couldn''t hit the enemies from very far away in confined spaces, the monsters also don''t have much room to dodge his arrows. To make sure that the monsters weren''t plotting anything, Ryan attacked the smanders around the dungeon with his bow and by using the Giant Bees several times. However, the bosses never left the dungeon. They certainly were plotting something fishy¡­ Ryan couldn''t leave them along because of that, so his workload increased. Chapter 207 - Endless Work Ryan had originally nned to attack on the next night. However, he decided to be cautious of the bosses'' behavior. So, he dyed the attack for the next night. Thanks to it, he managed to y all the ordinary smanders and even build an army of two thousand Giant Bees. For some reason, Ryan felt like being even more cautious and dy his ns for another night. However, the giant bees were so noisy that they were driving Ryan crazy. After approaching slowly, the dungeon, Ryan confirmed that nothing really worthwhile was dropped. Still, he decided to test a certain theory: will the items disappear if they aren''t touching the ground? There was only one way to know. Ryan used Earth Maniption and hid his items inside a fake rock. The items were right above a table made of earth as well. "Well, now¡­ let''s start by sending five hundred giant bees to inside the dungeon first," Ryan said. After he gave the order, the bees obeyed Ryan''s orders. At first, nothing happened, so Ryan felt safe to approach and check the dungeon shop. He had enough coins to buy another tome that could teach him another elemental transformation, but Ryan refrained from doing so before he clears the dungeon. Suddenly, things got very noisy inside the dungeon, and then Ryan felt the presence of his bees disappearing in the blink of an eye. He could easily imagine what had happened: the smanders hid in thest part of the dungeon, and then they bombarded the monsters when they showed themselves with magic attacks. "I guess they are more aware of my skills to disappear and attack without revealing my position immediately. Anyway, I didn''t receive a single coin, so those five hundred bees died without offering any resistance against fifty-five Elder Smanders¡­ This is a bit worrisome." Despite that, Ryan had some ideas on how to solve the situation. It was too risky to rely on sh, given that in a confined space, the fire burns oxygen. Ryan may not pass out since the dungeon isn''t actually closed from the outside world, but even so, things might get messy. However, since the bees didn''t spend much time inside the dungeon, it was clear that theyout was simple so that Ryan could use something else¡­ he could use: Force. Ryan decided to test the skill before anything, and he couldn''t help but frown when he activated it. As if it was a movie inside his head, Ryan saw the arrow that he fired moving at high speeds toward the sky. After three seconds, the arrow lost its power and then began to fall. "That is quite fast¡­ probably thanks to my dexterity. Can I actually change the direction of something that fast and hi the monsters inside the dungeon?" At the very least, Ryan was sure that his arrows were flying at five hundred meters per second. Regardless, after other tests, Ryan confirmed that he could slow down the arrow, but that wasn''t something he wanted. After all, the projectiles will lose a lot of firepower if he does that. After thinking for a while, Ryan decided to check the dungeon''syout and then memorize the course his arrow had to follow. By doing that, his job will be easier. That being said, he was quite sure all the monsters will try to trample on him the very moment he is inside the dungeon. In the end, his best option was to keep using Force, level up the skill, and memorize theyout of the dungeon by following the arrow with his eyes. Again, it took a while, but eventually, Ryan got the hang of it¡­ after hitting the dungeon walls several times and make it tremble. However, considering that the monsters never left in those moments, it was only obvious that they decided to die inside the dungeon. To make sure and avoid any surprise, Ryan filled his backpack with mana and stamina potions, and then he started the clean-up. When Ryan fired his arrows, and the first one reached thest part of the dungeon, the monsters tried to burn it with their methrower, but the projectile flew straight into an Elder Smander''s head before the mes could hit it. The monster didn''t die since controlling an arrow strengthened by Power Shot wasn''t something the current Ryan could do, but the arrow lost one eye, and after one second, another arrow finished off the creature. After Ryan killed three bosses in a matter of seconds, the monsters decided to use methrower all the time in order to destroy the projectiles. As expected, so many skills almost destroyed the arrows, but when Ryan noticed that, he enchanted them with Lesser Water Enchantment and the arrows became a little more durable. Seven other elder smanders had to die before the monsters finally noticed that it was useless. They were going to die, even inside their dungeon. In a hurry, the monsters decided to try one suicidal attack. However, when Ryan heard their footsteps, he only smiled. "That was the wrong choice¡­" Ryan smirked. When the smanders left the dungeon, Ryan weed them with a Power Shot. His projectile not only pierced the head of six monsters, but the shock also made the bodies fly backward and hit the other smanders. Eventually, the bosses recovered from the surprise, but something else was waiting for them¡­ 1.500 giant bees. Ryan helped them, but in the end¡­ it wasn''t necessary. The corpses of the smanders could be barely recognized after the fight. "I went too far¡­ now I won''t be able to tame a single one, Elder Smander, and these ones were probably stronger than the other that has been killing demons for several weeks. Come to think of it¡­ I should have killed Bolvath before the dungeon break. Now probably dozens of demons are ruling over Houston." Ryan sighed¡­ he wasn''t the only survivor in the country, but Alissa was focusing on her own business, and the others weren''t up for the task to clear dungeons periodically. In the end, Ryan felt that his job would never end¡­ Chapter 208 - Class: Disciple Fortunately, one Elder Smander was left behind, so Ryan managed to tame the monster. Using that same creature to guard the dungeon was a bad match-up. It was better to leave some giant bees behind to do that, and so Ryan did it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: diator, Spy, and Disciple. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "I already saw those, but I didn''t choose any¡­ Again, the most obvious would be to pick Spy, but I can guess what skills I will obtain. On the other hand, learning what Disciple can do might give me some valuable intel." Now that Ryan thought about it, he had to write the data he obtained from the smanders. He more or less could remember the status of the bosses and the minions, so that wasn''t a problem. Anyway, Ryan also decided to write down in the notebook Mark gave him the date of the dungeon break and ask him again what dungeons had been cleared in thest month. Putting that aside, Ryan decided to pick the Disciple ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Disciple! You obtained the following skills: Master, Memory, and Learn. Your mana and intelligence will increase by two points, your stamina, health, control, and recovery will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Master. Effect: it grants you the power to select someone as your master. By fighting alongside them, you can obtain the chance to use some of their skills and eventually learn other skills. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Memory. Effect: It grants you the power to use one of your master''s skills. The skill can''t be higher level than Memory, and you can''t use the skill unless your master is nearby. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Learn. Effect: It grants you the chance to learn one of your master''s skills. The moreplicated the skill is, the more time you will have to fight alongside your master and see the skill in action to learn it. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan let out a long sigh¡­ that was probably the worse ss someone like him could have chosen. It was an awesome ss for people who followed others, but not for people like Ryan, who liked to be alone and were too proud to work or learn from others. "Oh well¡­ At least this intel will be useful for Mark and the others. Maybe I should sell the information for a high price topensate for his headache." In any case, Ryan left the dungeon and the area as quickly as possible. He didn''t get a single tome, the ss he picked sucked, and he lost three days there¡­ he only bad memories of that ce, so it was a given that he wanted to get the hell out of there. Fortunately, his mood improved the more he moved to the East. Why? Because the more he advanced, the colder the weather got, and eventually, he even found a thing yer of snow before he found the earthworm''s dungeon. Ryan checked his status screen and confirmed that his recovery increased mysteriously by twelve points. That was the power of Icebound in action. Hopefully, the more he fights, the faster the skill will level up instead of the longer he stays in such regions. Still¡­ Ryan was quite bothered by the weather. "I would understand that I would eventually find snow while going North, but why only the area close to the coast has thisyer of snow?" As if things weren''t weird enough, Ryan already could see the Earthworms'' dungeon, but he wasn''t attacked by them a single time. In any case, before approaching the dungeon, Ryan decided to equip his magic wand, even though the weather wasn''t appropriate to use electric attacks. The Earthworms'' dungeon was located in the center of a prettyrge farm. Thanks to the grass and snow, Ryan couldn''t quite see from a distance any marks left by the earthworms. However, when he got close enough, he saw many holes left by them. However, not a single earthworm appeared. Ryan''s tension only increased thanks to that, but he kept advancing until he arrived at the dungeon. He waited for a few minutes, but again¡­ not a single monster appeared. "Wait here," Ryan said to his Elder Smander," At this rate, it looks like you will guard the skeletons'' dungeon¡­" Ryan had more or less an idea of what was going on, and when he reached thest part of the dungeon, he confirmed his suspicions. Instead of an Earthworm boss, he saw six humans guarding the purple crystal. They looked kind of familiar, but then Ryan recalled where he saw them when one of them gave him a letter. "You are TOO slow. I cleared this dungeon on the second day after the second dungeon break, but you don''t have to worry, my guys decided to ask for some harsh training, so I am going to make them guard some dungeons for a while by themselves. So, most likely, I will challenge the Fenrir''s dungeon in a week. Knowing you, you probably will head for New York first, so if you take your time, by the time you reach those regions, I may have already solved the whole situation." Ryan took a deep breath¡­ Alissa wrote that letter. It looked like at least she had some respect for Ryan since her way to notify him of those things. However, the respect wasn''t that deep since it looked like she was challenging him. "¡­ When was thest time you guys cleared this dungeon?" Ryan asked already imagining the worst. "Three hours ago," A random woman replied. Chapter 209 - Stamina Restoration Ryan''s luck wasn''t that good, it seemed. His options were: to wait for twenty-one hours with those who worshipped Alissa or just skip the dungeon ande back to the ss the other day. In the end, Ryan decided to skip the dungeon since he won''t be able to fight. Strangely enough, Alissa''s henchmen became strong enough to defeat the bosses without suffering a single scratch. "Well, at least now I don''t have to worry about that the third simultaneous dungeon break will destroy our countrypletely." Maybe Mark wasn''t aware of it, but he eventually will if he uses the satellite. Regardless since his smander wasn''t used to the snow, Ryan had to slow down a little bit. Unfortunately, things only worse the more he approached New York. The snow began to get quite tall. "Might as well train my magic while I am here." It wasn''t perfect due to the skill level, but Water Maniption granted Ryan the power to move the snow of his path. He also used me Arrow and the smander''s methrower. ording to the map Mark had, the skeletons'' dungeon was a few kilometers north of the city. While some other dungeons were in the South. The city was quite in a dire situation since it was so close to the ocean, and even from very far away, Ryan could some dragons flying above it. "I guess I will have to make another stop here¡­" Although Ryan''s backpack was filled with potions, he decided to be cautious. Before anything, he created a hideout underground since he wouldn''t be able to kill all the dragons without stopping to take a break. Not only his firing power wasn''t quite there, but his bow could only endure so much energy at a time. "I wonder why they are flying above the city when the megalodons must be pretty close¡­ maybe is because their numbers are low? Anyway, I can think about thister." Ryan have been waiting to kill some dragons for a few days, so there was no way he would miss that chance. In order to prevent failure, he will go all out and not be stingy with potions or anything else. While Ryan was preparing, he had another idea, so he made sure to leave his smander behind and then created an earth tower to fire the first shot. Five minutester, Ryan was already charging his Power Shot while at the same time was controlling his potions with Wind Maniption and pouring them over him to recover his mana. Much faster than before, the bow''s durability began to decrease, and Ryan decided to use that as a sign that it was enough. He had to charge only for a full minute, but he was confident in his power. When Ryan fired the arrow, the shockwave caused by it almost sent him flying backward. He only stopped because a statue behind him prevented it. Still, Ryan almost missed the time to use Force. Within three seconds, the arrow covered the distance between Ryan and the red dragon that he had chosen as a target, but the beast somehow managed to feel the danger to its life and move his body to evade the blow. However, half of the monster''s head explodes since Ryan adjusted his arrow''s movement in the blink of an eye. You obtained 45.000 coins. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 600 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 588th You obtained Stamina Restoration Tome. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Restoration. Effect: Recovers one point of stamina per second. Cost: 01 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. After enduring so much crap in thest few weeks, Ryan felt incredible by killing in one shot a dragon. He seeded in doing that, now he just needed to do so without relying on potions, and he would receive a massive boost in morale. Regardless, Ryan left the watchtower and then hid underground. As fast as possible, he began to repair his bow, but the very moment he seeded in doing that, he heard the sound of the dragon''s wings pping nearby. Judging by the sound alone, Ryan could hear three dragons. That was odd¡­ he saw five flying above Long Ind. Before continuing his attacks, Ryan decided to check things with his own eyes. Thanks to Earth Maniption and Water Transformation, he managed to leave his hideout without making anything suspicious appear on the ground. In any case, he confirmed that three dragons were nearby, two red and one light blue. The monsters were flying around the small tower Ryan had created and the statue he had made to fool the monsters. "The other disappeared¡­ which is odd. Shall I wait here and see how things will y out?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. As long as Ryan is careful, even if he attacks, as long as he doesn''t clearly show himself, the monsters will never notice that he was underground. Still, just to be safe, Ryan decided to use another thing to distract the monsters around. After increasing the underground path''s size, Ryan summoned several Giant Bees and made them appear behind the monsters. The creatures turned around, surprised thanks to those creatures'' sudden arrival, and with that, they exposed their backs to Ryan. Ryan smirked. A chance like that was rare toe by, and there was no way he would lose it. Without a hint of hesitation, Ryan pulled the string and began to charge his Power Shot. Although his giant bees hadsted only for a couple of seconds, they had bought just enough time. A weird brown cloud wasing from the West, making a lot of noise, and that had already grabbed the attention of the dragons. Those were the other Giant bees that Ryan didn''t leave behind. When those three dragons prepared themselves for the fight, Ryan attacked another red dragon and killed the monster in a single strike. After that, Ryan equipped his Paralyzing Spear. Chapter 210 - Hunting Dragons Ryan''s surprise attack made the concentration of the two remaining dragons to wane. In the end, things proceeded just like Ryan wanted. One dragon headed toward his direction, and the other flew to attack the giant bees. The red dragon would probably make Ryan fight more fiercely, but the light-blue one flew toward him, and before anything, it opened its mouth and fired several Ice Spears toward him. Ryan disappeared and then reappeared on the dragon''s back. However, when he tried to pierce the monster''s head with his spear, a thick iceyer suddenly appeared to protect the monster. Although Ryan was surprised, he reacted fast enough to grab his twin swords. A few shes made the creature tremble and also melt the ice. Before the monster could try to shake Ryan off, he pierced the Paralyzing Spear on the monster''s neck with both hands. "GYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The scream surprised Ryan since it seemed quite feminine for a dragon. Still, a female or a male dragon were both Ryan''s targets. The gender of a monster doesn''t matter. With all his might, Ryan grabbed his hammer and then hit his spear. Blood gushed from the wound and drenched Ryan''s body. Despite the disgusting feeling, Ryan achieved his goal as the dragon lost control over its body and began to fall. Ryan stopped his attacks to check his surroundings and confirmed that the remaining dragon still was trying to get rid of the giant bees, and the other one hadn''t appeared yet. When Ryan resumed his attack, he saw the deep hatred inside the blue dragon''s eyes. The creature was as good as dead, and yet, the dragon didn''t beg for its life. Ryan couldn''t respect that much willpower, but only that. With his twin fire swords, Ryan attacked the neck of the monster many times. In the end, defenseless and paralyzed, the light-blue dragon didn''t survive even for another minute. You obtained 45.000 coins. Ryan saw some items dropping on the ground, but he decided to finish that fight once and for all before picking them up. As expected, even though thest dragon received some wounds here and there, the bastard annihted the giant bees with its breath attack. Since his Paralyzing Spear pierced the dragon''s head quite deeply, Ryan lost some time pulling it back, and when he did it, thest group of bees had been burned to crisp. Ryan sighed since he had to work hard for a full day to summon them, but in the end, he made the dragon pay dearly for it. Ryan used sh and pierced the weapon in one of the monster''s eyes. However, much to his surprise, the creature wasn''t paralyzed by the weapon''s effect. The dragon tried to crush Ryan, and he had to leave his spear behind. Before continuing the fight, the dragon pulled the weapon and threw it away in the distance. "You motherfucker¡­" Ryan muttered in anger. The dragon not only gained some distance over Ryan but also made sure to use one of its hands to protect its remaining eye. Ryan moved around to confirm something and noticed that while the creature had closed its remaining eye with a hand, it could still feel his presence. Using his hammer probably wasn''t a good idea since the monster apparently had some high-level elemental resistances. So, Ryan decided to retreat and then equip his bow. When he nocked one of his special arrows, the dragon noticed that something was off and then opened its mouth to breathe fire. However, the only thing the monster managed to burn was the snow. The dragon felt Ryan''s presence above its head, but it was already toote. Ryan didn''t use Power Shot, but the arrow pierced the monster''s skull quite a bit. The pain paralyzed the dragon for a few months, and that only helped Ryan. Without a hint of hesitation, he fired the other four arrows and made them hit the butt of the first one. The arrow pierced the dragon''s head with each hit, and in the end, it reached the monster''s brain. You obtained 45.000 coins. The monster didn''t drop a single item, but Ryan was more than satisfied with four dragon hearts. "Let''s see what the other one dropped¡­" Surprisingly, it was magic items. A pair of blue gauntlets. Those seemed pretty cool since there were two blue gems on the top of the weapons. Frozen Gauntlets Effect: It decreases the speed and mentality of foes for three seconds when you attack them with these weapons. The effect can stack. Strength + 40, Endurance + 30. Those were some nice gauntlets. It was a pity Ryan wasn''t the type to fight by punching things, but they certainly wille in handy. If anything, he can always trade them if ites down to it, Lilian or Luke, as long as they have a nice tome. Times was of the essence, so Ryan used all the skills he could to grab the dragon hearts as fast as possible. Although the only dragon was missing, there was no telling if the little beast didn''t leave to call others. After all, not even dragons could kill other dragons in one shot¡­ possible. Your strength increased by 20 points. Your endurance increased by 20 points. Your intelligence increased by 20 points. "No luck this time, huh¡­ Well, I guess I should be satisfied that I decreased the poption of dragons by four. Anyway, it is time to recover thest dragon heart and my spear." Hopefully, the spear would be easy to find since the dragon only focused on making Ryan unable to use the weapon during the fight, not to make him lose the weapon forever. It was getting dark, so maybe approaching at night would be better. However, considering the damage of his special arrows caused, Ryan felt confident in taking thest dragon without a surprise attack. He still had some potions, after all. Regardless, Long Ind waspletely devasted. As expected, just like the dragons destroyed all the escape routes on Shreveport, all the bridges have beenpletely destroyed. Thanks to the snow, the smell of death wasn''t so strong, but the piles of rubble showed Ryan how much the ce had suffered. Fortunately, Ryan didn''t find any sign of monsters, probably due to those five dragons, but he also didn''t find any sign of thest one. On the other hand, he found the body of the first dragon he killed quite fast. However, the monster had been attacked after it had died. The creature''s chest had been ravaged by something and that very something also stole the dragon heart that belonged to Ryan. Chapter 211 - Megalodons Power "What happened here¡­ it looks like¡­ a dragon attacked this fallen dragon to eat the dragon''s heart. Ryan frowned." That was rather disturbing, but then Ryan recalled Orgar''s words, some dragons be like that¡­ their thirst for power is so big that they attack their own kin. In any case, that was weird, only thest dragon could have done that, but it wouldn''t exin the other dragons would stay close to such a dangerous ally. Instead of worrying about an enemy that had flown instead of fighting him, Ryan decided to look for his spear. Unfortunately, Search only worked on living beings, so Ryan had to look for his weapon the hard way. On the other hand, Ryan knew the spear''s trajectory, so he won''t have to waste too much time looking. He was already on the right path. To avoid surprises, Ryan activated Radar, but he didn''t find anything. Not even a single living presence could be found, heard, or felt on Long Ind. That was very disheartening. Although it would be troublesome to Ryan if he finds some survivors since he had other business, it would be better than just confirming that there was not a single survivor left. After a while, Ryan finally found his spear¡­ hanging in a semi-destroyed harbor and about to fall on the ocean. One didn''t have to be a genius to know that was one hell of a scary coincidence. Regardless, Ryan wouldn''t approach the ocean knowing what was waiting for him there, so he used Wind Maniption to obtain control over his spear and pull it back to him. However, the very moment he used his magic, a gigantic creature jumped out from the ocean and moved toward him. "You have got to be kidding me!" Ryan said. Ryan was fifty meters away from the ocean, but a fucking megalodon still jumped to cross that distance and attack him. While he was feeling a shrive like no other, he used all his might to pull back the spear as fast as possible, and then he used sh when the weapon was back in his hand. Somehow, Ryan escaped, but if he had been a blink of an eyete¡­ Regardless, the megalodon ended up kissing the snow, and the ground and the impact made the entire area tremble. When the creature recovered, it began to move like a fish out of water and toward the ocean. "As if I would let you!" Ryan used Iplete Reptilian Transformation and then threw his spear. The Paralyzing Spear hit the monster''s head, but it didn''t pierce that deeply. However, the megalodon began to get electrocuted, and Ryan made sure to hold his weapon by using Wind Maniption and make the monster suffer just like that. Megalodon ¨C Lv 75 Health: 45.000/45.000 Mana: 30.000/30.000 Stamina: 20.000/20.000 Strength: 700 Dexterity: 750 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 1000 Control: 300 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 200 Recovery: 3000 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Swim Lv 150 Spells: Water Creation Lv 100, Water Maniption Lv 120 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 150, Cold Resistance Lv 100 "The heck¡­ those are some weird statuses," Ryan frowned. Although Ryan didn''t lose his focus and electric attacks were supposed to be the megalodon''s weakness, the monster somehow managed to muster the strength to return to the ocean in a single sault. Noticing what was about to happen, Ryan retrieved his spear. Ryan sighed in relief and then got the hell out of there since it was clear he couldn''t defeat such a monster. Maybe they were weak against physical attacks, but Ryan will have a hard time dealing that kind of damage in a monster that spends most of his time in the ocean, and as far as magic was concerned, he wasn''t strong enough. "I guess I can''t be a master of all in just two months¡­" Ryan left Long Ind full of doubts. Although he could one-shot kill dragons as long as he has enough time to prepare, killing megalodons seemed impossible following the same strategy. After all, they won''t expose themselves outside of water for more than a few seconds. In a sense, those creatures were much troublesome than dragons. That wasn''t on his ns yet, but if one day Ryan decides to check things on other continents, those monsters will be a pain in the ass since they can jump pretty high. "It is almost as if this whole situation wants to make humans hole on the grounds in fear¡­ megalodons in the ocean, dragons in the sky¡­ this is a sick joke." Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cold Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all ice-type attacks and the effects of cold environments by one point per level, even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. Although his smander was using its methrower to heat things whenever possible, Ryan finally obtained that skill. Now he finally realized the smander already obtained the skill, and it was already at level five¡­ maybe his mentality prevented him from suffering the effects of cold until now. Still, now that he was heading north, things were starting to get chilly for him. "Might as well take a break here and let the smander level up the skill slowly instead of risking freezing the monster." Ryan didn''t know for how long he will have to work in order to clear the skeletons'' dungeon, so he might as well rest while he can before he enters their territory. In the end, Ryan created a small house of earth and then covered everything with snow. Every single creature will see that and think it was only a rock covered in snow from a distance. Ryan avoided even creating a chimney not to give his location to any creature, even though things got really cold at night¡­ cold and ufortable since he didn''t even have a sleeping bag. Ryan sighed before falling asleep¡­ now more than ever, he wanted an item to store useful things in a magical dimension. He deserved at least thefort of pleasant sleep. ss: Hunter Lv 44 (+ 01 UP / Elementalist Lv 44 (+ 01 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 545th Health: 465/465 (2. 26 /s) Mana: 839/839 (2. 26 /s) Stamina: 629/629(2.26 /s) Strength: 30 (+101) (+60) Dexterity: 800 (+619) (+27) Speed: 70 (+255) (+28) Intelligence: 80 (+288) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+99) (+100) Control: 06 (+275) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+16) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 520 (+639) (+200) Willpower: 09 (+16) Coins: 1.230.442 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 42 (+ 04 UP), Herculean Strength Lv 16 (+ 04 UP), Arrow Shower Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Backstab Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Hawkeye Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Precision Lv 38 (+ 03 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 32 (+ 04 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 43 (+ 03 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 26 (+ 06 UP), Master Lv 01, Learn Lv 01, Spells: Analysis Lv 09 (+ 04 UP), Strong Arms Lv 18 (+ 03 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 38 (+ 03 UP), Tame Lv 48 (+ 7 UP), Call Lv 48 (+ 03 UP), Force Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Memory Lv 01, Stamina Restoration Lv 01, Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 21 (+ 02 UP), Master''s Support Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), Ice Bound Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Wand Mastery Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 42 (+ 02 UP), Beastmaster Lv 23 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 33 (+ 01 UP), Mercenary Lv 19 (+ 02 UP), Corsair Lv 09, Summoner Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), Combat Archer Lv 12 (+ 02 UP), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 20, Trickster Lv 08, Bard Lv 03, Navigator Lv 04, Disciple Lv 01, Chapter 212 - Skeletons When Ryan woke up, Cold Resistance had reached level five, and the smander also had progressed even more since the monster was weaker against ice. However, Ryan also noticed that the max health, mana, and stamina of the monster had decreased for some reason. After a while, he finally saw that his monster had grown thin. "This might be a problem¡­ I should have let the smander eat the dragons while it could. To make matters worse, skeletons can''t be eaten." Ryan had no idea what type of boss he would find near the skeletons'' dungeon, but he was pretty sure that anything rted to skeletons wouldn''t be tasty or nutritious. Moreover, probably only slimes could fight without having to eat. Golems maybe could do that too, but Ryan could summon or tame them right at the moment. "I will leave my future problems for the future me¡­" Since the poor smander was already suffering enough as it is, Ryan decided to walk instead of mounting his pet. In any case, soon they had to stop because they found some new friends. It was kind of surprising that those didn''t approach the hideout Ryan used for the night. Skeleton Archer - Lv 55 Health: 700/700 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 150 Dexterity: 750 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 250 Endurance: 50 Control: 400 Mentality: 350 Luck: 500 Recovery: 300 Willpower: 350 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 50, Art of Sniping Lv 50, Spells: me Arrow Lv 50, Frozen Arrow Lv 50, Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 50 Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he saw three skeletons in the distance walking in his direction. Although Mark mentioned skeletons, he never said they used weapons. Regardless, the only difference from what Ryan had imagined is that those guys had a bow and quiver. "Level 55 is higher than the other monsters of other dungeons¡­ that is unexpected given that they probably didn''t have to fight all that much." It was the first time Ryan saw an opponent who could use the same skills. Probably thanks to those, skeletons had some advantage against certain species of monsters. Regardless, just as he had nned, Ryan grabbed his hammer and decided to hide in the snow to surprise the creatures. sh had leveled up quite a bit, but Ryan wasn''t satisfied with its range yet, and he wanted to make the skeletons help him with that. It didn''t take long for the monsters to get close enough. Maybe it was due to the fact that they were undead and didn''t have any instincts. They didn''t notice Ryan hidden inside the snow, alongside his smander that never stopped trembling. As if they were machines, the monsters prepared the weapons in perfect synchrony and tried to attack Ryan. By using all his might, hepletely smashed one of them. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bash. Effect: Increases your strength by ten points for your next melee attack. Cost: 02 Stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan weed the notification, but before he could celebrate, the other two skeletons were already aiming their bows toward his head. Ryan used sh and reappeared behind another one, and this time he made sure to use the creature as a wall to prevent the other''s attack. After activating Bash, Ryan smashed the second skeleton and reached on time to block the arrow of thest one. However, even though he blocked it, the attack still pushed him backward a few meters. "Just like me¡­ a lot of firepower, but absolutely close to none physical defenses." In the end, Ryan was forced to use sh again since the skeletons were that fast to nock their arrows. Regardless, Ryan won without suffering damage, and that was what he always looked for in the fights. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. After dying, the skeleton''s body became dust. As expected, the smander won''t even be able to munch on their bones. Not that Ryan expected that would be enough to feed the beast¡­ Regardless, a couple of seconds after they resumed the walking, Ryan saw another group of skeletons. They also had bows, but they weren''ting toward his direction. They were a few hundred of meters West from his current position. "Given that two months have passed, I thought they would have dominated all the area around New York, but it seems that they only started their ns of conquest recently¡­ Why? Is it because of the Dire Wolves?" Ryan wasn''t quite sure of the details, but in his head, dire wolves were creatures that inhabited coldnds. Given that they now returned with magic powers, possibly, he concluded that the cause of the snow in a certain area of the region was due to them. He knew things were about to get colder while heading North, but things were way colder than he expected, and he couldn''t find any other exnation for it aside from them. In any case, even if they were to me, Ryan had to deal with themter. First of all, he had to clear the skeletons'' army and dungeon. Surprising long-ranged fighters wasn''t something easy, even more so when the distance between was quiterge. So, Ryan decided to change his strategy a little bit. He ran toward the monsters, and when the creatures noticed him, he threw his Paralyzing Spear and the twin long-swords. The skeletons dodged the attack with ease, but they lost sight of Ryan for a brief moment. They only saw him again when he fell from the sky and smashed one of the skeletons with his hammer. After that, things happened the same way as before, and the monsters didn''t have time to do anything. The fact that the skeletons could be fast and precise like machines that was their strength but also a weakness because that only meant their adaptability was terrible. Maybe Ryan could use that in his favor... Chapter 213 - Tough Foe Although it was a necessity, after a while, Ryan kind of got tired of using sh. Due to the fact that the skill consumed a lot of mana and the number of encounters was increasing, he could only fight using melee weapons. Still, things were proceeding too slow for Ryan''s tastes. "I am never satisfied¡­" Ryan sighed. Some sacrifices had to be made to achieve certain things, Ryan realized that. Still, he couldn''t help but always move in a hurry and feel satisfied when the progress didn''t satisfy him. In the end, Ryan decided to sacrifice some coins to gain time. Instead of killing every single skeleton he found, he just killed those that blocked his way. Fortunately, by doing so, he had just enough mana to use sh whenever was possible during the fights. In any case, before sunset, Ryan and his smander finally found the skeletons'' dungeon. It was right in the middle of a ce called Chestertown. It seemed like a small town before, but Ryan couldn''t be sure because snow covered everything. "What the heck is going on with the climate? Just by walking for a few hundreds of kilometers, the snow became so deep and thick¡­" Ryan barely missed it since they soon left, but he saw some skeletons and dire wolves fighting in the distance. No¡­ the dire wolves were getting their ass kicked since their numbers were small, and the skeletons could use me Arrows. In any case, Dire wolves wererger than Ryan imagined. They were at least five feet tall and ten or twelve long. A thick white fur covered their bodies, and their eyes were red like blood. "Maybe it is because of them the skeletons didn''t head South until now¡­ wait, what is that?" The skeleton army had dozens of thousands, but their numbers weren''t what surprised Ryan, but the fact that even the ordinary skeletons were divided into many groups. Some of them even had armor, shield, and swords. While others had magic wands, could fly, and were wearing robes. Skeleton Knight - Lv 55 Health: 1.500/1.500 Mana: 300/300 Stamina: 700/700 Strength: 750 Dexterity: 250 Speed: 250 Intelligence: 250 Endurance: 750 Control: 200 Mentality: 750 Luck: 200 Recovery: 500 Willpower: 750 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bash Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 50, Shield Mastery Lv 50, Spells: Mana Shield Lv 50, Bronze Skin Lv 50, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 50, Fire Resistance Lv 50 Skeleton Wizard - Lv 55 Health: 500/500 Mana: 1.500/1.500 Stamina: 300/300 Strength: 200 Dexterity: 700 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 750 Endurance: 300 Control: 400 Mentality: 750 Luck: 200 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 750 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Alert Lv 50, Spells: me Arrow Lv 50, Frozen Arrow Lv 50, Thunder Arrow Lv 50, Fly Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50 It was weird that a single dungeon could spawn three types of monsters¡­ they weren''t three types exactly, but they had three types of builds, and that was already crazy enough. To make matters worse, the army of skeletons was well-organized. First of all, the skeletons knights formed a massive defensive line around the dungeon. Based on Ryan''s estimations, for every four skeletons, two of them were skeletons knights. Right behind the skeletons knights, Ryan saw several groups formed only by skeleton mages. Although they could fly, they probably never leave that position in the middle of a fight because their attacks weren''t as long as the archers. In any case, spells like them can hit just fine any enemy in that position. They just had to adjust their aim a little bit. Deep on the backline, Ryan found the archers. Although their numbers wererger than the wizards, they couldn''t bepared to the knights. Probably due to the nature of their long-ranged attacks, they were the only monsters Ryan saw on the way to the dungeon. They were weak physically, but in groups of three, they could get rid of most enemies. "This will take a while¡­" Even if Ryan uses his summons or slowly snipes the enemies from a distance, he couldn''t tell what might happen since he didn''t find the bosses. Most likely, all of them were sapient beings. Only such creatures could make brain-dead monsters follow that kind of formation, after all. Regardless, Ryan''s old tactics won''t work now. Bleed doesn''t work on skeletons, so summoning the giant bees was out of the question. Attacking at night from above also wouldn''t work since they have wizards and archers. Ryan wasn''t that patient, but it looked like the only thing he could do was to slowly decrease the size of enemies'' army with short but concentrated attacks. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­ I want to be a one-man army, but I am not one yet. So, in this kind of situation, I have to be patient and do what I can." Fortunately, Ryan would be able to use surprise attacks as much as he wanted. The snow was high, and he could hide inside of it with ease. Not only that, he could hide his trials and sign of his actions by using Water Maniption and Water Transformation. After all, just like he could transform the water of the atmosphere into ice, he could transform all the cold of the region into the snow as well. First of all, Ryan decided to hide his smander a few kilometers away from the dungeon since the creature wasn''t as quiet as Ryan. Meanwhile, Ryan also checked his skill list and wondered which skills coulde in handy. Magic Trap seemed like one of them. However, since it was at a low-level, it wasn''t strong enough to kill a single skeleton, not even the ones which had low health. Ryan waited for a while until things get really dark in that region. Since it was snowing, the visibility was quite low, so the conditions were perfect for Ryan. Moving inside the snow, Ryan approached the dungeon until he found a point where the skeletons and he were basically on the same level. Nothing was blocking his path, and with a single shot, as long as his arrow has enough energy, Ryan knew that he could destroy several skeletons. Finding those conditions is going to be hard, but at the moment, that was the only thing Ryan could do. Ryan began to charge his Power Shot, and then he had an amazing idea¡­ then, he smirked since that would help him a lot. After charging Power Shot until his mana and stamina almost got empty, Ryan fired. However, at thest moment, he used Force to change the trajectory of the projectile. Chapter 214 - Hard Time Ryan''s arrow made a lot of snow fly, but before the skeletons could notice that, and the entire squad got wiped out by his attack. Surprisingly enough, Ryan saw the moment the skeletons raised their shields to block his arrow¡­ even though he charged his arrow for fifteen seconds¡­ You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. ¡­ Ryan covered the hole in the snow his arrow created, and then he waited for the monsters to head toward a point several meters to his left side, but the creatures never did. That was odd. If the skeletons managed to react to his projectile, they were supposed to know that the arrow came from such a direction. "I wanted to mislead them, but¡­ it won''t be easy, huh." Something smells fishy¡­ Lately, Ryan had that kind of feeling many times. The behavior of the monsters was changing quite a lot. Maybe Ryan should wait until sunrise, and then he will attack when the dire wolves appear. Certainly, the attention of the skeletons will be divided, and his job will be easier. However, Ryan being Ryan, he didn''t want to win by relying on other factors. "Let''s see¡­ this shot just killed for skeletons, and I can fire one of those every five minutes. So, I can kill around seven hundred skeletons per hour. Not bad, I guess. The question is: will the skeletons let that happen and don''t try anything?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There was only one way to find out. However, Ryan didn''t want to find out without having a countermeasure or two. After thinking for a while, he had an idea. It wouldn''t be that efficient, but at least it would make the bastard who was controlling the skeletons hold his horses if something happens. Ryan moved dozens of meters from the position of his first shot, and then he prepared another one. He repeated the same actions, so the result had been the same. However, soon after, a group of skeletons got wiped out. Two groups on the sides began to move toward the direction the arrow came from. Those groups had eighty knights and forty skeletons and wizards in each group. Without mana and stamina, Ryan wouldn''t be able to fight them. However, the skeletons stopped when they began to get hit by somethinging from the underground. One after the other, the skeletons knights suffered damage and got sent flying upward. That alone halted both groups'' charge. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Magic Trap has leveled up. Magic Trap Lv 1 ? Lv 8 Effect: It creates a magic trap hidden underground. When your target passes above it, the trap is activated, causing magic damage equal to your intelligence. When the enemy''s mentality is lower than your intelligence, the target will also be snared for two seconds. Cost: 30 mana You obtained 07 status points. "They moved almost instantly¡­ as expected. They were expecting the second attack to confirm my position. My guess is that once the same thing happens, they will be more cautious, but the same trick won''t work twice, even more so if the bosses are the ones controlling them." That was kind of troublesome; still, it could work well as training for Ryan. He wasn''t strong yet to overpower every single opponent that gets in his way, so Ryan needed to be more adaptable to unexpected situations. He had to make most of the situations, after all. A direct powerful attack was too obvious, so Ryan decided to attack the backline and see they respond to it. Luckily enough, snow began to fall even more intense at that moment, so when Ryan used Arrow Shower, the skeletons didn''t notice from where Ryan was attacking. That being said, the archers and wizards responded to his attack by using their own projectiles to block the attack. In the end, only five skeletons were defeated before Ryan''s mana got empty. "How annoying¡­ let''s see how they will respond to this." Using Water Transformation, Ryan began to concentrate the snow that was about to fall around him over his hand until it turned into ice. Little by little, the sphere grew in size, and when Ryan used around eighty percent of his mana, a sphere of ten meters of the radius was floating above him. Still, instead of firing at the skeletons, Ryan shot it upward. Only after a couple of seconds, the sphere fell above one squad of skeletons. However, once again, the knights reacted fast enough to save half of the squad. That was getting old really quick, but Ryan decided to test one more thing before observing how the skeletons would react if he repeats his previous attacks. Ryan grabbed his twin long swords and then took a deep breath. He had to approach a little more to use that attack. It was unfortunate, but the range of Fire Storm was one hundred meters. That was probably the range the skeleton wizards had, but for someone quite Ryan¡­ it was quite never-wracking to get that close of his foes. Regardless, while crunching underneath the snow, the skeletons never saw him. By swing, both swords at the same time, Ryan cast Fire Storm, and two tornadoes of mes appeared right inside the skeleton''s formation. The monsters tried to protect themselves with their shields, but they couldn''t endure the power of such mes. It was a level fifty spell, after all. Although Ryan only managed to keep the attack active for eight seconds, it had been more than enough to wipe three whole squads. Before he could get carried away even further, Ryan decided to retreat. However, at the same time, the skeletons began to march in all directions. They apparently gave up on trying to find Ryan based on the direction his attackse from, and they decided to destroy everything in the area. For starters, but skeleton wizards began to melt all the snow. Chapter 215 - Arrival Ryan was a hot-blooded idiot, he knew that, but he wasn''t aplete imbecile. Once he recognized what the skeletons were nning to do, he began to move away from the dungeon while he still was hiding underneath the snow. "There is no mistake, they are being controlled¡­ even if monsters might use Telekinesis, there is no way that they can have this much synchrony relying on such skill alone. Most likely, the bosses are in synchrony controlling them." That would also exin that decision-making speed. Ryan didn''t even kill one thousand of them, and the creatures had already decided to retort to big moves. Regardless, Ryan retreats to a hill where he hid his smander, and from there, he saw the monsters marching around the dungeon and melting every single bit of snow. Not even ten dragons could have melted such arge area so fast, so it became even more evident that Ryan couldn''t underestimate them. After a few hours, the skeletons finally resumed their positions around the dungeon. Regardless, their job was done, and even though it was snowing quite strong, the snow wouldn''t pile enough to grant Ryan a decent hideout. "I am starting to think that I should have be a warrior instead of archer¡­ perhaps in this kind of situation, I would be able to rush ahead and y those fuckers without worrying about dying in five seconds." Ryan also forgot about that the tome to summon golems¡­ maybe it wille in handy right now, but his pride won''t let retreat that much against monsters. Besides, there was no telling how much mana he will need to summon a single golem. "Whatever¡­ screw it." In the end, Ryan decided to give up on relying on strategy. He decided to do the only thing he was good at¡­ kill monsters from very far away. On that hill, Ryan was more or less three kilometers away from the dungeon. Even though his dexterity reached some crazy levels, it was only obvious that Ryan couldn''t hit anything from so far away. However, he didn''t have to because the monsters were conglomerated in a single spot. All he had to do was to aim in the right direction. "There is also the problem of firepower¡­ my bone arrows won''t reach so far away unless I use Power Shot." Although that seemed a bit troublesome, it was fine since Ryan will have to spend some time aiming. Focusing on uracy instead of speed was only obvious in that kind of situation. Besides, with Force at his disposal, perhaps Ryan could even hit from even further away. Without wasting any more time, Ryan equipped his bow and prepared an arrow. As he was pulling the string, his aim improved several times until it felt like he had reappeared one kilometer away from the skeletons. That wasn''t enough to hit the skeletons, but considering that his sight didn''t change after five seconds, Ryan fired anyway. As expected, the arrow flew in a straight line toward the skeletons, but after enduring so much resistance from the wind, the trajectory changed slightly downward. Ryan used Force in thest moment and then managed to correct it a little, and then the arrow hit the legs of some Skeleton knights. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. ¡­ "Ten, huh¡­ as expected, it lost a lot of power while it was flying." The good side of that was that Ryan recovered more mana than he used thanks to Active Spiritual Recovery. The downside was that he couldn''t recover his stamina that fast. It was finally time to make use of Stamina Restoration. While Ryan was using that spell, he confirmed that the skeletons didn''t change their position. That was excellent, but that advantage will onlyst for a few more hours. Once the sun starts to rise, Ryan will have to think of other ways to deal with those freaks. Congrattions! The skill Stamina Restoration has leveled up. Stamina Restoration Lv 1 ? Lv 2 Effect: Recovers one 1.1 points of stamina per second. Cost: 01 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "It looks like this skill works in the same manner as Heal¡­ it will take a while to be really efficient, but I have time. I can wait." Ryan repeated that hundreds of times overnight. Sometimes the skeletons left their position and looked for him, but they never left the area one kilometer around the dungeon. Although they had thousands on their side, the squads would get too far away from each other if they just walk in a straight line. On the other hand, they couldn''t just select a good part of their troops and go together in a single direction because that leaves the dungeon unprotected. Whoever was controlling the skeletons, they didn''t know how many enemies were waiting for an ambush, after all. After working hard for several hours non-stop, Ryan managed to kill around five thousand skeletons. However, when the sun began to rise, he was beat¡­ so exhausted that he was using his smander to rest his back. "Well, I just have to repeat this more than five times¡­" Ryan said that as if it was going to be a pain, but that wasn''t the case. Thanks to his handwork and all those difficulties, he was learning new strategies and new ways to use his skills. Even though those won''t make the numbers inside his status and skill list more impressive, they will contribute to his future. That was also another kind of important strength. However, it looked like things wouldn''t proceed that favorably. Ryan heard in the distance the sound of massive wings pping¡­ a dragon was approaching. Ryan picked his bow and special arrows, but then he rxed when he saw that dragon slowly flying toward him. Alissa had appeared¡­ much to Ryan''s displeasure. "It looks like you are having a hard time here. Maybe we super estimated you a little." Alissa suddenly appeared and said, much to Ryan''s annoyance. Chapter 216 - Dire Wolf "What do you want?" Ryan asked. "Nothing, I just came to check on you since I saw the trails you left behind," Alissa replied afternding and returning to her human form. "Although I gave you several days of advantage, you still are here, huh." "I don''t think that is the case," Ryan said. "Maybe you are lonely because yourckeys aren''t around to offer you praise." "Don''t talk as if they are members of some weird cult," Alissa said. "It looks like their behavior has been giving you some problems. As expected, the bosses are probably sapient beings who are controlling the skeletons from inside the dungeon." As much as it was annoying to have his mind being read, at least it saved Ryan from exining. Although if he had the chance, he would rather avoid exining anything. Regardless, soon after Alissa appeared, some new guests appeared as well. The dire wolves came in packs to y with the skeletons, but they didn''t bring enough numbers to be a threat to the skeletons as expected. The knights focusing on blocking their path, and the archers and wizards attacked them from a safe position. Dire Wolf- Lv 60 Health: 1.700/1.700 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 800/800 Strength: 700 Dexterity: 450 Speed: 450 Intelligence: 250 Endurance: 350 Control: 100 Mentality: 350 Luck: 100 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 350 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 70 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 40, Rage Lv 40, Spells: Ice Arrow Lv 50, Howl Lv 50, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 100, Pain Resistance Lv 50 "I give up on trying to understand what is going on¡­ their levels are even higher than the skeletons. That doesn''t make any sense¡­" "Now that is surprising," Alissa frowned. "Howe those creatures cane all this way when their bosses are facing dragons in the North?" That was one of the many things Ryan wanted to know. Regardless, he had more pressing matters at the moment with the skeletons. Although Ryan wanted some peace of mind to think about what he should do during the day, Alissa wasn''t leaving. As expected, even though she wasn''t ufortable talking with Orgar, she still misses other humans'' presence. Maybe now that she was training some humans, she had be less cold. "I am going to give you a hand since I am interested in the identity of the bosses," Alissa dered. "Although I don''t n on going for others anytime soon, but having a good idea what I might find on the other side of this dungeon might give me some insight for the future." "I don''t need your help," Ryan said. "Besides, you can always learn about thister once I clear this area. Even though you say that you don''t read my mind, you can always ask Orgar." "Don''t tter yourself," Alissa said. "I don''t have any reason to ask Orgar about the things of what you think, and he certainly doesn''t talk about the thoughts of other humans." "That might be true, but I would bet that you can gain some intel by facing the Fenrirs up north," Ryan said. "That is a pretty famous beast, after all. Even if it can''t speak, you probably can find something by reading the monsters'' memories." "We can argue about this all day, but I won''t change my mind," Alissa said. Ryan sighed¡­ in the end, Alissa''s help would solve the problem of time. However, Ryan''s pride was getting in the way as usual. In the end, he decided not to argue. Dungeons have to be cleared as fast as possible, even more so when there are two hundred of them in the country. Considering that Ryan had to work three days to clear a dungeon that broke three times and spawned smanders, things might get really messy if a third dungeon break happens in some ces that spawn things like golems, skeletons, or even demons. "It looks like you already gave up," Alissa said. "So, what should we do?" "Why are you asking me?" Ryan frowned. "Did you get used to receiving orders?" Alissa asked. "Before, I could give the calls since I was inmand, at least you considered that, but now things are different." She had a point, even though it was weird for Alissa to say that. Still, Ryan didn''t have much experience strategizing while working with others. He would never say it out loud, but things weren''t so bad before when he worked with Alissa. She would give the orders and how things would proceed, and everything he had to worry about was to fire as many arrows as possible. "¡­ Let''s just surprise the skeletons and whoever is controlling them instead of using any fancy strategy," Ryan said. "I will draw their attention and make some of them approach this ce. Meanwhile, you will stay hidden, but then you attack with everything you got when they show up. Don''t show your draconic form, though. We can''t let them understand your power so quickly." "I guess that is fine. My crossbows can''t reach them from this distance," Alissa said while furrowing her eyebrows and looking at the dungeon. "I will need to buy some more powerful ones, I guess." As expected, even Alissa had to deal with the limitations of some equipment. Although her crossbows probably could destroy the skeletons in a single shot, such a thing wouldn''t happen that frequently. Since the creatures were being controlled, eventually, they would fall back to the dungeon where their numbers would be protected, and the fight would get moreplicated. Regardless, Ryan took out all the potions from his backpack because he would need to go all out in order to make as many skeletons as possible head toward them and because he didn''t want to let Alissa monopolize all those sweet, sweet coins for herself. Hopefully, after clearing the dungeon, Ryan will be able to buy some even more impressive tomes, or at the very least, he will be able to buy two elemental transformation tomes. Chapter 217 - Lending In the end, Ryan wouldn''t need much mana for the fight, thanks to Active Spiritual Recovery. So, he put the stamina potions nearby for them to be used faster. Thanks to the sunlight, Ryan''s first shot managed to destroy half of a squad. However, he didn''t stop there. He attacked several others before they could pinpoint his location. In the end, half of the entire skeletons'' army marched toward him. Seeing that moving towards him like that, Ryan couldn''t help but feel shivers. However, he didn''t miss what happened before. The skeletons that stayed behind took position behind the first wave of enemies. If the first wave takes their time eliminating the foes, it was clear that the second wave woulde to finish the job. "Crap¡­ I won''t have time to repair my bow." With every single shot, the bone bow lost ten points of durability. It couldn''t be helped since Ryan was pouring all his mana and stamina in every single shot, but that was also troublesome. In the end, Ryan decided to forget about that and use something else when the timees. Before the bow''s string finally broke, Ryan managed to slow down the skeleton''s army for a few seconds, but eventually, they were upon him. Ryan dropped his bow and then equipped his twin long swords. "Burn now, your motherfuckers, for making me waste so much time here," Ryan said, and then he used Fire Storm. It was a pity to use so much mana in a skill he couldn''t level up, but in the end, Ryan felt satisfied with the coins and the fact that he was destroying the skeletons'' formation. His attack slowed down the skeletons even more, but just a little bit. At the end, when the archers and wizards began to attack, Alissa finally showed herself and opened her mouth. A massive wave of mes spread around the area like wildfire. It was kind of surprising that Alissa could produce so many mes with her mouth. Ryan even had a hard time looking at her attack since it felt like it indeed there was a sea of mes in front of him. Although the skeletons were caught off-guard, as expected, their formation helped them quite a bit. Most of the skeleton knights were decimated, but the archers and wizards managed to escape rtively unscathed. As much as Ryan wanted to block their path, his bow was broken, and Fire Storm had a limited range. To make most of the situation, Ryan helped Alissa decimate the skeleton knights. When the mes dissipated, Ryan confirmed that the skeletons'' army lost one-third of their forces just like that. Surprisingly enough, Alissa wasn''t pale after using so much mana. Still, she decided to recharge her batteries just to make sure since the skeletons returned to the dungeon but didn''t enter. "They will show themselves now, don''t lower your guard." Although Orgar said that Ryan didn''t see anyone leaving the dungeon, most likely, they will only show themselves once Alissa and Ryan approach or attack again. Although Alissa could attack from the same distance as Ryan, she couldn''t because she didn''t have the right weapons. Using spells seemed like the best second option, but from so far away, the effectiveness of magic attacks will decrease greatly¡­ in the end, the best option was to get indeed closer. "I used all my potions, so I guess we will have to ept their challenge," Ryan said. "I can always focus on support and recover your mana and stamina," Alissa said. "That way, we can keep decreasing their numbers safely from here." "While that is true, I would like to avoid this kind of strategy," Ryan said and then began to collect the loot. "There is no telling what might happen once they understand that they are going to lose. In the worst-case scenario, the bosses might spread the skeletons around, and when we enter the dungeon, we will be surrounded." Alissa recognized that possibility and decided not to pursue that strategy any further. Besides, even though she offered that idea, she wanted to finish things as fast as possible. Her soldiers obtained a certain of strength where only six of them can guard most dungeons. However, she only left them alone for the time being in such ces in order for them to obtain some level of independence. They weren''t at the level she wanted, and for them to reach that level, they can''t stay guarding dungeons forever. "Let''s go with my n this time," Alissa said. "I attack, and you give me some support. However, to do that, I will need those gauntlets of yours." "Why?" Ryan frowned. "Their effect is interesting, and I feel like punching things today," Alissa replied. "If I focus on using only stamina, I should be able to fight for quite a while. Thus, we won''t get caught off-guard if the bosses suddenly appear." Rather than that, it was evident that the bosses will show up when someone gets that closer to their dungeon. In any case, Ryan decided to lend his gauntlets to Alissa, even though it was weird that she didn''t have some items like that. "Hehe, now we are talking," Alissa smiled confidently while hitting the gauntlets against each other and making some ''cracking'' sounds. "Hey¡­" Ryan frowned and then said. "Rx, I can repair them as well," Alissa said. While they approached the dungeon, Alissa spent the whole time shadow-boxing. Although she was fast and precise, her punches were way too obvious, and her variety sucked. That being said, those would probably be enough against most mob monsters. "Here is what we are going to do: I will punch them and try to defeat as many as possible," Alissa dered. "However, I will probably miss many of them since I will focus on quantity over quality. Your job will be to finish them off. That way, you will be able to fight for quite a while without worrying about mana." Alissa''s n was simple but efficient to the point where Ryan couldn''t help but frown. She was really changing and bing more aware of other people''s weaknesses and strengths. The question was: for how long will that strategy work against twenty thousand skeletons? Alissa was fast, but there was a limit to everything. That being said, Ryan could easily imagine the skeletons trying to hit him and only managing to damage their allies. Maybe she was aiming for that. Regardless, Ryan''s job wasn''t to worry about that. It was to kill the leftovers. Although that sounded pathetic, Ryan decided to put his pride aside in order to finish the job as fast as possible. Chapter 218 - Darkness Resistance It was obvious, but Alissa and Ryan couldn''t just walk in a straight line toward the skeletons'' army. So, at some point, Alissa cast the invisibility spell on them. Although their footprints could be found in the snow, the skeletons never noticed their approach. Things got even better when a new pack of dire wolves suddenly appeared in the north and started to cause havoc. "Now¡­" Alissa and then she jumped. The spell will stay active until Ryan and Alissa cause damage, so Ryan didn''t get caught off-guard. However, he sighed when Alissa fell on the middle of the squad and made the entire area tremble with a single punch. She eliminated the entire squad and also broke the formation of several others who were nearby. Surprisingly enough, some skeletons even froze on the spot. "I didn''t think my gauntlets could have such arge area of effect¡­" Ryan fired Earth Bullets andpletely shattered the skeletons, which froze on the spot. Meanwhile, Alissa turned to the side and then began to sweep the skeleton knights as if they had the leaves'' resistance. Although Alissa killed most of them, Ryan wasn''t fast enough to kill those who got frozen. "Ah¡­ screw it." Ryan used Power of Money on those who were almost dead and increased his pace. However, things didn''t improve all that much since some archers and wizards recognized his presence and level of danger. Ryan equipped his shield to block their attacks, and he prevented the damage. However, at the same time, his attacking speed decreased. "It can''t be helped¡­ let''s leave the leftovers forter. Although even Alissa recognizes how troublesome the skeletons knights can be, I won''t do much while those freaks are focusing on me." Ryan equipped one of his longswords and then used Fire Storm. Even though his targets had low health, it took a while for him to decimate all of them, and when he did it, other archers and wizards decided to focus on him. "I guess we can''t ignore them," Alissa said after suddenly appearing. "I wanted to prevent them from assuming a troublesome formation, but¡­" While Alissa was talking, some shadows left the dungeon. However, Ryan and Alissa could lose their focus, their concentration wane when they say those weird figures. The bosses were using ck robes that covered their entire body. Although Ryan couldn''t see a face inside their hoods, a single word came to his mind: reappear. However, that was strange. They didn''t have the famous reaper''s scythe¡­ Instead of attacking Alissa and Ryan, the cloaked monsters began to fly in a circle around the dungeon. After a few seconds, they increased their altitude and began to spread the circle. They were plotting something¡­ "Retreat, I will deal with them," Alissa dered. As usual, Alissa was reckless. Ryan tried to use Appraisal, but for some reason, the skill didn''t work. That was odd¡­ he couldn''t feel that much difference in power between them. Regardless, before Ryan could retreat or Alissa could transform into a dragon. Those creatures cast a massive shadow over the entire area. In the blink of an eye, everything became pitch ck. To make matters worse, Ryan couldn''t feel, hear or see anything, even though he had Nocturnal Eyes. Suddenly, Ryan felt his arm burning. He didn''t know what had happened, but the tingling pain made him think that something scratched him. Suddenly, something began to shine in the distance, something big. However, Ryan couldn''t identify what that was¡­ weirdly enough. He couldn''t even close his eyes. "This is an anti-life field, a spell that nullifies your physical senses. You can''t rely on your body alone here; you need to use your spirit." "anti-life field? What kind of bullshit is that?" That was someplicated exnation. Anti-life field? What kind of crazy spell was that? Maybe a dragon could do things without a body, but Ryan was someone who only relied on his sense until now to do every single thing. There was no way he would be able to pull that off. Once again, Ryan felt another part of his arm burning. He was getting damaged by something. That was weird¡­ howe he felt that when the spell cast by those weird monsters was supposed to nullify senses? Now that Ryan thought about it, it was also weird that he could think. "Use your mind! Dumbass! I can hear your thoughts, so that means that your spirit still is working. The fact that you can feel the damage also proves that. So, if your spirit is working, you can use mana! Just hang in there for a bit, and I will solve this mess." Ryan didn''t understand Orgar''s words again, but it felt like the spirit alone was the only thing one had to have in order to use magic. After thinking for a while, Ryan recalled that Orgar also mentions his ability to think¡­ those were the keys. Although Ryan couldn''t control his hands, he managed to activate Heal, and then the pain began to lessen. However, now and then, Ryan felt like he was being attacked by something weird. Suddenly, the light began to expand, and then eventually, the darkness began to shatter like ss. When Ryan opened his eyes again, he saw the skeleton army running over him and toward Alissa''s direction. "Those fuckers¡­ did they seriously think to kill me by stepping over me? Ryan bit his lips in annoyance." Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Darkness Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all Dark-type attacks by one point. You obtained 01 status point. The cloaked figures were flying over Alissa, so it was evident that they think that Ryan was only a small bug. That simple thought enraged Ryan so much that he bits his lips, and he didn''t stop even though his mouth started to bleed quite a bit. "I will show you¡­ I will show you all that you deserve for looking down on me, your fuckers. Prepare to die like the low-lives that you are." Chapter 219 - Do You Like That? Ryan''s weapons had been spread around when the skeletons'' army had knocked him over. However, they were close by, and he didn''t even have to pick them. Ryan used Wind Maniption and obtained full control over all of them. At the same time, he had the idea to make them spin as fast as possible before sending them toward the skeletons. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. ¡­ "How do you like that, huh?" Ryan shouted when his hammer broke into pieces, several skeleton archers. Although he was enraged, Ryan''s control over his spells didn''t decrease. If anything, he got better now that he lost all hesitation. Still, he was in the middle of the skeletons'' army, and those creatures finally got aware of his presence. However, those who pointed their weapons at him didn''t have enough time to counterattack. Ryan''s spinning weapons flying around him quickly stopped the monsters and cleared the area around Ryan. Since many skeletons were around him, only those who have a clear vision could attack Ryan. However, he never gave them the chance to do so. Things were going to change once the circle around Ryan increased in size, but he didn''t let that happen. Ryan dashed toward his left side, where the skeletons came from. In the blink of an eye, he left the range of the monsters he left behind. Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. Swordsmanship Lv 20 ? Lv 21 Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up. Swordsmanship Lv 33 ? Lv 34 Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan''s skills were leveling up like crazy, and at the same time, he wasn''t running out of mana since his attacks with those weapons became like an area of effect attacks and decimated several of them at the same time. However, Ryan was forced to stop his rampage. "Look out. Some of them areing for you." Alissa warned. Although he hadpletely forgotten about Alissa and Orgar, Ryan reacted on time to see some of those cloaked figures moving toward him. It was only obvious that Alissa wouldn''t be able to hold back more than one hundred bosses. Regardless, Ryan was the type who would rather avoid facing several bosses without keeping his distance, but at that moment, he was too enraged to care about it. The bosses seemed like creatures from the beyond. Even though they were so close to Ryan, he still couldn''t see their expressions. It looked as if their bodies were made of shadows¡­ However, despite that, Ryan saw those creatures'' hesitation when they slowed down and saw Ryan''s mouth bleeding. "What''s wrong? Do you want to dance, too?" Ryan asked. The five bosses pointed their hands toward Ryan, and he grunted when suddenly, his body got heavier. Gravity magic¡­ that was unexpected, but they weren''t the only ones who liked to surprise others. Ryan used sh to escape the effects of their spell, but that didn''t work. However, in the end, that worked well for Ryan since he reappeared above one of the monsters with his Paralyzing Spear on hand. With all his might and added with the power of gravity, Ryan pierced one of the bosses and pushed down the creature until both of them hit the soil. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Gravity Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all gravity-type attacks by one point. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan felt his bones cracking when hended, but he withstood the pain at the same time since he could feel that the monster was even more in pain. Surprisingly enough, the other bosses didn''t cancel their spells, even though their ally was about to die, thanks to it. Instead of that, they changed the direction of their spells. One secondter, Ryan''s limbs were forcefully being pointed in different directions. As if that wasn''t enough, the pulling force was bing unbearable¡­ those fuckers wanted to dismember him. "Thanks for the demonstration," Ryan smirked. Ryan used giarism, and without hesitation, he used the same spell to knock down the bosses. The creatures fell on the ground, and even though they suffered some damage, they soon felt some relief since the spell was canceled¡­ Ryan had used all his mana to stop them. However, the relief disappeared soon after. Ryan impaled the monsters with his magic weapons and didn''t let them go until all of them died. You obtained 15.000 coins. You obtained 15.000 coins. You obtained 15.000 coins. ¡­ "That was refreshing¡­" Ryan said. Somehow, Ryan managed to defeat the bosses, but the battle wasn''t over yet. Now his mana was almost empty, and the ordinary skeletons already surrounded him. Rage''s effects were also starting to disappear, so things were bound to get messy at that rate. "Attack while you can, your freaks," Ryan said and then grabbed his long swords. "This will be yourst chance." Ryan dashed toward the monsters in order to make them hesitate to wound their allies. However, this time, the monsters didn''t do that. They began to bombard their allies with arrows and spells while aiming at Ryan. Most of them missed, but some of them hit Ryan and made his head cool down even more. "Why are they attacking each other now? Is it because some of those bosses died?" Ryan took a peek at the sky and saw Alissa fighting against many of the monsters, but their numbers had decreased quite a lot. Their focus was solely on Alissa now. Thanks to it, the skeletons were doing crazy things. Without any other choice, Ryan began to open his path by using brute strength alone. It was all that he could do in order to recover his mana, but even so, as expected, he wasn''t physically strong enough to kill the monsters by using weapons such as swords. So, he had to rely on the Power of Money to finish them off. Chapter 220 - A Little Bit It took a while since Ryan had to use Heal several times, but eventually, he recovered his mana and magic weapons. It was time for the counter-attack¡­ Without any hesitation, Ryan made his weapons spin again, and like tornadoes, they imed the lives of the skeletons. Every second weapon would destroy one of them, so Ryan could recover two hundred mana points per second. Considering that he had to use around 150 mana points to use his weapons like that, things were proceeding well. However, Ryan couldn''t move a lot while keeping that concentration level, so he was forced to use his shield to block the skeletons'' attacks. He also used Wind Maniption to control the shield, and thanks to it, now he was spending more mana than he recovered. "Now what¡­" For some reason, Ryan''s mind was working really well that day. Soon he had an idea, and he decided to put it into practice since it looked promising. However, before anything, he had to get away from the skeletons. With all his might and by using his shield to protect his back, Ryan used Dash and some skills that could boost his speed to gain some distance over the monsters. After a while, he turned around and then saw several fireballs, ice arrows, and ordinary arrows flying toward him. Although that was the first time he tried to pull that off, Ryan seeded in blocking the ordinary arrows with his shield, and then he obtained control over the Fireballs by using Fire Maniption. After that, he used them to melt the ice arrows. "All that training is finally paying off¡­ Still, I should save the fire spells forter. Let''s also stop using Wind Maniption¡­ a single block of the earth should be enough to stop the arrows and ice spells." Since they were doing what they wanted, the skeletons never managed to scratch Ryan. They were brain-dead creatures, after all. Regardless, before his mana could get empty again, Ryan mixed all the fireballs to create a single one and then sent them back to the skeletons. In the blink of an eye, dozens of them exploded, and Ryan''s mana was full again. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. You obtained 40 coins. ¡­ Things could have be even easier if Ryan could manipte ice, but he couldn''t stop the Ice Arrows even though he had Water Maniption and Water Transformation. Regardless, the number of skeletons was decreasing at a steady pace¡­ Still, as usual, things wouldn''t go that smoothly forever. "Alissa needs your help." "I don''t need anyone''s help." "Now you sound just like him." Ryan suddenly heard their voices through Telepathy and then looked at the sky and saw Alissa slowly losing altitude. She wasn''t attacking anymore, even though only thirty or bosses were alive. "What is going on there?" Ryan frowned. "Those creatures are weird; it is almost as if¡­ they are sacrificing themselves to measure Alissa''s strength. They didn''t do anything aside from using Gravity to slow her down and make her spend more energy." "So, she is tired because her body is heavier?" Ryan asked. "I am not heavy!" Alissa protested. "What a time to try to be feminine¡­" Ryan shrugged. "Are you guys idiots? If gravity is a problem with that size, just fight on your human form. Those creatures are weak against negative effects, so my gauntlets wille in handy." Alissa and Orgar didn''t say anything. As expected, they didn''t even consider solving the problem like that¡­ that is what you gain for having muscles for brains. Not even Ryan, who always wanted to overpower his opponents with his arrows, was that dumb. When Alissa returned to her human form, she used all her mana to decrease the effects of the enemies'' gravity spells and to fly. Although she wasn''t as fast as she could be, fighting like that was much easier than fighting in her draconic form, and just like Ryan mentioned, the bosses froze and sometimes even died after a single punch. It was a pity that Ryan wouldn''t obtain the loot of the bosses, but in the end, he resumed his task of eliminating the skeletons. Somehow, when the sun started to set, Ryan and Alissa were the only ones left to tell the tale about what happened. asionally, some skeletons would leave the dungeon, but they neversted long enough. Although Ryan''s sweat was starting to bother him since the cold was turning into ice, he still didn''t get up from the snow. He was exhausted and wanted to stay like that for a while. That was very unlikely of him, but he didn''t want to pick even the battle''s loot. "We really work well together, huh," Alissa said. "How many days did you expect to clear this dungeon alone? Seven? Ten?" Ryan didn''t answer that, but he acknowledged the fact that he couldn''t clear the dungeon in less than seven days. Still, thanks to Alissa''s cooperation, he did that in a single day. Although he was thankful for it, saying that out loud would be too out of character for Ryan. "I wonder¡­" Ryan said and then got up while he cleaned the snow on his body. "Come on, admit it," Alissa said. Ryan sighed. That insistence was annoying, and he wasn''t very patient with insistent people, but even before Ryan could think of a harsh answer, he heard Orgar''s voice. "Don''t forget our agreement." "Did you say something, Orgar?" Alissa frowned. "You did use Telekinesis, right? Why didn''t I hear anything? Did you talk with Ryan? About what?" "It was men''s talk. Ady such as yourself shouldn''t concern with such trivial matters." "Not fair!" Alissa said. Ryan sighed again. That was a pain, but in the end, a promise was a promise. Thanks to what he learned from Orgar, he obtained a great deal of strength¡­ it was time to do his part of the deal again. "Just a little bit, I guess," Ryan said. "Just a little bit?" Alissa frowned. "How shy and stingy can a single person be? Well, I guess that is still progressing for someone like you." Ryan took a deep breath to calm his nerves. In the end, he managed to keep hisposure. He forgot about it, but human society was made of people who had topromise in all kinds of things. Although that society had been destroyed, humans still had topromise now and then. He sacrificed a few minutes of a headache to do in a single day a job that would take him a week¡­ so it was fine. Chapter 221 - Class: Ninja In the end, after checking the loot, Ryan realized that only the bosses dropped tomes, and none of the ones he killed dropped them. As for the items, only two rings picked his interest. Magic Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by thirty points. Durability: 30/30 Those items couldn''t be found in the dungeon shop. At least Ryan never found them until now. Regardless, he equipped them. Now he just has to worry about the huge pile of trash in front of him. "I can buy them from you," Alissa said. "Why?" Ryan frowned. "Your cultists already can obtain equipment by themselves." "They are not my cultists¡­" Alissa said and then took a deep breath to calm down. "While that is true, I will need more soldiers, and they will need more equipment. I am in this part of the world because Mark told me that there are many survivors in Canada, but he also said that I need to work faster because some survivors joined the monsters'' side and they are convincing others to do the same." "By promising them power, I assume," Ryan said. "Indeed," Alissa nodded. Ryan didn''t know if Mark gave Alissa that kind of information in order to help him indirectly. Still, he wouldn''t lie to Alissa because she can read thoughts, so perhaps everything was just a coincidence. Ryan offered to trade the equipment for some tomes, but Alissa refused that. Although she wasn''t as cold as before, she still wanted to focus on increasing her soldiers'' strength. "I can''t trade with you any tomes, but I can offer an alternative," Alissa said. "You see, I picked this ss called Teacher, and I can register some students, so-." "No," Ryan said. "Well¡­ I tried," Alissa shrugged. In the end, Ryan sold all the items he obtained for two hundred thousand coins. He could buy two elemental transformation tomes with that many coins, but before looking for those, Ryan looked for the most expensive tomes he could obtain. Unfortunately, he didn''t find Telekinesis or the spell that would grant him the power to store items in an alternative dimension¡­ and Ryan was already getting tired of waiting so anxiously for it every single time. In the end, Ryan said screw it and bought the Earth Transformation and Wind Transformation tomes. "Your fighting style seems kind of messy with all those skills you get," Alissa frowned and then said. "Still, that thing that you did earlier surprised me. Is it because of that you bought those tomes? To stop elemental attacks from hitting and then using them against your foes?" "Kind of," Ryan replied. After finishing their business in the dungeon shop, Alissa and Ryan entered the dungeon. Although they still had to face one more boss, they already knew how to defeat the monster. Instead of that, they were more worried as to why the creature was so weak. Although the cloaked monster tried to attack them, Alissa easily defeated it with a single punch that made the entire dungeon tremble. "Can you use Appraisal on them?" Ryan asked. "What is the name of this thing?" "Fake Shadow," Alissa replied. "I have been doing some research on mythology as ofte, but I can''t say that I saw or read anything closely rted to this." After the boss died, the shadow began to dissipate as if it was dust or something simr and lifeless. That kind of creature was totally different from all the bosses they met until now, and that worrisome. "Orgar said that this creature is quite intriguing," Alissa added. "While it resembles some lifeforms, itcks some of their aspects. Based on his description, this creature is like a robot, but I don''t think any technology can create this." A robot¡­ that was weird. A true machine wouldn''t demonstrate fear, and Ryan was certain that he felt the fear those creatures felt. In any case, his head was kind of fuzzy at that time, so he decided to keep quiet about it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Temr, Ninja, and Enchanter. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two new sses, huh¡­ They seem useful on their own, but I can''t miss this chance to get the Ninja ss. I already know that it is a tier two ss, so I don''t have any reason to risk it by picking others." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Ninja! You obtained the following skills: Fire Shuriken, Mirror, and Lotus. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points, your mana, health, control and speed will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Shuriken. Effect: it grants you the power to summon a fire shuriken that explodes once it hits the target and causes damage around it. The damage is equal to strength + intelligence. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mirror. Effect: It grants you the chance to summon an ice mirror that reflects your figure. If the mirror is broken, the ice shards will cause damage divided by the number of foes around it. The total damage will be equal to your intelligence. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lotus Blessing. Effect: It increases your recovery passively by three points per level when meditating. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan couldn''t help but frown since his image of ninjas were of typical assassins. However, based on the skills he received, they were more like hybrid mages. Regardless, the ss gave him the bonuses that he wanted in status, so he couldn''tin. "I don''t use Meditation often, but it is only because I always focus on improving my main skills. Maybe I can train myself to make my body rest properly while I meditate¡­ Hopefully, that will solve both problems." Maybe Ryan was a bit too optimistic, but sometimes, it was nice to have some hope. His life was already too grim with all that fighting. Hoping to be rewarded for his work was a bit too much, but expect that things will work out, in the end, was something that everyone deserved. As long as everyone does their best to reach that oue. Regardless, after that, Alissa and Ryan left the dungeon. They had no business with the world on the other side of the crystal for the time being. Chapter 222 - A Small Detail When Ryan and Alissa left the dungeon, they were weed by some new visitors. Now that the skeletons were out of the picture, the dire wolves felt like they were the owners of the region. However, Ryan eliminated them with some Thunder Arrows on their heads. After that, he dragged their bodies to the dungeon. "You can go ahead," Ryan said. "I will leave my smander behind to guard this ce, and he will need food to survive." "He? Your smander is a she," Alissa frowned. "That is a small detail," Ryan said. "Well, knowing you, I know that it will be a waste of time to convince you to go together," Alissa shrugged. "Don''t take your time. Otherwise, all the dragon hearts will go for my soldiers." After saying that, Alissa began to fly and headed North. While Ryan waited for more dire wolves to appear, he checked the free status points of his smander. After doing some tests, Ryan realized that his pet could more or less fight against the archers and wizards, but the monster will have a hard time against the knights since they have high health and a shield. "Let''s see what I can do about this¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You can''t use weapons or equipment¡­ you can use potions, but that won''t solve the problems in the long run... can you actually learn skills from tomes?" Ryan couldn''t think of anyone another way to suddenly strengthen a monster. Although most tomes disappear once he touches them, they won''t disappear if he buys a tome of skill, he already has¡­ probably. Regardless, it was worth a try. A skill lives Passive Recover seemed like the best option, but even now, Ryan never found the tome in the shop. The same could be said about the skills he obtained by obtaining the DNA of some monsters. In terms of offensive abilities, Electric Bullet seemed like the best option since the Skeleton Knights had some pieces of armor, and even their swords were made of metal. So, if the smander learns that, the creature was bound to cause some damage and even paralyze the monsters for a few moments. The problem was: the tome costs 50.000 coins. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­ it is an investment¡­ an investment that will make me waste less time once I return to this dungeon to defeat the boss." Ryan hesitated, but in the end, he bought the tome. However, instead of grabbing it, he let it fall on the ground and gave the order for the smander to grab. When that happened, the tome disappeared¡­ the experiment had been a sess. Without wasting any more time, Ryan gave the order for the smander to use Thunder Bullet when the skeletons appeared, only that spell. It took a while for the monster to win the battles thanks to that. Still, in the end, eventually, the spell reached a level in which it could paralyze even the skeletons mages for a full second, even though they had high mentality and willpower. "Now, let''s do some tests against the skeleton knights." For some reason, the smander could only fire three Electric Bullets per second, but a single one was enough to stun the skeleton knights for half a second, even when they used their shields to block the projectile. As expected, the smander had to use a lot more mana against them, but Ryan confirmed that the smander could fight all the skeletons with such a spell alone. "Good job¡­ now I just have to stock enough food for you for four weeks," Ryan sighed. "That will be a lot of work." In the end, Ryan had to work until midnight for him to kill the wolves and make sure that Earth wouldn''t absorb them. Regardless, it was finally time to head North, and without wasting time, Ryan left the skeletons'' dungeon behind. At first, Ryan didn''t notice anything, but after running for half an hour, he began to feel weird¡­ it was the same weird feeling he had before he found Zoe. This means¡­ he was being watched. "Crap¡­ I tried to be careful, but as expected, some monsters can be really good at this. They aren''t dragons since their stealth skills suck. So¡­ what is following me? Why they didn''t attack me while I was inside the dungeon?" For obvious reasons, any not-brain-dead monster would have attacked Ryan in the dungeon since he wouldn''t have any chance of running away. The best option would be to use the purple crystal, but instead of using that and facing an enemy that he couldn''t imagine, Ryan would take his chances to face the enemy he could see. "I can''t find it¡­ and in this situation, I can''t cause as much as damage as possible on the first strike like usual. I will try to dash ahead and escape from its sight and then once I confirm that, I will prepare an ambush." The in was simple, but it was better than nning somethingplicated which had to hang in too many factors to seed. Ryan equipped his Sprinters'' Boots and then activated all his buffs that increase his speed and consumed only stamina. Ryan''s speed increased, and he ran as fast as possible. Not even the thick snow managed to slow him down. However, that weird feeling never left him alone. "Persistent bastard¡­ I can''t get angry. If this enemy can be this fast, I can''t let the blood rush to my head¡­" Ryan muttered under his breath. Ryan didn''t want to run away from a fight against such an annoying enemy, but he wasn''t stupid enough to let the enemy have the first strike. Fighting in such conditions wasn''t good, so Ryan decided to run and reach his destination. If the thing that was pursuing him was that cowardly, then it wasn''t worthy of his time. However, after a few hours, when all the tension and the ran began to wear down his mind a little bit, Ryan felt that the weird sensation was increasing. When he turned around, he saw a weird creature dashing toward him. Thanks to his Nocturnal Eyes, Ryan eventually saw what that thing was¡­ it was a massive three-headed dog. ss: Hunter Lv 46 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 46 (+ 02 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 515th Health: 501/501 (2. 47 /s) Mana: 889/889 (2. 47 /s) Stamina: 717/717(2.47 /s) Strength: 30 (+123) (+60) Dexterity: 860 (+672) (+27) Speed: 70 (+281) (+28) Intelligence: 80 (+309) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+111) (+100) Control: 06 (+302) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+16) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 560 (+702) (+220) Willpower: 09 (+16) Coins: 75.992 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 46 (+ 04 UP), Arrow Shower Lv 39 (+ 04 UP), Hawkeye Lv 07 (+ 04 UP), Bash Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), Stealth Lv 35 (+ 04 UP), Precision Lv 40 (+ 02 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 36 (+ 04 UP), Hammer Mastery Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Lotus Blessing Lv 01, Spells: Earth Bullet Lv 09 (+ 05 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 41 (+ 03 UP), Call Lv 50 (+ 02 UP), Earth Maniption Lv 44 (+ 02 UP), Water Maniption Lv 28 (+ 03 UP), Wind Maniption Lv 37 (+ 04 UP), sh Lv 26 (+ 06 UP), Force Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Fire Shuriken Lv 01, Mirror Lv 01, Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 23 (+ 02 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 22 (+ 04 UP), Master''s Support Lv 22 (+ 02 UP), Ice Bound Lv 06 (+ 06 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Darkness Resistance Lv 01, Gravity Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 44 (+ 02 UP), Beastmaster Lv 25 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 35 (+ 02 UP), Corsair Lv 11 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 14 (+ 02 UP), Rogue Lv 05 (+ 02 UP), Sorcerer Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 10 (+ 05 UP), Ninja Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Trickster Lv 10 (+ 02 UP), Chapter 223 - Cerberus Ryan opened his eyes widely when a single word popped inside his head: Cerberus. The watchdog of the underworld¡­ Ryan recalled Tristan''s words¡­ Cerberus was the offspring of Echidna, and Echidna had marked him¡­ Ryan was getting popr, but he didn''t feel happy about it. Without wasting time, Ryan used Water Maniption and Water Transformation to create a tform beneath his feet, and then he began to levitate. He had to stay away from that creature, and fortunately, Cerberus didn''t have wings¡­ However, when the monster was one hundred meters away from him, the creature leaped toward Ryan, who was fifty meters above the ground. Ryan used Wind Maniption to block the monster''s attack while he moved to the side, but the creature barely slowed down. For the first time, Ryan jumped from his tform and soon after used Extra Jump. Somehow, he dodged the attack, but he managed to see the creature up close, and that didn''t help him. Cerberus was five meters long, and his fur waspletely dark while it also emanated a purple-like miasma. The creature had some sharp-looking ws that made Ryan felt shivers, but what scared the crap out of him were those red-blood-like eyes¡­ not even dragons managed to scare him so much in the past. The creature looked at him as if he couldn''t even be considered a worthy foe. Before Ryan could fall, he used Wind Maniption, recovered his shield, and began to fly again while standing over it. More mana was being used thanks to that, but it was better than getting close to the ground where Cerberus had the total advantage. Ryan used Appraisal to confirm what were his chances against that beast. Unfortunately, he didn''t obtain a single piece of information since the skill failed. That hadn''t been the first time, but for the first time, Ryan felt pretty annoyed. "Fuck¡­ why those tough bastards always manage to counter Appraisal?" When Cerberusnded, Ryan was fifty meters above the ground again, but he didn''t stop. He increased the distance over them while also heading North. However, Cerberus fired some massive Magma Spheres toward Ryan, and his speed decreased in order to dodge the attacks. Although the monster didn''t have a good aim, its attacks still damaged Ryan quite a bit due to the heat. "Not good¡­" Ryan bit his lips. "This creature has the same power as dragons, but it is much scarier and more troublesome." For a single moment, the head that was firing the Magma Spheres stopped. That was on the left side, the head on the right side moved, but Ryan didn''t see anything happening. However, his instincts still warned him of the danger. Ryan used sh and moved. When he turned around, he saw a massive block of ice falling from the sky and passing through the ce he had been half a second ago. "Fire plus earth magic equals magma, and now this freak can even use ice magic to create instantly something that massive¡­ I can''t win fighting fair and square¡­" Ryan recognized that fact a bit too fast, but thanks to it, he managed to take away the beast''s momentum. When he looked at Cerberus again, Ryan used Power of Money as fast as he could on the middle''s head. He aimed at the beast''s eyes, but as if the creature could see the invisible attacks, it always moved its head to prevent being blinded by them. Little by little, the head of the middle was getting dirty with blood. Although Ryan didn''t destroy the monster''s eyes, at least the blood would make things a bit difficult for it. However, much to Ryan''s shock, at some moment, the monster stopped dodging the attacks, and he finally destroyed one of its eyes. However, the left head fired several Magma Spheres. Ryan managed to dodge them, but for a single moment, he lost sight of the right head¡­ he knew that the monster had nned that. Ryan looked upward and saw several massive blocks of ice falling over him. Ryan froze¡­ In the end, Ryan recovered and used sh to escape the attacks. However, by doing so, he used all his mana. While he was falling, Ryan managed to grab and use some mana potions on his backpack, but he was fully aware that he couldn''t win¡­ he was just stalling for time. "Shit¡­ who could have thought that I would be this pathetic when I can''t deal the first blow. Maybe I relied too much on that tactic to finish off tougher opponents, and now I had too little experience to find a way out of this mess." After thinking as fast as he could, Ryan found a way to seal those annoying spells of the beast¡­ he just had to fly on the ground and close enough to the monster. At the very least, Cerberus won''t be able to create those massive blocks of ice since the monster also would get wounded by it. As for the Magma Spheres, Ryan was confident that those wouldn''t kill him. Why? Because Cerberus never fired several of them to hit the same spot on him. That wouldn''t make sense since the blocks of ice could smash him to pieces, but Ryan had a feeling that Cerberus hade to capture him. Waiting for him to get away from any dungeon, in a ce where no one will be able to help him¡­ the monster considered those factors, so it looked obvious that what was its goal. "I am using too much mana while flying¡­ I will have to rely on stamina to dodge Cerberus attacks and use mana to attack. It is the only way." Ryan jumped and then spread around his magic weapons. The same way that fucking beast could try to surprise him, Ryan could do the same and attack by several angles. When Cerberus attacked again, Ryan used sh and grabbed his Paralyzing Spear. He was determined to pierce that up the monster''s eyes¡­ or at least die trying. Chapter 224 - Struggle Ryan used Throw alongside the buffs that could increase his strength and then aimed at the left head of the monster. At the same time, he used the Power of Money and tried to destroy the eyes of the right head. As expected, the monster fired several Magma Spheres to repel the spear, and the creature actually seeded, but its attacks didn''t reach Ryan. Moreover, the right head didn''t do anything aside from protecting its eyes. "It looked I can prevent the monster from using spells¡­ but I don''t think I can seal the skills of both heads at the same time using Power of Money alone." While the monster was focusing on Ryan, the beast got caught off-guard, and the magic gauntlets attacked its back. The monster looked a bit annoyed, but only that. Since the monster could use ice spells, it looked like it had some resistance to that as well. The fire was no good either, but Ryan decided to attack as much as possible with the gauntlets and his fire swords since Bleed still would work. Naturally, Cerberus noticed Ryan''s ns and got annoyed by them. Being attacked by all sides was annoying¡­ suddenly, the monster dashed forward, and Ryan hurried to block the monster with his shield. Wind magic alone didn''t work before, so Ryan used Earth Maniption and Water Maniption to reinforce his tactic. Cerberus slowed down, but in the end, he jumped to the side and disappeared. "That is¡­!" Ryan said in shock. The monster used sh; Ryan was one hundred percent sure of it. A few momentster, Ryan felt something biting his left arm, and he saw the huge monster and its three heads very close to him. Much to his surprise, his arm wasn''t bitten by the head in the middle. However, at a scary pace, Ryan felt his body losing strength. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Poison Resistance Lv 15 ? Lv 17 You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Paralysis Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect caused by all types of attacks that may cause paralysis by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan''s heart began to beat faster¡­ poison that could paralyze the nerves¡­ what a terrifyingbination. He used his magic to attack with his weapons, but in the end, he had to hold back a little since Cerberus could use him as a shield. In the end, he lost control over his magic weapons and even everything on his body aside from his eyes. "You caused me no small amount of trouble, human," Cerberus said with an angry tone with the left head. "But rest assured, you won''t die yet. Mother wants to personally rip your apart for what you have done to my brothers." Ryan''s suspicious were correct¡­ in the end, he started to get dragged down by Cerberus to somewhere. Ryan tried to use his magic, but he failed many times. Although magic was something his spirit was able to use, it looked like he had to concentrate to some extent with his body. "No¡­ that can''t be true¡­ I managed to use magic when those fuckers used that weird spell. I should be able to use it." Instead of attacking, Ryan tried to do the same thing he did before. Use Heal since the poison was decreasing his health to dangerous levels. Besides, once he manages to get the hang of it, he will be able to increase the number of things he could do. Much to his surprise, Ryan managed to recover his health pretty quickly. All what he needed to do to use Heal was calm down and focus. He used that naturally before without much concentration, but it looked like strong feelings could prevent him from using magic. Cerberus who was running until now, stopped when he noticed that Ryan''s wounds were healing and his health was being recovered. The beast frowned with its three heads¡­ in the end, he smashed Ryan on the ground to knock him out, but that failed. "Now you will regret for not killing me when you had the chance you fucking dirty dog¡­" Ryan activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation on his left arm and then bombarded Cerberus'' mouth with his me Shuriken. Although the monster had high resistance against fire, it was only obvious that its inside would be weaker than its hide. An explosion happened inside the head of the middle, and a lot of Cerberus'' teeth broke. Naturally, Ryan''s army also suffered a lot of damage, but he managed to take his arm out of the monster''s mouth. Unfortunately, even though the poison wasn''t applied anymore. All of his body still was paralyzed. "Shit¡­ it can''t be helped." Ryan began to bombard the three heads of the dizzy Cerberus with Power of Money. At the same time, he used the little mana he had to control the snow and correct his posture with it. In the end, the best he could with his mana was to create a single small tform of ice and slowly move away from the monster. "Die, motherfucker. Die!" Blinded by rage and by the fact that he couldn''t do anything aside from that, Ryan''s uracy and speed increased exponentially. Every second, he managed to attack Cerberus'' each eye at least twice. When the beast recovered from the dizziness, it got enraged by the pain it was feeling. "HHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The monster roared, hoping that would make Ryan''s eardrums explode. They indeed got damaged, but Ryan didn''t pass out since he used Heal to recover from the damage. Cerberus, which was now waspletely covered in blood, dashed toward Ryan. By the look of the things, he decided not to obey his mother''s orders anymore. What a good son¡­ in the end, Cerberus didn''t hit Ryan since it was blinded by rage, but at least the creature managed to stop exposing its eyes to his attacks. Without much of choice, Ryan was forced to stop. If he hits Cerberus with the power of money, he will reveal his position. Cerberus didn''t feel like moving as well, and since the creature was already losing too much blood, it decided to y it safe. In the next moment, several blocks of ice began to fall around the creature. Chapter 225 - Sagittarians Bow Ryan was in a bind. The only safe ce was close to Cerberus, but even though the rage blinded the senses of the beast, the creature was smart enough to control its magic just right, and the space between the range of the attacks and the ce where the monster was too small to fit the paralyzed Ryan. "Screw it. At the very least, this dirty dog will go down with me¡­ Wait, what if¡­" Since he didn''t have mana to do anything, Ryan''s only option was to ept the risks. In the end, the blocks of ice fell around Cerberus, and the creature didn''t notice anything unusual. However, after a while, the monster was attacked several times on its faces. That was odd, there was nothing in the direction the attackse from aside from the blocks of ice, and Cerberus knew that Ryan could only use its weird technique as long as there is nothing blocking its path. In the end, Cerberus dashed toward the block of ice and easily smashed it. Although he couldn''t see right now, Cerberus noticed that the attack broke too easily¡­ as if the insides of his ice projectiles were hollow. The monster understood what had happened. Ryan used its weird spell to damage the blocks of ice and create and space where he wouldn''t be smashed. As if that wasn''t enough, he created a route inside the blocks of ice to attack Cerberus without being noticed. "Don''t underestimate me, human," Cerberus howled. "I won''t fall for the same trick twice." Cerberus destroyed the blocks of ice one after the other in order to find Ryan, but in the end, he didn''t feel his presence or hear his corpse being smashed. He wasn''t there¡­ he probably had used that chance to escape¡­ "What a stupid dog¡­" Ryan muttered a hundred meters away from Cerberus. "As if I would use the same trick against a monster than can think and talk." Much to Cerberus''s surprise, Ryan didn''t escape and began to attack again. Ryan''s coins were quickly reaching its bottom, but he couldn''t care less about that. He will definitely send that fucking monster back to hell, where it was its right ce to stay forever. When Cerberus finally located Ryan, the monster dashed toward him. However, he found gifts along the way. From the sky, the Paralyzing Spear fell and pierced the back of the monster''s head slightly. For a few seconds, the monster was paralyzed, but only that. After resuming its hunt, the monster suddenly rolled on the ground when something hit its left side and broke a lot of its ribs. Ryan used his hammer and made it spin quite a bit, but the result had been better than he had expected. After that, Cerberus got cautious of other surprises, but that only worked for Ryan''s favor since he didn''t stop using Power of Money. When the beast finally noticed that it was dancing on the palm of Ryan''s hands, rage took control over everything. Cerberus began to fire Magma Spheres toward Ryan''s direction like a machine gun. The blocks of ice also began to fell, but Ryan never got hit because he was kitting. The area between him and Cerberus was toorge and the beast had no idea how long his range was. In the end, the monster eventually died when Ryan only had three thousand coins left to use. That means that Cerberus had fifty thousand health points, but considering the spells the monster used, mana was probably its best weapon. "No coins¡­ fucking dog," Ryan clicked his tongue. "Next time, I will make sure to hunt and make you pay for this." Ryan was one hundred percent sure that Cerberus would return. All bosses could return, after all. Fortunately, not everything was bad knew for Ryan. He managed to level up some skills, and Power of Money leveled up quite a lot, and finally, a new bow appeared¡­ Congrattions! The skill Power of Money has leveled up. Power of Money Lv 17 ? Lv 22 Effect: It grants you the chance to cause direct damage to your foe''s health by using coins. You can cause one hundred points of damage per level, and the cost will be equal to the damage caused. Cost: 100 coins per level You obtained 05 status points. Sagittarians'' Bow Effect: Consumes ten points of mana to create a magic arrow. Dexterity + 50, Speed + 20 Added Effect: Recovers one point of stamina whenever you fire one arrow. Durability: 90/90 "Not bad¡­" Ryan said, satisfied. "I just need to get rid of this damn paralysis, and then I will be able to test the bow." Ryan imagined that perhaps the poison wouldn''t leave his body. The paralysis won''t disappear but considering that he was starting to feel a lot colder, and Poison Resistance and Paralysis Resistance were leveling up quite fast, it was only a matter of time before he can move again. Still, Ryan was worried because even though he can still fight, he felt too defenseless in that situation. "Although I won, I am not stupid enough to think that was Cerberus'' true strength¡­ Echidna wants to kill me, but she didn''te and sent one of her minions. Just as we imagined, the level of mana on Earth influences the strength of the monsters. Unless I try really hard, next time I face Cerberus, I might die." Ryan concluded. One can be arrogant and prideful, but one can''t be stupid. In that kind of situation, Ryan couldn''t get carried and lose his focus. Besides, what was the meaning of feeling happy about the victory when he almost wet his pants dozens of times during the fight? As usual, Ryan had to keep fighting to obtain the strength to annihte his foes without much problem. Given how many monsters were roaming around Earth, that was the only type of strength one has to have in order to survive. He also has to stop relying on the Power of Money since it was counterproductive in the long run. Chapter 226 - Echidna While Ryan was recovering from the poison''s effects, fifteen minutes had passed after Cerberus''s defeat. Then, he suddenly spawned in the middle of an ind that seemed like a paradise. The forest around was so green and full of life, the ponds had crystal clear water, and one could feel a lot of energying from it. Small birds were singing non-stop in the distance¡­ it felt like a ce in which all tired souls could rest and recover forever. However, even in such a ce, the scary-looking Cerberus couldn''t help but show an expression of utter shame. His head was so down that the ground was already wounding him. He was using that much strength to press his head against the ground, after all. "You already returned, Cerberus," Echidna said. "How unusual. When was thest time that you failed?" Although Echidna was called the mother of monsters and her offspring looked pretty scary, she herself was a world-ss beauty. For some reason, she wasn''t half-snake like Tristan said. The only animalistic thing she had in her body was a pair of fangs she had on her mouth that was just lightly long. Her hair was red, and her eyes were green, emerald-like green. For some reason, she was wearing some leaves as clothing to cover her parts, but it only worked to make her more alluring¡­ in any case, it looked like Ryan was destined to have more problems with redheads¡­ "I am deeply ashamed, mother," Cerberus said. "No excuses?" Echidna frowned. "A human won against you fair and square? I thought the Reptilians messed up, and I wanted to confirm that myself, but it looks like he isn''t so bad¡­ to think that humans still have this much potential after we left them so many years ago. That is intriguing." Cerberus didn''t say anything. Just talking with his mother after such a defeat was embarrassing enough to make him think of taking his own life. However, that was a waste of time since his existence was bound to a dungeon. "Anyway, don''t feel too bad about it," Echidna said. "Your strength decreases what, fifty times on Earth? Just be patient, and soon you will be able to show your true power there. What are you going to do now?" "I will return to my post," Cerberus said. "Such a hardworking child¡­ Don''t let your feelings control your actions too much," Echidna said. "Don''t forget to keep an eye on the other humans either." "Understood," Cerberus said and then vanished. After Cerberus disappeared, Echidna took her time to study Cerberus''s memories. Although he indeed lost, she recognized that Ryan struggled quite a bit. Still, for someone who didn''t have a clear fighting style mastered, he certainly looked something else¡­ Aside from Ryan, Echidna also took an interest in the female dragon that fought alongside Ryan a few hours before Cerberus ambushed him. "Earth has be quite fun," Echidna smiled and then licked her lips. "I can''t wait¡­" ----- ----- The effects of the poison on Ryan''s body only started to disappear when the sun started to rise. As if that wasn''t annoying enough, Cerberus'' poison still managed to decrease Ryan''s health even after three hours. The creature was really on another level¡­ "I need to level up Radar¡­" Ryan muttered. "I can''t let another monster sneak up on me again like that. That being said, I need to prepare more for that kind of situation." While that idea was obvious, Ryan knew he probably wouldn''t be able to aplish it. He had too many goals, and aplishing all of them required different actions and skills. To defeat dragons, Ryan needed more power. To avoid ambushes, Ryan needed to increase his tracking skills, to decrease the effects of dungeon breaks, he needed more mana and tamed monsters¡­ "I also need a fucking storage device¡­" Ryan sighed after collecting his weapons and somehow storing them inside his backpack. "Anyway, this news is really cool, and the extra effect is really interesting. Maybe I can obtain simr skills." The Sagittarian''s'' bow looked like as if it was made of eagle''s feathers. Both ends of the weapon really looked like eagle''s wings. Although Ryan was someone who valued efficiency above everything else, he was pretty eager to use a bow that had such a cool design. After organizing his things, Ryan headed North. Although that slowed him down a little bit, he didn''t use any spells that could increase his speed. Instead of that, he used all his mana to train Radar. Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, he didn''t have much time to train the skill since he eventually found Lake Ontario, and much to his surprise, some megalodons were there, fighting dragons. "Now that I think about it¡­ thiske bes a river downstream and then reaches the ocean eventually. Still, to think that those monsters woulde this far¡­" "You arete," Alissa suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Ryan almost had a heart attack. "You didn''t notice my approach, huh. I guess my training isplete. By the way, where did you get that bow?" Ryan took a deep breath to calm down¡­ Alissa not only had the nerve to appear like that and even acts as if it wasn''t something important or annoying. Regardless, for some reason, it looked like she didn''t fight and had been training. Although Ryan was curious, he decided not to pry. It wasn''t like he would get anything by asking. "That is none of your business," Ryan said abruptly. "It looks like you managed to fight and defeat a formidable foe¡­ impressive, but it also looked like you made some serious enemies." "What happened, Orgar?" Alissa asked. "Well, do you know the legendary¡­" "If you tell her anything about it, our deal is over," Ryan said "You can''t just decide that! Men don''t go back on their word!" "Technically, I am a male of many species, so the effects of such words are less effective on me," Ryan said. "Anyway, I won''t say it again. There is no sense in Alissa not reading my mind when you report her every single thing." Chapter 227 - How To Counter The Mind Reading Technique It took a while, but Alissa eventually gave up on asking what happened. At first, Ryan thought about telling her in order to warn the others, but in the end, that was unnecessary. It was pretty obvious that those sapient monsters had a lot of pride, so the chances of them going to attack other humans rtively close to Ryan to annoy him were quite low. Besides, even though it might be dangerous, the base survivors have been training to obtain the strength to protect themselves. So, Ryan didn''t have to worry about Arthur''s safety, even more so when Alissa was so close to him. "I am starting to think that I should return to the times where I read your mind," Alissa said. "Since you do so many things that piss me off, maybe I should do the same." "Go on, I give you permission to do it," Ryan said full of confidence. Alissa frowned. Ryan said that directly and even though he didn''t look like he was nning something, it was obviously a trap. In the end, Alissa regretted that because Ryan discovered the ultimate technique to counter the power of mind-reading. One just has to imagine a clear image of the other person naked. When Alissa saw the image that Ryan had in his head, she got so angry and flustered that the dragons and megalodons in the distance stopped fighting since they felt her presence for a few moments. "How dare you imagine me naked?" Alissa asked while clenching her teeth. "How dare you read my mind?" Ryan asked. "You gave me permission!" Alissa said. "Just to show you what will happen from now on when you try to do that," Ryan said. "No¡­ next time, I will imagine you in some embarrassing positions. My instincts have been getting pretty goodtely, so I bet I will notice even when Orgar tries to read my mind. If that happens, I will increase the erotism level in my head." "You wouldn''t dare¡­" Alissa said. "Do you want to bet?" Ryan asked. Although Ryan felt like he was wasting time, something like that was necessary to avoid headaches in the future. Alissa has been doing whatever the hell she wants as ofte, so someone has to teach her a lesson, and that was the only thing that came to Ryan''s mind since she was somewhat an innocent girl. "Anyway, what have you been waiting for?" Ryan asked. "I can see only four dragons in the area. Surely you can take them down alone." "¡­ Orgar said that I could learn one thing or two from you," Alissa took a deep breath and then exined. "Even for me, it is difficult to fight megalodons in the water if they have more than five of them in the area. So, I have been training to improve my stealth, and now I was about to test the power of a concentrated surprise attack." Alissa was going to imitate Ryan¡­ which was odd since he felt like his fighting style was all over the ce as ofte. However, she probably has the skills and status to be much more effective than him. Maybe that will even give Ryan some insights about how he can improve by watching someone who had the strength that he wanted. "Well then, show me what you got," Ryan said. "Why are you so cooperative?" Alissa frowned. "Don''t you want the dragon hearts?" "I am in a good mood, so I will let you do what you want, for now," Ryan said. Truth to be told, Ryan wanted to confirm Alissa had enough firepower with bows to kill the megalodon while they were underwater, but first, he had to see what she could do against dragons. Fighting them was easy in her draconic form, but she needed some time even while using the same techniques in her human form. "I want your old bow," Alissa dered. "The bolts of my crossbows aren''t strong enough to withstand a charged attack." "And I want the power to explode dragons'' heads without moving a finger," Ryan said. "I can sell it to you for fifty thousand coins." "So, stingy¡­ fine," Alissa said. Although it was odd that Alissa didn''t have a bow of that level, Ryan didn''t waste time questioning her about it. Most likely, she also had the skills to repair weapons, so Ryan didn''t have to warn her. "All right, although it isn''t my style, I can give you some pointers as to how to deal with a perfect surprise attack. You already know how to disappear from the dragons'' radar, but that isn''t enough. You have to conceal your killing intent. Don''t get nervous and don''t think about anything while you pull the string, just thinking that you are doing something else, not that you are preparing an attack to kill a dragon." That was quite the exnation, and it was weirding from a dragon, but Ryan knew that Orgar wasn''t wrong. He already knew how to do that to a certain extent. He just needed to learn how to make a full of energy projectile fly without warning the targets. "Those are low-level dragons, so once you take down one of them, the others will try to escape. Attacking with his style while moving isn''t rmendable, so you only have one option." "Kill as many of them as possible with the first strike and wound the others with the attack as well?" Alissa asked. "Yes, I can tell you some ways to do that with a single attack, but you should find a way alone. You need to get used to that task as soon as possible." That was quite surprising given how quick to spoil Alissa the dragon was, but it looked like Orgar already was preparing Alissa for the future. After thinking for a while, Alissa came up with an answer. At least, judging by the smugness on her face, it looked like she nned something quite shy. Chapter 228 - Surprises While Alissa was preparing her attack, Ryan checked once more the dragons and sighed once again. For some reason, the number of dead dragons was too high¡­ the targets ahead were three red dragons and one brown dragon. "I wonder if the red ones are stronger and the number of others is small because the megalodons have an easy time killing them¡­ anyway, it looks like Alissa won''t be able to use her fire attacks, perhaps not even those dark mes. Even though she has the power of a dragon, elemental resistances y an important role most of the time." Alissa prepared the bow, and when the bone arrow appeared, she pulled the string. Weirdly enough, she had a smirk on her face. First a smug expression and now a smirk¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but frown at this weird girl. It doesn''t matter what she was nning. Acting like that before a fight seemed wrong¡­ In just a few seconds, Ryan saw some cracks appearing on the bone bow. As expected, Alissa could pour much more energy in just a few moments inparison to Ryan. He didn''t know if she had activated any buffs, but Ryan saw clearly when Alissa poured mana around the arrow and changed the nature of it to lightning. The air around them changed, and the energy concentration was so intense that the temperature rose several degrees. "Hey¡­" Ryan frowned while taking a few steps backward after feeling the danger. Suddenly, the battle in the distance stopped, and the four dragons looked in their direction. Although Alissa didn''t emit her killing intent, she went too far gathering energy. However, before the dragons could even think of running away, she fired the arrow. Somehow, Ryan managed to see that the bone arrow didn''t endure all that vast energy concentration. Even before the attack hit one dragon, the projectile became dust. However, the energy still followed its trajectory as if nothing had happened and pierced the thick neck of a red dragon and immediately beheaded it. After that, the mana and stamina on the attack expanded until it caused an explosion of mes and bolts of lightning. The dragons around got hit by mes and the bolts of lightning as well. Although the red dragons endured the mes, the bolts of lightningpletely paralyzed them. As for the earth dragon¡­ the creature didn''t resist the explosion and fell dead after the hall of its body waspletely annihted by it. Ryan knew that dragons had enough energy to pull off that kind of attack, but they weren''t that skilled at controlling it. Since they have so much pride in their strength, they never felt the need to rely on control. Just overpowering their opponents was good enough. Regardless, Alissa managed to use their powers in a very efficient manner. The only problem was the aftermath of doing something she never did before. Alissa fell on her knees and trembled a little while holding her head. "You went too far, controlling mana like that when you never tried before made your brain overload with that huge amount of willpower you need to control it. Anyway, you should get back to normal in a few minutes." It looked like Alissa was suffering from a pretty harsh migraine¡­ in the end, Ryan learned that quite a lot by observing someone who had the power that he wanted. Mainly, just obtaining that level of strength wasn''t enough. He needed to reach a certain level of mastery in control, or he might be like a machine that overheats pretty quickly. "Go finish them off," Alissa dered. "I will join you in a few minutes." Ryan considered ignoring the idea since even though the explosion made the dragon bodies fly away andnd on thend, he thought the megalodons would find a way to devour them. However, they wouldn''t have the nerve to expose themselves like that when an unknown creature just killed two dragons and wounded two others heavily with a single attack. When he started to fly using his shield as a tform, Ryan confirmed his suspicion, the megalodons have left the area. They probably headed downstream¡­ if that was good or bad, that was something Ryan couldn''t tell. "Orgar said that she is getting better at controlling his powers, but she has been obtaining sses at a steady pace¡­ most likely, her ability to control those powers is only one of the many factors that exin her growth. Alissa probably didn''t learn many skills by herself, but the status bonuses of the sses can''t be ignored." Although he will never admit that, one of Ryan''s many goals was to one day surpass Alissa, but since she was also constantly improving, it looked like that goal will never be achieved. To make sure that the dragons wouldn''t try anything, Ryan paralyzed one with his spear and attacked the other relentlessly with his gauntlets. Of course, he did that by using wind magic. Those beasts were heavily wounded, but Ryan was fully aware that nothing was more dangerous than a wounded beast. You obtained 11.598 coins. You obtained 9.952 coins. "Feels like I am being rewarded for something that I didn''t do. Regardless, I can''t let these kinds of monsters recover¡­ one of them dropped an ax, and the two fire dragons that died first dropped some items as well. Considering that dragons gave me fifty thousand coins, I guess I don''t deserve even their drops and dragon hearts." Regardless, Ryan satisfied his curiosity and he was prepared to pay such a price when he let Alissa attack first. So, such a thing didn''t bother him all that much. After a while, Alissa finally appeared and grabbed her items. However, since she was flying pretty slowly, it looked like she wasn''t fully recovered. Weirdly enough, even some dire wolves began to show up. "Well¡­ that was unexpected," Ryan frowned. "Did they lose their sense of danger?" "Wild animals and monsters have good instincts. Although they know that Alissa is more powerful than them, they also know that she is in bad condition." Ryan decided to guard that knowledge in his head. Brute strength wasn''t everything¡­ it was obvious since his best weapon was his bow, and he wouldn''t be able to use it if he loses both of his hands. Chapter 229 - You Are Pretty Dumb Although he forgot that before, when he had the chance, after beating the crap out of some of them, Ryan tamed one dire wolf, he would never say that out loud, but those monsters were too cool. Of all the monsters he had tamed before, they were by far the most awesome, and their strength was also impressive. "You said that you didn''t like animals," Alissa frowned. "I guess that was just you being bashful in your own weird way." It wasn''t a matter of liking or disliking. Ryan just never wanted pets because he didn''t think they deserve to be caged. As for the tamed dire wolf, he was cool, but he was a cool tool for battle. That being said, Ryan felt a bit conflicted in thinking like that. He had bidden their will with magic, but he could feel the connection between them, so at the very least, Ryan had to treat them like real partners. After all, they will never betray him. "All right, boy," Ryan said. "Show me what you can do." While Alissa was recovering, Ryan equipped his shield and gave the order for the dire wolf to use Ice Arrow. As expected, the attacks couldn''t surpass the shield''s defenses, but the weight of every projectile managed to push him back several centimeters. At the same time, the dire wolf was suffering some damage and training its Pain Resistance. "For the time being, your job will be to train Dash and Ice Arrow," Ryan dered. "When you feel hungry, you can eat them." Alissa was finally ready to move on, and since there wasn''t a dungeon nearby in which the dire wolf could guard, it was the best order Ryan could give him. Taking him with them wasn''t going to help in the fight against the Fenrir''s after all. "Are you sure you don''t want even a single dragon heart?" Alissa asked. "I want, but I don''t want to gain anything I don''t deserve," Ryan said. Alissa shrugged and then marched toward North, they had already entered the dire wolves'' territory, so there was no need to fly. Besides, that would reveal their approach. Although Alissa had some skill that could make herpletely undetectable, it wasn''t like she could maintain that state forever. She needed mana and concentration, and shecked the ability to stay concentrated for long periods. "As I expected, this bow isn''t powerful enough to endure your power. The other one is probably fifty percent better and can show a better performance." "This isn''t for sale," Ryan dered. "How about two dragon hearts for it?" Alissa asked. "You are pretty dumb, aren''t you?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Why do you think that?" Alissa clenched her fist and then asked. "Although dragon hearts are useful and they make me stronger, I can''t attack with dragon hearts alone," Ryan said. "I can only show the power of my status with a decent weapon. Even if you can destroy a mountain with a single punch, it is stupid to do so when you can do the same thing by using a weapon and spending only half of the energy." It seemed logical for Ryan, but for someone like Alissa, who could transform into a dragon and make several of them run away just with her presence alone, the same thing couldn''t be said. Regardless, even though they advanced pretty close to Lake Ontario, they never found a single megalodon. Ryan thought of asking Alissa to move away a little bit, but that wouldn''t change anything since he didn''t have the power to y them in just a few moments. Although the megalodons avoided Alissa''s presence, the dire wolves at some point stopped doing that¡­ probably because Ryan and Alissa were getting closer to their destination. Congrattions! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up. Cold Lv 11 ? Lv 12 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all ice-type attacks and the effects of cold environments by one point per level, even when they don''t damage you directly. You obtained 01 status point. "Crap¡­ this is getting pretty intense," Ryan muttered while trying to warm his chest with his arms. "I shouldn''t have left the smander behind." "Or maybe you should have brought some proper clothes," Alissa said. "Anyway, it looks like things will get even colder from now on." Although Alissa was wearing some proper thick winter clothes, she looked way toofortable. Most likely, the power she received from Orgar made her close to immune to cold. Regardless, Alissa was right because they could see some thick snow clouds a few kilometers ahead of them. That was normal in that kind of environment. What wasn''t normal was the fact that the clouds weren''t moving as they should. They were just moving in circles¡­ "It looks like Alissa''s actions made all the dragons in the area wary of her. ording to Mark, the number of dragons in this area was around one hundred, but the number of presences I feel is too low, and they are very far away." "Hehehe, my bad," Alissa showed an embarrassed smile. Great¡­ Ryan hade for the dragon hears, and the dragon hears weren''t there anymore. That was annoying, but at least some sweety coins a new ss was waiting for him, and by the look of things, the ss he will get in the dire wolves'' dungeon was bound to be awesome. "We just crossed the border," Alissa said. "The dungeon is in a ce called Kemptville." "Not anymore, now whatever was there became a mountain of snow," Ryan said. "Anyway¡­ why are you telling me that?" "Just saying what Mark said to me since you left without asking anything," Alissa shrugged. "You need to know more about the ces you are going to fight." "How is that knowledge going to help you?" Ryan asked. "Maybe not today¡­ but one day I will," Alissa frowned. Alissa was probably trying to develop some habits to impress her soldiers, and while that was admirable, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why she was trying to look like a proper leader in front of him. Chapter 230 - Again Before Ryan and Alissa could get any closer to the dungeon, suddenly, an army of dire wolves appeared and charged at them. Ryan and Alissa equipped their bows, and without ceremony, they charged Power Shot. After ten seconds, they fired, and dozens of dire wolves exploded, the power of Ryan''s attack was considerably weaker, but something like that didn''t bother him anymore. You obtained 65 coins. You obtained 55 coins. You obtained 51 coins. ¡­ Although dozens of them died in a single instant, the other didn''t slow down even a bit. As if they were machines programmed to kill, the dire wolves continued their charge. "Let''s retreat while we attack," Ryan said. "If we go too far here, the bosses will join the fight, and I don''t intend to underestimate another mythological creature. Even more so when the current one had the nerve to fight Odin." Alissa thought of taunting Ryan a little bit, but she shook the idea out of her head. The number of dire wolves was massive, and they didn''t have time to waste. Ryan thought of using his magic wand and use Thunder Arrow since, most likely, the dire wolves would suffer a lot of damage, but he decided to keep using his new bow since he could recover his stamina, and thus, he will train his legs. However, much to his surprise, even though they run until they reached the border again, the dire wolves never stoppeding. "Now that is surprising¡­ they have this many pawns to spare?" Ryan frowned. It seemed like the enemy was trying to buy time, but that kind of strategy was wed when the attackers were people like Ryan and Alissa who could fight for quite even against when they had a massive numerical disadvantage. Moreover, they will keep getting stronger at a steady pace like that. Such a strategy doesn''t make any sense. Ryan decided to fly while using his shield and then looked around the area while charging another Power Shot. He didn''t see anything out of ce, but relying on his eyes alone wasn''t enough to clear his worries. "Do you think this is a trap?" Alissa asked. "I can feel the presence of basically all monsters in the area, and I can''t sense anyone approaching aside from those." "As I said, I don''t intend to underestimate a wolf that challenged a Nordic god," Ryan said. When his mana was empty, Ryan fired the Power Shot and managed to recover half of his mana after killing ten dire wolves. That was nice and all, but unfortunately, such a strategy wouldn''t work since Ryan could only recover so much stamina. Without any other choice, Ryan returned to the ground and decided to attack the wolves with his tree fire swords. His control over them gave Ryan the chance to kill the monsters and recover his mana faster than he could spend¡­ still. The situation wasn''t improving. "Time to use the crossbows again," Alissa sighed. "No, wait¡­ try to use your magic weapons and use Telekinesis to control them." "Hey¡­ aren''t you two doing that to piss me off, right?" Ryan asked. "No, she will be able to train her control by fighting like that, and she has too many magic items. By doing that, she will be able to train several of her masteries." That seemed like a proper exnation, but at the same time, Ryan felt that it was a pretty cheap one as well. Why didn''t they do that before? Why now of all times? In any case, Alissa didn''t hesitate, and she called dozens of weapons from her storage dimension. Without wasting time, Alissa followed Orgar''s orders, and she started to decimate the monsters just like that. Fortunately, she wasn''t shameless enough to make her weapons spin like Ryan, or maybe she didn''t do it because she didn''t need that. The dire wolves were being, and their fur also could work as ayer of armor, but they were on ughtered while Ryan and Alissa were using their weapons remotely. When the wolves'' advance waspletely stopped, the monsters suddenly stopped and then began to retreat. "As expected, the bosses are also controlling them," Ryan said. "We need to assume that the next time we approach, things won''t repeat like this. They will definitely try to crush us with sheer numbers. The chances of the bosses joining the fight will also increase." Ryan agreed with that. The real problem was to how to counter such a possible move. If they focus too much on that possibility, they could even fall for a worse trap¡­ it was hard for him to think that, but Ryan couldn''t imagine himself solving that situation alone. He was looking for tougher opponents to face, but his strength wasn''t enough to deal with those situations¡­ "Whatever the most difficult is the job, the more rewarded I will be¡­ Besides, I should be thankful that dragons aren''t around to bother us." While Ryan was checking the loot, he pondered seriously about the options that he had, but in fact, he didn''t a single idea as to how to prevent themselves from falling for a trap. At the very least, the things he could do alone wouldn''t help all that much. "Let''s attack from above," Alissa said. "Mythological creatures or not, the enemies are still wolves, right? Wolves can''t fly." "Until two months ago, humans couldn''t use magic either," Ryan said. "So, your logic might be wed. I can''t use magic, but I can more or less fly. Since I can use elemental maniption for that, some monsters might be able to do it as well." "Yeah, but at least they won''t be able to fight on the terrain they prefer," Alissa said. "Besides, if we use our human form, they won''t notice us if we approach from the sky." "I only my human form¡­" Ryan frowned. "Anyway, you will only spend unnecessary mana by trying to make me go with you. While you attack from above, I will attack from ground level after confirming something." Chapter 231 - Advices At first, Alissa thought Ryan was only uncooperative and unsociable like always, but since he looked deep in thought about something, she decided to concluded that wasn''t the case. While Alissa was preparing her attack, Ryan disappeared underneath the snow and approached the dire wolves'' dungeon. Although all that snow worked to fortify the defenses around the dungeon and wolves had no problem running over it, the monsters were wrong if they think that they were the only ones who could benefit from it. It took a while since Ryan made sure that he didn''t make any noise or left any trail of his presence, but eventually, he returned to the point where the fight started and in which he could see the dungeon. Although the area in front of the ce the snow wasn''t so deep, the snow''s concentration above it really makes it look like the dungeon was located in a snow mountain. "Mmm¡­ I didn''t think their number was that low¡­ We didn''t kill that many either¡­" Ryan frowned since he couldn''t see even a thousand dire wolves guarding the dungeon. Besides, the bosses were nowhere to be seen¡­ something was off there. Before Ryan could even think of what that was, he saw a rain of magic arrows falling from the sky. He didn''t know if it was intentional or not, but Alissa surely decided to act at the perfect moment¡­ The magic arrows fell and hit dozens of dire wolves, killing them without giving the poor beasts the chance to retaliate, and then suddenly, from the snow, dozens of thousands of dire wolves appeared. They were hidden underneath the snow, just like Ryan and some of them were just a few dozen meters away from him. "I crap¡­ If I had tried to be just a little more aggressive, I would have stumbled on them." Cold sweat covered Ryan''s face. If he had been found, he could have escaped, but not unscathed¡­ dodge the barrage of ice arrow of thousands of those wolves was nearly impossible. Regardless, even though Alissa was kilometers above them and out of their reach, the dire wolves somehow managed to manipte the snow and create shields above them. Although some of them still died after that, in the end, Alissa only wasted her time and mana by keeping attacking. In any case, Ryan made sure to memorize the position the dire wolves were in before retreating a few kilometers. It seemed like a waste of time, but he created hundreds of magic traps in the area between the dungeon and the ce where he left Alissa behind. Although he imagined that she would get mad and dash at the monsters since her actions proved futile, she didn''t do anything like that. However, while Ryan was busy making Magic Traps, she suddenly appeared underneath the snow. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. "Do you really want to make me have a heart attack?" Alissa''s skill was so powerful that not even Radar could detect her presence. It was like you could only see her if she lets you. As for everyone else, unless they have her permission, they will never find her. "I thought you were too prideful to rely on traps¡­" Alissa frowned. "As if pride would stop me from clearing this dungeon," Ryan said. "Besides, I don''t need to be prideful when the enemies want to crush me with sheer numbers." "You should consider engraving those words in your heart, Alissa. You are getting too used to overpowering your enemies as ofte." Ryan wondered why Orgar was saying that when Alissa probably was just copying his usual behavior. In any case, he was looking more and more like a father trying to educate his teenage daughter, who was in her rebellious phase. "You can attack the dire wolves again like that, but I would rmend doing that from other positions," Ryan said. "I don''t think that you aren''t stupid enough for that, but I don''t want to underestimate you. So, whatever you do, don''t make the dire wolvese to this ce." "¡­ Maybe I will do since you everything you say makes me thing that you want to pick a fight," Alissa said after a long sigh. Alissa looked at the magic marks created by Ryan on the ground and then rubbed her chin thoughtfully. He had no idea what she was thinking, but she created another mark above it for some reason. Ryan couldn''t see the mark, but he felt like she used a simr spell. "With your magic power, the skill will snare the monsters for a few seconds," Alissa exined. "Killing them won''t be possible, but with another magic trap, they will definitely suffer critical damage." "¡­ Is that so?" Ryan frowned. "Maybe I should have created twoyers of the magic trap to make sure that they would die." "¡­ You are such a pain in the ass¡­" Alissa sighed. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t say that Alissa was wrong. Regardless, while working together for who knows how long, they creature thousands of magic traps. Since Alissa had a lot more mana, sometimes she created the two types of traps. Although that surprised Alissa a little, Ryan didn''tin. As he said before, he wouldn''t let her his pride get in the way, but she didn''t imagine that Ryan would go as far as working with others, even those who he cared so little¡­ there was no point in being unpleasant to those who help him, even though they might have some hidden goals in their mind. As long as they were useful¡­ Was that mindset correct? Ryan couldn''t tell anymore. "Thank you¡­" Orgar said, in a weird calm tone. Ryan frowned when he suddenly heard Orgar''s voice. For a moment, he frowned and thought he had imagined things. Why the hell Orgar would thank him for anything? At the very least, he had no reason to do it. However, when he saw the dubious look in Alissa''s face, Ryan understood that it hadn''t been his imagination. ss: Hunter Lv 47 (+ 01 UP / Elementalist Lv 47 (+ 01 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 510th Health: 533/533 (2. 47 /s) Mana: 955/955 (2. 47 /s) Stamina: 759/759(2.47 /s) Strength: 30 (+131) (+60) Dexterity: 896 (+700) (+57) Speed: 70 (+299) (+48) Intelligence: 80 (+329) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+111) (+100) Control: 06 (+315) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+16) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 600 (+719) (+220) Willpower: 09 (+16) Coins: 135.221 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 23 (+ 02 UP), Hawkeye Lv 09 (+ 02 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 38 (+ 02 UP), Spearmanship Lv 26 (+ 02 UP), Martial Arts Lv 09 (+ 04 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), Sprinter Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Hammer Mastery Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Spells: Heal Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 23 (+ 02 UP), Tame Lv 50 (+ 02 UP), sh Lv 26 (+ 06 UP), Radar Lv 17 (+ 04 UP), Stamina Restoration Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Fire Shuriken Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Support Skills: Poison Resistance Lv 23 (+ 06 UP), Ice Bound Lv 10 (+ 03 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 15 (+ 06 UP), Paralysis Resistance Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), sses: Combat: Combat Archer Lv 15 (+ 01 UP), Sorcerer Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 11 (+ 01 UP), Ninja Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 21 (+ 01 UP), Trickster Lv 11 (+ 01 UP), Chapter 232 - Criminal-like Smile In the end, Ryan decided not to think too much about it Orgar''s actions or goals. As long as they don''t cause him problems directly or indirectly, they were none of his business. Regardless, even though Alissa decided to y it safe by using traps. Eventually, she got sick of it. She looked so annoyed and bored that one could see steam leaving her ears. Strangely enough, after some point, she began to smirk. After twenty-four hours of creating traps non-stop, Alissa wasughing like a psychopath criminal. "What is wrong with you?" Ryan asked. "It is nothing¡­ I am just imagining those damn monsters exploding one after the other," Alissa replied with arge grin on her face. "It is nothing¡­ she says," Ryan frowned. In any case, although they have been careful not to find out, Ryan couldn''t help but worry that they seeded. It was convenient that Alissa''s presence couldn''t be felt even when she created magic traps. Even so¡­ things were proceeding too favorably, and Ryan had enough experience to know that wasn''t a good thing. "I guess this is enough," Ryan said. "If we are lucky, we can decimate thirty thousand dire wolves only by relying on these traps." "We definitely will make good use of those," Alissa said. "To make sure that those annoying beasts will suffer that fate, I will focus only on using gravity magic." That was convenient, but Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if Alissa wasn''t going too far by letting anger control her actions. Besides, gravity magic consumed a decent amount of mana. It was only natural. Regardless, Ryan decided not to worry too much about it since Alissa also had the skill that recovers her mana when she kills a foe. Just to make sure the n will go as smoothly as possible, Ryan and Alissa moved away from the dungeon while still hiding underneath the snow. Things will get pretty messy once the explosions start, so the rain of blood and corpses that will probably happen was also a concern. Alissa''s grin erged when they finally stopped hiding. Without a hint of hesitation, she canceled the spell that kept her presencepletely hidden. A cloud of snow began to rise toward the sky when the dire wolves felt her presence. While Alissa was expecting the show to start with eyes full of expectation, Ryan began to charge a Power Shot. It was time to see until which points his new bow could endure his attack. "Why are you preparing that attack?" Alissa asked. "I definitely won''t let those monsters pass above the traps, even if they try to fly or jump over it." "You will see," Ryan replied. After just a few seconds, the dire wolves finally reached the ce where the traps were. Several of them got impaled by semi-invisible mana spears when that happened, and they also got snared. A few momentster, all the impaled monsters exploded into several pieces¡­ it was amazing how Alissa could do the same scene repeat itself using different means¡­ Ryan''s mana began to be recovered, but only now and then¡­ by the look of things, only the person who caused thest hit could receive the benefits of Active Spiritual Recovery. Although Alissa was the one who recovered a lot of mana, she made good use of it. When the monsters began to hesitate after seeing their friends exploding, she used gravity horizontally and pushed them toward their direction. "It is too soon to go home¡­ let''s y a bit more," Alissa smiled viciously. Alissa was probably exhausted¡­ at that point in time, it was only natural since she had a weak body in the beginning and only recently was getting used to her new body¡­ Regardless, what Ryan had been waiting for finally appeared in the distance. Some pretty fast shadows left the dungeon in the distance. For some reason, they spread around in all directions. "That isn''t good¡­" Ryan said. "They areing¡­ so calm the fuck down a little." -"You are too tired, Alissa. Let me fight while you rest a little." "Not when things are just getting fun," Alissa said. Ryan sighed. He didn''t know how the body division worked for those two, but at that moment, it felt like Alissa would cause more problems than help. Someone with Orgar''s battle experience would be useful, and once he decides to go all out, a fight against the legendary Nordic wolf wouldn''t seem so insane. "Just don''tinter once things get out of hand¡­" Orgar warned. Unfortunately, Alissa didn''t want to take a break. Regardless, Ryan was decided to make it do with what he had. Hopefully, his charged attack would kill more than one or two bosses. Based on his experiences, those mythological creatures weren''t that legendary like their legends, so they could be easily killed. Although his bow was enduring a lot more of the concentrated energy than Ryan thought, the chance to use on the enemies he wanted never toe, the shadows that represented the bosses never showed¡­ "Come on¡­ you have got to be kidding me," Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Since Ryan was using mana to recover his stamina as well, his mana eventually reached the bottom¡­ it would be a pain in the ass to charge another attack like that again, but it couldn''t be helped. When Ryan fired, the impact made him fly backward and then roll on the ground for several meters. Although the snow decreased the pain a little, it looked like he had gone a bit too far¡­ his Power Shot hit a concentration of dire wolves in the distance. The energy dispersed and created a vacuum in the area, sending snow and the monsters alike flying toward all directions while killing many and breaking the bones of a few lucky ones. In the blink of an eye, Ryan''s mana was full again. However, he knew that it wasn''t time to celebrate, he activated Radar, and as expected, he felt the presence of something approaching¡­ Chapter 233 - Broken Shield Ryan got up as fast as possible and then put the shield in front of him and toward the direction where he felt that presence. It was as scary as Cerberus. Ryan saw a ck wolf running toward him, the creature was massive, and despite its size and the fact that a big ass leash made of dark metal was on its necks, it was lightning fast. Although he used earth, wind, and snow to reinforce his shield''s defense, the five-meter-long wolf easily kicked the spiked shield and sent it flying in the distance, breaking in several pieces. Not even Cerberus managed to do that with a single strike, so Ryan couldn''t understand how a single boss managed to have so much attack power. In the end, Fenrir reached Ryan, but before the creature could hit him, he used sh and appeared on the left side of the creature. The monster passed by him, but its eyes never left Ryan. That had been a mistake. Suddenly a massive dragon''s w fell over Fenrir''s body, but despite the surprise attack, Alissa didn''t manage to crush the Nordic wolf-like she had nned. The monster even managed to get up while ignoring the weight behind Alissa''s attack. "Be a good doggy and stay down!" Alissa said and then used her other w to smash Fenrir. "Ryan, I got this. Just make sure that the dire wolves won''t interfere!" "My ass that I will let you do whatever you want again," Ryan said. "This motherfucker targeted me first. I will make him regret this." Ryan was unreasonable, but he wouldn''t be able to live his life in a new world if whenever a tough opponent appears, he lets someone else take care of the problem. While Alissa was holding the beast down, he prepared another Power Shot, but then Ryan suddenly felt a shiver¡­ something wasing. When he turned around, Ryan saw an even darker Fenriring from behind. "Aw,e on¡­" Ryan looked upward and used sh. Again, he dodged the attack, and soon after, he attacked the other Fenrir by above. Although he hit the mark, which was the top of the monster''s head, the creature just became a shadow and then dispersed¡­ the fragments of the shadow then were sucked by Fenrir''s body, and the boss suddenly was strong enough to counter the power of Alissa''s ws. "What the heck¡­" Alissa muttered in shock and with a frown on her face. "I see there are no several bosses¡­ there is only a single boss¡­ Most bosses are weaker than they were supposed to be since the mana level on Earth is low, but it looks like this guy found a way to counter that. Instead of sending new creatures when the dungeon breaks happened, Fenrir used to send more of his power from the other side." That made sense, but Ryan couldn''t believe that such a mad wolf seemed capable of having such an idea. Another question was how someone or something could do that. Unfortunately, Ryan had no idea how the monsters could do it or how he could counter such an effect. To make matters worse, Ryan saw more than one shadow leaving the dungeon. Since the monster didn''t absorb all of them when they appeared, it looked like Fenrir couldn''t just do that freely, but even so¡­ the monster''s strength was many levels above all ordinary bosses they had fought until now. "Who cares about that?" Alissa asked and then tried to grab Fenrir with both ws. "I just have to¡­ ugh." Fenrir used all its strength to push back Alissa''s hands for a single moment, and then the monster used its own ws to damage her. A lot of blood started toe from her wound, but in the blink of an eye, she closed it with a healing spell. Fenrir finally realized that ignoring Alissa wasn''t a good idea and charged at her. Even though its body was ten times smaller, the monster hit her stomach and pushed her back for several minutes. Ryan, who was preparing another Power Shot, suddenly heard Orgar''s voice. "Don''t use elemental magic. His basic resistances are too high." Ryan was nning to gain some piercing power by using wind magic, but it looked like that wasn''t a good idea. The skill was at a low level, but since the foe was powerful, it would level up a lot in just a single moment. So, Ryan decided to use Lesser Poison Enchantment. At the very least, it wouldbine well with, Bleed. When Fenrir finally noticed what Ryan was nning, it was already toote. He fired the arrow the very moment the creature stopped moving. Even though Ryan didn''t have much time to charge, Fenrir''s back still moved a few centimeters to the side when it got hit. Moreover, the wound started to bleed and got purple due to the poison. Congrattions! The skill Lesser Poisonous Enchantment has leveled up. Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 1 ? Lv 11 Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of poison. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 30%, and it willst for five seconds. Cost: 20 mana per attack. You obtained 10 status points. The monster looked annoyed at Ryan, but in the end, the creature didn''t have much time to n anything. Alissa recovered from the attack and fired some Thunder Spears at Fenrir. The creature avoided some projectiles, but othersnded on the mark and paralyzed the beast for a few moments. Ryan more or less could visualize their victory if he and Alissa work together, but there were some problems. The Fenrir''s shadows moved around a d ready to help the creature and the dire wolves that were starting to circte around the traps. Some of them were dying while trying to pinpoint where the traps are, but it was only a matter of time before Ryan and Alissa got surrounded. "We can''t ignore the shadows and the dire wolves, but I can''t let Alissa fight Fenrir alone either¡­ Fenrir needs to die first. If that happens, I bet that its shadows won''t be able to do much aside from controlling the dire wolves. The question is: how can we defeat this beast fast enough?" Chapter 234 - Snapping Ryan tried to find a solution to the problem, but nothing came to his mind. Just like Alissa said, perhaps he should focus on stand by and focus on support by eliminating the dire wolves. Their numbers were pretty high, so it wasn''t like he was running away from the battle. Still¡­ "What am I doing here when I am having a hard time against oversized dogs and wolves? Why am I acting like a big shot when I can''t even solve this situation by myself¡­ all this time-fighting nonstop, and I am still not able to deal with all enemies on my path." Ryan clenched his fists. Ryan bit his lips in exasperation. Since that day, he didn''t improve even a single bit? He wasn''t good enough for anything¡­ Who was Ryan? Is just a guy full of pride that couldn''t do anything by himself even after losing his parents and being betrayed by his fianc¨¦e and by his best friend? Those doubts in his head annoyed the crap out of him, but Ryan barely could keep them away from his head for more than five minutes since pretty much every time he had to deal with those difficult situations. Lilith was right¡­ It looked like Ryan was just a pathetic little man. "I will show you all¡­" Ryan muttered. "Worms like you won''t be able tough at me for long." No one heard what Ryan said, but Fenrir, Alissa, and Orgar could feel that something changed in the air. When they looked around to see what had happened, they saw Ryan using his bow with a single hand and pulling the string with his mouth. However, the strangest thing about that scene was the fact that Ryan was using his Paralyzing Spear in the ce of a proper arrow. He was determined tobine his weapons like that, and he would use all his mana to restore his stamina and use all that stamina to use a Power Shot like no other. "Hey, Orgar¡­ isn''t Ryan a bit weird?" Alissa asked. "You already know about the doubts that he has in his mind, so it shouldn''t have surprised you that he snapped now. Moving around to help him now and then only dyed the unavoidable." The first time Alissa and Orgar saw Ryan, they learned everything about him. Essentially, he was just a guy who had lost all the confidence that he had as a man. After losing his parents, he lost the only two people he could share his doubts and fears with. He lost two important pirs of his life. When he saw what Daniel and Mia did, he lost the faith that he had in the future and noticed that his present life was a lie¡­ they never valued him as much as he valued them. In the end, the only Ryan had left after losing those four pirs were the things he learned along the way. The most important thing to learn was how to rely on himself. His father taught him that, and thanks to it, he manages to survive alone until now. The small confidence he had in his skills got shattered time and time again, against Baal, Lilith, Cerberus, and now against Fenrir. He didn''t want to prove anything to anyone, but to keep living, Ryan had to prove to himself that he was something, that he could do things by himself. Alissa and Orgar saw how desperate Ryan was to prove to himself his own value. He was so eager to do it that he lost his hand and still kept moving forward withoutining. However, a single person can only do so much. Ryan''s path surely would lead him to his ruin. Alissa had decided to help him since he never looked at her as a monster or as someone pathetic. Still, time and time again, he refused her help and friendship. In the end, she thought that some shock of reality would help, and thus she decided to let him stay alone for a while, but that only led to the current situation. "What can we do now, Orgar?" Alissa asked. "Absolutely nothing. He ispletely on edge, and people like only ept two oues: reach his goals or die trying. If you get on his way to save his life or just to achieve victory, he will never be the same and he will never reach his true potential." "But if he seeds¡­" Alissa said. "While I can''t deny that such a possibility exists, he is a difficult human. He won''t get satisfied easily. He will keep searching for new enemies until who knows how long¡­" Alissa was conflicted. She didn''t know if she should help her first human friend or if she should just let see him fighting for his goal or die trying. In the end, she decided to watch since Fenrir was grunting while looking at Ryan. The monster could feel the danger for its life, but at the same time, it didn''t have the nerve to show its back to Alissa in order to attack Ryan. While Fenrir hesitated, Ryan continued to charge his attack. Alissa decided to at least offer that much support, but in the end, that situation didn''tst for long. The dire wolves finally found the ces in the distance in which Ryan and Alissa didn''t put magic traps, and they were finally turning around the death trap and about to join the battle. Alissa clicked her tongue in annoyance¡­ in the end, someone had to stop them, and that someone was her. "Wait, Alissa. Just fighting them isn''t enough. Return to your human form and grab the best of your magic weapons. You will need to get rid of them like before since they areing from two sides." "That is impossible. I won''t be able to control so many weapons from such a distance," Alissa said. "It is okay if you rx your body, and as long as we use the same skill, we can fight together. My power is more intense so that I will kill the wolves of the other side." Chapter 235 - New Attack Alissa hesitated a little since it wasn''t her style to stay in a single position in such a dire situation, but since she trusted Orgar, she decided to obey him. The very moment Alissa returned to her human form, Fenrir dashed toward Ryan. However, he had already expected that. Ryan was angry, but he wasn''t blind. Like lightning, the Paralyzing Spear flew toward Fenrir, and as expected, the sudden movement of the bow and the spear made Ryan fly dozens of meters backward, but in the end, he managed tond while standing and only broke a few ribs. As for Fenrir¡­ the creature tried to block the spear with its left paw, but the projectile pierced it all the way to the other side and even had enough power to pierce the ground a few centimeters¡­pletely locking Fenrir in a single ce. The beast grunted while blood gushed from the wound. Despite the unbelievable amount of pain the monster was suffering, it still had enough willpower to use the other paw and try to get rid of the spear. "Who said you could do that?" Ryan asked with a vicious look on his face. Ryan equipped his hammer and dashed toward the beast. When he was twenty meters away, Ryan swung his weapon and then disappeared. He reappeared a momentter with the Iplete Reptilian Transformation already active. Even before Fenrir could even think of attacking him, Ryan nailed the spear on the ground even more after hitting it with his hammer. "UUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Fenrir grunted in pain and finally recovered the will to counterattack, but Ryan moved away with sh and escapedpletely unscathed. Although he managed to do something not even Alissa managed to do, Ryan didn''t lower his guard. His mana was almost empty, and the shadows still were lurking around, waiting for their chance to strike or to increase the power of the original. Ryan looked to the sides and saw Alissa''s weapons destroying and chopping the dire wolves in many pieces. He didn''t have to worry about the small fries. Ryan could focus solely on Fenrir and its shadows. The problem was: he didn''t have enough mana, nor could he recover fast enough. It was barely noticeable, but Fenrir was pulling the Paralyzing Spear away from the ground just by using its wounded left paw. The monster was using the right paw because it was preparing to smash Ryan once he gets close enough. Even if he uses sh, he probably won''t escape. "Aside from the spear, only my swords are appropriate to be used in the ce of arrows¡­ although my special bone arrows could be of some use, they won''t have the same piercing power as the magic weapons¡­ I won''t have any other choice but to use them. However, I will need some time to prepare an attack that will also pierce one of the other limbs of this monster." Time and stamina, but Ryan didn''t have either. Even though he was constantly recovering his stamina passively and actively with his Stamina Restoration while focusing his mana solely to recover his stamina, Ryan only had a single another method to attack: Power of Money. However, for two reasons, Ryan was determined not to use that skill. The first was because he wouldn''t be able to gain a single coin even after defeating Fenrir. That couldn''t happen since the monster had the strength of several bosses. Naturally, the number of coins he could receive would be outstanding. As for the second reason¡­ it would be too easy, and it wouldn''t satisfy Ryan. Not, if he uses it directly, at least¡­ Ryan nocked his me Sword and then began to prepare a Power Shot. Fenrir looked at him and stopped trying to get rid of the spear, the creature was determined to block the attack, and even though Ryan didn''t have enough energy to cause the same amount of damage as he did it before, Fenrir wasn''t a beast that survived this far underestimating its foes. Much to Fenrir''s surprise, Ryan''s energy began to be recovered at a more intense pace. The beast didn''t understand what was going on, but eventually, Fenrir noticed that now and then, Ryan would look at the battlefield in the distance for a single moment. Fenrir followed his line of sight and saw the moments a few dire wolves simply exploded for no apparent reason. Its foe did something, and that something recovered his energy. More and more Power Shot received more energy and quickly reached the level where its attack could pose a real problem to Fenrir. Knowing that time was of the essence, Fenrir suddenly attacked the ground with its left paw and made a lot of cracks in the area around itself. The monster raised its left paw, and now the Paralyzing Spear was only stuck in a small block of earth. Ryan clicked his tongue¡­ the beast wasn''t free but certainly recovered some of its mobility. Ryan wasn''t confident that he had enough energy to cause any real damage with the next attack, but it looked like he didn''t have any other choice. Using only its right paw, Fenrir jumped, and in mid-air, the monster opened its mouth and breathed a wave of fire that was even more powerful than of the dragons Ryan fought so far. Instantly, hundreds of meters of snow melted, and the ground turned into magma-like substance. However, Ryan wasn''t hit by it. He used sh in thest moment and appeared a few meters in front of Fenrir. Even if he hadn''t poured enough energy at that distance, he should be able to cause a lot of damage. Unfortunately, Ryan fired it too soon¡­ in the corner of his vision. He saw a shadow approaching from the left side¡­ it was one of Fenrir''s shadows ready toe to the rescue. Without mana and stamina to do anything, Ryan just did the only thing he could at the moment¡­ he clenched his teeth and epted the unavoidable pain. Chapter 236 - Another Enemy Alissa bit her lips in exasperation when she felt the presence of a shadow getting too close to Ryan. When her concentration broke thanks to that, the dire wolves approached quite a lot. However, she didn''t feel Ryan''s presence disappearing, so she managed to focus on the task ahead. Ryan felt his bones getting crushed while he was falling. Although the shadow wasn''t supposed to be solid, it looked like the damn monster could control its body''s properties at will. In the end, Ryan decided to make good use of that opportunity and used his gauntlets to attack the monster. Even with the little mana he had, as long as he decreases the falling speed and manages to move the monster away from him, he could survive. In the end, much faster than he thought, the shadow dissipated soon after Ryan attacked the monster''s red eyes. Fortunately, soon after that, Ryan fell right above a pile of snow right below where the original Fenrir was supposed to be. The monster also fell soon afterward a few meters away from Ryan. Both of them escaped falling on the magma created by Fenrir''s mes. Although Ryan was constantly using Heal to recover from his injuries, as expected, the broken bones weren''t mending fast enough. With much difficulty, he managed to get up while covered in bruises and blood. Only to see Fenrir staring at him while also lying on the snow. The Paralyzing Spear still was in the same ce, and the me Sword somehow managed to pierce the monster''s right paw and even damage its right eye. Not only the monster''s arms were unutilized, but the creature also couldn''t even breathe fire anymore since the paw was covering its face and mouth. Suddenly, the shadow that attacked Ryan appeared and then was absorbed by Fenrir. Although the beast gained some power and recovered some of its strength, it didn''t manage to get rid of the weapons that were piercing its body. "Serves you right, damn freak," Ryan said. "Just you wait. I will put you out of your misery soon enough." "We can''t have that. Fenrir had to wait for quite a while to recover that much power, and it would be a pit to make my pet do that all over again." Ryan frowned when he heard another voice in his head, it was the same technique Orgar used to talk to him, but that voice wasn''t his¡­ As expected, Fenrir was being controlled by someone, the owner of that voice is probably Fenrir''s master. The one who had the idea to use Fenrir''s shadows to make him recover some of his power. "I can''t believe I found two interesting humans so soon. A woman who tamed a dragon and a human who managed to y many beasts despite the obvious difference in strength. I guess that saying that you have is pretty urate: hard times create strong men." "Who are you, and what do you want?" Ryan asked. "If you are trying to recruit us, you are wasting your time. We will not work with you." "Work with me? Would it work with the ants that pass by your feet? You wouldn''t, right? So, of course not, I am not here to ask you to work with me, but you can work for me, just like many other humans did." Ryan''s suspicions were correct. Someone or something has been seducing the survivors of this region with sweet words. However, unlike Echidna, this unknown creature didn''t offer the power or anything simr. He just promised them the chance to be his servants¡­ given how troublesome the dire wolves could be, Ryan could understand why they would ept that. Of course, understand and ept were two different things. "I am a man who will not only rule over the Earth eventually. I will be the true emperor of the universe. There is no one more suited for that than me¡­ there is no other who deserves such honor. With your strength, you will be able to achieve many things, and I reward splendidly my servants who work hard. Usually, I don''t even talk with creatures such as yourselves directly, but since you managed to cause this much trouble to Fenrir, I decided that you deserve that honor." So much bullshit¡­ Ryan quickly got tired of it. In any case, at least all that talk refreshed his head, and now he had a good idea. Instead of nocking only a single zing Long Sword, he nocked both of them at the same time. To do that, he was forced to use Iplete Reptilian Transformation, but that was a low price to pay. While Fenrir was struggling to get up, Ryan killed several dire wolves with Power of Money and recovered enough mana to maintain the spell and recover his stamina and power up his attack. "How rude can a single human be? You didn''t even give me a proper answer, and you were already preparing to fight again? I don''t remember humans being that bloodthirsty." "Do you want my answer?" Ryan asked and then raised his crossbow. "Show yourself here with your ass exposed. I think an arrow up your ass is the answer that you are looking for." -"How disappointing¡­ to think that humans became this unreasonable even after such a long time. All this progress you made in so many years didn''t change your real nature, huh. Well, it is a pity, but I guess I will smash you like the worms you are." "I will be waiting for it," Ryan said. "Idiots like you are all talk but can''t do anything and doesn''t even have the courage to fight when the situation is unfavorable. Save your breath. Your threats have no effect. When you have the courage toe, I will be waiting with a sharp enough arrow to stick up on your ass." "¡­ Ryan, isn''t it? I will make sure to guard your name in my mind. You may think that you have lost everything, but you couldn''t be more wrong. You still can lose a lot more¡­" Chapter 237 - Chaos Axe Ryan''s ignored that voice, and then he fired his zing Long Swords. Fenrir didn''t have any chance of dodging the attack. However, at thest moment, a shadow left its body and moved away from the battlefield at unbelievable speeds. Ryan''s attack finallynded, and both swords pierced the head of the creature deeply. You obtained 2.250.000 coins. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Power Shot Lv 46 ? Lv 62 Effect: Increases the dexterity temporarily by two points per second. Cost: 31 Stamina per second You obtained 16 status points. Ryan frowned when he received those notifications. He had imagined that he would gain a lot, but not so much¡­ and weirdly enough, the shadow escaped, so it meant that Ryan didn''t finish off all the shadows that spawned in the dungeon breaks. Regardless, when Fenrir was in, the dire wolves suddenly stopped their charge for some reason. Alissa used that chance to use her Fire Breath and kill thousands of them in a few seconds. Although Ryan felt like helping and taking care of the monsters on the other side of the battlefield, something else picked his interest, and he forgot about the numerous enemies that still were alive. The item that picked his interest was a red ax. The massive weapon was as big as Ryan himself, but what impressed him most was the red glow of the weapon¡­ it didn''t seem like a fire enchanted weapon, but¡­ Chaos Axe Effect: Restores five points of your health every time you attack an organic monster with a melee attack. Strength + 70, Endurance + 30 Durability: 150/150 "Not bad, huh," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "That being said, I just realized the true potential of my bow skills¡­ in any case, this will be useful to learn some skills and train my body properly." While Ryan was analyzing his new weapon, the dire wolves began to spread around the area and run away from Alissa and Orgar''s rampage. Most likely, when the body was killed, Fenrir lost control over them. However, that shadow probably joined the other shadows to create a proper body, and the monster recovered its power to control the monsters. Fighting Alissa and Ryan was a waste of time and resources, so the monster or perhaps that voice decided to retreat. "It looks like you somehow did it," Alissa suddenly approached and spoke. "Yeah," Ryan said. Ryan didn''t look much different in Alissa''s eyes. His attitude seemed the same, but his eyes seemed fiercer and more serious¡­ just like Orgar said, he defeated a powerful foe, but that hadn''t been enough for him. He was already thinking about the next fight and about the things he had to do in order to avoid facing the same problems he faced against Fenrir. "You should slow down a little bit," Alissa said. "You are making enemies left and right without putting too much thought into it." "Yeah," Ryan said. Alissa sighed. Ryan wasn''t even paying attention to what she was saying. She was just answering automatically. Regardless, it wasn''t much, but Alissa managed to read Fenrir''s mind. Although the beast didn''t speak, the damn monster could do that. However, since it was like a mad dog, the monster rarely speaks¡­ unless when its master gives the order. "Do you want to know who was the owner of that voice?" Alissa asked. "No, it doesn''t matter," Ryan said. "Once those fuckers show up, I will hunt them down and won''t stop until all of them are dead. That is everything that matters¡­" Alissa sighed again. It looked like the old was kidnapped and put someone else on his body. He wasn''t showing all that anger towards others anymore, nor was he unpleasant, but it wasn''t like he got better. If anything, he got worse since now everything one could find in his mind was thirsty for power and wish to fight those monsters again as soon as possible. "This is better than letting his pride getting shattered, right Orgar?" Alissa asked via Telepathy. "Well¡­ it is a question of perspective. You protected his pride, but now he is on the right path to bing a machine who lives for fighting and proving his existence and value by only doing that. From my perspective, he has a lot of potential to survive this invasion of monsters with that mindset, but from your perspective as a human being, I am not so sure." Alissa recognized what Orgar wanted to say, humans weren''t machines, nor were they beasts that had to fight all moments of their awake lives. Ryan probably knew that, but he still embraced his savage side. He lived his life as a good person, and he didn''t like where that led him, so it wasn''t surprising that Ryan made such a choice. "It looks like our job here is over," Alissa said. "Now we just have to pick our new ss and then look for those who joined the monster''s side." "You can do that if you want, I am not going to look for them," Ryan said. "I have no business with those who abandoned Earth and joined the monster''s side." That seemed a bit too harsh, but Alissa recognized that Ryan had a point. She wanted to recruit some of the survivors of the area for her army, but as expected, Alissa wouldn''t be able to trust those who switch sides that quickly. Her best bet was to look for survivors hidden in the area, but the chances of finding anyone alive in such a cold ce were close to none. "Well then¡­ Let''s get to our next ss," Alissa said. Before doing that, Alissa recalled that she had to gather the loot. She killed thousands of dire wolves, so the number of equipment was pretty high. At first, she thought that Ryan would leave her behind and get his next ss without a care, but surprisingly enough, he waited for her. He really had changed. In some aspects, he became more reasonable, but in others¡­ Chapter 238 - Class: High Priest For some odd reason, Ryan and Alissa didn''t find any boss waiting for them at the dungeon''s end. Although the dire wolves were still spawning, they always tried to escape before anything. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Guardian, Demon Hunter, and High Priest. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan''s predictions hit the mark again. Those sses were obvious a whole new level above the others. Not only were their names impressive, but Ryan could also imagine how much use each ss could be. Even though he was someone who was more or less specialized in fast and surprise attacks, as ofte, Rya has been suffering quite a lot of damage. So, he even considered obtaining the Guardian ss, even though Demon Hunter was the obvious choice. However, in the end¡­ Ryan chose the High Priest ss. With that one, he was one hundred percent sure that he would recover his lost arm. Congrattions! You have be a Level one High Priest! You obtained the following skills: Purification, Regeneration, and Full-Heal. Your mana and intelligence will increase by six points, your health, stamina, control, and recovery will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Purification. Effect: Decreases the effect of negative effects. When this skill level is higher than the negative effect, the debuff will bepletely removed. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Regeneration. Effect: It grants you the chance to cast a healing spell thatsts for five minutes. The amount of health recovered will be equal to one per second. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Full-Heal. Effect: Completely restores your body to its original state while recovering five hundred points of health. Cost: 1000 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 500 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 475th You obtained: Summon Golem Tome. Ryan even had forgotten about the rank¡­ Regardless, his rank increased quite a bit just by obtaining a single tier-three ss. Not even defeating Fenrir and Cerberus made it increase all that much. It looked like Ryan''s luck was finally turning around¡­ the problem was the fact to use Summon Golem, he needed fifteen hundred points of mana. Although he didn''t even have enough mana to use Full-Heal, he could use some points to solve that problem. "Whatever, I will eventually reach that level of mana." After using the tome, Ryan used his free status points to increase his mana, and soon after, he used Full-Heal. As expected, his left arm was covered by light for a few seconds, but then when the light disappeared, his right arm was back to normal. After closing and opening his fist several times, Ryan confirmed that everything was fine. "You finally did it, huh," Alissa said. "Congrattions!" "Yeah," Ryan said. "¡­ Can''t you say anything else?" Alissa asked, a bit annoyed. "If you say ''yeah'' again, you will have to give me your new bow." "Yeah," Ryan said. Alissa clenched her teeth and fists in annoyance, but she didn''t do anything else in the end. Regardless, Ryan finally achieved one of his long-term goals, but he didn''t feel anything special. The only thing he felt was some relief because now he will be able to fight for long since he won''t have to use Iplete Reptilian Transformation every fucking time. "We can''t say that the mission was a sess, but at least we managed to decrease the poption of monsters in a few thousand," Alissa said. "What are you going to do now? Return and give your report to the General?" "No, I can do thatter," Ryan said. "He is focused on watching the territory of our country, so I am going to check things here for a while." "Is that so¡­" Alissa sighed. "Well, I need a break after all this crap. I will give my guys a lift and give them and myself at least one week off. We deserve that. Try not to die like an idiot. If you do, nothing will prevent me from bing Arthur''s new mother." After saying that, Alissa left the dungeon without looking behind. Ryan''s chance was a bit too radical. Still, at least with his mindset, monsters weren''t much of a problem, at least not the ordinary ones, and those who already suffered a defeat by his hands like Cerberus and Fenrir probably won''t try anything for a few days. Although Ryan wanted to check if there were other dungeons in the area, first of all, he needed to level up Icebound as much as possible, alongside Cold Resistance and the skill that he was about to learn¡­ When another dire wolf appeared out of nowhere, Ryan swung his ax and then used sh, he appeared and then his weapon cut the monster''s neck with a single strike. His attack had been so clean that not even blood gush to his clothes. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Axe Mastery. Effect: Increases damage when using axes by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Although his health was already full, the ax''s effects managed to speed up a little bit the mending of his bones. Ryan learned another thing useful, but once again, his heart didn''t get excited. It was too soon to rx or get carried away. Ryan needed more power and more knowledge¡­ until he obtains enough power and knowledge to decimate his foes, he couldn''t feel satisfied. Now more than ever, Ryan wanted to fight and keep fighting. Chapter 239 - Sense Of Familiarity Although Ryan considered the possibility, in the end, the dire wolves or the shadows of Fenrir never returned to the dungeon while he stayed there for two days. Icebound leveled up quite a bit, just like Ryan wanted, because he made sure to use mana whenever he had the chance. Still, even while fighting melee, the dire wolves weren''t a threat for Ryan, so instead of hunting at that steady pace, he decided to look for more challenges once he reached a certain milestone¡­ when he obtained two and a half million coins. "Let''s see what I can obtain with this¡­" When Ryan opened the dungeon shop, the options he had increased quite a bit. For some reason, even the number of items had increased considerably, and now he could even see the upgraded version of his rings. However, instead of buying them, Ryan decided to check all the avable tomes. He already has his arms back, and while the recovery was useful, it wasn''t as useful as his dexterity. "Not a sign of elemental creation¡­ if my guess is right, I will only be able to buy them once I have ten million coins. That is absurd value, but also is the power to create the earth, water, wind, and fire out of nothing." In the end, Ryan didn''t find a spell that granted him the power to create another dimension in which he could store things. However, only now did he find a ring that worked the same way as the inventories in games. Storage Ring (I) Effect: it gives you the chance to store and take away items from a dimension directly connected to your mind. To store something, you must touch the object, and no other living being should be touching it. The object also can''t wound you in order to be recognized as your property. Space: 1.000 pounds Cost: 500.000 That was weird¡­ why only now such items appeared? Ryan certainly essed the dungeon shop many times when he had much more coins than the current price of the item¡­ maybe the things he could buy are rted to his power, or his rank, or the number of dungeons he cleared. It was close to impossible to determine that. In any case, Ryan bought the ring and then immediately tested it. As long as it within a range of five meters around him, he could make the items appear just by thinking. That would be useful. The only problem was that Ryan would have to equip the ring to use it. In any case, Ryan solved the problem that was carrying his various magic items around, but while he was lucky, he wasn''t that lucky. He didn''t find the telekinesis tome being sold in the shop. "I guess I will focus onpleting the set of elemental transformations and then obtain the upgraded version of my rings. I also need a new shield since the other one waspletely destroyed, and Repair can''t do anything about it." Magic Ring of the Immortal Effect: Increases the user''s recovery by thirty points. Durability: 40/40 Cost: 20.000 Spiked Golden Shield Effect: Reflects three percent of the damage back to the enemy. Health + 50, Endurance + 40 Durability: 200/200 Cost: 500.000 In the end, Ryan spent almost seven hundred thousand coins on those items, but considering that their effects and durability were much higher than the others, he felt like it had been a good investment. As for the other coins¡­ Ryan decided to keep them for emergencies. Relying on Power of Money over and over again was annoying, but he couldn''t negate that the skill saved his ass many times. Hopefully, that won''t happen again now that Ryan had a storage device, and he filled it with mana and stamina potions. ording to Ryan''s memory, Canada''s capital was Ottawa. The city was only a few kilometers away from him up north. However, Ryan wasn''t expecting to find anything so close to the dire wolves'' dungeon. His goal was to find other dungeons, and since he didn''t find any other monster until now, it was very clear that he wouldn''t find dungeons in the area. Montreal was another pretty big city, and it was only two hundred kilometers away from his position. While it seemed pretty close, it was his only option in the East direction. While he was heading West, Ryan made sure to train Fire Transformation as much as possible, and he learned that the skill basically increased the power of his fire attacks and also increased his control over mes. Thanks to it, Ryan managed to heat up things around him a little bit without burning his clothes. Training his body to withstand the cold was good and all, but it would be meaningless if he ends up suffering some frostbites. "That asshole didn''t give up on the region, huh. That massive cloud still didn''t leave the area¡­" Ryan stopped for a second to check things behind, but it looked like their victory didn''t change all that much the situation in the border of the USA and Canada. Regardless, due to the fact that he hurried, Ryan managed to reach Montreal after six hours and just before sunset. Things weren''t much better in there; everything was covered in snow, and few buildings in that big city were still standing¡­ the only real difference was that Ryan could see a lot of dragons and megalodons fighting. "It is time to kill some freaks¡­" Ryan smirked. Just a few moments before Ryan could prepare for the fight. He saw a few monsters leaving the city only to see them attacked by dragons. Although he never saw those monsters before, he felt a weird sense of familiarity¡­ thanks to his blood. Ryan finally found some ice foxes. Ice Fox - Lv 50 Health: 800/800 Mana: 800/800 Stamina: 800/800 Strength: 400 Dexterity: 400 Speed: 400 Intelligence: 400 Endurance: 400 Control: 400 Mentality: 400 Luck: 250 Recovery: 200 Willpower: 400 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 40 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 40, Spells: Ice Arrow Lv 50, Ice Spear Lv 50, Water Maniption Lv 80 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 90, Water Resistance Lv 90 Chapter 240 - One Hit Kill The ice foxes weren''t much different from the ones Ryan knew, they were only two times bigger, had white fur, and their eyes were deep blue. As for their strength¡­ they were so average that they couldn''t even try to resist the dragons and the megalodons. Regardless, Ryan was satisfied to know that a dungeon was waiting to be cleared in that area. He just has to deal with some dragons. It wasn''t a coincidence that all the dragons in the area had light-blue scales. After using Appraisal, Ryan confirmed that they were called ice dragons. It looked like they could resist quite a lot the megalodons'' long-range attacks, but since their strength was just a bit above the first fire dragon Ryan killed, they weren''t exactly in a good position. -"If I use Iplete Reptilian Transformation in thest moment, I probably still will be able to increase the power of my arrows by twenty percent. However, since the dragons are flying above the river, I might lose my arrows¡­ I suppose I will use the special bone arrows." Ryan concluded. Ryan could see seven dragons flying above the river, but that doesn''t mean some others might be hiding somewhere. Although given time, even his ordinary arrows could obtain that much power, Ryan decided to sacrifice his bone arrows for the sake of speed. Once the monsters fly toward him, he will have the option to use his magic weapons. Just like before, Ryan prepared his Power Shot. Then he recalled that he couldn''t risk letting the dragons fall on the river. If that happens, he will lose the dragon hearts¡­ Although that annoyed a little, Ryan knew what he had to do. After charging his Power Shot for ten seconds, Ryan fired his arrow. Although the projectile''s piercing power wascking, when his target got hit, the dragon almost fell on the river, but it managed to recover on time, even though the attack damaged heavily one of its wings. A few secondster, another dragon got hit on its wings, and the beasts finally found Ryan standing at the top of a gigantic tree covered in snow. Although the wounded monsters tried to fly toward him, they failed since their wings got damaged, and they also had been poisoned. As for the other five dragons, they dashed toward Ryan without thinking twice. Ryan nocked his Paralyzing Spear and then begun to charge the Power Shot, but in the end, he only had five seconds to do it. The monsters had already closed the distance and opened their mouths to fire something at him¡­ Ryan didn''t lose that chance. After firing the spear, Ryan watched the weapon flying in a straight line toward the mouth of the closes ice dragon. The creature created some ice spears and fired them, thinking that only that would stop Ryan''s attack¡­ the monster couldn''t have been more wrong. The Paralyzing Spear destroyed everything in its path and pierced the upperyer of the dragon''s mouth. Even though Ryan activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation and Lesser Wind Enchantment¡­ his weapon didn''t pierce it enough. However, the dragon was now unable to close its mouth. One momentter, Ryan disappeared from the dragons'' sight. The creature looked in all directions looking for Ryan, but they didn''t find him. As if that wasn''t weird enough, the dragon that got hit by the Paralyzing Spear began to contort itself in pain. The dragons didn''t understand what happened and, in the end, the dragon died and fell on the ground with its mouth open. The dragon''s friends decided to check the corpse, but that also had been a mistake. When one of them got close enough to the mouth, something flew from the corpses'' mouth and pierced another dragon''s face. It was the Paralyzing Spear¡­ and this time, Ryan had enough time to charge a one-hit K.O. You obtained 45.000 coins. You obtained 45.000 coins. As fast as he could, Ryan left the corpse''s mouth and looked for the loot while the dragons were in shock¡­ unfortunately, he found nothing. That didn''t make Ryan lose his focus, the two wounded dragons that he attacked first finally were close enough, and he chose them as his next targets. Using sh in the blink of an eye, Ryan covered the distance between them, and surprisingly enough, every time he reappeared after using sh, a potion of mana appeared above him, and the liquid recovered the mana he had used. When those dragons noticed what Ryan was about to do, they moved in different directions. That way, Ryan would be forced to show his back to one of them. However, he couldn''t help but smirk at the dragons¡­ in the end, they were just oversized lizards. Ryan grabbed his twin long swords and threw them toward the dragons, the monsters easily dodged the attack, but a few secondster, their wings got destroyed. They didn''t consider that Ryan would use wind maniption to control the swords over such a distance and make them spin to the point where it could destroy dragons'' wings¡­ In fact, Ryan couldn''t do that while controlling two weapons in different locations. Still, the elemental attributes of the weapons and dragons helped him in that regard. Although Ryan defeated two and destroyed the mobility of the other two, there were three dragons still perfectly fine behind, so he couldn''t get careless. Those two dragons realized that they couldn''t underestimate him, so they changed their tactics. Ice Spears started to rain over Ryan, but in the end, not a single one of them hit him. While he was flying using his shield as support, Ryan started to charge another Power Shot. Meanwhile, he destroyed the Ice Spears with his eyes alone¡­ thanks to the Power of Money. Upon noticing that long-ranged attacks wouldn''t work on Ryan, the ice dragons hesitated. As expected, Orgar was really leagues above ordinary dragons. Even while they faced opponents like Baal and Lilith, he never showed impatience or insecurity. Unlike those three dragons, he never even considered the possibility of running away as well¡­ Chapter 241 - Hunting Dragons Those three dragons decided to run away. However, Ryan didn''t felt for that obvious trap. When he looked below him, he saw the two fallen dragons preparing a big attack¡­ a lot of mana was being concentrated in front of their mouth, and the mana was turning into ice. "I can''t get greedy here." Seven dragon hearts surely would help Ryan quite a lot, but he decided to dly ept four. When the monster opened their mouths a little more, a cannon of ice and snow was fired through it. If Ryan had the time to do it, he would have shaken his head in disapproval¡­ What was the point of using such arge attack when Ryan could use sh and easily avoid it? However, it looked like the dragons considered that. When he reappeared a few meters away from his previous position, the cannons of ice changed their trajectory. In the end, Ryan decided to stop his wind magic to levitate with his shield. His falling speed was equal to the speed of the dragon''s movement, so the ice cannon never reached. Half a second beforending, Ryan fired his arrow, and the special projectile hit the head of the dragon on the left side. The cannon of ice was stopped immediately, and the neck of the creature snapped soon after half of the head exploded. You obtained 45.000 coins. Thest one still tried to freeze Ryan to death, but before its attack could reach him, he used sh and reappeared behind the dragon''s back, and without hesitation, he swung his ax on the monster. The beast trembled in agony when several of its scales flew to the sides and even tried to roll in order to protect the back of its head, but that had been a mistake. When the monster showed its face and exposed eyes, Ryan fired his twin longswords at the monsters'' eyes. The monster lost its eyes, but even in that condition, the creature tries to smash Ryan with both arms. Escaping wasn''t an option. The monster decided to die while fighting. Against a foe that was wounded, Ryan decided to fight melee. However, when he tried to repel one of the dragon''s arms, he was sent flying for several meters, and he dislocated his shoulders. Somehow, Ryannded on his fist and fixed his shoulder before using Heal, but not even that made him give up on fighting up close. Repelling the attack with his strength alone wasn''t possible yet, but Ryan, with his speed, dodged the monster''s next attack, swung his ax, and cut off one of the monster''s fingers. The same scene repeated itself several times until the creature finally dies of blood loss. Finally, thest dragon dropped a tome, but Ryan didn''t feel like celebrating. He won against seven dragons and killed four solo. However, until he obtains the power to do that without relying on potions, there was no point in getting excited. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Storm. Effect: creates an ice storm in a small area that causes damage and can freeze your foes. Damage: 100% per second Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. It was apletely useless skill for that environment. Still, given that Ryan himself didn''t have area of effect skills on his arsenal aside from the Fire Storm that he could only use thanks to his twin swords, it was a nice skill to wee. Still¡­ it seemed kind of cheap given that Ryan killed four dragons. Fortunately, the best was yet toe. Your health increased by twenty points. Your mana increased by twenty points. Your willpower increased by twenty points. Your dexterity increased by twenty points. "I guess this isn''t half bad." Ryan nodded in satisfaction. It was a pity to leave those bodies behind, but since his ring couldn''t store a lot, Ryan left the area without looking back. At first, he thought of fishing a little bit those damn megalodons, but instead of that, he headed toward the center of the city and looked for the dungeon. It was time to get another ss and put his dire wolf in his office. Ryan felt alone many times over thest two months. Most of the time, he felt like that because of the destruction andck of survivors in the ces he passed. However, that feeling was a lot stronger in that city due to the snow. The cold and strong wind made everything look so deste and dead¡­. suddenly, Ryan caught some presence hidden among a massive pile of snow that was probably hiding a house or something. Nine survivors were in there¡­ to think that humans could survive this long in such a deste ce that was at the same time, so freezing cold¡­ although that surprised Ryan, he soon moved onward toward the dungeon. His job wasn''t to look after survivors. Besides, if those people managed to survive even though dragons were flying over the city for several weeks, they didn''t need his help. When Ryan finally found some ice foxes, he couldn''t help but blink several times since the monsters were hiding in the snow thanks to their white fur. If he hadn''t used Radar, he probably would have missed them. When he stopped, the monsters noticed that the surprise attack had failed and prepared to bombard him with ice arrows, but before that could happen, Ryan decimated them with me Arrows. Although his magic lost speed and power due to the conditions of the ambient, the ice foxes still died after getting hit a single time¡­ it looked like Ryan will have an easy time clearing the dungeon. ss: Hunter Lv 50 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 50 (+ 03 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 475th Health: 579/579 (2. 82/s) Mana: 1065/1065 (2. 82/s) Stamina: 859/859 (2. 82/s) Strength: 30 (+131) (+130) Dexterity: 1000 (+720) (+57) Speed: 70 (+319) (+48) Intelligence: 80 (+365) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+111) (+130) Control: 06 (+338) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+16) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 600 (+792) (+300) Willpower: 29 (+16) Coins: 510.221 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 62 (+ 16 UP), Dash Lv 25 (+ 02 UP), Sting Lv 09 (+ 04 UP), Hawkeye Lv 13 (+ 04 UP), Bash Lv 10 (+ 03 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 51 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 51 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 51 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 51 (+ 04 UP), Stealth Lv 39 (+ 04 UP), Precision Lv 43 (+ 03 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 40 (+ 02 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), Spells: Heal Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), Lesser Poisonous Enchantment Lv 15 (+ 04 UP), Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 23 (+ 02 UP), Transformation Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Purification Lv 01, Regeneration Lv 01, Full-Heal Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Summon Golem Lv 01, Fire Transformation Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Ice Storm Lv 01 Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 23 (+ 02 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 24 (+ 02 UP), Master''s Support Lv 22 (+ 02 UP), Ice Bound Lv 14 (+ 04 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 19 (+ 04 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 45 (+ 01 UP), Beastmaster Lv 27 (+ 01 UP), Archer Lv 38 (+ 02 UP), Summoner Lv 20, Combat Archer Lv 17 (+ 02 UP), Sorcerer Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 13 (+ 02 UP), High Priest Lv 03, (+ 02 UP) Non-Combatant: Chapter 242 - Class: Swordsman It looked like dragons had terrible tracking skills, or at the very least, those which Ryan fought were pretty stupid. He found dozens of white foxes hidden in the piles of snow along the way. However, he didn''t find a single one that was stronger than the others. "I guess even though the dragons missed a lot of monsters, they didn''t let go unchecked the monsters that appeared after the dungeon break." After a while, Ryan found the dungeon in what was supposed to be the city''s center. After checking all directions and noticing that there were no dragons nearby, he decided to use Call and make his dire wolf. Clearing that dungeon would be a breeze, and given the strength that his pet had, ice foxes wouldn''t be a problem, so he didn''t have to train in. Just to make he wouldn''t run into any problems, Ryan restocked his potions supply before entering the dungeon. The ce looked like a subterranean cave that had been excavated inside a mountain of ice. Not even the dire wolf''s dungeon looked like that¡­ probably because Fenrir was a creature that used fire attacks. He could withstand ice, but he probably would hate to stay for weeks inside an ice cave. At the end of the dungeon, Ryan found a single boss. The creature was basically an over-sized ice fox. Also, for some strange reason, the creature had nine tails. Although Ryan felt an even weirder sense of familiarity with that monster, the creature tried to smash him with two blocks of ice without hesitation¡­ as expected, the boss could feel that Ryan had killed many ice foxes¡­ many of its friends. The monster had a cool design and seemed powerful enough to guard most dungeons, but since Ryan couldn''t have any other tamed monsters, he grabbed his bow and started to fight. In the beginning, the big ice fox tried to smash Ryan several times by creating Ice Walls on his sides and then forcing them to collide. However, Ryan blocked those attacks by using the Frozen Gauntlets and Wind Maniption. Meanwhile, Ryan stood still while charging a single Power Shot. The monster finally noticed what Ryan wanted to do and decided to change tactics. Surprisingly enough, the monster also could use Ice Cannon, but before the attack could hit Ryan, he fired his Power Shot andpletely destroyed the monster''s head. You obtained 7.500 coins. As expected, the job had been too easy. It wasn''t surprising since Ryan had been fighting for several months with only dragons as his goals. In any case, the monster dropped a ring, but Ryan just stored it ceremonially away inside his ring. There was no need to feel excited or bothered by the difference in strength. The only thing Ryan had to worry about was getting more power. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordsman, Thief, and Elementalist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Although that was a bit shocking and disappointing, that had already happened once. So, Ryan deal with it after a single sigh. While he could get the hunter or Elementalist ss and get fifteen status points, Ryan decided to pick the swordsman ss. He didn''t forget the fact that he was getting wounded pretty a lot as ofte, and besides, even though that wasn''t his priority anymore, now and then, he used swords with Wind Maniption. He will probably be able to level up that ss rtively fast. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Swordsman! You obtained the following skills: Bash, Iron Will, and Determination. Your health and strength will increase by two points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! Considering that you already have the skill Bash, your skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Iron Will. Effect: It increases your willpower by one point per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Determination. Effect: It increases your mentality by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan looked at the purple crystal and imagined how much powerful he could be by going to the other world. However, even though his desire for power had increased, it didn''t blind him for the problems in front of him. Until he manages to put at least a group of survivors and a tamed monster in each of the dungeons in his country, he couldn''t start an offensive. What was the point of attacking when your back was exposed? In the end, Ryan left the dungeon, wondering where he should go next. However, such thoughts disappeared from his mind when he heard the grunt of his dire wolf in the distance. "He should have already arrived here¡­" Ryan muttered. In a hurry, Ryan left the dungeon and headed toward the grunt hade. When Ryan arrived at the ce his dire wolf was, he saw his pet biting a human, and five or so kids were punching the creature. The scene made Ryan frown¡­ now that he thought about it, he never gave any orders as to what his pets should do if a human attack them. Since that was the case, the monster did what he saw fit. "Stop," Ryan said and then sighed. When the dire wolf heard Ryan''s order, it immediately dropped on the ground the human that was in his mouth. The kids cried and screamed in shock when they saw a ck-haired woman missing one arm and its two legs¡­ that sight would probably haunt them down forever, so Ryan decided to act faster in order to decrease its effects. Chapter 243 - Troublesome Kids When Ryan approached, he noticed that his wolf almost killed the ck-haired woman, but he also noticed that he had only eaten one of her arms. The two legs she had lost¡­ the scars seemed several weeks old. "Move," Ryan said. The kids looked at Ryan, startled since he looked as much as vicious as his pet. Despite that, they had the nerve to get in his way and protect the woman. That was quite surprising since they weren''t even ten years old. Ryan sighed and then used Wind Maniption to make the woman fly toward him. She was trembling a lot due to the cold and pain, but she was already unconscious. Considering their number, Ryan realized they were probably the presence he felt earlier. Regardless, Ryan used Full-Heal, and after a few seconds, all the woman''s limbs were back to their rightful ces. However, not even a crazy spell could do everything. Ryan finally realized that the woman and the kids were almost only skin and bones¡­ they probably didn''t have many chances to look for food or even eat monsters due to the dragons. "Why this kind of shit only happens to me¡­" Ryan sighed. Now that he had met those survivors, Ryan couldn''t leave them alone. Even worse, taking them back will cost him a lot of time. Unless he uses his dire wolf, it will take days, if not weeks, to bring all of them to the military base. While Ryan was trying to find an easy way out of that mess, the kids looked at the ck-haired woman in shock. Although she still was covered in her own blood, they couldn''t help but be amazed that her limbs were back. In the end, Ryan didn''t find an easy solution. His only option was to take them back to the base with his dire wolf''s help. After another long sigh, Ryan began to build a big sled made of earth. Instead of a sled, it looked like a prettyrge tent that could be pulled by a vehicle, and in this case, arge monster. After the tent made of the earth wasplete, Ryan used Earth Transformation and turned the earth into the concrete. The walls were pretty thin, just like the floor, since it would be too heavy otherwise. However, it needed at least that much to protect the brats from the cold wind. The kids screamed again when the woman began to levitate and entered the weird-looking the tent, but at least they followed her to inside and that saved Ryan from the trouble of giving them any orders. After that, he used some ropes and connected his creation to the dire wolf''s body. "Don''t look at me like that," Ryan said. "It is your fault that we are in this mess." The dire wolf didn''t look troubled in the slightest. The creature just stared at Ryan, waiting for new orders. Based on Ryan''s estimation, the kids, the woman, and the improvised tent probably weighed as much as the wolf so that the creature would be considerably slower than usual. Ryan could use magic now and then to help, but even so¡­ they will have a long journey ahead of them. "Let''s grab some of the dragon''s meat," Ryan dered. The trip would belong, and there was no need to make it even more ufortable. So, after jumping on the dire wolf''s back, the beast began to move toward where Ryan killed the monsters. In the end, Ryan only managed to store inside his ring around five hundred pounds of dragon''s meat. The kids'' screamed when they saw the massive corpses and even more so when Ryan started to cut off the meat that they were going to eat. "So noisy¡­" Ryan sighed. It will take some time before they arrive in a region where the dire wolf will have anything to eat, so Ryan let the beast fill its belly for the time being. Meanwhile, Ryan prepared some containers of hot water and also grilled some of the meat. After that, he entered the tent to clean the woman''s body. The blood had already dried, so he had to hurry. However, a little girl protested when she tried to unbutton the dark-haired woman''s shirt. "What are you doing?" A blonde little girl asked. "She needs to be cleaned," Ryan said. "You guys also need a shower, I guess. Just wait for your turn. Before that, you can go and eat some of that meat over there." "You can''t do that; you are a boy!" The girl insisted. "I am a man, and this doesn''t trouble me in the slightest," Ryan said. "Still, you have a point. Based on my experiences, she will probably annoy me once she learns that I saw her naked. Can you do that? Clean her body?" "I can¡­ I helped my aunt clean her baby many times," The little girl said. "Fair enough," Ryan said. "You guys help her, and the other brats will stay on guard duty with me. Those who try to peek will receive divine punishment." "Why would we try to peek?" A cheeky, ck-haired boy asked. "I guess you are really brats all right," Ryan shrugged while showing a small smile. After separating boys from girls, Ryan made the brats eat their meal. It was quite shocking how tasty dragon''s meat could be even without salt or anyone seasoning. Maybe mana was the cause of that¡­ that would exin why monsters tried to eat humans and looked so passionate about it. Ryan thought now that he wasn''t alone, he would be an easy target for Fenrir and the other dire wolves, but surprisingly, those creatures never showed up. Either they learned their lesson, or at the very least, they were smart enough that using hostages against Ryan would be useless. Still, if the monsters on the ground had no ns on attacking, Ryan decided to focus his attention on the sky. For the better or, the worse, he was leaving a trail behind, and dragons could easily find it while they fly in the sky. Chapter 244 - Hesitation When the boys ate their meal and filled their bellies, the girls finally finished their job. It was kind of surprising that the ck-haired woman didn''t wake up after all that. The blood loss had been pretty intense¡­ "Now it is your turn to eat," Ryan said to the girls. "Be quick because we need to depart soon." Now that Ryan saw her cleaned, he realized that the unconscious woman was fairly young. She was probably around his age, and she was a teacher, which would exin why the kids were too attached to her. In any case, even though Ryan gave them the order to stay alert in case something happens to the woman, the brats soon fell asleep when they entered the tent. Ryan was using magic to keep the temperature inside it warm enough, but he didn''t think that it would make them rx that much. "Hey, what is your name?" Ryan asked to the girl who protested earlier. "Elle¡­" The blond little girl replied while looking at Ryan with concerned eyes. "Is that woman your teacher or something?" Ryan asked. "How do you guys managed to survive for this long in that cold city?" "Yes, she is," Elle replied. "When the monsters appeared¡­ many peopled died, but since we were in a camp outside the city, miss Katelyn protected us. We stayed hidden for a long time, but then miss Katelyn decided to look for other survivors and our parents¡­ we didn''t find anyone, and then a dragon attacked us¡­ miss Katelyn defeated the monster, but she lost her legs protecting us." That was pretty impressive, Ryan couldn''t feel a lot of mana in her body, but maybe it was due to her weakened state. It looked like she managed to hunt ice foxes for food even without her legs, but she didn''t have enough power to face Ryan''s dire wolf. Elle continued the story, and apparently, after confirming that the dragons had disappeared, they decided to leave their hideout. They didn''t find any ice fox either, but then they suddenly saw the dire wolf running toward them, and Katelyn assumed it was an enemy. She attacked, the dire wolf fought back, and she lost. "¡­ What are you going to do with us?" Elle asked. "Miss Katelyn said that we shouldn''t trust in strangers." "¡­ Someone I know asked me to bring you guys to a face ce, and that is what I am doing," Ryan said. "Just forget about what happened and go rest. Everything is going to be fine." After saying that, Ryan patted Elle''s head, but in the end, he quickly stopped. Even he didn''t know if things will work out in the end, so he couldn''t promise that kind of thing, even to calm down some kids. Besides, he couldn''t let himself get too close to them. His goal might save some humans'' lives, but he needed to focus on getting stronger and not on getting attached to strangers and their problems. That was a cold way to act, but Ryan couldn''t see the point of helping strangers if he didn''t truly want to do that. If he changes his priorities, he will be only a hypocrite who is trying to ignore his fears by doing something else that apparently looked correct. Ryan couldn''t ignore his true wishes¡­ not after everything he experienced until now. Soon after, with so many thoughts in his mind, Ryan decided to resume the trip. It was gettingte, so he couldn''t miss the chance to move as much as possible in the dark since the chances of dragons finding his trail would be small. Although Ryan had to restore the dire wolf''s stamina many times, the speed and the amount of noise they made along the way had been more than satisfactory. Thanks to that, they arrived on the earthworm''s dungeon just before sunrise. However, Ryan noticed that the snow had grown thicker in that area. "I don''t like this," Ryan muttered. "Fenrir''s master is probably behind this, but there is nothing I can do about it." The poption of earthworms had grown quite a bit since Alissa took her guys back to the base, but at least that showed Ryan that he could choose another ss. However, as expected, the ruckus caused by the earthworms woke everyone up, even Katelyn. When she left the tent, she saw the creature that almost took her life smashing on earthworm with its paws and Ryan using me Arrow and exploding the creatures whenever they showed up. The scene shocked her, but the shock couldn''t bepared to what she felt when she finally realized that she was standing on her two feet. "What the¡­" Katelyn opened her eyes widely. "Stand back and don''t try anything funny," Ryan said without looking back. "You owe me quite a bit since you caused me a lot of trouble, don''t do anything that might increase your debt." Katelyn clenched her teeth and prepared to fight. Although she didn''t mention it to the kids, she saw what humans had be in thest few months. Most of them decided to join the monsters to protect their own lives, and those who didn''t be criminals who didn''t hesitate in stealing from the weak. Katelyn didn''t know who that man was, but just knowing that he was fighting alongside monsters was enough to make her understand that he was her enemy. Katelyn pointed both of her hands toward Ryan and the dire wolf, but she was forced to stop when she felt a strong wind behind her. Ryan''s Paralyzing Spear was ready to strike her back. "I won''t say it again," Ryan said. "You are not stupid since you don''t trust me, but you shouldn''t be too hasty in this situation. If you make a mistake now, your head will roll." Katelyn clenched her teeth in exasperation¡­ in that situation, she really couldn''t do anything. Her life and the kids'' lives were in Ryan''s hands. For the good or the worse. Chapter 245 - Magic Upgrade "Why don''t we talk a little while I finish things here?" Ryan asked. "How exactly someone like you managed to y a dragon? You didn''t get any sses yet, right?" "sses?" Katelyn frowned. "Don''t answer a question with another question¡­" Ryan sighed. "If you clear a dungeon, you can obtain a ss and three skills. The more you fight, the more the sses level up and the stronger you get. Now, answer my question." "I obtained a tome¡­ and a certain spell," Katelyn hesitated while looking forward to a way out of that mess. "Figures¡­ some people are really lucky, but I guess I can''tin about that," Ryan said. "Anyway, what was that spell?" "¡­ Magic Upgrade," Katelyn said after a few moments of hesitation. "Howe you are a teacher with such poor conversation skills?" Ryan asked. "Exin what the damn skill can do." "With that skill, I can upgrade magic weapons as long as I have the rightponents," Katelyn said. "That seems useful, though I can''t see you with any magic weapon," Ryan said. "Let me guess. You lost your weapon fighting against a dragon." "¡­ Yes," Katelyn replied. Ryan shrugged. Regardless, that was some pretty useful information. If he could upgrade his magic weapons with that skill, Ryan would be able to increase his potential many more times. Although it was obvious that the skill might fail and the magic weapons might break, it was worth the risk of upgrading magic weapons. "¡­ What do you want?" Katelyn asked. "Right now?" Ryan asked. "Clear the nearest dungeon and get my next ss. After that? I want to take you guys to a ce where you won''t have a hard time looking after those kids. I can''tin given the situation, but you did a sloppy job keeping them safe." Katelyn bit her lips in annoyance. Although she wanted to refute that, she couldn''t since she epted that fact many times. She wasn''t strong enough to go south, to a warm and safe ce. So, she forced the kids to endure that harsh environment. "What are you going to gain with that?" Katelyn asked. "Certainly, you are expecting to gain something by helping us." "I can''t imagine me gaining anything by doing this, only some peace of mind," Ryan said. "However, you killed a dragon, right? Then you can pay me with the coins you are received." "Only that?" Katelyn asked in surprise. "Do you have something more to offer?" Ryan asked. "While I admit that changing my ns was a hassle, just fifty thousand coins would suffice for the problem you caused." "Aren''t you aiming for my body?" Katelyn asked. "Oh, boy¡­ not only you are troublesome, but you even have that much self-esteem, huh?" Ryan asked afterughing a little. "Too bad, I want to stay away from those who are too self-conscious about their appearances. I have no interest in you." Although Ryan had to admit that Katelyn was pretty and she had a pair of impressive bazongas, he didn''t have the time or the interest to fool around with her. With the world in that state, he won''t be able to do it with people rted to him at some level. Only with prostitutes, but those are hard to find now that monsters were eating humans left and right¡­ Katelyn had a hard time believing in that. She also saw many men and women selling their bodies to strong survivors while she was scouting during the first days after the monsters'' arrival. As far as she was concerned, she couldn''t imagine any other reason a man would help someone like her and a group of children. After a while, Ryan finally had some room to breathe because the earthworms stoppeding. While he was sure that he would face others, that will only happen the closer he gets to the dungeon. "If you don''t trust me, I don''t really mind," Ryan said. "However, before you go with the kids, I want the coins. You are responsible for their lives, so if you think you can survive on your own while protecting all of them, I won''t stop you from leaving." Ryan exined after that. The survivors could give each other coins by shaking their hands. So, after giving fifty thousand coins to him, Katelyn began to ponder. Somehow, she recovered her legs, and she obtained some valuable pieces of information. If she could confirm them, then perhaps going with that base that the unknown man mentioned might be actually the best option. "Can we go with you and check if those dungeons can really offer us, sses?" Katelyn asked. "Sure, why not?" Ryan shrugged. "Just stay behind me and don''t do anything stupid." "Don''t we have to help to obtain the ss?" Katelyn asked. "How many people can obtain a ss at once?" "Twenty-four," Ryan replied. "As long as you stay close enough, anyone can obtain a ss when the boss of a dungeon is defeated." That seemed too good to be true. Still, even though it was risky, Katelyn decided to check that with his own eyes. Ryan didn''t show any sign that he was about to attack her, and considering that the kids didn''t look that afraid of him, he didn''t do anything bad while she was unconscious. While Ryan and the dire wolf were eliminating the earthworms, Katelyn decided to ask the things that happened while she was out cold. However, to avoid problems, Katelyn only whispered to Elle and Gustav, who was the cheeky boy. "Did something happen while I was sleeping?" Katelyn asked. "Did he do something?" "He tried to undress you," Gustav said. "So, he really is¡­ after my body," Katelyn whispered. "But I stopped him, and he asked if I could clean miss Katelyn," Elle said. "Before doing that, he made a sparkling light appear, and the light made your legs appear again." That seemed like a pretty confusing exnation¡­ However, everything that made Katelyn think that Ryan was the one who healed her body¡­ howe humans could do that now? Chapter 246 - Class: Teacher In the end, things happened the same way Ryan had said. There was a big monster waiting for them at the end of the dungeon, and when Ryan killed the monster, they obtained ess to a treasure chest that gave them the chance to choose a ss. Although the sses avable weren''t that impressive, it was much better than nothing since Katelyn and the kids didn''t have a single ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Viking, Rogue, and Teacher. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Again¡­ not a single new ss. Regardless, this is a good opportunity to test this system even further." Ryan didn''t have any reason to choose the Viking ss, and he already had the Rogue ss. It was the perfect moment to see what those weird sses like Teacher and Disciple could do. Without a hint of hesitation, Ryan chose the Teacher ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Teacher! You obtained the following skills: Lesson, Teacher''s Support, and Homework. Your mana and intelligence will increase by two points, your stamina, health, control, and recovery will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lesson. Effect: It helps you when you try to teach others spells and skills. The more you show the same skill, the faster those who watch you might learn it. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Teacher''s Support. Effect: It grants you the chance to select a student, and when you are close to that student, he receives a boost in all attributes as well as his learning speed when Lesson is active. For every five levels in this skill, you can select a new student. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Homework. Effect: It grants the chance to your students passively learn one of your skills randomly. You obtained 01 status point. "Those skills are so weird¡­ most of the skills look game-like, but those don''t. Anyway, I should test if I can teach my dire wolf some skills." While Katelyn and the kids were choosing their ss, Ryan called his dire wolf and tried to activate Teacher''s Support. However, nothing happened. The skill had an active effect of selecting a student and a passive to help the student, but neither of them worked. "I guess I can''t use that kind of skill on monsters or tamed beasts¡­ if I can only use on humans, this ss won''t be of much help." Ryan tried to use it on a summoned slime, but nothing happened. What a massive waste of time¡­ Although Ryan could use the skills on Katelyn or on the kids, it would onlye in handy for a few days since he is going to leave them on the base. Teaching kids offensive skills might save their lives one day, but Ryan doubted that Katelyn would let them fight. While she stays alive, she probably won''t even let them think of fighting monsters. Even though they probably had some status points to be used since they leveled up their Cold Resistance quite a bit. "I need to apologize to you," Katelyn suddenly approached and spoke. "Everything you said was true, but I doubted until the veryst moment¡­" "I don''t need your apologies," Ryan said. "Still, if you really feel bad about it, you can be my test subject. I want to test skill. It ispletely safe, so you don''t have to worry about it." "¡­ Okay, I will help you," Katelyn hesitated a little bit. When Ryan decided to use Teacher''s Support, Katelyn frowned, and it looked like something appeared in front of her¡­ a notification of the system. In the end, Katelyn just epted the notification, and soon after, Ryan got one notification as well. Katelyn Tremy became your student. Now Ryan just has to choose a skill¡­ in the end, he chose one of the most basics that he had: me Arrow. He fired the magic projectile on the wall, and the impact made the ce tremble a little. Katelyn frowned once again, but then she showed a puzzled expression. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "Something appeared on my field of vision¡­" Katelyn said. "Apparently, it is called ''learning bar'' and it is saying that I am currently learning the skill me Arrow¡­ the bar is at one percent." "One percent? Do I have to use that skill one hundred times?" Ryan asked a bit troubled by it. It seemed like a hassle, but in the end, Ryan fired the one hundred me Arrows, he needed intel about his skills, and unfortunately, the description never told him the most important parts. Congrattions! The skill Teacher''s Support has leveled up. Teacher''s Support Lv 1 ? Lv 3 Effect: It grants you the chance to select a student, and when you are close to that student, he receives a boost in all attributes. For every five-level in this skill, you can select a new student. You obtained 02 status points. "¡­ I learned the skill," Katelyn said, visibly shocked. "Howe this is possible?" "What else happened? Did you gain a skill point?" Ryan asked. "Yes," Katelyn nodded. If the student could obtain a status point as well, then the skill was more useful than Ryan thought. Then again, it only was useful for those who fight in groups. That wasn''t his case. Regardless, Mark will pay a lot of coins for that useful information¡­ Ryan would make him pay the right price. "If you guys have already finished your business, let''s get going," Ryan dered. "I want to arrive at the base tomorrow before sunrise." That would be not easy to aplish. However, as usual, hard tasks will keep Ryan motivated to keep doing his better and surpass his limits. That was what he needed. Chapter 247 - A Possible Better Idea In the end, Ryan found that all the state of New York was now under some thick snow. Thanks to that, he and the others traveled quite fast, but things slowed down quite a bit when they tried to move above the asphalt. The tent easily crumbled apart with all the movement. in the end, Katelyn and the kids were forced to climb over the dire wolf''s back while Ryan run. In any case, they reached the base before sunrise. "Nothing changed here¡­ my guess was right. Anyway, why I didn''t see any dragon flying all this way?" When Ryan reached the entrance of the base, Mark was there waiting for him with Hugo. It looked like he was using the satellite to keep an eye on him. While that saved Ryan some time telling certain things, it was a pain in the ass. "You arrived faster than we predicted," Mark said. "Given how much in a hurry you have been as ofte, I decided to talk with you while we move." "That is fine," Ryan said. "But before that, I should introduce your new residents. A woman who killed a dragon without having any ss and some brats." "Hey!" Elle protested. "Don''t call me a brat," Gustav said. "Your weird old man." "¡­ Hugo, please show our new friends their new residences," Mark said. "Yes, sir," Hugo nodded. "Follow me." "¡­ Thank you, Ryan," Katelyn said after hesitating for a little bit. "For healing me." "I don''t ept thanks with words. I only ept coins," Ryan said. "I guess that is fine," Katelyn forced a smile. "At least it won''t make me think that you are aiming for something else." "Be careful not to fall from your high horse," Ryan said. Mark waited for a while for Katelyn, and the kids disappear alongside Hugo. And during the whole time, he looked at Ryan''s right arm. Although Ryan had a lot of information to sell, Mark was really looking forward about the dungeon in which he obtained the skill to healpletely destroyed limbs. "I will spare you of some boring details," Ryan said and then took some pages of his notebook and then gave it to Mark. "Everything that I learned is written here." Mark started to read the papers while they walked. Although Ryan had no real reason to stay in the base at the moment, he decided to do so because he was sure that Mark had some news¡­ probably bad ones. "Alissa told us a few things, but she doesn''t care about small details, so you really helped us with this much information," Mark said. "Although I think you deserve more, we only can pay you 250.000 coins for this much intel. We don''t have anything more." "I am surprised that you have that much," Ryan said. "We need as much information as we can, and everyone is helping with the coins that we are using to buy intel from you," Mark exined. "Only a few of us can walk around the country and obtain sses easily, and those who can''t need more information about the sses that they want. Information like the location of the dungeons in which these sses can be obtained and the level of the monsters that can be found there." At the very least, Mark didn''t talk as if Ryan and Alissa weren''t risking themselves by looking for more sses. Many people already knew that to obtain some, a price had to be paid. However, only a handful of them had the will to risk their lives to a certain point. "Regardless, the High Priest ss is too far away, and the monsters there are quite difficult," Mark said. "I am surprised that you two alone managed to win¡­ you also even survived a fight against the watchdog from hell." "So, you saw that?" Ryan asked. "We found signs of a monster following you," Mark said. "And Alissa confirmed our guesses." It looked like Alissa read Ryan''s mind while he wasn''t aware¡­ she needed to be punished, and Ryan already knew what to do. "Do you feel anything odd with your left arm?" Mark asked. "No," Ryan replied. "So, everything is back to normal?" Mark frowned. "Pretty much," Ryan said. "Forgive me for saying this, but that is hard to believe," Mark said. "I can''t me you for thinking that way," Ryan shrugged. "You healed that friend of yours, right?" Mark asked. "So, do you have a good grasp of the limits of the spell?" "Not yet¡­" Ryan sighed. "Just stop beating around the bush." "Very well¡­" Mark nodded. "I would like to ask you to use this skill on Zoe. She is a remarkable child, and she can fight much better than most adults here. However, her condition prevents her from showing her true potential." Ryan imagined that something like that was bound to help. Most likely, Zoe and the others tried to heal her legs with potions and simple healing spells, but they didn''t obtain any sess. Now, Mark wanted to test a high-level healing spell. To be honest, Ryan was absolutely sure that it would work, but something was still bothering him. If something happens and someone loses a limb, the survivors will look for Ryan since he did that before. He couldn''t let that kind of thing to happen again and again. Besides, Ryan also couldn''t let the information that he had such skill spread. He might get some troublesome individuals'' attention since most humans would rather take their chances against him than an army of dire wolves and several Fenrir. "Why didn''t you ask Alissa to do it?" Ryan asked. "We asked, but she said that just like Orgar, she is bad at support magic," Mark exined. "I guess that isn''t unexpected¡­" Ryan sighed. "Well, I won''t heal her¡­ I will do something even better to avoid all kinds of future troublesome situations. I am not a good Samaritan, so I can''t help others while knowing that some actions will cause trouble me in the long run." "¡­ What exactly do you have in mind?" Mark frowned having no idea what Ryan meant by that. "I will teach Zoe the spell, and she will use her own strength to recover the movement of her legs," Ryan replied. Chapter 248 - Others Like Them In the end, Ryan decided to talk alone with Zoe. Although he was doing something that will be beneficial to her and the people on the base, Ryan was also aware that he could be causing some problems to her future. That was why he thought of some countermeasures. Zoe was training with her zing Crossbow is one of the many training rooms alone. Fortunately, she was using fake bolts. Otherwise, her attacks would have destroyed the targets and the walls. When Ryan suddenly appeared in the run, Zoe smile because Ryan was the person who helped her reunite with her father, after all. However, she frowned when she saw the serious expression on his face. "What is wrong, big brother?" Zoe asked. "I am not¡­" Ryan sighed. "Whatever¡­ we need to talk about something serious." "Did something happen?" Zoe asked while she was approaching. "No, but something will happen," Ryan said and then took a deep breath before sitting down and resting his back against the ground. "For several reasons, I decided to give you a gift, Zoe. The number one reason is that that gift is going to help you, the second reason is that that will make an important member of this ce. The third reason is because you will be able to save many lives with it¡­ and thest reason is that I don''t want to be an important member of this ce." "What gift?" Zoe asked. "Why don''t you want to be a member of this group? Many people here care about, and Arthur is here too." "So, you know him, huh," Ryan said. "I y with him now and then," Zoe said. "Well, how I can say this¡­" Ryan sighed again. "I have my goals, Zoe, and I can''t let myself be bound by some situations. In the future, I will return to this ce less and less often. I want to reach my goal no matter what¡­ but as you said, Arthur is here, and I want to make sure that this ce will be safe enough for him. With the gift, you will be able to keep this ce safe. However, I won''t lie and say that this is just for the sake of everyone, I am also doing this to avoid getting involved in a mess, and I even might involve you in something troublesome. This gift is that valuable." "You talk like my dad¡­ when he is about to give me bad news," Zoe said with her head down. "Let''s just say this will help you but also cause some problems," Ryan said. "I will try to decrease the chances of such problems happening by fighting away from here, but I can''t promise that I will seed." "But you will do your best?" Zoe asked. "I guess so¡­" Ryan scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, I am going to teach you a certain spell¡­ this spell will save many lives and will also heal your legs." "Really?" Zoe asked, surprised. "Not even big sis, Alissa can heal my legs." "Big sis¡­" Ryan frowned. "Regardless, you have to promise that you won''t tell anyone that I taught you this. If someone asks, you will have to say that you obtained when you defeated a certain monster." "I have to lie?" Zoe frowned. "But that is bad." "There are two types of lies, the first type hurt others, but there is another type that doesn''t hurt anyone," Ryan said. "This is the second type, and we are doing this to protect you and me. To avoid problems, you will have to change your fighting style a little bit. You will fight by using monsters." "I can''t do that," Zoe said. "I will teach you," Ryan said. "However, you will keep training with crossbows or bows. That way, if something happens, you will be able to surprise some troublesome individuals. Do we have a deal?" "Okay¡­ big bro helped me before, now is my turn to help you," Zoe said with her eyes filled of determination. "¡­ Thanks, you saved me from a lot of trouble," Ryan said and then patted Zoe''s head. In the end, Ryan used Teacher''s support and turned Zoe into his student. It took him a few hours and a lot of mana, but eventually, Zoe learned Full-Heal and Summon Giant Bee. She had a lot of mana, but not enough to use Full-Heal, but Mark decided to lent her some magic items that will increase her mana. Ryan also made sure to warn Mark about his intentions, he trusted Zoe since she was a good kid, but he didn''t trust Mark. So, he had to be quite persuasive about his warning. If you mess up¡­ well, you won''t have another chance to mess up in the future. That was what Ryan said. When Ryan left the base, it was already dark, and he managed to follow his path with his head clear since he found a pretty good solution to a certain problem. However, soon some worries began to bother him¡­ Ryan recalled the conversation he had with Mark before going to talk with Zoe. "Ryan, did you notice that the number of dragons decreased considerably?" Mark asked. "The number of dragons on the coast and across the country is pretty small considering the number of dragons that destroyed our country eighty days ago." "¡­ I pondered about that several times," Ryan frowned. "Do you know something about that?" "Thanks to you and Alissa, we found some exnations for that," Mark said. "Some dragons notice the advantage of fusing their bodies with of the humans, and many people like Alissa are being born daily. As for another exnation, it seems that many bosses of the dungeons are hunting dragons to strengthen themselves. Some are even using the weapons being dropped by the dragons." Ryan felt a headache when he recalled that¡­ many people like Alissa are being born every day. It was only obvious that something like that was bound to happen since dragons can''t use dungeons normally, and for some reason, Ryan felt like those people didn''t have the problems that Alissa and Orgar had to deal with. Chapter 249 - Girls Talk? Some people only noticed that Ryan had appeared and sold information to Mark the next day. One of those had been Mia. Although she felt a bit sad that she didn''t see him, her heart was filled with joy when she and many others saw Zoe walking. However, the joy disappeared when she met Katelyn for the first time. She looked pretty mature, and she had a body to kill for, but that wasn''t the reason Mia''s mood changed. "Hello, my name is Katelyn," Katelyn introduced herself to Mia since she looked pretty friendly. "It is nice to meet you," Mia smiled. "It looks like you are new here. The kids look a bit nervous since we are underground. Anyway, do you already know the base? I can show you the ce around while we talk." "That would help a lot," Katelyn said. "I thought we didn''t have many groups searching for survivors this week," Mia said. "Did you find one of the groups guarding dungeons, and they told you about this ce? Or did Daniel find you? I am pretty sure his group is the only one away from the base." "No, a guy called Ryan brought us here," Katelyn replied. "Really?" Mia asked while her smile froze. "Yes, although he is quite rude and full of himself, he helped us quite a lot," Katelyn said with arge smile on her face. "Someday, I will repay the favor since, despite everything, he is a nice guy." Mia managed to show all the base to Katelyn with a smile on her face, but in the end, the muscles in her face started to hurt thanks to it. It wasn''t even noon, but Mia was already exhausted. Kia decided to check things with Arthur just to be sure since Alissa was with him, but in the end, as usual, there was nothing out of ce. She just found Alissa making Arthurugh by making him levitate in the air. "It looks like you already found the girl Ryan brought," Alissa said. "Although he has that cold front, Ryan even taught her some skills with his new ss. Quite the difference in treatment inparison to us." In Mia''s eyes, Alissa was treated pretty well. If anything, she was at least respected by Ryan since she saved him once and because she was powerful. "Well, deep down, he is someone who likes to help others, even when that is troublesome to him," Mia said. "I know that I can read minds, after all," Alissa said. "It is a pity that I have to be careful while reading his mind now." "Why?" Mia frowned. "You said before that you couldn''t be noticed if you use that skill." "Yeah, but Ryan is pretty sharp," Alissa said. "If I mess up, he might use his mind to show me something that I wouldn''t like to see." "Such as?" Mia asked. "I can''t say¡­ " Alissa blushed and then looked to the side. Mia''s annoyance reached a whole new level. Despite Alissa''sints, she definitely had a good rtionship with Ryan. Mia was so frustrated thanks to it¡­ that she decided to blow some steam by fighting. "Are you nning to leave today, Alissa?" Mia asked. "No, only tomorrow," Alissa replied. "If you want to do something, you can leave Arthur with me." Mia nodded and then left, trying to control her thoughts. She couldn''t let Alissa read her mind. Although she managed to control her feelings inside the base, things changed when she left. Without trying to hide her bad mood, Mia entered the golems dungeon, and even though she was an archer, she started to kick and punch the golems without worrying about her fists'' state. "Why? Why? Why?" Alissa asked after grabbing a golem''s arms, and they started to spin around before throwing the monster on the wall. "Why can''t he forgive me after all this time? Damn it! Can''t he see that nothing changed between Daniel and me? Stupid Ryan!" While Mia was relieving her frustration, Alissa was watching everything while invisible after stalking her. Despite Mia''s situation, who was someone that she didn''t dislike, she had a refreshing smile on her face. "Ah¡­ Ryan''s life seems so much fun." "Why don''t you tell him? I am certain that he will like to hear that considering that he lost his parents just a few months ago." "Aside from that, everything in his life seems so much fun¡­ it is so full of drama. I want a life like that." "You talk as if you don''t know that Mia is also jealous of you. Anyway, Alissa. You should correct this habit of yours, while you don''t feel anything while you trail others while invisible, I feel very troubled." When Alissa was in the hospital, the only thing she could do was read and watch dramas. Although now she could do many things that she couldn''t do before, she didn''t change all that much. At least the things she liked didn''t change. Regardless, based on Katelyn''s memories, it looked like Ryan didn''t change all that much. Her way of thinking and acting now was a little bit calmer. However, his impudence was still there. "Ryan needs to calm down a lot more. Any ideas as to how we can make him cool his head, Orgar?" Alissa asked. "No. Dragons aren''tplicated creatures, so I can''t understand on a deep level how much of a pain in the ass you humans are." If Ryan were just a bit less logical, Alissa could use some of the tactics she learned with all those dramas. However, since he was so cold, not even the most passionate situations will make him lose sight of his current goal. In the end, Alissa could only help her friend indirectly. While Ryan certainly did not need protection, Alissa decided to do the same thing that he was going to do: get stronger while looking for the new yers of the game. The individuals that had be like Alissa¡­ Chapter 250 - Telekinesis Although selling information was a very profitable business, nothing could bepared with the number of coins Ryan could make by sealing dungeons. He already a destination in mind, but before heading to that ce, Ryan decided to check things with his summoned monster and tamed beasts. "There are three ways to get stronger by fighting, by getting sses, and by getting new skills. Although all options are interconnected, I have to be lucky for things to be as efficient as possible. However, in those three options, there is the only thing I can control¡­ obtain skills. As long as I have enough coins, I can obtain any skill." So, with that in mind, Rya began to collect all the coins his pet and monsters obtained over thest weeks. However, he discovered that three of nine died. You obtained 547.596 coins. You obtained 751.112 coins. You obtained 351.178 coins. You obtained 995.993 coins. You obtained 555.741 coins. You obtained 531.889 coins. Congrattions! The skill Tame has leveled up. Tame Lv 50 ? Lv 63 Effect: It gives you the chance to tame a monster or an animal. The more wounded the creature, the higher are the chances of the Tame skill to work. If the creature is too strong and the level of the skill is low, the skill won''t work. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 13 status points. "I guess I should feel happy that some of my monsters even managed to prevent dungeon breaks, but still¡­ this made me realize that even summoned monsters and tamed ones need a lot more power to face bosses." As expected, the area in which his monsters died were the demons, treants, and the reptilian''s dungeon. Those freaks were walking around as if they owned those zones. Regardless, Ryan had to spend three days running around to check his monsters and get the coins they obtained, so he felt unsure if he should clear those dungeons again. Although he got stronger, the level of the monsters rose as well. "The situation will only escte, so I guess I can''t ignore it¡­" Based on what Ryan knew, he will be forced to leave the Reptilians behind. They were under the control of Echidna, and she had many species of monsters under hermand, so it wouldn''t be weird if she had allocated another creature powerful as Cerberus to help them in case Ryan picks another fight with them. In the end, Ryan had to work non-stop for two days in each dungeon to clear the mess caused by the dungeon breaks. Fortunately, after all that hard work, now he had seven million coins to spend¡­ for someone who could only obtain thirty-six coins per hour while defeating slimes, Ryan certainly came a long way¡­ "Ah, here you are, your crazy son of a bitch¡­" Ryan said after opening the dungeon shop. Telekinesis tome. Effect: it gives you the power to control objects with the power of your mind. Cost: one point of mana per second is consumed to control objects that weigh one pound or less. As the skill progresses, the cost of use won''t decrease, but you will be able to control heavier objects. Price: 5.000.000 To think that Telekinesis would cost that much¡­ Ang hit the jackpot by getting that tome. Regardless, even though Ryan was doing pretty well by using Wind Maniption to use his magic weapons to kill small fries. That kind of technique wouldn''t work forever. The more he uses against a tough opponent, the more chances they will have to find a way to counter. As for Telekinesis, Ryan was fairly certain that only a few individuals would be able to that. Perhaps countering Telekinesis was impossible¡­ "I am interested in elemental creation, but Telekinesis will also help me defensively speaking as well¡­ I need that skill." Ryan concluded. Ryan bought the tome and then began to train it immediately since he would soon need it. Now that Ryan thought about it, he obtaining expensive skills like that alongside the Teacher ss probably could help a lot of people. Although wasting some time teaching others was a pain, Ryan felt that Zoe deserved that much. After all, even Mark praised her a lot. "I can''t find anything else worthwhile in the shop¡­ Guess I will save those coins for the time being." Ryan could buy some summoning skills, but there was no point in obtaining them when they cost more mana than Summon Golem, and he didn''t have enough mana to do even that. Ryan probably could solve that problem if he focuses solely on getting new sses, and while he could say fuck to everything else and do that, in the long run, that would only cause him problems. Some problems had to be deal with early on¡­ that was why he was heading South now¡­ to y some Chupacabras. Since Ryan filled his magic ring with mana potions to train Telekinesis non-stop, the skill reached a decent level pretty fast. After a single day, the skill already was at level thirty, and now Ryan could control all his magic weapons and make them fly at a decent speed. Ryan could even use Telekinesis to make himself fly, but the speed wasn''t that great, and the cost of mana was high since he was pushing the skill beyond its limits. "My next goals should be: learn all the elemental creations and after that, maybe try to learn Teleport. The cost of such skill will be insane since it won''t have the limitations sh has, but still, it will be worth the hassle. Eventually, I won''t have to waste time while running around toward dungeons." While Ryan was thinking about that, he reached a city called San Antonio. Just like any other city, it had beenpletely destroyed. However, things weren''t as quiet as any other city there. Although the sun hadn''t set yet, he saw some weird creatures running toward a group of humans. Those creatures looked like a mix of a human, wolf, and hyenas. Their bodies were quite humanoid, but on their feet, they had only three fingers. Their bodies were covered in thick dark fur, and their faces were horrifying. Their eyes were much bigger than any other eye Ryan had seen before, and they werepletely dark. Their nostrils were prettyrge as well¡­ they were the Chupacabras. Chapter 251 - Refugees Chupacabra- Lv 80 Health: 1.700/1.700 Mana: 1.500/1.500 Stamina: 1.500/1.500 Strength: 500 (+ 200) Dexterity: 550 (+ 200) Speed: 650 (+ 200) Intelligence: 250 (+ 100) Endurance: 650 (+ 300) Control: 500 (+ 100) Mentality: 550 (+ 300) Luck: 1000 (+ 200) Recovery: 1000 (+ 300) Willpower: 550(+ 50) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 120, Vampirism Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Frenzy Lv 90, Tracking Lv 90, Dark Sphere Lv 40 Spells: Darkness Transformation Lv 50, Howl Lv 50, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 50, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Electric Resistance Lv 50, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 100 "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered in shock when he saw those crazy statuses. "Level eighty? How?" Ryan only woke up from his stupor when one of the creatures suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the back of a man and with its mouth open ready to bit his neck. He clicked his tongue and used Telekinesis, the man fell on the ground thanks to the monster''s weight, but the creature couldn''t move its mouth. The other monsters also saw Ryan and their attention changed toward him. He was a foe they couldn''t ignore, and they knew that. Although they looked like dead brain monsters, they weren''t stupid. "Seven against one, huh¡­ A foe like that, and I also don''t have anybat experience against it. Well, I already prepared myself for this kind of difficult situation." Those creatures were fast, but Ryan already knew what he should do to stop them. When the creatures began to run around him, he made his swords fly and then spin around him. The creatures frowned when they saw some powerful-looking weapons flying around Ryan at that speed. Although they were fast enough to pass by that line of defense, they were fully aware that Ryan had absolute control over the weapons, and he could use them to impale the monster that gets too close to him in the blink of an eye. While the monsters were wondering how to proceed, Ryan was charging a Power Shot. There was no need to be stingy about mana, so Ryan also activated Deadly Aim. After five seconds of charge, Ryan fired, and his arrow hit the head of a Chupacabra, making it explode. The creature was fast, but it wasn''t faster than Ryan''s arrows. You obtained 85 coins. Even the coins Ryan obtained increased a lot¡­ as expected. Dealing with those creatures will be hard, and no matter what, he had to prevent the third dungeon break in their dungeon. When their ally died, the other monsters decided to attack without caring about their safety. When that happened, Ryan made sure to make his weapons fly in their directions. Only one creature didn''t get hit by his attacks. However, that same creature was trying to run, but the best it could do was walk¡­ thanks to Telekinesis. "I can get used to this," Ryan said before firing an arrow and hitting the monster''s left eye and killing it. Ryan always knew that several skills could work well with his fighting style, but he didn''t imagine that Telekinesis would make his job so easy. The other creatures recovered from the attack and also got rid of the weapons that pierced their bodies. They charged toward Ryan again, but their charge was slowed down thanks to Arrow Shower. To avoid the area of effect of the skill, the creatures moved toward several directions, but by doing so, they lost sight of Ryan for a second. He had disappeared¡­ with their sense of smell. They found him dozens of meters behind them and with his bow ready to fire his Paralyzing Spear. At that point in time, the creatures finally began to feel something aside from their usual thirst for blood¡­ it was fear. That unknown human could do many things the others couldn''t. Hunting a target like that with a small pack wasn''t wise, so they began to slowly retreat. "I don''t think so¡­" Ryan said. Ryan waited for the power of his attack to increase a little bit, and then when the Chupacabras turned around and started to run, he fired. The monster that got hit by it exploded into several pieces. Soon after, the spear hit the ground, and the impact made several blocks of earth fly and hit the other monsters. That bought Ryan enough time to recover his other weapons and use sh to finish off the wounded creatures. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. ¡­ After cleaning the sweat from his forehead, Ryan sighed in relief. Those creatures were creepy as hell and stronger than any other mob. Ryan fought so far, but in the end, they could be defeated. Unfortunately, the monsters didn''t drop anything, but that was just a minor nuisance. Ryan will have plenty of chances to get drops since he will have to kill dozens of thousands of those creatures in less than ten days. "I guess I can''t ignore them¡­ hopefully, they will give me some valuable intel," Ryan concluded. Ryan wanted to avoid all types of distractions, but the survivors he just saved were heading toward him. It was a group of three men and three women, and while they looked quite beat down, they had weapons and equipment with them. "Gracias, senior," A ck-haired man that had a mustache said. "Nos salvaste de un final terrible." "Sorry, I can''t speak Spanish," Ryan forced a smile. "Oh¡­ you are American¡­" The mustache man said with a worried tone. "Yes, it looks like you have some reservations about me," Ryan shrugged. "Well, not that I care. Good luck on your journey." "Wait, wait!" The man said. "Are you heading South? Won''t you stop us from entering on your country?" "I am pretty sure those times are behind us, and I never cared about that kind of stuff," Ryan said. "Wait¡­ you are not saying that some Americans prevented you from crossing the bordertely, are you?" "Yes¡­ many times during thest weeks, a certain man has been flying around the border¡­" The mustache man replied. "Making sure that no survivor will escape from the Chupacabras." ss: Hunter Lv 50 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 50 (+ 03 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 475th Health: 559/608 (2.85/s) Mana: 1045/1100 (2.85/s) Stamina: 859/873 (2.85/s) Strength: 30 (+157) (+130) Dexterity: 1050 (+720) (+57) Speed: 70 (+319) (+48) Intelligence: 80 (+365) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+111) (+130) Control: 06 (+339) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+30) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 621 (+793) (+300) Willpower: 29 (+30) Coins: 2.308.221 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bash Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 45 (+ 05 UP), Spearmanship Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 35 (+ 03 UP), Iron Will Lv 01, Determination Lv 01, Lesson Lv 01, Teacher''s Support Lv 03, Homework Lv 01, Spells: Summon Giant Bee Lv 54 (+ 04 UP), Ice Storm Lv 01, Telekinesis Lv 31 (+ 30 UP), Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 45 (+ 01 UP), Beastmaster Lv 30 (+ 03 UP), High Priest Lv 03, (+ 02 UP) Swordsman Lv 14 (+ 13 UP), Non-Combatant: Teacher Lv 03 (+02 UP), Chapter 252 - A New Threat Ryan''s head began to hurt for several reasons. As obvious as it sounded, it looked like he wasn''t the only ordinary human that could fly. Another reason for his headache and that some idiot still was worrying about the damn border when the world was ending at the hand of monsters¡­ but that was weird. Why didn''t Mark you mention that? He was supposed to have noticed that¡­ "So, how did you guys manage to cross the border despite that moron?" Ryan asked. "Also, I am also wondering howe you managed to survive this long when the only thing you manage to do was to run away from those monsters." "We fought against them for a while¡­ but one after the other, we died," The man exined. "When we noticed that we stand no chance against those creatures, we decided to run, but then we found him¡­ aside from you and him, we didn''t see any other survivor in weeks." It looked like Ryan wouldn''t find other survivors while he heads South. While that was good since he wouldn''t be bothered by anyone, it also meant that he couldn''t get information from anyone else aside from these guys. Considering that they suffered a lot thanks to an American, they might try to screw Ryan over with fake intel. After all, humans aren''t that reasonable, so when they can''t express their anger to the real cause of their problems, they use other things by proxy. "Well, if you manage to reach this far, as long as you are careful, this guy won''t find you," Ryan said. "Once again, good luck on your journey." In the end, it would be less troublesome if Ryan just looks for the information that he wants, so he left the survivors behind and headed South. Fortunately, the mustache guy and his friends didn''t try to go with Ryan because, as far as they were concerned, fighting against the Chupacabras was insane. Regardless, although he won once against the beasts, Ryan had to be careful and proceed as fast as possible. For that to happen, he will have to spot and kill the monsters before they can notice him. So, Ryan made sure to fly pretty often to have a good vision of his surroundings. Whenever he found the monsters, he used Power Shot alongside with Deadly Aim. Even when the monsters were more than one kilometer away from him, Ryan managed to hit and kill them with pinpoint precision, thanks to those skills. However¡­ "I need to be faster¡­" Ryan knew how he could kill more monsters and faster¡­ he had to expose himself more. Deadly Aim costs too much mana, so he could only use the skill a few times every ten minutes. Although Ryan wanted to use Power Shot as much as possible and also level up the skills that could maximize its power, he decided to do that once he finds the monsters dungeon. When Ryan used stamina only to activate Dash and mana to use Telekinesis, his hunting speed increased considerably. However, after a while, he was forced to slow down once again¡­ The closer he got to Monterrey, the more frequent the fights happened. "Well, at this point on time, I just need to be patient." Although his weapons alongside Telekinesis couldn''t kill the monsters in a single strike, at the very least, Ryan could decrease the mobility to a great extent and that was more than enough for the time being. Even while considering that Active Spiritual Recovery wasn''t enough to make Ryan have enough mana to control so many weapons, things proceeded quite well for a while. However, when the first night of that fight was about to end, Ryan heard the familiar sound of dragon wings pping. When he looked in the distance, Ryan saw a red dragoning directly toward him. "Just my luck¡­" Ryan sighed¡­ as much as he wanted to kill all dragons find, he decided to hide. He was getting quite close to the Chupacabras dungeon, and a fight against a dragon would reveal his position. Until now, he managed to fight without being found, so he had to ignore that chance. While using Earth Maniption, Ryan created a fake rock around him. However, he kept some holes in the rock just to make sure that he would be able to watch the dragon¡ªunfortunately, much to his annoyance. The creature stopped flying just above him. "I don''t like this." When the creature opened its mouth, and some mes started to appear, Ryan clicked his tongue. Something weird had happened¡­ as far as he knew, dragons weren''t supposed to be that good at tracking other creatures. In any case, the confrontation was unavoidable. Ryan used sh to escape the Fire Breath attack, and soon afterward, he began to run toward North. Thest thing he needed was to fight against a dragon and a horde of Chupacabras at the same time. In the blink of an eye, the dragon began to chase him. However, Ryan''s surprise didn''t end there. "Where are you going? Let''s y." "A human that joined forces with a dragon¡­ great." Ryan sighed. After saying that, the red dragon began to spit several massive Fireballs. Although Ryan managed to dodge them at thest moment, even though he was using all his stamina, he wasn''t failing at out speeding the monster. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance¡­ he didn''t want to kill other humans again, but against an opponent like that, he didn''t have to think of them as human. After equipping his bow and preparing a magic arrow, Ryan turned around and aimed at the face of the monster. However, instead of firing it, he used Power of Money. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the monster moved its arm with lightning speed and blocked the damage. Only a few scales of its body had been blown away. "What?" Ryan muttered in shock. "What the hell was that? A non-elemental skill that causes almost instant damage? That is not fair, dude." Chapter 253 - Lesser Dragon "I told you that you shouldn''t underestimate him. Didn''t you see how many of those worms he killed? You are going to get both of us killed." Ryan frowned when he heard the voice of the dragon for the first time. Unlike the human, the dragon didn''t seem like an idiot¡­ most likely. The beast was who prevented Ryan from blinding that asshole. Some dragons could read minds, after all. "Don''t take over my body so suddenly!" The man protested. "Our agreement wasn''t like that." The human was worse than Ryan thought¡­ Regardless, it looked like instead of Orgar, who chose his vessel for a good reason, the other dragons weren''t putting much thought into it. Those two didn''t seem a goodbination. While they were arguing, Ryan decided to check their status. Jeoze ss: Swordsman Lv 40 / Monk Lv 35 / -- Race: Lesser Dragon /--/-- Rank: 350th Health: 120 (+ 53.900) Mana: 50 (+ 55.000) Stamina: 100 (+ 55.000) Strength: 50 (+ 5.000) Dexterity: 30 (+ 5.000) Speed: 40 (+ 2.000) Intelligence: 20 (+ 1.000) Endurance: 50 (+ 4.000) Control: 20 (+ 3.000) Mentality: 30 (+ 5.000) Luck: 10 (+ 3.000) Recovery: 100 (+ 15.000) Willpower: 10 (+ 5.000) Coins: 111.963 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Punch Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 100 Spells: Fire Breath Lv 120 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 200, Pain Resistance Lv 150, Electric Resistance Lv 100 "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered in shock again. "Those are some weird statuses." "You fool¡­ he just used Appraisal. I told you to keep that defensive skill active at all times." "Shut up. That consumes too much mana. Besides, who needs to be careful against a small fry?" "You are a small fry! What can you do without my powers? You only have two sses while that human has twenty-tree! If you weren''t such azy asshole, you would know what skill he used, dumbass!" "Youin too much¡­ anyway; exin to me what skill he used." "I don''t know¡­ it is one of those which only you humans can use for some reason." "You are so useless¡­" "What did you say?" Ryan frowned while those two were arguing. They couldn''t even be considered partners, much fewer allies. The dragons who decided to find new vessels in humans probably only chose the stupid and weak ones for some reason, and now they were regretting it. If Ryan had to guess why¡­ it was probably because, in the future, they will have an easier time obtaining full control over their bodies. Regardless, Ryan began to run again because a massive horde of Chupacabras was approaching. The dragon and the man argued for a while, but after a few seconds, they began to chase Ryan again. Although he was curious as to why they wanted to kill him, Ryan wasn''t stupid enough to waste time asking. "Stop running and fight like a man!" The man shouted. Ryan sighed,¡­ only someone stupid would say something like that. Regardless, he would fight, but he wouldn''t give the advantage to that asshole. Although for some reason, Power of Money wasn''t causing as much damage as it was supposed to do, Ryan used it several times. However, after a while, he noticed that a semi-transparent wall was covering the dragon''s paws. Instead of causing damage to the monster''s health, Ryan caused its mana to decrease. "Are you a man or a rat?" The man asked. "You sure talk a lot¡­ considering that your friend is always protecting you," Ryan said. "Stop running, and let''s fight. If you do, I will make sure that he won''t interfere," the man said. "Yeah, right¡­ nice try," Ryan said. Although Ryan had enough coins to damage that asshole''s mana and health, he didn''t know if it would be worth the hassle. As far as he was concerned, that guy looked like the type who would run at the first sign of trouble. That guy tried to attack Ryan several times with Fireballs, but as expected, only a few handful dragons were good at fighting at a certain distance, or perhaps the humans were just that weak. All his attacks missed¡­ "I didn''t expect to find someone like him so soon¡­ I don''t if my luck is good, but at the very least, I obtained a good deal of information from this encounter. Even humans who have the spirits of dragons can join the rank, I never asked Alissa about this, but I guess it was only obvious since she can enter dungeons, use purple crystals and even gain sses." Ryan was getting tired of running away, and even though the Chupacabras stayed behind, he decided to find a way to finish that situation. However, before Ryan could start to think, something weird happened. "Let''s forget about him, Hector. I obtained some information from his head, and everything I got will be useful to you." "I will not run away from this fight." "Idiot¡­ I got a lot of information to you about some humans that will be useful to us." "¡­ Really?" Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ it looked like Jeoze was nning something and that something was something Hector and him shared amon interest. However, why talk about that out loud? It made Ryan think that he was nning a trap. Still, his voice had a weird tone, and then when Ryan saw a lustful smile on Hector''s face, he knew what they were talking about. "Head North-East¡­ we will find a lot of information and fun there." After frowning, Ryan stopped running¡­ that asshole of a dragon read his mind and managed to discover where the base was located and possibly, all the information Ryan had about it and regarding the dungeons. However, that was just an extra for them. Those idiots were looking for women¡­ Ryan heard in some stories that dragons were lustful creatures, but to think that was actually true¡­ that was insane. "Hehe, let''s go then," Hector said. Chapter 254 - Pestilence Crossbow Ryan watched Jeoze and Hector flying North-Eastpletely in silence. Just like he didn''t manage to escape from them, trying to pursue them was a waste of time. Despite that, he was calm¡­ Ryan couldn''t believe that Jeoze read his mind and didn''t see anything regarding Alissa. "It is a trap¡­ it has to be," Ryan muttered while he furrowed his eyebrows. "Still, I can''t risk it." That would cause a lot of trouble to Ryan, and perhaps, he won''t even clear the Chupacabras'' dungeon before the third dungeon break. Still, he epted those possibilities while he was taking all the potions he still had on his storage ring. ----- ----- After flying for a few minutes, Jeoze said to Hector to stop. Despite his words and the things he learned by reading Ryan''s mind, his n hadn''t proceeded as he wanted. Ryan wasn''t pursuing them. "What is wrong?" Hector asked. "I thought we were going to have some fun North-East of here." "I didn''t lie about that, but I was expecting to lure that human to a trap," Jeoze said. "While we have more firepower, that man already defeated many dragons and fought foes that can even give me trouble in a war of attrition. He can''t be underestimated." "You worry too much," Hector shrugged. "If he were that troublesome, he wouldn''t have run when I attacked him." "He ran because he has a brain and uses it, unlike you," Jeoze said. "Regardless¡­ perhaps I misjudged his character and thoughts. It looks like his behavior changed as ofte, and¡­ huh?" Jeoze felt a shiver run down its spine when he saw something shining on the horizon¡­ that something shining wasing from the same direction they came from. When he saw what a spear charged with a lot of energy was flying toward him at unbelievable speeds. For a second, the monster froze, and that was doomed both dragon and human. When Jeoze tried to react, it was already toote¡­ the dragon took over its body and tried to fly as fast as possible. Still, after just two seconds, the spear hit its body, and a massive explosion happened destroyed everything in dozens of meters. ----- ----- Ryan rushed toward the direction in which he fired the Paralyzing Spear. Although he used Force to make sure that his attack wouldnd, he didn''t receive any notification when the impact urred, and he lost sight of his weapon. "Let''s hope that such a crazy attack didn''t destroy my weapon¡­ I like that spear quite a bit." Even from twenty kilometers away from the impact, Ryan saw the sky shining on the area where Jeoze and Hector had been hit, so he could imagine how much damage his five minutes charged Power Shot had. Eventually, Ryan found his spear¡­ at the center of a thirty-meterrge and ten-meter deep crater. As for Hector and Jeoze, they were a few meters ahead of there. Both lying on the ground immobile. For some reason, Jeoze wasn''t inside Hector anymore. Hector was just an average ck-haired dude who had a lot of tattoos on his body¡­ at least that was Ryan''s impression since he could see half of his body. The explosion by his attacks destroyed more than half of it. "Please¡­ spare me¡­ I have kids waiting for me," Hector said. "Is that so¡­" Ryan sighed. "Well, they won''t miss you, so don''t worry." After saying that, Ryan pierced Hector''s heart with his me Sword. Although his words were quite cruel, thest thing he wanted to do was to console an asshole when they are about to die. You obtained 111.963 coins. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 400 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 350th You obtained: Strength Augmentation Tome. Congrattions! You have defeated someone who has had a rank higher than yours. You assumed his position and received an extra reward. You obtained: Pestilence Crossbow. Pestilence Crossbow Effect: Consumes twenty points of mana to create a poisoned bolt enchanted. Dexterity + 75, intelligence + 50 Extra Effect: Each bolt can cause the value of your intelligence as magic damage during five seconds. Hitting the target with other bolts will also increase the damage of the poison by ten percent. Durability: 80/80 "Not bad¡­ not bat at all," Ryan said. "Still, I thought this system was supposed to help humans. So, why am I being rewarded for killing a human?" That question bothered Ryan for a while, but in the end, it was a waste of time to ponder about that. Besides, his job wasn''t over yet. Jeoze was still alive. Although the beast also lost a good part of its right side, Ryan could see its body regenerating with his eyes alone. "Holy crap¡­ dragons sure have a lot of vitality," Ryan said. "Anyway, who could have thought that you are the type who quickly abandons the ship." "Say what you will, at least. I didn''t ept my death in the end," Jeoze said. "Too bad there is no one here to praise you for that," Ryan said while shaking his head. "Now, die." Ryan used his new weapon, and after three shots, Jeoze died. Now that he thought about it, Ryan wondered if the poison wouldn''t circte to the heart of the dragon¡­ he probably won''t die, but eating poison wouldn''t be pleasant¡­ Regardless, Ryan recovered his almost broken weapon, learned Strength Augmentation, and got the dragon''s heart. It was a pity that Jeoze didn''t drop anything, but Ryan was satisfied with his loot. The pestilence crossbow will be very useful, and Strength Augmentation also was bound to be one heck of a skill in the future. With each level, the skill increased his strength by ten points. Although the cost of fifty points of mana per second was high, Ryan now had a skill that could boost his physical skill tremendously. Using his melee weapons directly now wasn''t a total waste of time¡­ Chapter 255 - Giving A Hand Since they have high endurance and a lot of health, Ryan couldn''t even kill the monsters with his best bow. However, with the pestilence crossbow, he could do that¡­ he just needed to wait for the poison to do its magic. It was a bit gruesome to see the monsters trembling and agonizing due to the poison, but Ryan didn''t feel much worse than that. "This is convenient¡­ way too convenient for my taste. I bet something troublesome is going to happen soon." Ryan concluded while looking around waiting for another problem to arise. Ryan made a mistake before by leaving a trail of corpses, but this time he made sure to bury the Chupacabras by using Earth Maniption. That cost him some extra seconds and mana in which he could use to eliminate more monsters, but it was a sacrifice necessary to prevent more troublesome encounters like the one with Hector. However, much to Ryan''s surprise, nothing really happened. Not even dragons showed up. Most likely, they learned their lesson after fighting against those weird beasts and decided to keep their distance from them. "Well, I shouldn''t trust that this situation will stay like this forever. Once the dragons realize that someone is hunting the Chupacabras, they will probably return." Ryan muttered imagining that things could get troublesome at any moment. Although they had the advantage at night, those monsters were just a few levels above the dire wolves unless they attacked with arge pack. Based on Ryan''s knowledge, the dungeon was located on Monterrey, but he didn''t walk directly toward it. Instead of that, he tried to circle around the city to kill even more Chupacabras and find other monsters'' dungeons. Unfortunately, his luck wasn''t good. "Crap¡­ unless I decrease the number of those freaks, I will never find the other dungeons. They are eating the other monsters, so I can''t even begin to imagine where I can find other dungeons." In the end, Ryan was forced to keep hunting the monsters while moving around Monterrey, and only after five days, he managed to find a new monster¡­ a goblin. "No wonder they took so long to appear¡­ those guys don''t stand a chance against Chupacabras." In the end, Ryan lost some of his will to clear another dungeon. Since the monsters were goblins, the ss he might wouldn''t be useful. Instead of betting on something uncertain, Ryan decided to focus on his job. He only had five more days to clear the Chupacabras'' dungeon, after all. However, something else appeared to make Ryan lose his focus¡­ survivors. It was on the morning of the sixth day that Ryan found a group of twenty or so survivors. As one would expect from people who did nothing but hide for several weeks, the survivors looked pretty Harvard since they didn''t have the chance to look for food, and only someone insane would trust to cook the Chupacabras. In any case, they looked at Ryan with eyes full of concern since he had just killed a pack of fifty of those monsters by himself. "How can I help you?" Ryan asked visibly impatient. "Please be quick because I am busy here." "Are you from the government, sir?" A middle-aged man wearing a bullet-proof vest asked. "You don''t seem from here, so why are you risking yourself for our country." "Because I am someone who thinks in the long run," Ryan said. "Letting those monsters run wild evidently will fuck everyone''s lives, so we have to get rid of them." It didn''t look like Ryan managed to pass his message. Regardless, instead of worrying about what the region''s inhabitants were thinking of his actions, he decided to use them. "Anyway, lead me to where you hid your weapons," Ryan said. "I want to make a deal with you, but first, I need to check your equipment." The survivors flinched when they heard Ryan. They thought that by hiding their weapons, they would convince Ryan that they weren''t his enemy. While that idea wasn''t too bad, he couldn''t understand why the entire group came. If Ryan were an asshole, they wouldn''t be able to resist. "Don''t underestimate my intelligence," Ryan said. "Anyway, while I am helping your country, I won''t do that forever. Once I clear this dungeon, you guys will have to make sure to keep the Chupacabras in check. As you can see, we can''t wait for the cops and army to dream with those problems." Ryan was right, but none of them felt like fighting after getting massacred for so many weeks against those monsters. That was a pain in the ass, and Ryan wasn''t a patient person. "I guess this is fine too," Ryan said. "After I leave, you guys will have a few hours of peace, but then the monsters will hunt and exterminate all of you eventually. In the end, I will return and obtain more coins." "... I understand that we need to protect our country, but why do you want to help us with that?" The man asked. "You certainly don''t need our help to fight." "You are right. I don''t need it," Ryan nodded. "However, I don''t want to return to this ce every month. That is why I am going to give you the means to recover some of your lost time. Try hard because I don''t like to waste my time." Although Ryan didn''t have time to lose, that was an investment. His monsters couldn''t guard all dungeons, and even though most humans couldn''t face some types of monsters in a battle of strength, they could make up for it with their brains. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh at the poor collection of equipment they had. Basically, they were just trash items that some goblins left behind after being killed. Fortunately, Ryan had a lot of loot that he obtained by killing thousands of Chupacabras. The question was: could these survivors wield rtively high-leveled weapons? There was only one way to find out. Chapter 256 - Class: Merchant In the end, Ryan had to use an entire day to find the goblins'' dungeon. To make sure things would work out as much as possible, he also cleared the dungeon and helped the survivors to obtain their first ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Monk, Merchant, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. From those three sses, Ryan only didn''t have the Merchant ss, and while that choosing that one would be perfect since it would boost the status that he wanted, Ryan also considered picking the Sage ss to level up its skills. However, in the end, since he didn''t have any information about such a ss, he chose the Merchant ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Merchant! You obtained the following skills: Discount, Sell, and Deconstruction. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your health, mana, control, and mentality will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Discount. Effect: It grants you a discount in the dungeon shops. The discount on coins is equal to the level of the skill in coins. However, the items can''t be brought for less than half of their original price. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sell. Effect: It grants you the chance to sell items in the dungeon shops. However, their price will be equal to one-fourth of its original price. By leveling up this skill, you can obtain ten more coins per level when selling items. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deconstruction. Effect: It grants you the power to deconstruct magic items, and you can use the energy obtained to level up some of your skills based on the type of the magic item. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status point. "Hey, Gonzales," Ryan said. "Make sure that everyone will pick a ss that will fit their personalities. It doesn''t matter if all of you be only long-ranged fighters." "Are you sure?" Gonzales asked. "Won''t we need a frontline when we fight those things?" "Yeah, even if some of you be tanks, it won''t change a thing," Ryan nodded. "The Chupacabras are too fast, and at night, they can hide in the darkness, so the best method for you guys to deal with them is by bombarding them with magic from a distance before they leave the dungeon." Gonzales nodded at Ryan''s words. It made sense since from his perspective when those creatures run. It looks like teleportation. However, even if they were that fast, they still had to leave the dungeon, and inside of it, their speed wasn''t that useful. "It looks like the Merchant ss is closely rted to the cksmith ss¡­ Regardless, while those skills won''t help me inbat, they will be useful in their own way." The only problem with that ss is that it gave Ryan two options about how to handle the loot that he might obtain. Sell, or deconstruct to level some skills. While sometimes Deconstruction won''t be useful since Ryan probably won''t have the right skills to level up, it also seemed like a waste to sell items for a cheaper price. Regardless, that was a problem forter. After the survivors picked the sses, Ryan confirmed that all of them became Sages¡­ while they didn''t obtain any offensive spells, Ryan had some magic items that they could use. It was just a loan, so it wasn''t a real problem for him. "For the time being, you guys will stay here and increase your strength," Ryan dered. "In three days, I will try to clear the dungeon. So, I will take you guys with me for thest fight. However, I know that you won''t be of much help, so your job is just to survive and obtain a new ss. I am pretty sure the sses that we might obtain there will be pretty awesome. So, look forward to it." Although his words were all over the ce, Gonzales and his friends understood the message. That being said, they couldn''t quite understand why Ryan would help them to that extent. He had already exined to them about his ns, but even so¡­ considering that they saw the hell broke loose, it was weird to see a human helping them so much. They couldn''t even imagine how much of a hassle it was for Ryan to move around and checking the ces he had been before. From his perspective, if they seed on their task, they will be helping a lot more than he was helping them. After leaving Gonzales and his friends behind, Ryan resumed his task of hunting those freaks called Chupacabras. However, things changed a little bit. In the meantime, Ryan was away. He wasn''t finding the monsters where he found them before. "Well, it was about time for them to make their move." Ryan nodded to himself. While Ryan advanced toward Monterrey, he didn''t find any signs of the creatures. Only when he saw the city in the distance was when he finally saw them. All the Chupacabras were located on the West side of the city. Ryan assumed that because he couldn''t believe those freaks still were numerous enough to surround a city of that sizepletely. As expected, the bosses were also controlling those minions. However, that raised a question: What would be the bosses of such a dungeon? Since they knew from which direction Ryan woulde from, those creatures were much smarter than the ordinary mobs. "Even though my stock of mana potions is full again, I can''t win this fight. At least, not without some sort of n. The very moment I began to attack, all the monsters wille to kill me, the bosses as well. Their sole intention to overwhelm me with sheer numbers." Chapter 257 - Gravity Magic Ryan considered his options in that situation. Changing the direction of his attack won''t change anything. Even if he tries to attack the Chupacabras from behind, it won''t work. The bosses were hidden, and most likely, they were behind their minions in case Ryan decides to do that. So, by doing that, he will avoid the army of monsters for a few minutes. However, the chances of him defeating hundreds of bosses in such a short time were null. "Power of Money won''t be of much use here either since it will reveal my position. As for magic traps¡­ it might slow them down a little bit, but only that. Besides, I can''t waste time creating thousands of those." In the end, Ryan made a mental note to force his mana to reach the necessary amount to summon golems. It was getting tiring that he always had to deal with so many monsters by himself. As long as he has some monsters to be his frontline, sheer numbers on the enemy side won''t be much of an issue. At least in simr situations. "There aren''t many ces to hide in this direction. While I can maintain my presence hidden for a while, they will easily find me with those numbers. Maybe I should wait and see how things will be at night. They are using that tight formation because they are less troublesome during the day¡­ Considering how confident they are with their powers, maybe I should surprise them at night." Although that seemed unlikely given that the monsters have Nocturnal Eyes at level one hundred, Ryan couldn''t think of any other way to surprise them. Considering that the monsters couldn''t fly, Ryan could do that and attack them from a safe distance. However, to do both, he will need a lot of mana. He had a lot of potions, but even so, Ryan wasn''t confident that with his stock, that he would be able to decrease even one-third of the monsters'' size. "That might be the only way to solve this situation. I have four days to clear the dungeon¡­ so, if I do that, I will have to finish off the bosses in a single day. My fights neversted that long, but I can''t discard the idea that it might happen." It wasn''t his style to rely on potions to solve all his problems, but Ryan couldn''t let his pride blind his judgment. If he gets carried away, the monster army will increase a lot, and in the worst-case scenario, the number of bosses might duplicate. There was also the fact that the monsters level up a few times with each dungeon break as well. Regardless, it was noon, so Ryan decided to prepare some surprises before nightfall, and he attacks the monsters from above. Although Ryan waited until midnight, he was already exhausted when he decided to put his ns into action. Since Ryan wouldn''t need the stamina to attack from the sky, he was using it to carry a massive steel box that he had made along the day. Inside the box, there were some gifts he had prepared for the Chupacabras. Although Ryan had to fly pretty high in the sky to escape the monsters'' range, he eventually reached the ce where he wanted to start the fight. Three hundred meters above the monster army. Since his arms were about to give up, Ryan let the steel box fall, and after a few seconds, he heard the sound of small impacts and the scream of the agony of the monsters. "Holy shit¡­ my needle grenades are nastier than I thought." Ryan spent the day transforming earth into earth needles and then into steel needles. That was the power of Earth Transformation, but since he couldn''t use mana aside from firing bolts with his crossbow, he had to work on something else to make the needles cause as much damage as possible by themselves. So, Ryan created some grenades that could explode once they hit anything. Although he had to work a lot, he learned that he could transform even sand into gunpowder. Ryan just needed to focus and find the right amount of mana to do it. "All the tension and fear that the grenades might explode close to me wore me out, but in the end, it had been worth the hassle." Ryan equipped his crossbow and started to fire. Although his grenades caused a lot of damage in a wide area, not a single monster died. So, in the end, that trick only worked as a distraction. Unable to understand what was going on, the Chupacabras looked for the one who had attacked them, but amidst the chaos, their senses weren''t as nearly as good. Hence, Ryan managed to kill hundreds of them before they could finally notice that he was flying right above them. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. ¡­ Without any other option, the monster started to fire some Dark Spheres toward Ryan. He focused on dodging them all since he didn''t know what they could do, but when he failed at doing that, and his shield got hit, Ryan learned what the skill could do¡­ his shield got several times heavier. "I guess it makes sense¡­ dark magic and gravity are somewhat rted," Ryan said. Fortunately, the effectiveness of the spell decreased with the range. So, even when Ryan got hit bit those, he didn''t fall for his death. At best, his limbs got two to three fives heavier. Upon noticing that their attacks weren''t being that effective. The monsters decided to hide with Darkness Transformation, but only those who weren''t wounded managed to do that. Since the number of his targets decreased, and he wasn''t being attacked anymore, Ryan speeds up his hunting speed. However, things wouldn''t go as Ryan wanted. Something that he had been expecting finally appeared¡­ some weird creatures covered in a dark cloak and flying like birds¡­ they were the bosses of Chupacabras. Chapter 258 - The Cavalry Since those creatures were flying and using their dark cloaks to hide their appearance, Ryan couldn''t even imagine how they looked like. However, while he was flying away from the battlefield, the bosses began to follow him, and Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at the humanoid creatures that had pale white skin and pointy ears. However, their most obvious feature was that some of their teeth were pretty sharp and long. "You have got to be kidding me¡­" Ryan muttered. Qadir- Lv 90 Health: 2.000/2.000 Mana: 2.000/2.000 Stamina: 2.000/2.000 Strength: 600 (+ 200) Dexterity: 500 (+ 200) Speed: 600 (+ 200) Intelligence: 750 (+ 200) Endurance: 500 (+ 200) Control: 600 (+ 100) Mentality: 650 (+ 300) Luck: 1000 (+ 500) Recovery: -- Willpower: 600(+ 150) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 120, Vampirism Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Rage Lv 100, Scent of Blood Lv 120, Gravity Lv 150 Spells: Animalistic Transformation Lv 100, Fly Lv 150, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Electric Resistance Lv 100, Nocturnal Eyes Lv 150 Although Ryan couldn''t see the name of that creature''s species, seeing that recovery had no specific value confirmed his guess. Those were vampires¡­ in his head. It didn''t make any sense that vampires were associated with Chupacabras. The only thing they had inmon was their thirst for blood. In any case, before Ryan could understand the situation as a whole, his body got incredibly heavier, and he started to lose altitude and speed. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. Gravity Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 7 Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all gravity-type attacks by one point. You obtained 06 status points. "Fuck¡­ this is not good," Ryan muttered and then began to use sh. Although Ryan used the skill to decrease his falling speed, his bones were still cracking, and when hended, both of his legs broke. Their hundreds of bosses behind him, but Ryan didn''t give up. While using sh to move away from the city and the monsters, he fired using the Pestilence Crossbow. Although his attacks caused damage, it looked like the poison wasn''t that effective against vampires. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance and then resumed his escape while using mana potions whenever possible. However, at the same time, he began to charge a Power Shot. The vampires were pretty close to each other, so Ryan was confident that he would kill several of them at the same time. After charging for fifteen seconds, Ryan turned around and pulled the trigger. At that moment, his body became light again, and the vampires focused their attention on the bolt. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the monsters used Gravity on the bolt and slowed down the projectile. Although the monsters failed to stop the attackpletely, it only pulled them back a few meters when the bolt hit them. "Finally, some opponents that can use their heads¡­ Still, I shouldn''t feel thankful for it since they will cause a lot of trouble." Fortunately, Ryan''s attack slowed down the vampires and made them less eager to pursue him without putting much thought into it, and after a few minutes of chase, the vampire finally gave up on him. "They don''t want to live their base alone, huh¡­ and they aren''t stupid enough to divide their forces. I guess this is it¡­ my only option is to fight a war of attrition." Since Ryan was alone, he couldn''t do anything else. The survivors he found earlier wouldn''t even work as a minor nuisance against the horde of Chupacabras, and they would only work as a meal for the vampires. Given their Vampirism ability, Ryan had to fight alone. Finding a well-tamed beast wouldn''t be enough, and even thousands of slimes or giant bees wouldn''t be of much help. "Regardless¡­ I need to check if the things about them hate sunlight, onions, and crucifixes are true. Well, I only want to test if they can fight during the day. It would be foolish to try the others." In the end, Ryan failed at killing the one-third of the monsters'' army as he had nned, but he obtained some valuable intel. Now he just had to find a way to put those pieces of information to good use. Ryan decided to rest for the time being since he didn''t have time to do it in thest few days, and he would need to stay focused for the next battle. He managed to escape once, but nothing says that he might fall next time. "Surprise attacks won''t work during the day. Even if I try to use some tricks underground, I will only hind my mobility. In the worst-case scenario, I will get surrounded and then die. Just like the Chupacabra''s Gravity, the closer they get, the stronger the effects will be." While Ryan was thinking about what he should do, he noticed something approaching in the distance¡­ a cloud of dust. Although it was already morning, he thought the vampires were looking for him, but whatever that thing was, it wasing from North, and the dungeon was in the East. "Attacking without knowing ising might be a bit too much¡­" Ryan muttered. "I guess I will use Force." Ryan nocked an arrow and then charged Power Shot for a few seconds. After that, he fired and used Force. In the blink of an eye, the arrow passed above the cloud of dust, and Ryan saw what was heading in his direction. "¡­ I should have seen thating," Ryan sighed and then facepalmed. "You sure are a pain in the ass, Mark." Some survivors were causing the cloud of dust; Mark probably sent them once he realized that the Chupacabras was up to no good on Monterrey. The problem was the people who he sent to help Ryan. They were: Daniel, Lilian, Luke, Tristan, Natalia, Hond, and Ang. Without a doubt, they were the most troublesome members of that base. Chapter 259 - Expectation "Wassup, Ryan?" Daniel asked. "Mark said that you might get your ass kicked here, so we came to help." Ryan decided to ignore those stupidments of Daniel. Instead of getting worked up by every single thing he says or do, it would be much more beneficial just to ignore him. In any case, despite Daniel''s words, the others looked pretty much ready for some action. Although there still was bad blood between Ang and Hond, they weren''t stupid enough to start a fight so inside enemies'' territory. The only one who looked troublesome like Daniel was Tristan. He was looking around with his eyes full of expectation. Those guys sure changed a lot since thest time Ryan saw them. Although he asionally would find them in the base, they were wearing normal clothes, but now they were wearing their fighting gear. Since Daniel was a shy idiot, he was wearing red full te armor and a big sword on his back. Hond had a simr style, but he traded his sword for a spear. To match with their fighting style, Lilian and Luke were only using some light gear to increase their mobility, but they had some bracers and boots that looked pretty sturdy. They probably were using that to avoid wounding their fists and legs. Tristan didn''t have anything with him aside from a cloak and a simple breastte. In the ce of weapons, he had several rings on his hands. It looked like, for some reason, Ang had a simr getup. As for Natalia, she had a longbow on her back, and her defensive gear was based on leather. "Where are the monsters?" Hond asked. "Rather than that, where is our wee?" Daniel asked. "The monsters changed their behavior two days ago. I am sure you guys hurried to arrive here on time," Ryan said. "Are you sure that you are ready to fight right now?" "Ryan is right," Lilian said. "We hurried toe, so one-two hours of rest will help us a lot. Can you give us more details while we have breakfast, Ryan?" Ryan didn''t ask for help, but in the end, he couldn''t just be rude to those who came to help him. That being said, they probably knew that the sses they might obtain here would be equally as useful as High-Priest ss, so their goal wasn''t only to help him. Regardless, Ryan exined to them what he did until now, and he discovered. "Vampires? Amazing!" Tristan said. "Did you find some sexy female vampire?" "Is that the first thing you have to ask?" Natalia said and then kicked the leg of her little brother. "You won''t live a long life with this kind of attitude." "I only saw the face of a single one, and unlike you are thinking, he looked like a living corpse," Ryan said. "Just wake up to reality. They are monsters, even if they can talk and use their brains. Anyway, I was about to test if they can fight during the day." "So, you don''t know that yet?" Ang asked. "No, as you can see, I am just an archer, and there are thirty thousand Chupacabras between me and the dungeon," Ryan replied. "So, I was trying to find a way to deal with them. Without using potions like there is no tomorrow or running for my life when things get dicey." "I am not criticizing you," Lilian shook her head. "Mark said that this region has been crawling with monsters, but we didn''t find a single one in quite a while. So, you have done an impressive job. I guess I shouldn''t have expected any less from you." "You are creeping me out with the sudden praises," Ryan said. "Anyway, now that you are here, I don''t have to worry abouting up with a n." "Really, how do you n to finish this job, then?" Natalia asked with a frown on her face. "You guys will buy time for me to use my most powerful attacks," Ryan replied. "Only this idiot and Hond are tanks of the group, right? The rest of you can help me with the attacks, but you shouldn''t get carried away. The Chupacabras are fast, and they can heal when they bite their foes." "It looks like you are the one who is getting carried away," Natalia said. "Don''t think that you are the only one who has grown strong." "Well, we have some time until the dungeon break, so let''s not get hasty," Tristan said. "I can use elemental attacks to help, while Natalia focuses on damaging several enemies at a time. Lilian and Luke are melee fighters who specialize in hit and run tactics, and Ang focuses on support with her Telekinesis." "Support?" Ryan frowned. "I prevent anyone from suffering critical damage," Ang exined. "If we''re near the base, I also will help with potions, but I won''t be able to do that here." Daniel and Hond''s jobs were pretty simple, so there was no need to exin. Anyway, everyone waited for Ryan''s turn to say what he could do. It was too much of a pain to resume the skill list that he had, so Ryan decided to save some time. "I shoot arrows," Ryan said. "Anyway, let''s get going. Although we have three days, I don''t want to stay here until the veryst minute." In the end, Tristan and Daniel, who were the only ones interested in hearing about Ryan''s skills, just shrugged since that was just like him. Regardless, they will have a lot of time to see him in action¡­ or maybe not, since they will be fighting for their lives for several hours. In the end, they changed their attitude before they could lose their lives when they saw the army of monsters. It looked like neither of them had seen the results of two dungeon breaks so up close. Ryan couldn''t help but smirk while imagining their faces if he hadn''t killed so many Chupacabras over thest few days. Chapter 260 - Loan "That is a lot of enemies¡­" Tristan said with his mouth wide open. "No shit, Sherlock," Natalia said. "It looks like somehow you attacked them directly and survived to tell the tale. I don''t know if you are insane or just that confident." "What are you guys'' range?" Ryan asked. "If it is shorter than one hundred meters, then you better have some lightning-like reflexes. Those fuckers can cross that distance in the blink of an eye." "I hate fast monsters," Daniel sighed. "I am better against the tough and big monsters like golems. Anyway, it looks like you will have to save us more than a few times, Ang." "Against those numbers, don''t expect much," Ang shrugged. While everyone was talking nonsense, Ryan began to think about what he should do to prevent the worst-case scenario. Although he didn''t feel responsible for their lives, it would be a pity, and his job will get much harder if they die. In the end, Ryan decided to loan his magic items. "Which one of you is the fastest?" Ryan asked while he faced Lilian and Luke. "I am," Lilian said. "Then use this," Ryan passed his frozen gauntlets to her. "Although you won''t be able to use your monk skills directly, the effect of this weapon will help you a lot. Even if you don''t freeze the enemies, they will get considerably slower." "Not bad¡­" Luke opened his eyes widely while he checked the status of the gauntlets. "Do you have other gauntlets like these?" "No," Ryan replied. "Well¡­ it would be weird if you had," Luke said with his head down. Ryan used Appraisal on Natalia and noticed that she had the right skills to fight for a while. Although she probably won''t kill the Chupacabras as fast as him, she will manage to recover some mana. So, he decided to lend her the Sagittarians'' bow. "This should be a bit better than your current bow, and its effect will help you to use Power Shot more often," Ryan said. "Just don''t break it." "I am not going to smash it against the monster''s head, so I can''t imagine how I can break a bow like this¡­" Natalia frowned. "Thanks, I will make good use of it." "Can you believe this guy?" Daniel asked to Hond. "Yeah¡­ he is prioritizing the girls," Hond nodded. Ryan was looking for a reason not to lend a weapon to Daniel and he just found it. After that, he gave his rings to Tristan since he was going to need a lot of mana to be useful, and then he gave his hammer to Ang. "If you make this spin, I am pretty sure your Telekinesis will be more useful, and then you will prevent the monsters from getting too close to those two dumbasses," Ryan said. "¡­ You talk as if you already tried that," Ang frowned. "I can do that with Wind Maniption, but with Telekinesis, the attacks are more effective," Ryan exined. "You talk as if you know Telekinesis," Ang said. Ryan using Telekinesis, took the hammer from Ang and made a spin. The rotation was so intense that everyone could see a mini-tornado below the hammer. Since only Ang knew that skill, they couldn''t help but open their eyes widely in shock. "Before you keep asking more things non-stop, I will say that I bought the tome," Ryan exined. "It cost was five million coins, but as you can see, it was worth the investment¡­ you really were luck by finding a tome like this by chance." Now Ryan just had to find some equipment for Daniel and Hond, but he hesitated to help them since they were two annoying assholes. It would be more convenient if they suffer a lot during the fight. However, that only would-be Ryan causing problems to himself. So, he lent the Paralyzing Spear to Hond and his Chaos Axe to Daniel¡­ to think that he would lend an item to him that would increase his survivability like that¡­ Ryan began to hate more and more those fucking Chupacabras. "Holy crap¡­ where did you find a weapon with such effects?" Daniel asked in shock. "When I was ying house in a military base," Ryan said. "Now, get used to the weapon as fast as possible. As I said, I want to test if the vampires can fight during the day, and if they can''t, I don''t want to waste a single minute of daylight." Since Daniel never used an ax before, he wasn''t used to the weapon, and he didn''t even have Axe Mastery. So, to speed up things a little bit, he sparred for a while with Hond. "Hey, Ryan. It is not fair that only didn''t receive an item," Luke said. "I don''t have anything else decent aside from this crossbow and a shield," Ryan said. "I can lend you the shield, but unless you block the attacks with it, you won''t be able to use its effect. Besides, you will be much slower." "Give up, Luke. It can''t be helped," Lilian said. "You sure have arge range of weapons, and while the first I saw you, you were using a crossbow. Are you sure that you should use only that one?" "It is fine. With my status and extra effect of this weapon, I can kill the monsters with a single bolt," Ryan said. "I didn''t solve this entire situation before because I can''t stay still in a single ce while shooting, but with you guys here, that won''t be a problem." "Are you sure of that?" Lilian asked. "If you ask me, this crossbow of yours doesn''t look that special." "You will see," Ryan replied. In fact, Ryan also looking forward to how things will proceed. Not even when he fought alongside Alissa, Ryan found such a favorable situation for him¡­ probably because Alissa was always running wild without using her head. Regardless, now more than ever, Ryan wanted to put into practice his progress during those three months. He wanted to show the monsters that the things that his father taught were more than enough to make him survive and clean Earth. Chapter 261 - Solo Progress When Daniel started to get the hang of the ax, Ryan decided to change the terrain around them a little bit. Given the number of monsters in the city, any changes that he might make in a few minutes wouldn''t be that useful. However, at the very least, some holes to make the monsters fall and prevent the corpses from troubling his vision would help. Ryan also some towers of earth, and they would give him and the other long-ranged fighters a good idea of how the fight was proceeding. "Man, you are an archer, but you can do more things with magic than me," Tristan forced a depreciative smile. "I guess I need to clear dungeons more often." That was the right mindset for someone who truly wanted to improve. Regardless, the time has finallye. The frontline gave the sign to the backline that they were ready, so Ryan only had to deal the first strike, and then the fight would start. Since Ryan didn''t want to risk breaking any of his magic items, he decided to use Power Shot with his crossbow. However, after a while, even his most powerful weapon started to tremble and lose durability. It couldn''t be helped since Ryan used dozens of potions to cause one heck of a first strike. In the end, Ryan only stopped when he did the same as before: he charged his Power Shot for five seconds. When he pulled the trigger, immediately sent flying backward for several meters, but before he couldnd, his attack hit the army of monsters, and he recovered all his mana. Thanks to it, he used Telekinesis to stop. Unlike before, his attack wasn''t concentrated due to the fact that the projectile wasn''t the Paralyzing Spear. However, thanks to that, the energy of his attack propagated even more and killed hundreds of Chupacabras at the same time. Even from two kilometers away, Daniel and the others felt the ground trembling. "Holy shit¡­ Ryan has the power of several warships," Tristanughed while his face waspletely pale. "Focus," Ryan said after he resumed his position. "They areing." While everyone waited for the monsters toe, Ryan started to pull the trigger of his crossbow nonstop. Only Natalia could see the monsters in the distance getting hit by the poisoned bolts and then getting killed after a few seconds of agony from that group. The others could only see a dark wave that was the monsters clustered in the same ce as they charged. However, after a while, even for those who didn''t have good eyes and a lot of points in dexterity, it became clear that Ryan''s attacks were decimating the monsters. Those creatures were supposed to have reached them a long time ago, but Ryan''s shots decreased their speed considerably. Somehow¡­ he could fire ten bolts per second and at the same time hit his targets¡­ all of them. Not that it was hard for him, given how close to each other the monsters were. When the monsters were five hundred meters away from them, Natalia and Tristan began to attack as well. Their spells and arrows flew in a wide arch before hitting the monsters. Missing was literally impossible, but killing them with a single attack wasn''t possible for them either. The more the monster approached the driver, their throats got. "I think Ryan lost his mind," Tristan said. "Even if he can kill ten of them per second, we won''t win this battle." "I didn''t raise you to be a coward," Natalia said. "Just focus on slowing down the monsters if you are not confident in your firepower." Ang began to make the hammer spin. Although she needed to focus on making full use of her Telekinesis, even her ears feeling and hearing her heartbeat like a drum. "I got this. I got this," Ang muttered. A few meters behind them, Daniel, Hond, Lilian, and Luke, were watching the monsters approaching. All of them, at some point, wondered why they didn''t question ''battle n'', not even a little bit. Given how many items and things he could do, they assumed that his battle experience made him a good strategy, but it was clear that they were wrong. Ryan was just an insane guy¡­ However, those thoughts vanished from their head while they watched Ryan killing the Chupacabras like a machine built only to do that. "This is it, Hond," Daniel said. "If we fail at stopping the monster''s charge, we can''t consider ourselves men anymore. If a single person like Ryan can do this much, at the very least, we need to stand to our ground." "Although you are an idiot, I can understand you a little," Hond said and then sighed. "In any case, one that things havee down to this, it is do or die. Let''s do it and return with a lot of loot." As for Lilian and Luke, they didn''t say anything. Since they were martial artists, they knew how to keep their focus even in that crazy situation. After ten seconds¡­ the army of Chupacabras finally reached the ce they were. Although Ryan killed more than one thousand monsters just in the time the monsters moved toward him, it looked like his actions had been for naught. Even though he was killing ten monsters per second and the front line was finishing off the monsters damaged by the backline, and that added more or less five Chupacabras being killed per second. It wasn''t enough¡­ For the time being, Daniel was healing himself thanks to the ax fast enough to keep fighting. The paralyzing spear was also helping Hond a lot. Still, even though Lilian and Luke were working together using the effects of the gauntlets, they were being pushed back, and that was putting a lot of pressure on the other two. Ryan had to do something and something fast before the situation could get even worse. ss: Hunter Lv 55 (+ 05 UP / Elementalist Lv 50 (+ 03 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 331st Health: 669/669 (3,05/s) Mana: 1224/1224 (3,05/s) Stamina: 978/978 (3,05/s) Strength: 30 (+157) (+130) Dexterity: 1050 (+810) (+57) Speed: 70 (+372) (+48) Intelligence: 80 (+365) (+3) Endurance: 27 (+111) (+130) Control: 06 (+398) (+10) Mentality: 07 (+31) (+30) Luck: 74 (+9) Recovery: 700 (+833) (+300) Willpower: 29 (+30) Coins: 12.782.333 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 67 (+ 05 UP), Hawkeye Lv 21 (+ 08 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 56 (+ 05 UP), Concentration Lv 56 (+ 05 UP), Archery Lv 56 (+ 05 UP), uracy Lv 56 (+ 05 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 52 (+ 04 UP), Sell Lv 01, Spells: Iplete Reptilian Transformation Lv 27 (+ 04 UP), Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Strength Augmentation Lv 01, Deconstruction Lv 01, Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 27 (+ 04 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 27 (+ 03 UP), Gravity Resistance Lv 07 (+06 UP) sses: Combat: Archer Lv 45 (+ 07 UP), Combat Archer Lv 28 (+ 11 UP), Sniper Lv 21 (+ 09 UP), Non-Combatant: Chapter 262 - Forced Retreat Ryan forced his field of vision to expand while he fired and the bolts nonstop. Then, he focused his mind on a certain point a few meters ahead of Daniel and Hond. Even though his aim was constantly changing ces, he made sure to maintain that ce as the center of his field of vision, and then when he feltfortable enough, Ryan used Ice Storm. Just as expected from a skill Ryan never used before, the damage caused wasughable. However, the cold winds slowed down the monsters and froze some of them. After just a few seconds, the pressure on Daniel a d Hond decreased, and they stopped from being pushed backward. "Focus on covering for Lilian and Luke," Ryan dered. "I will cover for those two." When the backline hears that, they thought that Ryan had gone mad once again. There was no way he would be able to keep an area of effect spell active while firing bolts that fast. However, much to their surprise, Ryan manages to do that and much more. They could see with their eyes alone the power and scope of the spell increasing. "I had forgotten of how crossbows are so useful¡­ as much as I train, using bows will never be as fast and as convenient as using crossbows." "We are holding them back! Holy crap, Ryan," Tristan said. "How the heck can you recover so much mana?" "If you didn''t notice, all of us can obtain an unlimited number of sses. If youbine the skills of some of them, you can pretty much create several cheating builds," Ryan replied. "Anyway, focus on the task ahead. If we mess up, the monsters will jump on their neck, and they will be easy targets." If Ryan could trust others, he could easily help some survivors be stronger with the right sses and skills. One of those was bybining an archer that uses crossbows and has the sage ss. It was a pretty powerfulbination. Even early on, they could be powerful. The survivors just would have to focus on increasing their dexterity. However, since he couldn''t trust anything aside from his summoned monsters and tamed beasts, he had no n of spreading around that kind of knowledge. He was already betrayed once, although Ryan could be betrayed in the future again, at the very least, he won''t give the tools to others and make those possible betrayals more painful. In the end, despite all that fighting, the vampires never showed up. If they hade, Ryan was one hundred percent sure that he and the others would be forced to run, but it looked like some pop-culture knowledge about vampires wasn''t absolutely bullshit. That made Ryan wonder¡­ why the hell those mythical creatures had the same weakness as humans imagined them to have? Their existence was already enough as it is, but to such information to be urate¡­ Before Ryan coulde up with a logical exnation, something weird happened. The Chupacabras stopped their charge and then started to retreat toward Monterrey. Ryan sighed when he saw that¡­ he should have expected that. Not all creatures were prideful like dragons. "We¡­ we won!" Tristan jumped and then raised his arms to the sky. "Stop fooling around," Ryan said. "We are going to chase them and eliminated as many as possible before they spread and hide inside the city." "What about the loot?" Hond asked while he was using the Paralyzing Spear to keep himself standing. "No one will approach this sea of corpses so easily," Ryan replied. "We are just going to hunt a few more of them for the sake of convenience. We won''t lose more than half an hour." Although the backline was physically fine, they were mentally exhausted, with Ryan being the sole exception. As expected, even though the monsters never reached them, the pressure was something else. As for the frontline, they were physically and mentally exhausted. Ryan used Stamina Restoration to solve one of the problems, but even though he gave them some mana potions, Daniel and the others still looked pretty beat down. Despite that, they followed Ryan to keep a decent formation while killing the monsters. That being said, only Ryan had the range to attack them, so the others only followed him for the sake of appearance. "Jesus Christ¡­ look at this mountain of corpses," Daniel said with a frown on his forehead. "I can''t believe we caused this." "Look at this mountain of items," Hond grinned from eating to ear. "I can''t believe that half of this is going to a single archer." "Half¡­ that was funny," Ryanughed. "Despite your calm demeanor, you are quite a greedy follow, huh," Hondughed. "No, I am just not stupid," Ryan said. "Still¡­ I would feel bad for not rewarding those who came to help me. Well, maybe I should be greedy." "Oh? I like a reasonable man," Hond said. "So, can I keep the spear?" "Keep dreaming," Ryan said. "The job isn''t over yet, but you can take the best item you can find among the loot and one tome as well." When they heard that, even those who were exhausted recovered their vigor. They were fully aware that Ryan did most of the work, so they couldn''t help but be excited about his words. Since the fight might be even more difficult inside Monterrey, they would need that power up. Besides, Ryan didn''t find anything worthwhile among the loot when he took a quick nce. At best, the most powerful weapons were one tier below his magic weapons. It was only natural, though, since Ryan obtained those magic items by killing powerful bosses. Despite his generosity, Ryan still managed to get his hands on three magic rings of the immortal, and that boosted his recovery considerably. As for tomes, Ryan only was interested in one: Electric Bullet. All the others he already its respective skills. So, he let Daniel and the others use them after they paid him some coins. Chapter 263 - Stamina Drain "What now, Ryan?" Daniel asked after the question of the loot was solved, and everyone obtained some new pieces of gear. "We killed around forty percent of that army, right?" "It looks you can at least do the math right¡­ You are correct," Ryan nodded. "However, for the time being, we should retreat. "Even though we decreased their numbers by that much, we still will lose if we fight at night and all the bossese to attack us." "They are that powerful, huh," Lilian said. "Considering that you are cautious for a change, I guess we should really retreat and rest for the day. Do you have any ce in mind where we can''t be disturbed?" "Yes," Ryan replied. Although Ryan couldn''t imagine winning a battle at night against more than one hundred vampires, things might change soon. That was one of the reasons he wanted to retreat to where he left Gonzales and his friends. It was in order to find out which skills he could obtain with that stupid number of coins he had. "Finding a weapon more powerful than the pestilence crossbow in the dungeon shops is probably out of the question, and while even the most useful skills always start at level one, I am sure I can obtain something decent with this amount." When Ryan returned much sooner than they had anticipated, Gonzales and his friends couldn''t but frown and think that, as expected, he would need their help to deal with the monsters. However, since he wasn''t alone, many questions started to pop on their heads. "You can rx," Ryan said. "I didn''te to make you guys fight earlier than I said. We are just here to rest for the day." "Is that so? That is a relief," Gonzales said. "Although we made a lot of progress in two days, I can''t say that we are ready to face even a single small pack of those creatures." Although Gonzales''s friends didn''t like the presence of too many people that seemed stronger and better armed than them, they rxed when they saw Daniel and the others just chilling around. As one would expect, the goblins were no longer a real threat to those survivors, even though they were at level sixty. In any case, Ryan opened the dungeon shop and checked the tomes section. As expected, his options increased greatly, and just like he had imagined, he had to spend ten million coins to learn how to create the earth, water, fire, and wind with his mana alone. "I can even buy tomes to summon goblins and Sahuagins now, huh¡­ Not that they would have any real use to me. In any case, at least to summon them, I only need eight hundred points of mana." Although with all his firing power, Ryan was confident that he could take down a vampire in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn''t be able to fight in such a situation. So, he looked for tomes that would help him with his archery skills. Strangely enough, Ryan only found a single skill that fit his criteria. Enhanced Concentration Effect: It passively increases your dexterity by ten points per level. Price: 10.000.000 "The heck is with this price? Why a passive skill like this cost the same amount as the skills that will teach me how to create things using only mana?" After thinking for a while, Ryan understood why it was like that. First of all, the skill was a passive one. He wouldn''t need to use mana to use it, and as long as he fights relying on dexterity, the skill will level up by itself. While the cost was insane, it would feel like Ryan had brought status with coins after a while. That was a convenient ''power'' that only those who had a lot of coins had. In the end, Ryan bought the skill for several reasons. Because of its potential, because he would need all the extra firepower he can get to defeat the vampires, and because more than ever, Ryan realized that he needed even more power. If it weren''t for Daniel and the others, the chances of him preventing the third dungeon break of that ce would be close to none. epting that was annoying as hell for Ryan, but he wasn''t a hypocrite to say that it wasn''t the case. Besides, things got so easy when other people were fighting alongside him, and at the same time, Ryan feltfortable and annoyed. He didn''t want that kind offort. For someone like him who wanted to prove to himself that he could live in this world with his strength alone, such a feeling wasn''t only worse of a few things. "What else can I get here¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin. In the end, Ryan discovered that he had to spend five million coins to learn Telepathy. Unfortunately, he was only interested in mind reading, but he didn''t find that skill being sold. It was probably more expensive, or maybe it was a skill exclusive to a ss. Ryan didn''t even waste his time looking for simr things like Teleportation and Precognition. The price of those would probably make his eyes jump from the sockets. Although that wasn''t a skill that would be useful to a long-ranged fighter, Ryan decided to learn a certain skill since he didn''t find the long-range version of the same. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Drain. Effect: When attacking a target, you can restore your stamina. Cost: 10 mana per hit and drains one point of mana per level from your foes. It only works with melee attacks. You obtained 01 status point. "This is another skill that has a lot of potential, but I will need to train it as much as possible outside troublesome fights. While I can''t kill something by decreasing its stamina, I can certainly make my foes be less troublesome by doing. Especially those who focus on physical attacks." Chapter 264 - Some Tips Although Ryan looking for the version that drains mana and health of the same skill, he didn''t find it. Most likely, even though they had simr effects, their prices were different, given that mana and health were more important than stamina. "Have you finished your business in the dungeon shop?" Tristan suddenly appeared and then asked. "Yeah," Ryan replied. "Since that is the case, can you give me a few hints as to how I should make myself stronger?" Tristan asked. "I don''t think I can clear dungeon as fast as you, but even so, as long as I can have half of your current strength, it will be enough for me." "You are asking the wrong person. I am not a mage," Ryan said. "I can only say the obvious. Raise your mana, intelligence and recover as much as possible. To increase your survivability, try to obtain Mana Shield." "I already have that skill, and I am already focusing on those statuses," Tristan said. "See? I told you that I could only give you some obvious tips." Ryan shrugged. "In any case, I found some dungeons in which you can find some variations of mage sses. If you form a group to clean those ces, you might find some clues as to how to make yourself stronger." "All right, I will do that," Tristan nodded cheerfully. Although Ryan wanted to make his new skills level up as possible before he could start a training session, Luke also approached him, looking for advice. Ryan sighed since even though that wasn''t annoying per se, it was troublesome. "You shouldn''t ask me how to be stronger while punching and kicking monsters," Ryan said. "You probably will never see me doing that." "It is fine. Any tip will be wee," Luke said. "I just need to obtain a little more strength because my big sister is too awesome, and I feel like I am dragging her down." "¡­ Do you have any charged attacks?" Ryan asked after sighing. "One that only consumes stamina?" "I do," Luke nodded. "Is one of the most basic melee skills. The problem is, I can''t move while I use that skill." "Do you have the Trickster ss?" Ryan asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Luke frowned. "Try tobine those that skill and sh, and you will probably find a way to counter the weakness of both," Ryan said. "You will have to stop moving, but when the enemy approaches, you will be able to move to his back and cause critical damage. If you are strong enough, you might kill several monsters like that. So, the sage ss might help you as well." "Oh! That is true! Howe I never thought of that?" Luke asked with an excited smile. "Probably because you are dumb," Ryan said. Luke ignored Ryan''s finalment and left the area to test thatbination. Before he could forget it, Ryan decided to test that skill Luke had mentioned. When Ryan prepared a punch and tried to focus all his strength in a single-arm, he felt his stamina being drained, but he didn''t receive any notification since he didn''t perform the skill, but when he punched the air and caused a small shockwave¡­ Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Concentrated Strike. Effect: Increases the power of your next melee attack in one point of strength per second. Cost: Cost: 01 Stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. "I can''t imagine why you learned that," Lilian asked. "Anyway, you certainly a popr with kids, and you are pretty nice to them." "¡­ There is a hobgoblin inside this dungeon. Why don''t you go stare at its abs or something?" Ryan asked. "Perhaps I will," Lilian smiled from ear to ear. Ryan sighed. As expected, the lone wolf life suited him better. Still, while he moved away from the camp to train a little bit, he couldn''t help but ponder about Lilian''sments. She was right. Ryan was pretty nice to those who were younger than him, but only because once he nned to be a teacher. From his perspective, having that kind of patience and the will to help the younger generations wasn''t something he needed any longer. At the same time, while the idea of being someone others could rely on or look up to weren''t so bad, Ryan could shake off from his head if that admiration and respect were true or the others were just looking at him and seeing a useful tool to make them reach their own goals. "Those doubts are annoying, so in the end, it is better that I keep fighting alone." Ryan spent the rest of the day training his archery skill, and, in the end, he even managed to learn something useful. As long as he tries to simte his training close to a fight, his skills could level up much faster than just by using them randomly. For example, if Ryan tried to hit something in the distance at the limits of his range, his archery skills could progress a lot more than if he just tried to fire the bolts randomly at the sky or something. Another thing that Ryan confirmed was the fact that vampires disliked sunlight more than anything. As soon as night fell, the bosses led their minion toward the dungeon where Ryan and others were camping. However, just as Ryan predicted they didn''t enter the dungeon, they didn''t even try to damage the ce. "Ryan was right," Daniel said. "Now the bosses want to take the fight to us." "We can choose the time in which we can fight, but that doesn''t mean we will have all the advantage when we fight the bosses," Ang said. "They will be inside the dungeon if we attack during the day. Considering everything, they will wait for us at the end of the dungeon, and at such a ce, we won''t be able to fight." "I will force them toe out during the day," Ryan dered. "They don''t suffer damage due to the sunlight; their status just decreases to some extent. Regardless, I can force them to fight where I want." Chapter 265 - Insecurities After sunrise, Ryan left the dungeon and frowned when Gonzales and his friends apanied him with a resolute look in their eyes. If he didn''t know any better, he would say that they wanted to participate in the final battle against the vampires. "What?" Ryan asked. "We are not strong enough, but we would like to fight alongside you," Gonzales said. "In the future, we would feel ashamed if we pass to the next generations that some people from other countries recovered ournds and we only watched them from the sidelines." That was all very nice and good, but Ryan didn''t want to give the vampires a single chance to use Vampirism. It was too much of a risk¡­ Although they could be a bit stronger while fighting the Chupacabras, the difference in power wasn''t small to the point where they could cover in just a few hours of hunting. "Let theme with us, Ryan," Daniel said. "They are all ranged-fighters, right? As long as Hond, Luke, Lilian, and I do our job correctly, nothing will happen to them." "You talk already dering if something happens to them, it will be your fault by default," Ang frowned. "That being said, I agree with you. The true inhabitants of somends have to fight for their countries. Besides, the more we fight, the more loot we will get. We can increase their power with the same loot." "To be honest, I want their help," Tristan dered. "After the fight yesterday, I lost all my confidence in my skills. Besides, there is strength in numbers. I am sure their numbers will be more useful than you think, Ryan." Ryan sighed. If he were alone, he could say no instantly, and the question would be over, but since that wasn''t the case, he had to listen to that kind of nonsense. Although he wanted to say that it was nonsense, he couldn''t exactly disagree with any of those arguments. "Well, if you guys want to risk your neck that much, who am I to say no?" Ryan asked. "Do as you see fit." Although Ryan thought those guys wanted to challenge the monsters with their guts alone, they properly made some preparations before leaving. Each one of them had a backpack filled with mana potions. In the end, Ryan even lent his magic wand to Gonzales to make him increase his survivability and utility. After the preparations had been done, they marched toward Monterrey, and as expected, they didn''t find anything even when they entered the city. It was obvious that the Chupacabras were nning ambushes in several ces. Given that they could disappear within the shadows, one could easily find where they could hide, but Ryan decided to do something better. He waited outside the city with everyone else until noon. At that time of the day, the number of ces the monsters could hide decreased, and those spots became quite obvious. "Let''s see if they can be damaged inside those shadows¡­" Ryan, who was flying in the sky using his shield as a tform, found several shadows within the city. Without wasting any more time, he fired the pestilence crossbow at those ces. He didn''t notice anything at first, but when Ryan insisted on attacking the same shadow over and over again, he saw the corpse of a dead Chupacabra suddenly appearing, and other poisoned monsters also appeared. "I guess their mentality and willpower increase while they stay in that form." Ryan bombarded several of those ces with his bolts, but instead of killing all the monsters hidden, Ryan focused on just damaging them to some extent. Upon noticing that Ryan wouldn''t fall for such an obvious trap, the monsters left their hideouts and moved toward him. When that happened, Ryan joined the others who had stayed behind. "They areing," Ryan said. Little by little, a massive cloud of dust began to appear in Monterrey. The vampires noticed that ambushes wouldn''t work on Ryan, so they decided to tire Ryan and the others with the monsters that they still had under their control. When the monsters finally appeared, the backline began to fire their magic projectiles. At the same time, Ryan used Ice Storm to slow down the monsters even more. Just like the previous day, the monsters suffered many losses. Before they finally could attack Daniel and the others. However, unlike yesterday, they used the Dark Sphere to make the frontline be as slow as possible. "I knew that things wouldn''t end that easily¡­" Even Lilian and Luke, who were quite quick on their feet, got hit several times and, in the end, just like Daniel and Hond, they assumed defensive positions to prevent letting the monsters bit them. Suddenly, Ryan had an idea¡­ what will happen if he kills the monsters that used Dark Spheres? In the blink of an eye, Ryan stopped attacking the monsters on the sides and attacked those who wereing from the front, and they died. Daniel and the others recovered their mobility more and more. "Dumbasses! Try to dodge at least some of the attacks!" Ryan shouted. "We are trying!" Daniel protested. The monsters finally were too close to use Dark Sphere, and those who were behind couldn''t risk hitting their friends, so the long-ranged attacks turn was over. Despite that, Daniel and the frontline were being pushed back for some reason. Their wounds on their bodies were increasing, and whenever their blood was spilled over a Chupacabra, the monsters healed. "The heck is going on?" Ryan eventually noticed what was going on¡­ the situation was difficult because he wasn''t killing the Chupacabras as fast as possible. Even though they were so close and there was nothing blocking his field of vision, he wasn''t as fast as he had been on the previous day. At best, he was killing seven of them per second and noticed why that was happening. It decreased to five¡­ his doubts were preventing him from showing his true potential. Chapter 266 - A Surprise While Ryan was trying to ovee hisck of focus with pure sheer will, Gonzales and his friends stepped forward. As if they had trained to do that or something, they began to fire Fireballs toward the sky in an arc. Those projectiles hit each other, but instead of exploding, they only fused to create an even bigger Fireball. Although the projectile was beyond their control, they kept increasing the attack''s size by firing their own spells. Eventually, a thirty-meterrge fireball fell on the monster''s army and caused a massive explosion that decimated dozens of monsters and heavily wounded many others. "Ouch! Ouch! It is hot!" Daniel shouted in pain. "Damn, at least warn us next time you do this." "Don''tin. They saved our asses," Hond said after finally finding some room to breathe. "Anyway, it looks like Ryan isn''t on his top form today." Although that hadn''t been an insult, Ryan bit his lips in annoyance until it started to bleed. He knew why his doubts were bothering him, but Ryan refused to admit that it was true¡­ To think that his mind could affect so much his skill was annoying beyond reason. Regardless, Gonzales and his friends managed to solve the situation once, but Ryan didn''t feel like causing problems anymore, even if they were involuntary. So, he stopped aiming with his crossbow and just fired at the ces where monsters were clustered. At the same time, he used Power of Money to eliminate the other creatures that were trying to attack them from the sidelines. Although the cost was quite high, Ryan managed not only to recover his hunting speed but also to increase it even further. Daniel and the others frowned when the monsters began to explode for no apparent reason, but eventually, they understood that Ryan was the one causing that. The fight got incredibly easier after that, to the point where Daniel and Hond started to focus on the offense as well. Meanwhile, Lilian and Luke didn''t let the blood rush to their head since the bosses could appear at any moment, but in the end, they never came¡­ "Hell yeah! We won again!" Tristan jumped and raised his arms to the sky again¡­ it looked like he liked to do that after every other fight. While Natalia was frowning, looking at her little brother, Daniel and Hond were greeting Gonzales and his friends and saying thanks for the help in the middle of the fight. Meanwhile, Luke and Lilian were organizing the loot. "Shit¡­ shit." In the end, Ryan calmed down pretty fast after just cursing a few times. He couldn''t just let the same things happen over and over again, after all. Thinking that his actions were wrong and he couldn''t fight alone already was something that he already experienced before. "It is okay. Those damn thoughts will disappear once I eliminate those freaks inside the dungeon¡­ at least for a while." That was a bit tiring, but it looked like Ryan had to constantly prove to himself that he could do what he wanted and that he was more than capable enough to survive even though fucking monsters are spawning every second. "It looks like things worked out in the end," Daniel said. "By the way, are you fine?" "It wasn''t me who had a hard time during the whole fight and had to be saved by a bunch of strangers," Ryan replied. "Rest while you can because I want to challenge the bosses this afternoon. It is too risky to do it tomorrow since they might use all kinds of tricks to buy time. We need to decrease their numbers today, and if it isn''t possible to clear the dungeon, at least we will increase our chances today." "I totally agree," Daniel said. "Anyway, it shouldn''t be too hard to do that considering that we defeated fifty thousand of those monsters in two days. Things might be different if the bosses were like Drac, but fortunately, that isn''t the case." Daniel really had to jinx everyone with those words¡­ Ryan didn''t want to think about it since his head was already full of problems, but the possibility of a creature like Drac being the vampires'' leader was high. Still, Ryan didn''t feel like using the purple crystal to check that. The only thing he wanted to think of was to why he opened a dungeon at such a ce instead of Transylvania. "I think we are ready to go," Ang dered. "Just to be safe, we should send an escort team to make sure that no other Chupacabra is lurking around. Come to think of it. Maybe the vampires are lurking around waiting for us to approach. It wouldn''t be weird if they can do the same things those monsters could and even better." "I can do that," Ryan dered. "I have the skills necessary for that role. "However, even I go alone, I don''t think they will show up or attack if they are nning an ambush. If your worries are correct, they will only do it when their chances of exterminating us are absolute. That being said, I don''t think they are preparing a trap outside the dungeon." "What makes you think that?" Ang asked. "All the experience I obtained so far while fighting those freaks," Ryan said. "I don''t know why, but even while they sacrifice their minions, they don''t do anything without reason. If the bosses didn''t attack us during the day until now, they didn''t do it for a reason. Besides, if they were that smart, they would have to set up an ambush while were fought the army of monster." All the bosses Ryan faced until now thought about their self-preservation first and foremost. The sapient ones didn''t even bother to hide their intentions. Considering everything Ryan saw, if there were a chance for a boss to win a fight alongside its minions, that boss would fight alongside its minions. If there were no chances of victory, the bosses wouldn''t fight, and they would sacrifice their minions. Even though those minions could hunt other monsters, get stronger, and by proxy make the dungeon and the other monsters spawned by the dungeon stronger. In other words, they had the confidence that even without their minions, they could do that. Hence, their survival was their top priority, even though they were nearly immortal thanks to the dungeons'' blessing. Chapter 267 - Core The Chupacabras'' dungeon appeared right in the center of a certain park in Monterrey. As if it had been made topletely stop any sunlight from entering inside of it, Ryan could see that the underground cave was pretty deep. While that was good because he will have the chance to control his bolt with more ease, at the same time, he probably won''t be able to see much. Even with his Nocturnal Eyes. That skill helped him see better at night. It didn''t help him see better cespletely devoid of light. "How are we going to proceed from here?" Natalia asked. "I am going to use a magic item and fire a Thunder Arrow," Ryan exined. "The projectile won''t be as fast as my ordinary attacks, and with the electricity, I will be able to see theyout of the dungeon. Once I memorize the path, I will attack with everything I have." "You sure have some interesting skills," Natalia said. "Stay on guard, my first attack won''t cause much damage, but there is a chance that the vampires will realize what I am nning and will attack first," Ryan said. "If that happens, prepare yourselves." Tristan and Luke gulped when they heard that, for a change, Ryan was serious, and since they were the two youngest of the group, they weren''t good at that kind of serious atmosphere. While the others just checked their equipment and waited for Ryan to start his job. After taking some deep breaths to calm down and raise his level of focus, Ryan equipped his magic wand and then fired a Thunder Arrow. In the blink of an eye, the projectile disappeared into the underground dungeon. In the end, Ryan quickly found some problems. He managed to control his Thunder Arrow perfectly since there weren''t many intersections and the path toward the end of the dungeon was pretty straightforward. However, whenever he found a part of the dungeon where the path split, he saw one vampire resting in the corner of those ces. They didn''t even bother to pay attention to the magic projectile. After flying for a few seconds, Ryan found thest part of the dungeon, and in there, he saw only thirty or so vampires resting. All the others were resting along the way¡­ Ryan wouldn''t be able to damage all of them. "Shit¡­ it looks like things will be very troublesome," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. After exining what he saw, Ryan also told them what he was nning to do. Although he didn''t give them many details, everyone understood that Ryan would only be able to damage and perhaps kill thirty or so vampires with his preemptive strike. That was only one-fourth of the total number he saw before. "This seems bad," Daniel nodded. "If you truly wanted to get rid of even more than thirty, I can imagine how much you respect their strength." "Unlike the dark spheres, the vampires can use Gravity at their will, so they don''t have to hit us to make us lose our mobility," Ryan said. "While those who have the Trickster ss can keep some mobility even in that situation, it isn''t good enough." "What if we use skills that have crowd control effects?" Luke asked. "That should keep them in check while you finish them with your arrows, right?" "I don''t think that will work," Ryan shook his head. "While most of their attributes aren''t worth noticing, their mentality, willpower, and endurance are pretty high. Not to mention, they have a lot of health, mana, and stamina. So, they can fight for long periods of time. Even if I focus on attacking a single vampire non-stop, I am not sure for how long I will have to keep causing damage. There is also the fact that they can use Vampirism, and if any of us gets caught, the fight mightst even longer." This time, Ryan didn''t manage to find a way for him to solve the situation. Maybe he was worrying too much since the vampires obviously didn''t want to find it during the day, but even so, he didn''t want to take any chances when he wasn''t fighting alone. Why was he worried about the life of others? Because his head is already full of problems, if someone dies in that fight, that will bother him for quite a while. "It looks like only teamwork can solve this situation," Daniel dered. "Let''s just focus on fighting together, and things will work out in the end. Even if some of us get caught by the vampires, as long as we are close to each other, we can prevent the worst." Ryan sighed when he heard that. It was the most nonsensical n that he had heard in his life. Let''s just stay together and fight¡­ there were zero strategies. Still, if they fight together close at the dungeon''s entrance and grab the monsters'' attention¡­ "Yeah, let''s follow Daniel''s idea," Ryan said. "To make things proceed as well as possible, the front line will stay in front of the entrance while Gonzales and his friends will stay on the right of the entrance, and Ang, Natalia, and Tristan will attack from the left side." "What about you?" Natalia asked while frowning. "No, rather than that, why are you following such a n that has zero tactical nning?" "I added some more points to his brilliant n, didn''t I?" Ryan asked. "In the end, we can''t let the vampires move too far away from the entrance of the dungeon since they can fly. With that much mobility, they can easily move around and attack several of us from behind since they outnumber us in four to one. Anyway, the frontline will focus solely on drawing the zombies'' attention, and the other two groups will attack the monsters while making sure that they won''t get away from the dungeon." Although Ryan''s n was simple and looked quite good, Daniel and the others couldn''t help but frown since every one of his ideas had him as the core. That only showed how much he trusted on others... Chapter 268 - A Massive Idiot In the end, Ryan didn''t change his n all that much, but Ang and Natalia made him realize that it was a bit too much to hope that four people could slow down dozens of flying vampires. So, he created around the dungeon entrance a thing that he called the forest of the killer trees. Basically, he used Earth Maniption and Earth Transformation to block the dungeon''s exit with several metal poles full of spikes. If the zombies try to pass by them, the spikes will wound and slow them down. If the slowdown in order not to get hurt, the long-range fighters will use that extra time to keep attacking. "Now, this is more like it," Natalia said. "You can start now." Ryan sighed since he had to waste two hours to create those barricades, and now, they only had two hours before sunset. Regardless¡­ in order to prevent more waste of time, Ryan started to charge his Power Shot. Considering that the monsters on thest part of the dungeon were spread, the chances of Ryan killing all of them at the same time was quite slim, even more so since he had to avoid damaging the purple crystal. So, in the end, Ryan only charged the attack for twenty6 seconds and then fired. After a few seconds, the ground trembled, and Ryan took a deep breath since he confirmed that he didn''t damage the purple crystal. Regardless, he still managed to kill ten vampires and heavily wound fifteen others. You obtained 33.000 coins. You obtained 33.000 coins. You obtained 33.000 coins. ¡­ For a moment, Ryan hoped while he was charging another Power Shot that the vampires closest to the entrances would shop up first, but even though they could reach the entrance after just a few seconds, they didn''t show up alone. All the vampires inside the dungeon left that hole of theirs at the same time. Although that helped Ryan to charge his attack for a few precious seconds, it wasn''t enough. The monsters tried to fly between the metal poles that Ryan had created, but they still got cut by the spikes. Although he made the tips using silver, the wounds didn''t seem different than ordinary ones. The only difference that Ryan noticed what that the monsters were slower than he could remember, and they looked really annoyed. "As expected, it looks like sunlight is their only weakness. In any case, they sure came outside pretty fast¡­ I guess they understood that I could snipe them even while they stay hidden inside the dungeon. This is truly theirst stand." "Now!" Daniel shouted. After giving the order, Daniel and the other members of the frontline attacked the monsters who tried to fly straight to Ryan. At the same time, the long-range fighters used their attacks to slow down and damage as much as possible the vampire that tried to escape to the sky and to the sides. Those creatures noticed that they couldn''t focus only on Ryan and ignore the others. However, even though they tried, the vampires failed at approaching their targets due to the intensity of the barrage of attacks. It was only natural that even while weakened, the vampires wouldn''t hold back forever, but at the moment, the only thing they could was to endure the attacks. "I have to keep charging the attack¡­ until the veryst moment." Little by little, the metal poles Ryan had created were being destroyed, at the same time, Daniel and the other frontline members were being pushed back by the vampires. Since the very beginning, they focused solely on defense, but as expected, they couldn''t protect their vitals effectively when their bodies suddenly became ten or twenty times heavier. Ryan could see several damage marks on Daniel and Hond''s armor. Meanwhile, Luke and Lilian were starting to bleed from several ces. It looked like the vampires'' ws were much sharper than he predicted. "Shit¡­ it is now or never." Ryan clenched his teeth. Ryan fired his bolt, and a massive explosion happened right at the entrance of the dungeon where most of the monsters were clustered. His attack caused a shockwave that knocked down foes and allies alike. Still, as expected, his allies suffered far less damage since the body of the vampires served as a barrier to prevent the energy from dispersing even further. You obtained 33.000 coins. You obtained 33.000 coins. You obtained 33.000 coins. ¡­ Ryan quickly received forty of those messages¡­ in the end, his two attacks not even killed half of the monsters. Hopefully, the damage had spread to some extent, but Ryan decided not to count on that. It was better to just focus on attacking. When the dust died down, Ryan saw the vampires getting up and his allies doing the same but much slower. As expected, the shockwave damaged them quite a bit. Even though the long-range fighters were at a certain distance, they were the ones who suffered the most. Ryan used his crossbow, and after a few seconds, he finally killed another vampire¡­ As expected, relying on his crossbow alone was too risky. The monsters were already ready for the next charge. "It can''t be helped, huh¡­" Ryan sighed. Ryan sighed and then started to use Power of Money alongside his crossbow. However, instead of focusing on ying vampires, he made sure to attack until they fell down. He wasn''t going to obtain a single coin from then, so there was no need to focus on killing them for the time being. As expected, Daniel and the others who came from Indianapolis to help Ryan were the first ones to recover and resume the fight. The vampires'' gravity was no longer in effect, so they rushed to the offensive without holding back. The number of monsters decreased at a fast pace now that Ryan decided not to worry about coins. However, at thest moment, the vampires nned a suicide attack. Thest ten monsters working together flew in the same direction. The survivors'' attack killed five of those, but thest five captured Daniel in the end. Chapter 269 - Giving Up "That asshole¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance while the vampires were flying upward. To make matters worse, the vampires used Daniel as a shield to prevent Ryan from attacking them. Although they had a better angle of attack, the others didn''t try to attack the vampires. They didn''t want to risk hitting Daniel. "Do it, Ryan!" Daniel shouted while he was trying to free himself from the vampires. "I can take it!" "You can''t, dumbass..." Ryan said and then sighed. Even though Daniel was wearing full-te armor, and that was what was preventing him from being bitten all over by the vampires, such a thing won''t prevent Ryan from exploding him if he charges his Power Shot for a few seconds. Regardless, to think Ryan would be forced to use his head in order to save Daniel¡­ fate certainly is a bitch. Ryan sighed and took out his Paralyzing Spear. At the same time, he looked at Natalia and moved his hands as if he was saying, "give me that." Natalia understood the message and threw the Sagittarians'' bow. While nocking the spear, Ryan decided to say his farewells to Daniel. "Too bad, but I don''t have any intention of racking my brain to save someone like you," Ryan said. "You will have to be sacrificed for the greater good. Consider this your payment for letting yourself to get caught by the enemy." "¡­ Hahaha, you certainly can crack jokes at the most unexpected moments, Ryan," Daniel showed a nervous smile. "Yeah¡­ I am a joker," Ryan said and then began to charge his Power Shot. While weakened by sunlight and covered in bruises, the vampires couldn''t move that fast while carrying Daniel. So, Ryan didn''t even bother moving. He just nonchntly charged his attack for quite a while. Knowing what Ryan could do, the vampire started to be apprehensive. "Hey, Ryan¡­ you can''t be serious¡­" Tristan said. When the air around Ryan began to change due to the amount of energy concentrated, everyone noticed that Ryan was serious. They knew that he was a bit insane, but not that much. Even though Daniel, Mia, and him had a story, Ryan never showed any sign that he wanted to kill them at some point. However, in the end, the vampires decided to bet that Ryan didn''t have the guts to sacrifice his ally in order to attain itpletely. That pissed Ryan so much that he decided to kill those fuckers without leaving a single molecule behind¡­ they will be obliterated. Ryan fired, and at that very moment, the vampires finally concluded that he would sacrifice everything to obtainplete victory. Those monsters kicked Daniel toward the Paralyzing Spear in order to make him be the center of the impact at the same time, they flew toward all directions to escape the explosion, but that had been a mistake. Daniel indeed got hit by something, but only by the pressure of the air when the projectile passed by him. In the end, Ryan used Force and Telekinesis to make his attack pass by him. However, at that moment, time suddenly stopped moving, and Ryan clearly saw his spear moving one centimeter after the other. "This is¡­" Ryan had experienced something like that before. Orgar had done something to slow down time when they escaped from Lilith''s word. At first, Ryan thought he had used some crazy buff to increase their speed, but that wasn''t the case¡­ it was time magic. While that piece of information was important, the real important piece of information was that Alissa was nearby and used that spell. Maybe other dragons could use such a technique, but they didn''t have any reason to save Daniel, so it made sense that Alissa was nearby. "I am d that you haven''t fallen so low despite everything¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue when he heard Alissa''s voice. Still, at the very least, she wasn''t treating Ryan like an idiot¡­ Regardless, time returned to move at its right speed, and in the blink of an eye, the spear hit the vampires a few meters behind Daniel. The explosion happened, and that caused another shockwave that sent Daniel flying to the distance. Ryan just watched him pass by him, he wasn''t going to die from the fall anyway, and in the worst-case scenario, he will only break a few limbs. He deserved at least that much pain for making Ryan experience that stupidly annoying situation. In the end, the explosion decimated the vampires and also destroyed the tip of the Paralyzing Spear. However, Ryan could repair it, so it was fine. In the end, everyone sighed in relief when they saw that Daniel wasn''t caught in the explosion. Although he broke an arm in the fall, that was just a minor nuisance. "You scared me for a second, Ryan," Daniel said. "You should have blinked or something or warn me." "You really are stupid¡­" Ryan sighed. "Why would I do that? Since I didn''t do it, I enjoyed watching you almost shitting your pants." "¡­ You are really nasty," Daniel sighed. "This is nothing. If one day I decide to kill you, I won''t do it with a bow. It will be with my hands," Ryan said and then went to see the loot. Daniel gulped since he almostughed but didn''t see a hint of a joke in Ryan''s eyes. Maybe he was serious, or maybe that was just another way of him to say fuck off¡­ it was impossible to know." "You really like to test your luck," Hond said and then patted Daniel''s back. "Sorry about that. I was so close to you, but I didn''t react on time to prevent you from being captured." "It is okay. None of us could have predicted that the vampires would do something like that," Daniel smiled. "Let''s just work hard in order not to let something like that caught us off-guard again." Despite saying that Daniel was sweating cold with a smile on his face because he recalled Ryan''s eyes when he fired. He saw a lot of hatred there¡­ although his attitude improved a little bit, his hate didn''t grow weaker. For the first time, Daniel considered that he should change his attitude as well. His overly friend attitude had a single purpose, to restore their friendship, but it looked like that was impossible. Chapter 270 - Centaurs Blood Although the number of coins obtained had been pretty low since Ryan used Power of Money, the bosses dropped a lot of items. However, Ryan only got a pair of gloves because those were the only items he was interested in. As for tomes and the other loot the others thought he deserved, he sold them for a reasonable price. Gloves of Master Hunter Effect: Increases your attack speed when using crossbow and bows by ten percent. Dexterity + 20 Durability: 50/50 "Not bad, I guess¡­ the bonus in status alone already is worth using it, and if I manage to fire whilepletely focused, my power will reach a whole new level." Some people got wounded in the fight, mostly because of Ryan''s Power Shot, so they waited for a while for everyone to recover before entering the dungeon. It was impossible to tell if Ryan and the others had exterminated all vampires. Some of them still might be hiding inside the dungeon, so all caution was necessary. "Fighting with these numbers inside the dungeon will be tough," Ryan dered. "But we can''t leave anyone behind either. So, Ang and me are going to clean the path and fight, if necessary, with our Telekinesis." It seemed like a bad idea to make two long-ranged fighters take the lead in a dark ce, but since no one had a better idea as to how to be careful, they went along with that n. However, much to their surprise and satisfaction, they didn''t find a single boss alive inside the dungeon. They only fought here and there because the Chupacabras were still spawning. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Lord, Weapons Master, and Necromancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "As expected, the sses we can obtain here truly are from the third tier." Ryan nodded in satisfaction. It has been a long while since Ryan felt so conflicted about his options. He had no idea what the Lord ss could do, but the Weapons Master and Necromancer ss truly were appearing. Considering status alone, the obvious choice would be to be a Weapons Master, but considering utility, Necromancer was the way to go. If his goal were to obtain more coins in order to obtain other skills, Ryan would have picked the Necromancer ss, but in the end, he chose Weapons Master because he needed to increase his raw power much, much more. That happened many times, but that only made Ryan notice that absolute power was necessary to achieve his goals. Once he recalled that, he made his decision. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Weapons Master! You obtained the following skills: Mastery, Observation, and Potential. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mastery. Effect: It increases passively the growth speed of your skills that are rted to weapons by one percent per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Observation. Effect: It grants you the power also to level up your weapon-rted skills when seeing others fighting. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Potential. Effect: It passively increases all your attributes by one point per level You obtained 01 status point. "Those are¡­ some interesting skills." While frowning, Ryan studied that ss for a while longer. Although all of them would only truly shine in the long run, in the end, Ryan was satisfied with what he got. While Observation wouldn''te in handy often, the other two would help Ryan a lot since he will be able to decrease his weakness to a certain extent. However, Ryan''s surprise didn''t end there. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 300 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 298th You obtained: Centaurs'' Blood. "It has been a while¡­ since I never dropped those. I never expected to find monster''s blood that easily, but damn¡­ to think that not even dragons drop this is kind of harsh." "Well, Ryan, is that¡­" Tristan hesitated to ask. Centaurs'' Blood. It grants you the following skills: Improved Speed, Heroic Archery, Heroic Spearmanship. Ryan ignored Tristan and used Appraisal on the bottle filled with blood, but he couldn''t help but frown in the end. He understood what Improved Speed could do just by reading. However, the other skills were weird¡­ some skills had upgraded versions like Concentration, Improved Concentration, and Enhanced Concentration. Still, Ryan didn''t expect that from skills rted to the direct use of weapons. Once everyone discovered that Ryan obtained the monster''s blood that could alter his body, they couldn''t help but frown. Apparently, many survivors hesitated in drinking that, even if getting such material was such great luck. "Hey, Ryan," Natalia said, looking visibly worried. "Daniel already told us that you used something like that before¡­ you certainly aren''t thinking of changing your body even further, right?" "Why are you worried? Do you like the current me or something?" Ryanughed. "I am serious here¡­" Natalia said. "Well, Daniel talks too much," Ryan said. "In any case, for your information, I already did this three times, and nothing happened. Do you see anything strange with me?" "Aside from the fact that you are insane and acts like an edgy kid who wants to stay alone?" Natalia asked. "No¡­ I don''t think so." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows since it looked like everyone had the same opinion of him. Still, it doesn''t matter what others think of him. Ryan''s life was his alone, and no one could stop him from doing what he wanted or obtaining more power. If something happens after drinking the blood of so many monsters, he will deal with the consequences when the timees. Chapter 271 - Heroic Tier Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Improved Speed. Effect: It passively increases your speed by five points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heroic Archery. Effect: Increases damage when using bows and crossbows by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heroic Spearmanship. Effect: Increases damage when using spears andnces by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Fortunately, all those skills were passive ones. Ryan liked those most because he didn''t have to worry about activating or deactivating them during and after the fights. In any case, his guesses hit the mark. Those new skills were just a new tier of the skills he already had, and hopefully, they could stack with the older ones. "Missionplete¡­ now what I should do?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. With those sses, Gonzales and his friends will be able to guard not only this dungeon but probably two others. They had the numbers, after all. Although Ryan felt like clearing other dungeons, he stayed away from the base for two weeks, so maybe it was time to see if Mark had some useful intel. Ryan wasn''t much worried about Arthur and Zoe since he used Search and confirmed their safety pretty much whenever possible. "Maybe I should help Zoe clear those tier three dungeons. Not only will she be more important to the base, but she also will obtain more power to protect herself in case something happens." "Hey, Ryan," Tristan said. "We finished here. What are you going to do now?" "That is none of your business," Ryan said. "Come on, don''t be so harsh," Tristan forced a smile. "I think the Colonel wants to talk to you in order to give you a status update of the situation in our country. So, we should head back home together." Home¡­ Ryan would never be able to think of that ce as his home. As far as he was concerned, his home had been destroyed the week his parents died. Regardless, Tristan wasn''t stupid enough to lie to Ryan, so he decided to return to the base. "You helped us a lot," Gonzales said. "Thank to you. We took the first step to reim our country. I hope to someday to repay the favor." "I ept coins," Ryan said. "You can repay the favor by giving me coins." "¡­ Once we have some leeway with this new currency, I will make sure to do that," Gonzales hesitated for a second after recalling how useful coins were in this new world. While everyone was heading to the exit and saying their goodbyes to their new brothers and sisters in arms, Ryan checked the dungeon shop only to restock his supply of potions. After that, he began to fly around using Telekinesis. Ryan intended to use that skill alone to return to the base and perhaps learn Fly, but for some reason, he felt like things wouldn''t be that convenient. "Five million coins, huh," Tristan said with his eyes full of jealously. "Someday, I will buy that tome." After doing some tests, Ryan confirmed that he was two times slower than when running. That was weird, given that the level of his speed and intelligence were basically the same. Regardless, Daniel and the others managed to catch up to him just by running, thanks to it. "Who wants to make a bet about who will reach the base first?" Daniel smirked. "Sounds good to me," Hond nodded. "So childish¡­" Ang sighed. Although of theyined, everyone used Dash at the same time to increase their movement speeds. From Ryan''s perspective, they were all idiots, but at least they would work as good baits for dragons. That was why Ryan didn''t bother trying harder to increase his speed. Unfortunately, despite that, Ryan soon caught up to them. "Hey, Ryan, that is not fair," Luke protested. "You can''t use potions." "I am not participating in your bullshit¡­ and who said that I used potions?" Ryan asked. "I can fly using Telekinesis just by relying on the level of the skill and my recovery." "For some reason, that makes me even madder," Luke frowned. Since they used Dash and didn''t hold back, their stamina was empty. In the end, if they tried to out-speed Ryan, their stamina would decrease a lot. However, at the very least, they could move at his flying speed just fine. That was a bit annoying since, from Ryan''s perspective, they didn''t try as hard as him, but in the end, it made a lot of sense that they had that level of power. Although his Telekinesis leveled up quite a bit that day and he could continue doing that, Ryan decided to stop after sunset to train his new skills. The number of monsters in the area wascking thanks to the Chupacabras and Hector, so Ryan''s only thing was to destroy some rocks. "You never stop training, huh," Natalia asked. "I don''t train at least this much every day. Then you are an idiot," Ryan said. "Maybe you don''t know, but we are no longer the dominant species of this, and the ones at the top of the food chain can eat you in a single bite." "¡­ Why are you always so quick to pick a fight with others?" Natalia asked while trying to control her anger. "Nah, I am just too sincere," Ryan said. "I would feel bad if I lie or use sarcasm while talking with idiots, they would never know, after all." "I give up¡­" Natalia said and then sighed. "It is impossible to have a proper talk with this guy." "You are too impatient, Natalia," Tristan said. "I think your social skills are as rusty as Ryan." "What did you say?" Natalia red at her little brother. Ryan sighed. In the end, his ns to use them as baits to lure some dragons failed, and now, he had to hear all that bull crap. ss: Hunter Lv 58 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 53 (+ 03 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 298th Health: 559/718 (3, 19/s) Mana: 1045/1500 (3, 19/s) Stamina: 859/1066 (3,19/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1121 (+888) (+57) Speed: 85 (+415) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+412) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+130) Control: 06 (+439) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+894) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 4.755.414 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 72 (+ 05 UP), Stamina Drain Lv 01, Concentrated Strike Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Discount Lv 16 (+ 10 UP), Sell Lv 01, Enhanced Concentration Lv 06, Mastery Lv 01, Observation Lv 01, Potential Lv 01, Improved Speed Lv 04, Heroic Archery Lv 04, Heroic Spearmanship Lv 04, Spells: Ice Storm Lv 16 (+ 15 UP), Telekinesis Lv 36 (+ 05 UP), Strength Augmentation Lv 06, Deconstruction Lv 01, Electric Bullet Lv 01, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Combat Archer Lv 31 (+ 03 UP), Sorcerer Lv 18 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 25 (+ 04 UP), Weapons Master Lv 03, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur Chapter 272 - Ambition Ryan and the others returned to the base the next day, just after sunset. That made Mark frown since that wasn''t the speed humans should have just by running, but it looked like everyone pushed themselves too far since aside from Ryan, Daniel and the others looked pretty beat down. "We need to talk," Ryan said. "Yes¡­" Mark said and then sighed, already imagining what Ryan wanted to hear. Before starting the talk, they headed to the meeting room, and along the way, Ryan saw Zoe ying with Arthur and Mia. For some reason, Mia looked pretty tired. When Zoe saw Ryan see waved her hand and smiled. Since the kid was smart, she was acting just like usual around him. After those two entered the meeting room, they sat down and stayed silent while Mark was preparing the room''s monitor. However, even before everything could be ready, he started to talk. "About the dragon that you probably faced on the South¡­ I must apologize for not informing you about him," Mark said and then slightly lowered his head. "Why did you stay silent about it?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you just assumed that I defeated him." "I didn''t expect that you two would meet," Mark exined. "His movements were rather hard to predict, so I expected that you two wouldn''t fight. Considering how fearsome Alissa is, I wanted to avoid making you fight with him." "That guy was leagues bellow Alissa," Ryan said. "In a sense, defeating him had been pretty easy since he was an idiot." "Is that so¡­ who could have thought that my worries were unfounded," Mark said. "Well, it doesn''t change the fact that I made a mistake." "Just move to the next topic, but don''t make that mistake again," Ryan said. "How are things here with Zoe." "Nothing changed," Mark said. "Although some people frowned when she suddenly was able to walk and heal injuries suddenly, no one dared to do anything since she is a friend of yours and she is pretty close to Alissa and with the others like Daniel and Mia." "Is that so¡­ and about the situation of the country regarding dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Five more dungeons appeared since the time you asked the number of dungeons," Mark said and then typed something on hisputer, and then a map of the country with several red dots and blue dots appeared. "In thest month, since everyone worked hard, we managed to clear 110 dungeons. So, there 99 others that needed to be cleared." "Ny-nine, huh," Ryan muttered. "Yes. However, we can say that the situation is pretty good with a few exceptions since none of those ny-nine dungeons spawn creatures like dire wolves or Chupacabras. Speaking of which, what kind of bosses you faced while clearing thatst dungeon?" "Vampires," Ryan replied. "¡­ Vampires¡­" Mark muttered and then shook his head to recover hisposure. "Anyway, we also divided the dungeons in tiers based on the sses we can obtain, and for some reason, we only found a single dungeon in our territory in which we probably can a tier-three ss." "You mentioned a few exceptions¡­ is this one of the troublesome dungeons you mentioned?" Ryan asked. "Indeed¡­ we are almost one hundred percent sure that they are almost at the level of Chupacabras and dire wolves," Mark needed. "We just need to confirm it by using Appraisal is one of them." "I guess I will go and check it," Ryan said. "So, which type of monster are we talking about?" "Giants," Mark said. "They are very human-like. Although they are slow and not so bright, theypensate all that with their high endurance and brute strength. As for the bosses that the dungeon spawned¡­ they were armored giants." That was weird. If that was the only dungeon in the American territory that could spawn tier-three monsters, where did Cerberus came from? Ryan couldn''t help but frown while thinking about it. "The red dots are the dungeon that hasn''t been cleared. The blue dots represent the dungeons that have already been cleared," Mark said while pointing at the monitor. "Now, I will change the monitor a bit. Some of the blue points turned green, see? Those are the dungeons that we have teams camped around and eliminating monsters day and night. At the moment, we have fifty of them under our control." "Good for you," Ryan said. "Hahaha, don''t talk as if I was nning this from the very beginning," Mark shrugged. "Anyway, managing the dungeons and exchange the personal on a weekly basis is quite difficult, but I convinced Alissa to work with us to some extent. So, I believe in one month. We will be able to monitor around 150 dungeons all the time. In three months, we want to keep all dungeons under our control and, at the same time, exterminate all the monsters that had found their way to our." "That is pretty ambitious," Ryan said. "Those are our goals," Mark said. "Now, what is your goal, Ryan? How can we help you achieve it?" Ryan thought about that the whole trip. In the end, just clearing dungeons mindlessly wasn''t what he wanted. If demons, dire wolves, Chupacabras, and giants were the most troublesome creatures he could find in his current scope of the search, and he already defeated most of them, he just had to increase his range. Instead of obtaining new low-level sses, which would take a lot of his time to level up, it would be more convenient to find the advanced ones. The bonuses and the skills they offered were leagues above the others, after all. "I will look for other tiers three dungeons," Ryan said. "You probably won''t be able to help with that since you will use the satellite to confirm the security of our country, so I won''t demand the impossible." "You will keep searching for more power, huh," Mark said while staring at Ryan''s eyes. "I guess that is just like you¡­ Regardless, thank you for understanding my position. However, I can''t help you all that much anymore. I am still willing to buy the intel that you obtain." "I am sure," Ryan said looking to the side. Chapter 273 - Giants In the end, it looked like things were bing quite stabilized in America. It was probably because of Alissa and her powers and due to the fact that she isn''t stupid like Hector. Regardless, after dealing with the giants, Ryan will have to expand his horizons. Although he could fly and cross the oceans, he decided to check the other extremes of America. Canada still was pretty much unexplored from his viewpoint, just like Central America and South America. Instead of looking for more advanced dungeons in other continents, it was still better to focus on the close opportunities. "Some of my engineers managed to make this work. You should keep with you," Mark said and then gave Ryan a pretty big cellphone. "It is a cellphone that works using the satellite that we are using. You can''t use it all the time, but in case of emergencies, it will be useful." "All right, though, I can''t promise that this won''t break too soon," Ryan said. "Monsters are managing to wound me quite often as ofte." "Well, what can I say?" Mark frowned. "You like to test your luck by always fighting alone." It looked like Mark wanted to give some advice for Ryan, but since he didn''t ask for one, Mark stayed quiet. Since their age was simr, Mark and John talked a lot, so he knew more or less about the things Ryan experienced just before the monsters arrived. So, he could understand, to a certain extent, Ryan''s actions. That being said, and despite everything, he couldn''t imagine Ryan finding anything worthwhile at the end of the path he was following. "The giants" dungeon is located in Miami," Mark said. "Although those creatures have to deal with dragons pretty often since they fight whenever possible, the megalodons can put up a good fight against them. So, I would advise being patient this time since they are that stronger and their numbers increased with the third dungeon break." Ryan would be lying if he says that he isn''t eager to leave the country and explore ces he had never been before while he looks for tier three dungeons, but that excitement won''t force him to make some mistakes. "If that is all, I should get going," Ryan said. "I won''t hurry to clear the dungeon, but that doesn''t mean I can take my time to reach the ce." In the end, Ryan didn''t stay on the base even for a single night. After being helped so many times by someone so much younger, Mark couldn''t help but sigh while watching Ryan leave. He was a fine example of youth''s audacity, but at the same time, he kind of represented humans'' potential. Mark was worried that such potential might be lost due to a part of Ryan''s life that waspletely unrted to all his fighting. As soon as Ryan left the base, he went to grab the clothes he had hidden in a semi-destroyed store. After storing everything inside his ring, Ryan began to run to Southeast. "I guess Mark wasn''t joking about his ambitions. I can''t see a single monster in the distance." In the end, Ryan only found some monsters when he approached Nashville. Since he left the reptilian alone, those idiots now were trying to expand their territory. Ryan easily killed those who blocked his path, but he didn''t do more than that. After all, Mark was bold enough to try clear and keep all the dungeons under his control. So, he had better get used to those creatures. Hopefully, he and the others won''t draw Echidna''s attention and fury, but in the end, it wasn''t like humans could choose their enemies. Ryan arrived in Miami a few hours before sunset of the next day. Much to his surprise, things were much different than he had expected there. The giants did not expand their terrain all that much, and they even created some massive houses using earth magic and nts. Giant Lv 110 Health: 5.000/5.000 Mana: 1.000/1.000 Stamina: 4.000 /4.000 Strength: 1100 (+350) Dexterity: 200 (+50) Speed: 100 Intelligence: 50 Endurance: 1500 (+350) Control: 100 Mentality: 350 (+50) Luck: 1000 (+50) Recovery: 1500 (+450) Willpower: 350 (+50) Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bash Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 100, Bronze Skin Lv 100 Spells: Scream Lv 70 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 90, Cold Resistance Lv 90, Pain Resistance Lv 90 The giants were, like Mark mentioned, pretty big humanoid creatures that didn''t seem that smart. Their gender could even identify the ordinary ones that Ryan saw since they also were using some nts to hide their genitals. Regardless, the shortest of them was four meters tall, and the tallest was six. They were pretty easy to identify since their hair tone, hairstyle, and even their faces were pretty much different from each other. "What the hell am I thinking? I just need to know that they are my enemies and their weaknesses. Even if they look like humans, they are essentially invaders." That being said, hunting them won''t be easy because those monsters created some fences around Miami as if they had remarked their backyard. Ryan wondered why they didn''t leave their territories to look for food, but after walking around for a while, he found some lizards and fish being grilled in several bonfires. Those were the dragons and megalodons the giants had hunted to eat. "They really don''t feel like moving since they can just hunt the megalodons e dragons when they go at each other. This is really insane¡­" Ryan said, impressed. It was pretty much obvious that all monsters were in a war against each other at that point in time, but Ryan didn''t find a single species that had the nerve to build a camp in a destroyed human city and hunt dragons and megalodons at the same time. "Well, that works just fine for me. Fighting against several of them isn''t possible, but I can snipe them easily by using Force. Let''s just hope that the simple n will work, although most of the time, something unexpected always happens to cause me problems." Although Ryan had more or less a good idea as to how to proceed, he decided to rest a little and wait for the night. As usual, the attackers always have the defense at night. Chapter 274 - Army Of Golems Although the giants looked dumb, and Mark said that they were dumb, those creatures at least were smart enough to create several bonfires around Miami, and around those bonfires, Ryan found at least three guards. "Maybe I should look for a hole in their line of defense." Ryan did that, but the giants were pretty serious about their defenses. There wasn''t a single point in which Ryan could take advantage of. Much to his surprise, instead of finding a weak point on their defenses, he found their strong points. Several armored giants had their camps near the ocean¡­. that was probably for them to fight more often against the megalodons. Armored Giant Lv 110 Health: 25.000/25.000 Mana: 10.000/10.000 Stamina: 40.000 /40.000 Strength: 2100 (+350) Dexterity: 300 (+50) Speed: 300 Intelligence: 150 Endurance: 2500 (+350) Control: 300 Mentality: 550 (+50) Luck: 1500 (+50) Recovery: 3500 (+450) Willpower: 550 (+50) Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bash Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 150, Bronze Skin Lv 150 Spells: Scream Lv 100 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 110, Cold Resistance Lv 110, Pain Resistance Lv 110 "The heck¡­ they even have bows that fit their size¡­ no wonder they can hunt megalodons. I bet the firepower of those is amazing. Too bad the size is just insane." Ryan had spent too much time studying the enemies. It was time to send them to the next world. In any case, the same strategy he used on the reptilians wouldn''t work, even though they had a simr scheme to guard their camp. The main reason was that they were too resilient, so assassinating them using normal means or even magic wasn''t possible. However, Ryan knew a way on how to make good use of his pestilence bow and prevent the giants from each guard point from warning the others. "I just need to attack their throats¡­ that way. I will prevent them from making too much noise. The question is: can I attack three different throats and then cause enough damage to kill them before they make a ruckus even without their voice?" There was only one way to find out¡­ Ryan recalled a certain skill that he hadn''t used in a while, and in a sense, it was even better than Power Shot to cause damage as fast as possible. It was Rapid Shot. By focusing only on aiming the monster''s throat, Ryan would have a lot more leeway, and the chances of him missing the three attacks will decrease as well. So, he decides to use it. " I am thinking too much about this¡­ if things go wrong, I just have to be faster and change my position. At least at night, I don''t have to worry about the worst-case scenario." To add some more piercing power, Ryan also used Lesser Wind Maniption and Sting. In the end, a single bolt pierced the throat of his target quite deeply, and three magic projectilesnded on his face. Before Ryan could see the result, he did the same thing two other times, and he couldn''t help but frown at what happened. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. All of Ryan''s attacks caused critical damage, and even though not even that was enough to kill the giants, the poison the Bleed''s effect did the rest of the work in just a few seconds. "I spent a little more mana than I nned, but I can''tin with those results. Anyway, it has been a while since I enjoyed thebination of my archer''s skills with the assassination style." Thatbination will never work against the armored giants, but Ryan decided to focus on a single problem at a time. "No drops, so let''s move to the next group." Ryan muttered Ryan repeated that strategy several times, but in the end, his head kept working to find other means to speed up his hunting speed. Like using steel needles with Telekinesis and using several of them to pierce the giants'' heads simultaneously. While that seemed like a good way to finish his job faster, it wouldn''t work because the needles would get stuck in the giants'' heads, and Ryan could only control so many objects from a certain distance. The limit was probably rted to his control, but in the end, Ryan just stuck with the first strategy. However, around midnight things changed even though Ryan didn''t mess up. When he looked to the camp he just cleaned, Ryan saw another group of three giants. "Shit¡­ They take turns on the guard duty. I should have waited a little more¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Those in guard duty changed ces around noon and midnight. Ryan didn''t see that because he arrivedte in the afternoon. "Crap¡­ me and my habit of rushing things," Ryan said after clicking his tongue Now,pletely on alert, even if Ryan sessfully killed the giants in silence, the other groups would notice since they were looking toward each other''s directions. Ryan sighed¡­ it was a pity, but he will have to change his ns again. Not only that, even with another strategy, attacking that night will be a waste of time. Without any other choice, Ryan decided to retreat several kilometers. "I can''t mess up again¡­ before deciding anything, let''s see my options here." His old strategy still could work. Besides, since that kind of fighting style mighte in handy again, he decided to keep using the same skills. However, Ryan will need a diversion. After studying his skill list, he found the perfect diversion, his golems. The skill was at level one, and the cost was absurd, but Ryan knew the perfect way to solve those two problems: by clearing a dungeon using only his summoned monsters. "That is another interesting fighting style that I had always been fond of it¡­ weirdly enough, it looks like many sses work well with the sage ss." Chapter 275 - Causing A Dungeon Break Ryan tried to recall the conversation that he had with Mark. More specifically, about the localization of the dungeons that haven''t been cleared yet. It was quite the roundabout way to clear a tier-three dungeon, but to do that as fast as possible, Ryan will have to clear a lower level one and then built an army of golems. "Let''s see¡­ I didn''t pay much attention to that part since I am no longer interested in low-level dungeons, but if I remember correctly, there must be a red bats'' dungeon somewhere North of here." Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan knew that there were two dungeons South of Miami, but he couldn''t head south yet for obvious reasons. In any case, after moving around for a full day, Ryan eventually found the dungeon hidden in a cemetery. Since the ce was quite old, it looked quite scary and creepy, but Ryan didn''t feel anything since two hundred golems surrounded him. He used all the mana he recovered during the day to summon them. "How strange¡­ I thought this ce would be crowded with monsters¡­ I am pretty sure that the dot representing this dungeon was red. Did Alissa clear this dungeon recently?" Red Bat ¨C Lv 70 Health: 900 /900 Mana: 1200/1200 Stamina: 1000/1000 Strength: 430 (+30) Dexterity: 650 (+50) Speed: 500 (+250) Intelligence: 400 (+50) Endurance: 350 (+50) Control: 350 (+50) Mentality: 550 (+150) Luck: 150 Recovery: 450 (+100) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Drain Bite Lv 70 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 80 Spells: Fly Lv 10 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 90, Water Resistance Lv 90, Cold Resistance Lv 90 That was a bit risky since it would increase the monsters'' strength, but Ryan will have to cause a dungeon break. He couldn''t wait for his monsters to kill 36 red bats per hour¡­ in the end, Ryan left his golems at the dungeon entrance and then attacked the crystal from outside by using Force. As expected, the area trembled when the dungeon core was attacked. After a few seconds, thousands of Red Bats appeared to leave the dungeon, but the vast majority got smashed by the golems. Although they were low-level, the difference between a bat and a golem was visible. "Hehe, this is nice," Ryan grinned while he watched his mana bar getting filled every few seconds and while summoning more golems. Things got a bit moreplicated, and Ryan had to slow down a bit on his summoning when the bosses appeared, but aside from that, he and his golems didn''t face many problems. The only real problem that Ryan noticed was that the red bats leveled up four times instead of two after the dungeon break. "Shit¡­ it looks like the more the dungeon breaks happen, the stronger their effects will be," Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "Perhaps instead of ambitions, Mark''s ns are absolutely necessary instead of fast-paced." Golem ¨C Lv 30 Health: 600/600 Mana: 300/300 Stamina: 600/600 Strength: 450 Dexterity: 100 Speed: 50 Intelligence: 50 Endurance: 500 Control: 250 Mentality: 500 Luck: 100 Recovery: 600 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Earthquake Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 50 Spells: Earth Bullet Lv 50 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 150 Ryan nodded to himself after confirming the strength of his summoned monsters. While a single one of them wouldn''t be a threat to another giant, at the very least, they can endure two of their attacks¡­ Hopefully. Regardless, while those monsters draw the giant''s attention, Ryan will massacre them from another position. "931 golems¡­ I guess this should be enough," Ryan muttered. "If I work fast enough, at the very least, I should be able to kill half of the ordinary giants. As for the armored ones¡­ I still need toe up with a n." If the worstes to the worst, Ryan can always use Power of Money, but that was just the easy way out. Regardless, before returning to Miami, Ryan had to check his loot. Since he killed dozens of thousands of Red Bats, the number of crap items lying around was impressive, but unfortunately, not even the bosses dropped anything worthwhile. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Bullet has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Ice Storm has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up. In the end, instead of selling all of those, Ryan used Deconstruction and leveled up some skills. He could have made a lot more progress in just a few minutes, but he failed at it since he didn''t have certain skills. Regardless, now Ryan was more or less ready, and he started to head towards Miami again. "What the heck¡­" Ryan frowned. Ryan couldn''t help but open his mouth in amazement when he returned to that city. He had made sure to create an underground path in order for his golems not to reveal themselves, but thanks to it, he lost the chance to see the start of a crazy battle¡­ Dozens of dragons were attacking the Giants'' camp. However, that wasn''t the thing he was impressed with. Ryan was impressed by the fact that the armored giants could leap hundreds of meters skyward and punch and kick the dragons faster than they could dodge. As if that wasn''t enough, some of them even mounted on the dragons. From that unexpected position, they could rip apart the dragons'' scales and flesh with their bare hands and then grab their hearts even before the dragons could fall. To think that dozens of dragons could be easily killed¡­ maybe they weren''t at the top of the food chain like Ryan had imagined. "I have to make use of this¡­" Ryan muttered while smiling from ear to ear. Ryan couldn''t let those armored giants be even stronger by eating dragon hearts, so he had to intervene, and he couldn''t have waited for a better chance. All the giants were focused on the dragons, so Ryan managed to make his golems march onward without letting them being noticed. Chapter 276 - Weirdness While the armored giants were jumping around and trying to hit the dragons with their punches and kicks, the ordinary ones were busy using their massive bows to cause some damage as well. Thanks to that, Ryan managed to sneak around and y dozens of them in just a few minutes, and before some of them finally noticed that they were being attacked bynd as well. When the giants turned around, they saw the golems'' army moving toward them. Some of those who bow immediately tried to take down the golems before they could get too close, but Ryan made sure to hit their eyes and prevent it. "Many of them have bows¡­ I should focus on blinding them first," Ryan muttered. When the armored giants noticed that a third party had joined the fight, the dragons finally got some room to breathe. However, that relief onlysted a few seconds. The armored giants only saw some golems, so they soon resumed their fight against the dragons. As expected, they were pretty dumb. "I couldn''t have asked for more," Ryan smirked. It took him a few minutes, but eventually, Ryan managed to blink the one hundred or so giants that have bows. Some of them died, but their numbers were so low that Ryan couldn''t even imagine such a loss in numbers affecting the fight. However, he went on a total offensive when his golems invaded the giants'' camp and started to attack the monsters. He gave them the order to use Earth Bullet, and at the same time, he went all out with his Pestilence Crossbow. When the giants saw the Earth Bullets, they were crazy enough to try to block the attack with their arms alone. They managed to do that, but Ryan hit them several times with his bolts, thanks to it. Those giants began to fall at a fearsome pace, and the bosses finally realized that something was off. Although they realized that, it wasn''t like they could just ignore the dragons and fight the third party. The armored giants hurried to finish off the dragons, but Ryan had already exterminated five thousand giants when they finally concluded their job. "Not bad¡­ wait, what is that?" Ryan frowned when he saw some shorter giants suddenly joining the fight. Ryan opened his eyes in surprise when he saw what seemed to be kid giants joining the fight. For a moment, Ryan hesitated in attacking them, even though those were destroying his golems. Although he would never say it out loud, Ryan indeed had a weak spot for kids. He almost became a teacher after. Not only that, he once also dreamed of having a big family¡­ it was no wonder why he only worried about Arthur and now Zoe since he gave a risky job. However, he hesitated only for a moment¡­ "This is war¡­ and they are monsters," Ryan muttered while he pulled the trigger and in several of them. "I can''t even count how many kids on the human side died¡­ this is the price you will pay for invading our and ying humans." Suddenly, Ryan''s firing speed increased. His focus reached its peak, and he turned into a killing machine. He was determined to y all monsters, be they young or old, male or female. None of them will escape, and until hisst breath, he will hunt all of them¡­ Ryan had counted that the giants had around fifteen thousand on their side, but it looked like their numbers had increased for twenty thousand due to the younger ones. Aside from that, the number of armored giants was around two hundred, and despite the battle against the dragons¡­ their number didn''t decrease. Ryan soon understood a little better their strength when they joined the fight against the golems. A single one of them dashed forward, and dozens of his summoned creatures exploded in pieces. In the end, thirty or so armored giants defeated his whole army in less than five minutes. "They are more troublesome than I thought¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is a pity, but I will have to retreat for the time being." Although he made that mistake before, Ryan didn''t have the intention to rush ahead without a proper n. Besides, even though he lost his army, he learned many things. First of all, the Giants were bad at noticing small details. That was his n of using the Earth Bullets with his poisoned bolts worked so well. Also, they focus too much on dealing with the enemies they could see. So, when they tried to find the summoner of the golems, Ryan was already very far away. Ryan managed to decrease the enemy''s forces by around thirty percent, but he will do a better job next time¡­ he just has to wait for the right moment, and that moment is when giants and dragons start to fight again. "This time, I will properly watch the camp before doing anything," Ryan nodded to himself. "It is too risky to cause another dungeon break, and it might take too long to find another dungeon¡­ it can''t be helped; I will use proper use of my coins to buy mana potions and my recovery as well." Although summoned creatures could level up much faster by fighting, they could level up as well by sparring against each other and while being summoned. Ryan intended to make use of that and make the golems level up at least ten more levels. The level-ups would help as well, but Ryan also decided to increase the size of the army. Even though the giants were dumb, Ryan didn''t want to let them get used to his tactics. So, despite the fact that he didn''t want to rush ahead, he intended to exterminate all the giants in the next fight. "I guess this is fine¡­ I am patient to create the golems," Ryan muttered to himself. "I am trying to finish things as fast as possible because that is also the best strategy." For some reason, Ryan was making excuses to himself¡­ Chapter 277 - Insistence In the end, Ryan spent one million coins in mana potions to create an army of two thousand golems, the skill really reached level forty, and even his skill Sell leveled up quite a lot. Ryan felt confident in the next fight, but unfortunately, he had to wait for two days before another group of dragons could show up and challenge the giants. "I wonder why they are so insistent¡­" Ryan frowned. "Is it because the giants would be a pretty big meal for them?" In any case, Ryan waited until the focus of all giants was on the dragons. However, when he was about to attack, he noticed that something was off¡­ only half of the giant archers were firing and hitting the dragons. While the others had their bows equipped, they weren''t doing anything. "I see¡­ they must have imagined that since I didn''t attack in thest two days, that I would for this kind of chance," Ryan nodded to himself. "They might not be smart, but they aren''t brain-dead zombies either." Since that wouldn''t help him decrease the number of enemies, Ryan avoided doing that, but in the end, he decided to use Telekinesis and break the bows of the giants. Although he will lose some time doing that, he will gain time and focus on breaking the weapons of those who were attacking the dragons. After a while, Ryan had an even better idea¡­ why use Telekinesis, a skill that bes weaker the more distant he is from the target when he could use Power of Money and directly damage the weapons in a much faster manner? Ryan always wondered why the skill could work on things that didn''t have health, but he understood everything has health, even magic items, after thinking for a while. Their health just had a different name. It was durable. "Here I am thinking of another way to rely on Power of Money¡­" Ryan sighed. "Well, let''s just ept that obediently since I can''t let my pride make me waste time. Besides, I am losing coins to use that skill. That is more than enough punishment for my ipetence." The giants frowned when the strings of their bows suddenly started to snap at a stupidly fast speed. Instead of repairing them, they tried to grab their reserves'' weapons, but Ryan destroyed those two. To make the monsters even more shocked, Ryan gave the order for the golems to march, and when his monsters appeared in the distance, all the giants began to run toward them. "They divided the work¡­ the bosses will take care of the dragons, and the ordinary monsters will take care of the golems," Ryan muttered. "They probably realized as well that the longer the fightsts, the more of them I will kill." Just like before, Ryan made his golems fire Earth Bullets toward the giants. However, this time, they didn''t try to protect their faces from the attacks. They epted all the damage caused by the golems. However, when Ryan started to use his crossbow, the monsters began to grab the bolts with their bare hands. They suffered some damage, and the effects of poison and bleed were working, but Ryan''s raw power had decreased quite a lot. "Shit¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "Try to grab this, you damned monster!" The fight between giants and golems started. As expected. His monsters were enduring a bit more. So, Ryan used that chance to charge a Power Shot. While he was trying to kill as many giants as possible with a single strike, he was also for something else, and that something else happened when he fired. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. Dozens of giants died, and a cloud of dust was raised due to the explosion. That was what Ryan had been waiting for. With their vision diminished thanks to the dust, Ryan managed to hit the giants, and they didn''t have the chance to block his bolts. For a while, Ryan managed to massacre the giants freely, but soon something weird happened. While mounting two dragons, two armored giants left the battle in the sky and approached the ce where Ryan''s golems were. One of those fucking monsters made the dragonnd in the middle of the golem''s army, killing dozens of them. Meanwhile, the other¡­ followed the direction the bolts wereing from. "Come, dumbass," Ryan smirked. "I have a present for you." Ryan made sure to fire a few more bolts to show the armored giant where he was, but then he stopped and began to charge another Power Shot. When the boss and the dragon reached the rocks, Ryan was using them as a cover. His attack weed them. In the end, the armored giant forcefully made the dragon move its neck to intercept the bolt. Although the attack lost a lot of power, the dragon still was killed, and the armored giant still got hit by the energy and was sent flying several meters backward. You received 35.963 coins. The number of coins Ryan received was low, but that didn''t bother him. Instead of that, he nocked his Paralyzing Spear on the Sagittarians'' bow and prepared to finish off the fucking armored giant. When the creature recovered from the impact, Ryan already had ten seconds charged Power Shot ready to be fired. Without any ceremony, he fired. You obtained 45.269 coins. The giant''s head exploded when Ryan fired. In any case, the creature died, but Ryan received a lot more coins than he had expected¡­ those extras were probably the coins the monster obtained by damaging the dragon. When the giants saw one of their bosses being killed, they stopped their charge for a few seconds. It looked like it had been the first time they saw one of them being easily killed like that. Although Ryan couldn''t say that it had been easy¡­ Regardless, there was no need to rely on stealth. Ryan had been found so that he could go all out. After recovering his Paralyzing Spear, Ryan nocked the weapon on his bow and prepared to decimate many more giants with a single attack¡­ he had to hurry because the number of dragons was quickly decreasing. Chapter 278 - Change Of Plans In the end, when the dragons finally died, Ryan had managed to kill twenty thousand giants¡­ it was a pretty impressive number, given that he did that in less than half an hour. However, he now only had five hundred golems under his control, and he still had to fight against two thousand giants and two hundred very pissed bosses. "Mmm¡­ maybe I should have picked the Necromancer ss," Ryan forced a smile while seeing the mountain of corpses around the battlefield. "Using the skill of such a ss will probably make me throw up a few times, but at the very least, the chances of me losing this fight would be pretty low." Despite his words, Ryan didn''t feel like giving up. He was determined to clear that dungeon that day. So, he only stored his bow, equipped his crossbow, and unleashed his magic weapons. Instead of giving the armored giants the chance to attack first, Ryan attacked the giants with his magic weapons alongside Telekinesis. The armored giants ignored the golems since they knew once Ryan dies, the golems will disappear. Ryan smiled when he saw that things would be difficult for him, but his golems wouldst longer that way. Regardless, even though their armor looked pretty heavy, the bosses managed to cover the distance between them and Ryan in the blink of an eye. Several of them jumped toward him and crossed two hundred meters in half a second, and punched the spot he had been before. However, they didn''t hit anything. Ryan used sh and appeared a few meters on their left side, making poisoned bolts rain over them. Ryan didn''t know what their armor was made of, but his bolts didn''t even leave a dent on it. He got a lot of interest in the material, but unfortunately, their fucking armor disappears when they die. "It is time to change my ns¡­ again." Ryan frowned. The armored giants had most of their bodies protected by the armor. The only unprotected parts were the feet, hands, and head. Hitting any of them would be hard, but Ryan knew a way to obtain a chance to do that. When the next group of bosses tried to smash Ryan, he used sh again. When he appeared a few meters away from them, he bombarded the monsters with Electric Bullets. It was barely noticeable, but their armor conducted the electricity and shocked the monsters, paralyzing them for a few moments. Ryan used those to rain poisoned bolts on their faces. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Several of those monsters screamed from the depths of their soul when their eyes were destroyed. However, at that point in time, Ryan was already used to that. He just repeated the same thing over and over again until some bosses began to fall dead. The monsters were in shock since they couldn''t understand howe Ryan could have so much mana. If they weren''t stupid, they would know that it was due to the golems and his magic weapons in which he was controlling to massacre the ordinary giants. Still, since their durability was high, Ryan could barely recover enough mana on time. Ryan was used too much mana to escape and attack, after all. To make matters worse, he used all his mana potions to eliminate the giants as fast as possible earlier. "I guess this is it¡­" Ryan muttered while frowning. "I can keep doing this for a while longer, but soon, I won''t be able to recover enough mana. Since I have some stamina potions, then I can rely on Power Shot, but¡­" It looked like Ryan will be forced to change his ns much sooner than he expected. The giants were tough, and thanks to it, his magic weapons were losing durability. Before their weapons could break, Ryan made the golems form a semi-circle, and then at the same time, they used Earthquake. Some giants lost their foot and fell to the ground. Although the damage caused wasn''t impressive, it served Ryan well to save his weapons. Ryan''s mana regeneration speed decreased a lot, but it had been just enough for him to escape from the armored giants and to repair his Paralyzing Spear. "It is time, if I manage to kill several of them, I will recover a lot of mana in the blink of an eye," Ryan muttered after using sh to escape another attack and while nocking the spear. "However, something has been bothering me¡­ they have been repeating the same attack pattern over and over again, even though their numbers are decreasing. This is strange." It took Ryan a while, but he eventually noticed. The armored giants weren''t just attacking him blindly. They were positioning several groups around Ryan¡­ after using sh so many times, they already knew the range of the skill, so they knew until which point he could move. When he noticed that, Ryan didn''t have time to find a way to counter their formation. When a group of armored giants attacked him, he used sh and appeared several meters above them, and he fired his Paralyzing Spear. However, at the same time, another group was already on the way, and somehow, they predicted that Ryan would do that. Ryan used Extra Jump to avoid the group, but a single armored boss still managed to attack him in the end. At thest moment, Ryan activated Mana Shield, but his defense was shattered, and the massive fist of the monster hit his left shoulder. When Ryan opened his eyes again, he was in the center of a small crater, and his whole body was hurting like hell. His attack killed several armored giants, but he didn''t recover enough mana to use Full-Heal. "Now you have done it¡­ fucking worms," Ryan muttered. Ryan slowly got up and then used Heal to recover his health and mend his broken bones a little. However, when he did that, he saw that the armored giants improved even further their encirclement. Somehow, Ryan killed one hundred of them, but the other one hundred surrounded himpletely, and they had no intention of underestimating him. Chapter 279 - Improvising Ryan''s body was hurting too much for him to make a decent n. Besides, he didn''t have time, so he decided to ept the lesser of the two evils. Or, in his case, the less troublesome of the possible oues. The ground started to tremble around the armored giants, and they noticed that the golems were heading toward them. That had been the chance Ryan had been waiting for. In order to prevent any other unknown factors from interfering with the fight, several of them armored giants dashed toward Ryan and punched his body. However, they only a thin mirror of ice that Ryan had left behind. That was the power of his spell, Mirror. Although the skill didn''t cause much damage, Ryan obtained enough time to reposition himself. After using sh a few times, now he was behind the armored giants. The only problem was that he wasn''t with his Paralyzing Spear, and the n he had made ended with that. Now, he had to improvise. While Ryan was thinking of what to do, the remaining of his army of golems were being massacred by the front and the back. In the end, it looked like the only option was to retreat again. He already had decreased the strength of the enemy quite a lot, after all. One more wave of attack, and he could finish the job¡­ However, Ryan was refused to retreat again¡­ notpletely, at least. "It is time for some kitting and to use a skill I never used before¡­" Ryan muttered while he was gaining some distance from the armored giants. Thanks to his stealth, Ryan managed to hide again and charge another Power Shot without being disrupted. After charging for a full minute, he fired, but this time he used some extra mana and activated Brute Arrow. A skill that empowered his attacks and also could stun or make the targets that got hit move a few meters backward. When Ryan''s attacknded, the explosion killed several armored giants. At the same time, those who survived were sent flying dozens of meters in the distance. Ryan smirked since he recovered all his mana and managed to use Full-Heal and his broken bones were back to normal. "Much better," Ryan said. While the bosses were recovering from the surprise attack, Ryan was already preparing the second Power Shot. When the beasts finally found his position, they dashed toward him mindlessly. However, they spread around the area at thest minute since they knew that his attacks could decimate several of them in the blink of an eye. "Dumbasses¡­" Ryan muttered while smiling. Ryan fired anyway, and his attack didn''t hit anything¡­ aside from the mass of giants that were attacking his golems. Hundreds of them died, and while his mana was being filled every moment, Ryan used sh to approach his summoned creatures. It was strange, he couldn''t remember the time he managed to use so many times in a single second, but he was one kilometer away from the bosses in the blink of an eye. "I wonder if I hit my head or something," Ryan frowned. "I feel strangely light¡­" Ryan began to charge another Power Shot. However, at the same time, he fired several Electric Bullets on the fallen giants to paralyze them for a few more moments and give the golems more time to smash them apart. Before the armored giants could react on time, half of their underlings had died. The numbers in that fight were starting to get a little more even, but Ryan wasn''t satisfied yet. He made his golems form a circle around the giants, and at the center of that circle, Ryan started to froze the monsters with his Ice Storm¡­ the poor monsters tried to escape, but with the Ice Storm pulling them to the center and with the golems using Earthquake, didn''t have any chance. Coming from several directions, the armored giants rejoined the fight. As if Ryan would let such a simple strategy bother him¡­ he just fired his Power Shot on the ground several meters ahead of him, and then a massive cloud of dust was raised. The monsters lost sight of Ryan, but Ryan didn''t lose sight of them, thanks to Radar. With the Chaos Axe in hand, Ryan started his massacre. Suddenly, an armored giant felt somethingnding on its back. Before he could turn, Ryan attacked the back of his head by using all the buffs that could increase his strength alongside Concentrated Strike. His attack knocked down the monster but didn''t kill it. The beast kissed the ground and grunted in pain. Congrattions! The skill Concentrated Strike reached level five. "Right, I need to level up this to be more useful," Ryan muttered. Ryan used Concentrated Strike several other times without concentrating it until the monster fell dead. He had to be faster. Eventually, the dust will vanish, and the monsters will find him. Or even worse, they will try to escape¡­ After using Sting to pick up the pace, Ryan killed the armored giants one after the other, and in the end, they made a terrible mistake by splitting up. Some of them grunted and warned the others to leave the area, but that had already been toote. In the end, when the dust vanished, only twenty armored giants were alive, and all the ordinary monsters had been killed. "It is your choice now," Ryan said with the crossbow in one hand and the ax in the other. "You can proudly while fighting, or you can die like cowards by running. Your freaks caused me a lot of trouble, so there is no third option. Ryan didn''t know if they understood his message, but he understood the look in their eyes when they looked around and saw the mountain of corpses that once had been their friends. They looked at Ryan as if he was some piece of trash. Despite that, he felt nothing¡­ they were the invaders, not him. Chapter 280 - Class: Sentinel When the fight ended, Ryan let himself fall to the ground. He was exhausted. The fight had been that difficult. Despite that, that feeling of lightness still was around, making me feel pretty good. While Ryan enjoyed that feeling, he decided to give a brief summary of what happened to Mark. He wouldn''t go back after receiving his next ss. He will go further south to check how things were in other countries. Much to his surprise, the very moment he took the cellphone from his ring, it started to¡­ ring. "You don''t even have the decency to pretend that you didn''t watch everything, huh?" Ryan asked. "I thought you would feel even more annoyed if I pretended," Mark said. "Regardless, it looks like you have some problems, but, in the end, things worked out for you. Congrattions. "Spare me of your praise. I am going to pass you the data I got about the monsters," Ryan said. "Sometimeter, I will tell you about the sses." "Understood, do you intend to leave some golems behind to keep the giants in check?" Mark asked. "I guess I will do that," Ryan replied. "Now about your next destination, do you have a ce in mind you want to go?" Mark asked. "No, I will just follow the West coast of the continent and deal with whatever monster I find along the way while I look for the tier three dungeons," Ryan said. "Do you want to leave a message to anyone?" Mark asked. "No," Ryan said. "Is that so¡­" Mark said. "Well, if you don''t mind, I would like to contact you once a week to hear about the things you find along the way." "I don''t like to repeat myself, but I don''t intend to give information for free," Ryan said. "Don''t worry. I will make sure to save your payment. You have my word," Mark said. "I am sure you will return eventually." After saying that, Mark ended the call. Although that was a bit annoying, in the end, he was right. Eventually, Ryan will have to check things on the base. Despite the fact that he could check things on Zoe and Arthur with Search, he couldn''t interfere from a distance, and he wasn''t stupid enough to rely on Alissa for that. Regardless, Ryan got up and started to look for loot amidst the battlefield. While Ryan was walking around the corpses, he thought that he hade a long way since everything started. In the beginning, he wondered if he was adapting too fast, but after three months, he could walk around dozens of corpses without thinking too much about it. He learned that there was no need to mourn the death of his enemies, even more so when he had been the one who took their lives. Many items were dropped, but only two daggers picked Ryan''s interest. They were the most powerful items he had obtained from the fight, but what grabbed his attention was the fact that a thin chain linked them. Cursed Daggers Effect: When attacking the same opponent over and over again, these daggers can decrease their agility permanently. The effect willst until the foe is killed or the foe manages to escape the user''s sight. Speed + 50, Dexterity + 50 Durability: 80/80 "Interesting¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I was really looking forward to obtaining a useful knife since I didn''t level up Knife Mastery many times. Still, this is much better than I asked for." After organizing the loot, selling the things that he didn''t need, and using Deconstruct on those which could be used to some extent, Ryan entered the dungeon. Inparison to the previous dungeon in which he entered alongside others, Ryan didn''t feel nervous or worried this time. It looked like the fighting experience was starting to change him¡­ although Ryan imagined that would happen, he didn''t expect it would happen so soon. "I''d better not get carried away," Ryan muttered. "There is no telling if those annoying thoughts won''t return if someone kicks my ass again." In any case, Ryan didn''t find a single boss inside the dungeon. The giants spawned now and then, but they were no longer a threat to Ryan. Alone, they had never been a threat. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Royal Knight, Sentinel, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "My guess was correct¡­ the fact those three sses are different from the other tier three dungeons is also good. Well, now¡­ the real problem. Which ss should I choose?" At that point in time, Ryan was only asking for the sake of asking. Even though he might consider his options, he knew himself very well to know the path that he will choose. Ryan needed more raw power¡­ whenever he thought of that, he recalled that scene where Lilith grabbed his arrow with such ease. Although he wasn''t getting that annoyed anymore just by thinking about it, it didn''t mean that he didn''t care about it. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sentinel! You obtained the following skills: Charge Trap, Summon Warg, and Awareness. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Charge Trap. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a magic trap that bes more powerful over time. The damage will be equal to your intelligence plus the value in seconds in which the trap stayed hidden. The trap can be charged up to the skill level x 20. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Warg. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an ancient species of wolf known for their loyalty toward their masters and ferocity when fighting to protect them. Attention! You can only summon a single wolf, and the beast can grow stronger the more it fights. Every time the Warg is killed, they won''t be able to be summoned for the next 24 hours, and five points will decrease all status. The more the skill level up, the time of the cooldown will decrease. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Awareness. Effect: It makes you aware when someone is watching you while trying to hide their presence. The range of the skill is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten in meters. You obtained 01 status point. "Those are¡­ some interesting skills," Ryan frowned even though he felt satisfied. Ryan recalled that there was a game in which he replied in the past that one of the archer sses could summon wargs and use them for mobility andbat, but he didn''t expect to one day have such skill. Moreover, unlike any other summoning skill, Ryan could only summon the same creature over and over again with that one. Chapter 281 - A Real Friend As if the skill didn''t have a weird enough description and effect, when Ryan summoned his Warg, he only saw a wolf that looked only a few months old. The monster had white and blue fur, and it seemed kind of cool with its blue eyes. However, it didn''t seem like a powerful creature that could be used forbat. At best, it was the size of an ordinary dog. Warg (Change Name) Health: 150/150 Mana: 150/150 Stamina: 150/150 Strength: 50 Dexterity: 50 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 50 Endurance: 50 Control: 150 Mentality: 50 Luck: 50 Recovery: 150 Willpower: 50 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: "It looks like I will have to train you from the very beginning, huh," Ryan said while looking at his Warg. "Your name will be¡­ Furball." Strangely enough, Furball barked as if it had approved its name. In the end, Ryan saw himself suddenly scratching the neck of his new partner. He never thought about that before, but it looked like Ryan was a wolf person. "Oh, boy¡­ it looks like I turned into an old man," Ryan sighed. "I only care about kids and animals." Time was of the essence. Even though it looked like Furball could be a cute pet, Ryan decided to transform him into a killing machine. Without wasting time, he started his training regime. "Go on, keep running until your stamina drops to zero," Ryan said. "Once that happens, I will restore your stamina." In the blink of an eye, Furball learned Dash and started to train the skill. At the same time, Ryan checked what he could obtain in the shop after restocking his potion supply. Ryan''s options increased, but he didn''t find anything that could increase his power as a man archer. In the end, he just decided to buy tomes to teach Furball some passive skills. Ryan didn''t want to spoil his new ally, but he couldn''t let him die that easily either. So, Ryan made him learn Quick Legs and Stone Skin. "This should increase your survivability a little bit," Ryan said. "Anyway, let''s get going. With some luck, we will find an appropriate dungeon to train you along the way." In the end, Ryan learned that his job to train Furball would be simpler than he thought. When the skill to summon him leveled up, the cooldown to summon him decreased, but all his status also increased by five points. Still, Ryan wished that the damn system could give more details about the skills. Despite the pleasant surprise, Ryan had to focus for quite a while at increasing Furball''s speed since he was much faster. Sometimes, Ryan even used Telekinesis to make him rest and increase their moving speed. Two dayster, Ryan and Furball finally reached the west coast, and they also had just entered the Mexican territory. Although that speed was unsatisfactory, it couldn''t be helped since he was training Furball pretty intensely. All his elemental resistances had even reached level ten already. "The real thing starts here," Ryan said while looking at the ocean. "I wonder if I should use myself as bait to kill some megalodons. They are just oversized fish, so if I charge Power Shot and use sh at thest minute, I should be able to kill them." That was an important subject since Ryan didn''t kill a single monster in two days, and he had to share his food with Furball. Who could have thought that Mark caused him so many problems just by sealing a few dungeons? In the end, he couldn''tin all that much since that was for the good of the country. "Maybe even without Power Shot, I can win," Ryan said. "My attack speed and overall power are pretty high; besides, the effect of pestilence crossbow will stack." Although Furball won''t be able to eat the corpse due to the poison, one can''t have everything they want. In any case, much to Ryan''s deception, he didn''t see a single megalodon in several hours, and the first type of monster he found were some Sahuagins after running for several hours. Their level was pretty high, so Ryan did Furball a favor and fried them alive with Electric Bullet. "Level eighty¡­" Ryan muttered while he watched Furball eat the fried fish. "Most likely, the dungeon this thing came from already broke three times¡­ should I clear it?" That was a tough call. Although Ryan already helped a lot of Mexicans once, he could do it again, and it wasn''t like the job would take too much of his time. Still, not only Ryan decided not to waste his time, but he also didn''t find the dungeon. "You sure have a bit of an appetite, huh," Ryan frowned when Furball took a bite of another Sahuagin he had killed. Furball''s mana has increased by one point. "... What?" Ryan muttered in shock. Furball''s status increased while he was eating¡­ although it was weird, it did make sense. That would exin why monsters were so eager to eat humans. While they couldn''t obtain sses, they had their own means to grow stronger. Most of them could absorb mana from the environment. While summoned couldn''t do that, they could be stronger when their master''s skills level up. "Interesting¡­" Ryan said. "While it is good that you can be stronger by using several methods, we can''t stop all the time to let you eat. Still, it would be pretty awesome if I let you eat Sahuagins for a while in order to make your mana increase." If Ryan''s status could increase like that, he would eat until his stomach explodes. While mana was important, Ryan didn''t want to turn Furball into a mage-like monster. Since his status could increase in several different ways, Ryan intended to turn him into his shield. The n to make him into a killing machine had been upgraded. While Ryan perhaps could make him be both, he decided not to be too greedy for the time being. Some caution was necessary while dealing with something knew that he still had only a little knowledge about. ss: Hunter Lv 61 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 (+ 02 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 271st Health: 779 /779 (3,32/s) Mana: 1589 /1589 (3,32/s) Stamina: 1157 /1157 (3,32/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1300 (+980) (+57) Speed: 85 (+459) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+459) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+130) Control: 06 (+471) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+964) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 8.331.119 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 77 (+ 05 UP), Stamina Drain Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Concentrated Strike Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Resistance Lv 30 (+ 05 UP), Discount Lv 25 (+ 10 UP), Awareness Lv 01, Spells: Charge Trap Lv 01, Summon Warg Lv 01, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 52 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 52 (+ 03 UP), Summoner Lv 29 (+ 05 UP), Combat Archer Lv 34 (+ 03 UP), Sorcerer Lv 21 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 25 (+ 04 UP), Weapons Master Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Sentinel Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur Chapter 282 - New Survivors For some reason, Ryan didn''t find a single dungeon on his way while he crossed the entire west coast of Mexico. The type of monsters wasn''t that diverse either¡­ it was hard to know if it was due to the number of dungeons in the country that seemed to be low or if it was due to the damage caused by the Chupacabras. While Ryan was wondering about that, the cellphone Mark gave him started to ring. Mark sure was inpatient for a man of his age¡­ "What?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you found a new friend Ryan," Alissa said. "We can see that you two are pretty close even though you know each other for such a short time." Ryan''s head began to hurt since it looked like Alissa was trying really hard not to burst intoughter. Regardless, to think that Mark would keep an eye on him even this far¡­ no, by using the satellite, he probably could see everything happening in the whole continent. The problem was the time he was waiting. "What do you want, Alissa?" Ryan asked. "I don''t have time to talk nonsense." "Really? You look pretty much free right now," Alissa said. "You are quite weird; how can you be only nice to kids and animals. Are you really that lonely?" "Yeah, I am lonely. I feel so lonely just like everyone who looked at your chest¡­ chopping board," Rya said. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Alissa howled, and Ryan ended the call. Since Alissa didn''t have anything to say, Ryan didn''t feel like hearing her crap. Regardless, Ryan decided to store his cellphone on the storage ring for a few days in order to avoid Alissa. Around noon of the next day, Ryan reached Guatem''s territory, and at that moment, he was one hundred percent sure that something was off with the Megalodons. He didn''t find a single one of them that was too odd. "I don''t know if this is bad or good, but¡­ not knowing why those beasts aren''t appearing is unsettling," Ryan said while facing Furball. Ryan soon had to forget about that because something weird was also happening onnd. He thought he would find many more monsters while he heads to the South, but his guesses werepletely off the mark. Moreover, when he found a dungeon on his way, he also found a camp and a group of four survivors around it. Two men and two women. "Well, now¡­ what should I do?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. While it wasn''t that shocking that some countries and their citizens managed to survive this far, that wasn''t the real question. Thanks to his high dexterity, Rya could see from pretty far away, so he found the dungeon and the survivors, but they had no idea that someone was approaching. Should Ryan talk with them in order to obtain Intel, or should he just do the usual and find the answers he wanted on his own? That caused some issues when he was hunting the Chupacabras¡­ "I don''t have many good experiences while interacting with people I don''t know since the monsters appeared," Ryan frowned. "But I guess I just need to be careful." Ryan used Appraisal and confirmed that those survivors had only six sses, and most of the skills didn''t reach level thirty. While that was disappointing, it seemed pretty normal considering that they were guarding a dungeon. From an ordinary standpoint, Ryan was the weird one. He had four times more sses than most people, and his main skill already reached level 75¡­ "Well, you stay behind just in case, Furball," Ryan said. "There is a chance that they don''t know that humans can tame and summon monsters so that they might misunderstand us together." Furball protested by whipping for a while, but in the end, he obeyed Ryan and stayed behind. After that, Ryan also stored his magic items inside his storage ring, and now he was wearing just chainmail, his sprinter boots. His only weapon was an ordinary steel sword which he made by using Earth Transformation. Ryan just walked toward the camp normally, and when he was more or less fifty meters away from it, those four finally noticed his presence and pointed their weapons at him. As expected, they frowned when they saw a man alone approaching their base, but they didn''t lower their guard. A dark-haired woman who had a small scar on her cheek said something, but Ryan had no idea what she said. Even in the apocalypse, thenguage barrier was a problem. "Sorry, I only speak English." Ryan forced a smile. "Are you American?" The woman asked with a frown. "Why did youe here? What is your goal?" "I have some rtives in Brazil, so I have been traveling to reach that country for a while," Ryan told the made-up story he had prepared in advance. "I just came to ask a few things; I will leave soon." "What do you want to know?" The blond-haired woman asked. Ryan was caught off guard when he heard that. Since the woman and her friends looked pretty on guard, the usual answer would be to tell him to scram. "My goal is to reach Brazil, but I need to be careful since I am alone," Ryan replied. "At the same time, I need strength, and well, I wanted to like the best route to cross your country and if there is an easy dungeon nearby in which I can clear." "We can''t sell that kind of information since it is directly rted to the safety of our country," the woman said. "However, you can buy that information from our leader if he thinks you are trustworthy enough." Finding another person to look for Intel¡­ a d buying information. Ryan had never been at the end of that exchange, but there was a first time for everything. However, for some reason, Ryan was feeling a bit worried when he heard about those guys'' leaders. Chapter 283 - Auto Farm "All right, where can I find your leader?" Ryan asked while looking around. "Don''t worry, someone will take you to our capital when the timees," the woman said. "Tomorrow, someone wille to get the loot that we obtained, and you can go with them." Ryan sighed when he heard that. He didn''t feel like waiting that long. Besides, why would that woman be willing to help so easily when she never asked his name? That was just too suspicious. In the end, Ryan smiled, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared. While the woman and her friends were panicking, Ryan finally returned to where he left Furball. "Screw it, as if I have time to waste dealing with this bullshit," Ryan said. "I guess I will just fly above the country." Given how good his current eyesight was, Ryan probably could find the best routes and the dungeons'' location by flying a few kilometers above the ground. That part of the continent wasn''t that big, after all. Ryan probably could investigate and check the territory of the whole country in just a few hours. Although some tier two sses could be a fine addition to his list, Ryan was fully aware that he couldn''t just invade those to get new sses. Not only he will make some humans as his enemies, but it was kind like invading someone''s house, opening the fridge, and then stole some soda. The people from Guatem worked hard to obtain control over the dungeons, so they had the right to decide who can use their dungeons. Despite the fact that Furball had grown quite a bit in thest few days, with his current powers, Ryan could use Telekinesis just fine to make him and Furball flying without worrying about mana. In any case, while flying above the country for a few hours, Ryan learned that most cities had beenpletely annihted with the exception of their capital and had been abandoned. Despite that, the number of monsters running around was really low. The reasons were, Guatem only had ten dungeons, and all of them were under the control of a group of at the very least six survivors. "That is the basic formation, after all," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still, it is a pity that they don''t have tier three dungeons here. Even their sses are sses that I already have or have no use for." His reconnaissance being over, Ryan hurried to move forward down south. For some reason, something has been bothering him, but Ryan couldn''t quite pinpoint what that was. Perhaps it was about the leader the ck-haired woman mentioned¡­ in any case, Ryan eventually left Guatem behind and proceeded to walk again after he made sure that their dungeons were several dozens of kilometers behind him. Although that wasn''t his area of expertise, Ryan had a pretty good memory, so he knew which countries he would find on his path. The next one had been El Salvador, a pretty small country, and due to its size, Ryan only found three dungeons there. However, he didn''t find a single survivors camp or any sign of them. The dragons and monsters had decimated the cities of the country. If some people survived until now, they were pretty hidden. Seeing that the chances of the entire poption of that country have been killed made was pretty high, Ryan felt his heart growing colder. Perhaps it was time for some monster hunting¡­ "I think you have working pretty hard, Furball," Ryan said while looking at the Velociraptors, Giant Bees, and Red Bats below. "You deserve a reward¡­ it is time for a feast." Ryan used me Arrows, Electric Bullets, and Frozen Arrows left and right to massacre the monsters in front of him. They died without even noticing what killed them. Although it would take too long to clear even low-tiered dungeons that broke three times, Ryan needed information. He needed to know what status each type of monster would give to Furball. Fortunately, he was omnivorous, so he could see pretty much anything¡­ which was kind of scary. Another thing Ryan could do was to train some skills passively. Training Summon Golem was pretty easy since those creatures didn''t have to eat, and they were quite sturdy. While Ryan massacred the monsters, his mana was being recovered pretty fast, so he used that to summon some golems. "Auto Farm, huh," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "This isn''t so bad." The only problem with that auto farm was that Ryan could only gain experience in some skills and sses. There was no loot and coins. Regardless, while frowning at Furball''s seemingly infinite appetite, Ryan learned that Velociraptors could increase his strength, Giant Bees could increase his speed, and Red Bats could increase his pet''s mentality. Without thinking too much about it, Ryan made Furball focus on eating the Giant Bees. "Eat and grow strong," Ryan said while patting his head. "Someday, you will help me move around at fearsome speeds. I also can''t have you die often, so let''s find a monster that can increase your endurance and health after this." It was weird, but¡­ Ryan noticed that he wasn''t feeling so anxious to fight and find tougher opponents anymore. Furball was having a positive effect on him, but Ryan also noticed that his demeanor changed a bit during the fights with the giants. Almost dying with a single attack affected him in a weird manner. Regardless, after letting Furball fill his belly nonstop for an entire night, Ryan and he proceeded to move South after leaving an army of one thousand golems behind to y some monsters. He was fully aware that they wouldn''t exterminate all the creatures. In fact, the bosses will wipe out his army in a few days, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t waste more time in there. Things can change at any minute, and a source of valuable intel might disappear or die at any minute, after all. Chapter 284 - Next Plans In just half an hour, Ryan crossed Honduras. Since he didn''t find any new type of monster running around, he also concluded that he wouldn''t find anything in there. However, when he was about to move to Nicaragua, his cellphone started to ring. Hesitantly, Ryan epted the call. "Who is it?" Ryan asked. "It is me¡­ I apologize," Mark said. "It looks like I caused you some problems without knowing." "Without knowing, you say¡­" Ryan frowned. "Yes. Alissa asked me to use the satellite for a while, and so I let her," Mark exined. "Something came up, and I had to leave in the room alone. Later, she exined what she did." "Whatever just go straight to the point," Ryan said. In the end, Mark wanted to know more details about the sses Ryan found in the giants'' dungeon. At the same time, he wanted to know where he was and about the things he found along the way. Since that was something Ryan had to do once a week and he eventually would be paid for it, he decided to tell him the details. "So, you found some survivors in Guatem, and apparently, they managed to guard all the dungeons," Mark said, apparently interested in the subject. "Although they have few dungeons, maybe we can create an alliance with them, alongside with the Mexicans." "You will have to find someone else to do the mediating job," Ryan said. "Besides, I would rmend sending some guys to collect intel about the ce while they remain hidden. Something looked fishy there." "Is that so?" Mark said. "If you think we should be careful with some reason, maybe we should just wait and see for the time being." "Anything new on your end?" Ryan asked while massaging his eyebrows. "If a tier-three dungeon appears in our territory, I want to know immediately." "I will inform you if that happens. However, only tier one dungeons have been appearing since we started to monitor the dungeons," Mark exined. That was weird¡­ in any case, Mark didn''t want to take too much more of Ryan''s time, so he ended the call there. Although Ryan was making that trip around the American continent, he realized that he wouldn''t find many answers. As far as he was concerned, at best, he will learn how some countries fared when the monsters arrived. However, anything rted to the system was something beyond him. "It looks like that after this trip, my next mission will be to exterminate all the monsters of a foreigner worldpletely," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I need to understand more the power of the bosses and that dungeon''s blessing." After making a mental note about that, Ryan resumed his journey. Although he thought he wouldn''t find anything during that day as well, Ryan''s assumptions were off the mark. He found ake on his path, and around it, he also found some weird monsters that he never saw before. Jellyfish Lv 95 Health: 1.000/1.000 Mana: 1.000/1.000 Stamina: 1.000 /1.000 Strength: 200 (+50) Dexterity: 300 (+50) Speed: 200 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 300 Control: 200 Mentality: 500 (+250) Luck: 600 (+150) Recovery: 200 (+250) Willpower: 500 (+250) Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 70, Concentration Lv 70 Spells: Acidic Bullet Lv 100, Acidic Explosion Lv 100, Corrosive Touch Lv 10 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 90, Cold Resistance Lv 90, Earth Resistance Lv 90 For some reason, those Jellyfish-like monsters were flying around theke. It wasn''t like Ryan had imagined that they wouldn''t be able to live outside water, but he still found it weird. Regardless, despite the fact that their statuses weren''t impressive, the fact that they were like three meters long and tall was pretty impressive and fearsome. The skills they had were also worrisome. "The forest around theke is quite dense, so I can''t find their dungeon," Ryan muttered. "Still, would their dungeon be localized outside water? Although Sahuagins could walk just fine ind, their dungeon was also pretty close to ake¡­ could it be¡­ is their dungeon underwater?" Ryan''s head began to hurt just by thinking how difficult it would be to clear an underwater dungeon. Maybe if he obtains certain sses, it will be feasible, but Ryan had no confidence in pulling that off even with his current skills and statuses. For obvious reasons, clearing such a dungeon will be even harder than defeating Chupacabras and giants. "There is a first time for everything¡­ in any case, I should decrease their numbers from a safe position for the time being," Ryan said. "They can fly, so I don''t have any advantage in the air." Ryan had no idea if he would get a tier three-ss by clearing that dungeon, but he still wanted to clear it. Why? Because it was a worthy challenge. Until now, he always fought while trying to find the best conditions for him, but now he probably won''t be able to find those conditions. Still, he couldn''t let the poption of those monsters continue to grow non-stop. "I don''t think poison will work on those¡­" Ryan frowned while he was creating a vantage point using Earth Maniption. "Still, the speed and power of the crossbow will help me here. The real question is: can you that kind of monster, Furball?" Furball barked as if he was saying yes¡­ in any case when the Jellyfish die, they will probably explode since they had that skill. So, most likely, Furball will have to lick their remaining on the ground. Hopefully, the liquid won''t damage him, and even if it does, he will obtain resistance to acid. Ryan also needed that skill¡­ "I guess both of us are going to have a hard time here," Ryan patted Furball''s head. "Hopefully, all this annoyance will be worth the hassle." After that, Ryan began to concentrate, and when his concentration reached its peak, he started the massacre. Chapter 285 - Golden Shield Just as Ryan had imagined, the poison didn''t work on those monsters. However, they were weak. Only two of his crossbows were enough to make them go kaboom. The creatures he killed exploded, and the liquid inside their bodies spread around. Also, just like Ryan had expected, the liquid was highly corrosive. It even melted the ground to some extent and knocked down some trees. "Maybe if I freeze them, you can eat them as ice-cream, so don''t lose your hope yet, Furball," Ryan said while he was firing his bolts like a machine-gun. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. You obtained 85 coins. ¡­ Ryan hoped that the corrosive liquid would make other Jellyfish explode, but unfortunately, that never happened. In the end, after Ryan just killed the fiftieth monster, they finally found the direction the attacks wereing from and thus headed toward Ryan. "Mmm¡­ maybe I should have put some traps or summoned some golems to hold them back a little," Ryan thought. "Oh, well, they are slow. I can outspeed them with ease." When the monsters got close enough, they started to fire their Acidic Bullets. Ryan blocked them all with his shield and managed to return some of the monsters'' damage and make them suffer some damage, slowing them down even further. However, he wouldn''t be able to that for long. Spiked Golden Shield Effect: Reflects three percent of the damage back to the enemy. Health + 50, Endurance + 40 Durability: 155/200 "It is losing a lot of durabilities pretty fast¡­" Ryan muttered. "It can''t be helped." Ryan stored his shield away and grabbed Furball under his left arm. He turned around while attacking the Jellyfish that was heading toward him. Suddenly, one of his bolts hit an Acid Bullet, the projectile was destroyed, but some liquid fell on Ryan''s shoulders. His health decreased by twenty points, and his endurance and mentality also decreased a little bit. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Acid Resistance. Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all acid-type attacks by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. "I should have known that this type of attack would have this kind of effect," Ryan said and then hissed in pain. "It is temporary, but still¡­ who could have thought only two droplets could cause so much pain." Obviously, it was due to his extreme offensive build. In any case, Ryan used sh to gain some distance over the monsters, and then he resumed his attack. After retreating several times, Ryan decided that it was time to change his strategy. Turning around every single time always make him lose too much time. The next time Ryan decided to use sh, he just moved his eyes a little to the side and then reappeared on the left side of that group of monsters. This time his actions had been less obvious, so the creatures had no idea where he went. Ryan used that change to charge a Power Shot. Although the monsters eventually found him due to the change in the air caused by the concentration of energy, it was already toote when they did. Ryan fired his bolt, and hundreds of those monsters died. He hurried to make good use of all that extra mana by summoning golems, but as expected, a lot of energy was wasted. "Something is off¡­" Ryan muttered while frowning. "I am pretty close to theke, so why the bosses didn''te yet?" Ryan continued to massacre the Jellyfish, but in the end, he eventually won. Now that he thought about it, the number of monsters around theke was too small, considering that three dungeon breaks happened, and they have been spawning for three months straight. "I don''t like this¡­" Ryan said. Ryan killed around two thousand monsters, it wasn''t a small number, but it wasn''t impressive either¡­ what had happened to the others? Based on his calctions, the dungeons must have spawned around one hundred thousand Jellyfish without considering the dungeon breaks. When Ryan approached theke again, he saw some Jellyfish leaving and assuming their positions around it. Although that behavior wasn''t odd since he saw several monsters guarding the territory around the dungeons, the Jellyfish were too dumb for that. Ryan killed thousands of them without worrying about his safety for a single second, after all. "Should I just wait and see, or should I keep attacking?" Ryan asked. "With this spawning speed, the attack is just a waste of time, so I guess I will wait. Meanwhile, I will summon golems in case something unexpected happens." Although it seemed kind of like a waste, Ryan decided to be patient. After all, even information about weird monsters'' weird behavior coulde in handy in the future. Given that he couldn''t find any monster aside from the Jellyfish in that area, Ryan had another reason to keep an eye on them. Fortunately, Ryan''s patience paid off much sooner than he had imagined. The next day around six in the morning, something weird happened in thatke. All the water started to shine, and after being bathed by that light for a few seconds, the Jellyfish began to fuse with each other. The seven hundred Jellyfish that spawned since the time he began to watch them disappear, and thirty-five bigger monsters could be found in their ces. Elder Jellyfish Lv 125 Health: 5.000/5.000 Mana: 5.000/5.000 Stamina: 5.000 /5.000 Strength: 400 (+150) Dexterity: 500 (+150) Speed: 400 Intelligence: 1500 (+350) Endurance: 500 Control: 400 Mentality: 1500 (+350) Luck: 900 (+250) Recovery: 600 (+250) Willpower: 1500 (+350) Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 90, Concentration Lv 90 Spells: Acidic Bullet Lv 130, Acidic Explosion Lv 150, Corrosive Touch Lv 120, Acid Rain Lv 150 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 120, Cold Resistance Lv 120, Earth Resistance Lv 120 After checking their statuses, Ryan noticed that they became bosses. To think that monsters could do that¡­ Regardless, soon after the light disappeared, the monsters jumped into theke. "So, they are there, huh," Ryan smirked. Chapter 286 - Unpleasant Surprise After thinking for a while, Ryan noticed that the Jellyfish and the smiles were pretty simr. Although he never saw that, it wouldn''t surprise him if the slimes can also absorb each other and be a slime boss. Putting such thoughts aside, Ryan was nning to explode theke with his Power Shot. Since the monsters were underwater, it was the only thing he could do. However, he will have to charge for several seconds because he couldn''t use Paralyzing Spear. If Ryan uses it, the weapon will definitely break since he was nning to charge his attack for like fifteen minutes. "I don''t have any other choice since things might get messy if too many of them survive, and they use Acid Rain," Ryan nodded to himself. "I might be able to survive the attack by using Earth Maniption, but even so, that willpletely destroy this whole area." It would be too much of a waste to see that ce get destroyed. Besides, Ryan wanted to level up Power Shot as much as possible, and there were no better conditions to do that aside from charging the skill for a long time and then hitting several clustered high-level monsters. "Just you wait, fucking bitch," Ryan smirked, imagining his attack exploding Lilith to pieces. "The next time I see you, I will make my most powerful attack explode your ass¡­ why did I say that?" Ryan shook his head to focus and then started to concentrate. Although the chances of him missing the targets were zero, there is no telling what might happens once the fight starts, so the perfect moment to enter in the battle mode was now. Ryan started to charge his attack, and as expected, after ten minutes, his crossbow began to lose a lot of durabilities. Ryan used Repair, but in the end, he couldn''t help but feel a bit annoyed since he wanted to use his mana to recover as much stamina as possible. Eventually, even Ryan began to suffer damage when his Power Shot reached the level in which he wanted. There was too much energy infused in a single crossbow, and the energy was starting to dissipate thanks to that¡­ unfortunately, it looked like that was Ryan''s limit. "Shit¡­ a lot of this power will also be absorbed by the water," Ryan sighed. "Well, it can''t be helped¡­" When Ryan fired, his body was sent flying backward while spinning at terrific speeds. In the end, he almost passed out since the force of the attack had been insane. Still, he recovered in time to see thatke getting hit and creating a hole in the water for a few moments. After that, a huge cloud of steam flew upward. You obtained 1900 coins. You obtained 1900 coins. You obtained 1900 coins. ¡­ They really were low-level creatures. At best, Ryan will find a tier-two dungeon inside theke. Regardless, a good part of his attack made the water evaporate, and the impact caused a tsunami that spread the remaining water. Ryan couldn''t help but frown since he didn''t think his attack had that much firepower. But in the end, everything became clear¡­ thousands of those massive beasts were lying at the bottom of theke, and they had consumed most of the water. What Ryan saw before was just a few meters wideyers of water. "This is worse than I thought¡­" Ryan frowned. Ryan had no idea how many he killed with that attack, but many of the Elder Jellyfish were still alive. From a safe distance, he began to fire his poisoned bolts, and he resumed the killing. However, at the same time, the monsters also fired the Acid Bullets toward him¡­ somehow, they had the same range as for Ryan. "You have got to be kidding me," Ryan said. Although Ryan could see the projectiles that would and wouldn''t hit him, it was the first time that he found a creature that could attack him from one kilometer away. Moreover, they could attack while they moved toward him. Immediately, Ryan sent his army of golems toward the beasts. It seemed like while he stays on the ground level, the bosses won''t try to fly high, and his assumptions were correct. Eventually, his five hundred golems intercepted the monsters and slowed them down. However, when the bosses died, their corrosive liquid damaged quite a lot, even the golems. "I can''t use Power Shot¡­ my golems will get caught in the damage," Ryan said. "Let''s see if those monsters are smarter than the ordinary ones." Ryan made poisoned bolts rain down on the bosses until hisst golem fell. Theysted only for a couple of minutes, but Ryan killed many times more bosses than golems fell. Even so, he didn''t have any other choice but to retreat when Acid Bullets started to rain down around here. "Let''s go, Furball," Ryan said. "It is time for more kitting." While running, Ryan made sure to keep the distance between him and the monsters. Even while running and firing, he was faster, but if he gains some distance, the bosses might get impatient and use Acid Rain. They didn''t look like creatures that could show suchplicated emotions, but no one could tell. Ryan ran around the emptyke, hoping that the monsters would keep chasing him like stupid unicellr creatures. They did it for a while, but eventually, they understood what Ryan was nning. The bosses stopped moving and just pointed their bodies upward. As if they were machines that were connected by the sameputer, they started to spit acid upwards much faster than any machine-gun. The inevitable happened, but Ryan made sure to y dozens of the bosses before the effects of Acid Rain could finally take ce. Flying above the attack''s range will only make Ryan spend too much mana, so he only created a hole with Earth Maniption and then disappeared from the bosses'' sight. If that n would work or not, not even Ryan could tell. Chapter 287 - Seal Tome The smell of ground and vegetation was getting quite intense even while Ryan and Furball were underground, so he hurried to find the exit. Much faster than he had expected, Ryan and Furball reached the emptyke, and at the center of it, a few kilometers away from their position, they saw the dungeon. Ryan smirked, but then the smirk disappeared when some acid droplets fell on his shoulders. The massive scope of Acid Rain was quite troublesome¡­ Ryan and Furball hurried to the dungeon, and even though they tried to be as quiet as possible, the bosses eventually discovered what Ryan was nning. The Acid Rain lost a lot of power, and then Acid Bullets started to be fired toward them. "Toote for that," Ryan said, and then he entered the dungeon. Although Ryan used some potions, his stock still was at a pretty decent level. He headed toward the dungeon because he would limit the Jellyfish attacks'' range and if they are stupid enough to enter the dungeon¡­ Ryan will explode them all. "Go y with the monsters that will spawn," Ryan said to Furball. "Attack them before they attack you¡­ I guess I didn''t have to say something so obvious." Furball barked and then headed toward the end of the dungeon. Ryan could tell thanks to Radar that the ce was empty, so his new partner won''t have a lot of troublepleting his mission. A bit sooner than Ryan had predicted, the bosses showed up, and much to Ryan''s disappointment, they really tried to enter the dungeon. Their level of intelligence was really low¡­ Regardless, Ryan bombarded the monsters with Thunder Arrow and his poisoned bolts. In the blink of an eye, they started to die in the droves. However, there was one problem¡­ Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up! When the monsters died, their bodies exploded into acidic liquid everything around it started to melt. The smell was quite intense, to the point where Ryan barely could stop his eyes from spinning. "I guess breathing toxic gas is another way of getting poisoned¡­" Ryan said and then jumped backward to avoid the gas. Although the smell seemed dangerous, the bosses had be easy prey for Ryan. They looked really desperate for some reason¡­ as if they wanted to prevent Ryan from using the purple crystal. Regardless, Ryan used that chance to keep attacking them without a care. Eventually, Ryan was forced to use Wind Maniption to prevent the dungeon from getting filled by that toxic air. Ryan''s consumption of mana increased, but not to the point where things gotplicated. He still had some mana potions stored, after all. In the end¡­ that fight had only been mentally tiring because Ryan had to kill the monsters one by one. The fight ended around noon, and after cleaning the dungeon''s air, Ryan permitted himself to lie his back against the dungeon''s wall. "That was more¡­ tiring than I expected," Ryan sighed. Ryan still had a lot more of tiring things to do, like collect and organizing the loot between the things that he could sell and the things he could use Deconstruction. Although that was also enjoyable¡­ "Regardless, to think that I reached a point where I can defeat tier two bosses in a few seconds," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "All that hard work finally paid off." There was no mistaking that Ryan had came a long way, but he wasn''t satisfied yet. In any case, instead of thinking about things like that, Ryan hurried to finish that job. Since the monsters were only tier two, they didn''t drop anything worthwhile. In the end, Ryan sold most of the things. However, now he had more than eleven million coins. "Aside from this fight, thest few days have been kind of slow," Ryan said. "I guess I should use this chance to learn some useful skill and make it level up." The normal choice would be to learn some elemental creation finally, but Ryan wasn''t quite sure if he would be able to implement that to increase his firepower. Even if he could, there was no telling if using mana to add some elemental property to his attacks would be more efficient than using mana to restore his stamina and thus make his Power Shot be charged for longer. "Mmm¡­ maybe I should see if there are some tomes that can teach me how to enchant my weapons with acid," Ryan nodded to himself while rubbing his chin. "While some skills and weapons have the effect of decreasing status, most of them can''t also cause damage like acid." Although they were only tiered two monsters, the Jellyfish caused Ryan a lot of trouble. To the point where Ryan considered learning from them. Besides, if he finds another enemy that causes that kind of skill, things will work better for him since he will have the chance to increase his resistance to those attacks. "Here is¡­ Lesser Acidic Enchantment," Ryan said. "One hundred thousand coins, it isn''t so bad, but¡­ holy crap, the advanced versions of the skill cost ten times more." Ryan could buy Minor Acidic Enchantment and Acidic Enchantment. They cost one million and ten million coins respectively. That was insane¡­ most likely, if there was some sort of High Acidic Enchantment, it will cost him one hundred million coins. "There is no way I will spend so many coins in a skill that consumes mana," Ryan shrugged. "Wait a minute¡­ what is this?" Seal Tome Effect: It grants you the power to seal the defeated foes'' soul in items and grant them special attributes and effects. Cost: 50 mana Price: 10.000.000 coins. Maybe spending so many coins on active skills wasn''t a waste of time and coins, but then that tome made Ryan recall that Katelyn had that power, but she didn''t say that her skill could do something like that. Did she lie? Why? There was a chance that Ryan brought someone very dangerous to the base¡­ Chapter 288 - Class: Enchanter Ryan learned the skill as fast as possible, but instead of testing it to see the limitations of it and confirm if Katelyn lied or not, he decided to alert Mark. With Alissa''s help, he will be able to determine if she was a threat or not. "Ryan? I didn''t expect you would call us back?" Mark said after epting the call. "Did something happen?" "I just learned a certain skill which made me wonder if Katelyn lied or not to me before," Ryan said. "You should ask Alissa to check things on her." "Ah¡­ about that," Mark said. "Katelin exined to me her powers. She also told me that she hid something from you. She confessed to me that it was because she was too embarrassed to say that she lied since you helped her and the kids so much." "Is that so¡­" Ryan frowned. "Well, if you think that she told the truth, then it is fine, but you have any doubt in your mind, you should ask Alissa for help." "Rest assured, I already confirmed with Alissa what that spell could do," Mark said. "Basically, it grants Katelyn the power to upgrade certain weapons, but she needs the right materials like the spirits of monsters. She obtained a magic weapon, and she upgraded it several times until she lost when she fought a dragon. Katelin herself can''t create magic items." That exined some things¡­ the doubts inside Ryan''s mind vanished. In any case, it looked like he would need other skills to upgrade his magic items, but he could create others with Seal. For some reason, he felt that something was off regarding that information¡­ Regardless, as long as Ryan defeats some bosses, he will be able to create some magic projectiles that may even surpass his Paralyzing Spear. After ending the call, Ryan headed toward the end of the dungeon. Since he was already there, it would be a waste not to get a ss after all that work. Regardless, alongside the treasure box, Ryan saw Furball licking the liquid that once had been the corpse of a Jellyfish¡­ it looked like the corrosive effects disappear after a while. By eating and drinking the corpses of ten Jellyfish, Furball could obtain one point in mana. That was nice, even though it wasn''t Ryan''s current objective for his pet. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Temr, Ninja, and Enchanter. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "As expected, those are tier two sses¡­ Still, for some, I feel like I saw those three options before. In any case, I already have the ninja ss, so I only have two options here¡­" While Ryan was interested in the Temr ss, that one would help him in any way to increase his powers. It was a melee ss, after all. As for the Enchanter ss, it looked like an improved version of the Elementalist ss. So, Ryan was expecting quite a bit when he chose that. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Enchanter! You obtained the following skills: Support, Fire Enchantment, and Ice Enchantment. Your intelligence and mana will increase by four points, your stamina, health, control, and recovery will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Support. Effect: it grants you the power to use buffs in your allies, even the buffs that originally couldn''t be used on others. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of fire. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence multiplied by the amount of time the spell stayed active. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Enchantment. Effect: Increases the power of your attacks by adding the properties of ice. The extra damage caused will be equal to your intelligence, and if your intelligence is higher than the targets'' mentality, you might freeze then by the amount of time the spell stayed active. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. The skills were a bit different than Ryan had imagined, but they will be useful. Even more to help Furball obtain a certain level of strength. Although it was a bit weird since those skills would help Ryan make his build more support-like, it wasn''t so bad since he could make his monsters stronger. "It is time to get going, buddy," Ryan said. "Is that even tasty? How can you keep licking it for so long?" After hearing Ryan''s orders, Furball followed him. Maybe he got tired of licking that weird liquid, or perhaps Ryan''s orders were really absolute. After they left the dungeon, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh¡­ not only was there an emptyke in the middle of a forest, but now the forest waspletely destroyed. The monsters really made a mess out of the things. Although that scene made Ryan a bit depressed, it didn''t make him stop from going South for even a second. He had fought by giving his best, and he tried to prevent that. So, his mind was at peace. "I guess it is time to make you a bit stronger for real, Furball," Ryan said while patting his head. "We have been traveling without hurrying, but if I had let you eat more along the way, perhaps you could have helped me prevent this. Don''t get carried away. I am not going to wait for you to catch up to me." After that, Furball barked. Ryan didn''t know if he had understood or not, but he assumed that he was only reacting to his words. After all, Ryan couldn''t even understand a single thing when Furball barks. Chapter 289 - Special Arrows Although Ryan took his time to kill the monsters he found along the way and barely reached a jogging speed, in the end, he crossed Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama in just a few days. He even gave Furball plenty of time to eat some monsters, but he progressed quite a bit despite that. Aside from the fact that Furball had grown strong and now he is big enough for Ryan to mount him, there was nothing to celebrate. Wherever he went, Ryan didn''t find a single living soul. Destroyed cities, abandoned towns, battlefields where monsters killed each other non-stop¡­ he only found that. "This is kind of hard to ept, but it looks like humanity has decreased to a few thousand," Ryan muttered. "At least here, in America." Ryan considered that, but in the end, he wanted to avoid that option, but it looks like he will have to check things on the other continents. If things weren''t better there¡­ "I shouldn''t think about this," Ryan shook his head. "My only goal is to exterminate as many monsters as possible and grow stronger and then kick the ass of those sons of a bitch." Although the deste world that Ryan could see so often was depressing, not everything was bad news. Ryan learned that Seal was much more useful than he thought. Although the items he could do were based on the quality of the weapon he makes and the skills'' level, they already were at the level of the drops tier two monsters could give him. The only downside was that Ryan could use Seal while the monsters are alive, so he had to beat them down only to a point. Explosive Arrow (Fire) Effect: When it hits the target, it causes an explosion in a radius of five meters, causing damage equal to your dexterity + your intelligence multiplied by five. Freezing Arrow (Ice) Effect: When it hits the target, it freezes anything around the target in a radius of five meters. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity + your intelligence multiplied by three. Those were some of the best results Ryan obtained. Although he couldn''t control the effects and buffs his magic items would have, now and then, Ryan would hit the jackpot. Creating expendable projectiles like that sometimes was a pain in the ass, but Ryan had a lot of fun while he was crafting an amulet using Earth Maniption and Transformation. Maybe ny-nine percent of the magic items he produces will be useless to him, but they still could be sold. So, there was no downside in keeping leveling up Seal. "The trick for this will be to seal the soul of a dragon in a weapon," Ryan nodded to himself. "That will be easier said than done. First, I will have to cut off their limbs and destroy their wings¡­ while preventing them from dying due to the bleed¡­" It was kind of tiring work, but as long as Ryan obtains magic items like his Paralyzing Spear and Frozen Gauntlets, it would be worth the hassle. In any case, Ryan also made a mental note to learn someday the skill that Katelyn has. Creating magic weapons wasn''t enough. He had to upgrade them. Just imagining himself upgrading the same arrow again and again to multiply the power of his Power Shot was enough to put arge smile on Ryan''s face. "In any case¡­ Colombia, huh," Ryan nodded to himself while looking around. "I finally reached South America, and some countries here are prettyrge, so I guess I should pay attention to my surroundings." Unlike some movies could make most people think, South America wasn''t exactly a big jungle. Sure, there was a lot of green, but there was plenty of civilization, or one day had. Right now, Ryan could only find destroyed roads and burned-down cities. However, after walking for just a couple of minutes, Ryan heard some explosions in the distance and gunshots. "Gunshots?" Ryan frowned. "There are still people who use those?" Ryan couldn''t understand why some survivors would use guns after such a long time. It was weird. After all, Ryan learned his first spell on the first day, which could cause much more damage than a handgun. "Let''s fly a little and see things from a distance," Ryan said after crossing his arms. Using Telekinesis, Ryan started to levitate, and after looking at East, he found a small battlefield. Some survivors were fighting against another group of survivors. The first one was protecting a dungeon, while the second was trying to cause some damage by using hit and run tactics. "Yep, nothing to see here," Ryan shrugged. "Let''s keep heading South, Furball. I would rather not get involved with idiots who want to kill each other when our numbers are already too scarce." Although it was a pity to know that some humans were killing each other, Ryan didn''t have to risk his neck to stop those conflicts. Even if he solves them, idiots can easily find other ways to get them killed. "I need to make another mental note. I need to learn the skill that will let me read minds," Ryan said to himself. "Once that happens, collecting Intel will be much easier." Although Ryanined that Alissa did that, it was different. He wouldn''t try to read others'' minds to know what others think of him and use that to his advantage. He would use it to get some advantage in other aspects. Ryan headed South and saw that scene repeat a few more times. Apparently, the country survivors were divided into two groups, and they were fighting probably to get more sses and eventually overthrow the other group. At first, Ryan decided to ignore them. However, on one of those battlefields, a green dragon suddenly appeared and started to attack a group that was defending the dungeon. When Ryan used Appraisal, he learned that he was a human who had a dragon spirit. Chapter 290 - Dark Knight Garr ss: Swordsman Lv 45 / Conjurer Lv 35 / Dark Knight Lv 45 Race: Lesser Dragon /--/-- Rank: 307th Health: 750 (+ 65.000) Mana: 900 (+ 65.000) Stamina: 800 (+ 65.000) Strength: 500 (+ 5.500) Dexterity: 300 (+ 5.600) Speed: 400 (+ 2.200) Intelligence: 350 (+ 1.500) Endurance: 500 (+ 4.600) Control: 200 (+ 3.100) Mentality: 350 (+ 5.500) Luck: 100 (+ 3.700) Recovery: 100 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 1000 (+ 5.500) Coins: 55.963 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Wind sh Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 150, Awareness Lv 150 Spells: Tornado Lv 120, Revitalize Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 200, Wind Resistance Lv 150, Electric Resistance Lv 150 As if it wasn''t enough that the man had the backing of a dragon. He also had an interesting ss. It looked like he managed to subdue tier-three dungeons, but unlike Hector, that guy decided to work with some humans. "Shit¡­ me and my curiosity," Ryan clicked his tongue. The moment Ryan used Appraisal, the dragon noticed his presence. To think that the creature would have Awareness¡­ well, Alissa had many skills, so that wasn''t surprising. Ryan just will have to be careful in the future. Running away from that kind of foe would only cause problems in the long run, so Ryan began to charge a Power Shot. However, much to his surprise, the dragon slowly approached him. In the end, the monster stopped when it was five hundred meters away from Ryan. He was dead wrong if he thought that he could dodge Ryan''s attack at that distance. "Hello, are you American?" The man asked using Telepathy. "You used Appraisal and saw my name, huh," Ryan said. "You are correct." "Oh, it is the first time I see someone from so far away since the monsters appeared," The man said with an excited tone. "Can we talk about the things you found along the way?" "Sorry, I don''t give information for free," Ryan replied. "I am sure we can trade a lot of Intel," the man said. "I can see you cleared some high-level dungeons, and I believe you want to find more of them, right? I can help you with that, but negotiating is kind of hard when you are charging such a fearsome attack." "Yes, and I am sure you need that appearance to negotiating," Ryan said. "You got me there. My name is Lucas," the man said. "Wait for a few minutes, I will tell my friends here to retreat, and then I wille back to talk in my human form. I hope that you will be ready to talk as well." Lucas retreated, and Ryan considered his options, continuing to charge his attack and kill Lucas in cold blood because he had the spirit of a dragon or y along with him in order to get a new tier, three ss. If he chooses the second option, he will have to free his mind from all sorts of violent thoughts because a fight might break out at any moment if he discovers that Ryan wants to kill all dragons. "What a pain¡­" Ryan sighed. "Starting the fight when the other side made it clear that he wants to talk will cause a lot of problems¡­ then again, this might be a trap in order to make me drop my guard. Orgar is different from the other dragons, so there is a chance that this one might be different as well¡­ what to do?" Although it was a dangerous code to live by in such a world, Ryan has no intention of killing a human if the other side doesn''t pick a fight first. So, in the end, he decided to cancel Power Shot. However, he put the few explosive arrows that he had on his back. If the worstes to the worst, he will have to fire then with Telekinesis, but it should cause some damage even against someone who can transform into a dragon. After a few minutes, Lucas really returned in his human form. He was just a blonde guy that had slightly long hair and green eyes. He also seemed to be around Ryan''s age, and he looked pretty friendly with a small smile on his face. "Sorry for reading your mind before," Lucas said. "But I learned that using such skilles in handy when finding new survivors when the world is in this kind of state." "No problem," Ryan said. "You must be wondering why humans are fighting against humans here," Lucas forced a smile and spoke. "Unfortunately, I don''t have a good exnation to give to you. Some people just think that they can do whatever they want just because they obtained some power." Ryan wasn''t really interested in the subject. Regardless, he decided to implement his tactic to counter mind reading. The same thing that he used on Alissa wouldn''t work, so Ryan decided to imagine Lucas enduring a session of masochism. That would bother most men. However, Ryan was also suffering a lot of damage by imagining that. In the end, he didn''t notice any change in Lucas. However, Ryan couldn''t rx since the dragon inside him could use mind-reading and report the things he learned to Lucaster. "You don''t have to exin anything to me. As long as you give the location of the tier three dungeon and permit me to enter, I can answer your questions," Ryan said while looking around. Ryan was nning to answer, but telling the truth was another matter altogether. Until the veryst moment, Ryan was determined not to trust in anyone, much less those who were extremely friendly. "Sure, it is about time for me to kill the boss of that ce together if you want," Lucas said. "Thank you for your consideration," Ryan said. "You can lead the way then." Lucas nodded, and then they began to walk toward somece Northeast of their current position. Ryan wasn''t good at hiding bus thoughts and feelings, so he decided to be as neutral as possible in order to prevent his actions and words from being analyzed by others. Chapter 291 - Ghosts Although they had to fly for a while to reach the dungeon, Lucas mentioned, thanks to that, Ryan had the chance to see several camps along the way, and all of them were in front of some sort of dungeon. Ryan used Appraisal to check their sses, but he didn''t find anything new. "Your crossbow looks pretty powerful, Ryan, "Lucas said while looking at the weapon full of interest. "Did you get it by clearing a dungeon in which you got one of those powerful sses?" "No, I obtained this when I killed a dragon that attacked me," Ryan replied. The secret to lie well was to tell half-truths. Ryan didn''t lie, but he also didn''t tell Lucas that he obtained the crossbows when he killed someone like him. Regardless, despite the fact that those guys were trying to kill some humans a few minutes ago, the survivors that fought alongside Lucas greeted him and barely frowned while looking at Ryan. Weirdly enough, they seemed pretty used to visitors. "By killing a dragon, huh," Lucas said. "You are quite insane; most people would trust to run at first sight instead of fighting." "I tried, but the monster did not let me escape," Ryan added. "It also looks like you got an interesting skill. Not only can you transform into a dragon, but your status also skyrocketed in that form." "You probably don''t know this, but some people make contracts with dragons to obtain their power and cooperation," Lucas said. "Considering your statuses, it surprises me that none of them tried to negotiate with you." "Yeah, I don''t think most of them would negotiate with their lunch," Ryan said. "Not all dragons are like that, you know," Lucas said. "They are beings just like us, but since their power is too great, most of them just sees us as insects." Things were starting to get weird. If Lucas really were nning something, he wouldn''t tell Ryan those things. Unless he was talking with his dragon and the monster was telling everything that Ryan knew. Come to think of it, Ryan didn''t know the limits of the dragons'' mind-reading skills. Could they read just his mind, or could they ess old memories? If the second option was the correct one, Ryan was wasting his time by pretending that he didn''t know certain things. "Well, there is an exception to every rule," Ryan said. "Regardless, can you tell me a few things about this dungeon?" "Sure," Lucas smiled. "Since the dungeon appeared, my friends and I managed to clear it before the dungeon breaks, so the level of difficulty of the ce is reasonable, and it can even bepared to weaker dungeons. However, the monsters are a bit troublesome with their set of skills and nature of their bodies¡­ they are ghosts." "I can imagine¡­ physical attacks don''t work on them, right?" Ryan asked. "Yes, although your crossbow can probably work on them, I wouldn''t bet too much on the poisonous effect," Lucas said. "They specialize in cursing their targets and poisoning them as well. Hence, they have high resistance against negative effects such as curse and poison." Curses¡­ Ryan could imagine how troublesome those could be. It looked kind of scary to be cursed by a ghost, even though it was evident that the negative effect would disappear over time. Ryan had Purification, but the skill was at a low-level since he was a ranged fighter. "Well, you don''t need to worry too much about it," Lucas smiled confidently. "I can clear the dungeon by myself just fine, and with your help, I bet it will be a cinch." Lucas''s behavior made Ryan even more suspicious, but he couldn''t feel any maliceing from him weirdly enough. He was either a really nice guy despite the fact that he was fighting against other humans, or he was a maniac who was very good at fooling others with his actions and calm demeanor. Regardless, Ryan discovered that Lucas camps had at least one thousand survivors thanks to the long trip. Although everyone treated him like the leader, he wasn''t the type to give orders often, and people feelfortable at cracking jokes when he appeared and patted their back. It was truly weird¡­ In any case, after a few hours, they finally reached the dungeon Lucas had mentioned, and it was pretty close to the destroyed capital of the country. Although only six ghosts were spawning every ten minutes, four groups of six survivors were guarding the entrance. "Hey, guys," Lucas said while wavering his hands at the survivors around. "I came today again to do your job." The survivorsughed when they heard that. While Lucas was greeting his friends, Ryan looked around and saw some workshops where the survivors repaired their gear, some tents in which they used to sleep, and some boxes filled with a strange semi-transparent slimy liquid. "Those are the bodies of the ghosts. They be like that once they die," Lucas exined. "We call it ectosm, and fortunately, we can use it to attack and make monsters suffer from the same negative effects the ghosts can cause." "Really?" Ryan frowned. "That is convenient." "At the same time, the liquid can cause negative effects if we touch them recklessly," Lucas said. "It is really unpleasant, but if you want to increase your resistance against it, you will have to endure it." While Ryan was interested in that, he wouldn''t do it while unknown individuals surrounded him. Call him paranoid, but Ryan will never trust someone that easily again. Those who were overly friendly¡­ especially those, he will make sure to keep several steps away from them. "If you have some tracking skills that work in a wide area, I would advise you to keep it active," Lucas said. "Ghosts can''t leave the dungeon until they reach the entrance, but they can hide in the walls and the ground. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, those skills are absolutely necessary." ss: Hunter Lv 63 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 (+ 02 UP)/ Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 249th Health: 834 /834 (3,19/s) Mana: 1661/1661 (3,19/s) Stamina: 1296/1296 (3,19/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1450 (+1095) (+82) Speed: 85 (+499) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+513) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+130) Control: 06 (+521) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+991) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 1.296.588 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 81 (+ 04 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 63 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 63 (+ 05 UP), Archery Lv 63 (+ 05 UP), uracy Lv 63 (+ 05 UP), Stealth Lv 46 (+ 04 UP), Awareness Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Support Lv 01 Spells: Summon Warg Lv 21 (+ 20 UP), Seal Lv 01, Fire Enchantment Lv 01, Ice Enchantment Lv 01, Support Skills: Acid Resistance Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 54 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 55 (+ 03 UP), Summoner Lv 32 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 37 (+ 03 UP), Sorcerer Lv 24 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 29 (+ 04 UP), Weapons Master Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 05 (+ 03 UP), Enchanter Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur Chapter 292 - Cursed Touch Ryan had a lot of potions on his ring, but he had some on his backpack as well. He didn''t expect to find any survivors, but be prepared for that situation, so he still had his backpack. After all, people would find it weird to see someone crossing the continent with the clothes on his body alone and a single monster at his side. "If you are ready, let''s get going," Lucas said. "It is gettingte, and I don''t like to fight at night." After saying that, Lucas made a green sword appear out of nowhere. Since it looked like his dragon had the wind attribute, it wasn''t that surprising, but if it were him, Ryan would use a fire sword and then boost its power with the dragon''s wind magic. "Pretty cool, huh," Lucas smirked. "Just look at this." When a ghost left the dungeon, Lucas swung his sword and made the creature explode with a powerful gush of wind when the monster tried to hide underground. As if that wasn''t enough, even though the attack had only the purpose of making the monster explode, it created a small crater on the ground. Ghosts were a bit different than Ryan had expected. They didn''t have faces or anything human-like. They were just a slimy thing flowing around with their semi-transparent body. "Pretty cool," Ryan nodded, visibly impressed. "If you can charge more mana in such attacks, such a weapon woulde in handy in many situations." "Hehehe, in fact, I can do that," Lucas stuffed his chest pridefully. "It must be nice to have such a weapon, even while you grow much stronger, as long as it can do that, the weapon will remain useful," Ryan said. "Well, enough talking, let''s finish this," Lucas said. Although some people frowned when they saw a strange with their leader, none of them did anything suspicious. Ryan confirmed that since kept Radar active since the very moment Lucas mentioned the ability of the ghosts. In any case, soon after, a new ghost appeared, and this time, Ryan didn''t lose the chance to kill the creature and use Appraisal at the same time. As expected, the poison was close to useless against those creatures, but since his weapon had such enchantment effect, he could damage those creatures and make them explode with just a few bolts. Ghost ¨C Lv 90 Health: 1.800/1.800 Mana: 1.800/1.800 Stamina: 800/800 Strength: 200 (+ 50) Dexterity: 300 (+ 200) Speed: 300 (+ 200) Intelligence: 850 (+ 150) Endurance: 150 (+ 50) Control: 200 (+ 100) Mentality: 550 (+ 150) Luck: 10 0(+ 70) Recovery: 500 (+ 200) Willpower: 500 (+ 200) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Cursed Touch Lv 90 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 50, Concentration Lv 50 Spells: Mental Pain Lv 120, Lesser Intangibility Lv 120 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50, Wind Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50 You obtained 100 coins. "You are better than I expected," Lucas nodded, impressed. "I had barely seen the monster in the darkness when you killed. What eyesight, huh." "I am used at fighting at night," Ryan said. "Really? I hate to fight at night. Even my shadow scares me," Lucas showed an awkward smile. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the dungeon led them downwards for quite a bit. At some point, it felt like they were in a spiral staircase since they kept moving to the left side. That being said, Lucas acted as if it was something normal. "About the boss of this dungeon," Lucas said with a serious expression on his face. "While that thing isn''t much study, it is several times more difficult than the normal ghosts. In essence, it was just a mixed version of dozens of them, but you shouldn''t lower your guard. I don''t at which level your Curse Resistance is, but depending on the level, you might lose your senses if that thing touches." Ryan was starting to get spooky as well, even though he didn''t show that on his face¡­ facing such an enemy in a confined space seemed like a bad idea, but as long as Ryan used sh, it should be fine. Or, Ryan could just do his usual thing¡­ When they finally reached thest part of the dungeon, Ryan stopped, making Lucas frown. He thought that Ryan got scared, but he changed his mind when he saw him charging Power Shot. "Do you want to attack from here?" Lucas frowned showing an expression of disbelief. "Is that even possible?" "I already did that," Ryan replied. Ryan used Appraisal and confirmed the status of the boss. That creature was just like the other ghosts, a mass of a weird semi-transparent liquid that didn''t have a face, limbs, or anything that could make anyone think of that as a living creature. Lucas found it weird for someone trying to snipe a boss monster inside a dungeon. He never thought of doing that or never heard anyone doing something simr. However, in the end, Ryan managed to kill the boss and clear the dungeon after charging his Power Shot for thirty seconds¡­ You obtained 8000 coins. "Hahahaha," Lucasughed without holding back. "To think that such a thing is possible¡­ that is so amazing as it is funny. Well, I doubt that many people would be able to pull that off." "Sorry, I monopolized the coins," Ryan said. "It looks like the boss dropped something; you can keep it." "Nah, I don''t mind," Lucas said. "You just gave me a valuable piece of information, after all." Once again, Ryan couldn''t help but find it weird that Lucas was too nice. That being said, it didn''t look like he or his friends were in dire need of equipment. Instead of thinking about when he was going to be backstabbed, Ryan decided to assume a more neutral way of thinking. He wasn''t traveling around to make friends, but he could make human enemies left and right by being overly cautious and sometimes unpleasant. Despite deciding that, Ryan hesitated a little bit in showing his back to Lucas while he selects his next ss. Still, since Radar was still active, he wouldn''t get caught off guard. Chapter 293 - Class: Demon Hunter Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Corrupted Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "I didn''t choose this ss before while the Death Knight ss interests me. I can''t stand away from the path I choose just because of my curiosity. As long as I focus on my strengths and keep growing stronger, I won''t have to worry about the power of my enemies." Regardless, it looked like from that point onward, Ryan will find many sses that are directly rted to the sses he already saw before. That made sense, and it was a good sign because survivors would be able to be specialists at certain things like hunting demons or producing potions and crafting weapons. However, Ryan couldn''t deny the fact that currently, at least in America, people needed to focus more on survival since their numbers were already too small. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Demon Hunter! You obtained the following skills: Night Hunting, Hunter Specialization, and Corruption Sense. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Night Hunting. Effect: It increases all of your statuses by two points per level when fighting against demons. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hunter Specialization. Effect: It increases the coins obtained when hunting demons by two percent per level when killing demons. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Corruption Sense Effect: It grants you the power to sense the corruption caused by the demons in a certain range around you. The range is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by one hundred meters. You obtained 01 status point. While the ss wasn''t that bad, Ryan couldn''t help but frown since those were passive skills that only would be useful when hunting demons. Those certainly will help Ryan when he fights against Baal, Lilith, and their army of demons, but defeating them was one of many goals he had. "Well, whatever¡­ leveling up this ss will be pretty easy once I find a dungeon that spawns demons and hasn''t been cleared yet." Since its effects were only useful against demons, Ryan was certain that the ss would also level up much faster while hunting demons as well. Otherwise, it wouldn''t make sense for the ss to be a tier three-ss¡­ even though Ryan cleared the dungeon without having a hard time. "Are you ready to leave?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, let''s get going," Ryan said. "I am not going to ask you about your goal," Lucas said. "But I would like to ask you to stay with us tonight. I have many questions to ask about other countries'' situations since I didn''t have the opportunity to leave this ce. I don''t want to leave my friends behind, after all. Nor do I want to leave my country in the hands of monsters." "I guess that is fine¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I owe you at least that much." "Great, at times like these, we can''t rush while collecting intel," Lucas said. "Besides, the days have been more and more tiring, so taking easy now and then is pretty much necessary." Although he had the powers to create a decent house with magic alone, Lucas had an ordinary tent like his friends. After the sunset, everyone sat around a bonfire, and they started to pay attention to what Ryan said. Although he asked in detail about the things Ryan saw on his path, he never asked a lot about his country for obvious reasons. Or perhaps he was cautious since it would be suspicious to ask about how vulnerably Ryan''s home country was. In the end, Ryan decided to talk about almost everything he knew regarding the countries in Central America since he didn''t learn all that much anyway. As for Gonzales and his friends, Ryan kept quiet about them. They more or less helped him, and Ryan didn''t have any intention of putting them in an unfavorable situation by talking about them and their country. "It looks like the situation is pretty much the same everywhere," Lucas said. "Still, it is kind of surprising that you would leave your country. You must have your reasons, but it surprises me that someone like you could do that just to search for power." "It was necessary. I got my ass kicked several times, after all," Ryan shrugged. "I can''t rely on luck alone to keep surviving in this crazy situation." "That I can understand. Before Garr decided to help me, I suffered a lot," Lucas nodded. "Anyway, even though there is a certain difference in status, I think the difference in strength isn''t that far apart. Things were that bad in your home country?" "I believe that we avoided the worst-case scenario," Ryan said. "However, there are some types of enemies out there that require our attention. Those enemies can even face dragons." "Ah¡­ so you met those guys," Lucas furrowed his eyebrow. "Garr mentioned some creatures that could give problem even to him, and that was what convinced me to join forces with him. However, I never met them." "Well, you have been lucky then," Ryan said. "I found some of them, and I can say that I barely survived those encounters. Even now, I feel like I can''t properly face them. Besides, just like us, they can keep increasing their strength, so this is a race in which the people from Earth started with a massive disadvantage." Lucas nodded at that in silence. Apparently, he heard some things from Garr, but he didn''t expect things could be that bad¡­ things were going well for him and his friends, but they needed more. Chapter 294 - More Gunshots In the end, Lucas and his friends didn''t say or do anything suspicious, and after a quick breakfast the next morning, Ryan left their camp and headed south. "I wish you luck on your journey, Ryan," Lucas waved his right hand. "If you find some of those dungeons, you should return hereter and sell me the location of those." "I will do that," Ryan said, and then he began to run alongside Furball. Although he said that, Ryan probably would nevere back to talk with Lucas. It wasn''t like Ryan thinks that he is always right, but Lucas''s predictions werepletely off the mark. He was too friendly given the power and influence he had over hundreds of survivors, not to mention his real power since he had a dragons'' backing. "You stayed quiet the whole time, Garr," Lucas said. "I didn''t think you were that shy." "If I don''t have a reason to talk, I won''t open my mouth. Talking with you is already troublesome enough, and I am tired of troublesome humans such as you and him." "You really read his mind, huh," Lucas sighed. "You are so helpless¡­" "And you are utterly na?ve. Although that man didn''t lie to you, he didn''t say everything he knew." "Isn''t that a given?" Lucas frowned. "I also hid several pieces of information about him, information that would put the people of my country in a tight spot. He probably did the same." "Maybe, but I can tell that he didn''t trust you until the veryst moment¡­ ah, he did lie. When he said that he woulde back to sell information, he was lying. Just like me, he can''t stand goody two shoe idiots like you." "I would like to think that Ryan isn''t that cold," Lucas said. "Still, even though I asked that, we can''t leave the country until we stabilize the situation with those guys that betrayed us." "Just wipe them out already." "I want to avoid that. I don''t want to turn them into my ves either," Lucas said. "This is getting tired, but eventually, they will understand that we could have killed them a long time ago, and then they will join our side." "Your naivety someday will kill you¡­" ----- ----- Ryan hurried to leave Colombia since a good part of the territory was under Lucas'' control, and he didn''t have many chances to fight. Besides, Lucas was also a bit troublesome, so Ryan wanted to forget about him as fast as possible. "Although a difficult, right, Furball?" Ryan asked. "He isn''t as nearly as annoying as Daniel, but his friendliness gave me goosebumps. In the apocalypse, you can''t be that nice. You can only a normal guy like me or a total asshole." Although Ryan was going too far with hismentaries, it didn''t change the fact that he found Lucas''s behavior odd. Regardless, after running for several hours, Ryan eventually reached the next country: Ecuador. That being said, he didn''t find anything in there aside from a destroyed country. As usual, the monsters were running around as if they were the owners of the ce while killing each other. Ryan decided to clean the ce a little bit. He found a problem¡­ he found some golems in there, and his own summoned monsters were weaker inparison. It was a pity, but Ryan will have to leave them behind and focuses on killing the other creatures. "Wait a minute¡­" Ryan frowned. "Can you eat them, Furball? The golems?" Ryan didn''t want to make his pet eat in rock, but he knew that the golems had a core where their mana was stored. He was wondering if Furball could eat. Furball barked, and when Ryan killed a golem, he looked for the pieces of the core and began to ate¡­ it looked kind of weird since the core was like shattering ss. However, Furball''s endurance increased. "I guess this is the ce in which we are going to transform you into a decent tank, Furball," Ryan said. "Let''s just hope you won''t get tired of eating the cores." Although it had been a troublesome job since the monsters had spread around the country, Ryan killed thousands of them because he truly wanted to make Furball sturdier and because he also needed more coins. With seventeen million coins, he didn''t find the skill Katelyn mentioned on the dungeon shop, so it was obvious that he would need more coins¡­ or at the very least, Ryan will have to clear more difficult dungeons. Furball Health: 325/325 Mana: 552/552 Stamina: 519/419 Strength: 360 Dexterity: 302 Speed: 359 Intelligence: 220 Endurance: 682 Control: 251 Mentality: 250 Luck: 120 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 210 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 35, Scratch Lv 30, Charge Lv 50, Dash Lv 60 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 30, Quick Legs Lv 20 Spells: Meditation Lv 29, Fireball Lv 15 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 25, Cold Resistance Lv 25, Electric Resistance Lv 25, Earth Resistance Lv 25 After helping Furball for five days non-stop, those were the results. Endurance had skyrocketed as expected, but while that was good, Ryan couldn''t help but think that his pet was getting too strong too fast. While in games, low-level yers can level up much faster than usual when someone high-leveled helped them, Ryan wasn''t living a game. It was reality¡­ "It looks like you are going to be a fearsome beast even more impressive than I had envisioned," Ryan said to Furball while he patted his head. "Regardless, it was time to move on. Let''s see what we will find on the next country." Although it felt like Ryan was progressing too fast, Ryan himself felt like things weren''t going as fast as he had nned¡­ probably because things were pretty boring as ofte. Still,ining about that was dangerous, but knowing his luck, even thinking about that, Ryan considered it dangerous. It didn''t take long for Ryan to find something unusual in Peru. The number of monsters was low, and that had a reason. Some survivors could be found there¡­ alongside many gunshots. Chapter 295 - MADNESS "More people killing each other, huh¡­" Ryan sighed. "This time, I will make sure to keep my distance to avoid finding more people like Lucas." Although he said that, Ryan couldn''t just ignore those conflicts. Since he was one hundred percent sure the fights would take ce near dungeons, he had to check them in order to confirm if there was a tier-three dungeon somewhere. However, when Ryan started to fly using Telekinesis, he already found something weird¡­ some humans were indeed fighting while protecting a dungeon. Still, only one side had guns, and the humans on the other side¡­ they looked weird. Pedro (MADNESS) Health: 2.000/2.000 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 2.000/2.000 Strength: 400 Dexterity: 400 Speed: 400 Intelligence: 400 Endurance: 400 Control: 400 Mentality: 400 Luck: 400 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 400 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Mad Touch Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills:Fire Resistance Lv 150, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 150, Earth Resistance Lv 150, "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. Those were some weird statuses¡­ it was almost looked like the system recognized those individuals as monsters instead of humans. Ryan didn''t like that¡­ something happened that gave those people the status ''madness'' and also made them unable to gain sses. From far away, those people didn''t seem strange, but once he lowered decrease his altitude. He began to hear them scream like creatures that were absolutely in pain. Although it was understandable since the other humans were hitting them with bullets, those attacks were only scratching them¡­ they were screaming as if something was tormenting their souls. "Something smells fishy here¡­" Ryan muttered. "It looks like I won''t be able to ignore this situation. I need to understand what transformed those humans." Ryan used Appraisal and confirmed that on the side of the sane humans, they had the statuses and skills to take the others down, but something was holding them back, and that was why they were using firearms. "For some reason, they don''t want to kill them¡­ while I can understand and don''t want to kill other humans, things are tooplicated to fight with that kind of restriction," Ryan sighed. "Let''s try to immobilize them and see if the Purification can do something." For the first time, Ryan cursed the fact that he didn''t have many skills that could affect his foes while not harming them too much. Obviously, he never considered that someday he would fight to defeat an opponent without killing them. In any case, Ryan approached the battlefield, and when he was close enough, hended on the ground and then used Earth Maniption to create holes under those weird people. Ryan felt shivers when he saw their bloodshot red eyes¡­ something very messed up had been done to these people. Thanks to the fact that they only had ten on their side, Ryan managed to seal them on the ground while only letting their heads outside. However, even while they barely could move, they were shaking and making the ground crack. "You have got to be kidding me," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Ryan ignored a voiceing from behind and then used some mana potions. When his mana was full again, he raised those men and women from the ground while preventing their movements since they were inside some earth spheres. After that, Ryan used Earth Transformation and turned the earth spheres into steel spheres. The prisons finally stopped trembling and cracking¡­ those creatures were still screaming, but they couldn''t do anything aside from that. When Ryan turned around, he saw a blonde woman pointing a machine-gun toward him alongside her seven friends. As expected, even though Ryan came to help, his actions had been too suspicious. "Don''t bother. That won''t work," Ryan said. "I am not an enemy¡­ I was passing nearby when I noticed your fight and the situation of these people. I guess in a sense. I came to help." "In a sense?" The blond woman red at Ryan. "Who are you?" "Ryan¡­ though I don''t know what if anything will change by telling you that," Ryan frowned. "Anyway, I saw that you didn''t want to kill them. Hence, I didn''t kill them. They only can''t move. Do you know them? What happened here?" "There are¡­ they once were our friends," The blond woman said with aplicated expression on her face. "They disappeared in a fight a few days ago¡­ and now they returned like this¡­" "Are you hiding something?" Ryan asked. "Did they disappear, or were they captured?" "How did you¡­ know that?" The woman asked with her eyes full of suspicions. Ryan sighed¡­ as expected. Demons were probably involved in that. While Ryan was ignoring all those eyes looking at him as if he was more dangerous than those transformed humans, he began to ponder about what happened. Baal had the power to corrupt living beings. Lilith captured humans for a reason¡­ However, Baal could corrupt those living beings, and the subus could charm males. Some demon was involved in that incident by the look of things, but those two weren''t directly involved. "One of the other four generals¡­" Ryan said and then clicked his tongue. "What a time to find a sign of those sons of a bitch." It looked like Ryan will be able to level up his Demon Hunter ss much sooner than he had expected, but he didn''t feel like celebrating since he finally saw what those devils could do with humans. "Answer my question," The blond woman said while furrowing her eyebrows visibly angry. "There is a dungeon spawning demons around here, right?" Ryan asked. "I fought some demons before, so I can guess what you guys had to endure and what happened to your friends. Anyway, my goal is partially to kill those fuckers, so that means, in a sense, I came to help." Ryan didn''t want to say that he could help her friends because he didn''t know if he could. It was better to keep what Purification could do if he fails¡­ that way, everyone will feel less troubled by the possible failure. Chapter 296 - No Longer Human "My name is Lucia¡­ thank you for helping us stop our friends," The blond woman said after calming down her nerves for a few minutes. "You said that you fought demons before. Does that mean you know a way to revert them back to normal?" "No¡­ I know that some humans got captured by them and that all creatures can get influenced by their powers to a certain extent," Ryan exined. "However, this is the first time I see what happened to the humans who got captured by them." "Do you have any idea what we can do here?" Lucia asked. "You must have some sort of idea. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have helped us." "You are jumping to conclusions," Ryan said while frowning. "I came here because I am interested in the subject¡­ while I have some ideas, I don''t know if any of them will work." "What are those ideas?" Lucia asked. "Killing the demon that¡­ did this to them, or using some spells and items that might nullify negative effects," Ryan exined. "That being said, I never saw an item or even potion that could neutralize something like this, and as for the spell, I am not betting on it. This far surpasses the level of an ordinary negative effect. I have a spell that I want to try, but I think it won''t help." "If you can, just try it. Please," Lucia said. Ryan sighed and then approached one of the men who had been infected/brainwashed by the demons. When Ryan touched his head, he felt something weird passing through his hand, and in the next moment, Ryan had some visions for a few seconds. A world of red and ck where demons ripped humans apart with their bare hands while theyughed. The vision was so intense that Ryan even felt the scent of blood and heard the scream of those people. When Ryan returned to reality, there was a notification in front of him. Congrattions! You learned the skill Curse Resistance! Effect: Decreases the damage and effects of curses by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ Holy shit¡­ this is worse than I imagined," Ryan said. "You shouldn''t touch them. Whatever happened to them, now they are able to pass the same status negatives to you guys¡­ now I can understand what ''madness'' meant." Ryan just touched the man''s head for a second and then used Purification. A light enveloped the main for a moment and then quickly dissipated. Ryan frowned since a simr thing happens when he uses Full-Heal, but the light was supposed tost for a few seconds. Regardless, Ryan didn''t notice any change. Ryan used the spell several more times in the hope of decreasing the effect of the negative status, but in the end, even after using it for dozens of times, not even a small difference could be seen. The status of man didn''t change, and he still was screaming from the depths of his soul. "It can''t be removed by using magic," Ryan said after turning around. "The only option remaining is to kill the demon, but honestly¡­" "I know," Lucia bit her lips in exasperation. "We somehow¡­ knew it when we checked their statuses¡­ they are no longer human, right?" "That is my guess as well," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is hard to believe, but given that they can apply the same status effects that changed them¡­ they are no longer humans. They are demons¡­ well, sorry about this." You obtained 200 coins. You obtained 200 coins. You obtained 200 coins. ¡­ After saying that, Ryan manipted the steel and made a spike pierce their hearts. The creatures stopped screaming, and they eventually became immobile. Lucia and her friends flinched when they saw that. Still, given that Ryan obtained those coins despite not having one, it became even more evidence that he was right. "He¡­ was my cousin," Lucia bit her lips and said while her anger was rising. "Not anymore," Ryan said. "Your cousin died on the same day he disappeared." That only put more salt on Lucia''s wounds, but in the end, she knew that letting her rage control her right now wouldn''t change anything. If anything, she should feel grateful that Ryan dirtied his hands for them. He didn''t like that either, but Ryan wouldn''t avoid doing what was necessary. In a sense, letting creatures run around like that was even more dangerous than letting dragons run rampant. "Do you guys know where I can find their dungeon?" Ryan asked. "¡­ We will take you there," Lucia dered. "I don''t know who you are really, but I know that you will need help to fight all those demons, and I am tired of running away from them." Ryan sighed. He would rather fight alone in order to minimize the risks and maximize the rewards. Then again, that wasn''t his country, and those guys didn''t have to obey him. Besides, if they follow him of their own volition, it won''t be his fault if they die. "Lead the way, then," Ryan said. "I just need to give a warning that if any of you guys let the blood rush to your head, I will probably use you as bait for the demons. So, use the rage inside of you guys with moderation." For obvious reasons, no one likes to hear that with that kind of tone, but in the end, they realized that it was Ryan''s style of saying that they shouldn''t let their anger and sadness blind their judgment. They weren''tpletely wrong by thinking that way, but they weren''tpletely right either. Ryan would definitely use any hot-blooded idiot as bait. To kill as many demons as possible or to escape from them if the necessity arises. Whatever happens, he wasn''t feeling like working with suicidal idiots for long. Ryan was determined to see things regarding Earth to the very end, and he will do everything necessary to achieve that. Chapter 297 - Night Demon In the end, Ryan and the others didn''t have to move for long before they could find some demons. That being said, he was quite surprised when he saw them. Night Demon Lv 135 Health: 759 /1.500 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 1.800/1.800 Strength: 500 (-30%) Dexterity: 500 (-30%) Speed: 650 (-30%) Intelligence: 300 (-30%) Endurance: 800 (-30%) Control: 500 (-30%) Mentality: 500 (-30%) Luck: 350 (-30%) Recovery: 750 (-30%) Willpower: 450 (-30%) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fear Touch Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 80 Spells: Fly Lv 100, Induce Fear Lv 120, Improved Speed Lv 80 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 100, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Earth Resistance Lv 100 "Well, well¡­" Ryan said. "Look at what we have here¡­" Ryan finally found another creature in which he had their blood. While that didn''t make him feel anything, the fact that the monsters were suffering damage and their status had decreased thanks to the sunlight was something that he weed. Night Demons were creatures that had blue skin. Their wings were quite dragon-like but obviously much smaller. That being said, their most eye-catching features were their short horns near their ears and their red eyes. "You guys are so lucky¡­ howe you did let them multiply by this much?" Ryan asked. "I wish I had the luck to find such stupid creatures sooner." "While they are insane to fight in their weakened state, it doesn''t mean that they are weak," Lucia exined. "They can make anyone lose the will to fight in a matter of seconds with Induce Fear." "Then, just attack from a distance," Ryan said. "That is easier said than done," Lucia said. Ryan checked Lucia and her friend''s status once more and confirmed that they only had melee sses. Although that had been a stupid choice, it was the best option to increase one''s survivability. So, Ryan couldn''tin. "Besides, they are many times more fearsome at night," Lucia said. Ryan knew that, now and then, he could make good use of his Night Demon''s blood due to that. In fact, he was hoping to use it right now since just hunting the monsters only during the day would be too much of a pain. "Where is the dungeon?" Ryan asked. "There are only a few hundreds of them here." "A few hundreds?" Lucia frowned. "What do you mean a few? This is an entire battalion of those freaks¡­ Regardless, their dungeon is near our capital. We still have a long way to go, and we will have to kill a lot of them until we reach there." "I couldn''t have asked for more," Ryan said. "Anyway, this will sound crazy, but you guys will work as bait for me." "What?" Lucian opened her eyes widely. "Forget what I said earlier. You will do that because it is the best option right now," Ryan said. "In exchange, I will let you get all the loot. Until at least you guys obtain some decent gear. I can kill them in a single strike, but to kill all of them before they can use their spells on us, I will have to stay still and only focus on attacking them. You guys will draw their attention and stop them if they get too close, but they probably won''t with those statuses." The frown didn''t disappear from Lucia''s face. Although her friends couldn''t understand English, they had a good idea of Ryan''s ns based on her face. Thanks to it, they hesitated since they didn''t know if Ryan was that reliable inbat. Without any other choice, Ryan had to start the fight and use it as a demonstration. Ryan suddenly left the Bush he and the others were using to hide and the start to fire his bolts. When the demons finally noticed his presence, twenty of them had already fallen. Just as he had said, each one of them died after getting by a single bolt. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh." The demons scream in sheer hatred while they flew toward Ryan. Although that surprised him a little, it didn''t slow him down. Thanks to the rage, the monsters flew fast enough to get in the range of their spells, but also, due to their rage, they never tried to use it. For some reason, they wanted to rip Ryan apart with their bare hands while he was conscious. "... Let''s go," Lucia said after she recovered from the shock. "He is insane, but he has the skills to back his insanity." Following Lucia''s lead, the other survivors formed a wall in front of Ryan a d when they had to, they used the few long-range attacks that they had, but in the end, they barely had the chance to do anything. Also, even when they attack the demons, the creaturespletely ignore them. "... I never saw them get this mad," Lucia frowned. "It almost looked like they knew you, and you were the man who killed their parents." It was also the first time Ryan faced creatures that were enraged. The first thing he thought was that the demons had put him on their cklist. However, Baal and Lilith wouldn''t do that. Instead of letting their minions do the hard work for them, they seemed the type who would hunt down anyone who gets on the way. In the end, Ryan concluded that it was due to his Night demon''s blood and because of his Demon Hunter ss. Upon noticing that someone who had their blood was hunting them like that, the demons became enraged. While that had been useful, Ryan couldn''t help but worry for how long that would be useful. "It is hard to exin why the monsters are acting like this, but if you guys want to make the most of the situation, you will have to learn some ranged attacks since the monsters will focus only on me," Ryan said. "Is there a dungeon nearby in which you guys can buy some tomes?" Chapter 298 - Unlucky Although Lucia and her friends couldn''t be mages or archers in just a few hours, their skills could level up faster. Eventually, even spells that cost five thousand coins might be useful enough even in the hands of someone who has a warrior build. With that in mind, Ryan took Lucia and the others to the nearest dungeon. The ce was spawning Giant Ants, but the demons hunted them down to a point where Ryan and the others only found those who were leaving the dungeon at that moment. "Did you guys clear this dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Which ss did you get here?" "Monk, Sage, and hunter," Lucia readily replied. Ryan sighed; his luck wasn''t good. He already had those three sses¡­ Still, at that point in time, a single tier-one ss won''t help him all that much. "I won''t force you to choose that, but earth spells will help us a lot," Ryan said. "Not only will they cause some damage and a lot of pain, but they also have more weight than the other types of spells so that the demons will be slowed down even more." Lucia nodded at that, so even though it was a bit expensive, she and her friends bought the spell Earth Punch. It was kind of a weird spell, but it would be perfect for their purpose, and besides, they couldn''t be stingy since they obtained the coins they used by helping Ryan. While Ryan wanted to continue, it was gettingte, and he couldn''t risk the lives of some strangers while fighting against enraged creatures at night, even more so when those creatures had the advantage. So, he decided to have a good night''s rest since it had been a while, and he was expecting a thought fight in the next few days. Meanwhile, Lucia and their friends trained while killing giant ants. They also used the coins to create a stock of potions. "Maybe I can increase their magic power a little bit. Let''s create some rings and try to seal the souls of the demons in it." It would be a pain to put the demons to sleep without killing them, but it would be worth the hassle since Ryan knew that he would have quite the ordeal ahead of him. So, that would be less like a hassle and more like an investment. When morning came, the demons appeared with their health almost full, but their health began to decrease with the passage of time. While holding back a little, Ryan cut off the limbs and the wings of several of them. That made Lucia and her friends feel shiver since that was the exact behavior of the demons, but in the end, they learned that Ryan didn''t do that for the fun of it. Anti-Curse Ring Effect: Increases the level of your Curse Resistance by two points. Intelligence + 20 "Not bad, now I just have to make several dozens of them," Ryan said and then forced a smile. "Piece of cake." Ryan learned recently that he could control to a certain extent the bonus in attributes the items he created could give him. Items like rings most of the time increase intelligence and mentality. Weapons like daggers increase speed and bows increase dexterity, and so on. "This is a loan. It will probably help you while using magic," Ryan said while he was passing the ring to the survivors. "If you like this, I can sell each for five thousand coins. It isn''t up for negotiation." Given the bonuses in status alone, they already knew that the rings were worth at least that much. However, when they used Earth Punch, the demons suddenly stopped their charge and started to groan in midair¡­ the numbers were impressive, but the reality was even more shocking. Although Lucia and the others missed one and then, the night demons still got their ass kicked thanks to thebo survivors plus Ryan. Sometimes, they even killed some demons without Ryan''s help, and that was something since the monsters were that powerful, and none of the survivors were real mages. In any case, thanks to them, Ryan managed to keep advancing toward the demons'' dungeon at a fearsome speed. In just a single day, they killed fifteen thousand demons and also ran one hundred kilometers. The only downside was that Furball didn''t have much time to eat, and the demon''s bodies increased his health, so it seemed like a real waste. "It is gettingte," Ryan is there a dungeon nearby in which we can use?" "Do you want to stop?" Lucia frowned. "We still can keep fighting, and the power of attacks has been increasing, so the more we fight, the more useful we will be." "... What I said about rushing ahead without thinking?" Ryan sighed. "Fighting at night is more difficult than you think. Besides, your uracy sucks even with sunlight on our side. If people like you try to fight at night, we will only waste time and tire ourselves out without making much progress." "... There is a dungeon nearby, but we didn''t clear that one yet," Lucia said, visibly annoyed. "Knowing the demons, we will only have to defeat a few monsters of such a dungeon," Ryan said. "Hopefully, I will get a new ss, and you guys will be able to get a mage ss and properly level up since you are only using magic." Although Lucia was eager to keep exterminating demons, she eventually understood that a mage ss was something that they needed. They have been only focusing on surviving since the arrival of the monsters. Perhaps it was a good idea to change their ways and focus on something riskier and, at the same time, necessary. It was time to counterattack. While some motivation was a great tool, Ryan couldn''t help but think that things might getplicated at some point. While Ryan was only doing his job, as usual, Lucia and her friends were too involved in the matter, and that might cause some issues. Chapter 299 - Trust "WHAT THE HELL!" Ryan shouted in anger. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" Lucia and the others flinched and trembled when they saw the calm Ryan angry. Although he had a good reason to be angry, they thought he was going too far¡­ Regardless, the second dungeon they decided to use as a temporary base was spawning pterodactyls. However, once again, the sses that Ryan could obtain were sses that he already had. To something like that to happen to times in a row was unnerving, to say the least. In any case, Lucia and her friends obtained the Elementalist ss and proceeded to level up. "... it can''t be helped. What is done is done," Ryan said after a long sigh that calmed his nerves. "It is a pity, but it can''t be helped." "It looks like you don''t have a heart of stone even though you act like that all the time," Lucia said. "Still, only someone very self-centered would only show anger when something happens to them." "You don''t know me enough to say that," Ryan said. "Maybe you don''t know, but many people died in thest months. Death became amon urrence. If I had left the death if strangers bother me all that much, I would have died a long time due to worry and fear." "So, things aren''t good outside this country either," Lucia said and then sighed. "What the hell are we fighting for here? Why are we struggling so much when the enemies seem endless?" "Because we don''t want to die seems like a good enough reason for me," Ryan said. "Even if the fight seems endless, as long as we win, we will buy the right to live in this new world." "So, all this hard work just to survive?" Lucia asked. "Until when can someone endure that while their allies die one after the other?" "Until your spirit crumbles away," Ryan replied. "If you are not satisfied with that, there is always the easy way out: give up and be monster''s food." "I take back what I said. You really have a stone heart," Lucia said. "Still, that makes me wonder why you decided to help us." "I already told you, it was out of curiosity," Ryan exined. "I have a story with the demons, so I want to cause them problems as much as possible before I send their stink asses to the beyond." That way of thinking might cause some problems to Ryan down the road, but in the end, just ignoring the demons would be insanity. With their spawning speed and with the dungeon breaks, and also considering that there two other dungeons spawning those fuckers. It was evident that demons outnumbered humans. Moreover, their strength was higher than most survivors. "Anyway, you should keep practicing your magic skills while you can," Ryan said. "I am going to hunt for a while to cool my head." "You sure have a strange way to cool your head," Luciaughed. Ryan ignored thatment and left the dungeon. Although it was dangerous to hunt at night since the demons had increased their perimeter, as long as Ryan is careful, he was certain that he wouldn''t find some bosses lurking around. In the end, Ryan had to use three seconds of concentrated Power Shot to kill every single demon he found, but at least he managed to avoid their sight by flying high in the sky. Around noon of the next day, Ryan noticed that the number of encounters had increased exponentially. However, he and the others didn''t find a single boss. That was weird¡­ although he knew that they were more rational than most demons, for the sake of expanding their territory, all the bosses Ryan faced that belonged to the demons'' army would ept some risks. "How long until we reach your capital?" Ryan asked. "Fifty kilometers, I guess," Lucia said. "Is there something bothering you?" "Yeah¡­ I want to get rid of some of their bosses before getting closer to the capital, but it looks like that won''t be possible. So, we will move around the capital while ying more demons. However, we will need a shelter to stay at night. Is there a dungeon close to the capital we can use?" "Unfortunately, no," Lucia replied. Ryan sighed. The number of dungeons in Peru was small. It seemed¡­ his luck wasn''t good. It couldn''t be helped, but Ryan and the others will have to sacrifice some hours of daylight to go to the battlefield and return to the dungeon in which they previously used. Even though the Demon Hunter ss was leveling up really fast and his powers to y demons were getting stronger, Ryan had no intention of looking down on those beasts. All the areas in which Ryan found them had been dominated by them for a reason, after all. "You don''t have to worry about our safety," Lucia said. "We can keep fighting even if the situation bes really troublesome. In the end, as long as our country is free from those demons, we won''t mind making some sacrifices." "I am more worried about myself, really," Ryan said. "I don''t want to repeat my mistakes, so that is why I am careful here. Anyway, you don''t have to follow mymands, if you want to keep fighting demons without regarding your safety, then you can go on, but then we will not work together anymore. As I said, I don''t want to work with hot-blooded suicidal idiots." "¡­ You really like to say that kind of thing, huh," Lucia said after a deep breath. "No wonder you work alone." "Not really," Ryan shrugged and then said confidently. "Furball is watching my back." Lucia couldn''t understand howe Ryan could say that with a straight face. It was probably due to the fact that she fought alongside her friends for three months where every single die, they could have lost their minds at the hands of monsters. Hence, she would never be able to trust a monster to watch her back. Chapter 300 - Hand Cannon In the end, Lucia and the others decided to stick around with Ryan because even though they worked together by using Earth Punches, they couldn''t y demons as fast as Ryan. That being said, it wasn''t like he was invincible. To show his true power, Ryan needed certain conditions like attack without moving or having a vantage point where he could see all the enemies and the terrain ahead. So, even though Ryan was harsh with his words, Lucia recognized that working with him would help her group and Ryan himself. "You created those rings, right?" Lucia asked. "Can''t you create more crossbows like yours for us? We will be able to help more with such weapons." "You are really na?ve¡­ even if I could create crossbows like these, which I can''t, it wouldn''t help you guys all that much since your dexterity is low," Ryan exined. "So, it relies on mana and dexterity to have all that firing power?" Lucia looked to the side and began to think about something. "What if you create a weapon that fires magic projectiles? Like a pistol? It won''t have to rely on dexterity and mana, right?" "Yeah¡­ it will rely only on mana," Ryan frowned while wondering about Lucia''s knowledge. "How do you know that?" "I am not much versatile like you, but I can create projectiles made of steel," Lucia said. "That is why for a while, we kept using firearms. I made some adaptations, and thus I became someone who could create an infinite number of bullets, but such skill became useless after a while." "I wondered why you guys had firearms after all this time¡­" Ryan said. "Regardless, while I think that creating something like that might be possible, I never tried before, so I can''t guarantee the performance." "That is fine. As long as we are able to use Earth Punch or other projectiles with a certain level of power, it will be good enough," Lucia said. Ryan couldn''t understand that reasoning. Relying on that kind of weapon probably won''t let them level up as many skills as possible. Ryan had no intention of changing his bow and crossbow for a magic pistol or something, but in the end, learning how to produce that might help him. It will probably be a good source of ie. Although that had been his first time, Ryan managed to create a pretty interesting hand cannon made of steel. However, for some reason, he couldn''t see the status of the weapon¡­ probably because it didn''t have a projectile. Regardless, after beating the crap out of a pterodactyl, Ryan used Seal on the creature and put its soul in the hand cannon. Wind Hand Cannon. Effect: It grants you the power to fire Wind Spheres Lv 10. Dexterity + 10, Intelligence + 10 Cost: 15 mana "It somehow worked¡­" Ryan frowned while seeing that the steel was emitting a green glow. "I didn''t think pterodactyls had any elemental attributes, but since they can fly, I guess it makes sense that this would happen." Ryan passed the gun to Lucia, and she opened her eyes widely when she saw the status of the weapon. It was no surprise; Ryan just created an item that could easily cost ten thousand coins. "Although I asked for this¡­ I wasn''t expecting much, but this surprised me," Lucia frowned. "Still, why the wind element." "All skills have limitations. That is all you need to know," Ryan shrugged. "Try to fire it. We need to make some tests." Lucia nodded and nonchntly pulled the trigger while aiming at the wall in front of her. Although she was expecting some damage to be caused, she didn''t imagine that the Wind Sphere would take the area around them tremble with the impact. "Let me use it now," Ryan said. When Ryan pulled the trigger, the Wind Sphere made a crack on not only the wall but also made a good part of the dungeon tremble. In the end, it looked like their ideas were a bit off the mark. "It looks like even weapons like this rely on dexterity to cause some damage," Ryan said. "My intelligence is only two times higher than yours, so that doesn''t exin all this damage." "Well, it is fine," Lucia took back the gun. "Even though it isn''t an earth projectile, it will stop the monsters from getting too close. For how much are you going to sell it?" "It looks like someone is learning fast how the world works," Ryan smiled. "Ten thousand coins for each." "That is a deal then," Lucia said. "Also, this isn''t how the world works. It is just that you are easy to read." "Right, right," Ryan shrugged. While Ryan was creating more of those hand cannons, he imagined how fearsome it would be to create them while using the Jellyfish souls. Stopping them without killing would be a real hassle, but totally worth it. In the end, Ryan created two hand cannons for each survivor. Since the weapons could be easily held with a single hand, there was no reason to sell them only one. The next day, Ryan confirmed how fearsome those hand cannons were. As long as they had mana, Lucia and her friends couldpletely stop the demons in midair. Although there was no denying that the weakened state of the demons was ying an important factor in that, it was also obvious that they weren''t magicians or archers. Their intelligence and dexterity weren''t their forte. In any case, with that kind of knowledge, Ryan would be able to turn even humans with few sses into a fearsome army. The only real problems regarding that were the Ryan barely worked with others, and he wouldn''t give the weapons for free. It was only natural that he would profit from the skill in which he spent ten million coins to learn. Even if Ryan doesn''t find some buyers, he can always sell the magic items that he creates in the dungeon shop. There was no real downside in keep creating those magic items. Chapter 301 - Unique Demon The hunting speed increased considerably thanks to the magic weapons Ryan created. However, the fact that the demons didn''t begin their retreat bothered him just as much as the fact that the bosses were taking their time to show up. Still, in the end, Ryan didn''t let those doubts make him hesitate. He slew the monsters as fast as possible. "When you guys fought against the demons, you saw some of the bosses?" Ryan asked. "Only one¡­" Lucia replied while showing a look of anger on her face. "It was the demon that captured our allies." Putting such worries aside, Ryan resumed his task of hunting demons. However, their momentum came to a stop due to some changes in the demon''s actions. While they didn''t retreat to their dungeon, they stopped exposing themselves in the middle of the day. They started to hide in the shadows of some trees, rocks, and everything that could protect them from sunlight. However, the vast majority began to hide underground. "They are starting to get on my nerves¡­" Lucia said impatiently. "Much more than before¡­ why don''t we just hunt them down like before?" "We can, but our pace will be slower," Ryan replied. "Exin to me howe you managed to survive this far being so impatient? As you can see, humans don''t have the advantage in this war, so we can only win by using our heads and being patient." It looked like Ryan will have to say goodbye to Lucia and her friends much sooner than he had imagined. It was a pity since they really helped him, but in the end, it was unavoidable since they looked like bloodthirsty wolves that couldn''t think of anything else aside from their prey. "Although you feel like we are wasting time, we aren''t," Ryan said, pointing toward the end of the dungeon. "You are not blind, so you can see that while the demons stall for time, we are also preparing for the final fight." "Yeah, but¡­ only you are doing something," Lucia sighed and then said while looking at the army of golems Ryan has been raising since they have been taking shelter inside a dungeon. "If we win this fight, we won''t be able to feel proud and say that we recovered our country." "Why? No one is going to stop you from doing that," Ryan said. "I certainly won''t im that I did all the work by myself. In fact, I won''t tell anyone that I did anything here." What would be the point of saying that? Ryan couldn''t think of anything that he might gain by revealing to others about his actions, aside from the coins he could obtain from Mark by selling information. Still, he didn''t have to give so many details about it. "You think that we are that low?" Lucia frowned. "Just be patient. As far as we are concerned, the demons aren''t going anywhere," Ryan said. "We still have a little more than a week before the next dungeon break, so we don''t have to hurry." Ryan was also patient because he wanted to level up his Corruption Sense. That skill worked against all types of demons, even though their type of corruption was different from each other. For example, Lilith''s corruption could make every man be her loyal minions by using the power of humans'' lust. At least that was what Ryan concluded. He couldn''t quite pinpoint if Baal used or need a strong emotion like that to make humans his minions. As for the current demons he was facing, based on the things he saw when he tried to heal one of Lucia''s friends, Ryan concluded that the demonic general involved used the power of fear or wrath. That scene made Ryan felt fear, but it was the scene of a battlefield, after all. Regardless, by making Corruption Sense level up, Ryan will be able to find the bosses with more ease before they find him. Still, given the number of demons he killed, he was starting to think that the Demon Hunter''s skills were leveling up to slowly. "I guess the duration of the fight is also important as the strength of the monster¡­" Ryan muttered. "The stronger the monster and the longer the fightsts, the faster skills and sses can level up." It was a pretty hardcore system since it meant the users had to put themselves at risk pretty much constantly. Regardless, on the morning of the next day, Ryan counted that he had twenty-five hundred golems under hismand. When things get dire, they will help him a lot. Unfortunately, the dungeon was already full, so Ryan will have to slow their summoning speed and hide them underground. "Since you guys are too impatient, I guess we will have to take some risks today," Ryan dered. "You have more or less enough power to fight the demons, so I will let you fight them as much as you want while I will offer some air support." "You can fly, but doesn''t that consume a lot of mana?" Lucia asked. "You won''t be able to attack as much as before." "It can''t be helped," Ryan said and then shrugged. "Since you guys are such bloodthirsty idiots, I have topromise here." "¡­ Sorry about that," Lucia said. "I guess we are getting carried away with our wish for revenge." "No need to apologize," Ryan said. "Besides, I am using you guys to confirm something. I am worried that the demons are hiding underground because they want to focus on attention down there while they do something else while flying." "You do have a point¡­" Lucia nodded. "Now that I think about it, it is weird that they gave up on their advantage like that." "If you realized that, then perhaps you are not a lost cause," Ryan said. "Anyway, I will use my tracking skills to find the ces in which they are hiding. If their numbers are too high in certain ces, I will attack first. If the numbers are too small, I will point to their location and leave the rest of the job to you." ss: Hunter Lv 65 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 241th Health: 899/899 (3,19/s) Mana: 1751/1760 (3,19/s) Stamina: 1431 /1431 (3,19/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1470 (+1221) (+82) Speed: 85 (+544) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+513) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+130) Control: 06 (+564) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+991) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 4.545.974 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Heroic Archery Lv 16 (+ 04 UP), Awareness Lv 15 (+ 04 UP), Support Lv 01, Night Hunting Lv 12, Hunter Specialization Lv 12, Corruption Sense Lv 12, Spells: Summon Warg Lv 21, Seal Lv 17 (+ 16 UP), Fire Enchantment Lv 01, Ice Enchantment Lv 01, Support Skills: Curse Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 30 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 58 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 40 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 33 (+ 04 UP), Weapons Master Lv 13 (+ 04 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 12 (+ 11 UP) Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 22 (+ 01 UP), Race: Centaur Chapter 302 - Magma Demon As soon as Ryan and the others reached the area where he could sense some demons, Ryan began to fly in the sky. However, before he could pinpoint the demons'' location to Lucia and the others, something unexpected happens. Hundreds¡­ no, thousands of demons left their hideout underground. At the same time, many more demons appeared in the distance, flying toward them. "I knew it was a trap¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "RETREAT!" Lucia and her friends immediately understood that they had fallen into a trap, but they only woke up from the shock when Ryan shouted and began to attack the demons. While retreating, they began to attack the demons, but their uracy wasn''t that good while they run. "Furball, go help them," Ryan said. "Stop any demon that gets too close to them." Furball''s status was high enough to face the night demons in a solo fight. While killing them was something he could only do after several seconds of the fight, he could immobilize them with ease. This time some demons focused on Lucia''s group, but the vast majority still flew toward Ryan. While that was a bit worrisome, Ryan had already nned for that kind of situation. His golems were on his way for the final fight, and Ryan also had some countermeasures with him. Using Telekinesis, Ryan fired his explosive arrows toward the demons, and the explosions slowed down hundreds of demons while dozens of them died in the blink of an eye. It was a pity Ryan could only obtain a few of those arrows everyday¡­ You obtained 125 coins. You obtained 125 coins. You obtained 125 coins. ¡­ Since he couldn''t use those arrows forever, Ryan started to attack using his crossbow. However, the number of monsters wasn''t decreasing¡­ even though dozens of them were dying every minute. Ryan had to increase his attack speed even further. Fortunately, he did have the right skill for that, even better, against so many enemies, he didn''t have to aim¡­ only pull the trigger was enough. Ryan activated Rapid Shot, and his firing speed increased five times. The consumption of mana skyrocketed, but his killing speed also improved drastically. At that pace, they would reach the golem''s army¡­ as if Ryan had raised his own death g, he felt a shiver, and when he turned around, Ryan saw hundreds of massive Magma Spheres heading toward him. He used sh several times to escape them, but the heat caused by those melted even the demons that were just a bit close to the attacks. Ryan also felt the heat and clenched his teeth in annoyance while his health decreased. After using Heal a single time, he recovered and then saw those creatures in the distance¡­ Magma Demon Lv 165 Health: 12.000 /12.000 Mana: 7.500/7.500 Stamina: 9.000/9.000 Strength: 1200 (+360) Dexterity: 900 (+200) Speed: 900 (+300) Intelligence: 1000 (+260) Endurance: 1000 (+400) Control: 500 (+100) Mentality: 900 (+300) Luck: 500 (+200) Recovery: 1500 (+400) Willpower: 900 (+300) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Fiery Aura Lv 120 Spells: Magma Sphere Lv 150, Magma Charge Lv 120, Explosive Impact Lv 80 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 250, Shock Resistance Lv 100, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Earth Resistance Lv 100 "What the hell¡­" Ryan opened his eyes widely when he saw those statuses. "Why is their level so high?" There was no mistaking. Those Magma Demons were the bosses that the dungeon of that region was spawning. Although it was weird that they didn''t have proper names and were mob monsters, that was something Ryan could worry aboutter. Those creatures were too strong, and Ryan could see more than two hundred of them flying toward him while firing Magma Spheres. "Pick up the pace!" Ryan shouted again. "What is happening?" Lucia asked. "The bosses finally showed up, and I believe we are not ready to face them," Ryan said. "All of them?" Lucia asked in shock. Ryan nodded, and Lucia''s face lost all her color. She recalled how much they struggled against a single boss and still lost. In the end, some of their allies had to stay behind to stall for time, only to be puppets of the demons. Retreating again and again¡­ she felt so pathetic that she even considered a suicidal charge. Dying while killing many of the demons seemed much better than keep running forever. Although Ryan said to run, Lucia and the others couldn''t get out-speed the magma demons. It was only a matter of time before they get caught¡­ Ryan definitely wouldn''t stay behind and sacrifice himself for them, but he didn''t give up yet. He still had some ideas on his head. To slow down the magma demons, Ryan grabbed his shield and put it in front of him while he killed the night demons with his crossbow. Each Magma Sphere that hit his shield made the weapon lose a lot of durability, but at the same time, the magma demons suffered some damage thanks to the effect of the shield. He managed to slow them down, but it was only a matter of time before his shield breaks. Without any other choice, Ryan jumped on Furball''s back. Flying, using Telekinesis to move his shield, attack, and use potions at the same time was too much for him. So, he decided to decrease his workload. "Sorry, buddy," Ryan said. "You will have to help me with this." Furball barked, and then Ryan began to use his mana to repair his shield. Now that he wasn''t flying anymore, the Magma Spheres'' uracy increased a lot. Thanks to it, even though Ryan blocked most of them and the others passed at a certain distance, Lucia and the others began to suffer some damage. "Damn, how can their attack be this hot?" Lucia asked while clenching her teeth. Ryan was doing his best to block the attacks and use his crossbow at the same time. However, he still couldn''t see them survive that situation¡­ he would need to do something more¡­ Chapter 303 - Shock Ryan couldn''t see many things that he could do to change the tide of the battle¡­ only one, but it was something very reckless. In the end, Ryan made his mind. He put his crossbow away and focused on blocking the Magma Spheres, but when his shield got bit by them, Ryan concentrated on the heat of their attacks to obtain control over the magic projectile. A lot of mana were consumed to do that, but in the end, Ryan managed to do it. However, it wasn''t enough. "I guess this is the power of elemental maniptions and transformations¡­" Ryan said while he watched a Magma Sphere as big as him floating around them, and despite that, the attack wasn''t emitting heat. "Let''s see if I can do more than this¡­" Ryan ignored most of the projectiles, but those that hit his shield right in the middle, he made sure to use his magic on them to obtain control over it. Ryan''s stock of mana potions was quickly decreasing, but in the end, by mixing several Magma Spheres, he now had control over a Magma Sphere that was the size of a dragon. "What the hell¡­" Lucia opened her eyes widely. "How did you¡­" "No time to exin," Rya said. "Prepare to fight because the magma demons are getting closer, and this won''t stop them." It was only obvious that magma demons wouldn''t be stopped by magma. Regardless, Lucia and the others prepared themselves while Ryan was concentrating. Thousands of demons were flying toward them, so he had to, at the very least, get rid of all small fries. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do that. Controlling something that big required a lot of focus and mana, so Ryan would have to improvise. In the end, Ryan just fired the massive Magma Sphere toward the night demons. However, the attack was slow, and they could dodge it. That was within Ryan''s expectations. So, he fired a Power Shot and made the Magma Sphere explode. The attack immediately melted hundreds of night demons, while others screamed in agony when small amounts of magma ate away their flesh. Although Ryan caused a lot of pain, he only felt refreshed while seeing the demons in pain. You obtained 125 coins. You obtained 125 coins. You obtained 125 coins. ¡­ Things could have been better, but Ryan felt satisfied in killing half of the night demons and deeply wounding the vast majority of those who survived. However, the real thing would start now, with the Magma Demons. Fortunately, the cavalry has finally arrived¡­ Ryan''s golems already could be seen, and they were heading toward him while destroying everything on their way. "Pay attention!" Ryan said. "I will freeze some of them, and then we will attack those fuckers at the same time. Try not to miss it." "Shouldn''t you wait for your golems?" Lucia asked visibly confused. "No, they are only good at taking damage," Ryan said. "Besides, they take too much space. They have some long-ranged attacks, but I would rather not to use them right now." Ryan fired his frozen arrows with Telekinesis, and the demons tried to punch them. They seeded, but at the same time, a good part of their bodies froze. As expected, freeze them entirely was impossible. "Now!" Ryan shouted and made his poisoned bolts rain over the semi-frozen demons. Lucia and her friends also fired with their magic hand cannons. Thanks to the massive number of attacks, three magma demons fell. While Lucian and the others celebrated, Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. You obtained 11.523 coins. You obtained 10.333 coins. You obtained 11.741 coins. "Only three¡­ I used several frozen arrows, but only three died," Ryan muttered. "This is not good." Suddenly a demon got too close, and then its body began to emit orange light. In the blink of an eye, the demon crossed hundreds of meters and almost grabbed Ryan''s neck. Somehow, he reacted on time and knocked down the monster with his shield. "I guess this is the Fiery Charge¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at that fearsome speed. "Wait¡­ let''s see if I can use this." Ryan pierced the demon''s limbs with several bolts, and when the creatures'' health was about to get empty, he used Telekinesis to bring the monster close enough. In the blink of an eye, Ryan created an earth arrow, transformed it into steel, and then sealed the monsters'' soul inside of the arrow, Chaotic Magma Arrow Effect: Causes a chain reaction when it hits the target, making several explosions happen in a certain range around the target. The damage will be equal to your dexterity + intelligence multiplied by ten. It was a problem that the arrow had the fire attribute, but in the end, Ryan already expected that. While he was firing his poisoned bolts with the crossbows on his left hand, Ryan concentrated all his strength on his left arm, which was holding the arrow. In thest second, he activated several buffs before ultimately throwing the arrow toward a cluster of magma demons. When the explosion happened, Ryan and Furball almost fell to the ground. The shockwave killed several bosses and made spin in the air many others. The small explosions that happened afterward prevented the demons from getting closer. While they hesitated or approached by following a roundabout way, Ryan and the others finally reached the golems. "Attack with all you got!" Ryan shouted. Ryan didn''t need to shoutmands to his golems, but they also obeyed his orders. Lucia and the others began to attack, and the Magma Demons that were trying to approach got hit by hundreds of magic projectiles. Ryan also increased the output of his attacks by using Rapid Shot again. However, he soon stopped because something caught his attention. A single Magma Demon was flying above the others, and it wasn''t trying to attack Ryan in any way. That was just too suspicious¡­ Ryan didn''t like that, so he began to think about what he should do. Chapter 304 - Mephisto "What is wrong, Ryan?" Lucia asked. "Attack, your golems mana won''tst forever." "I will attack. You don''t have to worry," Ryan said and then showed his crossbow charging Power Shot. "Still, I can''t say I am going to hit any demon aside from that one." Lucia looked at the ce Ryan was pointing and saw a magma demon nonchntly watching their allies being killed. It was hard to tell since they all looked pretty much the same, but Lucia had the impression that the demon was the one who captured her friends. "Don''t try anything," Ryan said. "He is out of your reach. Just focus on what you can do." That was easier said than done. Just recalling thest time she saw her friends made Lucia bit her lips until they start to bleed. It looked like that frustration would never leave her alone. Regardless, unlike Ryan, Lucia and the others couldn''t recover a lot of mana by killing monsters, so she had to focus on using potions. She couldn''t concern herself with such a creature right now. Ryan used Appraisal on that monster, but he didn''t find anything weird with the creature. It was just another ordinary magma demon, and yet, Ryan couldn''t shake the feeling that the monster was up to no good. "I guess I will kill it before dealing with the others¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Letting this one alive for long might cause some issues¡­" When Ryan aimed his crossbow at the monster, suddenly, a lighting from South hit the creature. Something bad happened¡­ Ryan prepared to pull the trigger, but he stopped when he saw the monster''s new status. Magma Demon (Mephisto) Health: 12.900 (+ 100.000) Mana: 7.500(+ 100.000) Stamina: 9.000(+ 100.000) Strength: 1200 (+10.360) Dexterity: 900 (+5.200) Speed: 900 (+5.300) Intelligence: 1000 (+5.260) Endurance: 1000 (+10.400) Control: 500 (+5.100) Mentality: 900 (+10.300) Luck: 500 (+5.200) Recovery: 1500 (+10.400) Willpower: 900 (+10.300) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Poisonous Catastrophe Lv 250, Ice Meteor Lv 250 Support Skills: Ryan bit his lips in annoyance¡­ those were some crazy status. As if it wasn''t enough, the name on the side of the demon''s species bothered Ryan quite a lot. Mephisto¡­ it was another name of a famous demon. One of the generals of the demon''s army finally decided to show up on Earth. Although it looked like he had some restrictions and his health decreased every moment, Ryan knew that he couldn''t win. It looked like whenever he started to build his confidence, something as troublesome as that always happens¡­ "Run," Ryan said. "What?" Lucia asked. "We can''t win against that thing," Ryan said. "If you don''t run now, you and your friends will die. One of the generals of the demon''s army hase. Even under several restrictions, we can''t defeat him." Lucia didn''t want to ept, but even before she could use Appraisal, she saw the demon creating a massive green sphere above itself. That level of attack was insane¡­ something beyond the power of humans. Not only that, the demon was willing to sacrifice even its minions to kill them. "Run!" Lucia shouted to her friends. On Furball''s back, Ryan gave the order for his golems to retreat. Even thousands of them couldn''t kill that demon, but there was something else they could do. Ryan tried to keep charging his Power Shot in hopes of making that massive sphere evaporate, but the energy the demon could use was beyond Ryan''s current capabilities. Stopping the attack was definitely impossible¡­ Before Ryan could even think of any other n, the demon threw the massive sphere of poisonous liquid. Ryan gave the order for his golems to form a barricade to protect them, but as if they were made of sand, the monsters dissolved when they came in contact with that. Ryan''s head froze, but he still reacted on time to put himself between the sphere, Furball, and the others. He tried to block the attack with his shield, but the sheer power of the attack sent him flying backward. While Ryan was trying to recover from the attack and was spinning, he felt his legs burning, and then an excruciating pain passed through all his body. The liquid had hit his legs, but at least Ryan protected his upper body with his shield. He also had to keep using Repair to prevents its total destruction. When Ryan finally recovered control over his body, his body froze with the shock. Everything around him had beenpletely destroyed. No¡­ everything just vanished into the air when they got hit by the poison. The point had eaten a good part of Ryan''s legs, but he wasn''t even bleeding. The grass, the trees¡­ everything that life had vanished. Ryan didn''t even find a single trace of Furball, Lucia, and the others. "No¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. The demons had disappeared as well, and in a range of several kilometers, one could only find the body that Mephisto had taken over and Ryan. He didn''t even know what to think and say. Ryan only expected Mephisto to say something as if that was the normal thing to do, but in the end, the demon didn''t think that Ryan was worth hearing his voice. The demon only raised its arms again and prepared another Poisonous Catastrophe. Ryan only woke up from his stupor when a wave of dizziness almost made him copse. His stamina was almost empty, but his Power Shot still was ready to be used. Without thinking too much about it, Ryan pointed his weapon at the demon and fired. He hade there to y all the demons in the area, and he would do that or die trying. Ryan failed in protecting the allies that helped him, but his goals didn''t change. "I won''t be able to free your country from the hands of demons," Ryan muttered. "But at the very least, I will prevent them from dirtying and corrupting your homnd even further, Lucia." Chapter 305 - Black Steel Armor When Ryan fired his bolt, Mephisto tried to block the projectile with a single hand, but in the end, the demon underestimated Ryan''s power. The creature lost one arm and also control over the spell. Even though it wasn''t his real body, the demon looked annoyed at the wounds on his body. Meanwhile, Ryan was preparing another attack¡­ the look in his eyes annoyed the demon even more. Ryan had the look of someone who was disappointed by a failure, but at the same time, he looked it wouldn''t happen again¡­ as if he was sure that he could defeat the demon. "You would better hurry up," Ryan said with a cold glint on his eyes. "I won''t feel much satisfaction defeating you right now, and that feeling will be even more annoying if you die because this body can''t withstand your power." In just a few moments, Ryan understood that Mephisto had sacrificed a lot to appear on Earth with that body. Not only was he losing a lot of health over time, but he also could only use two spells. Another thing that Ryan didn''t know was that he couldn''t move. Mephisto felt like he was deep in the ocean, unable to go back to the surface and recover its energy. Being analyzed by such an inferior lifeform so urately annoyed him even more, but not to the point where he would express his anger to a worm. Mephisto raised its remaining arm, and then a few momentster, an Ice Meteor appeared out of nowhere and fell toward Ryan. However, Ryan appeared several meters away from the point of impact. Still charging his Power Shot. "Pass this message to the others pieces of shit like you," Ryan said. "You will have to try harder to kill me, and as long as I am here, your ns will never work." Mephisto didn''t have that much mana avable, but he still decided to make meteors rain down over Ryan. This time, he decided to annoy the demon a bit as well. He had to share his frustration. So, he didn''t move an inch and destroyed the single meteor that was about to crush him by using Power of Money alone. The shards still fell on him like some small blocks of ice, but overall, Ryan suffered no damage. Mephisto bit his lips in annoyance. "That is what I wanted to see," Ryan smirked. "Show me more what you can do. Oh, wait¡­ you can only use those two spells. How disappointing." "I will make you regret those words, worm," Mephisto finally opened its mouth. "Death won''t be granted to you; you will be tormented for all eternity." "Yeah, yeah, you guys always say the same thing," Ryan said. "Clear the hellhole in which you guys came from doesn''t stimte your brain and develop your creativity." Mephisto tried to crush Ryan several more times with Ice Meteor, but just to annoy the demon, Ryan destroyed them all with Power of Money. When his health was finally at the third percent of its max, Ryan decided to finish him. "I will be looking forward to that day. I will make you eat the dirt beneath my shoes," Ryan said. "Wait patiently until then. Remember, the earth isn''t a ce where monsters have the right to live." Before Mephisto could say anything, Ryan fired his bolt. The monster exploded in hundreds of pieces since the body couldn''t withstand the demons'' power any longer. In the end, Ryan managed to escape from the monster''s attack by himself, but he didn''t feel like he had won. You obtained 5.521.362 coins. The demon gave so many coins to Ryan, and even a full-te armor was dropped by it. The coins were probably the result of the demon-killing his allies as well as Lucia and the others. Ryan approached the dark armor with many spikes for some reason, but he didn''t feel like picking it. At least for now¡­ Furball could be resurrected, but not Lucia and the others. Ryan considered that they might die. He even said to himself if that happens, it wouldn''t be his problem or his business. He tried to stop them. He even lost his legs trying to protect them, and yet¡­ Ryan felt something inside him bothering him. "I thought that by taunting that asshole, I would feel better¡­ I was wrong," Ryan looked up to the sky and then sighed. "I can''t say I liked them, I can''t say they liked me either¡­ but they fought alongside me, they had the same goal while fighting." What was done was done. Ryan did his best, and that had been the oue. He wasn''t strong enough to fight while protecting others against a monster such as Mephisto, so that was the result. Ryan decided to engrave that result and his memory and use that to keep fighting alone¡­ the feeling that he had in his chest was too annoying, and he didn''t want to experience it again. ck Steel Armor Effect: Decreases the attack caused by demons and corrupted creatures by ten percent. Health + 100, Endurance + 50 Durability: 200/200 Ryan had no idea for how long that feeling would bother him. However, he didn''t want to forget it either. Ryan couldn''t allow himself to forget that result, so Ryan promised himself that he would keep using that armor until the day he can''t repair it anymore. It would serve as a sign to remember him of that day forever. Until the day his lifees to an end. "I still need to seal the dungeon¡­ at least partially," Ryan muttered. "Even if I fill the entire ce with golems, it is only a matter of time before the bossespletely annihte them. Well, I will find a solution for this eventually." Ryan equipped his ck armor and headed toward the dungeon, hoping that he would be able to keep his head cool until the very end. Otherwise, that frustration will make him use the purple crystal and challenge Mephisto, even though he didn''t have the means to defeat him yet. Chapter 306 - New Class After flying for a while, Ryan finally found the demon''s dungeon. For some odd reason, even though Ryan killed thest boss''s body, the demons weren''t acting in any different way. If he were Mephisto, he would control the demons andy an ambush, but the demons were just spawning, leaving the dungeon and flying in random directions. "He probably can''t control or take over the body of weak demons," Ryan concluded. "Even if he can, the strength that he will be able to show will be pathetic. I guess he decided to leave me alone for the time being." Ryan confirmed that theory when he entered the dungeon. The demons didn''t pose a threat, and he didn''t find a single boss either. That was good, but once again, Ryan didn''t feel like celebrating. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Crusader, Ranger, and Shaman. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "To think that this would be a tier-three dungeon¡­ I never considered the idea," Ryan muttered. "Does that mean that Mephisto is stronger than Baal and Lilith? Or is there some other factor that defines the level of a dungeon?" That was one of those questions in which Ryan had no hope of finding answers by himself. The only way was to get the power to be a dungeon master. "Maybe I should dy my ns of exploration and clear the slimes dungeons or some other dungeon to obtain that power," Ryan said. "I can''t keep neglecting this feature of the system any longer. There is no point in checking the situation on other continents if, in the end, America perishes anyway." Regardless, Ryan didn''t even have to think a lot to make his decision. While he was interested in the Shaman ss, his interest was powerful enough to make him change his main path of pursuing absolute power with bows and crossbows. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Ranger! You obtained the following skills: Firing Posture, Ranger''s Awakening, and Crazy Shot. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Firing Posture. Effect: It increases your firing speed by sacrificing your mobility. While not moving, your firing speed increases by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ranger''s Awakening. Effect: It increases your dexterity and speed by ten points per level. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Crazy Shot. Effect: You can fire several magic arrows in an arc that pierces several enemies. You can fire five arrows, and the number of arrows increases by one every five levels. Cost: 30 mana You obtained 01 status point. Those were some impressive skills. While all of them would be very useful, Ryan was much more interested in the Firing Posture. How amazing would it be if one day his attack speed duplicated? He would be able to decimate hordes of demons without moving a single centimeter¡­ that was exactly the kind of power he wanted. "I wish I had that kind of power earlier¡­" Ryan sighed and then shook his head. "This isn''t good. I can''t let this mncholy keep bothering me forever." If someone had asked Ryan if he would feel bothered if some people died close to him a few days ago, he would say no. Still, to know that he was wrong made Ryan understand several things. He didn''t hate humans as a whole, he wanted to stay alone, but it didn''t look like he was destined to be a cold-hearted person. Given that time was of the essence, Ryan bought potions for a while until he filled thest part of the dungeon with golems. His summoned monsters had reached an impressive level in thest few days, so Ryan knew they would be able tost for a while¡­ As long as they use only Stone Bullets, that was the order he gave to them. After that, Ryan only spent a few minutes checking the dungeon shop to see if anything interesting had appeared, but that didn''t, so Ryan hurried to follow his path toward South. Thanks to the demons, Ryan didn''t find many monsters on his way. Not that he wanted to waste time dealing with small fries, Furball wasn''t with him for now, so there was no reason for Ryan to take his time while moving. "That being said, I will have to focus on increasing his defenses," Ryan muttered. "I thought he had grown quite a lot, but in the end, his body waspletely annihted by a single attack." It couldn''t be helped given the monster Ryan fought against, but such an excuse couldn''t be used forever since Ryan was nning to fight those motherfuckers several times in the future. In any case, just like Ryan found a few monsters, he didn''t find a single dungeon on his path. His main goal was to look for a high concentration of monsters after all. And in the same way, he didn''t find any dungeon. He didn''t find any sign of a single group of survivors. The chances that Lucia and her friends were thest ones to die was increasing, but in the end, Ryan decided not to give up on hope. Thinking that humans were still dying and nearly facing extinction was something that he couldn''t ept so easily. "I can''t carry that burden alone, but I guess to avoid that, I need to train harder," Ryan said. "Come to think of it. I can''t hope to preserve the human race if I am the only one alive. I should better find a way to make sure that some couples will survive this madness in order to procreate and then repopte Earth¡­ why the hell I am thinking about this..." Chapter 307 - Ice Golem After Ryan left Peru behind, he crossed Chile from North to South. That country was different from all the countries Ryan knew due to the shape of its territory. Moreover, Ryan only found a single type of monster there. They were the Giant Crabs. Giant Crab Lv 115 Health: 2.500/2.500 Mana: 600/600 Stamina: 1.500/1.500 Strength: 800 Dexterity: 300 Speed: 150 Intelligence: 400 Endurance: 1000 Control: 250 Mentality: 500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 750 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Smash Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 90, Bronze Skin Lv 70 Spells: Water Cannon Lv 50, Water Sphere Lv 50 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 150, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Wind Resistance Lv 30 At first, Ryan ignored them, but once he could summon Furball again and learned that he could increase his stamina by eating them, Ryan decided to take his time, even though he didn''t find the dungeon or a single survivor. "Sorry, buddy, you had a hard time because of me," Ryan patted Furball''s head. "Let''s work in order for that not to happen again. Anyway, I guess their dungeon is underwater." Ryan''s stock of food was getting empty, so he resumed his old eating habits. While Furball was eating the crabs just fine in their current state, Ryan felt the need to cook then quite a lot. Thest thing he needed right now was to have an alien bacterium in his stomach. As expected, their meat was pretty good. Also, by using them as material, the chances of creating frozen arrows increased a lot, so Ryan made sure to make a stock. "It is starting to get cold¡­ we are reaching the extreme south of the American continent, Furball," Ryan said and then slightly trembled. "I don''t get along well with the cold. Let''s hope you will fare better." Although Ryan was worried about Furball, he should have felt more worried about himself since the temperature was dropping and he was wearing clothes that made him look like someone who was going shopping. Regardless, Ryan and Furball soon reached the mountain at the extreme south of the American continent because they only found the Giant Crabs on their way, and they were too slow to pursue them in big numbers. Ryan thought that he should have moved a little bit from the coast to find other monsters, but in the end, he was also hoping to find some megalodons and dragons fighting, which he never did. The world was changing again, and Ryan barely found the answers regarding the first changes¡­ Pretty much like the North-East past of his home country, Ryan found the extreme south of the continent to be covered in snow and ice. Things were so cold there that Ryan could only see the white of the snow and the gray of the clouds in the sky in hundreds of kilometers. Eventually, Ryan probably one of the reasons that ce was like that. Ice Golem Lv 125 Health: 3.000/3.000 Mana: 1.200/1.200 Stamina: 1.500/1.500 Strength: 800 (+ 300) Dexterity: 300 Speed: 200 Intelligence: 200 Endurance: 1600 (+ 400) Control: 200 Mentality: 500 (+ 400) Luck: 100 Recovery: 800 (+ 400) Willpower: 500 (+ 400) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Ice Layer Lv 110, Bronze Skin Lv 90 Spells: Water Ice Punch Lv 60, Ice Arrow Lv 60 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 250, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Earth Resistance Lv 80 "The monsters'' levels are increasing too fast¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I don''t like this¡­ then again, this might be a coincidence since anyone sane wouldn''t live in this mountainous region where the wind alone can freeze my balls so easily. Regardless, the dungeon that is spawning those creatures already broke three-time and is closer to experiencing a fourth dungeon break. Can I stop this before it is toote?" Ryan fired his bolts and made the golem break into several pieces. In the end, he had to use more mana than he recovered by defeating the monsters¡­ that job will be tough. After doing some basic math, and adding his experience while killing ice golems, Ryan concluded that the total damage caused was calcted by his dexterity minus the enemies'' endurance. Although he imagined that was the case a long time ago, only now he had the chance to prove that theory since his crossbow''s effect was useless against them. Eventually, Ryan also learned that Furball could increase his mentality by eating their cores¡­ which was weird since the other golems'' cores increased his endurance¡­ "Finding the dungeon in this ce will be a pain in the ass. Clearing the dungeon in just five days is definitely impossible," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Whatever¡­ it is not like I need to rush and make a mess out of the things because I am in a race against time. Let''s take our time and build our strength, Furball." Furball barked as if he was saying that he agreed with Ryan''s idea. Given that Ryan was expending more mana than usual, then taking his time was definitely the right answer. After all, Icebound will be able to level up faster that way. Ryan and Furball began to head south while defeating all the golems on the way, but while they were in the middle of a fight, suddenly, Ryan felt a shiver ran down on his back. His life was in danger¡­ he used sh to escape whatever was going to happen, but in the end, nothing happened. That shiver had been too intense to be caused by the cold wind. "Am I¡­ imagining things here?" Ryan frowned while looking around and finding nothing in the distance. Ryan''s instincts had gotten better in those four months, so he couldn''t believe that was just his imagination. He definitely felt something¡­ like the death re of a monster. Ryan, Furball, and the monsters being spawned by the golems'' dungeons weren''t the only ones that were in those mountains¡­ Ryan was certain of it. Chapter 308 - Plans Mark was tapping on his desk with his index finger while watching the footage of the battle between Ryan, the inhabitants of Peru, against the demons'' army. He had already watched that dozens of times, but he still couldn''t believe the oue of that fight. Somehow, Ryan won against a demon that had magical powers that were close to nuclear bombs. While that was a relief, it wasn''t a relief to know that the demon would resurrect eventually. Suddenly, the door of his office opened, and Alissa showed herself. As usual, she didn''t knock on the door. Mark was already used to it, but even so, he let out a sigh because it was troublesome to find a person who couldn''t care less about his authority on the base. "You are still at it?" Alissa frowned. "If you are really that bored, I can rmend you to watch some movies much better than that one." "You still didn''t tell me your impressions of this fight, Alissa," Mark said. "There is nothing to say, really," Alissa shrugged. "If you have good eyes alone and a functioning brain, you can tell that despite having his ass kicked, Ryan survived against a demon that showed up on Earth under several restrictions." "Restrictions?" Mark frowned. "He dropped dozens on ice meteors on Ryan. His first attack had powerparable to a nuclear bomb!" "Those were the only spells he could use at the time," Alissa exined. "Also, don''t you find it weird that a demon that can fly didn''t move a single inch from the same spot?" "Yes¡­ I noticed that," Mark said. "Also, your satellite didn''t catch that, but the demon received some sort of energy," Alissa said. "The energy came from South in a straight line. Did you find something in that direction?" "Ryan headed there, and he found the demons'' dungeon," Mark replied. "Then, there is no mistake, the dungeon master of that ce decided to fight against Ryan and the others," Orgar suddenly jumped in the conversation. "That would exin the restrictions. Considering what we know, it was probably one of the generals of the demons'' army." Mark sighed¡­ those namese so often this day that he felt that he was growing one year older whenever that happened. The thought that a weakened creature had the power of a nuclear bomb was that much disheartening. "Ryan keeps getting on his way, huh," Alissa nodded. "I hate to say this, but he has some balls to do that over and over again alone." "Then don''t say it with a straight face," Orgar said. "Anyway, the Checkpoints are already installed on the dungeons you asked," Alissa dered. "As promised, I will leave one of my guys there to keep watching the ce all the time, and the cost to use them will be five thousand coins. A lot of mana is used to use those things, and I can''t let you use my powers for free." "That is alright. I already warned everyone about the requirements. I assure you that you won''t find any problems on our end," Mark said. "You have my thanks for helping us with that. You saved us a lot of time." "I don''t need your thanks. The payment in coins is all that I need," Alissa waved her hand. "Besides, my guys will also use them." "At least you are learning something from Ryan," Orgar said. "I must say that act like cheapskate suits you well." "Shut up¡­ Anyway, I will install others eventually," Alissa said a bit annoyed and then sighed. "Flying around the country only to create those are too boring." "I understand," Mark forced a smile. The n to seal all the dungeon in the country was progressing well, but in the end, Mark needed something more to guarantee that mistakes won''t be made and the life of his soldiers won''t be lost. So, he asked Alissa if there was some method of fast travel that she could rmend. In the end, Alissa sold him the information about Checkpoint. In a spell that connected the space between two points, a lot of mana was used to use such a technique, but it was only natural since that was the lowest level of teleportation. However, Alissa wouldn''t teach the skill for free, and aside from her and Zoe, not a single survivor in the base had enough mana to use the spell. So, he hired Alissa''s services. Although she was reluctant at first, Alissa recognized the fact that her soldiers needed that method of transportation. Besides, it was too much of a pain to transport them around the country. Now thirty or so dungeons were connected to the military base, and fortunately, only Alissa and another person could effectively use the Checkpoints. So, there was no danger of the base being invaded through the Checkpoints. "Aren''t you going to ask his report?" Alissa asked. "No¡­" Mark replied. "I will let Ryan decide when he will give his reports. After that fight, I believe he wants to stay alone for a while longer." "He will probably get pissed if he learns that you are that considerate toward him," Alissa said. "Where is he right now?" "At the extreme south of the continent, hunting ice golems," Mark replied. "I believe he will stay there for a while. That area isn''t appropriate to search for monsters, after all. Ice golems, huh¡­ Suddenly I feel like eating some ice cream." Mark frowned when he heard that. Only someone like Alissa would connect ice golems to ice cream¡­ then again. It wasn''t the first time that her behavior made him frown. "You shouldn''t worry too much about him," Alissa said. "Ryan is as resilient as he is stubborn. Besides, I can''t imagine him being defeated even fighting against several dragons¡­ unless they find a way to nullify his mobility." "I also agree with that," Mark said. "I am more worried about the effects of the istion on his mind. He is a toughd that went through a lot¡­ Still, there is only so much human''s psych can endure alone. Men aren''t inds. Chapter 309 - Ice Dragon After five days of hunting non-stop the golems, Ryan finally felt the whole Earth trembling. The fourth dungeon breaks have finally started¡­ However, even after a full day, he didn''t find a massive concentration of golems that could help him find the dungeon. Moreover, the number of encounters didn''t increase either. "Something smells fishy here¡­" Ryan frowned. While advancing through the continent at a decent speed wasn''t so bad, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about theck of monsters. Maybe the golems were fighting against other monster species, even though Ryan never found a single sign of other species. Perhaps some humans were hunting them, but to stay in that stupidly cold area for long, they would have to be even more insane than Ryan. There was no food around, and they certainly couldn''t eat golems. Ryan stored some fried crab meat inside his ring, but the stock was quickly approaching its bottom. "It is also weird that a dungeon appeared at this godforsaken ne," Ryan muttered. "I can''t see any advantage at making monsters spawn here since there are only a few viges here and there. Maybe the dungeon master wanted to create a massive army of ice golems, but they would level up a lot faster by fighting against other creatures¡­" Regardless, even though something was off, it doesn''t matter what that was. Ryan''s goal didn''t change, and he would exterminate as many monsters as possible while he looks for the damn dungeon. As if the dungeon master had nned to annoy Ryan by doing that, he had located the dungeon in a cliff¡­ in the most southern part of the continent. Ryan couldn''t even keep going south because there was only the sea from that point onward. After clearing the dungeon, Ryan will have to head East. "Well, let''s look on the bright side, Furball," Ryan shrugged. "Our Cold Resistance increased quite a lot in thest few days." Although Ryan looked pretty rxed, something was bothering him¡­ it was the fact that the number of golems around the dungeon was stupidly low. He didn''t find any sign of survivors'' camp in hundreds of kilometers, nor could he see one in front of the dungeon. So, it didn''t make sense that the situation looked so favorable to him. Still, there was only one thing Ryan could do: keep moving forward while preparing for a fight. Ryan and Furball headed toward the dungeon with their guard raised. They were ready to fight. In fact, if a fight doesn''t ur, they would feel disappointed. Some ice golems were leaving the dungeon now and then, so Ryan concluded that the ce was empty. However, suddenly, the area began to tremble¡­ for an instant. Ryan imagined that the fifth dungeon break decided to happen many weeks ahead of schedule. However, Ryan could tell that the earthquake wasn''t happening all over the world. From the bottom of the sea, a creature emerged and looked directly at Ryan¡­ as expected. Something big stayed close to the dungeon and killed all the golems that spawned in thest four months. That creature was an ice dragon¡­ the creature''s body waspletely covered in a thickyer of ice. Despite that, the monster flew upward at a speed that made even Ryan feel impressed. Eventually, the light-blue monster began to fly around the area while studying Ryan. He could tell¡­ that dragon was like Orgar. It had the same level of power and intelligence¡­ defeating that will be hard. Femradiel (Ice Dragon) ¨C Lv 200 Health: 105.000 Mana: 150.000 Stamina: 80.000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 7000 Speed: 4000 Intelligence: 10000 Endurance: 4000 Control: 6000 Mentality: 5000 Luck: 1000 Recovery: 10000 Willpower: 3500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Mind Enhancement Lv 150, Frost Armor Lv 200 Spells: Niffelheim Lv 200, Absolute Zero Lv 150, Ice Spear Lv 100 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300, Wind Resistance Lv 150, Electric Resistance Lv 100 "It looks like you are going to eat some ice cream today, Furball," Ryan said. "But it will taste like dragon''s meat." "HHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Before Furball could bark, the dragon screamed, and Ryan was forced to cover his ears. That was one heck of a voice power¡­ in any case, the dragon understood what Ryan said and apparently, didn''t like it. Regardless, the creature was messing around too much. Ryan was charging one heck of a Power Shot, and he was determined to destroy at least one side of the dragon with it. Suddenly, Ryan felt the area beneath his knees getting colder. Somehow, Ryan reacted on time to jump, and Furball did the same. Half a secondter, the entire area around the dungeon had been freezing. The dragon''s mana decreased a little, so Ryan recognized the spell''s power: Absolute Zero. That could have frozen his legs instantly, and Ryan would be forced to say goodbye to them if he hadn''t reacted fast enough. Ryan wanted to charge his attack for a while longer, but it wasn''t a good idea to let such a monster keep attacking at a safe distance. So, he activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The monster noticed that Ryan had done something troublesome, but it reacted too slowly. Ryan fired his bolt, and much to his surprise, the dragon, attacked his projectile with dozens of Ice Spears. In the end, the creature still got hit, but his spells decreased the power of the bolt a lot. "Annoying monster¡­" Ryan said and then made use of the Firing Posture. While the monster was still suffering the effects of Power Shot, Ryan made dozens of bolts of rain all over the monster''s body. Thanks to the dragon''s endurance, his bolts didn''t cause much damage, even the poison was causing too little damage, but the crossbow''s stacking effect was slowly but certainly bing stronger. When the monster noticed what Ryan was nning, the creature flew toward him¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but smirk at the dumb monster. "Stupid over-sized lizard¡­" Ryan muttered under his breath while biting his lips. Chapter 310 - Progress When the dragon got close enough, it opened its mouth, and a lot of ice begun to appear around the creature. However, before the creature could do anything, Ryan fired dozens of his explosive arrows at the monster''s face. The spell of the creature was canceled, and a cloud of steam emerged. After a few seconds, the ice dragon felt something piercing the back of its head and something else biting its neck. Ryan and Furball got close enough and didn''t waste time with pleasantries and just started the carnage. While Furball was having a hard time biting the ice scales, Ryan had an easier time since he pierced his three me swords on the back of the dragon. Their effects were decreasing the effects of Frost Armor, and thus Ryan was able to pierce Paralyzing Spear pretty deep on the monster''s flesh. However, when he pulled his crossbow to attack, Ryan felt the sound of dozens of Ice Spear being created above him. The projectiles hit the monster''s back since he dodged them, but unfortunately, the ice dragon didn''t suffer even a scratch from its own attacks. Furball also had to let go of the dragon''s neck since the monster tried to smash him with his ws. Without other choices, Ryan and Furball moved away from the dragon. Attacking up close wouldn''t be that easy, it seemed¡­ "Furball, just run around while using Fireball," Ryan said. "I will handle the rest." Ryan equipped his ax in one hand and the crossbow in the other. Although he wouldn''t be able to cause much damage while holding a melee weapon with a single hand, it was enough for the time being. Furball began to run to the dragon''s left side, and Ryan headed to the right side. The creature opened its mouth again, but it was forced to close its eyes when Ryan fired his bolts toward them. At the same time, Furball began to shot his Fireballs. Steam began to rise again, and Ryan used that chance and approached with sh, he tried to attack the dragon''s left eye with his ax, but the monster used its left arm to block his attack. Ryan used sh again to gain some distance from the creature. Soon after, the ice dragon began to p its wings and left the area. It understood that fighting up close wasn''t a good idea against Ryan and Furball. While its spells worked better at a certain distance, the creature didn''t feel like risking itself so much. Ryan used that chance to keep attack using Firing Position, but in the end, he was forced to run around since the dragon used its Ice Breath and tried to freeze him and Furball. Fortunately, they escaped the attack relying on their speed alone since the dragon wanted to keep a certain distance from them. "I guess there is no other choice¡­ I have to keep relying on Power Shot," Ryan frowned. Since the ice dragon didn''t look like it wanted to abandon that area, Ryan will have a one hundred percent of chance of hitting and causing critical damage as long as he uses Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. However, Ryan felt it would be a waste of time if the dragon uses its Ice Spears again to decrease his attacks'' power. In a fight of attrition, Ryan had the disadvantage since he was weaker and had much less mana and recovery. Mana potions could only help him for so long, after all. "I guess I have two options, keep spamming poisoned bolts and hope that the poison will eventually kill the beast, or charge a single Power Shot to its limits," Ryan muttered while furrowing his eyebrows. The first option seemed less troublesome, but since the dragon''s mentality was much higher than Ryan''s intelligence, the effects of the poison wereughable. The second option was dangerous. Keep charging an attack and let the dragon rampage unchecked might cause some serious problems¡­ Before Ryan could take his decision, the dragon stopped Ice Breath and began to fire Ice Spears toward Ryan and Furball. To think that a monster could do that when they were in two different ces¡­ moreover, the dragon could make the ice spears appear pretty much anywhere. Thus, Ryan and Furball only had a few moments to recognize the threat and move away from it. Ryan looked at the weapons on the back of the dragon, and he realized that there was another way¡­ but it would be very risky. However, Ryan quickly made his choice. There wasn''t such a thing as a safe method to win against a dragon, and Ryan refused to give too many chances for the dragon to kill him and Furball. Ryan stored away his ax and crossbow and then equipped his hammer. Without wasting time, he began to charge his Concentrated Strike. Upon noticing that Ryan was nning something different again, the ice dragon stopped attacking Furball and focused only on him. Even when dozens of Ice Spears flew toward him, Ryan didn''t stop. He only changed his position by relying on sh. The ice dragon got impatient and used Absolute Zero, but Ryan escaped the attack by using sh skyward. Since the dragon was flying in circles, eventually, it got close enough to Ryan, and at that moment, Ryan used sh so many times in the blink of an eye that the ice dragon didn''t even see the few moments he showed himself. In the end, the ice dragon suffered a sharp pain on its back and realized that Ryan had done it again¡­ His concentrated attack hit the Paralyzing Spear and made the weapon pierce the dragon''s sh quite a lot. "HHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Ryan''s ears started to ring while he was flying away from the monster. Still, he felt satisfied with the result. The monster had lost one-third of its health while Ryan didn''t get hit a single time¡­ that dragon could be like Orgar, but Ryan didn''t survive so many fights against tough foes for nothing. He learned a lot. Chapter 311 - Where Are My Coins? In a fit of rage, the ice flew even closer to Ryan and Furball in order to impale them with Ice Spears. However, magic attacks and anger aren''t a goodbination. Ryan managed to escape from the attacks by using some buffs, and Furball didn''t even need his help. Regardless, the same trick wouldn''t work twice, so Ryan resumed his attacks with the crossbow while he thinks of a new way to cause damage on the ice dragon. As usual, the easy way out would be by relying on the Power of Money, but Ryan didn''t want the easy way out. He wanted to show to those fucking monsters that despite the difference in strength, he could kill them all¡­ at least, one at a time. Suddenly, the behavior of the dragon changed. Instead of attacking Ryan and Furball, the monster began to fire its massive Ice Spears around that area. After a while, Ryan saw that those ice spears now walled the entire ce. That was a pretty weird tactic since Ryan and Furball could break those easily. They kept attacking the monster and slowly decreasing its health. However, very suddenly, the ice dragon stopped flying mid-air and then began to emit a lot of mana. As if they were antennas or something, the spears began to absorb the mana and increase size. "I don''t like this," Ryan said. "Let''s get the hell out of here, Furball." Furball barked, and they tried to leave the area, but then they tried to jump over the spears, something invisible blocked their path¡­ Ryan had seen something simr before. A semi-transparent magic barrier¡­ Alissa used that once. "It can''t be helped¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Let''s make that over-sized lizard regret this." Ryan and Furball jumped toward the dragon, and Ryan was ready to make his Paralyzing Spear pierce the back of the monster even more, but before they could do anything, the monster stopped flying and entered in a weird posture. While covering its face with its wings and shrieking its body, the ice dragon fell on the ground as if it was a huge block of ice. When Ryan began to charge his Concentrated Strike, the ice dragon started to shine. Its light-blue tone seemed much more sparkling all of a sudden, and Ryan didn''t like that. He didn''t wait for the attack to be stronger, Ryan used Concentrated Strike over and over again, but the endurance of the monster also had increased. As if that wasn''t enough, the temperature was decreasing. "The hell is this thing trying to pull off?" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Ryan, for some reason, recalled a skill that some monsters had in games. They could concentrate all their energy on a single point, and they could cause massive damage by self-destructing. He couldn''t believe that a dragon would go that far, but the ice dragon was definitely nning something simr to kill him. That vast amount of mana being concentrated seemed like good enough proof. "Furball, get behind me!" Ryan shouted. Suddenly, the glow around the dragon grew stronger, and Ryan hurried to get away from the monster, he tried to use Power of Money to destroy the ice spears, but he failed. While clenching his teeth, Ryan grabbed his shield and then put it in front of him. In the next moment, the mana inside the dragon exploded, and everything between the monster and the ice spears be a single massive block of ice. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Freeze Resistance. Effect: decreases the damage and the effects caused by spells and attacks that might freeze by one point per level. You obtained one status point. Ryan''s entire body froze, and his health began to decrease at a fearsome speed. However, he reacted on time by using Purification and Heal several times on arrow to escape death. Still, even though he escaped death by freezing, the ice dragon was still alive, and the damn beast was breaking the ice with its ws, ready to smash him apart as well. After using Appraisal, Ryan confirmed that the monster had used all its remaining mana for that massive area of effect spell. That was what he had been waiting for¡­ So, Ryan activated Power Shot. When the monster got close enough, it realized that Ryan was alive and ready to attack. The ice dragon immediately fell back, but Ryan used sh to disappear from that sea of ice. Ryan reappeared a few meters above the monster and fired his Power Shot. He hit exactly where he wanted to hit¡­ the butt of his Paralyzing Spear. Although the weapon''s durability was reaching its bottom, the attack made it pierce the flesh even further. "HHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" The beast screamed in agony again, but Ryan didn''t stop there. While he was falling, he grabbed his hammer and decided to make his swords pierce the monster''s flesh even further. However, the ice dragon began to shine again. Ryan clicked his tongue since he didn''t expect that the monster would be able to use that with so little mana¡­ unfortunately, his mana was also almost empty, so he couldn''t escape. It was do or die! When Ryan was about tond the final attack, the light expanded, and Ryan was forced to close his eyes, but before he could be a statue of ice again, he made his sword pierce all the way to the dragon''s brain. When Ryan opened his eyes, he saw himself standing at the top of the dead dragon. In the end, Ryan won, but it looked like something was off¡­ "Where are my coins?" Ryan asked with a frown on his face. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan couldn''t see any drop around the corpse either¡­ After thinking for a while, Ryan concluded that the damn dragon didn''t try to freeze everything again, that light had been just a decoy to divert from Ryan''s attention while the monster escaped. Still, to think that a dragon would leave its body behind¡­ they sure had a lot of interesting skills. Regardless, Ryan ended up wasting a lot of time. ss: Hunter Lv 67 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 222th Health: 1156 /1156 (3,19/s) Mana: 1818 /1818 (3,19/s) Stamina: 1559 /1559 (3,19/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1600 (+1339) (+82) Speed: 85 (+611) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+513) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+622) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+991) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 17.236.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 85 (+ 04 UP), Rapid Shot Lv 48 (+ 06 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 66 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 66 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 66 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 66 (+ 03 UP), Firing Posture Lv 11, Spells: Ranger''s Awakening Lv 11, Crazy Shot Lv 06 Support Skills: Icebound Lv 19 (+ 04 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 34 (+ 15 UP), Freeze Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 32 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 60 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 43 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 36 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 06, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur Chapter 312 - New Class It was a pity after all that struggle, but Ryan decided not toin about it. In the end, he managed to protect Furball, even though he left him behind in a prison of ice. "Sorry, buddy," Ryan said after he freed his partner. Fortunately, due to all the time they spent in that area, their Cold Resistance was high, so Furball didn''t suffer a lot. Regardless, it was time to move on since Ryan felt like he wasted his time there. Since that was annoying, it was better to hurry up and leave. Still, before anything, they had to check the dungeon. Just like the dire wolves'' dungeon, the dungeon was like an ice cave. It was so slippery that Ryan decided to cross while floating by using Telekinesis. For some reason, Furball could walk inside the dungeon just fine. Aside from the asional ice golems, Ryan and Furball only found the boss at the end of the dungeon¡­ it was another ice golem who was ten times stronger than the ordinary monsters. However, since its intelligence was at the level of slimes, the fight ended quite easily and very anticlimactically. "A tier two dungeon, huh," Ryan muttered. "I should have known¡­" Ryan still believed that someone made that dungeon appear at such a weird ce for a reason and that someone was beyond the purple crystal. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t check that individual, so he just left the purple crystal alone. Once he finishes his travels around the continent, he might find them when he bes a dungeon master¡­ Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Champion, Bard, and Whitesmith. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two new sses that I already saw before. While Bard is supposed to be the best option considering my build, I already have that ss," Ryan frowned while he checked his options. "I guess I will pick Whitesmith. The stock of iron ores is growing bigger with each day, and I don''t know what to do with them. But wait¡­ is Whitesmith a magic ss?" Usually, the third option was always a magic ss¡­ but Ryan couldn''t help but think that something was off. In any case, he chose that ss anyway. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Whitesmith! You obtained the following skills: Battle Machine, Dungeon Shop, and Improved Creation. Your mana and intelligence will increase by four points, your stamina, health, recovery, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Battle Machine. Effect: It grants you the chance to create a small turret that fires Mana Bullets. By leveling up this skill, you can increase its damage output, energy storage, and range of attack. Cost: 50 mana and 10 iron ores You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dungeon Shop. Effect: It grants you the power to open thest dungeon shop''s menu visited anywhere you are. You can''t use this skill while fighting. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Improved Creation. Effect: It increases the quality of the items you create by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ I already said this many times, but¡­ those are some weird skills," Ryan frowned. Since Ryan wasn''t that creative and he could create pretty much every item, weapon, or armor that he wants by manipting earth, he was having a hard time how to use the iron ores, but now he found a good use for them. Regardless, he had to see how useful Battle Machines could be. As for Dungeon Shop and Improved Creation, there were no mistakes that they would be useful to him. Ryan tried to use the skill, but the skill failed¡­ it looked like he needed the iron ores in hand to use them.Regardless, when the skill finally worked, the ores disappeared from his hand, and a small turret that had a mini cannon appeared in front of him. The turret was smaller than his head, it was a bit heavy, but he could lift it and even store it in his ring. Battle Machine Lv 01 Health: -- Mana: 100/100 Stamina: -- Mana Bullet: Causes five points of damage upon contact. Cost: 05 mana Range: 20 meters Recovery: 600 Durability: 20/20 It was weird that the item had only some status, but it was understandable. In any case, it could be really useful if Ryan keeps using the skill. The problem was to how to use them in realbat¡­ aside from putting them around the dungeon entrances, Ryan couldn''t imagine many other ways in which those could be really effective. "It looks like the skills are starting to deviate a bit from the ordinary types, in spells are getting behind, and attacks that focus on a massive area of effect damage are bing easier to find," Ryan said. "That and spells like these, that focus more on utility than anything." Although it was interesting and useful in some aspects, that kind of ss couldn''t maximize his raw damage output, not directly at least. Regardless, after leaving the dungeon, Ryan restocked his supply of potions. Furball decided to eat a little of the dragon''s corpse, but for some reason, it didn''t taste that good, and he soon gave up. At the same time, the dragon heart didn''t increase Ryan''s status. "This fight has been a waste of time in many aspects¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Regardless, why that ice dragon was here killing golems? Given its level, the monster should have been hunting other creatures. That reminds me, the monster was in the ocean before the fight¡­ what happened to the megalodons?" The number of questions in Ryan''s head was starting to increase, and he couldn''t even imagine the day where he would be able to obtain the answers of all of them. Chapter 313 - Possession After leaving Chile behind, Ryan began to travel through Argentina. However, he didn''t find any signs of survivors as well. The only thing he found weird was Furball''s behavior that now and then, he would re at him and would growl in anger. "What is up, buddy?" Ryan frowned. "Do I smell or something? I mean, no offense, but you don''t smell like flowers either, just look at your diet." Weirdly enough, whenever that happened, and Ryan said anything to Furball, his partner would calm down as if nothing had happened. Ryan already had too many things in mind, so he didn''t want to someday wake up while being bitten by Furball, but if that behavior continues, he will have to send Furball away at least at night. Regardless, another weird thing was that while Ryan was close to the ocean, he only found Giant Crabs. Although they were tasty, Ryan was already getting sick of eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "Grrrrrrr." "Seriously¡­ what is wrong with you?" Ryan sighed and then asked Furball. Obviously, Ryan wasn''t expecting a proper answer, but still, that behavior was getting tiresome. It was weird¡­ Furball began to act like that after the fight against the ice dragon. Ryan couldn''t tell what changed on him to behave like that. Maybe he was angry because Ryan left him stuck on a massive block of ice for a few minutes. "Then again, if you were that angry, you wouldn''t show that only now and then¡­" Ryan frowned. "Something in me is bothering you¡­ right?" Furball barked obediently as usual¡­ as expected, his partner noticed that something changed on him, but Ryan himself had no idea what that was. He didn''t feel different in any way. "Since the end of that fight¡­" Ryan muttered. After checking his status, Ryan only confirmed that nothing was different with him. Still, just in case, he decided to let the screen open in case something happens and he doesn''t notice. After moving for a few hours, Ryan didn''t notice anything weird. However, when he closed his status screen because he saw a new species of monster in the distance, Ryan noticed something. His mana bar decreased a little¡­ not the total amount. The bar changed as if he had used some skill, which he didn''t. "Am I sick or something?" Ryan Frowned. "It wouldn''t surprise me if those monsters brought some kind of disease to Earth." Suddenly, Furball barked a little more loudly than usual. Ryan found that strange, but he more or less understood what he was trying to say. "You don''t think I am sick?" Ryan asked. Furball barked, but this time, in the usual volume. Apparently, he barked more loudly when he didn''t agree with it. Although Ryan found it strange that he was learning to understand a mythical wolf, it was useful since Furball probably had good instincts for that kind of thing. "What do you think I have then?" Ryan asked. That was a thought question. It wasn''t like Furball could answer that with a yes or no. Regardless, after staying silent for a while, Furball approached Ryan and then touched his belly with his paw. "What about my belly?" Ryan asked. "You should learn how to speak properly, Furball. We are wasting time here." Somehow, Furball could understand everything Ryan says. So, he stayed quiet for a while, thinking about what he should do. "This isn''t going anywhere¡­ I should ask some questions that you can answer with a yes or no." Ryan said. "Something changed about me, right? Did that happen before we fought the ice dragon?" Furball barked loudly¡­ the answer was no. Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and then he asked if something changed after the fight, but Furball did the same thing. "Not before and not after¡­" Ryan frowned. "Something changed during the fight?" Furball barked in a normal tone. Ryan recalled the whole fight, but he couldn''t remember anything weird aside from the fact that the dragon escaped by leaving its body behind¡­ then Ryan understood why Furball patted his belly. It was hard to believe, but it looked like the ice dragon escaped inside of him. "... did you see the dragon entering my body?" Ryan asked. Furball normally barked again, and Ryan opened his eyes widely. Howe he didn''t notice that? A fucking dragon was inside of him, and he didn''t notice anything? That was insane¡­ "Hey, you piece of shit," Ryan said. "If you are hearing this, leave my body right now, and I will grant you a quick death. waste too much of my time, and I will make you regret it." Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t hear an answer, but given that his mana was being drained now and then by the dragon, he knew exactly what he should do. Furball only barked when they weren''t fighting, so it was clear that the dragon wanted Ryan''s mana. So, he just has to keep using his mana. Although it was a bit tiring, Ryan fired dozens of bolts upward, and his mana got empty. He took out some of his weapons and used them alongside Telekinesis. Thanks to it, Ryan''s mana was constantly empty. For the time being, he didn''t notice anything off. However, when he started his preparations to approach the monsters in the distance, he heard an unknown voice. "All right, stop this. Stop using your mana. Let''s talk this through." Ryan opened his eyes widely when he heard that voice. Although it was a powerful voice like Orgar''s, it was also more delicate and less rough¡­ It was the voice of a female dragon. "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered. "Leave my body now, you freak. Or I will rip you apart with my bare hands." "It is impossible. Right now, I don''t have a physical body; hence you can''t damage me, much less kill me. Anyway, as I said, stop using your mana, and let''s negotiate." Instead of keeping insisting, Ryan decided to use Purification, but unfortunately, it didn''t work. However, he wouldn''t give up that easily¡­ Chapter 314 - Iron Scorpion Ryan used Purification several times, but just like he didn''t notice a single difference, nothing changed as well. The reason was simple¡­ "I am not a negative effect, so that this spell won''t work on me. Anyway, I must apologize for before, I thought you were an enemy when you suddenly invaded my territory, but it looks like I was wrong." Ryan ignored the voice and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully¡­ how could he damage the spirit of a dragon. Although Purification was useless, Ryan knew that certain items and spells could work even against powerful dragons. Orgar was a fine example of that. However, Ryan didn''t have any skills that could affect something inside him without affecting himself as well. "Are you listening to me? I am apologizing for what I did. I am not your enemy, and as a sign of apology, I want to make a deal with you." "You are hundred percent my enemy because of you fuckers. Earth experienced hell; besides, you almost killed me," Ryan said. "No apology or deal will be enough to make me forgive you for that. Not to mention, you tried to steal my mana while you were hidden inside me. You are thest thing I want to make a deal with." "I apologize once again. I know that this sounds like a poor excuse, but I was desperate, and I did what I did to survive. You have my word; I won''t do anything suspicious while I am inside you." "You can take your word and stick up your ass," Ryan said. "Maybe I can''t do anything with you now, but one day I will be able to, and on that day, I will make you regret this." "Cool your head and think carefully. You will gain a lot just by hearing me out. I know that this will sound too convenient, but you will gain a lot of power if you help me." "I don''t need your power, as far as I am concerned, I kicked your ass without trying hard," Ryan said. "... Indeed, you did that, but even with your current strength, there are foes that you can''t win against, right?" ".... Fucking dragons and their damn habit of reading other people''s minds," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Can you please mind yournguage? I am trying to be civilized here¡­ I am a superior life form, and yet, I am willing to talk with you." "Superior my ass, you are just an oversized lizard that tried to kill me," Ryan said. "As far as I am concerned, we are even. We fought and tried to kill each other, I lost, and you and your warg even ate a few parts of my old body. That definitely makes us even. Anyway, here is the deal, you will give me some of your mana for a while, and I will grant you a part of my powers." "I refuse. Just show up already so that I can kill you," Ryan said. "... You really are naive; do you really think I will do that just because you asked me to?" "Whether you do or not, it doesn''t matter," Ryan said. "Just like I said before, I will find a way to kill you. Still, knowing that you don''t have the courage to face me after all these insults puts me at ease since it only proves to me that you are pathetic. It will take a while, but eventually, I will kill you." "All right¡­ let''s see you try." The ice dragon went silent after that. Still, it looked like she still was conscious since Ryan''s mana was being sucked every single second. It was only a single point of mana per second, but it was the annoying way. Hopefully, Ryan will find a method to get of that parasite inside his body. Maybe Alissa and Orgar could help him with that, but he decided to look himself first for a solution instead of running toward them for help. Knowing Alissa, she would bother him a lot afterward if he asks her for help. "There must be a ss or skill that will help me with this," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe even a magic item might help me with this¡­ unfortunately, finding any of those options will be hard." "You should give up on that. While I am an anomaly in your body, I am not causing any harm. Skills and magic items that can purify your body only affect creatures when they pose a threat to you." "Bullshit, you are sucking my mana. You clearly are a threat to my body," Ryan protested showing an angry expression on his face. "I am only draining mana when your mana bar is already full. Not only that, your current recovery grants you more mana than I can absorb right now, so you aren''t being harmed in any way." Ryan couldn''t even understand why he was trying to dialogue with a dragon. In the end, the beast would always defend its actions, even though they were clearly impossible to defend. Regardless, instead of worrying endlessly about that problem, Ryan decided to move on since that was the only thing he could do to find a solution to that problem as fast as possible. After focusing his eyes in the distance again, Ryan recognized once more the species of the creature that was blocking his path. For a change, he was going to face something that wasn''t a Giant Crab. They were scorpions, and considering that they had some sort of metal in the ce of their carapaces, Ryan concluded that they would be hard to deal with. Iron Scorpion ¨C Lv 120 Health: 1500/1500 Mana: 1500/1500 Stamina: 1500/1500 Strength: 800 Dexterity: 800 Speed: 750 Intelligence: 800 Endurance: 1100 Control: 550 Mentality: 800 Luck: 250 Recovery: 1100 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous Sting Lv 110 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 100, Bronze Skin Lv 80 Spells: Poison Bullet Lv 100, Poison Sphere Lv 80 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 80, Cold Resistance Lv 80, Earth Resistance Lv 80, Poison Resistance Lv 200 Chapter 315 - Conflict Those scorpions were a bad match-up against Ryan, given that the greatest strength of his weapon was the poison effect. Still, while they would cause some problems for him, it wasn''t enough to make Ryan give up. His coins were pilling up nicely, and he was almost sure that he would be able to learn Katelyn''s skill to upgrade weapons when he obtains twenty million coins. However, if by some chance he finds a way to get rid of the dragon inside him with those coins, he will have to dy his ns¡­ that was really unnerving, but it couldn''t be helped. "Let''s do this, Furball," Ryan said. "Watch the left side because I will focus only on hitting their eyes." Furball barked in agreement. Since the ocean was on the right side and for some reason, the Giant Crabs weren''t in that area, Ryan didn''t have to worry about that direction. Regardless, Ryan began to fire his bolts, and even though he needed a few seconds to aim, he always hit the scorpions'' eyes. Several of the scorpions had fallen when some of them finally found Ryan. In the end, despite their high endurance, Ryan could easily cause critical damage when his foes were that close to him. Although his firing speed could increase a lot more if he uses Perfect Aim, Ryan couldn''t use all that much mana frequently. There was no telling what might happen if he goes too far when a dragon was inside of him. "I am not draining your mana right now, so you don''t have to worry about me. If you die, I will disappear as well since I lost my original body." Ryan confirmed that fact by watching his mana bar. Still, he decided to keep ying it safe. Most dragons were prideful creatures, but that one easily abandoned its body to survive. So, in Ryan''s eyes, it was clear that the beast could try to trick him at any moment. "You are indeed paranoid. You already know some humans that are working with dragons, so you already know that they can only work together if they agree by signing a contract. Right now, you are only a shelter for my spirit. While I can drain your mana to keep my conscious active, I can''t do many other things. If you die, I won''t even be able to fight back." "Shut up, I didn''t ask," Ryan said impatiently. "Just threaten me as if I am your conscience. I am sure you will feel less bothered that way." "If I wanted to listen to conscience, I wouldn''t be here with Furball fighting against hordes of monsters," Ryan said. "That is true, isn''t it? Although you are the perfect host for me, you are a very troublesome human." Ryan took a deep breath to calm down and resumed his job of ying those scorpions. Fortunately, the annoyance in his body decided to shut up. However, the number of scorpions was too high, so they got close enough to fire their poison spells. Furball dashed toward them while dodging the projectiles and began to kick the monsters'' left and right. Even though his strength wasn''t higher than the monsters'' endurance, his massive weight helped him with that. Since those creatures'' dungeon wasn''t in the area, Ryan and Furball finished the fight rather quickly. Fortunately, some monsters even survived the fight, but they didn''t have a happy ending. Ryan used them to create some magic items. Arrows could create a poisonous cloud when they hit the targets, but since they were basically useless while Ryan has the Pestilence Crossbow, Ryan created some magic items for Furball. Those were essentially spiked knee and elbows pads that increased his pet''s Poison Resistance. "You have a weak spot for animals, huh? What is the point of creating that when your ward can never truly die?" "What is the point of you saying anything, given that I will never listen to it?" Ryan asked. "You hold your stupidity in such high regards? I am impressed¡­" "For a parasite, you sure can talk big and act smug," Ryan frowned. That kind of conversation was getting tiring, and unfortunately, Ryan had no way of avoiding it. He didn''t want to let a fucking dragon say whatever she wants inside his head. Ryan felt the need that he had to put the beast in her ce, even though that was probably a massive waste of time. "Let''s just ignore this fucking bitch, right buddy?" Ryan said and then patted Furball''s head. "Anyway, go and eat a little bit. Someday I want you to reach the strength that will grant you the chance to fight damned beasts like her." Fortunately, the iron carapace of the monsters bes quite weak once the monsters die. So, Furball didn''t have a hard time eating the scorpions. As for the status they granted him, they increased his recovery. That was very nice, so Ryan decided to take his time while Furball eats. Since Ryan didn''t have anything better to do, he created several battle machines. Since they took so little space, Ryan was thinking of putting some of them inside the tier one dungeons he might find along the way. While that seemed good and all, the problem was opening the path toward thest part of those dungeons since most of them already broke three or four times. Another problem was that they were starting to take more space inside his rings than the iron ores¡­ Ryan really had to put them to good use as fast as possible. After a while, Ryan noticed that Furball''s recovery wasn''t increasing as fast as before¡­ which was weird. Ryan tried to find an exnation for that, but he didn''t find it. Maybe the monsters'' level was an issue, just like the level of the dungeons they came from. "You are correct, but the more he grows stronger, the harder it will be to increase his status by eating monsters." Ryan sighed when he heard that¡­ even when the dragon was useful, her voice didn''t sound even a little bit less annoying. Chapter 316 - Unwanted Help Ryan and Furball eventually reached Uruguay. A small country was located between Brazil and Argentina. While that wasn''t such an important detail, Ryan couldn''t help but notice and think about it because he only found Iron Scorpions on the borders. Weirdly enough, they seemed to be marking the border''s position since their number was pretty high, and they were forming something like a wall. "This is weird¡­ but if a dungeon master can create several dungeons on the same, that would exin the high number of scorpions," Ryan concluded. "You are correct. Not even after four dungeon breaks, a single monster species was supposed to be this numerous. In the distance, I can only find the presence of those scorpions." Ryan never asked, but the ice dragon always used that kind of situation to interrupt Ryan''s monologuing. He thought of stop thinking, but Ryan couldn''t do that. He already speaks too little since Furball doesn''t speak humannguage, so if he decreases that amount even further¡­ Ryan was afraid that he would start to speak out loud every single one of his thoughts. Regardless, even though the vegetation around the border was pretty tall, Ryan would be found by hundreds of scorpions once he starts the fight. Moreover, since the scorpions were some sort of barrier, their movements will alert the others. In the end, that will start a pretty long fight. Just relying on critical damage wouldn''t be enough since Ryan needed some time for each shot. "I can help you with that." Ryan ignored the ice dragons'' words. As if he would ept the help of a monster that hadn''t been tamed or summoned by him. Regardless, Ryan prepared his explosive arrows since it was high time to use them. "You will help me move around, buddy," Ryan said to Furball. "You are strong enough to fight them but not enough to defeat more than one at a time. Once your mana and recovery increase a little, we will consider buying you an area of effect spell." Furball barked in agreement. Without wasting any more time, Ryan used Arrow Shower and made magic arrows rain over dozens of scorpions. While not a single one of them died, they suffered some damage and found him. As soon as that happened, Ryan began to charge Power Shot. "You really like to use that skill, huh? What will happen once you find an enemy that will manage to seal that skill?" "That is none of your business," Ryan replied. Once the scorpions got close enough, Ryan fired an explosive arrow, and the explosion made several scorpions spin in the air while others died. The number was a bit smaller than Ryan predicted, but that was fine since he finished them off by firing Electric Bullets. The damage caused by those surprised him a bit more, so Ryan began to fire them with his left hand. Suddenly, just before his magic projectiles could hit some monsters, the scorpions became statues of ice. When the Electric Bullets hit them, they died instantly¡­ it looked like thunder and ice were a pretty goodbination. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. ¡­ "If you ept a small use, I can¡­" "No," Ryan interrupted the ice dragon. While it was weird that Ryan received all the coins considering that he wasn''t the only one who caused damage, he wouldn''tin about it. He jumped on Furball''s back, and his partner began to run away from the monsters. When a massive number of them got close enough and began to fire their poison projectiles, Ryan fired his Power Shot and decimated hundreds of scorpions. Those in the front line and those in the back lines got caught in the explosion and didn''t have time to react. Despite that, some Poison Bullets still hit Ryan, and the points hit started to burn. While he wanted to level up his resistances, it was meaningless if the pain prevents him from aiming urately. So, Ryan used Purification. "Dragons aren''t the bloodthirsty monsters that you think¡­ most of them are, but there are some like Orgar, Garr, and me that use our heads and don''t let our instincts and thirst for power blind your judgment. While I think that you have all the rights to hunt us down, you can''t kill every single one of us indiscriminately." "You don''t have to worry about that. I only killed those who tried to kill me first," Ryan said. "I may be a killer who took many lives, but I am not a monster like you guys who killed those who couldn''t even protect themselves." "What makes you think that I did that? You already know that I was in the area killing the ice golems, and while their level was high, it was because I let the dungeon breaks happen so they could make me stronger faster. I didn''t kill a single human." "You tried to kill me," Ryan said. "I already apologized for that; I mistook you from some individuals that are hunting dragons like me. I don''t know who those guys are, but they managed to y many dragons despite the difference in strength. I heard that some of them have the backing of some dragons, but others don''t and still can defeat us by using some techniques. I felt the smell on you, the smell of someone who defeated many dragons. Considering that any ordinary human wouldn''t have a real need to look for the ice golem''s dungeon, I assumed you hade to kill me." "That is a very convenient excuse," Ryan said. "All right, I give up. I can''t convince you using normal means. So, I will save your life once, and we will be even, right?" "I would rather die than owe my life to a monster," Ryan said after shrugging. "In that case, I repay the debt by giving you knowledge. That is something that you want more than anything else. Do you wish to refuse that as well?" Chapter 317 - A Reliable Opinion Ryan sighed, and then he shut up. Instead of talking, he resumed his job of ying iron scorpions. Receiving help or knowledge from someone he wanted to y was too risky, so it was better to ignore everything the monster says. "Let''s see¡­ it looks like you don''t know anything about the dungeon masters. While I didn''t confirm anything either, I have some hypotheses. If my guess is right, the dungeon masters are trying to make the level of their dungeons reach level one thousand as soon as possible. That is why monsters are killing each other." It took a lot of effort, but Ryan managed to avoid falling for the bait. He was very interested in that topic, but he didn''t ask any questions. Regardless¡­ it made sense. At first, Ryan thought the monsters were only fighting against each other because they wanted to be the new dominant Earth species. While that also made sense, it didn''t exin some creatures'' behavior that sacrificed their pawns without a hint of hesitation. "Staying silent won''t make you less interested in the subject. Regardless, another one of my guesses is that once the dungeons reach level one thousand, the dungeon masters will be able toe to your and disy their true power. Their minions will also be much stronger as well." That wasn''t something Ryan had thought¡­ However, it also made sense. Ryan knew very well that monsters and bosses could level up, so it was evident that their strength wasn''t at the peak when he defeated creatures like Cerberus and Fenrir. Still, there were some weird things about the system¡­ why can humans go to other worlds and disy their full strength while the dungeon masters can''t do the same on Earth? Was it because the mana level on thes was different? Orgar did mention something like that before¡­ "Just like Orgar and Garr, I want to know why we don''t have our memories before we suddenly appeared on your. However, unlike them, I decided to build my power alone while hunting the ice golems. I didn''t find a suitable human to be my host, and I didn''t want to believe that creatures like you had that much potential by yourselves, but I was wrong¡­ you defeated me, after all. Even though you had to rely on potions and other items¡­ even though you wouldn''t have a chance in a fair fight." "You sound like a sore loser¡­" Ryan frowned. Putting that aside, it looked like some parts of the puzzle were finally starting to appear. Although Femradiel could read Ryan''s mind, and she could have made up that whole story to fool him, he doubted that was the case¡­ everything made too much sense. Besides, it wasn''t like he had to do anything for her after obtaining those pieces of information. "Now we are even." "Who said that you could decide that?" Ryan asked. "I know that you have a strong sense of responsibility. You wouldn''t try to kill someone who gave so many pieces of information you have been looking for such a long time, after all." It wasn''t very pleasant, but she was right¡­ Ryan hated unfairness. He couldn''t withstand offer less to other people when they offered so much for him. Although Femradiel tried to kill him, at least she saved him a lot of time. Besides, he survived without losing a single limb, so Ryan didn''t feel likeining too much about it. "Now that we are even, we can proceed with the contract." "I won''t sign any contract," Ryan dered. "But we are even!" "So what?" Ryan asked. "That doesn''t mean that I need your help with anything else or that I should help you with your problems. As far as I am concerned, I don''t need to do anything else aside from letting you go without trying to kill you again." "¡­ You are the first human I have talked to, but I must say if all of them are as difficult as you¡­ then perhaps your species deserves extermination." "Well, let''s let the survival of the fittest do its magic," Ryan said. "Anyway, you can go now. You have my word that I won''t kill you. Begone, sayonara, hast vista, adios, at¨¦ nunca mais,bas." "As much as I want to find a better host, I can''t. As I said before, I need mana to reconstruct a functional body. Without one, I can''t choose a new host. You will have to deal with me for a while longer." "¡­ I guess I am going to follow the n A: find a way to exorcise you out of my body," Ryan said after biting his lips in annoyance. For a few more minutes, Ryan''s speed of killing monsters increased, but soon he calmed down again. He could only get angry for so long, after all. Regardless, just as usual, the monsters only chased him for a while. After a certain point, they just retreated and reassumed their positions. "I don''t think those are tier three monsters, so maybe I shouldn''t waste my time here," Ryan said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Shall I fly above the country and then move on to Brazil? I also don''t think that it is a good idea to leave so many enemies behind." Ryan was collecting his loot and selling everything straight away when they were useless to him while thinking about what to do. Given what Femradiel just told him, it would be better if Ryan just ignores that country and explore the Brazilian coast as fast as possible and then return to his country. The next step would be to exterminate all the monsters in a foreign world and then be a dungeon master. However, Ryan felt that there was something off about Uruguay¡­ if a dungeon master really had decided to create several dungeons of the same type in a country, it wouldn''t be a good idea to leave without knowing why. "What do you think, buddy?" Ryan asked Furball. Chapter 318 - Improvising In the end, Ryan decided to study that country for a while to see if there were some reason as to why a single dungeon master spawned several dungeons in such a small country. Still, he decided to talk with Mark about the things that he heard. "That is the summary of the things," Ryan said after giving his report. "Although I think most of it makes sense, I wouldn''t go as far as blindly believing in the words of a dragon." "I see. I will try to talk with Alissa and Orgar about this and ask their opinions," Mark said. "Regardless¡­ now you have a dragon inside of you as well, huh." "You talk as if I had decided to let a parasite enter my body," Ryan frowned. "Shall I ask Alissa and Orgar about this matter?" Mark asked. "No¡­ I will find a solution on my own," Ryan replied and then ended the call. Ryan sighed, and then he started to wonder as to why Alissa and Orgar didn''t try to exterminate all the monsters of a foreign world. Certainly, it would take some time and effort, but she had the skills to make something like that easier. Still, knowing her, it wasn''t surprising that she would avoid such a tedious job. Soon afterward, Ryan began to fly over Uruguay, trying to see anything weird. After studying the areas where the monsters were more concentrated, Ryan found four dungeons, and as expected, all of them were spawning Iron Scorpions. However, aside from that, Ryan didn''t find anything weird¡­ no, he noticed just a single thing that seemed suspicious. Even though the monsters never fought, their level increased the next day. To confirm that Ryan didn''t just imagine things, he hunts them down for another day and waits for the change to happen. Just as he had expected, they leveled up the next day as well. "Orgar said that monsters could level up by absorbing the mana from the environment, but this speed is too weird¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "If you get close to the dungeon, I might confirm something. My guess is that dungeons make the areas around them simr to thes of the dungeon masters. The dungeons probably do that using mana, so even if the monsters don''t do anything, they probably emit some of their mana and enact change to the environment¡­ while the effect of the monsters of a single dungeon might be weak, if you put several of them around the same area, the effect will multiply and thus affect all the monsters, even if they are from different dungeons." Ryan frowned when he heard that. For an oversized lizard, Femradiel sure was quick toe up with some hypothesis that seemed pretty urate¡­ or maybe Ryan was just too dumb. He was the type who would rather choose to fight against a horde of monsters without thinking too much about it, instead of fighting a few troublesome ones, after all. Still, Ryan didn''t even have to approach the dungeons to see that the Femradiel hypothesis was correct. Although only four months had passed since the monster''s arrival, Ryan couldn''t see a single sign of asphalt or of the roads of that country. The tall grass had engulfed everything that was shorter than one meter in length. "So, my guess was right¡­ at this rate, the leveling up the speed of those monsters will only increase since more of them keep spawning and then also emit more mana because they obtain more mana when they level up. It is impressive. A dungeon master found a way to reach the level max of the dungeon as fast as possible without having to fight against other monsters." "Stop reading my mind, unless you want to be my enemy again," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "It is not fair if only me share some intel. You don''t speak often, so I have to read your mind to learn more about this world. However, if you sign a small use, you can make sure that I won''t be able to read your mind." "I won''t sign anything. You can look for other idiots to scam," Ryan said. "I am starting to wonder howe Orgar never tried to eat you alive¡­ he doesn''t seem a very patient dragon." Putting such matters aside¡­ Ryan didn''t want to spend too much time in that country just to obtain the chance to get some tier two sses. Unfortunately, he couldn''t leave the dungeons alone either. That would be too favorable for the monsters. The country was bing more and more like theirs, after all. "I guess it is time to use my battle machines," Ryan nodded to himself. Battle Machine Lv 13 Health: -- Mana: 340/340 Stamina: -- Mana Bullet: Causes sixty-five points of damage upon contact. Cost: 05 mana Range: 80 meters Recovery: 1300 Durability: 60/60 Although disappointed Ryan that some machines'' status increased a lot, such as the damage while others increased too little like recovery, it was enough for the time being. Besides, the skill will level up the more he uses it inbat. "That is quite a boring way to solve this problem without overexposing yourself. I have some alternatives." "Keep your contracts and uses to yourself," Ryan said. It was getting dark, and it was the perfect moment for a surprise attack. Even better that night, the moon was out, so the chances of the monsters finding the battle machines while they fly around were quite low. Even if they find them, what could the scorpions do? Their ranged attacks were passed on poison, and poison couldn''t work in inorganic foes. Still, before using them with Telekinesis, Ryan had to see how many of them he could make it fly at the same time. While he could make objects that weigh eight pounds fly while spending only one point of mana per second, it doesn''t mean that he can control forty objects that weigh only two pounds. Chapter 319 - His Moments In the end, Ryan discovered that he could control around fourteen objects at the same time. However, he managed to find a way to ovee that problem. Using Earth Maniption and Earth Transformation, he created something like a simple cage that could store fifteen of his battle machines. As long as he has mana, he can control fourteen of those. It consumed more or less one hundred points of mana per second, but now Ryan had under his control fourteen ''flying battleships,'' and each one had fifteen battle machines. "You sure had an interesting idea, but I think you could have made some adjustments and thus make everything more efficient. The design of the cages is brute as well." "No one asked you anything," Ryan said. "Why are you giving me advice for design and efficiency? You are a dragon; you always try to overpower your foes with brute strength." "Are you different?" It was funny that Femradiel couldpare humans to dragons. Ryan didn''t know if she was stupid or if she just respected Ryan that much. Either way, it didn''t matter. It was an unfairparison. Unlike dragons, Ryan wasn''t stupidly durable. Overpowering his enemies before they could find him was more of a way to increase his survivability than a way to boost his ego. Regardless, when night fell, Ryan made his ''airships approach the first line of defense of the iron scorpions. As expected, since he took his time and was careful, the monsters never noticed their approach, and when they did it, several of them had already been killed by the battle machines. "This is much better than I predicted," Ryan frowned while his mana was being recovered at a stupid speed. Dozens of monsters were killed in a matter of seconds, but eventually¡­ The battle machines ran out of mana, and the scorpions began to fire poison at them. While the airships could fire now and then and eliminate some scorpions, it didn''t seem like a bad idea to attack that sporadically. So, Ryan made them fly skyward and return to him before he could run out of mana. "Let''s see¡­ they can fight for a full minute without stopping, but outsidebat, they have to wait for 150 seconds for them to reach their total amount of charge," Ryan nodded to himself. "They killed eighty-seven monsters, so by using them, I can kill twenty-five scorpions per minute." While that was impressive, given that Ryan didn''t lose a single machine and he didn''t fire a single arrow, he didn''t feel that impressed or satisfied. It wasn''t a lot of progress, given that he had to defeat a good number of monsters that four dungeons spawned over four months. "It would be great if they could use my mana, but things aren''t that convenient," Ryan opened his skill list and then checked what his options were. "My mana recovers much faster during their first barrage of attacks, so I have to put all that mana to good use." The most obvious answer would be to use Summon Golems. However, they were too noisy. In the end, Ryan decided to use Crazy Shot¡­ it was the only way to spend a lot of mana fast while also making good use of his high dexterity. While he wouldn''t be able to be that stealthy, sacrifices had to be made. After the battle machines were fully charged, Ryan approached the monsters and then used Crazy Shot. Some of them died while the vast majority put their eyes on him, but they saw the airships moving skyward and then bombarding them with Mana Bullets when they approached. In the end, the second fight ended much faster than the first one, and the second wave of enemies was pretty far behind. "It is a little better, but it can be improved even more, "Ryan said. "You are really greedy, aren''t you?" Ryan ignored Femradiel and just moved toward the next group of scorpions. He fired Crazy Shots in one direction while his battle machines finished things on the other side. "Let''s split up, buddy," Ryan said. "You will carry some two of those on your back and approach the monsters. Don''t attack them. Just let the machines do the hard work. In half an hour, find me in that direction." Furball nodded. Although the cages were a bit heavy, he could transport three of them just fine. So, while he headed to the left side, Ryan went to the right side and began to y iron scorpions like a death machine. "Now this is much better," Ryan showed a rxed smile while he killed scorpions with his crossbow with the help of thebat machines. Ryan felt as if he had created some killing bots. If thebat machines just had some mobility¡­ they would be perfect. Suddenly, Ryan had a crazy idea¡­ What if he uses Summon Golem and installs abat machine in each of them? He probably could put two on each shoulder! "You sure have some interesting ideas¡­ not only will you give some mobility to those weird machines, but you will also increase their firepower. Impressive." "I have my moments," Ryan shrugged. "Just don''t think you will gain anything by ttering me." After a while, Furball finally joined Ryan. Although he had some poison marks on his body, those were getting smaller by the minute. Ryan told him to continue his work at his ce while Ryan started to summon some golems. At the same time, he used Earth Maniption to connect the battle machines with their bodies. Soon, after he gave them the order to head north and engage with all the monsters, they find along the way. "Now I just have to do this for a few hours, and they should be able to do cleaning for me," Ryan smiled confidently. "While scorpions and golems are both long-range tanks, the battle machines will give a massive advantage to my side. I can''t imagine them losing this." Suddenly, Ryan had another idea¡­ What if he uses Seal on the battle machines? It looked like he was inspired that night. Chapter 320 - Magic Upgrade Much to Ryan''s disappointment, he couldn''t use Seal on his battle machines. It was only natural since they caused fixed damage per level. Regardless, Ryan managed to focus on summoning golems and equipping them with battle machines for the rest of the night, thanks to it. "I guess this should be enough," Ryan said while nodding in satisfaction. "Are you really fine with that? You won''t obtain a single coin unless you are close to the monsters. From my point of view, you are wasting a good chance to obtain some powerful items and skills." "Why do you care if you are not losing anything?" Ryan asked. "While you are correct, I can''t have everything I want. If I had enough time to fight for coins, I would do it, but my goal right now is to explore the continent as fast as possible. Sacrifices need to be made¡­ which reminds me, monsters like you can obtain coins, how can you use them considering that you can''t enter dungeons?" "We can transform the coins into mana, and we can also use them to upgrade our skills." It looked like the system in which the monsters worked was moreplex than Ryan thought. Still, it seemed pretty convenient. Humans can obtain sses that grant them skills and statuses. While monsters can eat monsters to gain status, recover mana with coins, and level up their skills¡­ It seemed pretty bnced. Which was bad since humans from the very beginning were weaker than monsters. "You can obtain that power too if you ept to be my partner." "Nice try," Ryan said. "While I am interested in your system, I am not willing to sacrifice half of my life for you. Besides, I have been doing great so far, so I don''t need the conveniences of another system." "Yeah, I can''t deny that. Losing one hand certainly can be considered as doing great. Almost getting captured by a Cerberus was also a fine example of that. Let''s not forget that you were also rescued when you defeated your first dragon." While that annoyed Ryan a little, that feeling quickly disappeared and gave ce to a slight surprise that she didn''t mention the moment Lucia and the others died. Mentioning that would be a low blow, but it was within Ryan''s assumptions. When morning came, Ryan began to fly above the country and saw his creatures killing the scorpions. Much to his surprise, even though he was kilometers away from them, he received the coins of those that he could see. Even better, while Ryan had created hundreds of them, he didn''t notice a decrease in their number. "I''m almost there¡­ so I guess I will stay here until I have enough coins," Ryan said. Ryan almost had twenty million coins, and he wanted to see what he could buy with them. In the end, Ryan only had to wait for a few minutes since his golems andbat machines were so efficient that Ryan was thinking about using them in the future for auto farming. When Ryan opened the dungeon shop, he finally noticed one thing. Despite the fact that he had so many coins, he never saw skills like Fire Breath being sold. After he checked the most expensive ones, he understood why. It was because he couldn''t buy skills that cost more mana or stamina than he currently has. Magic Upgrade Tome Effect: it grants you the power to upgrade magic items even further. The limit of times you can upgrade a weapon is equal to the skill level divided by five. To upgrade a type of weapon, you need to use the soul of a monster of the same type. Cost: 100 mana Price: 20.000.000 coins In the end, Ryan found the tome he was looking for, and the price was just what he had expected. Without thinking too much about it, Ryan learned the skill. While it would take a while for him to be able to upgrade his items more than once, everything had to start with a single step. "I guess I can use the scorpions to upgrade the Pestilence Crossbow," Ryan muttered to himself. "I need to see how much the items be better, after all." In the end, Ryan just had to find a single monster that his golems missed along the way. After knocking down the creature with some Electric Bullets, Ryan used Magic Upgrade. In a sense, the spell was pretty simr to Seal since it used monsters'' souls to upgrade magic items. Pestilence Crossbow (+1) Effect: Consumes twenty points of mana to create a poisoned bolt. Dexterity + 82, intelligence + 55 Extra Effect: Each bolt can cause the value of your intelligence as magic damage during five seconds. Hitting the target with other bolts will also increase the damage of the poison by eleven percent. Durability: 84/84 "Interesting¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Overall, the most important parameters of the crossbow increased by ten percent. While durability only increased by five percent¡­ if I use this skill several times and reach level forty¡­ I guess it isn''t hard to imagine Katelyn defeating a dragon without sses." Ryan didn''t have many weapons that could poison his enemies, but he managed to upgrade Furball''s gear and even increase his special arrows'' power. Regardless, Ryan decided to move on because he was more and more getting invested in that skill. If he isn''t careful, he was afraid that he would stay there for days just leveling up that skill. Resuming his journey toward North-East, Ryan eventually arrived in Brazil, and he couldn''t help but frown since the very first city he found waspletely walled. While there weren''t many survivors in that ce, they were easily killing the iron scorpions that were heading toward their camp. "Nothing to see here¡­ moving on," Ryan muttered. There weren''t any powerful monsters around so that Ryan wouldn''t find any tier-three dungeons as well. In any case, while he was flying along the coast, Ryan found another wallet city after flying for an hour¡­ the same thing happened again and again. Until when he found the tenth walled city, Ryan decided to stop. Chapter 321 - Welcome "All right¡­ what the hell is going on here?" Ryan asked with a big frown on his face. "Should I spoil the surprise?" "You know something?" Ryan asked. "Yes, but since I am not going to gain anything by giving you this information, I am going to stay quiet about it. No... even if I say it, you won''t believe me." While that annoyed Ryan a little bit, it was fine. He eventually would discover why Brazil had so many walled cities along the coast. Although it was weird since the cities he found were pretty big, and dragons liked to destroy big cities. Megalodons had also probably been a problem to them for a while¡­ Suddenly, when he was flying and thinking about what to do next, Ryan felt some presence approaching in the distance. His eyes were that good, so he immediately saw some individuals flying toward him. Given that they could fly at a pretty decent speed, their strength couldn''t be ignored¡­ Moreover, Ryan could see five of them. Immediately, Ryan began to charge his Power Shot, but when those guys finally got close enough to see him, they didn''t attack. They frowned as if they had been disappointed by something. Those five were humans, three men, and two women. A big, tall man who was also bald stepped forward. The very moment Ryan thought he was bald, the man''s eyebrows twitched¡­ he had read his mind. In an instant, Ryan used Appraisal in all of them. Carlos (Arvus) ss: Saint Knight Lv 55 / Spearman Lv 50 / Guardian Lv 45 Race: Lesser Dragon /--/-- Rank: 189th Health: 1250 (+ 65.000) Mana: 750 (+ 65.000) Stamina: 1100 (+ 65.000) Strength: 700 (+ 5.500) Dexterity: 300 (+ 5.600) Speed: 600 (+ 2.200) Intelligence: 450 (+ 1.500) Endurance: 900 (+ 4.600) Control: 200 (+ 3.100) Mentality: 550 (+ 5.500) Luck: 250 (+ 3.700) Recovery: 1000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 1200 (+ 5.500) Coins: 11.474 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Brute sh Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 100, Stone Skin Lv 75 Spells: Dust Storm Lv 120, Earth Spear Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Electric Resistance Lv 150 Ryan clicked his tongue¡­ since he saw that they were humans, he lowered his guard a bit and forgot to use Appraisal when he should have. Regardless, it was toote toin¡­ they were all humans that had made a pact with dragons, and they were at the same level as Lucas. Fighting against all of them at the same time won''t be easy. "Are you American?" Carlos asked. "What if I am?" Ryan asked while frowning. "I am not bald," Carlos asked. "I just shaved my head." "¡­ What?" Ryan frowned. "You are young, but that doesn''t mean you can give nicknames to other people in your head," Carlos continued. "That can wait, Carlos¡­" A ck-haired man moved forward and then said that. "My name is Gustavo. May I ask what you are doing here, Ryan? You are a long way from home." "I am investigating the continent and looking for some special dungeons," Ryan replied. "Are you guys from this country?" Although Ryan wasn''t from these parts, he felt like he should ask some questions as well. It would be pretty stupid to let them control the conversation flow while giving information away and not getting any. Surprisingly, the man called Gustavo replied readily. "Yes, we are," Gustavo replied. "So, you are doing some investigative work for your country?" "No, I am doing this for my own purposes," Ryan replied. "I see. I trust you," Gustavo said. "Should we talk in a more appropriate ce? I can understand why you are on high alert, but I can assure you that we have no intention of harming humans that don''t want to cause problems." "Do you trust me because you can read my mind or because you want to make me cancel my skill?" Ryan asked. "For both reasons, I guess," Gustavo forced a smile. "But I guess the main reason is that you flew over some of our camps and did nothing against them. We were worried because you have the presence of a dragon inside you¡­ but it looks like your situation is different from ours." "They are not lying. They are goody-two-shoes idiots like that Lucas guy you met before." Ryan sighed. He couldn''t understand why Femradiel would give such information to him and refuse to give others. Regardless, those people had some interesting sses, so perhaps talking with them would be a good idea. Ryan didn''t find anything weird while he passed through those camps, people lived normally, and he even saw kids ying around¡­ it looked like the situation in Brazil was considerably better thanks to those five. "I guess I will ept your offer," Ryan said and then stored his crossbow away. Although Ryan seemed harmless without his main weapon, he could take out dozens of his special arrows in the blink of an eye. So, he was confident that he could escape any possible ambush. Besides, the chances of him getting caught off-guard while he uses Radar and Awareness were quite low. "Awesome, but before we head to our headquarters, let me introduce you, my friends," Gustavo said. "This is Paulo, and the guy who doesn''t like to be called bald is Carlos." Paulo was another ck-haired guy, but he looked a bit short and young. Perhaps he was in his teens. The girls'' names were Fernanda and Bianca. Fernanda was a blond, blue-eyed girl who seemed to be quite timid or disliked strangers quite a lot since she never kept eye contact for more than a few moments. Bianca was a redhead, not a natural one, but even so, the color always made Ryan frown while looking at her. Maybe it was a coincidence, but each one of them had made a pact with a dragon of a different element. That being said, all of them had more or less the same level of strength¡­ and that wasn''t something Ryan could think that was a coincidence. ss: Hunter Lv 67 / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 209th Health: 1191/1191 (3,19/s) Mana: 1862/1862 (3,19/s) Stamina: 1633/1633 (3,19/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1650 (+1389) (+82) Speed: 85 (+641) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+517) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+654) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 700 (+993) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 236.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 87 (+ 02 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Firing Posture Lv 22 (+ 11 UP), Spells: Battle Machine Lv 21 (+ 16 UP), Magic Upgrade Lv 04 (+ 03 UP) Support Skills: Improved Creation Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), sses: Combat: Ranger Lv 06 (+ 03 UP), Non-Combatant: Whitesmith Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Race: Centaur Chapter 322 - Black Beard Ryan already imagined that since Gustavo and his friends had tanned skins, but their base really was at Rio de Janeiro. Although in the U.S. at that time of the year, things were pretty cold in some regions, that city was as hot as hell. That being said, people were living their lives normally. Some were even taking sunbaths at the beach. Obviously, a good part of the city was walled and was protected by many survivors¡­ "Things are much better here than I thought¡­" Ryan frowned. "Well, we worked pretty hard to save as many people as we could when the monsters appeared," Gustavo exined. "After that, we stole all the weapons of the militiamen and gave them to the survivors. One of those tier three dungeons that you mentioned, we got control over one of them pretty early thanks to it. Those sses are amazing, so it helped us a lot." For the better or the worse, Gustavo was a chatterbox, and since Ryan gave him some useful pieces of information, he dly told Ryan the location of the tier three dungeons in Brazil. They had three of them¡­ no wonder they had so many survivors and walled cities. "Wouldn''t it be more convenient to move all your survivors to a single city?" Ryan asked. "Yeah, but many of us don''t want to abandon our hometowns," Gustavo replied. "Besides, we need to keep some advanced posts to keep an eye on things. There are too many dungeons in our country, and we are having a hard time monitoring them and rying information across the country thanks to it." Despite that, things were much better in there than inparison to things back home. Ryan never stopped the number of survivors working with Mark and the others, but they probably didn''t have more than five thousand. Moreover, only one-fifth of them could properly fight. A few hundreds of meters away from the beach, Gustavo and his friends had built their headquarters. It was a ce in which the soldiers could sleep in and evenmunicate with the other camps. Since they had the backing of some dragons, they had several tricks tomunicate and move around. When Gustavo tried to exin how they worked, the blonde girl, Fernanda, kicked his right leg. "Ouch¡­ Sorry about that. The people here don''t like to talk about these," Gustavo said. "I don''t understand the reason why we should hide this from you, though. You are going to make a pact with a dragon, right eventually?" "I won''t," Ryan replied. "You won''t?" Gustavo frowned. "Why? I only see advantages." "I want to follow my own goals and make my own decisions," Ryan said. "Besides, I don''t want power for free." "Well, that is admirable¡­ and quite reckless," Gustavo said. "You would be able to help a lot of people with the backing of a dragon. I know that some of them destroyed our society, but we can''t show prejudice to all of them." "I think I have been doing well, so far," Ryan said. "I see," Gustavo said. "You really are the exact archetype of a lone wolf. It is weird to say that when you have a wolf as your partner." Although Gustavo could understand the reason behind Ryan''s actions to some extent, ept them so readily was another matter. He was someone who survived thus far by fighting alongside others, after all. Fernanda and Bianca were his friends from college. Paulo was his cousin, and Carlos had once been his P.E. teacher. Now they are his brother in arms that he could trust with his life. When they arrived at their headquarters'' meeting room, Gustavo asked everyone to sit down while he grabbed a single map. Things weren''t that high-tech like it was in the secret base, but it was good enough. "The dungeons that you are looking for can be found here, here, and the closest is the center of this city," Gustavo exined. "You will have to travel for quite a bit since the other two are near our old capital, and the other is in the center of the Amazon forest." Ryan nodded when he saw the marks on the map. He would have to travel for a few days, but the real problem was to find the dungeon in the forest. Even if he flies high and has some directions, Ryan''s chances of finding it easily would be pretty low. "We can offer you some assistance in getting a ss in the dungeon that we have here," Gustavo added. "Although only a certain number of people can obtain sses every day, we can help you with that since you are going to give us some information as well. We can even help you get a ss in the dungeon near Brasilia, but we can only do that much. As ofte, we are facing some problems with some individuals, so we can''t leave our HQ often." "I can clear the dungeons on my own," Ryan said. "Still, despite saying that didn''t you left behind this city to find me?" "Yes, and that was a mistake on our part. We thought you were one of them," Gustavo said. "Your presence is weird since you have a dragon inside you, but you didn''t make a pact. Adding to the fact that you are pretty strong considering human''s standards." "Who are they?" Ryan asked. "Dragons, megalodons?" "It is no surprise you didn''t meet them until now, but they will eventually start to hunt you since you smell like the dragons now," Gustavo said. "We call them the ''Dragon yers''¡­ they are the main reason why the number of dragons decreased in thest few months. They are like dungeon bosses, but most of them are humans¡­ to some extent, more or less." "Humans? Aren''t you talking about Cerberus and other creatures like them?" Ryan frowned in confusion. "So, those are back too, huh¡­" Gustavo sighed. "I imagined that¡­ no, I wasn''t talking about them. I talked about this guy that now and then approaches our coast in a ship and attacks us with some weird magic¡­ he is a pirate very famous in the past. His name is Edward Teach¡­ the ck beard." Chapter 323 - Motives Ryan furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that¡­ a pirate was hunting dragons and causing problems for humans. As if that wasn''t weird enough, that pirate died more than three hundred years ago¡­ just what the hell was going on? "Your expression is showing exactly the same shock we had when we saw that guy for the first time," Gustavo forced a smile. "Anyway, he appears now and then to attack our coast, so we have to stay alert, and unfortunately, he always disappears in the sea when he retreats, so we have never been able to finish him off when we had the chance." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. Ryan was even more surprised than when he heard about the Chupacabras. Monsters were one thing, but humans from the pasting back to cause problems to other humans¡­ that wasn''t something he could understand. "If you don''t mind, I would like to ask you about the locations of the tier three dungeons you already found," Gustavo said. "You don''t need to tell us about the people you met along the way. Just the location is fine. Eventually, we will head to those ces and negotiate with the survivors in the area." It looked like Femradiel didn''t like it when she said that Gustavo and the others were some goody-two-shoes idiots. Then again¡­ the dragons could be talking to each other to screw Ryan over. Since Ryan could stay the whole day imagining conspirations that might cause his death, he decided to stop. Ryan told them the location of the dungeons. Lying would be a waste of time since they could read his mind, so Ryan focused on not thinking about the survivors around those dungeons. However, Gustavo and the others didn''t look very excited about the sses they could find there. "It will take considerable time to reach each of those dungeons," Gustavo said. "As expected, we won''t be able to clear them anytime soon. Regardless, you have my thanks for sharing all those pieces of information with us, Ryan. While I cannot let you clear the dungeons alone, since it would be a waste, you can go and defeat the next boss along with the next group. You are going to help today''s group, right, Bianca?" "Yes," Bianca nodded. "Then, can you please guide Ryan to the dungeon?" Gustavo asked. "All right¡­" Bianca said and failed at holding back a sigh. Ryan also felt like sighing. Of all people, he had to be guided by the redhead. Ryan couldn''t help but still connect the red color to Mia at that point in time, and the first thing he recalls about her was cheating. "Such aplicated life¡­ things would be much simpler to humans if they had evolved to have multiple partners. If that were normal, you wouldn''t have suffered so much." It looked like Ryan had really reached the bottom of the hole¡­ now. A dragon was trying to console him by using her weirdmon sense in a society where the strict rules, perhaps it would be normal to have multiple partners, but not anymore, given that human society was once based on logic and reason. "You should hurry up and finish your business here," Bianca said once they left the headquarters. "While Gustavo weed you, we don''t like strangers who might disrupt our peace." "We? So, you can speak for the others?" Ryan asked. "Don''t y dumb, you know what I mean," Bianca said. "Yeah, yeah," Ryan said. "I am not feeling like taking a sunbath around here. Once I get the sses, I will leave you guys alone." While Gustavo was the typical charismatic and naive leader, it looked like some people close to him had to work in the shadows for things to work properly. Even though Bianca was rude, Ryan didn''t feel bothered by it. If anything, he felt morefortable around her than around Gustavo. Those goody-two-shoes types really tire him out¡­ "The dungeon we are going to clear spawns Giant Spiders," Bianca began her exnation. "All their attacks can poison you and decrease your speed. However, you don''t have to worry since a team that always stays in the area and me will defeat the mobs and the boss. You will stay behind along with the others that didn''t clear the dungeon and won''t do anything to interfere. Is that clear?" "Sure," Ryan showed a rxed smile. It wasn''t Ryan''s style to rx and let others do the heavy work, but if the other part was so eager to let him obtain a tier-three ss for free, who was he to say no? although it was a pity that he wouldn''t gain coins or loot, for the time being, he wasn''t in a hurry to get them. "You sure are rxed¡­ Why aren''t you interested in the guy they mentioned before. The dragon yers were the creatures that I mentioned before, who are hunting me and other dragons." "You harvest what you sow," Ryan shrugged with a hint of a smile on his face. "I already told you, I didn''t hunt any humans, and I am pretty sure I didn''te to this by my free will. Who woulde to this ce where we lost our strength alongside our memories?" Now that Ryan thought about it¡­ that indeed made sense. Perhaps the dragons came without knowing about such after effects, but given how knowledgeable they were, even with most of their memories missing, Ryan had a hard time believing in that. "I am not afraid of death, but at the very least, I want to know why I am on this. I don''t want to go down without a fight either, but at this rate, that is what will happen. I need to recover my body and get stronger." Ryan didn''t say anything after hearing that, he already had his own problems, and he didn''t have any reason to make Femradiel life easier. However, it was annoying that he could feel a bit affected by her words¡­ after all, he could understand the feelings of losing things beyond your control. Chapter 324 - New Class While Ryan was lost in thought, they arrived in the said dungeon, and he couldn''t help but frown at the high number of people working around the ce. It looked like a small town where one could find anything that helps them clear a dungeon. Weapon shops, people selling potions, cksmiths repairing and forging weapons¡­ there were even some women with revealing outfits trying to sweet talk some survivors. "Is that¡­" Ryan frowned. "Prostitutes¡­ some people concluded that they are not fit to fight, but they don''t care about selling their bodies," Bianca said. Bianca looked pretty disgusted. As for someone who fought since the very beginning, she probably loathed survivors who chose another path¡­ Still, in the end, she and her friends knew that they couldn''t limit the survivors'' options. Without wasting time, Bianca assembled the survivors who would get their sses today and the guards who usually stayed around the dungeon. Since she started to talk in Portuguese, Ryan didn''t understand anything, but Ryan could tell by the stares that some survivors didn''t like to give special treatment to an outsider when there were others from the city that have been waiting for their turn. "Do you need a trantion?" "No¡­ can you even understand them?" Ryan asked. "Why do you think I can talk with you? Dragons have the ability to understand all sorts of living beings. While that skill is at a low-level like all the others when he arrived on this world, it is enough to understand thenguage of a sapient being." "How convenient," Ryan said. "A skill like that must consume a lot of mana." "No, since I am talking directly with your spirit, I am not making use of that skill." "Let me guess. You are going to offer another contract or use bullshit?" Ryan asked. "¡­ I wish you could feel this¡­ the feeling of needing something desperately, something that you don''t have that someone has¡­ you need just a small portion to yourself, but you only receive insults and shame instead. This feeling is much worse given that I am a dragon." That was¡­ pretty ufortable to hear. Ryan was only cautious, but it looked like, from Femradiel''s perspective, he had been only sarcastically humiliating her. That wasn''t his intention, but intentions alone aren''t enough¡­ what is really important are facts and results. "Hey, we are going," Bianca said. While Ryan was lost in thoughts again, Bianca called him. He joined the group of civilians that didn''t have a single ss. Since it doesn''t matter where he would be, Ryan decided to stay far behind the group. He would feel morefortable by not exposing his back to strangers, even though they were much weaker than him. Regardless, soon Ryan saw the Giant Spiders, and as expected, they were pretty creepy with their several eyes and body covered in fur. That thing was like three meters long and wide and¡­ Bianca exploded it easily with a single Electric Sphere. "Let''s go," Bianca said. When the next spider appeared, Ryan and the others were already inside the dungeon. This time he made sure to use Appraisal since he didn''t know when he would find those creatures again. Giant Spider ¨C Lv 110 Health: 1100/1100 Mana: 2400/2400 Stamina: 1500/1500 Strength: 400 Dexterity: 800 Speed: 800 Intelligence: 900 Endurance: 600 Control: 600 Mentality: 900 Luck: 550 Recovery: 1000 Willpower: 900 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous Bite Lv 110 Passive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 100, Slow Touch Lv 80 Spells: Spider Thread Lv 100, Poison Sphere Lv 80 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 40, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Earth Resistance Lv 90, Poison Resistance Lv 200 "I guess I could make some nice magic items out of them," Ryan muttered under his breath. "Then again, I shouldn''t show what I can do that easily here." After Bianca singlehandedly killed ten or so of those spiders, they finally reached the end of the dungeon. Much to Ryan''s disappointment, the boss was just another spider. A bigger spider, but a spider nheless. Bianca and her friends began to run around the spider while firing magic projectiles. The spider did the same since the poor monster didn''t know which target to attack. Moreover, whenever Bianca attacked the monster with Electric Spear, the monster suffered a lot of damage and even was stunned for several seconds. In the end, a tier-three boss that was at level 110 didn''t evenst for a full minute against mostly Bianca. It was only natural given that she had the dragons'' power, but Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. He was getting bored much sooner than he had expected. "When did I be such a battle freak?" Ryan frowned afterughing for a few moments. Ryan couldn''t tell what he did or if it was only natural given that he was the stranger, but Bianca made sure that he would be thest person to choose a ss. While that bothered him a little, it was only due to the fact that he wanted to move on with his journey as fast as possible. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Saint Knight, Combat Mechanic, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Two new sses appeared while Ryan had already seen the Conjurer ss. Now that Ryan thought about it, he should have asked Gustavo about the sses, even if his options were already decided from the very beginning. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Combat Mechanic! You obtained the following skills: Mana Bomb, Electric Enchantment, and Shock Resistance. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Bomb. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a bomb made of mana that causes damage in a small area. The damage will be equal to your intelligence divided by the number of monsters hit. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Enchantment. Effect: It increases the damage of your attacks by adding the power of electricity. The extra damage will be equal to your intelligence plus 20 percent. It might shock the enemy if they have a lower mentality or if they are electrocuted for a certain amount of time. Cost: 30 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! Considering that you already have the skill Shock Resistance, your skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 325 - The Best Solution "If you are done here, let''s get going," Bianca said. Before Ryan could think or analyze more about his new ss, Bianca approached and said that. He was a pretty patient person, but that behavior was starting to get on his nerves. In the end, that was probably for good. Leaving that city and that girl behind would help Ryan more than anything right at that moment, but then Ryan learned about something troublesome¡­ "The dungeon in Brasilia needs to be cleared tomorrow soon after sunrise," Bianca said. "So, we are going to depart now." It looked like she was going to be his guide toward the next dungeon as well. Ryan let out a long sigh and made a vein pop on Bianca''s head. As if she had any right to be angry¡­ "Let''s just endure each other''s presences, all right?" Ryan said. "Just lead the way. The sooner this is over, the better for both of us." Ryan jumped on Furball''s back, and then Bianca began to guide them toward the next dungeon. Meanwhile, Ryan began to think about Femradiel''s presence seriously. A ss that granted healing or purification spells was rare, so Ryan will have a hard time finding a way to make her leave his body. It looked like the easiest way to solve that situation was to help her recover her body. "Hey, Femradiel." Ryan thought. "You never used my name before, not that I cared about. Regardless, it is giving me the creeps." "You sure talk like a human¡­ it is very weird." "Magic is what is making you understand me like this." "I will be frank with you. I don''t want to work with anyone, much less with a dragon. Also, having you inside me is annoying." "As expected of someone who has be socially awkward, you sure are good at breaking the ice." "Anyway, since I don''t want you inside me, I am going to help you recover your body. That old one still must be there, right? It will serve, right?" "A body isn''t like the clothes you use. Once a link is severed, you can''t return to an old body." "Time for n B already, huh¡­ How much mana do you need to create a new body?" "10.256.369.741 mana points." "Ten billion? What the hell? Why are the numbers so exact?" "What did you expect? I want a fully-functional body that will continue to make me stronger. Ideally, I would need a lot more, but that amount is enough to create an exact copy of my old body. Are you going to sign the contract?" "No contract, no uses." "Even newborn kids aren''t that difficult¡­ Without a contract, I can only drain one point of your mana per second. With this pace, I will need 327 years to obtain enough mana to reconstruct my body." "What if I find some magic item to store my mana. A magic item that steals mana from monsters would be perfect, actually." "Good luck finding that. Even if you find such an item, I doubt that the magic item will be able to store even a small percentage of the mana necessary." "¡­ What are my options?" "You have two. Sacrifice enough monsters with mana that equal that amount in a single moment or make a contract with me. Since my goal is to recover my body and yours is to get rid of me, we can make a use that says that our cooperation will end once I have enough mana to reconstruct a body. That being said, that will not be beneficial to neither of us." "Exin." "You will use a lot of mana to do something that won''t benefit you directly, and I will recovery my body, but in the end, I will be too far behind the level of all monsters on this." Ryan agreed with that. All that much could be used to so many things. With that amount, Ryan would be able to summon more than seventy million golems¡­ which was probably more monsters than the entire continent had. "Besides, as I have mentioned before, many dragons are interested in the system that you humans have ess to, so am I. The possibilities that you have greatly interest us. Dragons are greedy creatures, greedy for knowledge and power. While I think that power is only a means to an end, I want to obtain as much knowledge as possible, and I think that I only can do it by joining the side of a human." At least Femradiel was sincere about her goals. Still, that didn''t make things any easier for Ryan. He loathed the idea of obtaining a power that he didn''t deserve it; Ryan also disliked the idea of working with someone else who wasn''t one hundred percent loyal to him. "I will probably regret thister, but since I want to see this entire situation to the very end, I am willing to be a ve if that is necessary to obtain your trust. The contract will bepletely unteral, and I will be able to intervene in matters that are rted with dragons." "So, you are willing to go that far, huh." "Like all the other sins, greedy is also a curse. After being defeated by a single human, I don''t have much of my pride left. So, I am free to let my greed control my actions." That certainly wasn''t a half-assed greedy. Still, Ryan was hesitating¡­ given how much knowledge Femradiel gave to him, he wouldn''t mind giving her a hand about her problem. If he only could get rid of the status bonuses that he will gain by joining forces with a dragon¡­ "You don''t have to worry about the bonus of strength you will gain by working with me. As long as you don''t transform in my draconic form, you won''t use my power. As for my techniques, I need to pass the knowledge to you for you to learn them. If I don''t do that, you won''t be able to use it." Chapter 326 - Contract Ryan sighed¡­ in the end, he looked for some downsides that would make him unable to help Femradiel, but since they didn''t exist, his morals forced him to help her. Being a guy who hates unfairness was really a pain in the ass¡­ "Let me read the contract," Ryan said. The ice dragon, Femradiel, wants to make a contract with you. By epting the contract, you will have ess to her knowledge database, battle experience, techniques, and status. She won''t be able to drain your mana unless you give her permission. She won''t be able to take over your body unless you give her permission. She won''t be able to participate in fights unless you give her permission. She won''t be able to read your mind unless you give her permission. She won''t be able to share all her knowledge, battle experience, techniques, and statuses unless you give her permission. By epting this contract, you will have to swear that you fight to survive to see things through to the very end, and that you will work with Femradiel in matters that involve dragons. Do you ept it? Y/N" That really was a ve contract¡­ Femradiel couldn''t do anything unless Ryan wants, the sole exception is when dragons are involved. Even so, there was no saying that he couldn''t kill them¡­ she truly was desperate to satisfy her thirst for knowledge. "Are you fine with this? How are you going to be stronger?" "I will convert the mana that I will absorb, and use it to level up my skills. Considering the contract, you won''t gain anything since you don''t intend to use my powers, so I will do the math, and convert the mana that you give me in coins. Once it reaches the right value, I will give you the knowledge of the skills that you want to learn. That should be enough to satisfy your massive pride, right?" Now Ryan didn''t have anything toin about, which was a pity. While he wasn''t naive like Lucas and Gustavo, he was kind of a goody-two-shoes as well¡­ he couldn''t just ignore those who helped him in some way. Even when they were dragons¡­ Ryan epted the contract. Congrattions! You have obtained the skill Draconic Transformation. Effect: it grants you the power to transform into a dragon. The level of the skill determines how much your status will grow when in dragon form. Current level: Health, mana, stamina + 1000, all other attributes + 100. Cost: -- Congrattions! You have be a lesser dragon. You have obtained the skills: Ice Breath, Frost Armor, the skill cold resistance has reached level 300. You obtained 271 status points. "Hey¡­" Ryan said without trying to hide his anger. "Exin this to me." "I am sorry¡­ I didn''t know such things would happen. I never talked with a dragon that signed a contract with a human¡­" Ryan sighed, in the end, it wasn''t unexpected that Femradiel wouldn''t know certain things. Regardless, to think that Ryan would also obtain a dragon''s DNA¡­ He saw that all those guys had that race, but Ryan didn''t imagine it was a thing that he would receive so soon¡­ or that couldn''t be avoided. "Thank you for epting helping me, Ryan. I really am thankful for it." "What is that? Eww¡­" Ryan frowned and then trembled a little since he felt a shiver. "Why are you saying such things all of a sudden? It is creeping me out." "You really are a difficult human¡­ " Since Ryan wasn''t fighting, he decided to set the mana that he was recovering to be sent to Femradiel. As it turns out, he just had to think about it and the mana would be sent to her immediately. Weirdly enough, even though Bianca watched the whole exchange, she didn''t say a single thing. She didn''t even frown when Femradiel''s presence suddenly grew stronger. Probably because she knew that would happen sooner orter, there was no real reason for a human to refuse the power of a dragon. She didn''t know that Ryan had no intention of using that power, and that he was that prideful. "All right, it is working," Femradiel said and Ryan noticed that her voice sounded much clearer than before. "Now that I can see your status and skills, I can see that your build is quite messy." "It looks like someone is getting toofortable to say whatever¡­" Ryan said. "Sorry, buddy. It looks like from now on we are not alone anymore. Don''t worry, though. You will always be my most loyal pet." "I must say that I feel a bit insulted in beingpared with a warg¡­" Femradiel said. "Get used to it," Ryan said. "I rank my allies by how much they have helped me. Given that I am constantly giving you mana and that I had to sign this contract, I can easily say that you owe me a lot. As you stand now, you can''t even bepared with Furball." Femradiel wanted to believe that Ryan was joking, but he wasn''t. In the end, he was the type of person who says everything that he thinks. Although was clearly a defensive system to make people stay away, he wasn''t that cold-hearted, she understood that because he went for the trouble of epting the pact even though he really wanted to be left alone and he truly believed that he already had the partner that he needed with Furball. In any case, Femradiel still was satisfied. Even though Ryan was a difficult partner, he was one of the few humans that had the strength to fight on par with dragons and possibly the dragon yers. Alongside him, Femradiel was absolutely sure that she would quench her thirst for knowledge and that one day, she would recover her memories. "What do you think, Furball?" Ryan asked. "After getting the two next sses, should we look for those troublesome fellows known as dragon yers or should we clear the slimes dungeon and obtain the power to create a dungeon? I bet Femradiel will piss herself if we choose the first option." She will just need a little bit of patience¡­ Chapter 327 - Mermaids It looked like Bianca underestimated Ryan and Furball''s abilities. She rushed to reach the capital before sunrise, but they arrived at midnight. She probably thought that a monster of that level wouldn''tst long, but she didn''t know that Ryan could restore Furball''s stamina. "I guess her level of Appraisal is low," Ryan thought. "Even though she has the backing of a dragon, the skill isn''t at a high level." "Even those that made a pact with us need to focus on certain skills if they really want to reach a certain level of strength", Femradiel exined. "Even though people like her have the benefits of two systems, her dragon needs mana and she also needed mana to fight, so the skills they can level up together are limited." As usual, Femradiel always exined things even though she couldn''t read Ryan''s thoughts anymore. Then again, imagine what is thinking at some moments wasn''t that hard. Regardless, the capital of Brazil was quite a different ce. It didn''t look like a proper city, since most buildings that had been built had some sort of function aside from housing ordinary individuals. Weirdly enough, the dungeon appeared pretty close to the president''s residence¡­ It was a semi-underwater dungeon that spawned mermaids. Even though it was midnight, Ryan saw them because the whole area around the dungeon was being illuminated by floodlights. Mermaid ¨C Lv 120 Health: 1500/1500 Mana: 2500 /2500 Stamina: 1800/1800 Strength: 400 (+150) Dexterity: 600 (+200) Speed: 450 (+250) Intelligence: 1100 (+300) Endurance: 400 (+150) Control: 650 (+150) Mentality: 800 (+150) Luck: 300 Recovery: 800 (+150) Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Alluring Voice Lv 110 Passive Physical Skills: Sleepy Touch Lv 100 Spells: Charm Lv 100, Sleep Lv 100 Support Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 100, Cold Resistance Lv 100 "So, they are like Subus¡­" Ryan muttered. "Interesting¡­ I feel like making a magic weapon out of them would be useful. Then again, I need to be careful with my actions here." It looked like Ryan was losing some golden opportunities to create some interesting magic items, but it was better than risking losing the chance to get two more tier-three sses for free. In the end, Ryan decided to wait for sunrise while he meditates. It was the only thing that he could do that was useful and wouldn''t make him the center of the attention, after all. "May I make a suggestion?" Femradiel asked. "... About what?" Ryan asked after sighing. "About the use of your free time, while Meditation is useful, there are better versions of that skill which you can use." "What is the name of the skill?" Ryan asked. "I believed the skill has two more levels, but I can only remember the second level," Femradiel said. "It is called, Zen. Just like Meditation, it can recover your mana and increase your intelligence now and then. However, it is five times more effective." Ryan used the Dungeon Shoo, but he didn''t find the tome being sold. The cost was probably that high. Regardless, Femradiel didn''t give up just with that. "I can teach you the skill in the blink of an eye. However, I believe it will be more beneficial if we divide the rules." Femradiel said. "Zen is the next level of Meditation, so you have to focus a lot more to keep the skill active. In a sense, you will have to cut your link to the external world. You don''t look like someone who would do this while you are surrounded by strangers, so I will do that for you and you will keep your awareness of the surroundings." "What I said about giving me powers that I didn''t deserve?" Ryan asked. "I am trying to help because you said that I owe you a lot. I recognized that fact and I am trying to help you in exchange. Besides, you will eventually gain more mana and that will help both of us." "Give me one good reason to let you do that," Ryan said. "I already told you many times, I don''t want powers that I don''t deserve." "Because I want more mana to increase the potential of draconic transformation. Besides, you don''t have to worry because I will get all the extra mana recovered. Your total mana and intelligence will increase now and then, but you can consider that a fair trade for the mana that I will receive." Although it was useful that he could share the work with Femradiel, Ryan feared that he starts relying on others right now, he will stray to a path where in the end, he won''t feel satisfied with the oue. While Femradiel needed his permission to do anything, she still was her own¡­ existence. She was different than Furball that could disappear with just one of Ryan''s thoughts¡­ maybe Ryan was going too far with the whole idea about gaining power by himself, but¡­ "I suppose strengthening yourself will be necessary when we find certain individuals," Ryan said. "I don''t n on relying on you when some dragons attack me, but if those dragon yers attack me because of you, you will have to deal with them." "Some sort will be weed when that timees," Femradiel said. "As I said, I was killing golems to strengthen myself because I wasn''t strong enough to defeat those who tried to kill me." In the end, it looked like Ryan wouldn''t be able to keep a neutral instance in those situations. Besides, even if that wasn''t their intention, those dragon yers are causing problems for humans. So, they were Ryan''s enemies as well. Regardless, Ryan gave permission for Femradiel to use Zen. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Zen. Effect: It recovers five points of mana per minute multiplied by the level of the skill. It can asionally increase your mana and intelligence. You obtained 01 status point. Weirdly enough, when Femradiel used Zen, Ryan felt an inner peace like he never felt before. It looked like the problems of the past didn''t matter anymore. However, he also discovered that a single dark emotion was enough to cancel the skill. Chapter 328 - Underwater Zen was a dangerous skill; Ryan almost fell asleep many times while Femradiel was using it. Regardless, finally, morning came and Bianca was reuniting the new group that would clear the dungeon. "I can keep using the skill even while you fight," Femradiel said. "However, you can''t get too worked up." Ryan wouldn''t have to fight, so the chances of that happening were close to none. Regardless, people around the capital didn''t look at him with weird eyes like in Rio de Janeiro. They probably assumed Ryan was someone influential and that was he was receiving preferential treatment. It was weird that they would think that with the world in that state¡­ "Let''s go," Bianca said. Once again, Bianca took the leadership of the whole mission and no one dared to contest her, even though she wasn''t from the area. Regardless, Ryan was interested in how she would handle things inside the dungeon since her favorite attacks were the electric ones and half of the dungeon was underwater. While their walking speed was low due to the water on their waists, Ryan didn''t notice anything troublesome aside from that. Bianca didn''t use electric spells, but her wind ones could easily destroy the mermaids'' heads¡­ for some odd reason, she beheaded all of them with Wind des. In any case, much to Ryan''s surprise, she stopped before they could arrive in thest part of the dungeon. "Things will get difficult from now on," Bianca said. "The boss of the dungeon is just a slightly bigger version of the mermaids, I am sure all of you already heard that, but she has some troublesome abilities. We will work hard to finish the fight as fast as possible, so I would like to ask you not to panic and whatever happens, don''t approach the monster." Ryan wanted to know what the hell she was talking about, but in the end, he decided to wait for the surprise. Most of the survivors who were going to receive a ss were gulping imagining the fight ahead, so at the very least, Ryan would be able to kill his boredom. Slowly, everyone entered thest part of the dungeon where the boss was about to spawn. Bianca and her team approached the purple crystal and prepared for the fight while Ryan and the others stayed close to the path that leads to the exit. Suddenly, the purple crystal shone and the boss appeared. Now that Ryan could see one of those creatures before they could use their magic, he saw that they were pretty ugly¡­ they had the torsos of women, but their heads were like a fish. Bianca and the others began to bombard the monster with long-ranged attacks, but that hadn''t been enough to kill the monster or even stop it from counterattacking. The creature raised both arms upward and then the level of the water inside the cage began to rise. "Ah¡­ so they were talking about this," Ryan said. The survivors around Ryan began to panic¡­ it was their first time fighting against a boss and they also had a time-limit. So, it was only natural that they would react that way. As for Ryan, he wanted to obtain as much experience as possible for future reference. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Underwater Resistance. Effect: it increases the amount of time you can stay underwater without running out of air by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan received an unexpected but pleasant surprise, but he ignored it and instead kept his eyes on the boss fight. Even underwater, Bianca''s Wind des were taking huge chunks of the boss'' flesh, but it looked like in her human form, she needed some time to defeat the monster. Her friends were also swimming around the monsters and using magic to decrease their health, but it looked like things could go south at any moment. In the end, the most obvious thing happened. Without being able to attack any of Bianca''s friends due to their barrage of death, the monster decided to attack those who weren''t participating in the fight and use them as shields. The beast wanted to buy time in order to make the others run out of air. Ryan decided to use Telekinesis and stop the beast, but the very moment the big mermaid showed its back toward Bianca, she created a vortex of wind and water that pulled back the monster toward the center of that ce. Her friends resumed their attacks since Bianca couldn''t do anything else while she controls the vortex. "Aren''t you going to help?" Femradiel asked. "Nope, she got this," Ryan said. Although the survivors didn''t hold their breath properly due to their fears, in the end, the fight ended before anyone could suffocate. Even though they were leagues behind Bianca, they still fought against that boss dozens of times, so they managed to finish the job. The level of the water decreased the very moment the boss died. "I guess this is one of the dungeons that will lead me to a world where I can find some sapient monsters¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Even though it didn''t speak, the boss was pretty smart." In the end, the boss also dropped a pretty impressive staff, but Ryan didn''t bother analyzing it. It couldn''t be his, after all. As usual, the survivors made a line to pick their sses and Ryan was thest one. He didn''t know much about Bianca, but he imagined that she would leave without saying a thing since her job was over and she knew Ryan wasn''t crazy enough to pick a fight against them by attacking the city. However, she did stay behind. "Gustavo probably already contacted the survivors who are guarding the dungeon in the Amazonas, if you head to the point in the map in a straight line, no one will bother you," Bianca exined. "But if you don''t, you will have to give some exnations to the survivors in the camps you might stop." "I will go in a straight line toward the dungeon, you don''t have to worry," Ryan said. Chapter 329 - New Class Even after giving her warning, Bianca stayed behind and waited for Ryan''s turn. However, she didn''t look to be in a talking mood, so Ryan stayed the whole time silent instead of asking about the sses¡­ he really had be bad at dealing with redheads. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Guardian, Magic Archer, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. It looked like Ryan was getting used to those tier three sses, while they were still impressive, neither of them could surprise him all that much. Maybe it was time to look for the tier-four sses¡­ then again, Ryan didn''t know if he was ready to face the monsters that woulde out from them. The difference in power between the tiers was clear and based on Ryan''s experience, the difference was even more visible at higher levels. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Magic Archer! You obtained the following skills: Elemental Nature, Magic Bow, and Mana Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Elemental Nature. Effect: It grants you the power to change the nature of your Mana Arrows. Current natures that you can use: Fire. Cost: 30 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Bow. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a magic bow. The summoned bow can replicate all the attributes, costs, and effects of bows and crossbows that you once possessed. You can summon one more magic bow every ten levels. Cost: 10 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! Considering that you already have the skill Mana Arrow, your skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan still was caught off guard by the skills he received. While Mana Arrow seemed far too weak to be a skill that one could learn by receiving a tier-three ss, the others were pretty interesting. Ryan already could imagine many applications for them. "May I ask why you are so obsessed with sses that are rted with bows?" Femradiel asked. "Based on what I know and on the fact that you like to work alone, I am pretty sure you have what it takes to be a pretty decent all-rounder." "For two reasons, because defeating enemies from a distance is pretty cool and because surviving is not enough for me," Ryan replied. "I want to survive until the very end relying mostly on the things that my father taught me and prove how awesome he was." "Was your father a famous archer or something?" Femradiel asked. "What about your mother?" "Why are you suddenly interested in that?" Ryan frowned. "You are creeping me out again¡­ Besides, didn''t you already read all my memories?" "No, I only read the most recent and powerful ones," Femradiel replied. "The ones rted with Lucas, Zoe, Alissa and Lucia. The older the memory, the more I had to use to find it, and as you know, I didn''t have much to spare. Anyway, I was just curious, you don''t have to answer. I was just wondering if hearing about someone else''s past would help me remember my own." "I am pretty sure you left a lot of your memories on that corpse," Ryan said. "Creatures that have mana in their bodies store their memories in their spiritual body as well," Femradiel exined. "Haven''t you wondered about how weird is that you can grow strong so fast? It is because of your memories being engraved in your physical body. The stronger and the more intense your life is, the faster you grow strong." It was a weird method to grow strong, but ites to mana and magic, it made sense. The spiritual body was what made everything else stronger, sharper, and more durable¡­ Regardless, back to the topic, Ryan wasn''t sure if he wanted to talk about his parents. Still, for the good or the worse, Femradiel was working with him just like Furball. Ryan hated unfairness, so he couldn''t treat them differently. "Let''s talk about this when we head to the next dungeon," Ryan said. Ryan concluded that was the best option since he has been keeping Bianca waiting and he was already tired of her sweet presence, and weing behavior. "Thanks for the tour," Ryan said. "See ya." "Wait," Bianca said. "Now that you decided to work with the dragon inside you, things changed." "How so?" Ryan frowned. "Gustavo wants to keep contact with others like us, in case something happens," Bianca replied. "That way, we will be able to coborate and work together and help each other. You are the first one we found, but we will give you the power to make others join this group." While that seemed interesting, Ryan didn''t want to keep contact with people like Gustavo and Lucas, their good nature was too troublesome for Ryan. Still, it seemed that they had some method to talk with each other over long distances and Ryan would have to spend a lot of time to move around and investigate certain areas¡­ that would save him a lot of time. "Give me your hand," Bianca said. "This rune will give you the administrator rights for the Telepathy channel that we created¡­ you should feel honored since only us have those rights." Ryan saw a symbol glowing on Bianca''s right palm, it wasn''t harmful, but Ryan still hesitated because of the downsides of epting such proposal¡­ in the end, Ryan decided being rational since the advantages far outweighed the demerits. He epted the proposal. Chapter 330 - Turning Point "Hey, it looks like Ryan decided to join our secret group," Gustavo said when the symbol on Bianca''s hands finally appeared on Ryan''s. "Wee aboard, Ryan." "Don''t make me regret thister," Ryan said. "And how we can do that?" Gustavo asked. Although Ryan was already regretting since that telepathic link was like a phone that was always on, he decided not to mention it. Regardless, Ryan thought he would have some peace after leaving his home country, but he didn''t imagine that he was so dead wrong¡­ he ended up on a path where his life wouldn''t grant him much mental peace. "If you don''t want to talk with anyone, you can cut off the link for a few hours," Bianca exined. "That being said, it might cause some issues if your timing is off." "I will be careful," Ryan said. "Anyway, I am leaving." Ryan was in a hurry because he didn''t fight even a single bit in several days. He was afraid that his aim and instincts would grow rusty. He didn''t have many chances to fight since all the path toward the Amazonas had been mostly secured by Gustavo and his friends. Moreover, the monster Ryan found along the way got smashed by Furball. "So, are you going to talk about your parents now?" Femradiel asked. After sighing, Ryan stopped for a moment to analyze hisst actions. In the end, he couldn''t find many exnations as to why he agreed to make a contract with Femradiel. Even though he wasn''t going to lose or gain anything unless he wishes for it, he could tell that his decision was a strange one. Ryan found two possible exnations: the death of Lucia and her friends was one of them¡­ the other was something that Ryan didn''t want to admit, but maybe, just maybe, he didn''t honestly want to be left alone. Maybe by talking about his past, Ryan would be able to understand more about himself¡­ all that non-stop fighting kept his head too busy, and Ryan didn''t have much time to calm down and think things through. "Maybe you don''t know this, but humans didn''t have to fight before the dragons appeared," Ryan started. "The biggest things my father hunted were probably some deer. Still, he taught me everything I know about how to use a bow and how to track animals by following some traces on the ground¡­ he wasn''t a legendary hunter, but he was the best in my eyes." "I can''t say that for certain, but I don''t believe dragons came from a peacefulnd like this was before," Femradiel said. "If that weren''t the case, we wouldn''t feel so out of ce and weak here. Anyway, and what about your mother?" "My mother was just an ordinary housewife," Ryan said. "However, she was the kindest person I had ever seen. As far as I can remember, she always taught me that I should always smile and be kind to others. Until very recently I thought that was the way people should live, I managed to get even someone like Mia as a girlfriend and fianc¨¦e, following that philosophy, after all. I still think that she wasn''t wrong in raising me like that, but since I followed her words blindly, something annoying happened¡­ probably thanks to the fact that I was too selfless, if I had been a bit more selfish, such a thing could have been avoided." Ryan wondered why he was talking so openly¡­ it was probably because humans always want to find someone who can listen to their problems andints. However, Ryan wouldn''t do that to anyone, not with another human¡­ only with someone who would never get involved with Daniel and Mia in any way. "Thanks to my mother, I lived a decent peaceful life, but thanks to my father, I survived until now," Ryan said. "I will try to find a good middle term for the things I learned from them." "Is that why you are talking about that with me and why you treat Furball so well?" Femradiel asked. "I guess so," Ryan said. "I know that Furball won''t change, so I don''t have to worry about him. As for you, if you mess up¡­ you already know how coldly I treat the people I don''t like." "You talk as if you hadn''t been harsh before with me," Femradiel said. "Regardless, thank you for treating me like a real partner¡­ even though the contract is too restrictive." "Alreadyining, huh," Ryan said. "Well, let''s see for how long you will deserve the treatment." Ryan felt a bit lighter since he put a lot of things out of his heart. Since Femradiel was in no way rted to his old problems and will never be, that helped a lot. Moreover, now that Ryan puts in words the things that he thinks and wants to do, something inside him changed. His goals were the same as ever, kill as many monsters as possible, get sses, be powerful, and prove that he could survive by using the things he learned from his father. However, now he also knew that he couldn''t keep letting the past control his anger and actions so often. The best way to deal with Daniel and Mia was to ignore them. If they don''t take a single moment of his life, Ryan will be able to focus on his goals and achieve them faster. Instead of letting his anger to escape constantly, Ryan decided to use it as fuel when he finds his true enemies¡­ that was the best way to make use of that extra power. "I guess this is the right path for me," Ryan muttered under his breath. "I guess this is a turning point in our journey, buddy. Let''s focus on hunting some fuckers to start this with the right foot." Ryan took a heavy burden out from his back. Although he wasn''t the type who would get carried away in those kinds of situations, he felt invincible¡­ even in his wildest dreams, he couldn''t have imagined that his journey would only get harsher. Chapter 331 - Hard Time Since the number of monsters along the way was pretty low, Ryan decided to have an excellent time taking a nap on Furball''s back, but eventually, he had to give up on that. The terrain in the Amazon Forest wasn''t that nice for a giant but a fast creature like Furball. So, they had to fly quite early. "If we fly in a straight line, we will find it," Ryan muttered as if he was trying to calm himself. "You can rest assured that we will find the dungeon," Femradiel said. "With my senses, I can easily pinpoint the location of all nearby dungeons, the more high-level they are, the easiest it will be to find them." "Is that so?" Ryan said. "I guess you really aren''t going to be that useless, huh." "You can drop the acting, Ryan," Femradiel said. "You are embarrassed after having a frank talk after so long, but dragons like me can''t understand that. Trying to look cold or sarcastic aren''t helping you." Talking with Femradiel was talking with a super helpful A.I., it was a pity that Ryan couldn''t see things like that. After that talk, he suddenly got annoyed by his own actions since he exposed too much about himself¡­ Ryan just learned that he wasn''t as stable as he thought that he was. Regardless, they finally found the dungeon around noon of the next day. As expected, the dungeon had appeared near the region''s biggest city, a ce called Manaus. Although Ryan didn''t find much destruction in the forest, most of the city had beenpletely destroyed. Only a small part of it had been restored by the survivors and was by using by them to keep the dungeons in the area under control. "If you have already arrived at Manaus, you should look for someone called Ricard," Gustavo said via the telepathy channel. "I already talked to him a few minutes ago, and he is waiting for you at the za." "Good, that does mean that I can show up the way I want," Ryan said. Although many people caused a ruckus when Ryan suddenly appeared at the za mentioned, Ricardo and his men calmed everything down. Ricardo was a tall man who had light-brown hair and green eyes. Although he looked the type who would make sess with thedies, Ryan only saw a battle-hardened warrior in front of him. Not a man who would fool around whenever possible. For some coincidence, Ricardo was also a bow-user. However, his was pretty long and emitted an orange-red glow. "I presume you are Ryan," Ricardo said. "Yes," Ryan said. "If you don''t mind, I would like to ask you to fight alongside us," Ricardo said. "Gustavo said that your strength can be relied on and we are facing some problems as ofte here." "I can help," Ryan said. "That being said, I have no idea how he can say that since he never saw me fighting." "Follow me," Ricardo said and then began to walk toward the center of the city where the dungeon was located. "Can I assume that your crossbow is a weapon enchanted with some element?" "Yes, you can," Ryan nodded. "I don''t know if Gustavo and the others told you about the monsters that this dungeon spawn, but they are a bit difficult," Ricardo said. "While physical attacks work on them, the damage caused isn''t something that bothers them. Thus, around here we focus on elemental attacks to deal with them." "If you try to be more specific, maybe I will be able to prepare and be more helpful when fighting them," Ryan said. "Right¡­ they are mummies," Ricardo said. "They are undead creatures and since they are dead, they arepletely invulnerable to pain. While in damage doesn''t stop them, ice attacks and electric attacks can give us a few precious seconds to deal with them." Hopefully, Ryan will be able to deal with them by using Power Shot, but he would have to change his weapon and use some elemental buffs if that weren''t possible. "Can''t we slow them down by destroying their limbs?" Ryan asked. "No, even if they lose their limbs, they can regenerate them with their undead flesh," Ricardo replied. "We already tried many ways to stop them, and we lost many by doing so. The only answer is freeze or shock them." Ryan wanted to disagree and test a few things, but it wasn''t a good idea to try a few things and ignore the leader of the area experience. Maybe a few seconds charged Power Shot would be enough. All monsters can only spawn six times every ten minutes, after all. It would then be too much for Ryan to ask to clear the dungeon alone while the others follow behind him. "I have the right skill to freeze them over," Femradiel said. "I won''t choose the easy way out," Ryan said. "There is no other choice, I will see what I can do with Electric Enchantment." Poison probably wouldn''t be much effective either, but using the crossbow would be much more convenient, so Ryan kept it. When they reached the dungeon in question, Ryan found that only non-fighters would try to get a ss. By the look of things, the survivors in that area had a real hard time clearing the dungeon every day if they needed that many fighters. "Aside from their high-tolerance to pain, the mummies have also other troublesome characteristics," Ricardo said. "Once their bandage grabs someone, that someone is lost. They lose their strength and thus aren''t able to free themselves. Anyone who touches the mummies also loses their stamina and physical strength. Once that happens, the only way is to kill both the mummy and the captured." "Really?" Ryan asked. "Yes, the mummies use the stamina to make their body stronger and the captured eventually join the undead army," Ricardo exined. "That is all we can do for our friends¡­ kill them before they be puppets." ss: Hunter Lv 67 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 202th Health: 1191/1194 (3, 53/s) Mana: 1871 /1871 (3, 53/s) Stamina: 1633/1639 (3,53/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1850 (+1395) (+82) Speed: 85 (+644) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+517) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+657) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 800 (+993) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 236.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Zen Lv 07, Underwater Resistance Lv 01, Spells: Magic Upgrade Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Mana Bomb Lv 01, Electric Enchantment Lv 01, Draconic Transformation Lv 01, Frost Armor Lv 01, Ice Breath Lv 01, Magic Bow Lv 01, Elemental Nature Lv 01, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300 (+ 271 UP), sses: Combat: Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 332 - Reasons That was troublesome¡­ to lose allies and then fight them because they be undead monsters. That was the kind of thing that quickly broke the spirit of most battle-hardened soldiers. No wonder Ricardo looked so grim. He probably had lost and killed many friends due to that dungeon. As if it wasn''t enough, the dungeon looked like a mausoleum, and even some skulls made of stones could be seen around the entrance¡­ it looked like the dungeon master of that ce was really nasty, but the critical piece of information was that dungeon masters could do that. "Given the power that the mummies, have can you help us?" Ricardo asked. "I guess," Ryan said. "What is the dungeon boss, by the way?" "A mummy with a crown¡­ the Pharaoh, Osiris," Ricardo replied. At that point in time, getting surprised was a waste of time and energy, so Ryan only nodded after hearing that. In any case, Ricardo at least gave Ryan the chance to test his powers. That was necessary since it looked like he lost two mages that could use ice and electric mage in thest few days. Now he only had a single mage that could use ice magic and slow down the monsters, but he could only do that much since that survivor only had two sses and couldn''t leave the city to get other sses. When the next mummy left the dungeon, Ryan made sure to take a good look at it, as well as using Appraisal. The monster really looked like something a skeleton would be. The flesh could only be seen in a few points, but it was so dead that the purple skin made Ryan avert his eyes. No, it was probably due to the smell¡­ Regardless, the monster was really covered in bandages from head to toe. Ryan activated Electric Enchantment, but the smell was so strong that he missed the monster''s head and only hit the torso. Mummy ¨C Lv 125 Health: 2374/3000 Mana: 1000/1000 Stamina: 100/100 Strength: 1000 Dexterity: 100 Speed: 100 Intelligence: 100 Endurance: 2000 Control: 250 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 500 Recovery: -- Willpower: 1000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Tiring Touch Lv 120, Tiring Bandages Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 100, Bronze Skin Lv 80, Steel Skin Lv 60 Spells: Support Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 350, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50, Poison Resistance Lv 250, Ryan frowned when he saw those statuses, but in the end, the surprise made him attack four more times and kill the beast. Although he used a lot more mana than he was used to, mummies weren''t as troublesome as he thought. He had the skills and status to solo the mobs. You obtained 130 coins. "I don''t like this¡­ for a dungeon that never broke, their level is too high," Ryan said. "That shouldn''t surprise you, the stronger the creature is, the more mana they emit," Femradiel said. "Considering the level of the monsters, it looks like it is pretty evident that stronger monsters emit more mana and can level up faster, even when their dungeon doesn''t break." Ryan didn''t consider that, but it did make sense after the experiment with the iron scorpions. The dungeon master of that dungeon probably knows that, and that was why he chose such a weird move to win the race. "Well¡­ it looks like Gustavo wasn''t exaggerating," Ricardo frowned. "However, let''s try this again and this time, let''s check for how long your skills stun the enemy." Ryan nodded at that, and when the next mummy appeared, he fired a single bolt on the monster''s chest. In the end, the creature got stunned for half a second¡­ it wasn''t so bad given the level of the skill and the fact that Ryan didn''t allocate a single point into intelligence. It could be improved, but Ryan won''t have time for that. "That is more than enough," Ricardo said. "You and our ice mage will hit the monsters once at the start of the fight and the others will finish off the creatures. As for the boss battle, Osiris usually can resist two times more crowd control spells inparison to his minions. For how long do you think you can attack while shocking him?" "Around five seconds I guess," Ryan replied. "Given how much damage you can cause while you are at it, it should be more than enough," Ricard nodded. "Once we find the boss, go all out and once you run out of mana, leave the rest to us." Got it," Ryan said. Ricardo left to prepare a few more details for the fight. Meanwhile, while decided to use his head to find a better way to deal with those undead monsters, but he didn''t find any. "Why did you lie to him?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t like that some know exactly what I can do with my skills," Ryan replied. "That is why I also didn''t tell him that I could finish off the boss with Power Shot." "Even though you are probably going to work with his friends in the future?" Femradiel asked. "I highly doubt that I will," Ryan shook his head. "I will only exchange information, my hands are already full, I can''t involve myself with problems of other nations." "What if the problem they might face esctes and bes something that might threat your homnd?" Femradiel asked. "That is a possibility that I would like to avoid thinking about it in order not to lose the few nights of sleep that I still have," Ryan said. "Anyway, why do you care if I lie to him?" "Just asking out of curiosity," Femradiel replied. "Anyway, if you don''t want to let others know about the things you can do, then you should learn some spells to counter Appraisal." "So, those exist, huh," Ryan nodded in satisfaction. "I will need their names, hopefully, they will also block the mind-reading technique of other dragons." Chapter 333 - Offer When the preparations had beenpleted, Ryan, Ricardo, and the others entered the dungeon. Fortunately, the dungeon''syout was pretty simple, and there wasn''t anything decreasing their movement like the water in the mermaid''s dungeon. As soon as the first mummy appeared, Ryan fired a bolt and electrocuted the monster. Soon after, the ice mage who looked like a kid in his teens fired an ice sphere at the monster''s legs and froze it over. "Now!" Ricardo shouted. Ricardo and the other long-ranged fighters bombarded the mummy with magic and enchanted projectiles. Surprisingly enough, Ricardo''s bow was pretty powerful and could fire Magma Arrows, but the cost was very high and not much useful against undead monsters. Regardless, the mummy died since it didn''t have the chance to move from the spot. "I guess the melee fighters are only going to fight against the boss," Ryan concluded, since ten or so fighters didn''t participate in the fight. "In any case, this thing of being respectful in other people''s country sure is tiring. I could have cleared those three dungeons in a single day if I had the chance." "Isn''t it good that you still respect others of your species even though you are more powerful than them?" Femradiel asked. "I suppose so, but that doesn''t mean that it is annoying," Ryan said. "With every passing day, I confirm time and time again that fighting solo is the way to go." "You should have been born as a dragon with that attitude," Femradiel said. Maybe it was due to the fact that Ryan did whatever the hell he wanted in the past four months, but in the end, he made a mental note to avoid that situation again. He thought that obtaining three sses without doing nothing would be fun, but he was mistaken. After a few minutes, Ryan and the others finally reached the end of the dungeon, and there he saw Osiris sitting on a throne of bones¡­ Ricardo didn''t mention that he could do that. "The trick to winning this fight is to do so as fast as possible," Ricardo said. "Osiris can summon other mummies, so we can let the fightst for long and we can''t let him use his summoning skills." Ricardo looked at Ryan as I''d he was saying that he would have to start the fight by himself. While he didn''t mind that, Ryan wished that he had heard about it sooner. Regardless, instead of wasting timeining, Ryan just moved toward thest part of the dungeon, running and firing his bolts. Osiris ¨C Lv 155 Health: 21000/21000 Mana: 10000/10000 Stamina: 5000/5000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 1000 Endurance: 4000 Control: 500 Mentality: 1500 Luck: 500 Recovery: -- Willpower: 1500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Tiring Touch Lv 150, Tiring Bandages Lv 130 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 150, Bronze Skin Lv 120, Steel Skin Lv 100 Spells: Summon Mummy Lv 150 Support Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 350, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50, Poison Resistance Lv 250, Osiris looked at Ryan, but before he could even think of attacking him, the bolts pierced its bandages and body while they electrocuted the beast. At the same time, Ricardo and the others positioned themselves around the boss. Ryan stopped attacking after precisely five seconds, and when that happened, Ricardo and the others joined the fight. Despite the risk, the melee fighters didn''t hesitate and sliced apart Osiris''s body bit by bit. Just in case, Ryan began to charge Power Shot. Nobody was paying attention to him anyway, so it didn''t matter. However, in the end, nothing happened. Ryan sighed in relief when the boss died for two reasons. The first was because he didn''t have to act and because that bullshit of being a nice visitor was finally over. "Good work, everyone," Ricardo said. "It has been a long while since we fought against this boss and none of us suffered a single injury. The victory is ours, but the drop belongs to a single person, I believe no one can contest that the visitor deserves the reward." For a change, Ricardo cracked a smile on his face. While Ryan was happy for the loot since Osiris dropped a tome, those words and the others'' attention made him very ufortable. "... Thanks," Ryan said and then forced a smile while he received the tome. Ryan wondered if that was amon thing around these parts. While he could understand the exhrating feeling after winning a tough battle, those speeches were too cringe from his perspective. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Summon Skeleton. Effect: it grants you the power to summon an ordinary skeleton whose health, mana, and stamina will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by fifty. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. "One of these hm, huh," Femradiel said, and for some reason, she seemed displeased. "I hate necromancers¡­" Ryan felt that he should ask why, but in the end, he decided not to. It was better if he keeps Furball and Femradiel at the same distance. Since Furball wasn''t the type to share his problems, Ryan didn''t have to worry about the distance between them, but things were a bit different with Femradiel. She was a sapient who was probably many times older than Ryan, so by default, she was a massive box full of issues that Ryan didn''t want to get involved in. While Ryan was waiting for his turn to pick a ss, Ricardo approached him. Since he looked a lot more rxed than before, it was Ryan''s turn to get tense. "Gustavo told me that you are traveling around the continent and looking for dungeons like these," Ricardo said. "Do you think that you found all of them?" "I don''t know, I still need to check the extreme North of the continent," Ryan replied. "How about you return here once you finish your search?" Ricardo asked. "We could use the help of someone like you. You can easily be my right hand and obtain several benefits." Chapter 334 - Trickster "Tell me more¡­" Ryan said. "What do you seek? More power? We can give you the preference in the obtained drops," Ricardo said. "Do you want to enjoy a good life? I can find some girls for you and even build a nice home for you and them." "... How many I can have without causing some issues with Gustavo and his friends?" Ryan asked. "We don''t want to have issues with them, right?" "As many as you want, people nowadays will do everything to gain the favor of those in power," Ricardo exined. "Just tell me when you think you might return and I will make some preparations." "All right¡­ I have some things to deal with in my home country," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, I should be able to solve them in three weeks." "Good, I will be waiting for you," Ricardo said and then offered a handshake to Ryan and then left before anyone could find suspicious that they were talking in such a low tone. Ryan sighed after that¡­ as expected, he shouldn''t waste his time working with others in the future. The chances of him finding more people like Ricardo who wanted to use him were pretty high, and since that kind of idiot had a lot of influence, Ryan couldn''t kill them that easily. "For a second I thought you were serious about making a deal with him," Femradiel said. "It is only natural, you don''t know me all that much," Ryan shrugged. Ryan''s turn finally arrived, and he didn''t waste any more time. He should have used Appraisal on Ricardo and the others when he had the chance to see his options, but in the end, the surprise excited Ryan even more than he had expected. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordmaster, Poisonous Archer, and Illusionist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Although the other sses seemed less focused on doing a single thing, once again, Ryan made his choice pretty quickly, but not before he could hear Femradiel sighing inside his head. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Poisonous Archer! You obtained the following skills: Paralyzing Arrow, Spiritual Poison, and Explosive Poisonous Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Paralyzing Arrow. Effect: It enchants your arrows with a poison that can paralyze your foes depending on their mentality and willpower. Cost: 40 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spiritual Poison. Effect: It enchants your arrows with a poison that can cause direct damage to your target''s mana pool. The toxin canst for three seconds, and the damage is equal to the skill level. This effect can be stacked. Cost: 20 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Explosive Poisonous Arrow. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a magic arrow that explodes upon contact and creates a poisonous cloud that can affect several targets. The damage caused is equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence divided by the number of targets. Cost: 60 mana You obtained 01 status point. "You certainly have bad luck with sses and skills you obtain," Femradiel said. "It looks like you have a problem with certain types of skills and sses," Ryan said. "Let me guess, you don''t likebat styles that rely on furtivity and indirect means to defeat an enemy." "I am a dragon, after all," Femradiel asked. "There is not much of pride left, but there is still some. You can''t expect that creatures like me would approve that, just so you know, Poison Dragons do exist, but they are shunned by the others." "Although you say that, dragons annihted humans when they were much more powerful," Ryan said. "You guys pride didn''t get in the way when you killed thousands, right?" "First of all, I didn''t kill a single human," Femradiel said. "Second of all, do you really want to hear me defending my species when they annihted the humans?" "¡­ No," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Anyway, let''s get the hell out of here." Ryan left in a hurry the city without saying goodbye to anyone, not that he had anyone to say goodbye. Regardless, while he and Furball were flying crossing the Amazon forest, Ryan wondered if it was time to continue his search or just head to Colombia and then talk with Lucas before returning home. Ryan thought that job wouldst a few months, but barely four weeks had passed since he started that journey. "I guess this journey is nearing its end," Ryan said. "If there were any other tier three dungeon in the continent, Lucas and Gustavo would have noticed, the monstersing out from those ces are really troublesome, after all." It was time for Ryan to return to his home country and take the next step. At that point in time, there was no sense in denying that he was worried about Zoe and Arthur. Even though he checked things with them every day with Search, seeing things with his own eyes will be better. "All right, next stop is Colombia," Ryan said. "Let''s talk with Lucas and finish them as quickly as possible. After that, we will return to the base." In the end, after a single day of traveling, Ryan met Lucas again. Although he weed him, Ryan left as soon as he exined about the telepathy link that Gustavo had created. If he wanted to talk about anything, they didn''t have to see each other. While that was troublesome in some ways, at the very least, Ryan wouldn''t feel ufortable directly. Chapter 335 - Storm "So, after talking with your friends, are you going to exterminate all the monsters in a foreigner world to be a dungeon master?" Femradiel asked. "They are not my friends," Ryan said. "They are survivors that now and then I work with for the sake of gathering intel as fast as possible." "Right¡­ you only consider those that are one hundred percent loyal and have no means of betraying you your friends¡­" Femradiel said. "Anyway, that will take a lot of time and won''t be very helpful to increase your strength, are you sure about that?" "Yes, I am sure about that, and no, you are not my friend, we are brothers in arms," Ryan said. "Regardless, I won''t have to worry about time if I use my auto-farm method of ying monsters." "No¡­ it will take a lot of time," Femradiel said. "Golems are too slow; can you imagine how many months it will take for them to run across even a small?" That was something that Ryan didn''t consider¡­ his auto-farm skills certainly had some weakness. Maybe Ryan will have to use the Giant Bees in the ce of the golems. They shouldn''t have a problem if Ryan tries to conquer the slimes'' world. While Ryan was considering his options, he finally arrived on American soil. While he saw some monsters running around in Mexico, he didn''t find any in the distance¡­ it looked like Mark put his ns of guarding all dungeons much sooner than he had predicted. "It looks like the people of your country is finally getting used to the new world," Femradiel said. "While that is good for them, it isn''t good for you. The number of monsters you can hunt decreased exponentially and so was the potential that you could use them to make yourself stronger." "One step at a time," Ryan said. "First, we will focus on obtaining the power of the dungeon masters, after that, we will worry about that problem. Anyway, let''s make you use your legs for a change, Furball. Dash, full speed ahead." Ryan stopped flying and then gave his partner the order. Strangely, Furball barked excitedly. He didn''tin or looked ufortable, but it looked like he really liked to run instead of flying. While the ride wasn''t thatfortable, at least Ryan had some extra mana to practice his new skills. Around the time the sun was starting to set, Ryan finally returned to the base. Surprisingly enough, things looked neater in the small town above the ce, it looked like Mark, and the others had had too much free time on their hands. Knowing Mark, Ryan thought he would be waiting for him at the entrance, but he wasn''t there. "Where is Mark?" Ryan asked one of the guards protecting the entrance. "¡­ Commander Mark is at the meeting room," One of the guards replied with a frown. Commander Mark¡­ it looked like his position changed a little bit once everyone understood that they couldn''t wait for the government toe to their rescue. While Ryan wasn''t an exact stranger, most of the guys who worked for Mark didn''t like him since he didn''t respect titles or formalities. Regardless, Ryan found Mark and many others in the meeting room. For some reason, things looked pretty intense inside the room, and even though Ryan opened the door abruptly, the atmosphere improved a little. Cole, Anna, Carter, John, and Katelyn were there. While it wasn''t a perfectbination, at least the noisy ones weren''t there. "Did I interrupt something?" Ryan asked. "Yes, but it is not like you care about it, right?" Anna asked with a frown on her face. "Look who is still on the edge after all these months," Ryan said. "If you are too busy, Mark, I can returnter." "It is fine, you can join us," Mark said. "Please sit, this may take a while." Ryan just wanted to ask for a brief summary of whatever was troubling them, but asking something like that would only make Anna noisier. So, he decided to be patient. He just returned for a journey, so he could take a few hours of his time to kick back and rx. "Do you remember when you told me about your fight against Mephisto and that demons can turn humans into monsters that obey them?" Mark asked. "How could I forget that?" Ryan asked. "Well, they became monsters all right¡­ we fought against some of the men who were captured by Lilith and Baal," Mark said. "However, even while the system considers them monsters, they still have human DNA¡­ so, they still can enter dungeons, cause dungeon breaks and even obtain sses." Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ that was terrible, so why he didn''t see any monster many monsters on the way to the base? It was obvious, while they could cause dungeon breaks, by doing so, the humans who joined the demons would only help other species by doing that. However, by getting sses, they would increase their strength, and some sses were really troublesome¡­ "Those humans tried to go North and obtain the tier three sses in the Fenrir''s dungeon," Mark said. "They failed there since many of the bosses are still there, but they didn''t fail when they tried to clear the Chupacabras'' dungeon¡­ in the blink of an eye, they killed many of Gonzales friends and they cleared the dungeon. Thus, twenty-four troublesome necromancers were born." Yep¡­ things became quite troublesome while Ryan was away. While he couldn''t me himself or the others for it, he couldn''t help but sigh in disappointment. While creatures like Bolvath can summon skeletons, demons are an easy target for Ryan. Moreover, their numbers couldn''t increase that often. However, those humans didn''t have to worry about that. "Where are they?" Ryan asked. "They return to the demons'' world," Mark replied. "However, asionally, some of the humans who became ves of the subus appear and try to head North to obtain the sses there as well. They understand that is their best shot¡­ they can''t hope to cross all the country and march South without being attacked by us." Chapter 336 - Reasoning "Daniel and the others who have experience fighting the Chupacabras are currently guarding that dungeon," John added. "We are also nning to make some of the people here be necromancers as well. Tobat fire with fire." "I wonder if that will work," Ryan said. "Considering that those creatures returned to the demons'' world, I assume that they are nning to strengthen that ss there and return once the time is ripe. Besides, just making some people get the ss isn''t enough, they need the aptitude since Necromancer looks like a pretty nasty ss." "¡­ That is exactly why we are having difficulties finding those who want that ss," John sighed and then said. "While I can understand more or less the situation, I think you should change your ns," Ryan said. "You can obtain the Demon Hunter ss in Canada, that will help against the demons. As for other countermeasures, I think taking away one or two survivors of each guarded dungeon and allocating them to the demons'' dungeons will solve the issue." "We also thought that¡­ but given that they don''t know when the demons will appear, the survivors are afraid that they will be weaker inparison to others since the number of demons that can be hunted is limited," Mark exined after a long sigh. Ryan couldn''t say that since he was doing whatever he wanted, but humans really were some egoistical dumbasses. Apparently, they didn''t even want to take turns while guarding the demons'' dungeon¡­ Ryan soon lost interest in the question. "Well, if there is nothing else bothering you, I would like to ask about the things that happened here while I was away," Ryan said. "Aren''t you changing the subject too fast?" Anna asked. "This question isn''t solved yet." "I can see that you guys have been trying to solve this for thest few days, but I don''t think there is much any of you can do," Ryan said. "Humans are starting to get rxed again, thanks to it, their most primal instincts areing to the surface. You can''t expect that they will follow all of yourmands now that they have the power to fight the monsters." No one could say that Ryan was wrong. That is what happens when you give too much power to people. While they weren''t bad leaders, Mark and the others didn''t consider that giving every single person power would lead to a situation where they would be so uncooperative. Ryan imagined that something might be because of human nature, once humans get used to something good, they will eventually wish for more. Once they get ustomed to improvements, they won''t feel satisfied with the status quo. "So, nothing aside from that happened?" Ryan asked. "That is good, I guess." "What do you think we should do about this, Ryan?" Cole asked. "To solve the situation, you guys can go there and make a camp around the dungeon," Ryan replied. "However, that will only create more problems in the future, unless you find a way for the survivors to be more cooperative, their behavior will only get worse. Still, if the worse happens, the situation will solve itself." "¡­ Are you talking about if the demons managed to defeat us?" Mark asked. "Yes, if they do that, the survivors will have some taste of despair again and they will be more cooperative, this ce is yours, after all," Ryan said. "Are you insane?" Anna asked. "We can''t let that happen, many of us will die and the monsters around the dungeons will take over ournds again." "That won''t happen, the demons will hunt all the other species in order to make their dungeon reach the level max first," Ryan said. "The real problem will start from that point onward. Demons like Lilith, Baal, Mephisto, and perhaps even the devil himself will be able to walk freely on Earth. When that happens, we all will be pretty much screwed. By the way, where is Alissa?" "She is training with her soldiers in Canada since the poption of monsters is higher there," Mark said. "She isn''t interested in this problem." Figures. Ryan didn''t want to get involved either because helping them would only make the survivors get carried away more. Besides, Ryan wasn''t the firefighter of the base whose sole job was to solve their problems. "Well, here is the data that I collected in thest few weeks," Ryan said and then passed his notebook to Mark. "How much can you pay me for those?" "Like I said¡­ why do you keep trying to change the subject?" Anna got up and asked, visibly annoyed. "This isn''t a solved question yet!" "Sorry, but it is your problem, not mine," Ryan said. "I can''t imagine an easy way out of this mess. The shit will hit the fan eventually anyway, just prepare for it." "Can''t we count on you to guard the dungeon in the north, Ryan?" Cole asked. "Nope, I already decided my next step, so I will focus on it," Ryan replied. "If I were you, I would focus more on strengthening yourselves. That way, when the shit happens, the chances of you surviving will increase." "But that is¡­" Cole hesitated. "We aren''t a proper government, so this was bound to happen since we didn''t createws and simr things to keep everyone on the line," Carter said. "He is right, Cole. We can''t expect that all things will work out in the end." It looked like Carter was the only cool-headed of the trio. Regardless, Ryan was determined to follow his own ns, and everyone could see that he wouldn''t change his mind. So, there was no point in continuing that conversation since they couldn''t see another solution to the problem. In the end, Mark paid Ryan two million coins for all the information he got in thest weeks. It seemed a bit too much, but given that he found several tiers three dungeons and that he made contact with some group of survivors, Mark felt that was the right amount. Chapter 337 - Accelerated Growth After leaving the meeting room behind, Ryan began to look for Zoe and Arthur. Fortunately, they were in the same ce, so it looked like Ryan would save some time. Still, despite the fact that he checked things with them pretty often, he didn''t notice something very peculiar¡­ Arthur had grown a bit in those three months, and now Mia and Zoe were teaching how to walk. "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered. "Big bro!" Zoe jumped happily when she heard Ryan''s voice. "Isn''t this amazing? Arthur is only a few months old and he already can walk." "¡­ How?" Ryan asked in shock. "Apparently, all kids are growing up quite fast now," Mia exined with a sweet smile on her face that made Ryan frown. "ording to Alissa, the mana level on the is affecting us on that level. However, it looked like those who have mana but already are adults won''t age that fast." That seemed really convenient and kind of scary. Ryan didn''t notice that his body had changed that much. Regardless, Ryan didn''t know how to feel about that. While he wanted to live until he sees the day where Earth will be free of monsters again, but he didn''t want to fight for decades or centuries¡­ that thought was even scarier. "I also grew a few centimeters on thest months," Zoe said pridefully. "Good for you," Ryan said. "Anyway, did something happen in thest week with you or Arthur?" "No, everything is the same as always," Zoe replied. "Only the uncles and aunties seemed troubledtely." "By uncles and aunts are you referring to the people who work with Mark?" Ryan frowned. "Yes," Zoe replied. While Ryan wasn''t fond of the idea of being called big bro by anyone, it was better than being called uncle. Regardless, Ryan wondered if he should teach Zoe the skill to summon a Warg, a beast-like that was much better than any other summoned creature, after all, but in the end, he gave up on the idea. The skill had a cooldown, so it couldn''t be used often. "I should look for Alissa and connect her to this telepathic link," Ryan nodded to himself. "If her brain still is working, he will take her guys to that dungeon and there some of them will learn the skill to summon wargs. A few weeks ago, Mark mentioned that they are using some sort of spell to move toward dungeons instantly, so eventually Zoe will have the chance to get that ss." "Why are you worried about those two kids?" Femradiel asked via telepathy. "It is none of your business," Ryan replied. "Rather than that, did you know that mana can speed up the growth speed of living creatures?" "I noticed, but never put much thought into it," Femradiel replied. Ryan sighed¡­ it looked like even Femradiel could mess up sometimes. Regardless, now that Ryan finished his business, he could put up the next phase of his ns into action. However, when he turned around and prepared to leave, Mia stopped him. "Wait, Ryan," Mia said. "Don''t you want to help us teach Arthur to walk?" "No," Ryan replied and then left the area. Even though Ryan''s response hadn''t been cold, it somehow hurt Mia even more than usual. It looked like he had lost all interest in her¡­ Ryan was finally moving on, and that idea made Mia feel something cold insider her heart. "Don''t give up, big sis," Zoe patted Mia''s back and then smiled. "It is not like big bro is going to marry anyone anytime soon, right?" In the end, the only thing Mia could do was to force a smile¡­ ----- ----- While Furball was carrying Ryan toward the slimes'' dungeon, Ryan finally recalled that he didn''t ask Mark''s opinion if there was someone guarding the dungeon or if he could just clear the dungeon once and for all. However, given that it wasn''t the only slime dungeon in the world, he felt like no one would miss it. "Wait a minute¡­ does the slimese from the same world?" Ryan frowned. "If they do, and I still kill every single one of them on their, that means that I will stop all slimes'' dungeons from working." "That is something that I don''t know," Femradiel replied. "However, if that happens, aren''t you doing it to gain some intel? I am pretty sure some price has to be paid, to obtain most of the things." While that argument was pretty persuasive, Ryan couldn''t help but worry that his actions might cause some issues all over the world. If a dungeon stops spawning monsters, how will the survivors gain new sses? Although tier-one sses were pretty weak, they still could be the lifeline of many¡­ "Whatever¡­ it is not like anyone will discover anyway," Ryan shrugged. "I need to understand the power of the dungeon masters, so I will ept the risks." In the end, Ryan didn''t find anyone guarding the slimes'' dungeon¡­ again. Survivors really got greedy as ofte. Now they couldn''t care less about the small amount of coins slimes could give them. Thanks to that, Ryan had to kill many slimes in the area, and Femradiel was in a bad mood since he recovered a lot of mana while killing them thanks to Active Spiritual Regeneration. Even though the slimes reached level seventy, they posed Ryan no threat. "Considering that you will shut down this dungeon anyway, why don''t you cause some dungeon breaks before doing it?" Femradiel asked. "You are quite greedy, aren''t you," Ryan frowned. "While I know the changes that the dungeon break cause in our world, I don''t know how that affects the monsters'' world, so I won''t take that risk. Rather than that, you should tell me when the amount of mana I gave you will reach the same level of coins I need to learn the skills to counter Appraisal. By the way, which are their names?" "I only remember the simplest one," Femradiel replied. "It is called, Mind Armor." Chapter 338 - Wild Guess Just to check, Ryan opened the Dungeon Shop and checked for the skill, but he didn''t find it¡­ Ryan didn''t want to believe that skill like that would cost more than two million coins. "I don''t know how this system measures the price of skills, but you shouldn''t think it will be cheap," Femradiel said. "This skill can nullify all skills that affect your mind in the exchange of your mana. Illusion magic, debuffs that would affect your mind such as Charm, and skills that might read the info about your or your items won''t work while you keep it active." "So, it is that useful, huh," Ryan said. "Anyway, how much more mana you will need for me to deserve that skill." "Let me do some math here," Femradiel said. "Based on the current level of the skill, the amount of mana needed to level up the skill, the percentage in which the cost of the level up increased¡­ you will need to kill 25.369 more slimes or wait 281 hours." While those oddly specific numbers made Ryan frown, at least now he knew what he should do. Regardless, it looked like wait was the only option since Ryan had no intention of walking around the area while ying slimes. He would leave that for Furball. "All right, buddy," Ryan said. "You will hunt the ones that left the dungeon, and we will make sure no more of them wille. Try not to lick too much the slimes on the ground." After saying that, Ryan entered the dungeon. It has been a while since he had been in that cave¡­ although it was where his journey for power started, Ryan didn''t feel a single hint of nostalgia. It has been a long while since he felt anything close to that¡­ While Ryan found some bosses waiting for him near the purple crystal, they didn''t do anything to him. Ryan killed them before they could even think of doing anything. Now he finally could take his next step. The only problem was that Ryan didn''t have any real efficient way of hunting the other world''s monsters. "Still struggling with that, huh," Femradiel said. "If it were me, I would just freeze their entire world." "That certainly is a viable n. Thanks for your valuable opinion," Ryan said. "I am not going to use your powers, Femradiel." "I am just saying," Femradiel said. "You will waste a lot of time here." Ryan sighed, and then he touched the crystal and then reappeared on the other side. For some reason, he saw himself in the middle of a desert¡­ while he could feel the teleportation point behind him, Ryan couldn''t see a single slime. Moreover, that was a pretty weird ce for slimes to exist¡­ After transforming the sand into a pir of earth to mark the ce where he would find the teleportation point, Ryan began to fly in order to check that world. However, even after he was several kilometers above the ground, he didn''t see anything aside from the desert. "Do you still think that can freeze this entire world?" Ryan asked. "If I have enough mana, I can''t see why not," Femradiel replied. She was a dragon, so it was only natural that Femradiel would have confidence in her powers. She froze an entire mountain when she tried to kill Ryan, after all. Regardless, Ryan had another reason not to leave the teleportation point. He certainly will get lost in that world. After returning to the starting point, Ryan created a shelter around the teleportation point. The hot weather was starting to bother him, but in the end, he made things a little morefortable by creating some ice arrows. After that, he began to summon skeletons and battle machines. After that, he gave the skeletons the orders to carry the battle machines¡­ it was pretty weird to see those creatures tripping in the sand while carrying the battle machines, but at least they were pretty fast, thanks to their weight¡­ Skeleton - Lv 01 Health: 50/50 Mana: 50/50 Stamina: 50/50 Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20 Speed: 20 Intelligence: 20 Endurance: 20 Control: 20 Mentality: 20 Luck: 20 Recovery: 20 Willpower: 20 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: "Boy, oh boy¡­" Ryan frowned when he used Appraisal on his skeletons. "They are worse than I thought." Fortunately, just while the skeletons'' health, mana, and stamina increase by fifty points when they level up, the other attributes increase by twenty. So, at the very least, the skill had a lot of potential. "You are not nning to use only them to defeat all the slimes, are you?" Femradiel asked. "There is always the chance that they might miss the slimes at some point, you know." "It is fine. I am using them as bait anyway," Ryan replied. "As a bait?" Femradiel asked, apparently confused. "Even this world has a dungeon master, right?" Ryan asked. "I want to make the dungeon master find me. Even if he is a slime, those creatures won''t ignore a new species of monster walking around in their world. Hopefully, I won''t have to defeat every single stink slime to be a dungeon master. Maybe there is a chance that I can steal the position of one." "I guess that makes sense," Femradiel said. "Let''s just hope you won''t be disappointed in the end. If my guess is right, if you take their position, you won''t be able to make use of that power on Earth, only here." That was something Ryan had considered as well. Hopefully, Dungeon Master was something like a skill one could obtain by defeating a dungeon master in a duel. Still, there was a chance that it wasn''t a skill, but an item or relic that could be used in the said world. If that were the case, then Ryan won''t be able to avoid the hard work and will have to kill every single slime on that. Chapter 339 - Dungeon Master In the end, Ryan endured doing nothing but summon skeletons for an entire week. However, as one would expect from someone who pretty much fought every single day against monsters in thest four months, Ryan got sick of it. To make things worse, he used that entire time to think of a way to eliminate all the slimes in that world, but he didn''t find a better way to do it. "Well, I guess it is time for n B," Ryan got up and then said it while he was cleaning the dust from his clothes. "I didn''t think you have a n B," Femradiel asked, surprised. "I am very surprised that you even managed to resist using it for so long." "I am still trying toe up with n B," Ryan said. "So, that is why¡­" Femradiel said. "Anyway, I also underestimated this task. If you need some tips, I can offer some. Just like I can feel the concentration of mana due to the dungeons, I can also feel the concentration of mana in some ces where monsters are agglomerated." "So, you want me to fly while we look for those ces using your senses, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess there is no other choice¡­" Ryan couldn''t let his pride get in the way of such a critical mission. It was time to let Femradiel do more than drain his mana now and then in exchange for knowledge and skills¡­ even though that was already plenty in Ryan''s eyes. Fortunately, Furball was outside, so Ryan would have some extra mana to create an earth block and give him some shadow while he flies. Although Femradiel assured him that she had memorized the ce where the teleportation point was, and dragons couldn''t get lost even in deserts, Ryan created a massive pir to mark the ce. At first, Ryan tried to fly in a straight line, and since Furball wasn''t with him, he managed to reach a pretty decent speed. However, that only made him frown since the desert seemed endless. Fortunately, he didn''t find a single skeleton, but he could find faint traces of their footsteps. That means that they managed to cover quite a distance in just a few hours and nothing got in their way. Nothing power, at least. "Can you feel anything?" Ryan asked. "Just faint traces of the slimes defeated and of your skeletons," Femradiel said. "I need other tracking skills with a morerge range," Ryan said. "Radar and Awareness are useful, but they can only level up when the enemies find me first." "I can sense a pattern in the slimes movements," Femradiel said. "It looks they areing from the north." "Where is the north?" Ryan frowned. "I am not sure we can use such terms in an alien world." "¡­ Go toward your three o''clock," Femradiel said. "What was that pause for?" Ryan asked, a bit annoyed while he changed the direction he was flying to. "It was nothing, just let me concentrate for a while. I will try to find if there are any other changes in their traces," Femradiel said. "Since those traces are old, I really need to focus, so don''t bother me." "Looks like someone is getting arrogant just because I decided to rely on you¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. The more Ryan flew, the less he found traces in the sand. It was only natural since he had been at the heart of the desert, and the more he moves away from the heart, the older the traces get. Not even his good eyes could help Ryan with that. Ryan flew in silence for several hours, and then eventually, the sun of the alien started to set. The insupportable heat gave ce to the very annoying cold of the night. Weirdly enough, Ryan could even see some points freezing¡­ the few points where air could condense and then turn into water. "If I couldn''t manipte the water of the atmosphere and then drink it, I wouldn''t know how I would survive here," Ryan frowned. "Not a single sign of vegetation or an oasis¡­ only this damn lifeless sand." It was hard to imagine how even monsters could survive in that environment. Regardless, Ryan was more interested in why there wasn''t a single sign of any civilization in that ce. He was just a former P.E. teacher, but Ryan was pretty sure there shouldn''t exists with breathable air in which only had sand and nothing else. Based on his estimations, he already had crossed a distance equal to the Sahara unless Ryan chose the wrong direction. It looked like that desert had at least the double of that size. "I am picking some mana concentration at your two o''clock," Femradiel suddenly said. "There are many presences there and one very big presence." It looked like they finally found their destination, so Ryan corrected his posture to reach the ce mentioned. After one hour, Ryan''s eyes finally picked something. From a distance, it looked like a sea in the middle of the desert, but after Ryan got a little closer, he confirmed that it wasn''t the case¡­ it was just a massive concentration of slimes. Some of them were leaving that area by walking while others disappeared within the air. In the center of those, Ryan found a gigantic slime. Slime (Dungeon Master) Health: 200.000/200.000 Mana: 200.000/200.000 Stamina: 200.000/200.000 Strength: 10.000 Dexterity: 2000 Speed: 1.000 Intelligence: 20.000 Endurance: 15.000 Control: 10.000 Mentality: 10.000 Luck: 5000 Recovery: 50.000 Willpower: 10.000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Corrosive Touch Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 250, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 230 Spells: Summon Slime Lv 550 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 500, Cold Resistance Lv 500, Electric Resistance Lv 500, Poison Resistance Lv 500, That was bing a normal urrence as ofte. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but open his eyes in amazement at the sight and the status of such a creature. He thought that taking over the slimes'' world would be a piece of cake, but Ryan was dead wrong. Chapter 340 - Flinch "I can''t believe I am seeing a slime that can take down several dragons alone," Femradiel said in amazement. "While I am also surprised, I guess this makes sense," Ryan said. "How does a slime this strong make any sense to you?" Femradiel asked. "I imagined that dungeon masters have all kinds of benefits," Ryan said. "For example, what if a dungeon master can obtain all the experience and skills obtained by their minions? That would exin why that monster became that strong. While that is just a hypothesis, I am pretty sure dungeon masters have some kind of advantage over others." That would exin why Baal and Lilith were so strong. However, they are monsters from legends. That probably wasn''t the only exnation for their power. Regardless, Ryan could confirm that once he kills the slime, the question was: could he kill the slime? "There is only one way to find out," Ryan said. "By using Power Shot¡­ since I don''t want to get close to that thing." Ryan wasn''t sure, but it looked like the slime was two hundred meters long and wide and probably fifty meters tall. Forget about defeating him in a direct fight. The monster probably could smash Ryan or at least suffocate him with that massive body. Even if Ryan survives all that, the chances of him surviving Corrosive Touch were pretty small. "The stronger someone gets, the better their instincts be," Femradiel said. "If you want to destroy that monster in a single shot, you will have to get away more than a little bit." Ryan could quickly solve the problem with Force. Still, he didn''t want to run from a slime. While a full-powered Power Shot probably would solve the problem, Ryan was looking for a fight. It has been a while he felt that his life was in danger, and while he didn''t enjoy the feeling, he needed to sharpen his instincts. "Nah, let''s fight that thing fair and square¡­ to some extent," Ryan said. "I doubt that that thing will be the first dungeon master to arrive on Earth, but I need to get used to that level of the enemy." "We? So you want my help?" Femradiel asked. "No, that was just a manner of speaking," Ryan shook his head. "I like to win my fights alone. Besides, you would make things too easy." "Can I at least kill the small fries to gain mana?" Femradiel asked. "You are going to keep using potions anyway to recover your mana so that the result will be the same." "I guess that is fine¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "You need to be more powerful to be able to do something once the fights you want to fight begin to show up." Without wasting any more time, Ryan began to charge Power Shot. However, he made sure to make himself pretty rxed. While he didn''t want to finish the fight in a single shot, Ryan wanted to make use of his stealth skills and cause some extra damage. In the end, Ryan managed to surprise the beast since he controlled his bloodthirst. After charging for five minutes, Ryan pulled the trigger, and the monster looked directly at him. The creature didn''t have time to measure the strength of the attack, so Ryan''s bolt caused an explosion and made the dungeon master tremble while the monsters on the way were utterly annihted. Instead of charging another Power Shot, Ryan used his crossbow like a machine gun, making good use of Firing Posture. It was time to see if the stacked poison could do anything against the creature. However, Ryan was forced to stop when the big slime spat several things toward him. Ryan thought those were some cannonballs, but to his surprise, they were slimes. Ryan only had a few moments to see the creatures flying toward him, but some of them were emitting mes with their bodies, while others were freezing the air around them. Ryan dodged those, but when they hit the sand behind him, they exploded or froze all the ground around a pretty big radius. "Didn''t you say that you would take care of the small slimes?" Ryan asked. "Don''t talk as If you aren''t surprised by that attack as well," Femradiel protested, and then she fired an Ice arrow to kill the fire slime and then an Electric Bullet to finish the other. "I didn''t think you could use anything aside from ice," Ryan frowned. "I can, but I would rather not do it," Femradiel said. "I only did it because you didn''t have any ice spell that woulde in handy. Besides, I am using your skills right now since if I use any other, you will learn it." The dungeon master continued to use its mouth like a cannon, but this time before the slimes could hit anything, Femradiel fired her projectiles and stooped the monsters. Ryan used that chance to continue his attacks, but as expected, the big boss eventually gave up when it noticed the invaders were more troublesome than they looked like. Despite its size, the massive slime managed to jump pretty fast. Even while in midair, Ryan kept attacking, but eventually, he had to use sh several times to escape from the impact point. He seeded, but the slime created some arms to grab him. Ryan kept using sh to gain some distance, but it didn''t look like the arms had a limit by how much they could grow. "So annoying¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan hit the arms with his bolts, but he barely slowed down the monster or caused damage. All those bolts added with Power Shot''s power only decreased the monster''s health by fifteen percent. "Well¡­ at least now we know that he isn''t a half-assed dungeon master," Ryan frowned. "This willst for a while, and that will only make the victory taste better." When the slimes'' arms got too close to Ryan, he reacted instinctively and electrocuted them. Finally, the creatures flinched and slowed down a little bit. Chapter 341 - Experience Instead of attacking pretty much whenever possible, Ryan held back a little and then only attacked when the slime tentacles got too close to him. Electric Enchantment helped him more than he thought, but even so, there were no slimes for Femradiel to kill, so he had to be a bit conservative for the time being. "Do you want me to use Zen for the time being?" Femradiel asked. "You can do whatever the hell you want¡­" Ryan said while he was running around the big slime. "Just don''t interfere directly in the fight." Femradiel nodded and began to use it for the time being while she waited for the next slimes to appear. While Ryan had some potions to use, he decided to keep them in his ring and rely only on his natural regeneration to fight. For a while, his bolts and Electric Enchantment had been enough to put the slimes'' arms away from him, but suddenly, the paralyzed arms grew others smaller arms that moved toward Ryan. "That is creepy¡­" Ryan frowned. In the blink of an eye, Ryan grabbed his Paralyzing Spear and hit those smaller arms. As expected, due to their size, they were weaker, so he managed to block them. However, soon the big slime gave up on that and began to fire slimes through its mouth. Even Femradiel would have a hard time blocking them from such a close distance, so Ryan began to run away from the creature while he spun his spear and stopped the monsters. "What is this smell?" Ryan frowned. When Ryan turned around, he saw his spear leaving a poisonous cloud, not only by poison slimes. His weapon had also been hit by corrosive slimes. Ryan couldn''t understand howe a creature that could create so many types of slimes only send the weakest ones toward Earth, but that was a question forter. "This isn''t going well," Femradiel said. "It is only a matter of time before something unexpected happens, and that takes us out of the picture. You need to defeat the dungeon master faster." While Femradiel was blocking the slimes that were being used as cannonballs, she could only do so much while using Ryan''s skills. If she uses her own skills, the problem could be easily solved, but Ryan didn''t want that kind of victory. "I am trying to think of a way to do it," Ryan said. "I just need some time to think about a good n." "Clearly, thinking isn''t your forte," Femradiel said. "You should rely more on my power." "Thank you for your kind words and awesome support," Ryan said. "You are indeed an ally any human would want to have." While the poisonous effect was causing damage to the slime, it was only decreasing it one point of health per second. As for the raw power of his bolts, they were only causing more or less one hundred points of damage¡­ at that rate. Even if he uses all his potions, Ryan won''t kill the monster fast enough. Ryan stopped his attacks for a second and only ran around the monster while he was thinking about his options. His magic weapons wouldn''tst long if he uses them alongside Telekinesis, so that was a no. While the dungeon master had eyes, it was only some spheres that had no vital value for the creature''s body, so Ryan couldn''t hit those waiting to cause critical damage. "I guess I will return to the basics¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "What are you nning now?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t want to spoil the surprise," Ryan said. Suddenly, Ryan stopped running and began to fire his bolts at the monster''s face, but then when the creature opened its mouth, several frozen arrows were fired towards it. Somehow, they exploded and managed to freeze the creature''s mouth, and Ryan smirked when he saw that. Not a single slime could leave that hole for a few seconds. Ryan took out all his explosive arrows from his ring and then clustered them together before make them fly toward the monster''s mouth. The arrows exploded, and a massive and powerful shockwave almost made Ryan fly backward. "You are pretty nasty¡­" Femradiel said. "Shut up. Results are results. It doesn''t matter how you obtain them," Ryan said. Ryan had to use his stock of explosive arrows, but he wasn''t worried about it, he had nned to use them as soon as possible, but the opportunity never appeared. Regardless, when the dust cloud began to disappear, Ryan was several hundred meters away from the big slime and already charging a Power Shot. However, for some reason, the slime was paralyzed. The explosion destroyed a good part of the monster''s body and decreased its health up to forty-five percent, but even that couldn''t exin why the creature was paralyzed. "It looks like the explosion made the core tremble, and that affected the monster quite a bit," Femradiel said. "Ah, that is right¡­ slimes'' have cores," Ryan said. "Well, not that I can hit the core when the body of the monster is corrosive and sorge." Ryan had an idea, while even his magic weapons probably wouldn''t prate that body and resist the corrosive effect for long, what would happen if he creates some magic arrows that have the same corrosive effect? Won''t they resist the body of the monster? It seemed like a pain in the ass to create those in that kind of situation, but there plenty of slimes in that ce the dungeon master had been. Perhaps some dozens of them would be acid slimes. Before Ryan could make up his mind, the dungeon master suddenly trembled, and in the next moment, hundreds of slimes appeared between Ryan and the monster. Those creatures began to move toward Ryan. Some of them even exploded to give some boost power to the others to reach Ryan faster. Femradiel tried to hit them as fast as she could, but the numbers were too much. Ryan flew to the sky only to see the dungeon master summoning more and more slimes each second, and once again, the slimes began to explode and make the other slimes fly toward him. ss: Hunter Lv 67 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 201th Health: 1259/1259 (3,59/s) Mana: 1951/1951 (3,59/s) Stamina: 1699/1699 (3,59/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 1900 (+1401) (+82) Speed: 85 (+647) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+580) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+699) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 800 (+1025) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 2.236.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Paralyzing Arrow Lv 01, Spiritual Poison Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Zen Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Underwater Resistance Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 01, Frost Armor Lv 01, Ice Breath Lv 01, Magic Bow Lv 01, Elemental Nature Lv 01, Summon Skeleton Lv 22 (+ 21 UP), Explosive Poisonous Arrow Lv 01, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 56 (+ 02 UP), Summoner Lv 36 (+ 04 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 342 - Appeal Even with all his mobility, the slimes still chased him using their own weird method to fly. That wasn''t so bad, Ryan decided to fly around and wait for some magic items to be dropped and use them as disposable weapons in that fight, but weirdly enough, the monsters didn''t drop anything. "Why they don''t drop anything?" Ryan frowned. "Your luck is just that bad," Femradiel replied. Regardless, instead of just running away, Ryan asked Femradiel to use Arrow Showed on the slimes while he flies around the dungeon master and attacks him with his bolts. The stupid monster was creating the perfect environment for Ryan to recover his mana endlessly, after all. Unfortunately, the situation escted to a point in which Ryan didn''t imagine. The numerous slimes began to fire magic at him. While most of them missed him, the attacks decreased the Arrow Shower''s power, and thus he wasn''t recovery much mana anymore. "What is the next n?" Femradiel asked. "I am certain that it will be another innovative idea." Ryan sighed since Femradiel was getting toofortable and being sarcastic too often. In any case, he had an idea, but he didn''t know if it was innovative or not, but it made him smirk. While escaping the rain of magic projectiles, Ryan began to fly low while he was looking at the sand. Fortunately, he found what he had been looking for pretty easily¡­ some iron ores. Using Telekinesis, he picked all of them and returned to the sky. After a few seconds, several battle machinesnded at the top of the dungeon master. As expected, they got dissolved by the monster, but the most important part, which was the cannon, only was dissolved when they ran out of mana. In the meantime, they caused a lot of damage. "While that caused some damage, it didn''t cause as much as you wanted," Femradiel said. "What now?" "You are so impatient¡­" Ryan said. "That was just a test. It looks like some monsters have resistance against attacks that can cause direct damage to their health points, do you know the name of such skill?" "It is called magic armor and decreases the damage of spells of the neutral attribute," Femradiel exined. That skill probably could also work against Power of Money, not that Ryan was nning to use it in the first ce. That fight had already been won even before it had started, and Ryan only noticed that now. In just a few minutes, the dungeon master recovered ten percent of its total health. While Ryan didn''t do anything to prevent that, he managed to save his mana by flying around and evading the slimes that tried to attack him. In the end, the cavalry finally appeared¡­ as if they were mad dogs chasing something, some of the skeletons Ryan created in thest week appeared and dashed toward the dungeon master¡­ it was really convenient that even the old ones could grow stronger and faster while the skill level up. The slimes attacked the skeletons, and they seeded in stopping the skeletons from attacking the dungeon master, but not before they threw the battle machines toward the big monster''s body. Some slimes tried to destroy the battle machines before they could enter the monster''s body, but Ryan stopped them. "I don''t think so," Ryan said and then used his crossbow. It would be great if they could all show up at the same time, but since the skeletons head in different directions at different points in time, that was impossible. Even so, they managed to cause quite a scene when they appeared in small numbers. The number of slimes chasing Ryan even decreased. Upon noticing that those battle machines were bad news, the dungeon master used its arms to stop them from hitting its body. While that worked, Ryan solved that issue by using Telekinesis. "I can''t understand the appeal of defeating an enemy like this," Femradiel said. "Just charging Power Shot would be equally boring and efficient." "You forget that my goal here was only one, know more about the dungeon masters'' powers," Ryan said. "While I made the fight a bit more difficult in order to get used to them, it would be a waste not to use the resources that I created over thest week." In the end, Ryan didn''t have to do much to make the dungeon master''s health decreased to ten percent of its max. However, something changed when that happened. The monster began to shine, and Ryan knew what was about to happen¡­ "It looks like everyone can do that these days," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance and attacked the monster with his bolts. Femradiel also helped Ryan even without asking his permission, but there wasn''t time toin. Unfortunately, the slimes formed a barrier and protected the dungeon master. A few secondster, the monster exploded. Ryan used his shield to protect himself, but much to his surprise, he wasn''t hit by a massive wave of acid. Only some small slimes hit his shield. The dungeon master had split itself into thousands of parts. However, the surprise didn''t end there¡­ when the slimes fell on the ground, they began to devour the others. "Holy crap¡­ that is disgusting," Ryan frowned and then began to make bolts rain over the slimes. Making good use of Firing Posture and Rapid Shot, Ryan killed dozens of slimes every second. However, it didn''t look like he was making much progress. The boss''s main body was starting to recover its size again in the middle of that sea of slimes. "Focus on attacking that," Femradiel said. "I will deal with the small ones." Ryan attacked that mass that was growing while Femradiel killed the small fries. While that was working, it wasn''t also working. All what they could do was to prevent the creature from growing even further. Some skeletons were on the way, but it didn''t look like they will arrive on time¡­ Chapter 343 - Requirements Ryan got annoyed that the fight was dragging for too long, so he decided to go all out. Using Telekinesis, he made all his frozen arrows fly toward the slimy thing that he was attacking. While that caused some damage and froze the monster for a few seconds, it only served to Ryan gain a few seconds. Fortunately, he used those well. Instead of using it with Power Shot, Ryan made his Paralyzing Spear spin until it could make a small tornado behind it. After that, he fired toward the monster. When the dungeon master got hit, all the smaller slimes were paralyzed for a second. Ryan used that change to enchant his bolts with Electric Enchantment, and he also fired Electric Bullets with his left hand. All the slimes stopped moving, and Femradiel used that chance to pick up the pace¡­ in the end, the dungeon master finally fell. You obtained 5.392.741 coins. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 200 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 191st You obtained: Water Creation tome. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Water Creation. Effect: It grants you the power to create the water element, and it also increases the power of all water attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Phew¡­ finally," Ryan sighed and then rxed when all the slimes in the area suddenly exploded like bubbles. While it was a pity that Ryan didn''t obtain the coins by defeating them, he only felt bothered by the fact that he didn''t receive a single notification informing him that he had be a dungeon master. That was¡­ worrisome. "There is something in the ce where the slime was recovering its final form, you should check it," Femradiel said. Ryan flew toward that ce only to find a single red crystal. It seemed identical to the purple ones, aside from the color, and the thing was glowing. Ryan used Appraisal on it, but it didn''t work. It looked like he had to touch it¡­ After hesitating for a few moments, Ryan touched the crystal and saw some options and notifications. You have defeated the previous owner of this crystal; you have the right to im it and have ess to all its resources and options. However, since you are a member of another species, you will have to abandon your status as a human to im ownership over the crystal. Do you wish to be the new dungeon master? Y/N. "Crap¡­ this damn thing isn''t something I can take to Earth," Ryan said. "Moreover, it is even asking me to abandon my status as a human. What else this fucking crystal will ask me? To be a unicorn?" "That would be a pretty interestingmand," Femradiel said. "Regardless, why don''t you ept it? You can still return to Earth; you just won''t have the rights of a human anymore. Considering that you have the blood of so many monsters inside you, I can''t see the problem." "Even I have things that I don''t intend to let go no matter what," Ryan said. "My humanity is one of them." In the end, Ryan didn''t ept, but fortunately, he still could use the purple crystal to some extent. He saw that the big slime was sending slimes to three others. Their names were quite weird and certainly weren''t on the sr system. Regardless, the monster only sent the weakest species to Earth, and Ryan could still make the dungeon work for some reason. "It looks like anyone can mess with this crystal, but only the dungeon master can change some features," Ryan said. "I want to hide this, but anyone powerful enough toe to another will have the skills to find this." In the end, all the slimes of that world died when the dungeon master died, but Ryan didn''t obtain the means to be a dungeon master. Not without a cost, at least. While Ryan obtained some rewards, he still felt that he wasted his time since he didn''t reach his primary goal. While there were probably some other ways to be a dungeon master, they wouldn''t be any less difficult. "Might as well look for the dungeons in this and get some sses since I am already here," Ryan said. "Femradiel, can you tell me the location of the nearest dungeon?" "Here is the thing, even after all that flight, I didn''t feel a single presence of a dungeon," Femradiel replied. "You can keep looking to expand or radius of search, but I am pretty sure there isn''t a single dungeon in this." "Really?" Ryan frowned. "Think about it, why would someone bother to conquer this ce?" Femradiel asked. "There is nothing here aside from this massive desert and the slimes. My guess is that the monsters invaded this world many years ago and it ended up like this." Ryan nodded at that. While Earth has seen better days, it still was many times better than the slimes'' world. Besides, fighting against slimes probably wouldn''t be useful to any species. As for humans, they could be strong pretty fast with some diligence. "Well, if it is like this, it is time to go home, then," Ryan shrugged. "This mission ended much sooner than I expected¡­ Furball must be tired of licking the corpses of slimes, so let''s hurry." "Before I forget this, you can learn Mind Armor," Femradiel said. "Do you wish to learn it now? The sooner the better, right? That way, you will have a lot of time to level up the skill, you will just have to ask someone to use Appraisal on you." That was true. The problem was who Ryan should ask that. He hated to owe favors to others, after all. Regardless, while he was thinking of a solution to that problem, Ryan left that world behind and returned to Earth. Chapter 344 - Mind Armor Congrattions! You learned the skill Mind Armor. Effect: decreases the effects of skills that can affect your mind andpletely nullifies the effect of identification skills at your mana''s cost. You obtained 01 status point. "I also need to train Water Maniption," Ryan nodded to himself after he learned his new skill. "Given the added power that the skill gives, maybe I should focus on that kind of attack for a while." "If you interested in adding more power to your water and ice attacks, there are some skills that I can teach," Femradiel said. "Hydromancy and Cryomancy will increase the power of those attacks and make you reach the next level at controlling that element." "I won''t learn it for free," Ryan said. "Still, I don''t which skill pick next, so if you gain enough mana and convert to make enough coins, you can tell me once that happens." "That will take a while unless you began to hunt monsters more seriously," Femradiel exined. "Those skills are the next level of Water Creation, after all. With them, you can control water and ice even without touching them. Not to mention, the added power." Ryan nodded. Following the usual pattern, it was easy to assume that they would cost around one hundred million coins. There were so many other skills he could learn with that amount. Then again, in that kind of situation, half of the skills Ryan could learn were limited to Femradiel''s knowledge. After leaving the dungeon, Ryan found Furball taking a nap at the entrance. It didn''t seem like he had finished his job a long time ago, so Ryan didn''t feel much guilt about it. Now, to the next step¡­ "I need to go North, cross Canada, ska, and then reach Europe," Ryan concluded. "I need to find more tier three dungeons while I look for another way to be a dungeon master¡­ but first, I have to talk with Alissa and connect her to the telepathy link." "I can feel a powerful presence on that base, it must be her," Femradiel said. "Let''s get going, buddy," Ryan said. "You are going to carry me while I train my new spells." Furball barked and then nodded when Ryan jumped on his back. Once again, the trip hasn''t beenfortable given his partner''s speed, but at least Ryan managed to reach the ce in just a few hours and even managed to train and learn several things about his new skills. "Not even with Water Maniption, Water Transformation, and Water Creation I can learn spells that easily," Ryan frowned. "There must be a matter of talent and experience when learning it. Let''s try to solve the question with speed and simplicity." As far as Ryan knew, all spells had a very short activation period, so perhaps that was what he was missing. Still, he couldn''t be fast with any spells. That was why he decided to start by creating and firing Water Bullets as fast as possible. Even while he failed in receiving any notification of a new spell, he still managed to level up Water Creation. Regardless, Ryan''s experiments had to be stopped when he reached the base. At first, he thought about it sharing the things he learned in the slimes'' world, but would that help anyone? Ryan couldn''t imagine many people aside from those who had the power of dragons would be able to defeat dungeon masters. In fact, it would be quite an aplishment just to go to another world and survive a few days. "Look who has appeared," Alissa said when Ryan showed up at the meeting room. "It looks like you made some friends while you were away. Your social skills haven''t grown all that rusty, it seems." "Did Mark exined to you what I learned on my journey?" Ryan asked. "Yes, what about it?" Alissa asked. "Those guys I met in Brazil used a spell that created telepathic channel and they decided that they want to talk often with people like you and me," Ryan exined. "I wanted to ask if you are interested." "If it is just about exchanging intel, I don''t mind," Alissa said. "What I can''t understand is why you made a contract with a dragon. Knowing you, I thought you would rather eat shit than obtaining the power of someone else." "While you are not wrong, our situations are pretty different," Ryan said. "I didn''t have a choice at the time and another solution would take too long. Besides, I am not using her powers and I don''t intend to use it at all." "You really are stupidly stubborn," Alissa sighed. "But at the very least, you look calmer now, is it because you have the power of an ice dragon? Did you get it? You are cooler because of an ice dragon." "Whatever, just shake my hand and you will be connected to the channel," Ryan said. "Before that, let''s talk a little bit more," Alissa said. "You disappeared from my Radar for a few days, did you go to another world? Are you really that interested in bing a dungeon master?" "I just want to know more about the powers of my enemies," Ryan shrugged. "Regardless, you are right, but the mission wasn''t fruitful. To be a dungeon master in another world, I would have to abandon my status as a human. I don''t know if that would change my body or something, but I didn''t ept for obvious reasons." "So, it is like that, huh," Alissa rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I didn''t mention before, but I know a way of how to be a dungeon master without sacrificing anything. Do you want to know more? I thought you wouldn''t ever reach at a certain level of power, but I guess I underestimated your potential¡­ you can definitely reach that power level." "How?" Ryan asked. "You just have to be one of the one hundred strongest humans on Earth," Alissa said. "Once that happens, you will obtain a domain stone. That item will give you the power of a dungeon master." Chapter 345 - Ice Storm "That easy?" Ryan frowned. "So, that means one hundred humans can be dungeon masters? No, the number can constantly increase¡­" "Yes, that easy, but you are wrong," Alissa said. "Use Analysis on this." Alissa suddenly made a weird light-blue rock appear out of nowhere. It didn''t have a specific shape, so aside from the color, it looked like an ordinary rock. Although it was weird that Alissa didn''t use it, that was a question that could be answeredter. Domain Stone Effects: It gives the user the chance to create dungeons in other worlds after paying a certain cost. It gives the user the power to select up to ten bosses to guard the dungeon and a single species of monsters to spawn from the purple crystal. It grants the user the chance to obtain all coins that his minions obtain. The user can gain one coin per second multiplied by the dungeon level, and once the dungeon reaches its level max, the user can summon himself on the world where the dungeon is located and show its max power. Once the domain stone is set, the user can''t leave its boundaries, unless a temporary dungeon master is put in their ce. The domain can be expanded at the cost of mana and coins, and while inside your domain, the user, their minions, and allies gain a boost of one hundred percent in all status. Cost: only the one hundred strongest humans can use this item. If a dungeon master loses his position among that group, their power will disappear, and the stone will be given to another. "That is a pretty long description¡­" Ryan frowned. "Is there a reason why you didn''t use that item? You can make one of yourckeys to take your ce temporarily." "They are my soldiers, not myckeys," Alissa said. "I considered the idea, but I fear that unless I ept that task, I might put the in danger. Can you imagine what might happen if a dragon somewhere makes a pact with a being in a world where a put a dungeon and that using the dungeon toe?" "I guess that could be problematic," Ryan said. "Still, it is weird that you are being this considerate." "I am being considerate because of my soldiers," Alissa said. "While thest options interest me, I don''t know how much mana and coins I will need to increase the perimeter of the domain, so I decided to keep the stone stored and use only in the future. It is not like I am in a dire need of coins, after all." That was true, but it was also confirmed that Alissa was losing a golden opportunity. If one considers the level of the dungeon and the number of coins the dungeon masters obtain every single day, it was insane the number of magic items or potions they could obtain. Not only that, what if the dungeon master seeded in dominating another world through the power of their dungeon? Maybe they will obtain some other and perhaps even better benefits. "Unfortunately, this item can''t be traded or sold, so you will have to get your own," Alissa said. "That was my idea from the very beginning," Ryan said. "So, what is your n now?" Alissa asked. "Keep doing the same thing, as usual, those are the best ways to increase my rank, after all," Ryan replied. "Since there is no dungeon around here that can give me tier-three sses, I am going to check other areas." "Aren''t you interested in getting all sses possible on the continent?" Alissa asked. "That would take too much time, leveling up those sses also would take too much time," Ryan exined. "I will focus on increasing my strengths as fast as possible." "That is just like you, I guess," Alissa shrugged. "So, you are going further north? If that is the case, I must warn you that the climate up North is much more intense than you remember, there is a massive snowstorm there that doesn''t move and that one can freeze almost anything." That picked Ryan''s interest, and while it was dangerous, Ryan was confident that he could withstand the cold. Thanks to Femradiel stupidity, his Cold Resistance leveled up a lot. In the end, Ryan didn''t feel the need that Ryan would go West after going North. "I guess this is a goodbye," Alissa said. "I want to keep training my guys for a while longer before risking exploring unknownnds. That is fine I guess, with this telepathy link I can bother you whenever I want." "You forget that this link is like a telephone, for two to use it, one has to start the call and the other has to ept it," Ryan said. "If you get carried away and I will ignore all your calls." "If you do that, who is going to give you daily updates about the situations regarding Zoe and Arthur?" Alissa asked with a smirk on her face. "I don''t need daily updates; I am not a stalker¡­" Ryan sighed. As expected, Alissa was as handful as ever. In any case, Ryan left the base and began to run North alongside Furball, but much to his annoyance, Alissa already made a call using the telepathy link. Ryan thought of ignoring it, but perhaps Alissa forgot to mention something. So, he epted it. "I will talk to youter," Alissa said. "I just forgot to say that." Ryan sighed, and before he could say anything, Alissa ended the call. Ryan stood corrected¡­ Alissa had be even more handful than before. While that was a bit troublesome, it looked like herckeys were a good influence on her. Maybe Orgar''s worries were unfounded. "What do you think about the massive snowstorm Alissa mentioned?" Ryan asked. "If it is caused by a massive area of effect spell, you will be all right," Femradiel replied. "Those cost a lot of mana and the farther you stay away from the eye of the storm, the less cold you will feel. Even if it isn''t caused by a spell, that rule still applies to it." Chapter 346 - Frozen Whisperers Since Furball was getting stronger by the day, Ryan began to think that perhaps he should create a wagon or a carriage for him to pull. While he was fast, sitting on his back was too ufortable while he ran. Then again, a carriage being pulled at one hundred miles per second probably wasn''t the mostfortable ce in the world. After traveling for a full day without stopping, Ryan and the others finally reached the border, and he saw a lot more snow than he sawst time. Based on what Alissa told him, it was safe to assume that the weather and the path won''t improve. "As expected, the cold isn''t bothering me anymore," Ryan said. "While Cold Resistance decreases one point of damage per level, it also increases the temperature in which your body can withstand without getting sick or suffering from some issues," Femradiel exined. "Every ten levels, your resistance increases by one degree." Considering that, it looked like he could survive some pretty harsh weather conditions, not like he wanted to put them to test. Regardless, even in Canadian territory, Ryan didn''t find many monsters, and since he was heading North-West, he passed pretty far away from the Dire Wolves'' dungeon. Thanks to the snow, Furball''s speed decreased a little. Since the terrain was also tiring him out pretty fast, Ryan decided to take a break when the sunset. There was no telling what they would find from that point onward, so it was too risky to make Furball work too hard. "Can you sense traces of Alissa''s mana round, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "I want to know if they have explored this far in the north." "No, I felt traces of her mana earlier, but you left them behind already," Femradiel replied. "If I had to guess, she made her soldiers walk a lot around these parts. That is why they didn''t explore the area all that much." Since that was the case, Ryan couldn''t understand why he didn''t find a single monster until now. Unless they are ice golems, it would be unreasonable to expect any monster to live so close by the snowstorm that Alissa mentioned. There was another possibility, but in all honesty, Ryan didn''t want to think about it because if it were true, that would be very troublesome. While Ryan had a map, the snow from that point onward was so deep that he was having a terrible time finding anyndmarks or tes informing the names of streets or towns. The situation became even more troublesome around noon of the next day. Ryan finally found the snowstorm ahead; the thing was so massive that he could see the end of it while looking to the sides. The strong wind was also decreasing his visibility. "I guess this is it," Ryan said. "What are you sensing, Femradiel?" "A lot of mana¡­ but strangely, this snowstorm wasn''t caused by a spell," Femradiel replied. "Some other unknown factor caused it, and it is making the snowstorm not lose strength." "Can you sense anything specific inside of it?" Ryan asked. "No, as I said, there is too much mana in there," Femradiel said. "Enough even to block my tracking skills that have never been good from the very beginning." Ryan wasn''t the type to run away from a challenge or an unanswered question, so his only option was to pass through the snowstorm. The question was: could Furball endure the cold winds? His cold resistance was only at level fifty, after all. "I guess I will make some new items that will increase your cold resistance, buddy," Ryan said. "Just hang in there for a little bit, okay?" Furball barked in agreement, and after a few more minutes, they finally entered the range of the snowstorm. The visibility decreased exponentially, and Ryan barely could see Furball''s head a few meters ahead of him. Ryan activated Radar and immediately picked the presence of some monsters. "Ah, I get it now," Femradiel said. "The snowstorm is being caused by the presence of the Frozen Whisperers. I suggest you use your crossbow without relying on your eyes alone. Rely on Radar to attack." While Ryan wanted to do that, he wanted for one of the monsters to approach before doing anything and then when he saw a weird creature that seemed like a frozen ghost appear, Ryan used Appraisal. Frost Whisperer ¨C Lv 180 Health: 2250/2250 Mana: 3500/3500 Stamina: 1000/1000 Strength: 250 Dexterity: 500 Speed: 300 Intelligence: 1200 Endurance: 500 Control: 300 Mentality: 800 Luck: 250 Recovery: 1500 Willpower: 800 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 130 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 120, Concentration Lv 100 Spells: Snowstorm Lv 120, Frozen Aura Lv 100 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Earth Resistance Lv 50 The Whisperers didn''t have physical forms, adding to the fact that their faces seemed frozen andcked any emotion, Ryan decided to consider them ghosts. Those creatures created a small frozen tornado whenever they passed, so Ryan understood and recognized the fact that Femradiel''s guess was correct. As if they were made of thin ss, the monster''s body began to crack when Ryan hit it with his bolts, but while the monster wasn''t that resilient, the cold wind could quickly repair the damage caused by him. "Let''s see how you fare against this," Ryan said and then fired some Electric Bullets at the creature alongside his bolts. The monster began to melt and crack and eventually died, but as expected from a mob monster of that level, it caused a lot of problems. You obtained 140 coins. "It looks like you will have a lot of work ahead of you," Femradiel said. "Unless you find a way to kill those creatures as fast as possible, you will stay here for a while." As usual, when Femradiel wasn''t helpful, she would say something that would make Ryan frown or get on his nerves. Regardless, Ryan began to use his head and find a solution to that problem. Chapter 347 - Expiration Date It wasn''t much of a solution, but Ryan learned that he could paralyze the Whisperers by using a paralyzing spear and then finish the monsters with his bolts. "Are you feeling the snowstorm letting up?" Ryan asked. "Are you joking?" Femradiel asked. "You seriously think that by killing a few dozens of them, you would make any difference? If there is a dungeon at the eye of the snowstorm, you can imagine the number of monsters spawned since the very beginning, adding the others that came out with the dungeon breaks." Just by thinking that he would have to face four months'' worth of spawned monsters, it was enough to make Ryan feel like sighing. Hopefully, all that hard work will grant him a tier-three ss. It was hard to imagine that a low-level monster could change the weather so much while receiving his arrows. "Femradiel, but against this type of monster, I can''t be very helpful," Femradiel said. "It is fine," Ryan said. "It is not like I was counting on your help anyway." "You always know the right thing to say in order to annoy others," Femradiel let out a long sigh. Ryan changed his focus when he noticed that Furball was starting to tremble. The cold was finally getting him¡­ without wasting any time. Ryan stored his set of equipment that was good against poison and then made an exact copy made of iron. After that, he began to knock down the Whisperers with Electric Bullets. While that took him some time, Ryan had been patient enough to create a full and even upgraded then up to plus two since his kill could do that. "Maybe I should create some set of defensive items for me as well," Ryan muttered. "It will be better to have them than need and not to have them." While he was in the best weather to create magic items, Ryan decided to make use of Seal and Magic Upgrade since Furball wasn''t trembling anymore. "Before deciding anything, I should test and seal their souls in several types of equipment," Ryan concluded. "I don''t know if you are diligent or just stupid to think of forging magic items in moments like these," Femradiel said. "While you are at it, why don''t you improve your attack power?" "If that could be done easily, I would do it," Ryan said. "Do you have something in mind?" "More or less," Femradiel said. "I think you should create some mini crossbows and use them on each arm. As you long you choose the right design or a better you can make, then fire even more bolts, and perhaps you will just need to pull the trigger and hold it to keep firing." "... While that is an interesting idea, it isn''t something a newbie can easily create," Ryan said. "Well, fighting at night in this weather will be suicide, so that I will experiment with your ideater." Ryan more or less could imagine what Femradiel had in mind. While that was something he should have imagined earlier, creativity wasn''t one of Ryan''s strong points. However, now that he obtained certain skills, Ryan will have to train his creative muscles. He once again recalled that relying only on drops wasn''t something he should do. It was hard to know if he had been lucky or unlucky when the subject was drops, but Ryan was fairly certain that he should get a better weapon at least once every week, and his crossbow was something that he obtained more than one month ago. "Given that the number of dragons is decreasing, I can''t rely on them to get new items or forge new ones," Ryan concluded. "That is why I need to keep leveling up Seal and Magic Upgrade." Maybe one day, Ryan will even be able to control his weapons'' effects and status. He was talking with a dragon inside of him, after all, so the sky was the limit. Regardless, since it was a bit hard to see what time it was in the middle of the snowstorm, Ryan decided just to kill the monsters for a few more hours before taking another break. To make his camps easier to set, Ryan would need some tools, so Ryan decided to make them that day as early as possible. Camping in an open space would be crazy, so Ryan created an underground shelter. Fortunately, the wind was so strong that Ryan didn''t even worry about making a campfire inside his shelter. Even if they feel or find the smoke, the whisperers will never be able to pinpoint where Ryan and the others would be. "While I was the one who gave you the idea to improve your firepower, are you sure that you can take your time doing that?" Femradiel asked. "You are in the middle of a snowstorm created by arge number of monsters in this part of the continent. Moreover, the monsters aren''t something you can''t eat." "Food is a problem, huh," Ryan nodded. "Furball can even eat the rest of those things, so he is fine. The problem is me." While Ryan still had some food, it was pretty scarce. These days food wasn''t something that he cared much about since the variety wasn''t that great, and pretty much everything he could find that wasn''t monster''s meat had passed their expiration date. "Well, since that is the case, I need to hurry here," Ryan said, and then he began to analyze the structure of his crossbow. "Hopefully, I will be able to customize these new magic weapons up to a point where they will be useful in many different situations." To create the design that Femradiel had mentioned to Ryan, he will have to miniature his weapons. However, miniaturizing what he couldn''t understand was impossible, so he had to start with baby steps. In any case, given that to create magic weapons, Ryan would need the monsters'' souls, he probably won''t be able to use them to deal with the monsters around that area. However, that certainly will make him gain a lot of time in the future. Chapter 348 - Ice Fortress Thanks to auto-production, Ryan managed to create a replica of his crossbow even that night. However, the replica wasn''t usable since the original required mana to be used. Now Ryan just had to use Seal and transform the replica into something that could be used and then sell it since there was no sense in creating a weapon enchanted by ice against ice-type monsters. "Now, I just have to miniaturize it," Ryan said. "Well, I will do thatter." "I feel like I should have some knowledge that could help you in the creation of magic items, but I probably lost that knowledge when I came to this world," Femradiel said. "Really? Dragons don''t look to be a species that would forge many things," Ryan frowned. "Well, that is fine. Even if you had the knowledge, I probably wouldn''t be able to use it right now." After leaving the shelter, Ryan jumped on Furball''s back and then began to move again. Some Frozen Whisperers tried to block their path, but since Ryan had a certain idea during the night, they failed at harming him and Furball. Furball fired Electric Bullets like a machine gun and paralyzed the monsters. After that, Ryan destroyed the monsters with his bolts. While Furball wasn''t much of a beast that uses magic attacks often, Ryan still bought a tome for him, and it seemed like his idea worked fairly well. "Nice work, buddy," Ryan patted Furball''s head. "Let''s continue like that, but first¡­ let''s store their bodies inside my magic ring for you to eat themter." Frozen Whisperers became thin shards of ice when they died, so they didn''t take much space inside the spatial ring. Thanks to Furball''s support, Ryan managed to advance much faster than the previous day. However, just as he had expected, the number of encounters began to increase, and soon their movement speed decreased again. "What are you going to do about this?" Femradiel asked. "I can''t ignore a dungeon that broke four times in this continent," Ryan replied. "If the dungeon keeps breaking, eventually, this massive snowstorm will probably take over the entire North-America. Not to mention, it will be an even more difficult problem to solve." Ryan won''t be able to reach Europe or even Asia at the speed he had nned, but that couldn''t be helped. His main goal was to keep ying monsters, after all. While that was the case, Ryan couldn''t just ept that he would have to hunt those monsters for weeks¡­ he had to find a better way to hunt those monsters efficiently. "Can you pinpoint the exact position of the dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Yes, you will find the dungeon if you correct your course slightly to your right side," Femradiel said. "You probably know that you are going to find a massive number of monsters protecting the dungeon. How do you n on taking care of them?" "I guess the summoned monsters that I can use won''t be of much help in this weather, so the battle machines won''t be useful as well," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I wille up with a n eventually. It isn''t the first time I have to deal with an army of monsters." While it was the first time Ryan had to deal with a dungeon that broke three times, he wasn''t much worried about the danger, only about the time he was going to waste there. Call it overconfidence, if you will, but Ryan was tired of getting overly anxious when he faces those kinds of problems. The monsters managed to dy Ryan for three days, but eventually, he found the dungeon in the eye of the storm. That being said, part of him wished that he hadn''t seen it. Congrattions! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Freeze Resistance has leveled up. While trembling from head to toe, Ryan felt that he was about to be a human statue of ice. If it weren''t for several skills that he had, he and Furball would never have reached that area. Regardless, this time the dungeon was really located in the middle of an ice mountain. The visibility was pretty good given that the winds were moving around a few hundred meters behind Ryan, but Ryan couldn''t even see any snow or the ground beneath him in exchange for that. Only a thickyer of ice could be seen. "I like this ce," Femradiel said. "I wish I could have built a fortress-like this." By fortress, Femradiel talked about the ice mountain that could even bepared with a massive ice castle. Not only that, the castle even had some royal guards, and they looked quite rough. Ice Crystal ¨C Lv 200 Health: 20.000/20.000 Mana: 30.000/30.000 Stamina: 5.000/5.000 Strength: 100 Dexterity: 5000 Speed: 200 Intelligence: 10000 Endurance: 5000 Control: 2500 Mentality: 7500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 15000 Willpower: 7500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Aura Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Mind Boost Lv 150 Spells: Ice Cannon Lv 180, Ice Spear Lv 170, Absolute Zero Lv 120 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 350, Wind Resistance Lv 150, Fire Resistance Lv 50 Ice Crystals were creatures that didn''t have a humanoid form. They were just that¡­ ice crystals that had the size of golems. Despite that, they even could use the best skills that Femradiel has. "The level of the bosses keeps increasing," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Their numbers also increased with the fourth dungeon break; I can count four hundred bosses. What about you, Femradiel?" "I can feel the presence of 417 of those creatures," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed when he heard that¡­ it was hard to admit, but it looked like the number of bosses spawned in each dungeon break was directly rted to the dungeon level. While that was a problem, the real problem was that each of those monsters had more or less half of a dragon''s strength. So, to clear that dungeon, Ryan will have to defeat something like two hundred dragons¡­ and what scared him was the fact that he was pretty excited about it. Chapter 349 - Request After he studied the bosses around the dungeon for a while, Ryan noticed one thing: as soon as the Frozen Whisperers spawned, they hurried to leave the dungeon. The cold in that area was so powerful that even them were suffering damage thanks to it. Those creatures were hidden outside the eye of the storm, where the visibility was annoying, to say the least. Even though the bosses seem like inorganic creatures, I can''t underestimate them. They probably can control the whisperers to some extent," Ryan said. "How do you n on dealing with them?" Femradiel asked. "Let your back unprotected against so many of them might be dangerous." "Thank you for your valuable insight, captain obvious," Ryan said. "I need to make some tests, but I guess I will use the battle machines to keep the perimeter safe." While Ryan would rather use summoned creatures to fight because they obeyed all hismands, the battle machines could be useful in a situation like that. After doing some tests, Ryan confirmed that they operated following different rules since they weren''t organic machines. They didn''t rely on eyes to find their targets. Instead of that, they felt the presence of their targets by using mana. Thanks to it, even hidden underground in the snow, they still could attack the whisperers and cause a lot of damage pretty fast. Thanks to their range, they also could attack much earlier than the whisperers could find them. The only real issue of that strategy was that Ryan had to collect iron ores for two days to set up hundreds of battle machines in a perimeter of five hundred meters away from the dungeon. "Now, I just need to find a way to kill those bosses before they kill me and before I freeze to death," Ryan said. "Ryan, are you busy now?" Gustavo asked via the telepathy link. "Yes¡­ what do you want?" Ryan sighed. "If you are too busy, we can talkter," Gustavo said. "I will be much busierter, so just spit it out," Ryan said. "First of all, I would like to thank you for helping Alissa and Lucas join our group," Gustavo said. "¡­ Please, don''t tell me that you just called to tell me that," Ryan sighed again. "Just go straight to the point if that isn''t the case." "Right, I wanted to ask if something changed around the coast of your country," Gustavo said. "We were already having enough problems with that dragon yer, but now we are also constantly attacked by a new species of monsters¡­ they are the giant turtles. Their numbers are pretty high, and their endurance rivals the dragons." "I am currently pretty far away from my country and from the ocean¡­" Ryan said, imagining a dungeon that could spawn such troublesome creatures every one hundred seconds. "Did you talk with Alissa about that?" "No, she barely uses the telepathy link or epts calls of others," Gustavo said. "She must be someone busy. That is why I decided to talk to you." "What are you trying to imply?" Ryan frowned. "Whatever, I will alert her, and she will alert the people in my country." "Right, if your people don''t find those creatures, I also would like to ask for some assistance," Gustavo said. "Of course, we will pay those you might send." "I will talk with Alissa about that too, but you shouldn''t expect much. We are even more short-handed than you are," Ryan exined. The call finally ended, and Ryan let out a long sigh¡­ he already had too many problems, and he even had to hear that kind of thing from others. Still¡­ to think that a new troublesome monster would suddenly begin to spawn in the ocean. "Come to think of it, why were you hiding in the ocean when I first saw you, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Howe the megalodons didn''t attack you?" "Their poption has been decreasing as ofte, so the ocean is more or less safe for dragons like me," Femradiel replied. "I don''t know the reason, though." Since Ryan didn''t intend to hunt monsters in the ocean anytime soon, that mystery didn''t bother him all that much. While having such blind spots behind might be a risk, it couldn''t be helped since there was only so much Ryan could do alone. "In my draconic form, you should be able to fight in the ocean rtively well," Femradiel said. "I don''t n to fight underwater, and I don''t n on using your powers to solve such small problems," Ryan said. "Rather than that, focus on the mission ahead of us." "I want to focus, but honestly, I can''t imagine you defeating so many of those creatures in such a limited space," Femradiel said. "Just like your battle machines, those creatures can sense traces of mana so that magic traps won''t be useful. Following the same logic, poison won''t work either." Ryan already knew that, but he still wanted the opinion of someone who might have a different perspective. Still, as expected from Femradiel, since she was a dragon, her best n of action was to overpower her enemies or not to fight when the victory seemed improbable. In the end, Ryan understood that he was unfair to Femradiel. It was a bit too much that she would give him a good idea as to how to defeat four hundred bosses by himself, considering that each one of those bosses should be defeated, in theory, by twenty-four people. Ryan didn''t have a proper skill that would let him defeat all those monsters by himself¡­ directly at least. He will have to improvise quite a bit¡­ Ryan hesitated at first since he feared that by changing his tactics, he might win, but not without relying on the things his father taught him. However, in the end, Ryan found the middle term¡­ the perfect method to fight against those bosses while keeping his ideas in mind. Ryan decided to create some ballista¡­ Chapter 350 - Satisfaction While Ryan never built anything as big as a ballista, he knew more or less what he should do. Essentially, they were just massive crossbows, after all. Besides, Ryan felt better doing something practical, just thinking of a crazy strategy to defeat the bosses while keeping his head in the right ce. "Are you sure this is going to be fine?" Femradiel asked. "You just have two more weeks before the fifth dungeon break¡­ you are betting a lot on this time-consuming n." "You don''t have to worry about it," Ryan said. "As you can see, I am the type who does many insane things, but I already lost a hand before trying to face an enemy stronger than me, and I learned something thanks to that." "Which is?" Femradiel asked. "Preparation is the key," Ryan replied. "Humans are naturally weak, so we need some external help to defeat certain types of foes. Potions won''t help me this time; summoned monsters won''t be of any use as well. So, this is the best solution I can think of." Ryan was transforming earth into steel and then creating the first ballista parts he wanted to make. Since he wasn''t a designer and he didn''t have a blueprint, he ended up making a lot of mistakes, but little by little, his prototype was getting in shape. "How do you n to reload this in the middle of a fight?" Femradiel asked. "I will think about that mechanism once the prototype isplete and I ran some tests," Ryan said. "Hopefully, you will see something pretty interesting even with the tests." Once Ryan got the hang of the proportions of his weapon, things proceeded fairly fast. He just had to make sure the ballista would fire powerful projectiles and not break while it was at it, after all. Thest problem Ryan had to deal with was how to make a malleable string. In the end, he somehow seeded in making some flexible steel strings. Since he put several of them together, Ryan was confident that it wouldn''t break easily. Even better, Ryan had a pleasant surprise when he finished the weapon. Steel Ballista Effect: Capable of creating powerful massive bolts that can pierce even steel walls. Dexterity + 250 Cost: 150 mana per bolt Durability: 300/300 "What the heck," Ryan frowned in shock. "Why did it turn like a proper item of the system? "What were you expecting?" Femradiel asked. "You made everything with such care that it is obvious that it would be an item. As for the other times you failed, it was probably because the quality of the items was questionable." That exnation seemed a bit off. If that were the case, why the weapons he created still could be magic items when he used Seal? Maybe the skill forcefully transformed Ryan''s items into magic items¡­ Now that he thought about it, he never cared about proportion or the bnce of the items he created in the past. "Well¡­ let''s see this bad boy in action," Ryan smirked. Moving a weapon like that would be highly impractical, but Ryan didn''t have to do much since he had created the ballista underground. Ryan opened the path to outside again and levitated the weapon with Telekinesis. The weapon was hidden within the storm. It was even behind the perimeters he had set with the battle machines. However, not even that was a problem. Ryan knew perfectly where his target would be. After adjusting the aim, Ryan held the trigger, but instead of pushing it, he activated Power Shot. Femradiel understood what he was nning¡­ while it wasn''t a bad idea, it was clear that it wasn''t a weapon that had enough firepower by its own to kill in one shot the bosses. Ryan will have to attack with Power Shot many times¡­ to defeat all of them, and there is the chance that he might be find out. After charging Power Shot for a full minute, Ryan pulled the level and fired the gigantic bolt. The projectile flew so fast that the hissing sound made Ryan dizzy for a moment. Not only that, the bolt opened a hole in the storm that made Ryan see its trajectory. Not that had been necessary. You obtained 30.000 coins. The ice crystal hit by Ryan''s attack didn''t even have the chance to react. The projectile hit it right in the middle, breaking the creature into pieces while at the same time, the massive steel bolt bent quite a lot to the left side. In a hurry, Ryan returned to the hole and took the ballista with him. At the same time, he covered the ce with dirt and snow. It didn''t take long for Ryan to feel the monsters thanks to his Radar, but they never found him underground.Probably because they didn''t have proper tracking skills, and the snow of the ice was so rich in mana that it worked like a magic barrier for Ryan. "Perfect, this might take a while, but I certainly decrease by a lot the amount of time I will use to deal with them," Ryan said. "Are you satisfied with that?" Femradiel asked. "You would feel much prouder of yourself if you fight them using your main crossbow." "I am already proud as I am," Ryan said. "I can''t let my feelings control my actions all that much. That is why I decided topromise and use a weapon like this. I reached an oue that I wanted, and I also found a way to help this continent more efficiently." Ryan could understand why Femradiel seemed unsatisfied or uninterested in such a method to defeat certain foes. Still, it was only because she was a dragon, a being who was born with massive power and vitality. Ryan knew what being weak was, so he would never let his pride get in his way. Not at again, at least¡­ Regardless, while the monsters were looking for Ryan, he began to work on the creation of his second ballista. He could use Power Shot and use two of them at the same time, so there was no reason as to why he should kill two bosses at the same time. Chapter 351 - Absolute Zero The scene where Ryan made ice crystals go kaboom repeated several times. In the end, they even called the Frozen Whisperers to help, but they never found him. Moreover, whisperers were killed in droves by thebat machines. When Ryan killed the one-hundredth boss, he couldn''t help but frown since the monsters didn''t change their behavior even a little bit¡­ they were still guarding the dungeon entrance. Still, at least they were smart enough to correct their position in order to cover the holes created by Ryan''s attacks. "This is odd¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "They are smart enough to control the minions and even to correct their positions, so why don''t they use some tactic to get rid of me or at least slow me down a little bit?" "You shouldn''t expect that all monsters can cause you problems," Femradiel said. "They are inorganic creatures, so their level of intelligence is limited." "Although I know that I was considering that the dungeon master was a sapient being who chose for their minions to be these types of creatures," Ryan said. "If it were me, I would use inorganic creatures as well, since they can''t feel pain or fear." "Maybe you are right, but even if that is the case, it doesn''t mean that the dungeon master is someone superpetent," Femradiel said. "There is always a chance that their dungeon only broke four times by coincidence." Ryan couldn''t be that optimistic. Still, he couldn''t be too cautious either, just because the situation was weird. Regardless, killing one hundred bosses in a single afternoon was more than enough for Ryan, so he decided to call it a day since it started to get dark outside. Despite that, instead of stopping to rest, Ryan began to create an underground route around the dungeon. If something happens, he will use that to escape, and if nothing happens, Ryan could always use that to attack the bosses from different angles. Although Ryan worked throughout the whole night and used many options and Femradiel''s help to increase his pace, Ryan only managed to create a tunnel covering only one-fourth of the dungeon. While the tunnel wasn''t big enough for the ice crystals to move, Ryan still decided to be careful and put several magic traps around. "You are such a worrywart," Femradiel said. "I think cautious is the correct word," Ryan said. When morning came, Ryan resumed his hunt. However, when he killed two of the ice crystals, something finally changed¡­ the monsters began to make Ice Spears fall from the sky, and their attack covered the whole area around the dungeon and several hundred meters inside the snowstorm. Without any other choice, Ryan retreated. Aiming became hard, but he still managed to y two more bosses. In the end, the bosses finally snapped. Instead of firing Ice Spears downward, they began to fire them toward the horizon. Ryan was so far away that he didn''t notice until it was toote¡­ the ice spears hit his ballista, and then immediately they turned into ice and broke into thousands of pieces. Ryan entered his tunnel before he could suffer from the same destiny. "Back to square one?" Femradiel asked. "That is what you get from relying too much on tools." "This just a minor nuisance," Ryan replied. "That is something that can be easily solved." Ryan began to make the other two ballistae, and in the new ones, he put a shield in front of the weapons and only a hole in the middle of them. Ryan made sure to enchant those shields with the whisperer''s souls, so the weapon''s durability was duplicated. However, When Ryan left his hideout to prepare for the next wave of attacks, the ice crystals still were firing Ice Spears in all directions. That problem was too easy to solve that Ryan sighed. Maybe he was too cautious due to the force of habit. Maybe there wasn''t an unknown force preparing a trap for him while he kills the bosses¡­ Regardless, Ryan prepared for the next wave of attacks after opening a path for him to leave the hideout. After charging Power Shots for a full minute, Ryan used sh and appeared a few meters above the ground. Since he was touching the ballista and they belonged to him, the weapons also were teleported to midair alongside him. After adjusting his aim with Telekinesis, Ryan pulled the levers and fired two bolts. He prepared to use sh again, but the Ice Spears stopped from being fired in the ce hended. You obtained 30.000 coins. You obtained 30.000 coins. Ryan decided to attack again before the monsters could react in any way. However, Ryan suddenly felt a shiver and decided to return to his underground shelter alongside his weapons. He used sh, and half a secondter, the ce was sealed when a thickyer of ice covered the whole area and sealed the hideout. "Absolute Zero¡­" Ryan sighed. "What a troublesome skill." "That skill consumes a lot of mana, so the monsters can''t use it often," Femradiel said. Ryan would have to destroy that thickyer of ice before he suffocates, but before that, he put anotheryer of dirt below the ice in order to keep the tunnel hidden. In the end, he solved that problem fast and solved the problem of theyer of ice even faster by using Water Maniption and Water Transformation. However, when Ryan left the tunnel, he found another problem. The problem increased their search range, and even after one hour, they didn''t reassume their positions around the dungeon. They weren''t nning on giving Ryan a chance to attack them again. "No more surprise attacks," Femradiel said. "What now?" "Now I can return to the basics," Ryan said. "While this is a bit troublesome, it also helps me a little. Let''s see what is more powerful here, my firepower and attack speed or the resilience and numbers of those dumbasses." ss: Hunter Lv 69 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 180th Health: 1309/1309 (3,59/s) Mana: 2002/2002 (3,59/s) Stamina: 1779/1779 (3,59/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2050 (+1482) (+95) Speed: 85 (+691) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+580) (+3) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+741) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+30) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 850 (+1025) (+330) Willpower: 30 (+36) Coins: 12.985.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 68 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 68 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 68 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 68 (+ 02 UP), Spells: Explosive Poisonous Arrow Lv 01, Water Creation Lv 13 (+12 UP), Mind Armor Lv 01, Support Skills: Freeze Resistance Lv 11 (+10 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 34 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 62, Combat Archer Lv 46 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 39 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 19 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 04 (+ 03), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 25 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 352 - Mystic Cape "It is finally your time to shine, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Are you finally thinking about using Draconic Transformation?" Femradiel asked, and her voice seemed full of expectation. "Nope, you will shine by using my Telepathy to make mana potions being poured over me," Ryan said. "If I give you permission, you can use my spatial ring, right?" "¡­ Yes," Femradiel said, and she seemed pretty pissed. "Then, your job will be to use potions," Ryan said. Since the ice crystals left their position around the dungeon, it meant that Ryan could enter the dungeon. The only real problem was that he couldn''t use Earth Maniption to reach the dungeon''sst part. The very moment he reached the entrance by using an underground route, his magic stopped working on the ground. From that point onward, he will have to show himself to the enemies. "You sound pissed, but this is an important job," Ryan said. "Do you want to do something else?" "Do you think so?" Femradiel asked. "Why would a dragon feel unhappy when being treated like a servant?" "And you said you didn''t have much of your pride left," Ryan shrugged, "If you think you can do two things at the same time, you can attack with Electric Bullets as well. However, if my mana began to reach a dangerous level, you will have to focus on using mana potions." Femradiel had more or less idea what Ryan was nning, but she couldn''t imagine that he would need all that much mana. Regardless, she decided to focus as well since there was no telling what might happen, and those bosses would be a problem even in her draconic form. When Ryan''s focus reached the peak, he activated Ranger''s Awakening and immediately opened the path above him. When the monsters finally felt his presence, Ryan already was deep inside the dungeon in his firing posture. Like a machine-gun, he began to pull the trigger of his crossbow. In a single second, an Ice Crystal was killed by Ryan when fourteen bolts pierced its body. Femradiel opened her eyes in amazement since she didn''t think Ryan could attack that fast. Ryan selected his next target, and the poor creature suffered from the same fate. However, before the third could fall, the ice crystals began to fire Ice Lances toward him. By using sh, Ryan avoided them all while he kept shooting, but soon his mana reached a dangerous level. "Femradiel!" Ryan shouted. "My bad, my bad!" Femradiel said and finally began her work. Femradiel made dozens of potions recover Ryan''s mana, so he resumed his attacks. That scene repeated itself for a while, and then when the thirtieth ice crystal died, the bosses finally understood that they wouldn''t be able to hit Ryan unless they filled the entire dungeon with Ice Spears. No, even if they do that, Ryan can use sh to dodge all the attacks. Without any other choice, the monsters dashed toward the dungeon, even though the ce was too narrow for three of them to pass at the same time. "I have been waiting for this," Ryan smirked. "It is showtime, buddy!" Furball barked and then began to fire Electric Bullets. While he didn''t cause damage, Furball dyed the monsters for a few important fractions of a second. Now that the bosses were even closer, Ryan could use even more mana, so he activated Rapid Shot. "Those are low-quality mana potions, you know," Femradiel protested. "Even if I focus on using only that, I won''t be able to recover more mana that you can spend!" "It is all right. Just keep working fast," Ryan said. The bosses began to die in droves, so Active Spiritual Recovery began to shine again. Moreover, the snowstorm was losing power every time the ice crystals died, so Ryan''s vision of the outside was improving, and that gave him the chance to see his battle machines killing some whisperers that wereing to help the bosses. That increased his mana regeneration even more. Ryan thanked that unexpected event and enchanted his bolts with Electric Enchantment. Much faster than before, the bosses began to die one after the other. Some of them eventually reached the dungeon and entered to attack Ryan. Their presence alone made the area much colder, but in the end, they only became easy targets for Ryan. Those who started to shine and prepared Absolute Zero had been the focus of Ryan''s attention, so the situation remained under Ryan''s control the whole time. In the end¡­ all the bosses finally died by his hands. "Man, I love to fight in narrow ces," Ryan sighed in relief when the fight ended. That wasn''t something an archer should say, but fortunately, Ryan had the skills to turn such a disadvantageous environment into another weapon at his disposal. Regardless, the job wasn''t over since some whisperers managed to pass the perimeter due to their sheer numbers. "Go y with them, buddy," Ryan said to Furball while he created some battle machines and put them on his back. Furball barked in agreement and then left the dungeon in a hurry since the ce was colder than outside. It was finally time for the good part: get the loot. Much to Ryan''s surprise, it looked like he had been quite lucky. The drops were pretty high quality, but some of them stood out above the others. Azure Edge (Ice) Effect: It freezes the foe upon contact. The ice damage is equal to your intelligence + (200%) per second. Strength + 150, Endurance + 120 Durability: 250/250 Frozen Amulet Effect: Increases your resistance against all ice-type attacks by ten percent. Mentality + 40, Willpower + 40 Durability: 30/30 Mystic cape Effect: When charged with mana, this cape activates a shield to block surprise attacks to a certain extent. Intelligence + 30, Recovery + 30 Charge: 0/500 Durability: 120/120 The other items were pretty good as well, but Ryan decided to use Deconstruct on them and level up Cold Resistance and Freeze Resistance a little bit more. Hopefully, the weather will get better since he defeated the bosses, but he couldn''t bet just on hope. Chapter 353 - Talents While Furball was taking care of the monsters outside the dungeon alongside the battle machines, Ryan decided to enter the dungeon and im his prize. Due to the circumstances, he managed to defeat the bosses while ignoring most of the mob monsters. Thanks to it, Ryan felt that the job had beenpleted too fast and that perhaps that wasn''t a tier-three dungeon. "You should rx," Femradiel said. "There is no way that you will get a crap ss after this. How many monsters have you found so far that could affect the weather all that much?" "None, but only because I didn''t find many elemental monsters in dungeons that broke more than four times," Ryan replied. "While that is a good reason, it is only natural that you can''t find certain types of monsters everywhere," Femradiel exined. "While few monsters can choose an element to focus on, most of them have a good talent toward magic, that makes them naturally stronger." In any case, Ryan''s doubts will be cleared once he arrives at the end of the dungeon. Some whisperers tried to block his path, but Ryan didn''t have to worry about one or two monsters at that point in time. Ryan''s goal was much beyond the dungeon, so once he found the treasure chest, he immediately opened it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Holy Knight, Magehunter, and Shaman. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan got lucky. That dungeon really was a tier-three dungeon. Moreover, Ryan found two new sses. Shaman wasn''t interesting for Ryan for the time being. As for Holy Knight, it was probably a ss simr to Demon Hunter, but it was for melee fighters. "Let''s see what this bad boy has for us," Ryan said and then chose his next ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Magehunter! You obtained the following skills: Silence, Fool''s Curse, and Spiritual attack. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Silence. Effect: It gives you the chance to seal the target''s spells. The higher the level of the skill, the chances of the skill to activate. Cost: 50 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fool''s Curse. Effect: It enchants your attacks with a powerful curse that can decrease the target''s intelligence. The effectsts for five seconds and can stack. The intelligence will be decreased ording to the level of the skill. The skill only works with melee attacks. Cost: 20 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spiritual Attack. Effect: It grants you the power to cause direct damage to your target''s mana. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill. This skill only works with melee attacks. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. It looked like this ss would be very convenient when Ryan finds more of those annoying monsters that focus on using magic. The only problem was that two of them couldn''t work with his long-ranged attacks. "Well, I can''t have everything that I want," Ryan shrugged. "That is awfully optimisticing from you," Femradiel said. "But I guess that suits you, considering that you always imagine that things will take a wrong turn somewhere." Regardless, Ryan headed toward the exit of the dungeon and stopped to stock some potions. Just like Femradiel said, those low-quality potions started to be a problem instead of s solution to Ryan. Their effects were too weak now¡­ unfortunately, the dungeon shop doesn''t sell more efficient potions. "Next time I see the Alchemist ss, I won''t have any other choice aside from choosing it," Ryan nodded to himself. "That ss might solve the problem of the potions." "Shouldn''t you talk with your friends at the base and ask them where you can get that ss?" Femradiel asked. "Nah, I don''t want to change my course now," Ryan replied. "I already dyed this trip for too long." There was nothing useful being sold at the dungeon shop, so Ryan left the dungeon only to see Furball still fighting. The snowstorm had lost a lot of power, and thanks to it, Ryan and even the monsters could see much more than before, and that was why Furball was still fighting. "Let''s get going, buddy," Ryan said. "We can leave some of those monsters behind for Alissa and herckeys." Furball barked and then obeyed Ryan''smands. Some Whisperers tried to chase them, but Ryan quickly killed them on Furball''s back. "I really need to learn spatial magic. Leaving the ballista behind is such a waste, but I can''t get better spatial rings. The cost is that insane," Ryan said. "Can you use spatial magic, Femradiel?" "No," Femradiel replied. "Really? Orgar can use it," Ryan said. "Some dragons are born with that kind of power. Some don''t," Femradiel said. "While I can learn that by using the system that I have ess to, I can''t imagine such a skill being useful inbat." "Youck imagination, I guess," Ryan said. "Well, if you can learn, humans should be able to. It is time to keep saving more coins." "What about Cryomancy? " Femradiel asked. "That one I will learn once I give you enough mana, but spatial magic I will buy with my own coins," Ryan replied. "Those types of skills cost a lot, in terms of price and mana, but I can''t just ignore them." Hopefully, by leveling up the skill, the spatial magic will give Ryan a lot of space to store all sorts of things, and hopefully, Ryan will have enough mana to use. Chapter 354 - Ice Trolls While Ryan and Furball had to clean the path a little bit since they found many Whisperers along the way, things were looking good. The snowstorm decreased in power by the day, and the cold was also dropping, much to Furball''s happiness. However, when they were crossing ska, Ryan found another type of enemy in the distance. Those creatures were a bit different from the ones Ryan saw in some games. First of all, their skin was light blue as if it had changed to withstand the cold. Aside from that, their arms were pretty long, so they kind of moved like goris. Some of them had those massive pirs of ice and used them as weapons, and despite their size, which was equal to golems and giants, they were pretty fast. Ice Troll ¨C Lv 210 Health: 10.000/10.000 Mana: 1500/1500 Stamina: 5.000/5.000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 2000 Intelligence: 1000 Endurance: 5000 Control: 500 Mentality: 2000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 15000 Willpower: 2000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bash Lv 180, Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 150, Steel Skin Lv 120, Improved Strength Lv 100, Regeneration Lv 100 Spells: Ice Pir Lv 120, Ice Armor Lv 100, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 100 "Things are just getting better and better," Ryan said with a semi annoyed expression on his face. "Those look like very troublesome foes," Femradiel said. "However, it looks like they are just a scout group. I can feel the location of the dungeon a few kilometers in the north." "So, I can avoid the dungeon, huh." Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Taking out these guys will take a real while, but there is no mistake that their dungeon is a tier-three dungeon¡­ what to do?" The fifth dungeon break will happen in less than ten days. Unless Ryan creates some magic items that will use those juggernauts'' elemental weaknesses, he couldn''t imagine himself winning the fight in that time. "Well, there is no point in trying to defeat all of them in my head before killing a single one of them in reality," Ryan said and prepared his crossbow. "Let''s see how well they fare against poison." After concentrating for a few seconds, Ryan fired and hit all the trolls with several bolts. The creatures grunted in pain while their health was quickly decreasing. However, they immediately found Ryan, and the poison didn''t stop them from charging toward him. "Yeah, I really need a more powerful crossbow," Ryan said and then began to fire again. It was a pain since that would consume a lot of his time, but Ryan decided to use Seal on the trolls after damaging quite a bit of their limbs. The skill needed to level up to create more magic items, after all, and that would be the first step for Ryan to obtain a more powerful weapon. While Rya hoped that the arrows he made would be a bit different due to the trolls'' nature, he just ended up creating those same freezing arrows. It was too much work to create them, but Ryan had no other choice in the end. "Wait¡­ maybe I should tame some trolls," Ryan said. "Unlike most monsters, they can use weapons, so if I equip them correctly, they will be a splendid force." "That is an interesting idea," Femradiel said. "Still, even if you do that, you will have to train them for quite a while before they can hunt several trolls alone." "That is where the items wille in handy," Ryan said. "I already have an interestingbination in mind." Ryan looked for some small group of trolls, and just like before, he attacked their limbs and before paralyzing thempletely. Once that happened, Ryan began to use Tame on them. For some reason, probably because the trolls were more intelligent than most monsters, Ryan had a hard time taming them, but eventually, Ryan obtained five trolls. "Now you guys should throw away your old weapons and try this," Ryan said and then gave one of his trolls a usable replica of his crossbow. Steel Crossbow Effect: Consumes eight points of mana to create a steel bolt. Dexterity + 15 Durability: 50/50 Ryan frowned when he saw the trolls trying to put their fingers in the trigger and failing at it¡­ their fingers were too big. After that, Ryan sighed but thenughed. Regardless, it took a while, but eventually, Ryan managed to create a bigger version to be tested. Giant Steel Crossbow Effect: Consumes fifteen points of mana to create a steel bolt. Dexterity + 30 Durability: 100/100 After looking for a while, but eventually found a troll to test against his tamed monster. As expected, due to their sizes, the trolls were much stealthy, but his side still had the advantage of the preemptive strike. However, due to the massive amount of health and recovery the trolls had, Ryan''s troll only decreased the target''s health by fifty percent. Once the enemy got too close, Ryan gave his troll in order to use their ice club. "It is a bit worse than I expected¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Even if Ryan keeps increasing his weapons quality, he could only improve it so much in a few days'' time. Ryan knew that he should enchant his weapons with Seal and use Magic Upgrade to increase its attack. However, the elemental nature of the trolls, Ryan couldn''t use the trolls'' souls. The best option was apparently to enchant the crossbows with thunder element, but Ryan never found monsters with that kind of nature. Ryan will have to find a solution to that problem without leaving that area, it didn''t seem possible, but he wasn''t going to give up so soon. After all, even though it was virtually impossible to clear the troll''s dungeon before the fifth dungeon break, Ryan at least had to keep the number of spawned monsters under control, and he will use his tamed creatures to do that. Chapter 355 - Destination In the end, Ryan managed to find two solutions to the problem of survivability of his trolls. The first was pretty cheap. The second wasn''t so cheap. Most of the time, when Ryan uses Seal to create magic items, they ended up getting the elemental properties of the monsters. Still, sometimes that doesn''t happen with some defensive items and essories. For some odd reason, whenever Ryan created a magic weapon, magic armor, or magic shield, it always created something that had elemental resistance or extra damage with the ice nature. However, Ryan managed to make some items that increased the troll''s overall defense instead of elemental defense. The not-so-cheap solution relied on magic tomes. Since the troll''s Fire Resistance wasn''t that strong, Ryan decided to make his monsters learn Lesser Fire Enchantment. That cost him two hundred five thousand coins, but it couldn''t be helped. "The trolls don''t have much mana. Are you sure you want to give them the order to use that spell whenever possible?" Femradiel asked. "While that is true, their recovery is stupidly high, so that increases the overall magic capacity of their mana pool," Ryan replied. "The best option would be to tame the bosses, but I can''t do that after their dungeon broke four times." In any case, Ryan ran some tests and confirmed that the overall power of his trolls increased by ten percent just by using the level Lesser Fire Enchantment. While that was good, Ryan decided to train them for a few days until the skill reached level twenty, and they could defeat other trolls while losing around ten or twenty percent of their health per fight. In the meantime, Ryan also tamed some more trolls since the skill leveled up and the monsters he left guarding the other dungeons probably died or have given their positions to those who were working for Mark. "So, you are really nning to leave the trolls alone for a while?" Femradiel asked while Ryan was making the final preparations to resume his trip. "Yeah, clearing this dungeon will take too much time by myself," Ryan said. "I will have to articte and work together with Alissa and the others, but for the time being, that won''t be possible since only Alissa and herckeys are avable to do this. The other guys back in the base are too busy dealing with the problems caused by demons." Ryan recognized the fact that it might cause some problems for the whole continent to leave the trolls alone for a while. However, Ryan also acknowledged the fact that he wasn''t the only one who had to solve all those issues. Besides, Ryan was already sick of the cold, and his food supply was quickly reaching its end. Thest thing that Ryan wanted now was to eat something like trolls. "Let''s go, buddy," Ryan said. "We are almost at Bering strait, so I guess we are halfway through on this journey." Hopefully, Ryan won''t find many enemies while he flies over the ocean. Also, hopefully, Ryan wouldn''t find many human hostiles when he reaches the next continent. While some Russians might not like Americans and Americans might not like some Russians, that was an intrigue that Ryan wasn''t interested in. His fight was against monsters and the asional assholes that he might find along the way. While he wasn''t much of a fan of goody-two-shoes survivals, he wasn''t unreasonable enough to be an asshole to those who were civilized. When Ryan found the ce he was looking for, he couldn''t help but frown when he realized the fact that a massive block of ice was connecting the two continents. Ryan knew that something like that happened during the Ice Ages, but it still was surprising that it would happen once again. "It looks like we won''t have to fly," Ryan said. Ryan gave Furball the order to run, and while he was focused on the surroundings to avoid unpleasant surprises, he still epted the call via the telepathy link when Alissa used it. She wasn''t bothering him as much as she had promised, so Ryan owed her at least that much respect. "Ryan, the snowstorm lost some power. Did you do something?" Alissa asked. "I cleared the dungeon at the eye of the storm. You will find some tier three sses there," Ryan replied. "Where are you right now?" Alissa asked. "Almost on the next continent," Ryan replied. "It looks like you found another dungeon along the way. Did you have a hard time?" Alissa asked. "Or rather, did you also leave so many monsters mob monsters behind?" "I didn''t clear the dungeon, the dungeon break will happen before I can do anything, so I decided to skip it," Ryan said. "The monsters are trolls, and they are pretty tough. It will be your job to keep their numbers in check. Regardless, did you talk with Mark about the thing I talked about with you?" "Yep, he didn''t say that a new type of monster appeared in either of our coasts," Alissa replied. "I guess your Brazilian friends just got lucky that a troublesome dungeon appeared close to them. Anyway, thanks to you, I have a lot of cleaning to do, so that I will end the call now." Alissa didn''tin as much as Ryan thought. It was probably because the whisperers and trolls would cause a lot of problems to her soldiers, which was good to make them stronger. Regardless, that talk made Ryan rx a little and then realize a certain thing he didn''t think about before¡­ where would he go after he reaches the continent? Finding tier-three dungeons in the Russian territory by himself or looking for survivors? If he chooses the second option, what were his chances of finding a Russian who could speak English? "Maybe I should stick with my old n and travel through the coast while heading southward to escape this hellish cold," Ryan said. "Finding anything within this massive territory will be hard, but there are some ces in which it will be easier to find dungeons. Japan is one of them." Chapter 356 - Stone Human When Ryan finally crossed the giant bridge of ice that connected both continents, he frowned because he didn''t find a single monster in the distance. The trip while crossing the ice had been utterly devoid of any fight, so he was hoping that things would get messy once he arrives. "Their territory is pretty vast, but maybe the Russians are doing better than us," Ryan said. "Well, no point in waiting to be attacked by monsters. Let''s follow the coast, as usual, buddy." Furball barked, and he began to run. Even after several hours, Ryan didn''t find anything on his path. No humans, camps, monsters, or dungeons¡­ on the good side, the climate was much less severe there when he was in ska or Canada. Suddenly, Ryan felt something on his back. A certain difort¡­ it was the same feeling that he had when he trained Awareness by using some of his summoned creatures. He was being watched¡­ unfortunately, the range of Radar didn''t pick the presence of anything. Again, very suddenly, Ryan felt something hitting his back. Fortunately, he didn''t receive any damage, thanks to his Mystic Cape. When Ryan turned around, he saw several human-like creatures running toward him and firing magic projectiles. Nichi (Stone Human) ¨C Lv 170 Health: 5.000/5.000 Mana: 5.000/5.000 Stamina: 5.000/5.000 Strength: 3000 Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 3000 Control: 1000 Mentality: 2000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 3000 Willpower: 2000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Stone Touch Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Endurance Lv 130 Spells: Stone Arrow Lv 150, Earth Wall Lv 120 Support Skills:Fire Resistance Lv 120, Cold Resistance Lv 120, Shock Resistance Lv 150, Earth Resistance Lv 200, "More of them, huh," Ryan used sh to dodge the attacks and then said. "They don''t look like the ones that had been turned into demons¡­ so, what are they?" Those creatures didn''t look human-like. They were humans that had be monsters. Their whole body was gray, as if they had be statues that could move. Still, while they didn''t look insane like the human-demons, they seemed pretty mad while they charged at Ryan. "Well, I was nning to use thister, but I guess this will do against them." Ryan picked the new crossbow that he had made while he was facing the whisperers and then prepared to shoot. Furball stopped moving to give him a steady aim. When Ryan began to fire, he became even faster than a machine gun. Frost Crossbow (Ice) (+ 3) Effect: it grants you the power to create freezing bolts at the cost of twenty points of mana. Dexterity + 104, Intelligence + 39 Durability: 90/90 Whenever the bolts hit the stone humans, the creatures stumbled, and the hit part froze. Despite their high endurance, Ryan managed to kill them pretty fast. After all, he could fire fourteen bolts per second when Firing Posture was active. You obtained 450 coins. You obtained 450 coins. You obtained 450 coins. ¡­ Ryan didn''t hesitate in killing them because he knew they were a lost cause. Still, when the fight was over, Ryan couldn''t help but approach them and stare at their dead bodies for a few seconds. They still were using human clothes, but even those had be stone-like for some reason. "I wonder why they also give me more coins than usual," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Some humans areing from the direction those things came from," Femradiel said. "More of them? Speaking of which, didn''t you feel their presence before the attack?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ I didn''t feel it," Femradiel replied. "As for those they areing, I can feel their presence, and they are like yours." That was a first¡­ then again. Ryan also noticed that Radar didn''t pick them when they got close enough. It was weird that Femradiel didn''t have Awareness, but that was a question for another time. Now Ryan had to decide if he should wait for the humans toe or if he should just leave. "Well, I don''t have anything to hide, and if those humans have tracking skills, they might misunderstand me if I leave after noticing them," Ryan said. "Let''s confirm if the people here will be hard to interact with or not." "Aren''t you getting pretty careless as ofte?" Femradiel asked. "Not really," Ryan shrugged. "I just think that this new crossbow will be very helpful to avoid problems with other humans." After a few minutes, a group of survivors appeared. As expected, they were fully armed and geared. Considering that Ryan only killed six stone humans, he couldn''t help but frown when fifteen survivors appeared. They obviously were hunting them, but their numbers were too high given those weird creatures'' strength. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. Mind Armor was already being useful as soon as Ryan found some strangers. He also saw those survivors frowning. They confirmed that they couldn''t see Ryan''s status. As expected, that skill was way too useful. A tall blonde woman armed with a red crossbow stepped forward while analyzing Ryan and the corpses. Her eyes were pretty serious and savage, but Ryan didn''t avoid them. If humans could scare him that quickly, he would have never faced thousands of monsters alone while clearing dungeons. The woman said something, but Ryan didn''t understand even a bit, but the ent made her look even angrier. "Sorry, I don''t speak Russian," Ryan said. "American¡­" The blond woman said while she furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you doing here? Did you kill them?" "I am looking for special dungeons, and yes, I killed them," Ryan replied. "Were they your friends?" "Special dungeons? What for?" The blond woman asked. "¡­ To obtain more powerful sses," Ryan sighed since his question was ignored. "I don''t mean trouble. If my presence is unwanted here, I will leave. However, I can pay a reasonable price if you give some information about the high-level dungeons." Chapter 357 - Agreement The tall, blond woman studied Ryan for a while, wondering if he was really serious about what he said. Every sane person who was still alive would try to clear dungeons and obtain as many sses as possible, but she didn''t hear of anyone that decided to leave their countries behind just for that. Like America, Russia had many dungeons, considering both countries'' terrain, she failed in believing that Ryan had cleared more than one hundred of them in less than five months. "There aren''t many dungeons in your country?" The woman asked. "There are plenty of dungeons there, but as I said, I am looking for the special ones," Ryan replied. "The ones that are hard to clear." Ryan was either insane or very confident in his skills. Even though it would be hard to level up dozens of sses, any reasonable person would try to focus on getting as many low-level sses as possible. Still, Ryan was greedy enough to think that such a method was a waste of time. After all, while he clears high-tiered dungeons, he obtains much more coins and better loot and sses that are at least three times better than the ordinary ones, and that was without mentioning the skills. "¡­ If you agree with our terms, we can guide you toward some of those dungeons," The blond woman said. "I am listening," Ryan said. "Aside from paying to use our dungeons, you must agree that all the loot will be ours," The blond woman said. "Also, while you stay within our territory, you will be on watch 24/7. You can''t use your skills when you are not fighting inside the dungeons, and your beast has to stay put the whole time." "That is fine. I don''t see any reason why I should use my skills outsidebat," Ryan said. "Unless someone makes me use them, I won''t." Those terms were a bit hard, but they were hardly a problem for Ryan. He could create his own magic items, and he preferred that way to rely on luck. As for theck of freedom, it was only natural given that Ryan looked indeed suspicious crossing continents alone. "My name is Natasha, and I am currently the leader of the survivors in the extreme eastern side of our country," The blond woman said. "You can call me Ryan," Ryan said. "If you don''t mind, I would like to visit the dungeons as fast as possible." "All right, but before anything, I would like to ask you to pay for the visit of those dungeons before anything," Natasha said. "We don''t know if you have enough coins for that, after all." "That is fair. What are your prices?" Ryan asked. "I believe we divided the dungeons on the same level you divided them, so you will have to pay one hundred thousand coins to use the level one dungeon, five hundred thousand coins to use the level two dungeons, and one million for the level three dungeons," Natasha said. "Are you fine with that?" "No problem," Ryan said. "While my main focus is the level three dungeons, I am also looking for a dungeon in which I can obtain the Alchemist ss. Which one is the closest?" "You are lucky. You can obtain the Alchemist ss in a dungeon fifty kilometers away from here," Natasha said. "So, five hundred thousand first, huh," Ryan said and then jumped from Furball''s back. "If you don''t mind, I will pay for the other dungeonster." After approaching Natasha, Ryan offered the handshake. Tension rose in the air since Natasha hesitated. Her allies had no idea what they talked about, it seemed. So, her epting the handshake or not will determine if things will end in a fight. In the end, Natasha''s instincts didn''t warn her of any danger, so she epted the handshake. Soon, afterward, she opened her eyes in surprise when she obtained the coins¡­ apparently, she had used the price to use the dungeons as a means to discourage Ryan and make him back down. "Is something wrong?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ follow me," Natasha said. After turning around, Natasha gave the order to five of her men to keep their eyes on Ryan. Much to Ryan''s annoyance, they would stay behind him, but that wasn''t a problem since he had the mystical cape. "Femradiel," Ryan thought. "Your vision is the same as mine or is different?" "I can see everything around you," Femradiel replied. "Good, if those five guys point their weapons at me, I will give you special permission to use Absolute Zero and turn them into ice statues," Ryan said. "How unusual of you to give me that kind of permission," Femradiel said. "If you are worried about them, you should use Appraisal on them." "Nah, knowing their strength will make me rx a little more than I should, so I won''t use Appraisal," Ryan said. "You are still using Zen, right?" "I never stop using it," Femradiel said. That was good. Ryan won''t have to worry about running out of mana if those guys keep using Appraisal on him. Still, fortunately, they tried initially since they had no idea that Mind Armor consumed mana constantly to protect Ryan''s status. For a while, they traveled in silence since Ryan''s presence wasn''t something they used to. Or perhaps it was due to Furball¡­ Regardless, Ryan decided to break the silence and ask a few things to Natasha. "If you don''t mind me asking, those stone humans were survivors that got captured by some sort of monsters and taken to their world, right?" Ryan asked. "Yes, something simr happened in your country?" Natasha asked. "Yeah, but the ones who did that were demons," Ryan replied. "Demons didn''t capture them, am I right?" "What makes you think that?" Natasha asked. Ryan sighed. That game of trying to obtain information while not revealing much was tiring¡­ maybe Ryan should just ask Femradiel to read Natasha''s mind, but in the end, Ryan gave up on that. He got mad when Alissa did that, so he couldn''t let himself be a hypocrite. Chapter 358 - Behold? In the end, Ryan decided to mention pretty much everything he knew about the dungeons that spawned demons. All in order to make Natasha rx and understand that he wasn''t a spy or someone who wanted to cause problems in her country. Fortunately, Natasha decided to share some information as well. "One of the level three dungeons that we have in our country is spawning a small version of the behold," Natasha said. "The creature is called Cursed Eye and can petrify those who stare too much at it or when the creature uses a skill, and that skill hits a certain part of their body." "Behold? That creepy monster that is like a massive eyeball and has tentacles, and each tentacle has eyes?" Ryan frowned. "Yes, that one," Natasha nodded. "So, the boss is a Behold?" Ryan asked. "No, it is the Medusa," Natasha replied. "The legendary monsters from the Greek mythology that could turn humans into stones." In the end, that didn''t surprise Ryan. If Cerberus appeared to hunt him, the arrival of Medusa wouldn''t scare him. Regardless, based on what Ryan discovered, he was fairly certain that Natasha and her friends didn''t clear that dungeon. "So, after humans be statues, they are revived like monsters, or they are taken to the dungeon?" Ryan asked. "They are taken to the dungeon, and now and then, they appear to cause problems," Natasha said. "Although most of them had once been our allies, they be a real pain in the ass since they can petrify anything they touch, and even monsters of other species join them when that happens." Most likely, Medusa was the thing that was making humans join the monsters'' side. It was pretty surprising that such a beast could have power so simr to the demons. While it seemed that Ryan will have a hard time clearing that dungeon, he still wanted to go there and create some magic weapons that can petrify monsters as well. Those certainly will be useful. After a while, Natasha exined that the stone humans that Ryan killed were some monsters that escaped during thest dungeon break. While most monsters were troublesome, the stone humans were even more troublesome, so they couldn''t be left alone. That was why Natasha and her friends hunted them down for hundreds of kilometers. In the end, Ryan, Natasha, and the others arrived in a small town where they found a few dozen survivors. The name of the ce was too hard for Ryan to remember, but at least the ce had a feature that he could easily identify: a dungeon, and that was the one Ryan could obtain the Alchemist ss. After talking with the guards near the dungeon, Natasha approached Ryan. "It looks like the boss will only spawn tomorrow at noon. You will have to wait until then," Natasha said. "I don''t mind," Ryan said. Ryan almost asked if Natasha and her friends could stop and just stay in that area for so long, but in the end, that would be too suspicious. So, he just stayed quiet and followed her to a bonfire that the residents had made in the middle of the town. Although there some houses made of wood there, they weren''t big enough for visitors to use. Fortunately, Furball''s fur was pretty nice and warm, so he rxed quite a lot when resting his back on his partner that quickly fell asleep. Natasha couldn''t help but frown while watching Ryan sofortable so close to such a beast. "May I ask where do you gain the skill to tame such a monster?" Natasha asked. "I didn''t tame him. He is a summoned creature," Ryan said. "I got the skill after I obtained one of my level three sses." There was no need for Ryan to give so much information for free, but certain things were obvious, so he couldn''t hide everything. It looked like Natasha was someone who liked animals, and since Furball looked more like an oversized wolf than a proper monster, she was greatly interested in him. "He is that big since the beginning?" Natasha asked. "No, he was just the size of an ordinary dog when I first summoned him, but the more he ate, the faster he grew," Ryan said. "I think he can''t grow anymore than this." Furball was like three meters tall and six long, so he probably would cause more problems than help if he grew any more than that. Fortunately, Ryan didn''t notice any growth in thest few weeks. "He seems pretty reliable," Natasha said. "He is, even inparison with other summoned creatures, I can''t imagine orpare anyone that looks as reliable as a Warg," Ryan said. "It is weird, but wargs and their master have something like a spiritual link that makes them understand each other, and until now, he never disobeyed a single one of my orders." Although the conversation seemed pretty rxed, the guys Natasha had put to watch Ryan from behind were still as cautious as always. Not only that, Ryan felt like many more eyes were on him since he was speaking in English and didn''t have a Russian ent. Despite that, nothing happened during the night, and Ryan even managed to take a few naps since Femradiel said that she could stay on guard duty. When morning came, Ryan walked around town with Natasha and her friends to check a few things and buy others. Although only fifty or so people were living near the dungeon, the ce still had a hierarchy, so they had to talk with the heads of the ce in order to exin their situation. All the talk had been done in Russian, so Ryan pretty much tagged along. The ce even had a market to sell and trade magic items, but since the drops were of a tier two dungeon, Ryan didn''t find anything worthwhile. Fortunately, the monsters being spawned in the dungeon were earthworms, so they had plenty of meat to share. While it wasn''t much, Ryan managed to make Furball a bit stronger while he waited. Chapter 359 - Potion Creation Around noon, some problems started to appear. While apparently, everyone in the town had cleared the dungeon and obtained ss, everyone wanted to clear the ce whenever possible. After some negotiations, Natasha managed to calm down those who were forced to step back and give Ryan the chance to clear the dungeon. However, the problems didn''t end there. Those who entered the dungeon didn''t feel safe knowing that a stranger with a crossbow was behind them. Moreover, there was this massive beast with him. "They are asking you to leave the Warg behind," Natasha said. "I can''t see why I should do it," Ryan said. "That isn''t in our agreement, and Furball doesn''t count a human, so twenty-four people will be able to clear the dungeon. We are a team, so I am not going to leave him behind." "Furball?" Natasha frowned. "Anyway, I will see what I can do here." After sighing, Natasha proceeded to negotiate with everyone again. She cursed herself for not imagining that something like that would happen, and unfortunately, she couldn''t change the agreement just because a minor problem arrived. In the end, Natasha silenced theiners with the power of the coins. "This is a dungeon that they cleared many times, so we won''t have to fight," Natasha said. "Don''t attack. Let''s see the people here do their jobs. Also¡­" "Yes, yes, Furball won''t do anything," Ryan said. While he was waiting, Ryan decided to y with Furball to get rid of the annoying res that were him. Ryan made Furball do some backflips and even made him y dead to make everyone understand that he had himpletely under his control. Natasha''s eyes were sparkling while she watched all that¡­ if she was a dog or cat person, she wasn''t anymore. Now she is a Warg person. Ryan was really looking forward to testing his two crossbows style. The consumption of mana would be much higher, but of course, he wouldn''t throw away an amazing item like the Pestilence Crossbow or even sell it. Unfortunately, it looked like he will have to wait until he approaches the tier three dungeons. Regardless, in the end, nothing really happened while the natives were killing the mobs or the boss. It took a while, but they eventually did it. Ryan and Natasha just watched everything with their arms crossed but ready to use their crossbows if something happens. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Spearman, Trickster, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Alchemist! You obtained the following skills: Alchemy, Auto-Medication, and Potion Creation. Your intelligence and mana will increase by four points, your health, stamina, control and recovery will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Alchemy. Effect: It increases the effectiveness of potions created by you in one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Auto-Medication. Effect: It increases the effectiveness of the potions you use by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Potion Creation. Effect: Upon defeating your enemies, you will gain their soul essence, and by using five of each type, you will be able to use them to create a potion. Current potions that you can make: health, mana, and stamina potions. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Ryan nodded in satisfaction since those skills weren''t so bad. It looked like just by relying on Alchemy and Auto-Medication alone, Ryan would be able to increase his potions'' effectiveness by a pretty decent margin. Not only that, it looked like he could make different types of potions aside from the ordinary ones that restored his energy. "Let''s get going," Natasha said. "I want to confirm that things still are normal back in my camp." "Roger that," Ryan said. Ryan also wanted to get the sses as fast as possible, so he couldn''tin. Regardless, they quickly left the dungeon and the town and then prepared to move South-West. Even though the Russian territory was massive, Ryan barely saw monsters around, and when he did, he found some survivors hunting and killing those same monsters after a while. They have been doing a pretty decent job at keeping theirnds safe, to the point where Ryan couldn''t help but frown that the stone humans managed to cover quite a distance after escaping. "Can I ask how many level three dungeons you have in your country?" Ryan asked. "We only have the knowledge of three, there may be others, but we didn''t confirm that yet," Natasha said. "Our territory is vast, and we are proceeding to take it back while moving toward West." While that was already a pretty decent number, it looked like Natasha and her countrymen perhaps could obtain control over even more of those dungeons. Based on what Ryan imagined, the Russians were probably facing some problems on their South and West sides. Europe was pretty big and had many populous cities. Knowing that dungeons always appear near those ces, Ryan could understand why they were having a hard time recovering their territory. Since they hurried, Ryan, Natasha, and the others managed to run for almost two hundred kilometers without stopping in a single day. Furball could be faster than that, but it looked like few people invested too many points into speed. Moreover, most people also chose between melee sses or magic sses, they never choose the second option, and thanks to that, their speed was even more disappointing. Regardless, they arrived at their destination after running for a full day, only to see a small city being attacked by hundreds of Cursed Eyes. Chapter 360 - Cursed Eye Cursed Eye Lv 190 Health: 2500/2500 Mana: 4000/4000 Stamina: 2000/2000 Strength: 500 Dexterity: 1200 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 1500 Endurance: 500 Control: 1000 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 1500 Willpower: 1000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 100, Passive Recovery Lv 150 Spells: Petrifying Gaze Lv 200, Fly Lv 120 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 120, Electric Resistance Lv 120, Poison Resistance Lv 150 While they weren''t as creepy as the Behold in Ryan''s head, the Cursed Eyes were pretty ugly. They were basically gigantic eyeballs that could fly around and survive with the bare amount of flesh necessary in their bodies, after all. Although that small city which was located at Natasha''s base, had hundreds of survivors and even had ten meters tall walls, they were failing at containing the monsters'' advance. Natasha and her friends hurried to join the fight. "What should I do?" Ryan asked. "If you wish to help, you will have to stay close to me, or that will cause some problemster," Natasha said. Ryan made Furball follow Natasha''s pace, and when she grabbed her crossbow, Ryan did the same, but instead of waiting for her order tomence the attack, Ryan did it from his position. He made his bolts rain over the monsters, and even though they were five hundred meters away from him, Ryan didn''t miss a single shot. Unfortunately, he aimed to freeze them instead of killing them, but that didn''t happen. The Cursed Eyes slowed down thanks to the weapon''s enchantment, but only that since their mentality and willpower was high. Regardless, Ryan''s attacks gave a chance to Natasha''s group to join the fight before hundreds of the monsters could fly above the walls. Upon noticing that he wasn''t alone and he didn''t have to kill all of the monsters by himself, Ryan focused on hitting as many monsters as possible with Arrow Shower. Even so, asionally, he killed one or another beast. You obtained 140 coins. You obtained blue soul essence. You obtained 140 coins. You obtained green soul essence. Weirdly enough, the essences that Ryan could use to create potions couldn''t be seen. It was even weirder that the same type of monster could give him different essences. Ryan changed his actions again and focused on killing as many monsters as possible since he will need those essences to train the alchemist''s skills. Despite that, a Cursed Eye still managed to fire a ray of energy toward Ryan. Furball moved to the side, but Ryan''s right leg still got hit. He felt shivers while his leg was turned into stone, and he lost the feeling of it. Congrattions! You learned the skill Petrification Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of petrification spells and skills by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Son of a bitch¡­" Ryan fired several bolts and finished the monster. His leg didn''t turn to normal despite his actions, and the petrification still was moving across Ryan''s leg. However, when he used Purification, the multiplication stopped and even decreased in size. After using it two more times, Ryan was back to normal. "Phew¡­ that was scary," Ryan muttered. "So, you can even do that, huh," Natasha said. "Can I ask you a favor?" "You want me to focus on helping those who got hit by the Petrifying Gaze?" Ryan asked. "Yes," Natasha said. "Well¡­ I don''t mind, butter, you will have to give me free reins to hunt the monsters of this area," Ryan said. "That can be done. I am the leader of this ce," Natasha said. While it was a pity, it was a sacrifice Ryan had to make in order to gain the confidence of the people of the region. Regardless, Ryan moved around as fast as possible to help those who were panicking due to the petrification. However, Purification consumed too much mana, and the number of survivors suffering from those status effects was pretty high. "Are you still using Zen, Femradiel?" Ryan said. "I told you, I never stop using it," Femradiel replied. In the end, Ryan sighed because he was forced to use his Spatial Ring and get some potions. While that was something everyone will have someday, Ryan didn''t want to let others know that he had one. Regardless, Ryan''s speed of recovering the survivors increased, the panic stopped spreading, and they rejoined the fight without fearing their death since they knew someone could heal them. The fight didn''tst long once that happened. Without the fear of bing statues, the survivors showed their true might and slew the monsters easily. Since the monsters focused on petrifying the survivors, not a single one died in that fight. Natasha sighed in relief when she confirmed that not a single one of her subordinates became statues and were captured while she was away. "Thanks, you saved our asses," Natasha smiled and then bowed slightly. "There is no need for thanks. Just allow me to hunt the monsters as promised," Ryan said. "What is the name of that skill?" Natasha asked. "Purification is a skill that I obtained after getting a level three ss," Ryan replied. "Is that so¡­ I don''t remember finding a tome with that name in any dungeon shops." Natasha rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "We need that skill to decrease the number of losses on our side." "Well, you are pretty far away from the dungeon where you can get the ss," Ryan said. In the end, Natasha put that matter aside. While they won the battle, the war wasn''t over yet. In any case, Ryan confirmed that Medusa''s dungeon hadn''t been cleared yet. The Cursed Eyes level was just too high, even though they weren''t that resilient and tough to kill. "Now, the only question is how many bosses I will have to kill. The fifth dungeon break is also about to happen¡­ I have to consider many things here." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and considered the situation while looking at the horizon. Chapter 361 - Not Bad Although it wasn''t by much, Natasha''s allies rxed a little around Ryan. Still, even when Ryan asked to attack the monsters from the walls that protected the city, some survivors kept an eye on him. Regardless, he managed to kill several Cursed Eyes before they could get too close, and thus, he obtained a lot of Soul Essences. Since Ryan was now free to fight the monsters, he also could use his skills. Mana Potion Effect: Restores 52 points of mana. "Hehe, not bad, huh," Ryan smiled in satisfaction after he produced his first potion. The skill description didn''t mention it, but it looked like some of Ryan''s attributes also influenced the potions'' quality. While it wasn''t much, Ryan would wee all bonuses that he could get. In any case, creating potions was as fun as sniping monsters from hundreds of meters away, so time passed really fast, and Natasha showed herself around dinnertime. "Do you intend to stay here throughout the whole night?" Natasha asked. "We have some free houses avable here." "I will stay here," Ryan replied. "Clearing the dungeon will take a lot of time and effort, so I want to decrease the number of monsters as much as possible while I can." The Medusa''s dungeon was twenty kilometers away from their current position, and that was why the Cursed Eyes attacked the city pretty much everyday with numbers that were close to the four-digit mark. Somehow, they even could tell that many survivors were nearby, so the city was actually a good hunting spot. That fight only got dire because Natasha and some other powerful survivors weren''t with them. "So, you really intend to clear this dungeon first," Natasha said and sat at the border of the wall. "This might take a while. Maybe we should check the other two dungeons. I heard that they had been cleared." "You didn''t go there to get the sses?" Ryan asked. "No, the people here needed me," Natasha replied. "I used the coins you gave me to buy some equipment, so the survivors here might survive on their own now. Anyway, while we changed our agreement a little bit, you still have to pay to use our dungeon." "One million coins, huh¡­" Ryan said, and then he had an idea. "How about this: I will teach you Purification, and I won''t have to pay you anything to use this dungeon." "You can teach me the skill?" Natasha asked. "Is that the power of another ss?" "Yes," Ryan nodded. "¡­ This skill is very valuable, so why didn''t you ask me not to pay to use all the other dungeons?" Natasha frowned. "The other dungeons are being controlled by other people, right?" Ryan asked. "I am sure you will need some coins to make us use those ces as fast as possible. I don''t mind paying for them, as long as I can have that." Natasha decided to think for a few moments. In the end, it was pretty evident that it was an excellent deal. While she could equip many of her soldiers with those one million coins, she couldn''t buy items that prevent petrification. Purification will prevent entirely many lives from being lost, and that wasn''t something coins or equipment could do against Cursed Eyes. Natasha epted the offer, and Ryan made her his student. After that, he had to show her Purification many times, and that took the whole night, but that wasn''t a problem since he managed to level up some skills and sses he rarely used, and even better, he saved one million coins. "The cost is quite high, huh," Natasha said while she was reading the description of the skill. "I will have to create a decent stock of mana potions to be able to prevent any losses on our side. Regardless, the sun will rise soon, so I am going to prepare those who are going to join us in the fight." Ryan nodded after hearing that. In any case, things have been proceeding reasonably well even though he was in a country he had never been before. Natasha was reasonable, and the survivors of the area were starting to think that Ryan wasn''t someone who came to cause problems. If anything, they only had a problem because he could do too many things. That was absolutely normal. In times like these, people fear even more the things that they couldn''t understand and those that had more power than them. "Did you notice anything weird, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Nothing aside from the fact that you are pretty friendly toward that woman," Femradiel said. "There are people in your country that helped you much more, and you didn''t treat them fairly." "I am just trying to be diplomatic here," Ryan said. "Whatever you say," Femradiel said. In any case, now Ryan just has to worry about one thing, should he use two crossbows to fight or not? Probably, for the time being, it was better to stick with his Frost Crossbow since using two crossbows would reveal to anyone in the area his full capabilities. Also, depending on how many soldiers Natasha wanted to bring with her, perhaps he won''t have to worry all that much¡­ until he finds the bosses. In the end, Ryan couldn''t help but frown when Natasha appeared with only twenty-five survivors. That was a pretty small number considering that they were going to clear a dungeon that broke four times, and the fifth dungeon break was only a few days away. "You look confused," Natasha said. "You can rx because those guys are the strongest ones here. I wish that we could take more, but we can''t exactly leave the city unprotected." "You are the leader here, so I won''t question your decisions," Ryan said. "Still, I was hoping to clear the dungeon before the next dungeon break." Natasha frowned when she heard that and almostughed. It sounded like a joke, but Ryan didn''t look like he just made a joke. Ryan seemed more insane than he looked¡­ ss: Hunter Lv 70 (+ 01 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 160th Health: 1356/1356 (3, 81/s) Mana: 2082/2082 (3, 81/s) Stamina: 1863/1863 (3,81/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2150 (+1488) (+95) Speed: 140 (+694) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+584) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+746) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+36) (+70) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 850 (+1077) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+36) (+40) Coins: 18.985.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Paralyzing Arrow Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Spiritual Poison Lv 06, Fool''s Curse Lv 01, Spiritual Attack Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Alchemy Lv 01, Auto-Medication Lv 01 Spells: Purification Lv 11 (+ 04 UP), Mind Armor Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Silence Lv 01, Potion Creation Lv 01, Support Skills: Freeze Resistance Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Improved Creation Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Petrification Resistance Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 57 (+ 01 UP), Beastmaster Lv 35 (+ 01 UP), Summoner Lv 36 (+ 04 UP), Enchanter Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Combat Mechanic Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Magehunter Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 28 (+ 03 UP), Merchant Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Whitesmith Lv 11 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 01 Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 362 - Reasonable The dungeon was located in a particr mountain a few miles away from Natasha''s camp. However, even before the group could walk for half an hour, the number of encounters increased exponentially. There were many groves in the area, so the Cursed Eyes just wandered around there when they didn''t try to destroy the camp. "Oh, right¡­ I have to make another crossbow and use Seal on those monsters," Ryan thought. Ryan will have to leave that for another, but perhaps he won''t even have the chance to make a crossbow since at least one soldier kept their eyes on Ryan. The only moment where he will have an opportunity to make a crossbow was when he takes a dump or something. Regardless, Ryan confirmed his theory that most survivors chose the melee sses or the magic sses. From that group of twenty-seven survivors, only Ryan and Natasha used crossbows. No one else used bows or other throwable weapons. "You are overly cautious with your skills," Femradiel said. "I used Appraisal on everyone here, and they can''t cause any problems for us. Even I alone can kill them in a single moment." "Let''s not kill anyone without reason," Ryan thought. "I am more worried about information leaking, and I am not at the level where I can kill someone based on the possibility of them spreading information about my skills." "You are truly na?ve," Femradiel said and she seemed pretty unsatisfied. "I would prefer to think that I am a man trying to be reasonable in an apocalyptic scenario," Ryan thought. The human race already lost too many members of its species, and they certainly didn''t need Ryan''s help to walk atrge steps toward extinction. Ryan didn''t want to kill anyone unless they were a lost cause or they started the fight. His stealth style to fight had been made only to hunt monsters, not humans. In any case, even though the terrain helped the Cursed Eyes, Ryan and Natasha managed to keep the monsters under control when they appeared in high numbers. Her crossbow couldn''t slow down the monsters all that much, but she had an uncanny skill to cause critical hits. Even though Femradiel said that she was far weaker, Natasha''s strength was far beyond her status represented. Even more than that, she wasn''t afraid to join the frontlines to use Purification on her allies when they got hit by the Petrifying Gaze. She was indeed the core of the city''s survivors, and it wasn''t surprising that she was also the leader of the region. Ryan had nned to take a look at the dungeon that day, but much to his disappointment, that never happened due to the frequent encounters. Things were looking really bad¡­ "When was thest time you guys approached the dungeon?" Ryan asked while frowning. "Three months ago, before the first dungeon break," Natasha replied. As expected, the situation was dire, and despite everything, the best Natasha and the people of the city managed to do was to hold their ground against the monsters. In the best-case scenario, they probably killed at least a good part of the Cursed Eyes that spawned in those four months, but only those that spawned regrly. There must be thousands of others that appeared when the dungeon breaks happened. In the end, Ryan failed to think of any decent nt to take down that massive number of monsters. If they continue at that pace, they will only find the dungeon on the dungeon break day. "Do you guys hunt at night here?" Ryan asked. "No, that is suicide," Natasha frowned. "The visibility is terrible, and if we use shlights, we will only be easy targets for the monsters." "If you don''t mind, I would like to ask to hunt at night. We won''t make much progress if we keep fighting only during the day and while being so cautious," Ryan said. Natasha considered the idea. Now that she could use Purification, perhaps it was time to take some risks. Besides, Natasha knew that the number of bosses increases by a lot with each dungeon break. If her calctions were correct, almost five hundred Medusas would appear in five days. With so many monsters at their side, it was only natural that they would try to destroy all the nearby camps and then create a small army of stone humans. Since she was already nning a n to evacuate a good number of the city residents, Natasha already recognized the impending doom of her camp. Still, the real problem was that the monsters would quickly spread all over the country. For now, the other tier three dungeons were under control, but if those creatures attack the survivors'' camp by behind¡­ "I will try to recruit some soldiers to help us while hunting at night," Natasha said. "However, I don''t think many will agree unless I decide to go. The more tired I get, the less effective I will be on the battlefield, so I will be a member of the support team and prevent casualties." "That is only natural," Ryan nodded. "I agreed with your idea. Now you will have to agree with mine," Natasha said, and that made Ryan frown. "Honestly, I can''t believe that we can clear this dungeon in just five days, but if you are nning to do that, then we will offer you all our support. If you want that, then you will have to go all out as well." It looks like Natasha noticed that Ryan still had some leeway while he was fighting. While that wasn''t a bad thing per se, it wasn''t a good thing either. It wasn''t fair that he could hold back a little while everyone else was trying hard to survive. It looked like Ryan will have to use his two crossbows much sooner than he had nned. "That is fine. I will do that," Ryan said and then took out his Pestilence Crossbow from his spatial ring. Chapter 363 - Talk Natasha had to spend two hours before dinner to convince some survivors that fighting at night was necessary. Although she was the leader of the ce, she wasn''t an authoritarian leader. So aside from those who fought during the day, only ten survivors agreed to fight. "Sorry about this. Many people think that trying to clear the dungeon now when we failed for four months is something impossible," Natasha said. "There are some that really fear the idea of fighting at night, but if we return tomorrow morning with everyone, many will change their minds." Ryan nodded since it made sense. In any case, if he finds a way to make everyone return with better items, many more people will decide to join that mission. Depending on how well they fare, the number of Cursed Eyes attacking the city will decrease significantly. So, the survivors there will get fewer coins. Those who have a brain will be forced to join the mission if they want to keep getting stronger at a decent pace. If Ryan really wanted to clear the dungeon in five days, he will have topromise. Holding back was no longer an option, if anything. That was actually a good idea. If he shows a massive difference in strength, Ryan doubted that most people would try to pick a fight. "You should make your friends use some shlights," Ryan said. "They will attract more monsters that way, and I will be able to kill more of them." Natasha didn''t like the idea of making her man be the bait for monsters, but in the end, she realized that Ryan had something in mind since he gave Furball the order to protect her. Still, that same thing didn''t work for the survivors since they didn''t like the idea of exposing themselves. Regardless, they only also understand that Ryan what Ryan was nning when they left the city, and Ryan began to fly. "Femradiel, I am giving special permission to attack the Cursed Eyes in case they get too close to them," Ryan said. "Don''t help them too much, though. Natasha needs to level up Purification as fast as possible." "No more holding back, huh," Femradiel said. "I like that." "Don''t get carried away," Ryan said. "Furball will help them from the ground with his magic attacks, so I believe you won''t have to work all that much." Just as Ryan expected, the shlights made the Cursed Eyes notice survivors from pretty far away. They immediately left their hideout to fight, but Ryan massacred them with his crossbows. Firing Posture could even be activated in the air, so Ryan''s attacking speed doubled with two crossbows. When the survivors noticed that some enemies were approaching, it was tooter. Ryan had already got rid of the majority of them. In the end, the survivors on the ground killed the few Cursed Eyes that managed to approach them with their long-ranged attacks. Ryan just noticed thanks to the, but Earth magic was surprisingly useful against those creatures. It was probably because they were rtively light due to their weird body. Ryan made a mental note about that. Since Ryan wasn''t holding back anymore and he pretty much was leading the survivors, in just two hours, they covered the same amount of distance that they did during the day. What Nocturnal Eyes couldn''t pick due to the high number of trees in the area, Awareness, and Radar covered for Ryan. Still proceeding in a straight line toward the dungeon was dangerous, so Ryan approached Natasha to change the ns'' slight change. "We will circle around the dungeon as we approach it," Ryan said. "If we go in a straight line ignoring the enemies in the area, eventually, we will be surrounded by them." Natasha nodded at Ryan''s words and proceeded to exin that to her allies. The Medusa''s dungeon was in the West, so Ryan guided Natasha and the survivors toward the North since he felt a vast concentration of monsters in that direction. As usual, he got the attention of several of the Cursed Eyes when he attacked. Those who failed to find him in the dark sky of the night felt the presence of Natasha and the survivors. Still, Ryan slew the vast majority of the monsters before the situation could get dire. In the end, everyone''s hunting speed increased considerably due to arge number of drops and few soldiers picking them. Everyone''s strength significantly increased for a single night, and their morale was sky high even after hunting for ten hours non-stop. Despite that, Ryan decided to retreat when the sun began to rise. "Hehe, fighting with two crossbows is even better than I expected," Ryan smiled confidently. "If I mana to get my hands on a crossbow enchanted with the thunder element, I bet that as long as I have mana, no monster will be able to approach me." While poison was powerful and could make monsters suffer and paralyze them to some extent. The number of inorganic monsters that Ryan found in which werepletely useless was pretty high. However, the chances that he might find monsters that were strong against ice and thunder were pretty slim, and those elements were perfect for long-ranged fighters to keep the enemies at bay. "Now, who is getting carried away?" Femradiel asked. "I am not. This is just the truth of the facts," Ryan shrugged. "Still, when am I going to find monsters that can use lightning attacks?" "Maybe you shouldn''t be so eager to find them," Femradiel said. "Dodging those types of attacks is pretty difficult." "No pain, no gain," Ryan said. "Even worse than finding them, is not finding them and let their power increase endlessly." Although Natasha seemed pretty tired, she also got a decent number of loot and was pretty excited since it has been a long since her friends and she managed to kill so many monsters. Despite that, she still was reasonable enough to understand that she needed a few hours of sleep before the next round. In the meanwhile, Ryan created potions and prepared some crossbows. Chapter 364 - Petrification Crossbow Petrification Crossbow (Stone) (+3) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of twenty-five points of mana that might petrify your foes based on their level of mentality and willpower. Dexterity + 91, Intelligence + 39 Durability: 60/60 "As expected, I won''t be able to make better weapons without leveling up certain skills," Ryan nodded to himself after he finally used Seal on a Cursed Eye. "Maybe if I craft the weapons with a bit more care, it will make them more powerful, but I am not good enough to make adjustments that can make a real difference." Natasha and the others frowned when they saw Ryan just half-killing the first Cursed Eye they found after breakfast. They frowned, even more when they saw an ordinary crossbow suddenly emitting a gray glow out of nowhere. They knew how to craft weapons, but they didn''t know that humans could make magic weapons yet. In any case, Ryan stored the weapon away since it wouldn''t be of any use against the Cursed Eyes. Just as Natasha and Ryan predicted, many survivors decided to join them to hunt during the day, but what they didn''t predict was that hunting monsters during the day would be way less efficient. They lost the surprise element that the darkness of the night granted them. Moreover, most of the Cursed Eyes flew toward Ryan when they found him¡­ who could have thought that his weapon would be turned against him? While the survivors seemed unsatisfied that Ryan was getting most of the coins, they decided to stay quiet when the monsters dropped items, and he showed no interest in them. "It looks like we should focus on hunting at night," Ryan said. "Femradiel, do you have any idea how many monsters are in this region?" "Around fifty thousand, without counting the bosses," Femradiel replied. "The number of bosses is 450." "Fifty thousand¡­ that isn''t so bad," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In any case, just as I had imagined, the people here didn''t kill a single boss¡­ when they find them, it might cause some problems." Ryan will have to find a way to boost the morale of the survivors. While defeating a little more than ten thousand Cursed Eyes every day wasn''t much of a problem. He didn''t want to fight all the bosses in a single day¡­ which was too risky. After thinking for a while, Ryan found a possible solution to that problem, but it was a double-edged sword that could cause some issues. Before talking with Natasha about that, Ryan decided to focus on the hunt. Based on Ryan''s calctions, they killed around eight thousand Cursed Eyes during the day, and they could double that number at night. Still, after sunset, Ryan and the others returned to the base, and he decided to tell Natasha about his n. "Natasha, I am thinking of increasing the Petrification Resistance of your allies," Ryan said. "It is obvious that the Medusas will be much more powerful than those weak mobs. So, to decrease the strain on you and me since we are the only ones who can use Purification, that is necessary." "Wouldn''t it be better if you teach that skill to others as well?" Natasha asked. "I can only have a certain number of students at a time, so that isn''t possible," Ryan replied. "I imagined that, so how do you n on doing that?" Natasha asked. "With this," Ryan said and then took out a spear from his spatial ring Petrification Spear (STONE) (+3) Effect: it gives you the chance to petrify your foes based on their mentality and willpower. Strength + 104, Speed + 52 Disability: 120/120 "... Do you n on wounding my people with that?" Natasha frowned while looking at a replica of the Paralyzing Spear that had been enchanted with a soul of a Cursed Eye. "Just a scratch should activate the petrification effect," Ryan said. "The petrification will start slowly with that, but given that we need to make all the people here level up that resistance, that will help us." "I am not sure about this. It sounds too risky," Natasha said. "There is another option, but then you and your friends will have to use a lot of coins," Ryan said. "I can sell some equipment to you guys. However, I wouldn''t rmend that since you will lose coins and won''t obtain status points." "... I can''t force my men to do that, but I am going to ask those who are interested in that," Natasha said. Ryan nodded since it was only natural. In the meantime, he scratched himself here and there to level up his own resistances. As expected, the more points on his body started to petrify, the faster the skill leveled up. Since it was scary to lose his limbs'' feeling, Ryan ended up using Purification since he was flying and didn''t want to risk himself all that much. In the end, only the most hardcore survivors, those who fought alongside Natasha since the very beginning, epted Ryan''s offer. So, he helped them for a few hours before the next time they could leave the city to hunt at night again. Once again, the trick to convince others was to be patient. Those who epted to train their Petrification Resistance with Ryan fought more vigorously when the monsters approached, and thus, their hunting speed increased. Even when they got hit by the Petrifying Gaze, they didn''t fall back as the fact that slowed considerably due to just a few level-ups. "Even though their Petrifying Gaze is at such high-level, the effects aren''t that strong when the survivors came in contact for just a few seconds," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "In any case, we can''t stop now since the Medusas will be much more difficult to deal with." Thanks to his hard work and everyone''s high morale, Ryan and the others managed to y the mobs in the region in just three days, and they finally found the dungeon. In the end, the sight of the bosses made Ryan frown¡­ Chapter 365 - Medusas Medusa ¨C Lv 350 Health: 25.000/25.000 Mana: 55.000/55.000 Stamina: 15.000/15.000 Strength: 1000 Dexterity: 3000 Speed: 1500 Intelligence: 7500 (+1500) Endurance: 2000 Control: 3500 (+500) Mentality: 5000 (+500) Luck: 500 Recovery: 10.000 (+1500) Willpower: 5000 (+500) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Scream Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 320, Improved Intelligence Lv 250 Spells: Petrifying Gaze Lv 350 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 300, Cold Resistance Lv 300, Freeze Resistance Lv 300, Shock Resistance Lv 300, Poison Resistance Lv 300, Petrification Resistance Lv 500, "Femradiel, you said that the number of bosses was over four hundred¡­ why I see only ten of them?" Ryan asked. "Thest time I checked, their numbers were much higher¡­" Femradiel said, and she looked as confused as Ryan. "I guess they noticed that someone troublesome wasing, and they decided to kill each other to create a small, but much more powerful army of bosses. If you look carefully, you can see some piles of stones around the dungeon." The dungeon was located in a valley that had just a few trees. There were some others'' traces, but it looked like those turned into stones and then disintegrated after a while when the battle between the bosses urred. Regardless, the monsters'' level was worrisome, but what impressed Ryan most was the fact that the bosses pretty much resembled ordinary women. They were a bit tall, like more than two meters tall, but there were no snakes in the ce of hair. The bosses wore those old one-piece dresses that many saw in some drawings that intended to represent how certain types of people used in ancient Greece. Aside from that, the Medusas pretty much didn''t look alike. Some were ck-haired, some were blond, some even had red hair¡­ Regardless, even from so far away, Ryan could tell that their eyes were crimson red, and they were ready to fight. "You didn''t mention that they looked so human," Ryan said. "That is just a small detail," Natasha said. "Anyway, I am more worried as to why their numbers are so low, but their levels are so high." Ryan exined to Natasha, and Femradiel told him. Still¡­ it looked that all his preparations had been for naught. While those creatures'' statuses weren''t that impressive given their level, Ryan knew that the soldiers who might get hit by a single time Petrifying Gaze would turn into stone in just a few seconds. The soldiers knew that, so their high-morale instant dropped to low levels when they found the dungeon. In all honest, Ryan didn''t know if he was thankful for the fact that the number of monsters decreased. Maybe he could kill one with his barrage of bolts at a certain distance, but once the others close in, Ryan was certain that he couldn''t escape. They had the double of his speed, after all. Not even sh will save his ass once several of those creatures get close enough. "What if we follow the legend and use the same method that the hero used to kill the Medusa?" Natasha asked. "You are joking, right?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "As if such obvious thing would work. Even if that did happen in reality, I am pretty sure those creatures would know that and wouldn''t fall for the same trick." "You have a point¡­" Natasha said. "Anyway, I never thought that while even have the numerical advantage, we would feel so insecure. We have some ideas in how to deal with them, but I don''t think we can prepare in time." "What are your ideas?" Ryan asked. "Cover ourselves in full armor and not expose a single part of our bodies, that way, we can at least block their Petrifying Gaze a few times," Natasha said. "We will have to throw away the parts hit by it, but I guess it is better than fighting unprotected." While thinking for a while, Ryan recognized that it was a decent idea. It just needed some adaptations. Even if they use a shield or something else to block petrifying gaze, the effect will eventually pass to other parts of the equipment or their bodies if they keep holding that equipment. "Most of you guys have decent long-ranged spells, right?" Ryan asked. "Instead of focusing on defense, you should focus on attacking." "¡­ That doesn''t seem like a wise idea," Natasha frowned. "We don''t want to let our numbers decrease. We don''t want to let anyone be a status in front of others either since that will cause unrest," Ryan said. "So, our main focus will be to prevent that. Full armor and big shields will only slow down you guys, and given the difference in speed, that isn''t a good idea. So, I will focus on defense for you guys." "How so?" Natasha frowned. "Like this, I guess," Ryan said. Ryan used Earth Maniption and made some blocks of earth fly around them. They were big enough to cover even the bosses, so their attacks won''t turn anyone into stone unless they fly or jump. Ryan considered creating proper shields to withstand the monsters'' power, but that would be a waste of time. "I guess that might work," Natasha rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "If you control ten of them every single moment, you can block all the petrifying gazes of the monsters, and that skill is the real problem. Still, you will have to show everyone that you can watch their backs with those. Just the theory alone won''t make them think that this is a good idea." Ryan nodded. He wished that he had done that sooner when the number of Cursed Eyes was high. Regardless, even though it took a while for the newly spawned Cursed Eyes to find them, Ryan managed to make a demonstration of what he was nning. Somehow, he convinced one of the soldiers to fight alone against three Cursed Eyes, and against that number of foes, Ryan easily managed to block their field of vision toward the soldier. When the earth blocks got petrified, Ryan threw them toward the monsters and bought some seconds, while he created other blocks. Thanks to it, they managed to convince the other survivors that that was a fight that they could win. Chapter 366 - Team Work Ryan, Natasha, and the others found the dungeon around noon. They wouldn''t have much time to defeat all the bosses, but they still decided to face them that same day. There were some reasons for that. Even though Ryan and Natasha convinced the survivors to fight, they might change their minds if they return to their homes. While that wasn''t really a problem for Ryan, he wanted to make his job easier by fighting with as many soldiers as possible. After making some preparations, which were mostly just making some blocks of earth in which the Medusas wouldn''t break so easily with a body m or something. Ryan proceeded to pick his Sagittarians'' bow. He couldn''t use his enchanted arrows with his crossbow after all. "Do you have a collection of weapons or something?" Natasha asked. Since he was concentrating, Ryan ignored Natasha''s question. He couldn''t afford to fail right now, and Ryan was determined to kill at least a single boss with the first strike. Despite the apparent reason for his action, Femradiel still decided to talk with him in such an important moment. "If you don''t mind, I can help you a little bit in this fight," Femradiel said. "I can control the earth blocks with Telekinesis, or I can control your arms and fight with the crossbows. The choice is yours." "Did you forget our deal?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ I was just trying to help since you are so afraid of letting those strangers down," Femradiel replied. "¡­Are you better than me at using Telekinesis?" Ryan asked. "I am, but you wouldn''t want me to use my powers, right?" Femradiel said. "I was going to fight relying on your status. At the very least, I can be as good as you. Perhaps a little more if I don''t use Zen." That was more than good enough¡­ in the end, Ryan let Femradiel join the fight. There was no reason to let his pride get in the way when human lives were on the line. It would be disastrous if they lose humans with that level of strength, after all. Ryan began to prepare his Power Shot. While Natasha and her allies already expected that he would use that skill, they didn''t expect that Ryan would charge it for more than ten minutes, even without using any potions. Eventually, there was so much energy on the projectile that even without using Appraisal or Analysis, Natasha noticed that Ryan was being damaged, just like his bow. At thest moment, Ryan activated Iplete Reptilian Transformation, Deadly Aim, Perfect Aim, and then fired. Even before the arrow couldnd on the target, Ryan had already stored away his bow and equipped his crossbows. Three kilometers away from their current position, a massive explosion happened, but the energy only spread for a single moment since Ryan used a frost arrow. In the end, the legs of three Medusas froze, and other received considerable damage, but Ryan failed at killing the one he aimed at. Ryan didn''t even waste time clicking his tongue. He just aimed his crossbows at his first target and made bolts rain over the beast. While the monsters were recovering from the Power Shot, Ryan managed to finish off his first target, but when that happened, the others found him, Natasha, and the soldiers. You obtained 1.110.000 coins. Ryan selected a new target, but in just a few seconds, he missed so many times that he couldn''t help but frown. The speed of the Medusas running wasn''t a joke¡­ in the end, Ryan was forced to fire his frost arrows toward the monsters in order to slow them down a little bit. It worked, but Ryan barely caused any damage. Natasha and the others only joined the fight when the bosses were five hundred meters away from them, and their uracy dropped even more than Ryan''s. While they were approaching, the bosses tried to hit Ryan with Stone Arrows that looked more like Stone Spears, but he dodged them all while he fired his bolts. Two medusas jumped to attack him, but they only hit the air when Ryan used sh. The other monsters finally reached the survivors on the ground, but since they tried to split apart from them with their bare hands, Femradiel stopped them by firing the stone blocks at their faces. The bosses got stunned by the attack, and the survivors bombarded them with magic attacks, Ryan joined them. Still, even so, the monsters were barely flinching¡­ as expected of the elemental resistances that were above three hundred. "It looks like they are also weak against earth magic," Femradiel said. "Not like I can attack with a crossbow that have such elemental affinity," Ryan protested. The two medusas that attacked Ryan were back for more, and it looked like they had no intention of letting him attack nonstop. Ryan used sh again, and immediately took out his hammer and axe from the special ring. "I won''t be able to protect them effectively if you move away from your current position," Femradiel warned. "Also, while relying on your status, you shouldn''t control more than two of those magic weapons. Otherwise, you will have a hard time using potions." Ryan already knew that, but he didn''tin. He made his weapons spin as fast as possible before making them fly toward the monsters. Hopefully those won''t turn into stones too fast. Ryan really likes their effects, after all. The bosses tried to punch away the magic weapons and actually, one of them seeded, but the other broke its arm when it got hit by the hammer. Ryan chose those weapons for their weight, but he had forgotten that the earth element enchanted the hammer. Ryan smirked thanks to that¡­ After making sure to aim at their lower half, Ryan made his hammer spin again, while the ax was flying around the monsters to draw their attention. While the wounded boss was trying to prevent its legs from being crushed and the other was focused on the ax, Ryan made the remaining frost arrows rain over them. Chapter 367 - 2 Vs 1 The two bosses suffered considerable damage since Ryan was only focused on them, but eventually, they decided to ignore Ryan''s ax and focus on the hammer. Thanks to it, they managed to grab the weapon and then look at it, transforming into stone and then breaking into many pieces. "You are going to pay for that¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Ryan activated Perfect Aim and then selected his target: the eyes of the wounded boss. He made rain bolts over the monster''s face, and the creature couldn''t do anything aside from using its arms to block the projectiles. The other boss tried to use Petrifying Gaze, but since Ryan was dozens of meters above ground level, their attack never reached him. The monster hesitated while it was thinking about what to do, and Ryan used that chance to activate Firing Posture. The number of his attacks increased exponentially, and eventually; the poisonous effect of his crossbow was causing stupid amounts of damage on the wounded boss. The second creature tried to buy some time by leaping and attacking Ryan, but Femradiel stopped the creature by smashing its face with a block of earth. The monster fell, and while it was recovering from the impact, Ryan finished off the other one. You obtained 1.110.000 coins. "While I congratte you for defeating another, your supply of mana is quickly running out," Femradiel warned. "You might wanna focus more and rely less on Perfect Aim. Otherwise, your attack speed will decrease exponentially." Ryan nodded after hearing that. Still, he wanted to finish a few more monsters without worrying about his supplies. It didn''t look like Natasha, and the others had killed even one of the other bosses, so Ryan couldn''t see any other way out of that situation. No, there was a way out¡­ After grabbing the Paralyzing Spear from the spatial ring, Ryan made the ax spin and then proceeded to fire it at the boss that was targeting him. In the end, the monster grabbed the weapon with both hands and stopped its momentum. The beast looked at the weapon and tried to petrify it. However, it was forced to stop when a sharp pain on its back suddenly was felt. The creature tried to look behind, but it failed in doing so. It was only obvious that the monster wouldn''t see that the Paralyzing Spear had pierced its back. Ryan recovered his hammer and then used Purification to stop the effects of Petrifying Gaze. After that, he made bolts rain down over the monster while he was using Telekinesis to make his spear spin even on the back of the monster. "Woah¡­ you are really nasty," Femradiel said. "Focus on your job. If you fail, I won''t trust you any important task in the future," Ryan said. Despite saying that, Ryan knew that Femradiel had things under control. That was obvious since Natasha wasn''t asking for help. Even though she and her friends were facing seven bosses. Regardless, little by little the boss Ryan was facing was losing health at a quick pace. In the end, two other bosses tried to target Ryan before he could finish the third monster, but they acted toote for that. You obtained 1.110.000 coins. You obtained 75.365 coins. At the same time, Ryan finished the third monster, Natasha and the others killed their first boss. Ryan sighed in relief, but the mood soon changed when the two bosses returned, and he noticed that something was off. One Medusa was carrying the other on her back. Ryan attacked both of them, and Femradiel tried to smash them with a stone block. However, when that happened, the second once jumped and dodged the attack. Femradiel used another earth block, the boss used Petrifying Gaze, and the first monster fired several Stone Arrows to destroy it. Ryan tried to escape by using sh, but in the end, the boss''s skill still touched his legs and petrified them instantly, and sh failed for some reason¡­ "You have got to be kidding me," Ryan clenched his teeth and activated Purification. In the end, Ryan recovered his legs, but not before the monster could grab him by shoulders and forced him to look into their eyes. Ryan closed his eyes immediately but still managed to make his magic weapons leave his spatial ring and attack the monster. Ryan did all that while constantly using Purification, but somehow, his mana never reached the bottom. Femradiel tried to move away from the monster by hitting it with the earth blocks, but the boss had no intention of letting Ryan go, and its grips were crushing Ryan''s shoulders. "Can I do something else?" Femradiel asked. "It will be hard to solve this situation by relying on your powers alone." "You already are doing too much," Ryan muttered. "Exin to me howe my mana isn''t dropping?" "I have no idea¡­" Femradiel said. In the end, Ryan finally hit the monster''s back with his Paralyzing Spear, and the grip on his shoulders weakened, and he freed himself. He used sh to escape to the sky and also saw the ground near the boss cracking. Soon after, the other boss that attacked him appeared. Femradiel didn''t have even the decency to admit that she was doing more than Ryan told her to¡­ Powered by anger, Ryan made his Iplete Reptilian Transformation move to his head. After that, he made several earth arrows appear around the bosses. Before they could try to do anything, he attacked them. The overall damage was barely noticeable, but Ryan managed to make Bleed be activated in many parts of their bodies. After seeing the monsters bleeding like a waterfall, he managed to calm down a little. One of the bosses tried to leap toward Ryan while the other still was being impaled by the Paralyzing Spear, but then the monster received a warm wee. Ryan finally took out his shield from his spatial ring and smashed the monster with it. Chapter 368 - New Class In the air, and while it was falling, the monster couldn''t do anything. So, Ryan pierced the monster with his three fire swords. While they didn''t have much piercing power like the Paralyzing Spear, Ryan solved that problem by making them spin. "Let''s hope that you won''t get addicted to using your weapons like a skewer," Femradiel said. The monster tried to use Petrifying Gaze on the fire swords, but whenever it tried, Ryan attacked its face with his bolts. Little by little, thanks to the power of his Telekinesis, Ryan stabbed through the monsters with his magic weapons. Femradiel was right, that was a pretty nasty way to kill an enemy, but Ryan couldn''t care less about that. In the end, the monsters died at the same time, unable to resist the power of Ryan''s magic weapons passing through them. You obtained 854.632 coins. You obtained 785.998 coins. Ryan sighed in relief again, but then he quickly looked at the battlefield near him. Natasha and her friends were still fighting the remaining bosses, and after a few seconds, another one fell. Ryan decided to give them a hand, but Natasha stopped him. "Stop! We can do this!" Natasha said while she was running around healing those who had got hit by the Petrifying Gaze. "If we do less than you together, we will only be embarrassing ourselves." Ryan couldn''t see any meaning in that when he already did more than them faster, but in the end, he decided to just watch the fight. Femradiel kept using earth of blocks to stop the monsters now and then, but only that. "For someone so greedy, I didn''t expect you would leave them alone when there are so many coins to be received," Femradiel said. "I don''t want to hear that from a dragon," Ryan said. "Regardless, this is necessary to make Natasha feel indebted to me. Humans are troublesome creatures, but I can tell that Natasha is someone who has a deep sense of responsibility. After this, she will be much more helpful than before." "You certainly are calctive," Femradiel said. "I would like to think that I am just using my head. After all, I need to be rewarded for my work here," Ryan said. "Without me, they would have never cleared the dungeon." It took a while, but in the end, Natasha and the others managed to defeat the bosses without losing a single soldier before sunset. The battle had been so intense for them that they had to let themselves fall on the ground bathed with their blood and the monsters'' blood. While they were resting, Ryan sent a skeleton to inside the dungeon. He gave the monster the order to reach the end and then return as fast as possible. Some Cursed Eyes would spawn, so he made the skeleton carry five battle machines that would probably be enough to defeat the mob monsters. If there is a boss hidden in there, the skeleton won''t return¡­ but in the end, the skelly returned. "Enough resting," Natasha dered. "It is time to harvest the fruits of our hard work." Much to everyone''s surprise, the medusas didn''t drop anything. While they received a lot of coins, they still hoped that they would receive items or tomes. Ryan even forgot to look for those. He truly was only interested in the next ss. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the underground dungeon was really different from the ordinary ones. The walls weren''t as rustic as the others. In fact, it looked like they were in some sort of building that had many walls and intersections¡­ it looked like a real maze. "What was the story where a Greek hero had to find a monster in abyrinth?" Ryan asked. "Was it the minotaur? The Medusa? Or both?" "I don''t remember that either¡­" Natasha frowned. Ryan was forced to raise his guard again, but in the end, he only found Cursed Eyes along the way. The maze wasn''t thatplex either, so after a couple of hours, they found thest part of the dungeon. "You can go first, Ryan," Natasha said. "Without you, we wouldn''t have won against those beasts." "You are right," Ryan shrugged. "You could learn to be a bit humbler, though," Natashaughed. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Royal Guard, Dark yer, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. At that point in time, it was only natural that Ryan wouldn''t be able to recognize if he saw a ss or not before. Conjurer, he was certain that he had seen, but not Royal Guard. As for Dark yer, he was certain that the ss was a new one. It didn''t look like a proper long-ranged ss, but Ryan picked that anyway. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Dark yer! You obtained the following skills: Sonic de, Hunt, and Motivation. Your stamina and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sonic de. Effect: It grants you the power to enchant a melee weapon with pure energy and fire the energy as a projectile at the enemy at supersonic speed. The damage caused will be equal to your strength, intelligence, and dexterity plus one percent per level. Cost: 100 mana and 100 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hunt. Effect: It grants you the chance to select a target, and whenever you are fighting that target, your movement speed will increase by a percentage ording to the level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana. Duration: 60 seconds You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Motivation. Effect: when defeating your targets, your health, mana, and stamina will be restored by two points multiplied by the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 369 - Celebration As expected, the new ss wouldn''t help Ryan all that much to improve his archer''s skills. Still, those were pretty interesting skills. Sonic de was particrly interesting since Ryan had to use mana and stamina because it was the first skill. Regardless, he stepped back to give Natasha and the others the chance to pick their own sses. "Mission aplished," Femradiel said. "What is the next step?" "Wait for Natasha to help me," Ryan replied. "Based on what she told me, the other tier three dungeons in this country have already been cleared. Based on my experience, tons of people would be there waiting every day to get their hands on those sses, so I have to rely on her." "Despite everything, you still want to be diplomatic, huh," Femradiel said. "Anyway, I will return to my n of focusing on using Zen." Since Natasha and her friends had already decided a long time ago which type of fighters they wanted to be, they didn''t waste much time choosing their next sses. Unfortunately, some of them didn''t get a chance to pick a new ss, but they felt satisfied in staying behind to keep guarding the dungeon. "I guess it is time to celebrate," Natasha smiled from ear to ear. "Let''s drink until we fall!" It was the first time Ryan saw Natasha in a nonbat mode, and now he finally realized that she was amazingly beautiful. Given that she was tall, blond, blue-eyed, and Russian, he could picture her as a model quite easily. Still, weirdly enough, Ryan only realized those facts objectively. He didn''t think of getting closer to her¡­ it looked like he wasn''t just traumatized with redheads. He was also traumatized by too attractive women. That was sad in many ways, "When are we going to the next dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Already in a business mode?" Natasha asked. "With my current speed, we will have to run for thirty-six hours to reach the next level three dungeon. So, we can go tomorrow morning." "Will you be up for such a journey after partying the entire night?" Ryan asked. "I am a responsible leader. You can rest assured that everything will be ready tomorrow at the first light," Natasha said. After returning to the camp, Natasha gave some survivors the order to bring the best food and drinks. Only at times like these people could truly rx. However, Ryan decided to celebrate on the city''s walls while resting his body against Furball''s warm fur. Some survivors came to greet him and offer drinks, but Ryan didn''t understand a single thing they said. Still, he managed to solve the situation by forcing a few smiles and drinking a few vodka shots. Russians really liked their vodka, so they didn''t offer too much to Ryan, fortunately. At the end, when morning came, the whole camp was silent since pretty much everyone was dead drunk. Aside from Ryan and Furball, no one else was guarding the ce or was up for battle. "Responsible leader, huh," Ryan facepalmed. There was no point in being unpleasant at such a moment, so Ryan waited until noon while taking a few naps for Natasha. She showed up around that time, looking like crap. As expected, she was enduring one hell of a hangover. "You can climb on Furball if you want. Just give him the directions," Ryan said with a smile on his face. "Oh¡­ I will ept your kind offer," Natasha said. In the end, Natasha regretted epting that offer. Furball''s speed was insane. Thanks to it, Natasha''s stomach quickly turned up. After throwing up just a single time, he decided to run, but since her speed in that state wasughable, Ryan gave her a ride with a stone block. While it was fast thanks to Ryan''s telekinesis, it was much steadier, so Natasha had a pleasant trip while she was recovering from the hangover. "With this current speed, I guess we will arrive tomorrow before sunset," Natasha said. "Can you keep it up?" "No problem," Ryan said while he was on Furball''s back. "Now that we are here, I can give you some warning," Natasha said. "You worked hard to earn our trust, but I don''t think things will work out that easily on the two next dungeons." "I already imagined that," Ryan said. "The number of survivors in those two camps is pretty high, but that isn''t a problem. The problem is the leaders of those ces," Natasha said. "They are real troublesome nationalists, and they value certain things above anything else, aside from their nationalism. You will have a hard time there, but if you endure everything quietly, we can clear the dungeon in just a few days." "That will depend on what I will have to endure," Ryan said. "You already saw me acting with you and your friends. That is as much as diplomatic I can be." In the end, Natasha sighed. While she didn''t know Ryan for a long time, it was clear that he wasn''t someone who would let others do whatever they want to him. He was strong, and while he wasn''t arrogant, he wasn''t a pushover either. Natasha could tell that Ryan had to do many unpleasant things to survive, and she could know that he killed many humans, and he wouldn''t hesitate to do that again if it is necessary. "I don''t like those two either, but despite everything, they are respected leaders. Many even idolize them," Natasha said. "If you ept their provocations, you will end up making an enemy out of many people." "Well, I will try my best to avoid wasting my time," Ryan said. "I also don''t kill indiscriminately; I only kill those who point their weapons at me. I can''t lower my standards any further, so I will rely on you to prevent those things might escte to a dangerous level." "I will do my best, but don''t expect miracles," Natasha shrugged. Ryan and Natasha kept traveling westward until they found the next day another walled city that he had no idea how to pronounce the name. Unlike the ce Natasha was living, that camp was at least twenty timesrger, and Ryan was expecting an equally massive number of survivors living there. Regardless, Ryan was genuinely impressed by how much of a good job the ce''s leader had done. While Natasha described them as unpleasant people, at least they werepetent. Ryan and Natasha didn''t find a single monster in hundreds of kilometers, after all. Chapter 370 - A Difficult Person When Ryan and Natasha approached the gates of the city, dozens of guards pointed crossbows at them. Ryan confirmed that neither of them had many points in dexterity so that they wouldn''t cause much damage. His mana also began to drop, proving that they were trying to use Appraisal on him. Natasha stepped forward and spoke with the guards in Russian. While they did recognize her, they seemed pretty angry that she brought a stranger with her, or maybe it was due to the fact that she left her post behind so suddenly. In the end, the guards used a radio tomunicate with someone, and Natasha stepped back. "They are talking with Irina, the leader of this city," Natasha said with a frown on her face. "So, the leader of this ce is also a woman?" Ryan asked, visibly surprised. "Got a problem with that?" Natasha asked. "Not a problem, but I can''t deny that I am surprised," Ryan shrugged. "She is difficult in certain senses, but you will probably be fine if you ignore all her bullshit and reply only to her serious questions," Natasha said. Ryan and Natasha had to wait for three hours for them to be received by the said Irina. It was clear that she made them wait for her on purpose. The city was big, but not that big. Irina was another gorgeous woman. She had long, straight ck hair and quite a physique. It was hard to know if she practiced some martial art before the monster''s arrival, but it wouldn''t surprise Ryan if she had got that body in thest five months. She was carrying a massive purple sword on her back, after all. Irina appeared apanied by several bodyguards, and for some reason, they were all tall guys with great physiques who also had a smug smile on their faces. Those were the type of men who Ryan tended not to get along well since they were quick to look down on him. Regardless, Ryan''s mana started to decrease like crazy again, but he didn''t let that faze him. "Who gave you the order toe here today, Natasha?" Irina asked while ignoring Ryan. "I heard that you had a few problems with the stone humans a few days ago. Howe you decided to show up yourself when you can''t even keep your dungeon in check." "I don''t owe any exnations to someone who didn''t even try to clear that dungeon," Natasha said. "Regardless, everything is under control now, we cleared the dungeon, and now I am here to use your dungeon with him." Ryan frowned because he couldn''t understand why they were talking in English. While that was convenient, it was confusing. Also, it was weird that Irina knew that Ryan could speak thenguage. While he was American, people with his facial features could be found all over the world. "That is impossible," Irina said. "We have hundreds of survivors on the line to receive their sses." "We can pay for it," Natasha said. Irina frowned and tried to see things through Natasha. She could tell that she got strong, a lot stronger than thest time they met. Still, Irina was having a hard time believing that Natasha cleared a dungeon with less than one hundred survivors, a dungeon that had broken four times. The fifth dungeon break was about to happen, so unless Natasha had gone mad, what she said was really true. "¡­ I will confirm thister," Irina said. "If you wish to enter the city, your friend here will have to give us all his equipment, and that beast will stay out of the city." "That won''t be necessary. Whatever he may do inside the city, I will take full responsibility," Natasha said. "¡­ You certainly will," Irina said that without hiding her displeasure. After saying that, Irina left the area, but fortunately, she didn''t forget to give the guards the orders to open the gates. Ryan, Natasha, and Furball finally could enter. "She is lovely, as you said," Ryan said. Unlike the other ces Ryan found in the Russian territory, that city looked pretty neat. The houses weren''t made of wood, and their design seemed pretty modern. It looked like some mages who could use earth magic had been busy there. The inhabitants of the ce didn''t even try to hide their displeasure. Since those who could use Appraisal couldn''t check Ryan''s statuses, they were crazy enough to taunt someone who they had no idea how strong he was. Fortunately, or perhaps as expected, no one went too far with the cheap taunts since Furball was quite fearsome and didn''t leave Ryan''s side. "We will talk with her again about that to obtain ess to the dungeon," Natasha said. "You shoulde with me since some people might try to pick a fight with you if I leave you alone." "I suppose it can''t be helped," Ryan said. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the dungeon was located in the center of the city, even though some really rough-looking monsters called orcs were spawning from the dungeon. Orc ¨C Lv 180 Health: 7500/7500 Mana: 1500/1500 Stamina: 5000/5000 Strength: 2500 (+300) Dexterity: 500 Speed: 750 Intelligence: 250 Endurance: 4000 (+800) Control: 500 Mentality: 1200 (+300) Luck: 500 Recovery: 4500 (+600) Willpower: 1200 (+300) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 150, Frenzy Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Spearmanship Lv 140, Swordsmanship Lv 140, Shield Mastery Lv 120 Spells: Fireball Lv 80, Ice Arrow Lv 80, Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Electric Resistance Lv 100, Poison Resistance Lv 100, However, the most impressive thing in that ce was a mansion that had been built in front of the dungeon. Only someone stupid, or very arrogant would build a house in front of a tier-three dungeon. "She lives here," Natasha said. " She will probably make us wait again, but we don''t have any other choice aside from enduring it." Ryan was okay with waiting. Unless that woman nned to make them wait for more than a day, he could endure, but only precisely that amount. Chapter 371 - The Last One In the end, after just a couple of hours, the sun began to set, so Natasha shrugged and said to Ryan that was the perfect excuse for Irina to ignore them for several more hours. Ryan got impatient, but when morning came, the fucking bitch finally showed herself. "It is so unpleasant to see your face so early in the morning, Natasha," Irina said. "What do you want? Be quick. I am a busy person." "You know what we want. We want to use the dungeon," Natasha said. "Let us use it already, and we will be on our way as soon as we clear it. That will be the best for you and for us." "Even if you pay to use the dungeon, I can''t just let you use it as soon as possible," Irina said. "I am the leader here, but I am reasonable, and I can''t let my gains interfere with the progress of my subordinates." "Bullshit, as if you care about such a thing," Natasha said. "We will pay you five hundred thousand coins to use the dungeon today. If you let us use the dungeon alone, we will pay the double of that amount." After hearing that, Irina stopped walking and faced Natasha with a frown. She couldn''t believe that she had so many coins to spare. Besides, what is the point of paying the double of that ridiculous amount just to clear the dungeon alone and waste more time-fighting? "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Irina asked, finally looking at Ryan. "My name is Ryan, and I am in a quest to be a Pok¨¦mon master," Ryan replied. "Wow, we have a joker here," Irina said. "If you really want to use this dungeon, you might want to choose your words more carefully." "Is that so? I might consider that in the future," Ryan shrugged. Irina clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she didn''t do anything aside from that. Regardless, gaining that many coins wasn''t something she could easily do nowadays since many people worked for her and used the dungeon. Besides, she liked her current life, where many obeyed hermands without a second thought. So, she couldn''t be unreasonable without¡­ a reason. "If you pay those two million, I can let you use the dungeon today alongside some other survivors," Irina said after thinking for a few minutes. "But after this, you will have to give me a hand with something. Apparently, you grew stronger since thest time, so I want to check your growth." "We are in a hurry here, so we can''t help you with anything," Natasha said. "Besides, who is going to help someone as unpleasant as you?" "Is that so? Then, you won''t have ess to the dungeon," Irina said and then turned around. Natasha clenched her teeth and fists in anger. While she did have more coins, it would be crazy to offer any more to clear a single dungeon. Not only that, it would make her and Ryan appear too suspicious. "Just ept her offer," Ryan said. "She is probably going to ask us to fight some monsters or clear a dungeon or two that she is having a hard time guarding. This is nothing." After a long sigh, Natasha nodded. As far as Ryan was concerned, wasting a few days hunting monsters wasn''t a total waste of time. There was also the fact that Irina wanted to see what Ryan could do, but that wasn''t much of a problem either. He just had to stick with his fighting style that relies on a single crossbow. Besides, that was a good chance for him to recover the coins that he was going to spend. "That was the correct decision," Irina smiled after Ryan and Natasha paid her. "It has been a while, so it will be fun to fight alongside you again." "Yeah, right," Natasha said while looking away. "The operation to clear the dungeon will start in two hours. Stay close and prepare yourself ordingly," Irina said. Even after Irina left, Natasha''s mood didn''t improve. It looked like they had a story together, but Ryan wasn''t interested enough to ask. However, unlike Ryan, Natasha wasn''t someone who enjoyed too much silence. "Irina, Victor, and I were acquaintances before the monsters'' arrival, we fought together for many weeks, but eventually, we divided our group in three to clear those difficult dungeons," Natasha said. "Who is Victor?" Ryan asked. "The other leader who has a level three dungeon under his control," Natasha replied. "We weren''t that close, but I thought we could consider ourselves brothers in arms, but then those assholes changed when they got lucky and obtained some skills and weapons. They used that to gain influence, and, in the end, they tried to be the only leader of a group of thousands. That didn''t work, and they didn''t dare to fight among themselves and cause casualties, so we split into three groups. The most difficult dungeon that we found was left to me, and they used the others that seemed easier to clear to increase their power and influence." "That is amon modus operandi. I can''t imagine why you were surprised when that happened," Ryan said. "Didn''t you fight together with some people when the monsters'' arrived?" Natasha asked. "I fought now and then to clear some dungeon, but only that," Ryan replied. "Well¡­ no wonder you so easily left your country to obtain more power," Natasha said. Natasha wanted to ask if Ryan had left someone behind, but that was a difficult topic. With the world in such a state, it wasn''t hard to find survivors that lost all their families and friends. Most of the time, touching those subjects could cause more problems as well. So, she decided to stay quiet about it. Besides, even though it wasn''t much, Natasha had some preparations to make. ss: Hunter Lv 72 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 145th Health: 1449/1449 (4,11/s) Mana: 2185/2185 (4,11/s) Stamina: 2051/2051 (4,11/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2300 (+1612) (+95) Speed: 140 (+759) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+662) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+812) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+46) (+70) Luck: 74 (+15) Recovery: 900 (+1167) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+46) (+40) Coins: 26.985.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), Sonic de Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 57 (+ 04 UP), Alchemy Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Motivation Lv 01, Spells: Magic Upgrade Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Silence Lv 01, Potion Creation Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Hunt Lv 01, Support Skills: Petrification Resistance Lv 18 (+ 17 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 37 (+ 01 UP), Archer Lv 64 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 49 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 22 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 14 (+ 01 UP), Enchanter Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Magehunter Lv 01, Dark yer Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 31 (+ 03 UP), Teacher Lv 05 (+02 UP), Merchant Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Whitesmith Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 07 (+ 06 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 372 - Irina Unlike most warriors Ryan had seen so far, Irina was wearing just some small pieces of armor. Since they emitted different magic colors, they were probably good against various types of magic. Natasha was the same, but while that was only natural since she was a long-ranged fighter, their styles were much different. Overall, Irina exposed a lot of her skin. That was a sight for some sore eyes, but it seemed that she was going too far to make the others pay attention to her from Ryan''s perspectives. In any case, while they waited, Ryan watched the fights against the orcs up-close. Orcs were like goblins, but they had pig-like faces, and they were even taller than the hobgoblin Ryan fought before. They used many types of weapons and even could use magic, but unlike the goblins, they weren''t stupid enough to leave items behind and strengthen the humans even further. Overall, the survivors of that city had around five sses, and two of them were necessary to face a single orc. "I guess their strength is that they are smart and bnced status-wise," Ryan muttered. "Otherwise, it would be weird to consider them powerful tier-three monsters." "Alone, they seem weak, but I heard that when the boss is around for some reason, their spawning speed increases, and also they gain a boost in strength based on the time the boss stays alive and their level," Natasha said. "All in all, they can be a pain in the ass if their dungeons spawn at least once." Ryan nodded after hearing that, but then again, they weren''t a threat for him. Long-ranged magic couldn''t evenpare in terms of range with his bolts. So, creatures like orcs that were bnced at fighting up-close and in middle-range were easy targets for him. "Let''s get going, today is a busy day, so I will fight alone in order to buy time," Irina dered. While that was boring, it couldn''t be helped. Strangely enough, no oneined either. The group consisted of twenty-four survivors, and aside from Irina, Natasha, and Ryan, all the others only had one or two sses. They certainly weren''t at the level where they could fight the orcs. Irina entered the dungeon and guided everyone. When the first monster appeared, Ryan barely saw the moment where she charged forward and split the beast in half. Although she was an annoying bitch full of herself, she was the real deal when ites to fighting. "That is one of the skills that she gained that is the core of her strength," Natasha exined. "I don''t know the name, but it increases her movement and attack speed exponentially." Irina ss: Swordsman Lv 60 / Silent Killer Lv 55 / Swordmaster Lv 51 (--) Race: Illusionary Wasp/--/ -- Rank: 185th Health: 1950 /1950 Mana: 1550/1550 Stamina: 1601/1601 Strength: 2050 (+350) (+130) Dexterity: 250 (+150) (+40) Speed: 1620 (+300) (+90) Intelligence: 220 (+150) (+30) Endurance: 100 (+110) (+160) Control: 06 (+120) (+30) Mentality: 40 (+40) (+30) Luck: 150 (+50) Recovery: 600 (+350) (+100) Willpower: 30 (+40) (+20) Coins: 2.103.36 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive: Swordsmanship Lv 80, Spells: Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 75, Cold Resistance Lv 60, Electric Resistance Lv 50 Ryan got curious, so he used Appraisal when Irina killed another orc. In the end, he couldn''t help but frown at what he saw. The number of skills he could see was weirdly small¡­ it looked like she didn''t know Mind Armor, but she knew a few tricks to hide some of her skills. "I need to level up Appraisal faster¡­" Ryan thought. "For someone who likes to avoid unpleasant surprises, it surprises me that you didn''t do that sooner," Femradiel said. Femradiel was kind of quiet as ofte. Probably because Ryan couldn''t talk to her out loud that frequently anymore. Regardless, she was the same as ever. Since the dungeon didn''t have many intersections and the ce looked just like an ordinary cave. Eventually, they found thest part of the dungeon. However, the boss hadn''t spawned yet. Irina began to concentrate, which made Ryan frown since she didn''t look like someone who would do things seriously. Suddenly, the boss spawned, and Irina disappeared like a blur and attacked the creature. Although her reaction time had been perfect, the monster still managed to block her attack slightly, and, in the end, her sword only cut the boss''s shoulder slightly. The orc boss was like three meters tall, and it looked like his body was made only of muscles. The creature''s sword was longer than Irina''s, but the monster swung it with lightning speed to block the attack. Irina tried to overpower the boss with sheer strength, but in the end, she failed and kicked the monster''s chin and retreated a few steps. The boss pointed its left hand toward her and fired several Fireballs, Irina cut only the first one, causing a small explosion, and in the next moment, she appeared behind the creature and made her sword pierce the monster''s back. While the beast was growling in agony, she stepped back and then returned and kicked her sword, making a big wound to open on the monster''s back. After that, things were pretty much one-sided. Irina kept using her sword to make the beast agonize. Not even a boss could do much aside from suffering when a big sword was impaling them. That being said, Ryan felt that the beast didn''t resist all that much¡­ the sword probably had some effect that paralyzed the beast or at least prevented it from trying hard. "An anesthetic effect?" Ryan thought. "Seems like it," Femradiel said. While that was very convenient, Ryan couldn''t deny Irina''s strength. Besides, even if she were lucky, she had to fight some tough enemies to obtain such a useful sword. Her arrogance was well-founded. In any case, that didn''t mean that Ryan had a good reason to endure herpany or annoying behavior. Only the dungeons that she had under her control could be considered reasons for that. Chapter 373 - New Class Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Frost Guardian, Silent Killer, and Puppet Master. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction since he didn''t see those sses before, and he was one hundred percent sure of it. Given that Frost Guardian was one of those specialized sses, it made sense why a melee fighter like Irina picked the Silent Killer ss. Still, Ryan was slightly bothered by the fact that he wasn''t lucky enough to obtain another ss that would directly support his fighting style. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Silent Killer! You obtained the following skills: Skill Camouge, Silent Attack, and Silent Movement. Your stamina and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Skill Camouge. Effect: It grants you the power to hide some of your skills from skills like Appraisal. For every five levels, you can hide one more skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Silent Attack. Effect: By consuming mana, you can make your attackspletely inaudible at the cost of your mana. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Silent Movement. Effect: By consuming mana, you can make your body move without making any sound. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Although the cost of the skills was pretty high, they were more useful than Ryan thought. Even better, since they consumed mana per second instead of per attack, Ryan will be able to y many enemies without alerting others. It looked like leveling up that ss will be pretty straightforward. After his turn ended, Ryan waited for the others. Irina was still fighting the orcs that were asionally spawning; for Natasha, she seemed pretty unsatisfied about something. Once again, Ryan decided not to involve himself with the problems of others. While Natasha already proved that she could be trusted when she said that she would take responsibility for his actions, Ryan wanted to keep a certain distance from others. Working together was fine, but some space was required. Otherwise, he would recall what happened to Lucia and the others pretty much every moment. "Two down, one to go, right?" Natasha asked. "Now we just need to help his bitch for a few days." "I can hear you," Irina said. "I talked with that intention from the beginning¡­" Natasha said. "Anyway, you seem someone who is a natural with long-ranged weapons, Ryan. What did you do before the monsters arrived?" "Getting personal, aren''t we?" Ryan frowned. "What I was before didn''t help me be better with bows and crossbows. Regardless, my Dad taught me how to use a bow for several years, and I used the knowledge to survive." "I see¡­ I never had any real training with long-ranged weapons. I just chose the crossbow as a weapon because it seemed easy to use," Natasha said. "Do you have any tips for me?" "Practice every day and keep increasing your dexterity like there is no tomorrow," Ryan replied. Natasha wanted to hear something more specific. After all, she was already doing that from the very beginning. Despite that, she could tell that the difference in skill was too great. Fortunately, it didn''t look like Ryan was lying. He indeed seemed like someone who had a one-track mind, which was probably how he was mastering bows. After a while, everyone picked their sses and then left the dungeon. Ryan and Natasha waited for Irina for them to proceed to do the rest of their agreement, but then Irina left the dungeon and headed toward her house. "Aren''t we going to depart now?" Natasha asked. "Rx, I will just organize a few things. It will take just a moment," Irina replied. Ryan wasn''t the only one who was in a hurry, while her soldiers could control with ease the Medusas'' dungeon. Fighting the bosses was another matter. She wanted to return as quickly as possible and help them. In the end, Irina''s minute turned into half an hour. Natasha was so impatient that she was clicking her tongue pretty much every single moment. "You will end up exploding a vein like that," Ryan said. "Sorry¡­ but this girl is just too much for me," Natasha said. As If the situation wasn''t unbearable enough for Natasha, Irina showed up along with her bodyguards. While they looked like bodyguards, the fact that they were all hunky guys made Ryan understand that they were probably her boyfriends, or at least, her rxation toys¡­ all of them. "Are you fucking kidding me, Irina?" Natasha asked. "What? I can''t go on a journey without them," Irina replied. "Are they going to be even a little bit useful in the fights?" Natasha asked. "They will help me recover from the fatiguing fights. That is more than enough," Irina shrugged. At that point in time, even Ryan was speechless at Irina. The girl really needed to receive a wake-up call¡­ she was wasting so much potential by acting like that, or perhaps she became that strong because of her nature. In any case, due to her actions, Natasha was about to snap. "All right, before we depart, I must warn you guys that the enemies we are going to face are quite troublesome," Irina said. "If things don''t work well or you don''t follow all mymands, I will pull some strings and make Victorpletely ignore you. Thus, you will be unable to get another ss. So, work hard not to disappoint me." "What are the enemies?" Ryan asked. "Don''t talk to me; if I don''t give you permission, I will forgive you this time, but that won''t happen again¡­" Irina frowned. "The enemies are demons¡­ very troublesome demons." Chapter 374 - They Are Back Demons¡­ it has been a few weeks since Ryan heard of them. However, instead of being bothered by the fact that they were getting on his path again, Ryan felt thankful for the opportunity to y those fuckers. It was much better to fight them than let them go do whatever they want unchecked. Another reason why Ryan wanted to hunt them, was his Demon Hunter ss. In any case, since Irina is an annoying bitch, Ryan couldn''t ask many questions to her. That was actually good since he also didn''t want to hold any conversation with someone like that. While Natasha didn''t have a different opinion, she was fully aware that they couldn''t go to the hunt without knowing anything. So, a few minutes after they left the city, Natasha decided to ask some questions. "Tell us more about the demons," Natasha said. "How are they? What are their weaknesses?" "They are demons. What else do you need to hear?" Irina frowned. "Fire worked against them, but I don''t if that still is useful." "What do you mean by that?" Natasha asked. "¡­ Their dungeon appeared one month ago," Irina began to exin after a long sigh. "At first, only small wasp-like creatures began to spawn, but after flying for a while, the wasps would find a ce to hide, and then they would transform into a demonic-like nt. The nt would give birth to more wasp-like monsters after a while. When they eat, their reproduction speed increases exponentially¡­ all in all, those are disgusting monsters that can alter an entire ecosystem in a matter of days by multiplying themselves. When I heard of them, I began to hunt those creatures since they had some troublesome abilities aside from their propagation, but then suddenly, the monsters became more powerful, and I was forced to retreat." Ryan frowned when he heard that the enemies were demon-like nts that, before being nts, they were wasps¡­ Regardless, it looked like the dungeon master decided to intervene when Irina got on their way. If Irina managed to hunt many of those monsters alone, it looked like they were tier-two monsters, but the dungeon evolved and became a tier-three dungeon. "I wonder why the dungeon only appeared one month ago¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "All the other demonic dungeons appeared in the first month." "You have some experience fighting demons, right?" Natasha asked. "What can you tell us about them?" "All in all, the demons that I heard and faced were direct subordinates of the devil himself," Ryan said. "One of them was Baal, the second I faced was Lilith, and the third one was Mephisto." "¡­ Are you serious?" Natasha asked with a massive frown on her face. "If I tried to make a joke, I wouldn''t use the word demons in my sentences," Ryan replied. "Did you kill them?" Natasha asked. "Nope, someone else and I got our asses kicked and barely survived the encounter," Ryan shook his head. "Their level of power can''t bepared to anything we will face on earth in the next months or years. I fought Mephisto here on Earth. The bastard was so powerful that he was losing health every second since he borrowed the body of one of his minions. That made me understand that they are so powerful that they can''t show their true strength in the current state of our." Natasha analyzed those pieces of information, but then she realized that Ryan didn''t mention him fighting demonic nts, and he got a bit surprised when he heard about them. That means¡­ "So, the owner of the dungeon isn''t Baal, Lilith, or Mephisto," Natasha said. "That is my guess as well. This time, the fight will be against the army of another general of the demons'' army," Ryan said. "Do you think that what Irina experienced will happen again?" Natasha asked. "I don''t think so," Ryan shook his head. "I know a few things that a dungeon master can do, and raise the level of a dungeon is one of them, but that must cost a lot of mana or coins. Considering that we didn''t find a single level four dungeon until now, I can only think that the dungeon masters think that it isn''t worth making those appear here on Earth." "So, we are being looked down, huh?" Natasha furrowed her eyebrows in anger. "I guess we should feel thankful for that," Ryan said. "While those freaks underestimate us, they will give us plenty of chances to kill them." Despite saying that, Ryan still could feel his blood boil just by thinking about Lilith. That demon rubbed a lot of salt on Ryan''s wound, so he didn''t intend to let the bitch go unpunished for long. Unfortunately, Ryan would need to be a little more patient. The difference in power wasn''t something he couldn''t even measure right, so he will need a few more tricks and tools in order to have his revenge. Ryan and the others had to travel for two days to find the area where the demons'' dungeon was located. They probably could have arrived faster, but since Irina was an annoying bitch, she refused to travel at night. Moreover, she was brazen enough not to take any turn on the guard duty. While she always left two or three of her clowns around to keep their eyes on Ryan, they failed miserably at their job. Ryan managed to train several skills without them noticing. Regardless, after those days of travel, they finally found a group of survivors fighting some weird nts and wasps. Those were Irina''sckeys that she had left behind to keep the monsters in check. However, given that Ryan only found six of them and they were utterly exhausted, covered in bruises, and some parts of their body even had strange colorful colors, he assumed that things weren''t going well. Natasha raised their guard because they finally entered the enemies'' territory. Meanwhile, Ryan looked for the monsters in order to use Appraisal. Chapter 375 - Made To Grind Demonic Wasp ¨C Lv 160 Health: 1500/1500 Mana: 2500/2500 Stamina: 1000/1000 Strength: 500 Dexterity: 700 Speed: 600 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 400 Control: 600 Mentality: 500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 900 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Anesthetic Bite Lv 110 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 50, Transformation Lv 100 Spells: Anesthetic Pollen Lv 120, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 70, Shock Resistance Lv 50, Electric Resistance Lv 40 While the attributes of the first wasp Ryan saw weren''t that impressive, the fact that they reached level 160 in just a few weeks was worrisome. In any case, some of the skills that Ryan saw greatly interested him. Knowing them, it looked like Irina got her sword by killing one of those. Before the monster could get too close, Ryan picked Frost Crossbow and killed the beast. The beast didn''t even see the bolting. Meanwhile, Natasha had a hard time seeing the monster that Ryan attacked, while Irina and the others thought that Ryan was attacking the empty air since they didn''t find the enemy. "I left you guys far ahead if I remember correctly," Irina said to her soldiers. "Why did you retreat so much?" "Apologies, ma''am," One of the soldiers replied. "We failed at holding them back, their level and numbers increased a lot more than we predicted." "I can see that, I want more details," Irina said. "What are those marks in your bodies?" "Don''t worry, ma''am," The soldier replied. "Those will disappear in a few days; it is just a mark left by those damn nts. While they exist in our bodies, some of our status decreases exponentially." Now that Ryan thought about it, every single of the soldiers there had melee weapons, and none of them had items that increased their magic attack or intelligence. So, it was only evident that they would fight up-close. It was hard to tell if Irina picked her strongest soldiers or just the most stupid ones. Even after against demons for a few minutes, anyone with half of a brain would understand that keeping a certain distance was absolutely necessary. "Is that so¡­" Irina furrower her eyebrows. "You should rest now; we will take care of the monsters from here on out. Rest for a few days and then return to our camp. Give the order for a new team toe here in a week." "Yes, ma''am," the soldier nodded. Ryan wasn''t entirely certain if he should rely on that kind of knowledge, but in certain games and books, there was a deeply connected demon with creatures like wasps¡­ it was Beelzebub, the lord of the flies. While he didn''t know much about the demon aside from that, Ryan knew that the demon was a powerful monster and sometimes was so powerful that it could even bepared to Baal. Their names were even simr¡­ perhaps the fourth general was indeed Beelzebub. "I don''t think that demon will possess the bodies of those nts or of the wasps," Ryan thought. "One month has passed since the dungeon, so the dungeon broke at least once¡­ some bosses will be waiting for us. I can only tell if the demon might possess them after taking a look at them." "Here is how we are going to proceed," Irina said. "Since you two are boring archers, you will attack the monsters and kill them before they get too close, since this area belongs to me, all the drops will be mine. No questions asked." "What?" Natasha protested. "This area is not yours; you didn''t clear the dungeon!" "I have been keeping the monsters in check and no one tried to help, thus this area is mine," Irina said. "I am the leader here and your opinion on the matter is irrelevant." "You little annoying bitch¡­" Natasha bit her lips in exasperation. Ryan just watched everything in silence since he had imagined that something like that might happen. However, he had no intention of letting that crazy bitch earn the fruits of his hard work, and he already knew how to prevent that. Natasha and Irina found it strange that Ryan didn''t protest, but in the end, the matter ended there. The more they headed southwest, the more wasps they found. While Ryan wanted to keep his skills hidden from people like Irina, he was forced to use Telekinesis to fly high and increase his field of vision. When he killed something, and that something dropped an item, Ryan buried the same item underground by using Telekinesis. Then when he passed above the item, he recovered it without letting anyone notice it. Demonic Cocoon ¨C Lv 160 Health: 5000/5000 Mana: 15000/15000 Stamina: 1000/1000 Strength: 200 Dexterity: 200 Speed: -- Intelligence: 5000 Endurance: 2000 Control: 1000 Mentality: 3000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 5000 Willpower: 3000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Anesthetic Whip Lv 110 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Endurance Lv 70, Replication Lv 150 Spells: Anesthetic Pollen Lv 150, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 100, Earth Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 100, Once again, Ryan frowned when he saw the status of the first demonic nt he saw in the distance. Not only the statuses of the monsters were weird, but the name was also strange. The demonic nt made Ryan recall an octopus, but the creature, instead of a head, it had a cocoon that was used to give birth to more wasps. As for the tentacles, they were just like long leaves that could be used to protect the cocoon. "More and more weird monsters are appearing as ofte," Natasha said while showing a disgusted expression. Ryan couldn''t agree more. Regardless, he bombarded the monster with his Frost Crossbow. The creature tried to block the attacks with its tentacles, but since Ryan attacked the same spot several times, the tentacles frozen and then broke into ice shards. Thanks to Corruption Sense, Ryan could feel the presence of many demons in the area, and based on what Irina said, they still had to walk for dozens of kilometers before reaching the dungeon¡­ Chapter 376 - Spiritual Resistance "You didn''t improve a single bit, Natasha," Irina said. "I am disappointed." "I don''t want to hear that from someone who isn''t doing anything," Natasha said. Since Ryan''s range was at least five times longer than Natasha''s, she didn''t have many chances to fight. She only fought when they found dozens of demonic cocoons and wasps hidden underground, and Ryan decided not to attack with his max firing speed. "Meanwhile, you are not half-bad," Irina said while looking at Ryan. "You are at least a little better than this ipetent girl." "Is that so?" Ryan said while he was looking around for his next target. "If you want, I can make you be the chief of the guard of my city," Irina said. "While you are a foreigner, you have the skills to be a pretty decent guard. As my subordinate, the others won''t be able to do anything to you and in fact, they will treat you as one of our own people. Much better than working for someone like Natasha, don''t you agree?" "I am not interested," Ryan replied. While she was troublesome, Irina wasn''t stupid. Even though she knew that Ryan was holding back, she had recognized his skills. Not only that, he was the first human whom she couldn''t see the status and skills. Despite that, she thought that Ryan was working for Natasha, and she couldn''t be more wrong. "What a waste," Irina shrugged. "If you had epted and worked hard, perhaps I would have left you lick my feet once a day." Irina certainly had a high opinion of herself. In any case, instead of worrying about her high self-esteem, Ryan was more worried about the number of enemies. It has been a while since their progress decreased quite a lot. Now they were moving slower than walking due to the high number of encounters. While Ryan was training his archer sses, he wasn''t getting many coins. For some reason, the number of coins the wasps and cocoons gave him was pretty small. You obtained 12 coins. You obtained 15 coins. "I guess the reason for this problem is that the monsters aren''tbat-oriented," Ryan thought. "They were made to multiply fast and cause damage by spreading their pollen in a vast area." "You are correct," Femradiel said. "It looks like this Beelzebub fellow managed to create high-leveled creatures that wouldn''t grant coins to humans, but still would cause some problems." While looking in the distance toward the dungeon, Ryan could see a yellow sky. That was the pollen emitted by the wasps and demonic cocoons. Fortunately, whenever he killed the monsters of a certain area, the pollen would disappear from the area. After killing some wasps, Ryan waited for the pollen to dissipate, but a gust of wind made it fly toward him, Natasha, and Irina. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spiritual Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect of skills and attacks that might cause direct damage to your mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fatigue Resistance. Effect: Decreases the effect of skills and attacks that might cause direct damage to your stamina. You obtained 01 status point. The skill Cursed Resistance has leveled up. As expected, the pollen had numerous effects, but in essence, it was just an area of effect curse spell. Just like the soldiers that worked for Irina, several stains appeared around Ryan''s body. They caused damage to Ryan''s mana and stamina and also decreased all of his statuses up to a certain percentage. Regardless, Ryan got rid of them after using Purification a few times. "It looks like those monsters are trying to create a massive zone where humans can''t fight," Ryan said. "While dying from being poisoned or cursed is unlikely, they still can train their skills like this and thus, get stronger." "It really is a roundabout way to corner humans," Natasha frowned after she used Purification on herself as well. "Did the other demons you faced use a simr strategy?" "No¡­ and that is what makes me worry," Ryan replied. It would make sense if the sole goal of the dungeon master were to make the dungeon reach the max level using that strategy, but at that point in time, the demonic generals probably heard of Ryan. So, unless they were dead brain idiots, they were supposed to know that such a strategy wouldn''t work against him. They also knew that Ryan was traveling through the continents, so it was only obvious that Ryan would eventually find them again. In the end, the first day of the hunt ended without much progress. Ryan couldn''t understand the goal of the dungeon master even after thinking about the situation for several hours. Regardless, Irina''s bodyguards that didn''t do a single thing the whole day, just like her, armed the camp and a massive tent for her. As for Ryan and Natasha, they only could make use of the campfire that they made. "Are you going to take the first turn of the guard duty?" Natasha asked. "I think we should stay alert through the entire night together since we are close to the enemies'' territory." "If you can find them at night, you are free to join me," Ryan said. "However, if you can''t find them easily, you should sleep. I am used to this kind of job." Natasha nodded after hearing that, even at night, the difference in range was too big, so she wouldn''t be able to kill many monsters. While everyone was busy resting, Ryan decided to put his ns in action. Anesthetic Crossbow (Curse) (+3) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of twenty-five points of mana that might numb the senses of your foes based on their level of mentality and willpower. Dexterity + 91, Intelligence + 39 Durability: 60/60 Ryan also tried to create other crossbows that could cause direct that mage to the enemies'' mana and stamina while it also caused real damage. However, he never obtained that effect. Despite that, he wasn''t bothered by it. After all, he already had the skills that could do that. Chapter 377 - Counter During the whole night, Ryan only killed a few dozen wasps. A number much lower than he had expected¡­ maybe they weren''t nocturnal creatures, but even so, Ryan didn''t drop his guard. To make good use of his time, Ryan trained the resistances that he will probably need against the bosses. When morning came, Ryan had leveled up his Curse Resistance, Spiritual Resistance, and Fatigue Resistance quite a bit, but those who saw him cutting himself with a knife didn''t count that as training¡­ it only made Ryan look like a madman. Only Natasha got used to that sight. "Do you think we will seed in clearing the dungeon in six days?" Natasha asked. "Not if we rely on your crazy friend," Ryan replied. "I have a n to increase our hunting speed, but I prefer to wait for a few more days to see if she won''t do anything to help." "If I were you, I wouldn''t count on her," Natasha shrugged. In fact, Ryan was counting on Irina, counting that she wouldn''t be stupid enough to stay seven days in a region without gaining anything. She wanted the loot since she obviously got lucky and obtained that sword, but Ryan wouldn''t let her gain a single drop. If she doesn''t understand that, then Ryan and Natasha will have to clear the dungeon by themselves because that will confirm that Irina was a lost cause. Much to Ryan''s and Natasha''s surprise, that morning, Irina showed up with her sword in hand and with her defensive gear already equipped. "This is going to take forever if I let you two do all the work," Irina said. "It can''t be helped, so I am going to fight today and confirm if you two are cking off or not." "... How do you n to fight when you are a melee fighter and the monsters that use those pollens do decrease status, mana, and stamina?" Natasha asked. "I already have some resistance against it," Irina replied." Usually, that wouldn''t be enough to fight for long periods of time, but I saw you two using a spell that nullifies negative effects. So, I decided to speed up things." Natasha looked at Ryan, but he just shrugged. Irina was fast so that she wouldn''t breathe much of the pollen. Adding that to her resistances, she will be able to fight for quite a while before having the need to fall back. "Ah, that''s right¡­" Irina suddenly stopped and then turned around. "You should try hard because if I die, everyone will know that you two are the main culprits. I made sure to inform everyone back in my camp what I was going to do, after all." That was a whole new level that someone could reach to motivate others to work hard. While Irina was annoying and a bitch, only that wasn''t enough for Ryan to wish for her death. Irina dashed forward without alerting anyone. Ryan began to levitate in order to offer her some support, but that had been unnecessary. Irina found several groups of wasps, and she fired some Fireballs at them. Ryan only understood what she was nning when she began to run back while luring hundreds of wasps. Ryan made his bolts rain over the creatures, and eventually, Natasha joined him. When the bolts slowed down the monsters, Irina stopped, and then she swung her sword. Surprisingly, a de of fireing from her sword decimated dozens of the wasps¡­ in the blink of an eye. They killed hundreds of wasps. "I guess she can really do it when she puts her mind into it." Ryan said. Now that Ryan thought about it, Irina also had the silent killer ss so that she would be even more deadly at night. It was a pity since she probably will spend the night with her bodyguards. Fortunately, apparently, she tried to cover for that by working hard during the day. Thanks to that, they killed around twenty thousand wasps. Irina obtained many items, so when the sun began to set, she was in a good mood¡­ even though Ryan managed to get the best ones and half of the total number. "What is it?" Natasha frowned when Ryan offered a handshake. "Just ept it," Ryan said. In the end, after doing some calctions, Ryan paid Natasha for her hard work as well. Even though she was satisfied with the fact alone that that day they advanced five kilometers. Even without words, she understood that Ryan was doing something to prevent Irina from getting all the loot. "Things proceeded well today," Natasha said. "Maybe clearing the dungeon in the next five days is actually achievable." "I don''t think so¡­ while we extinguished the pollen from several areas, the yellow sky in the horizon isn''t getting smaller," Ryan said. "Knowing your friend, she might actually cause problems for us if we fail in clearing this dungeon, even though it is madness to do in seven days. However, she had good instincts, even without seeing my status she probably knows that this task can bepleted if I go all out." "So, two crossbows style again?" Natasha asked. "No, I was thinking of doing something more¡­ effective against those monsters," Ryan said and then summoned a golem. "This guy is an inorganic creature, while the wasps will be able to decrease its mana and stamina, I don''t think they will seed at decreasing the other attributes, and with this¡­ the golems be a fearsome army." Ryan obtained a lot of iron ores that day, so he could create battle machines freely and put them in his golems. Since that didn''t seem like something a proper archer would do, Natasha couldn''t help but frown, but she realized that his n might actually help them quite a lot. Ryan wouldn''t get many coins in that job aside from the ones that he might get by selling items. Still, he didn''t hesitate in summoning thousands of them throughout the whole night. After all, he also obtained a lot of monsters'' soul essence that day, and his stock of mana potions was high. Chapter 378 - Beelzebub’s Offspring Soon after sunrise, Irina led Ryan and Natasha toward the battlefield, but she frowned when she saw many massive footsteps on the ground, but not a single monster in sight. Not even wasps and demonic cocoons. "It looks like someone has been busy," Irina frowned while looking at Ryan. Ryan ignored her. While he couldn''t erase the footsteps, he still managed to give his golems the order to hide underground during the day. Irina knew that Ryan did something, but she couldn''t tell exactly what, and she couldn''t say if that thing was still around. That was what he needed to make her walk on her toes. Ryan also managed to find most of the loot his golems obtained and hid them underground to get themter. So, as far as he was concerned, the n had been a sess. Now, he just needed to make sure that the dungeon would be cleared in five days. "I am sensing that the monsters are retreating and creating a massive perimeter around the dungeon," Femradiel said. "It looks like you forced the dungeon master to act." Ryan looked in the distance and saw the yellow in the sky decreasing in size but also getting more concentrated. Femradiel was correct. The dungeon master gave the order for its minions to retreat. While that was convenient since the area where Ryan had to search decreased, things were so simple. "Something changed¡­" Irina said. It looked like Irina noticed that as well. She really had sharp senses. Regardless, they confirmed that around noon that day when they saw hundreds of thousands of wasps around a certain mountain, and weirdly enough, the dungeon''s entrance was almost at the peak of the mountain. Thousands of demonic cocoons were making more wasps spawn every single minute, and that made them feel as if they were fighting an endless battle. In the center of that massive army of monsters, Ryan and Natasha saw thirty or creatures that weren''t wasps or cocoons. Those were flies¡­ gigantic flies that had big red eyes and disgusting rotten wings. Its paws were thin, but at the same time, they were made of some sort of metal, and it looked as sharp as hell. The overall color of the monster and Ryan couldn''t help but think about the possibility of Beelzebub taking control over their bodies. Beelzebub''s Offspring ¨C Lv 250 Health: 35.000/35.000 Mana: 70.000/70.000 Stamina: 15.000/15.000 Strength: 1500 Dexterity: 3000 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 4500 (+ 600) Endurance: 2500 Control: 2500 Mentality: 3500 (+ 300) Luck: 500 Recovery: 7500 (+ 1500) Willpower: 3500 (+ 300) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Pestilence Touch Lv 250, Cursed des Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 75, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 100 Spells: Infestation Lv 150, Poisonous Catastrophe Lv 250, Sloth Inducement Lv 250 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 150, Thunder Resistance Lv 150, Poison Resistance Lv 250, Curse Resistance Lv 250 "Holy Freya¡­" Natasha muttered while showing an incredible disgusted expression. "What the heck is that?" "What did you see?" Irina asked. "My eyes aren''t as good as yours. My dexterity is pretty low, after all." "A boss¡­ in the shape of a fly that will probably make you faint," Natasha replied. "Those things are no good and their level is too high¡­ we can''t face them with only the three of us here." "It still can get worse, that is more or less how I imagined Beelzebub would be. He is the lord of the flies, after all," Ryan said. "Regardless, even if those are just its offspring, I would bet that he created them in order to be a good receptacle for its spirit." Ryan told them the time where he fought Mephisto. While that made him revive some bad memories, Ryan couldn''t just keep Natasha and Irina in the dark. A fight against a general of the demon''s army was something one would need a lot of preparation to survive, and winning was almost impossible. "You said that you still won and you were weak at the time, so we can win here as well," Irina said. "I didn''t win in a direct fight, the conditions granted me the victory," Ryan said. "Besides, it is impossible to say that Beelzebub can''t take control over the other bosses once he falls once. Defeating an opponent like that once is already an incredibly feat, expect to do that thirty times isn''t naiveness, is stupidity." Ryan wanted more power. He wanted to defeat all the fuckers invading Earth as well. However, he couldn''t let his greed for power and anger control his decisions. The golems might help against the mob monsters, but not against the bosses. At the very least, they needed a few days to think of a decent n, but Irina didn''t want that. "I agree with Ryan, we are only a few days from your camp, we can ask for reinforcements without any issues," Natasha said. "I doubt that you need more than twenty soldiers to keep the dungeon there in check." "I am the leader here, and I will give the calls," Irina dered. "We won''t ask for reinforcements, the people back there aren''t strong enough to deal with this, they won''t be of any help here." "Then, we should at least talk with Victor," Natasha said. "He is the strongest of us and his soldiers also train hard every single day and fight the monsters like madmen. They will certainly be useful here." "I would rather choose death than ask that guy to help me," Irina said. "Besides, I want to keep this dungeon to myself¡­ Still, I understand that challenging those monsters right now is a bad move. So, let''s retreat for the time being while I think of a solution for this situation." At least Irina wasn''t stupid enough to charge in a situation like that. However, she was difficult enough to say that she was the one who would find a solution to the problem, and by the look of the things, she won''t hear Ryan and Natasha''s opinion on the matter. Chapter 379 - Good Choice Irina''s bodyguards armed the tent a few kilometers away from the dungeon, and Irina stayed inside the whole day. At least it looked like she was doing her job seriously since the bodyguards remained outside the entire time. Regardless, Ryan decided to think of some ways to solve the situation on his own. While Irina was the self-proimed leader of the operation, she was yet to learn that Ryan doesn''t follow the orders of those who only have their own interests in mind. "The bosses are the problem," Ryan dered. "If we can take them out of the picture early on, even against that massive army, we might stand a chance." "I have a hard time believing in that," Natasha said. "Even if you use your golems, they will be just overwhelmed by the sheer numbers." "That is fine, we can kite the monsters as much as we want since there is no camps nearby this ce," Ryan said. "We should focus here on eliminating the monsters no matter what because therger their numbers, the faster they can level up and we can''t let them reach the max level." Ryan had exined to Natasha what might happen when the dungeons reach level one thousand. While she was having a hard time believing that the demons of the myths and other crazy creatures will be able to unleash hell on Earth even more than they already did, she was fully aware that Ryan wouldn''t be traveling around for no good reason. While he was weird, he wasn''t insane. Someone insane wouldn''t tolerate the mad behavior of Irina and probably wouldn''t be able to survive alone for this long. In any case, Ryan had some ideas, but neither of them was particrly amazing. He wasn''t a master tactician, so the best he could do was toe up with small ns that will increase his chances in a fight little by little. However, several of those small ns might be a massive advantageter¡­ for now, all the ns that Ryan had involved Natasha. "What? It is weird when you start to stare at me all of a sudden," Natasha said. "I thought my charms have no effect on you or that the end of the world made me look less appealing." "The hell are you talking about¡­ You still have a lot of coins with you, right?" Ryan asked. "We will need to increase your firepower. While I can teach you some skills, I can see that you don''t have some essential ones. Those are hard to teach, so you will have to buy them." "There is no dungeon nearby, so¡­" Natasha said. "I have ess to the dungeon shops wherever I go," Ryan said. "Regardless, to be a little more like me, you will need Active Spiritual Recovery, Bleed, and Improved Concentration. Those skills will cost you 750.000 coins." "Is that really a good idea to spend so many coins in skills that will be at a low-level and I barely will be able to level up in a few days?" Natasha frowned. "You won''t level them up all that much, but once the fight starts, you will have plenty of chances for that," Ryan replied. "Thest skill you will need is Firing Posture. I can teach you that." "I need to apologize," Natasha said. "I thought you were a much colder person who wouldn''t help others and left your home country without thinking twice." "Don''t get all sentimental on me," Ryan said. "I am just doing this because it is necessary. No matter what, I don''t want to leave those mother fuckers running around on my. That is why I am teaching you some useful skills, let''s just hope you won''t disappoint me." There were other skills Ryan could teach, but in the end, he would be revealing too much information about himself by teaching Natasha too many skills. As far as he was concerned, Natasha wasn''t a bad person per se, but no one could tell what someone might be once that someone bes much more powerful than the others. After Ryan helped Natasha with those skills, he began to think about what else he should do. Natasha needed a better weapon, but Ryan couldn''t create a useful magic item by using the wasps and cocoons'' souls. Then he had a certain idea¡­ could he create magic items by using the souls of his summoned monsters? Actually¡­ he could. Heavy Crossbow (Earth) (+4) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifteen points of mana that might stun your foes based on their level of mentality and willpower. Dexterity + 98, Intelligence + 42 Durability: 65/65 Ryan used the soul of a golem¡­ to think that even they had souls¡­ Regardless, that weapon would be highly effective at stopping the swarms of monsters. Ryan made two more of those and then offered those two to Natasha. "I can sell you those for one hundred thousand coins," Ryan said. "How about it?" Natasha saw Ryan easily creating magic items, and she couldn''t help but be stunned by it. Not to mention, they were two times better than her current crossbow¡­ it was insane to think that someone had the skills to create magic items that could easily cost fifty thousand coins. "I will buy them," Natasha said. "Good Choice," Ryan said. The bosses didn''t have high resistance against earth magic, but Ryan didn''t want to use two crossbows of the same attribute. Besides, it wasn''t like he would be able to stun them easily. While Natasha was using her new crossbow and training her unique skills, Ryan decided to think of a few more ideas to increase their chances of victory, and much to his surprise, it looked like Femradiel had been thinking about the same thing. "You ignored the magic bow skill until now due to its cost, but that skill would be really useful right now," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded when he heard that¡­ he didn''t think of that before, but it wouldn''t be awesome if he could create all his crossbows with that spell and use all of those effects at the same time? It was a pretty exciting idea¡­ that would cost him lots of mana. Chapter 380 - A Helpful Dragon In the end, Ryan failed at thinking of many new ns to help in the next fight. However, he and Natasha still spent the entire night training against a golem. The monster had high resistance against earth attacks, so Ryan managed to use Magic Bow and magically replicate his new crossbow for a period, and Natasha also trained her new skills. "You really can do a lot," Natasha said, visibly impressed. "Anyone can do this much as long as they put their minds into training and keep clearing dungeons whenever possible," Ryan said. "I mean no offense, but I don''t think I can focus too much on that," Natasha said. "There are many people who rely on me and I can''t let them down." "That is the path you chose," Ryan shrugged. "As long as you don''t regret choosing that path, nothing says that you made an incorrect decision." It seemed like a bad move from Ryan''s perspective since he couldn''t trust many people to watch his back. However, the same things that applied to him didn''t apply to others. Regardless, a few minutes after sunrise, Irina showed herself, and she seemed pretty pissed. "It looks like someone has been making all kinds of preparations without consulting my ns," Irina said. "I hope you two won''t regret thatter." "Getting this angry so early in the morning is weird even for you, Irina," Natasha said. "If you are having a hard timeing with a n, we might help you with something." "Why would I need the help of someone who failed at clearing a single dungeon for five months?" Irina asked. "Thest thing that I need is to hear the advice of a stranger as well." "You don''t need to hear it, as long as you have a decent n," Ryan said. "I might be wrong, but I think you don''t have one. Just remember, you are the one who decided that we have to clear this dungeon in a week, and you are also the one who decided to retreat yesterday." Irina red at Ryan; it was probably the same re that Ryan showed when he used Power of the Money. In any case, Irina couldn''t say anything back because what Ryan said was the absolute truth. Ryan more or less could imagine why Irina didn''t manage toe up with any decent n. It was probably because she was simr to him¡­ she was someone who could onlye up with ns where she was the core of everything. Ryan does that because he couldn''t trust others all that much, while Irina probably does that because she wanted to show off. Either way, their behavior was troublesome in many ways. Irina decided to say in silence while she was eating her breakfast. She still was trying toe up with a decent n, but nothing really came to her mind. Ryan could respect that stubbornness, but he couldn''t wait for it forever. As far as he was concerned, taking thirty of the bosses down wasn''t something they couldn''t do directly, and Irina wasn''t used at doing things indirectly. "Ah! Screw it!" Irina finally snapped. "We are going to kill those fuckers head on!" Natasha looked at Ryan, but he only shrugged. Calling that a n was beyond stupid¡­ in the end, Ryan was forced to step forward and offer a better temporal solution. It was the best thing they could do right now. "Let''s attack the army of monsters at night," Ryan said. "You have the Silent Killer ss, so do I. With those skills, we can decrease the number of enemies exponentially before they can find us." "What is the difference between attack now and at night?" Irina asked. "In the end, we still will be surrounded by an army in thirty seconds." "The army won''t be a problem, the bosses are the problem," Ryan said and then made himself, Natasha, and Irina levitate with Telekinesis. "We can escape the army with this, but fighting the bosses will be rough since they really can fly, unlike us. That is why we are going to sneak in and kill some of them before the real fight starts." Irina stayed silent while she considered Ryan''s words. The wasps could fly, but they weren''t that fast. So, they could escape from them. She recognized the fact that the bosses were the real problem, but even so, she was against the idea of following the lead of a foreigner. That was the reason why she was hesitating. Her only options were to throw away her pride or start a suicide attack. "I have a better idea, I will fight those fuckers head on and you make sure that they won''t surround me," Irina said. "We can do that at night, but you will spend too much mana by making the three of us fly. That will be your only job." While Ryan couldn''t see howe that was a better idea, some parts of it weren''tpletely useless. He recognized the fact that perhaps Natasha should say on a ground level alongside Furball. That way, they will divide the attention of the army of monsters, and Ryan also would recover some mana when Furball kills some monsters. The real problem is how to prevent Irina from getting surrounded. As expected, he will have to improvise and perhaps anger her a little bit. "Prepare yourselves, we are going to attack after sunset," Irina dered. In the end, it looked like Ryan will be forced to rely on the Power of Money again. Even if he goes all out, the chances of him holding back a few of those bosses were close to none. Stopping almost thirty of them was definitely impossible. "You know, you can always use Draconic Transformation," Femradiel said. "That is not an option," Ryan said. "Still, you have been very helpful as ofte, so I will listen to other ideas you might give." "Yay, I am a helpful dragon, I can die happy knowing that I fulfilled my lifelong mission," Femradiel said. Chapter 381 - Anesthetic Effect When the sun was starting to set, Ryan had already done all of his preparations. Still, in the end, he caught himself being overly worried about the possible oues. He even gave some of his potions to Natasha, but in the end, he also lent his spatial ring that waspletely filled with them. Why? Because Ryan wouldn''t need any potions¡­ "All right, buddy," Ryan said to Furball. "Your job is to keep attacking the monsters from a safe distance. You will be carrying someone else on your back, so try to be gentle. Also, don''t bite her unless she is a lost cause." Natasha frowned when she heard that. If it was a joke, it wasn''t funny, and Ryan didn''t smile orugh either. In any case, she was thankful for the fact that she would move on Furball''s back. He was fast and sturdy, so he was a perfect watch¡­ wolf. "On Furball''s back, you will be able to use Firing Posture," Ryan said. "Don''t start attacking until you hear any noise or movement from the monster''s side." "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Natasha said while pointing at the spatial ring. "You might be overestimating your abilities. To protect a crazy bitch like her, anyone will need all the help they can get." "I prepared a n B, and that isn''t something I would like to show to your friend," Ryan said. "Anyway, don''t cause problems to Furball. Unless you want to get bitten." After a while, Irina finally showed herself, and much to Ryan''s surprise, her bodyguards, would stay behind again. Ryan couldn''t understand why she would travel around with those guys to the battlefield when they were utterly useless. Despite the fact that she was going to face an army of hundreds of thousands with only two others on her side, Irina looked confident as always. "Let''s go," Irina said. Although she took the lead, Irina had to wait for Ryan to make then levitate. Since they were several kilometers away from the dungeon, they had to fly for a while but eventually arrived in the area exactly two kilometers above from the bosses. Irina couldn''t see them due to the distance and the darkness of the night, though. "I can''t see them from here, we will have to get closer," Irina said. "If we do that, they will notice us," Ryan said. "Don''t worry I will drop you right in above one of them. All you have to do is wait and use Concentrated Strike." "You are not here to give me orders," Irina said. Ryan was starting to consider letting Irina fall and not cover for her since she was an annoying bitch. Now that he thought about it, despite everything, she was quite stupid. After all, she was under Ryan''s mercy, and still, she didn''t change her behavior. After taking some deep breaths, Ryan decided to put his ns into action. Killing more than two or three bosses in that situation before they get closer was impossible, but decreasing their numbers wasn''t the only thing Ryan could do to make the fight easier. Ryan took out several of the magic weapons he created in thest few days to level up his skills and then made them spin. After that, he activated Perfect Aim and fired them in the direction of the boss''s eyes. In a single instant, Ryan blinded six of them. Although he wished that he could have attacked like that five more times, Ryan only sessfully managed to blind the other six bosses. The others found him and Irina and began to fly toward them. However, they were forced to stop because that area began to tremble¡­ thousands of golems were marching toward the army of monsters. "Good¡­ it is working," Ryan smiled when he saw his mana being recovered at insane speeds. Ryan grabbed his two crossbows and also made two magic bows that were copies of the heavy crossbows and made dozens of bolts rain over the bosses that were hesitating. "Hey, that wasn''t part of the n," Irian protested. "It was, this is the only way to prevent you from being surrounded by those freaks," Ryan said. Ryan tried to slow down the bosses as much as possible, but in the end, after just a couple of seconds, those gigantic flies were already close to them. Femradiel controlling Irina made her fly toward the monsters, and even before those creatures could do anything to attack her, she appeared close to one of them and attacked the monster''s eyes. At least she was smart enough to understand that blinding the enemies was something absolutely necessary. The bosses tried to surround her since they couldn''t use their spells while they were so close to each other, but Ryan made sure to pierce them with the short spears he had prepared beforehand to use as projectiles. Anesthetic Short Spear (Curse) (+4) Effect: Decreases by ten points during five seconds all of the attributes of your foes. Strength + 42, Speed + 28 Durability: 60/60 Ryan managed to blind two other bosses, but the others noticed the attack and escaped. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the blinded bosses decided to retreat. They probably will be able to regenerate their damaged eyes, but Ryan at least managed to buy some minutes. While the monsters'' attention was on Ryan again, Femradiel made Irina move around the monsters at incredible speeds. Ryan was pretty sure that she was using her own powers instead of relying on Ryan''s status, but it wasn''t time toin. Suddenly, the bosses opened their mouths, and they made dozens of small flies fly toward Irina. Ryan attacked them, but some still escaped¡­ their numbers were just too high. Instead of flying in circles, Femradiel suddenly changed Irina''s trajectory and made her fly around all directions. Trying to predict where she would go next was impossible, which made her escape from the flies. However, that came with a price¡­ "You are going too far¡­" Irinained while her face was blue due to dizziness. ss: Hunter Lv 74 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 132th Health: 1529/1529 (4,11/s) Mana: 2376/2376 (4,11/s) Stamina: 2271/2271 (4,11/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2450 (+1725) (+95) Speed: 140 (+813) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+662) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+889) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+46) (+70) Luck: 74 (+20) Recovery: 1000 (+1167) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+46) (+40) Coins: 27.055.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Spiritual Attack Lv 06, Sonic de Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 72 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 72 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 72 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 72 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 61 (+ 04 UP), Alchemy Lv 16 (+ 05 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Motivation Lv 01, Skill Camouge Lv 01, Spells: Potion Creation Lv 15 (+ 07 UP), Hunt Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Silent Attack Lv 01, Silent Movement Lv 01, Support Skills: Curse Resistance Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Spiritual Resistance Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Fatigue Resistance Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 39 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 66 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 61 (+ 02 UP), Sentinel Lv 17 (+ 03 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 18 (+ 03 UP), Dark yer Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Silent Killer Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Non-Combatant: Whitesmith Lv 16 (+ 02 UP), Alchemist Lv 13 (+ 06 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 382 - Potential Irina was smart enough to charge Concentrated Strike while Femradiel made her move around, so when the first chance finally appeared. Irina managed to pierce both eyes of another boss and cause massive damage. A lot of viscous liquid that was the blood and bodily fluids of the monster sshed on her, and she ended up throwing up¡­ but Ryan considered that a low price for almost killing the boss. Ryan focused all his attacks on that monster for a few seconds, and they finally managed to kill the first boss. You obtained 651.369 coins. That was a lot more coins than Ryan had expected¡­ Regardless, those thoughts disappeared when the monsters finally realized that chasing Irina was useless and that Ryan was controlling her. They didn''t move from their position; they only opened their mouth toward him, and then Ryan saw several of those Poisonous catastrophes appear. "Shit¡­" Ryan said while he was sweating cold. The angle was bad, if they fire at the same time, the attacks will cover Ryan''s field of vision, and he wouldn''t be able to use sh. Moreover, the monsters were smart enough to wait in order to gain time and make Ryan even more nervous. Irina managed to attack one of them from behind and stop the monster, but Ryan still had to worry about fourteen other bosses. Ryan couldn''t risk letting those attacks get close to Natasha and Furball. They would decimate everything in a massive area. So, Ryan decided to fly even higher in the sky. However, he never showed his back to the monsters, and he still managed to keep attacking with his crossbows and magic bows. At the end, not only the bosses fired their spells at the same time, they even made the massive spheres of deadly liquid join together and create a seemingly unavoidable gigantic spell. Ryan tried to escape with his increased speed and sh, but the bosses even managed to control the sphere and make it change directions when he did it. Ryan bit his lips in annoyance since he didn''t have any other choice¡­ and then he turned around while he was escaping and used Power of Money like there was no tomorrow. In the end, the skill reached level where it could even cause damage to something as massive as that. Ryan didn''t manage to make the sphere of death to explode, but at least he opened a path through the liquid¡­ Still, the smell alone made Ryan lose health while he was passing through it. At the same time, his nose and ears started to bleed. When Ryan reappeared, even Irina showed a look of surprise. She thought that Ryan wouldn''t be able to avoid such an attack. The bosses weren''t much better. While they didn''t talk, they were smart enough to understand that Ryan did something far beyond their wildest imaginations. While the monsters were in shock, Ryan bombarded the same monster Irina was attacking, and eventually, another boss fell. They were making some progress, but they still had a long way ahead of them. "This is taking too long¡­" Ryan muttered, annoyed. "Let me offer a solution to the situation," Femradiel said. "As long as it doesn''t require me transforming into a dragon, I will ept any idea," Ryan said. In the end, Femradiel stayed quiet, and Ryan sighed. While Ryan already threw away his pride in order to save his own life when he used Power of Money, things were rtively well in his head. As long as he isn''t forced to use it to defeat monsters, that was barely eptable. Long-ranged attacks weren''t the best solution, so the bosses decided to use their sharp ws. The moonlight made those look particrly sharp while glinting, so Ryan couldn''t help but gulp. Ryan immediately made his magic weapons that were on his back spin around him. It was time to let things be a little more personal. While Irina was flying around attacking one monster at a time, Ryan was trying to escape from the boss''s relentless attacks flying throughout the darkness of the night. When they got close enough, they tried to split him in half, but Ryan blocked the attack by using his magic weapons. At the same time, he tried to blind the monsters by attacking their eyes with dozens of bolts being fired every second, but the monsters were smart enough to leave one or two of their ws free to block those. That was getting annoying, so Ryan decided to use a new trick to surprise those beasts. Ryan equipped his me Sword and then smirked before firing a barrage of Sonic des. The creature he attacked tried to use all of its ws to block the attacks, but those easily broke before the might of that skill¡­ in the end, three of those hit the monster''s head, making it pierce all the way to its brain. You obtained 841.362 coins. "Holy shit¡­ howe a level one skill can be so powerful?" Ryan muttered in shock. "It is all thanks to your high dexterity and mildly high intelligence," Femradiel said. "Not to mention, the cost of the skill¡­ you underestimated its potential." Despite that amazing discovery, Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance¡­ he didn''t think he would need much stamina to win that fight, so he only prepared mana potions. While he could use magic to restore it, it wasn''t that fast. Besides, he doubted that the monsters would fall for the same trick twice. The bosses slowed down on the chase and gained some distance over Ryan, and while he bombarded them with bolts, they focused on defense. All of his bolts had been deflected. "Is that all you can do?" Irina asked while smiling confidently after she finally killed one of the bosses by herself. "¡­ Femradiel, let her fall for a while," Ryan said. Only a few minutes had passed since the start of the fight, and they managed to kill some bosses. That was a lot of progress, but much to Ryan''s annoyance, the bosses that he had blinded earlier were approaching, and they weren''t blind anymore. Chapter 383 - Copy Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance, but in the end, he quickly recovered from the unpleasant surprise. It was time to change his ns. Fortunately, he had some new ideas. There was nothing like the crazy reality of the battlefield to refresh one''s mind. "Femradiel, you can be a little rougher with Irina," Ryan said. "I don''t know what are you talking about," Femradiel said. "Make her spin like I do with my weapons, that will be increasing the piercing power of her attacks," Ryan exined. "Even if she falls unconscious, her stats still will apply to the attacks. So, you can treat her like one of my weapons. However, try to be a bit less obvious with your attacks, try to attack the wings of the bosses whenever possible, that should work better than trying to blind them." Ryan had been ying safely until now since he didn''t actually know how much mana he was recovering thanks to his golems, but since they won''tst forever, it was only natural that it was time to take some chances. Activating Deadly Aim, Ryan began to relentlessly attack all the monsters. Even though he wasn''t focusing on a single one of them, the attacks caused critical damage and made huge chunks of the monster''s body to fly around. At the same time, Femradiel finally made Irina spin at a speed that she felt satisfied. She made her fly around like a very annoying fly that could easily cause high amounts of damage. When some bosses tried to block her charge, they even lost their ws. Things were going well, but as expected, Ryan noticed that using Deadly Aim with every single of his attacks was too much¡­ his mana was finally decreasing. "Shit¡­ why does something troublesome always happen when things start to go well?" Ryan clicked his tongue. Ryan didn''t have any other real n per se, but he decided to stick with what was working, and so far, surprising the monsters with new attacks surprised quite well. While it was annoying to use that kind of skill, Ryan decided topromise due to the situation. "Femradiel, attack when you see fit," Ryan said. "What are you talking about? I am already doing that," Femradiel said. Ryan suddenly opened his mouth, and then a massive torrent of cold wind flew toward the nearest boss. The monster tried to block the attack imagining that it was one of Ryan''s ordinary skills, but in the end, the beast failed. Ice Breathpletely froze the arms of the monster and a good part of its face. Femradiel noticed what Ryan meant earlier and quickly attacked that monster''s head andpletely annihted the defenseless monster. You obtained 741.653 coins. That was good way to attack, but in the end, the bosses retreated even more. Ryan''s strength was at a long-distance, but the monster understood that he was no pushover at middle and close range. "I am reading the thoughts of this girl and while she is barely conscious, she is nning to make you pay for this," Femradiel said. "Ignore her," Ryan said. "Letting her attack alone is a waste of time and mana." Since the bosses increased the distance between them and Ryan even more, Ice Breath wouldn''t be as nearly as effective. So, Ryan needed to surprise the monsters with something different. However, before he coulde up with anything, the monsters opened their mouths, and that green sphere of death appeared. "Not again¡­" Ryan sighed. Ryan immediately flew upward, but then he had another idea. He turned around and activated giarism. He stopped using Telekinesis for a second, but in the end, while he was falling, he fired several of low-level Poisonous Catastrophe at the monsters. You giarized Poisonous Catastrophe level 20. Effect: It grants you the power to charge an attack that has the effects of poison and acid. Causing damage equal to your intelligence multiplied by ten percent for 0.1 seconds of charge. You can charge the attack for 2.0 seconds. While Ryan didn''t cause much damage, but he at least stopped half of the monsters from attacking him with a barrage of those annoying spells. Soon after, Ryan reactivated Telekinesis and lost the ability to use Poisonous Catastrophe. Some of the bosses were agonizing with the poison in acid in their mouths, while others decided to stop their charge and kill Ryan as fast as possible. Ryan resumed his escape, but he decided to block the magic projectiles with his shield this time. Since the attacks had been far weaker than the first wave, Ryan managed to block them, but his shield almost melted several times, and, in a hurry, he had to repair them. When Ryan finally obtained some seconds to breathe, he saw the bosses slightly trembling due to his shield''s reflective power. Irina, while being controlled by Ryan, attacked the stunned monsters. The speed was so intense and effective that Ryan even considered attacking like that with his Chaos Axe. However, that kind of strategy only worked when someone like Ryan could cover for Irina, so he discarded that idea. Another boss fell down thanks to Irina and Femradiel''s relentless attacks, but it looked like things were about to be troublesome. "I am sensing the approach of an unknown armying from the south," Femradiel said. Ryan looked in that direction, but he didn''t find anything. It looked like some unexpected guests decided to join the fight, and Ryan didn''t like their timing. Coming from that direction¡­ it couldn''t be Irina''s soldiers; it was too soon for them to show up. "Shit, why now of all times¡­" Ryan muttered in annoyance. No matter what happens, Ryan couldn''t get caught between two armies. That would be beyond disastrous¡­ and unfortunately, it looked like they will have to retreatpletely. However, before he could decide that, Femradiel interrupted him. "It looks like someone from that army is trying tomunicate with this woman," Femradiel said. "I can''t read the message since she is unconscious." Ryan gave the order for Femradiel to stop, and then they slowly moved away from the monsters while he kept them in check by firing bolts asionally alongside Deadly Aim. They had to be fast because eventually, the beast would understand that Ryan was trying to stall for time Chapter 384 - The Third Irina woke up when Ryan used Purification on her. Strangely enough, that spell even can dispel the effects of dizziness¡­ she tried to attack him, but she quickly stopped and then showed an expression full of annoyance. "Shit¡­ he noticed much earlier than I expected," Irina said. "Who is talking with you?" Ryan asked. "The guy who is bringing an army? Is he a friend of yours?" "He is an annoying piece of shit¡­ but I guess he is on our side," Irina said. "Let''s retreat and meet with him. Or we might get caught in his pawns attacks." That seemed like the best thing they could do, so Ryan fired a few Sonic des and fired some bolts with his Heavy Crossbow. In the end, since all of them were wounded, the bosses decided to take that chance to recover. They lost some allies, but they gained a deal of knowledge about the things that Ryan could do¡­ next time, they won''t suffer so many losses. Natasha frowned when she saw Ryan and Irina retreating. Unlike them, she had a pretty good time hunting the demons, so her skills leveled up like crazy, and she loved that. But then her expression changed when she heard about the news. "Coming from the South¡­ is that Victor?" Natasha asked. "Of course, it is, your stupid wench," Irina said, annoyed. "A dungeon like this can''t appear out of nowhere and exist without the knowledge of those who live nearby. While I kept the existence of this ce a secret, that asshole probably has some spies in my camp that informed him of the dungeon. I thought it would take a week for the information that I would try to clear the dungeon to reach him, but I was wrong." Ryan finally understood everything. While Irina was unreasonable in trying to clear the dungeon in a week, she had a good reason for that¡­ more or less. She wanted to obtain full control over that dungeon, but if Victor joins the fight, that won''t be possible. After running away from the monsters for a few minutes, Ryan and the others finally met the army that Femradiel had mentioned. There were only one hundred or so people in there, but those guys looked pretty tough looking. Not to mention, the leader seemed leagues above the others. It was a green-eyed dude who had light brown hair and a great physique. While his army had male and female soldiers wearing full te armor, the only gear that he had was a pair of silver boots and gauntlets that made Ryan remember a dragon with the gravures in it. Boris (Indri) ss: Monk Lv 80 / Brawler Lv 70 / Champion Lv 68 (--) Race: Lesser Dragon/--/ -- Rank: 75th Health: 2425 (+80.000) Mana: 2121 (+80.000) Stamina: 2396 (+80.000) Strength: 1250 (+8000) Dexterity: 150 (+8000) Speed: 1550 (+8000) Intelligence: 81 (+8000) Endurance: 1000 (+8000) Control: 50 (+8000) Mentality: 250 (+8000) Luck: 70 (+8000) Recovery: 1000 (+8000) Willpower: 250 (+8000) Coins: 2.099.452 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Skills: Bash Lv 80, Concentrated Strike Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 70, Improved Strength Lv 70 Spells: Acid Lance Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 200, Electric Resistance Lv 200, Poison Resistance Lv 200, Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at that guy¡­ he was even stronger than Alissa. That was insane¡­ in any case, he didn''t know if his frown or something else made Victor angry, but he was ring at him. He said something in Russian, and he looked pretty displeased, but as usual, Ryan didn''t understand anything. "What is this foreigner dog doing in my country?" Victor asked. "Don''t start, Victor," Natasha said. "He has been helping us for the past few days, you who only arrived now have no rights toin about who is fighting with us or not." "I have all the rights to contest your ipetence," Victor said. "Have you no shame on relying on a man from another world country to do your job?" "So, you even put spies on my camp as well," Natasha furrowed her eyebrows. "You are the shameless one here, keeping an eye on your allies and refusing to help when they need a hand." "Ryan, this guy is¡­" Femradiel said, but then she was stopped. Victor turned into a blur, and the next time Ryan saw his bodypletely, he was preparing to punch Natasha. Ryan pulled her back with Telekinesis and, at the same time, slowed Victor down with the same skill. His mana quickly dropped to dangerous levels, but he managed to stop his attack entirely. "¡­ bad news," Femradiel continued. The one hundred or so soldiers behind Victor pointed their weapons toward Ryan, but they didn''t dare to attack someone who managed to stop an attack from their leader. "You are going to pay for this," Victor said. "Oh yeah? Are you going to call your big bro? The dragon inside you?" Ryan asked. "Don''t cry too much in front of him, otherwise he might get disappointed." "Stop," Natasha said. "Are you going to embarrass yourself even further in front of your subordinates, Victor? You have fallen so low to the point where the first think you think of doing to those who disagree with you is attack them. You are a real embarrassment for all the survivors of our country." "¡­ It looks like you really have a death wish," Victor said. Meanwhile, Irina was watching the whole exchange as if she was having the time of her life. She really wanted to see Victor getting what he deserved, but even so, she wasn''t putting much faith in Ryan or Natasha''s victory if a fight breaks out. "Our agreement was not to get on each other''s way," Natasha said. "If you can''t keep your word, then you deserve the respect of your subordinates. If you aren''t here to help, then leave. Once the dungeon is cleared, we can solve this issue. The safety of our people is our only goal." Chapter 385 - Warn In the end, Natasha convinced Victor to back down on the matter, at least for the time being. Ryan had no idea what they agreed beforehand, but since Irina was the one who started the mission, she still was the one who would give the calls. At least when ites when they should attack, and they should retreat. "We will attack tomorrow at noon," Irina dered. "We have the numbers to seed in a frontal attack, but I am still tired thanks to a fucking someone¡­ and you guys are also tired since you worried to arrive on time." "We can fight right now," Victor dered. "That is my decision, if you don''t like it, you can leave and tryter in case I fail," Irina said and then turned around and headed to her tent. "I will remember that," Victor said. "You sure like those words, don''t you?" Irina shrugged. Victor gave the order for his men to set up a camp on their own, and they quickly aplished that task. Meanwhile, Ryan and Natasha were resting in the open air and in front of a campfire. That was a first for Ryan¡­ to fail in a fight and still have the chance to keep his head in its rightful ce. "Thanks for before, but you shouldn''t do that again," Natasha said. "Victor only did that to scare me, he wouldn''t dare to attack me." "Duly noted," Ryan said. "Victor was once my boyfriend, so you can rest assured that what I am telling is the truth," Natasha said. "That was something I didn''t need to hear," Ryan said while recalling the events of the battle. "Anyway, give me the spatial ring and let''s see how much damage you caused to my stock of potions." The fight against demons wassting for quite a whilepared to the others. Despite that, Natasha didn''t use even twenty percent of Ryan''s stock. As expected, Active Spiritual Recovery helped quite a bit. In any case, Ryan had a feeling that the situation will be solved tomorrow. Victor was strong, and despite the fact that he didn''t look like someone who relied on strategy, they passed that much confidence. "What do you think of the next battle?" Ryan asked. "Honestly, I don''t'' think we will have to worry,'''' Natasha said. "While Victor didn''t choose the medusa''s dungeon to guard, he chose an area almost equally difficult that had many dungeons to guard. Everything to obtain more power and train his subordinates. In just a few months, they cleared thirty or so dungeons." That was a lot, considering that he stayed in a single region. From a certain perspective, Victor aplished even more than Ryan, even though he was dumber than him. In any case, Ryan decided to make spare shortnces since he didn''t recover the ones he used to blind the bosses. However, Natasha was fidgeting for some reason, and what was preventing him from concentrating. "What?" Ryan asked. "I need a favor to ask," Natasha didn''t let that chance go to waste. "I want to learn how to summon a Warg. It was pretty awesome to fight alongside Furball and I want an ally like him." While Ryan imagined that something like that was bound to happen, he couldn''t help but sigh. Still, for some odd reason, Ryan felt that he should give Natasha a hand with that. It looked like his male instincts of helping a pretty girl whenever possible still were alive. That or the fact that Natasha didn''t stay quiet when Victor was about to dash at him for no real reason. "Well¡­ let''s see if we can find some tricks with the Teacher ss," Ryan shrugged. "Still, you will have to feed your Warg for quite a while before he can do anything against monsters." Ryan spent the night trying to find a hole in the Teacher ss, and fortunately, he found one. It was a lot more time-consuming, but he could teach his students some skills even while not casting them. To save mana, he could make a Fireball fly around him, and his students would slowly learn the spell. The same thing could be applied to Furball. Ryan just had to give him orders constantly. In any case, based on what Natasha mentioned about the learning bar, it would take a little more than four days for her to learn the skill. After sunrise, even though they still had a battle ahead of them, Natasha decided to negotiate with Victor about the use of his tier three dungeon, and his position became clear from the very beginning. "You and your soldiers cane and use it whenever you want now that you proved yourselves able to clear a level three dungeon," Victor replied. "However, no foreigner will obtain a ss in my dungeon." "If you decide to be unreasonable, I won''t let you use my dungeon either," Natasha said. "Why don''t you grow up a little? While you were ying your conspiracies games, Ryan helped me a lot and I decided to repay the favor. He is even helping Irina, who is a crazy bitch. He paid her and even let her get the drops, he is willing to do the same with you, but it looks like you are too stupid to realize that this is a good chance." Ryan felt his back getting itchy since it was weird to be praised like that by someone who he only met a few days ago. Still, he was actually hoping that Victor would keep saying no. Why? Because he was looking for an excuse to cause problems for that asshole, he just needed a few more excuses, and Ryan won''t feel even a little bit guilty when he causes some dungeon breaks on Victor''s territory. Once he does that, invading his camp and entering the camp will be a lot smoother, Ryan would only need a couple of hours for that, and a few dungeon breaks will truly help him with that. Chapter 386 - Customers Natasha tried to convince Victor for quite a while, but in the end, she gave up because it was the same as talking with a door. A door that could walk and punch you when it gets angry. "Sorry, but it looks like we will have to improvise," Natasha said. "If you try to sell to him some equipment, then perhaps¡­" "I have no intention of making business with assholes," Ryan said. "Regardless, this is not really a problem, there are many other ways in which I can get what I want." "¡­ Without causing problems for the people of my country?" Natasha hesitated to ask. "I am not that considerate, the best I can do is reach my goals without causing casualties," Ryan replied. "I can''t cross some lines to reach my own goals, but I can''t naively think that I can solve problems without breaking a few bones of those that might stand in my way." Natasha imagined that Ryan would, no matter what, clear the tier three dungeon under Victor''s control. She felt like she had to help him, but her options were limited, and Ryan wasn''t someone patient either. In the end, the time for the next fight hase, and she failed at thinking of a new solution. "Let''s get going," Irina dered. As expected, Irina decided not to use any n. While that seemed idiotic, Ryan decided to wait and see. Some of his golems managed to escape from the fightst night, so they were waiting for Ryan''smands, and he will use them to massacre the demons. In the end, when the demons appeared in their field of vision, Irina just did one thing. "Attack!" Irina raised her sword and shouted. Like an army of brain-dead crazy demons, Victor''s army, led by him, charged toward the monsters. They even weren''t orderly with their charge¡­ there was no formation as if they trained as individuals and not as a proper army. It was such a waste of momentum¡­ but at the very least, there was no hesitationing from them. "Repeat what you did yesterday," Ryan told Natasha, and then he began to levitate. Natasha nodded, so Furball and her dashed to attack the monsters from their sidelines. Ryan might not have another chance to. He also gave the order for his golems to return¡­ they just needed a few minutes. He began to attacks with his crossbows, but his concentration broke since Irina was still behind. Her eyes were stuck on Victor while her sword was in her hands. She wanted to see him fight before she joins the battle. When Victor started to kill the demons, he looked like a hot-knife cutting butter while he attacked the monster. There was no resistance, and whenever he selected a target, he would disappear from a moment, and the demon would be split in half in the next half a second. Even in his humanoid form, he was essentially stronger than Ryan. No wonder his rank was so high¡­ "¡­ Fucking bastard, he increased the distance even more," Irina clicked her tongue and then said. It looked like Irina hoped that the distance in terms of raw power between her and Victor had decreased, but she was dead wrong. Victor was still stronger, and he could be at least eight times stronger by turning into a dragon¡­ Despite that, she quickly joined the fight. The human army was unstoppable. Even though their status began to decrease due to the pollen, they didn''t even try to retreat. Ryan tried to kill as many wasps as possible on their path to decrease the debuff effects, but in the end, he also had to move forward because the monsters were chasing Victor and moving away from his range. Coming from the North, the golems that Ryan had created joined the fight, and once again, Ryan''s mana began to be recovered at insane speeds. After summoning two magic bows, his attack speed doubled, and dozens of monsters fell by his hand every second. To the point where even Victor couldn''t help but stop and look at Ryan''s direction. "Don''t stare at me dumbass, they areing," Ryan frowned when he saw the bosses flying toward Victor and his soldiers. While making bolts rain over them, Ryan also used his shortnces and made them spin to blind those fuckers again. However, before he could do anything, Ryan saw Victor jumping toward one of them. The monster prepared a short Poisonous Catastrophe, but before it could fire it, Victor disappeared. In the next moment, he reappeared behind the beast, and then the boss was split in half¡­ "How the heck can he do that when his weapons are gauntlets and boots?" Ryan frowned. "If you move supersonic speeds, even blunt damage can split an enemy in half," Femradiel exined. "However, I think he is actually using some sort of spell to make his attacks sharper. Even though his weapons have that shape, he can still cover them with mana and give the shape of a de." That exnation seemed a bit weird, but despite that, it also seemed strangely urate. Victor selected another target, and at the same time, his soldiers jumped to attack the other bosses. While some of them even failed at reaching the bosses, most of them managed tond a hit, and each other''s attacks caused massive damage. In the end, the soldiers alone killed three bosses in less than a minute. "Just what the hell¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. Ryan didn''t stop his attacks, but at that point in time, he focused on attacking the mobs since he could end up hitting Victor''s soldiers due to the fact that their coordination sucked. Regardless, Ryan was having a hard time watching that army of humans. They were insanely strong despite their many weaknesses as a group. But to think that they could defeat those bosses so easily¡­ in the end, the bosses didn''tst even five seconds. Aftering this far, believing that working with many others would only slow him down, Ryan was forced to ponder if his assumptions weren''t incorrect. Victor forced him to do that. He was stronger than him, even without the draconic powers and his soldiers were quite strong as well. Maybe only a group of three could take down a dragon¡­ and they werepletely loyal to Victor. Perhaps the problem wasn''t theck of trust that Ryan had in others. Maybe the problem was Ryan himself¡­ Chapter 387 - New Class In the end, the battle that Ryan thought it wouldst until the following day ended before sunset. Some wasps and cocoons could be found here and there, but essentially, they couldn''t do anything alone. Ryan couldn''t do anything aside from epting the might of Victor and his army. "He got much stronger than before¡­" Natasha said, visibly impressed. "While I don''t like his attitude, it is thanks to him that we finished this much earlier than we anticipated." "I guess so," Ryan said while he was looking at Victor''s soldiers gathering the loot. Ryan didn''t find anything worthwhile being dropped, so he wasn''t interested in the spoils of war. He was interested in getting his next ss and then moved on. That whole situation put several doubts on his mind, and the only thing he could do to get rid of them was to move on. "Hey, Victor!" Irina shouted. "Let''s go already, I am tired of waiting. Not everyone here will be able to get a ss, so you should leave those who won''t get a ss to organize the loot. Select twenty of your men toe with us." "Twenty-one," Victor said. "Don''t even start," Irina said. "While I feel like punching this guy as well, I already gave him my word that he would get a ss here. Unlike you and the others, you aren''t fighting since the very beginning. You should be thankful that I am letting you guys go first instead of my bodyguards." Victor couldn''t say anything after that. It looked like him trying to push his will on others was amon urrence, but Natasha and Irina rarely let him control them. They weren''t strong as him, but they were leaders of their own camps, after all. In the end, they headed toward the dungeon while some soldiers stayed behind for the cleaning. While Furball could get some good status points by eating those monsters, Ryan didn''t trust those guys. It was better to take him along. Some wasps still spawned and tried to block their way, but obviously, they failed miserably. The interior of the dungeon was a bit weird. Unlike the others, that one was almostpletely dark. Some soldiers illuminated the ce with magic, but even so, the effects of those spells were strangely weak¡­ "The demons did this in the past?" Natasha asked. "No," Ryan replied. Despite that, Ryan wasn''t nervous since his Corruption Sense wasn''t alerting him. At the end of the dungeon, they also only found the purple crystal and the treasure chest. As if it was only obvious, Irina was the first one to get her ss followed by Victor and Irina. Then it was finally Ryan''s turn. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: de Master, Gunner, and High Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan has been lucky once again despite his mood. He had the option of three new sses, even though, once again, he didn''t want to stray from the path that he had chosen. Regardless, it was a good chance to learn more things about other sses. The question was who he should ask those questions. Aside from Natasha, pretty much everyone there disliked him quite a bit. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Gunner! You obtained the following skills: Mana Cannon, Mana Missiles, and Fire Cannon. Your intelligence and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, stamina, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Cannon. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a high concentrated attack of pure mana that can cause damage equal to your intelligence plus your dexterity per second. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Missiles. Effect: It grants you the power to select several targets and fire homing missiles that will pursue them, causing damage equal to ten percent of your dexterity plus your intelligence. Number of targets added by each level up: 05 Cost: 20 mana per missile You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Cannon. Effect: The fire elemental version of Mana Cannon. The added damage is equal to the previous skill plus ten percent for every level up. Cost: 130 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan frowned when he saw the skills. That ss was a mix of magic and physical long-ranged attacks. Not only that, the bonus of status was slightly different¡­ That was the first time something like that happened. Regardless, while some of those skills didn''t fit hisbat style, they would be useful to surprise his foes. Ryan discovered that such a thing was quite necessary recently. "Onto the next step," Natasha said when Ryan left the treasure chest. "Which is?" Ryan frowned. "Try to convince Victor of letting us use his dungeon," Natasha replied. "Don''t concern yourself with that, I will find another way to solve the issue," Ryan said. "Let''s just focus on making you learn Summon Warg as fast as possible." "I can''t, it will be troublesome for me if you cause problems to my fellow Russians," Natasha said. "Besides, I don''t like to feel indebted to others and until now, I have the feeling that my debt has been only increasing." Ryan was too tired to argue with Natasha, so he let her think that he needed her help to find a way to clear thest tier-three dungeon of her country. In any case, Ryan wanted to train his new skills and gain some status points. However, using them in front of Victor, Irina, and their groupies wasn''t a good idea. Chapter 388 - Space Manipulation In the end, Natasha convinced Ryan to apany Victor and the others who would return to their base. For the time being, six of Victor''s subordinates will stay behind to guard the dungeon, and they will take turns with Irina''s people. As for Irina, she was going to return to her city since she had no business with Victor. "Let''s hope this won''t be a massive waste of time," Ryan said. "Or worse, let''s hope that they won''t attack me once we arrive there." "You can rx, Victor is a nationalist that respects strength above all else," Natasha said. "While you don''t belong to his army, you also fought alongside his men to defeat some monsters that were threatening our country. So, at the very least, he won''t attack you without a good reason." Victor''s sense of values was weird, but Ryan decided to trust Natasha on the matter. Ryan traveled on Furball''s back the whole time, so he got the attention of many soldiers. They even frowned since he constantly made Furball do backflips and y dead. Making him use magic would speed Natasha''s learning process even more, but Ryan didn''t have any reason to make himself look even more suspicious. Regardless, since he had some free time, Ryan decided to check the dungeon shop. He broke his record of coins in his wallet. While that was good, money was only useful when it could be used. Much to Ryan''s surprise, he finally had the chance to buy something he really had been waiting for. Space Maniption tome Effect: it gives you the power to manipte space up to a certain extent. The more you level up this skill, the more things you will be able to doter on. Currently, you can connect reality to a space in your head where you can store a certain number of items. Price: 35.000.000 For some reason, the skill didn''t have a cost in mana, and there wasn''t a specification as to how many things Ryan could store in there. Still, he didn''t hesitate in buying the tome since it looked, he could do other things aside from storing things in another dimension and greatly interested him. After using the tome, Ryan learned that the skill only had a cost when he created a space in his mind to store the things. Also, to keep that space connected to reality, he had to spend one point of mana per second. It wasn''t that bad. The only problem was that Ryan couldn''t have two of those spaces, nor could he increase the size of it after its creation. He could destroy one then make another, though. Ryan used all his mana and managed to create a space that had the shape of a cube that was thirteen meters long, tall, and wide. It was pretty spacious. Moreover, Ryan could see the ce in his head, as if it was apletely white warehouse that had no walls, ceiling, or ground. "Interesting¡­" Ryan muttered. While Ryan wanted to experiment more with his new spell, he decided to do thatter since he was drawing too much attention to himself. In any case, Ryan expected that they would head a little more toward the West while they were apanying Victor and his henchmen, but much to his surprise, they were heading South-East. "We only recovered this area of our country and that is the amount we can manage right now due to the vast number of dungeons," Natasha exined. "We are nning to eventually head more toward the West, but¡­ I don''t think it will be possible in the short term." Too bad for Natasha, but Ryan knew that dying that will only cause more problems for them in the future. More dungeon breaks will happen, the monster poption will increase, just like their workload. Hopefully, some other survivors will be dealing with the problems on the other side of their country, but it was hard to hope for that since they didn''t find any sign of them so far. "We are getting too close to Mongolia and China, aren''t we?" Ryan asked. "Is there a reason why he set his camp near the border?" "Yes, as you already know, Victor is muscle-head nationalist," Natasha replied. "While such problems didn''t happen yet, he is always expecting that other countries'' survivors might attack us at any moment." While Ryan couldn''t care less about Victor''s opinions or reactions, they were fortunate enough to be walking a little behind Victor''s soldiers. Victor himself couldn''t hear them, and his soldiers couldn''t understand English, so Natasha felt pretty much free to say whatever she wanted. In the end, after marching non-stop for a full day and an entire night, they reached the extreme South-East part of the Russian territory. In a ce where they were only a few hours of travel in which they could reach Mongolia, China, and even North Korea. Ryan also wasn''t so far away from Japan. While he didn''t follow the coast as he had nned, he apparently saved a lot of time. Natasha probably thinks that Victor is a borderline lunatic who always fights imaginary enemies, but Ryan could only respect his cautious nature. Even with his limited resources and personnel, he managed to create several posts around the border in which his men kept watching everything that might enter Russian territory. While they were moving, he saw hundreds of those posts before reaching Victor''s camp. Ryan''s surprises didn''t end there. Instead of rebuilding a proper city or camp to house his subordinates, Victor used his power and influence to build a massive war fortress in front of a tier-three dungeon. Aside from the entrance and some small windows, Ryan couldn''t see anything that could bring sunlight to that massive building. It had at least seven floors, and it was five hundred meters long and wide. Given how arrogant Victor was, Ryan imagined that his camp would be a castle and he would sit on a throne, but he was a crazy militaristic man to his very core. Chapter 389 - Fire Golem While his soldiers were entering the fortress, Victor stayed behind and waited for Ryan and Natasha to show up. While it didn''t look like he would forbid their entrance, he wasn''t showing a very weing expression on his face. "You are the leader of one of our camps, even though it is the smallest, you are still a leader," Victor said. "However, here, you will have to follow my rules." "Whatever you say¡­" Natasha shrugged. "As for you¡­ you can''t leave Natasha''s said," Victor said while ring at Ryan. "If someone sees you walking around alone, my men will restrain you." They certainly will try, but Ryan didn''t intend to let their job be easy. Rather than that, he wasn''t even interested in entering the fortress. He just wanted to clear the dungeon and then leave. There was nothing else for him in that country. "You know why we are here, Victor," Natasha said. "Let''s just solve that matter already." "That matter is already solved, I won''t let a foreigner obtain power in my country," Victor said. "We need to negotiate this, I already gave my word that Ryan would clear our level three dungeons," Natasha said. "That is your problem, not mine," Victor said. Even Ryan was already tired of that exchange. As for Natasha, she was having a hard time controlling the volume of her voice. She wasn''t exactly a calm person, to begin with. If she were, she wouldn''t have promised to help Ryan to aplish his goals in her country. "There must something we can do to convince you to change your mind," Natasha said. "¡­ If you be my subordinate, I will give him permission to use my dungeon," Victor said. "Why you¡­" Natasha clenched her teeth. "Oh, boy¡­ here I thought we were talking serious business here," Ryan sighed. "But in the end, you just want her by your side, huh. Your life here must be pretty lonely." It was Victor''s time to clench his teeth in anger. Apparently, that was a touchy subject, and much for Victor''s annoyance, he couldn''t just attack Ryan after he said that. It would only confirm his point and make Victor embarrass himself even further. Natasha had a hard time believing that Victor still had feelings for her, so she only frowned. "I can''t abandon my subordinates," Natasha said. "I learned a lot in thest few days thanks to Ryan, I will pass to you all that knowledge if you agree to help us here. Believe me, you, me and everyone else in the entire world will need to hear about this, if we want to survive in this world. The problem that we are facing is much bigger than we expected." Victor considered Natasha''s words for a few seconds. Even though he was a muscle-head, Victor was fully aware that he was focusing too much on protecting his territory. While he didn''t waste a single day of training, Victor still felt that he was too passive in his actions. Aside from this time where he left the border to obtain half of a new dungeon''s rights, he couldn''t remember thest time in which he took some risks or obtained some valuable intel. Only someone like Ryan, who crossed several countries, could have the intel that would be extremely valuable to him. "¡­ I will listen to that intel first and determine if they are really that valuable," Victor said. "Only after hearing all you have to say I will determine if he can enter the dungeon with you." "You''d better not to try to screw with us by forcing me to tell you those things first, Victor," Natasha said. Victor and Natasha proceeded to enter the fortress, but Ryan decided to stay behind and watch the dungeon from afar. While he probably won''t obtain the chance to fight the monsters, seeing their status was already good enough in that kind of situation. The dungeon was one of those underground dungeons which appeared in an area that had no mountains. Ryan was expecting to see some type of underground monster that would love the darkness like bats, but much to his surprise, he found a type of monster that he saw many times before. Fire Golem ¨C Lv 190 Health: 12.000/12.000 Mana: 12.000/12.000 Stamina: 12.000/12.000 Strength: 2500 Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 2500 Endurance: 2500 Control: 2500 Mentality: 2500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 7500 Willpower: 2500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Charge Lv 150 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 100, Focus Lv 100 Spells: Explosive Bullet Lv 120, Explosive Arrow Lv 120 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 250, Fire Resistance Lv 250 "Well, well¡­ look has been upgraded," Ryan muttered while he watched some soldiers fighting a fire golem. Much to Ryan''s surprise, all the soldiers had shields, and not even a single one of them tried to dodge the golem''s attacks, be they ranged or melee. They always tried to block the attacks, even though each one of them could make them fly for several meters. Although Fire Golems were more bnced than the ordinary ones, they still were a force to be reckoned with. Ryan even wished that his golems could evolve and be like those, but that was a bit too much. "I have nothing to do here¡­ I guess I will make some potions and store them inside my storage dimension," Ryan shrugged. Ryan decided to rest his back against Furball''s fur. While the weather had improved considerably, Ryan already grew ustomed to that, and it was pretty rxing. While the fortress guards still threw annoyed looks at him, Ryan ignored them all and focused on the task ahead. Congrattions! The ss Alchemist has reached level 20. Now you can produce STR potions! Form: eight red soul essences + one green soul essence + one blue soul essence. After reaching that notification, Ryan felt even morepelled to make potions. Not only was that another good source of ie, but he will also be able to increase his status without consuming mana¡­ Ryan couldn''t ask for more. Chapter 390 - STR Potion STR potion Effect: Increases your strength temporarily by twenty-eight points for three hundred seconds. This effect can stack indefinitely, but all the bonuses will disappear five minutes after the first potion was used. Ryan rubbed his chin while he analyzed the first potion made. After doing some basic calctions, Ryan confirmed that the bonus base of strength was twenty points. The other eight were thanks to his Alchemy and Auto Medication skills¡­ while it was weird that such passive skills could change the description of an item, Ryan didn''t pay much attention to it. The real important information was that Ryan could increase his attributes temporarily by using several of those potions. "Femradiel, do you think my ss and skills will level up faster if I keep making those STR potions?" Ryan asked. "Evidently," Femradiel replied. While eventually, Ryan will run out of red soul essences, he had a lot of them since he mostly made mana potions and a few stamina ones. Besides, by using them, Ryan will be able to train more effectively in his melee sses. While his primary fighting style won''t change, those extra bonuses of level-ups will help him a lot. Just like Femradiel said, the ss and the Alchemist ss''s skills leveled up quite fast while he was making them. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have more than a single hour to make some of them. He thought Natasha would spend a lot of time together talking and perhaps making out, but when they showed, Victor wasn''t showing the expression of someone who scored. In fact, he looked even more annoyed than usual. "Hey, where are the demons'' dungeons?" Victor asked. "The two near my country were already being dealt with," Ryan replied. "The third one is in Peru, near the capital, Lima." "I want the other two locations," Victor. "I won''t tell their locations," Ryan replied. "Ryan¡­" Natasha said. "Some people I know are working there," Ryan said. "There is no way I am going to let someone like him get close to them." "The dragon inside him is trying to read your mind," Femradiel said. Ryan immediately focused his senses and then recalled the fights that Alissa had against Baal and Lilith. Those were pretty intense memories, so they were easy to make them appear inside his head. At the same time, it was a useful way to stop thinking about the dungeons'' locations. After a while, Victor gave up on waiting for his dragon to do the work for him and then stepped forward to re at Ryan even more closely. "You can stare as much as you want, you are dead wrong if you think someone like you scares me," Ryan said. "¡­ If I challenge those demons, where are my chances of winning from your perspective?" Victor asked. "¡­ It is hard to say since they didn''t go all out when I saw them," Ryan frowned and then replied. "Still, if you really are eight times stronger in your draconic form and if they underestimate while you try to finish the fight in a single strike, maybe you have a ten percent chance to kill them." "That is strangely urate," Natasha said. "I want to kill them as well, so I am always trying to simte a fight with them in my head," Ryan exined. "Besides, that is just a very positive estimative. They are arrogant and I don''t think they n on fighting alongside their minions, but if their minions interfere¡­ Well, you already can imagine." Natasha gulped since she could easily recall thest two fights against those demons. While things ended fairly well to the human side, Natasha was fully aware that it was only because they got lucky thanks to the fact that Victor was a greedy idiot. Regardless, strangely enough, Victor didn''t be enraged after hearing that. Knowing him, Ryan imagined that he thought that he was much stronger than any demon. Still, even so, he realized that several other humans were stronger than him, considering the ranking alone. In the end, Victor left without saying any other word. Thus, it was impossible to determine if Natasha epted the deal. However, that was only from Ryan''s perspective. Apparently, Natasha had already obtained some details. "The dungeon was already cleared today, so we will have to wait until tomorrow," Natasha said after a long sigh. "Thanks, you saved me from a lot of trouble," Ryan said. "You and the people from this area, right?" Natasha smiled. "Indeed," Ryan nodded and then resumed his potion-making. "¡­ You can''t even deny, huh," Natasha sighed again. It looked like Ryan''s journey on Russian territory wasing to an end. While he faced some problems here and there, Ryan considered that he aplished his mission. In the end, he was going to obtain another tier-three ss, and he didn''t have to kill any human. Now he just needed to clear the dungeon and help Natasha learn Summon Warg. Fortunately, based on Natasha''s estimations, that was going to happen tomorrow as well. In the end, Ryan spends the entire day and night outside the fortress making those potions and helping Natasha with that skill. Ryan also made sure to forge some crossbows since he didn''t want to leave that region without creating a magic item that had the fire golems soul. Unfortunately, even though Victor gave permission for Ryan to use the dungeon, Victor himself was going to clear the dungeon in order to confirm that Ryan wouldn''t do anything suspicious. Without any other choice, Ryan decided to use n B. "Can I kill one of them?" Ryan asked. "I can pay you for it." "No," Victor replied. Ryan sighed¡­ maybe it was time to jump to n F: fuck that asshole by causing a dungeon break. In the end, Ryan also gave up on that. While he didn''t mind causing problems to Victor any imbecile that decided to follow him, he didn''t want to cause problems to Natasha. From all the humans Ryan knew, she was the least annoying, after all. Chapter 391 - New Class In the end, Ryan felt like he only lost time during the whole trip toward the end of the dungeon. Victor was strong enough to sweep the floor with the Fire Golems, so Ryan didn''t learn anything in particr, not even when he fought the boss: a magma golem. Magma Golem ¨C Lv 200 Health: 75.000/75.000 Mana: 60.000/60.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 1250 Intelligence: 5000 Endurance: 5000 Control: 2500 Mentality: 5000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 15.000 Willpower: 5000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Explosive Touch Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 150, Focus Lv 150 Spells: Magma Arrow Lv 120, Magma Spear Lv 120 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 250, Fire Resistance Lv 250, Electric Resistance Lv 250 "This looks like something who would cause some problems to me¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It was kind of annoying to admit that, but Victor was stronger than Ryan in all senses, with the exception of the strategical thinking. Ryan wasn''t a genius, but Victor was that much of a muscle-head. As if he was trying to show off in front of Natasha, Victor blocked all the monster''s attacks and didn''t hesitate to punch and kick the monster. While he fought for a few seconds, he probably could have decimated the monster in a few seconds if he had turned into a dragon. "Be quick," Victor said to all those who hade with him, Natasha and Ryan. Fortunately, Victor wasn''t as silly as Irina, so he didn''t care if Ryan would be the first or thest to get the ss. He only wanted speed from everyone inside the dungeon. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Soldier, Mimic, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Two new sses, huh¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Conjurer I have already seen, as for the others¡­ they are a bit weird." As usual, Ryan would choose the select ss, but since the ss was weird, Ryan was hesitating. Knowing that everyone aside from Natasha was a muscle head, they probably chose the Soldier ss, but even when Ryan used Appraisal on some, he didn''t see the ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Mimic! You obtained the following skills: Status Copy, Skills Copy, and Temporary Transformation. Your intelligence and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, stamina, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Status Copy. Effect: It grants you the chance to copy the status of someone or something else. You can copy the status of any sapient being as long as the total amount of all attributes doesn''t exceed yours. If the total status points obtained by the target exceed yours, each attribute will lose a certain number of points to equal the current number of your status. Cost: 25 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Skills Copy. Effect: It grants you the chance to copy someone''s skill list or something else that you have seen before. You can copy all the skills of any sapient being as long as the total number of skills and levels doesn''t exceed yours. If the total skill points obtained by the target exceed yours, each skill will lose a certain number of levels to equal the current number and level of skills in your list. Cost: 25 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Temporary Transformation. Effect: It grants you the chance to assume the form of someone or something else. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. It indeed was a weird ss¡­ using those skills inbat seemed useless for Ryan since he could only see himself as an archer, and until now, he didn''t see anyone better than him when ites to long-range stealth attacks. "Well, I guess it will be useful for some infiltration jobs¡­ not like I had to do that until now," Ryan shrugged. "The way you humans obtain power is really weird," Femradiel said. "While those abilities are weird and notbat-oriented, they still are powerful abilities. That is only something someone can learn after decades of deep study of the uses of mana." "I couldn''t agree more," Ryan said. "In any case, try not to talk too much when there is another dragon nearby. I want to keep your existence hidden from potential enemies." "You can rest assured that the dragon inside Victor won''t notice my presence," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed because those reassuring words only make him feel more worried as far as he was concerned. In any case, Ryan''s job in Russia was over, and now he just needed to help Natasha for a few more hours, and then he will be free to leave. However, knowing Victor, he will probably annoy him if they leave while he stays behind. "Which ss did you choose?" Natasha asked. "That is none of your business," Ryan replied. "In any case, if you truly wanted to be a better archer, then you already know that there is only one option for you." "While I know that, I couldn''t help but hesitate," Natasha said. "Do you think I can learn some of your skills if I use Skills Copy with you and then practice the skills as much as possible?" "Who knows?" Ryan shrugged. "You should try and confirm that theory. Instead of relying on others to learn new things, you should explore the system by yourself as much as possible." While Ryan could understand how useful and efficient it was to learn things from others, a person who only relies on that to grow stronger, will never be the strongest. After all, they will always stay a few steps behind people like Ryan. Regardless, thanks to Natasha, Ryan learned something that he should investigateter since he knew that sses and some skills have many quirks and perks that could be useful, but the system never reveals them directly. Finally, she taught him something instead of the other way around¡­ Chapter 392 - Another Use When Natasha finally learned Summon Warg, she immediately used and jumped toward the puppy that appeared before her. She was so excited while smiling from ear to ear and rubbing her cheeks on her partner''s cheek that Ryan couldn''t help but smile a little. She was indeed an animal lover¡­ "So cute, so fluffy!" Natasha said. "I thought that you wanted a partner to help you inbat," Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, that Warg will bepletely useless for a while, you can see by its status. I hope that you won''t feed him all that much because you want to keep its current appearance¡­ that would make my hard work almostpletely meaningless. Regardless, it is time for me to go." "I am really thankful for your help, Ryan," Natasha said while she was holding the Warg in her arms as if the creature was a teddy bear. "Someday, I will repay the favor. I wish you good luck on your journey." "¡­ I don''t believe in luck, fate, and destiny, but I will ept your kind words," Ryan said and then jumped on Furball''s back. Without wasting any more time, Ryan gave Furball the order to move on. In the blink of an eye, he left Victor''s camp and Natasha behind. Natasha waved his hand toward him until he disappeared in the distance. She felt thankful for the fact that he made a friend after so long. The people she knew either only respected and admired her but always kept their distance. As for Ryan, he only treated her like an ordinary person. Not like a leader of a survivors'' camp. Ryan also felt refreshed that he managed to interact with someone that he didn''t particrly hate or felt annoyed with. While he didn''t feel that way with Furball and Femradiel, they were different from the others. Regardless, the mission was finally over, and Ryan had to choose his next destination. "China is too big just like Russia, and I really don''t want to go to North Korea," Ryan muttered. "It looks like the best option is Japan, but I need to fly over three hundred kilometers of ocean¡­ Before that, maybe I should talk with Alissa and confirm that things are all right. Strangely enough, she hasn''t been calling me all that much these days." Now that he thought about it, Gustavo and the others haven''t been as nearly as noisy as he thought they would be¡­ that was strange. Perhaps Ryan was getting used to working with others, and that was why he was missing the conversations he had with them¡­ that being said, Ryan would rather die than say that out loud. "What?" Alissa asked, visibly angry when Ryan started the telepathy link. "Are you in a bad mood?" Ryan asked. "How unusual." "Of course, I am, you woke me up in the middle of the night," Alissa said. "Are you lonely or something?" "It is the difference in the time zones, dumbass," Ryan said. "Anyway, if you don''t mind, I want to know if things are alright where you are." "The same as always, Mark is hitting his head against the wall due to the survivors, your goody two shoes'' friends are moving around trying to solve problems like firefighters," Alissa said. "Aside from that, the only things worth noticing are that Arthur can already speak some words and that I cleared the troll''s dungeon." "Is that so¡­ good for you," Ryan said. "There is another thing¡­ your friends are asking less and less frequent about you," Alissa said, and then her tone changed. "It looks like they are angry that you leaf the country behind in your quest for power." "They are not my friends and what they think doesn''t concern me," Ryan said. "Anyway, you still are reading other people''s mind, huh. Maybe I should teach everyone how to counter that spell." "I guess another thing worth noticing was that the power of the demons in Houston suddenly increased," Alissa said. "It looks like the tier of the dungeon increased, when I went there to clear the ce, some of my guys obtained the sses." "So, that happened there as well, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then said. Things were changing in the world again, and Ryan was quite sure that he wouldn''t like those changes. Regardless, he also exined to Alissa that something simr happened in Russia. Naturally, she was interested in the topic when she heard the words: demons and Beelzebub, and just like Ryan, she found it strange that the general didn''t show up. "Their actions are changing¡­" Alissa said. "Now that they know that some of us can fight against them, they are trying harder to make their dungeons reach max level faster. Regardless, to think that you would find so many Russians and someone even more high-ranked than me¡­ Why didn''t you invite him to the telepathic channel?" "Because he is a muscle-head asshole," Ryan replied. "If you are going as far to be that directly¡­ I guess he wouldn''t help us all that much," Alissa said. "Anyway, some tier two dungeons are also appearing now and then, and while the people here are getting stronger, you already know that Mark''s system will eventually copse. You should return as fast as possible. After that, Ryan ended the call. While he really wanted to return as fast as possible to his home country, Ryan was fully aware that if he stays there, getting stronger slowly, in the end, he won''t be able to do anything. Although the people in the base won''t be able to use the tier three dungeons, he found, for the time being, it doesn''t mean that they won''t be able to use themter. So, mapping them was actually useful. Now that Ryan confirmed that everything was all right, he could continue his journey without worrying too much about it. However, he also felt that he should learn some real teleportation spells sooner, if something happens and he is too far away. ss: Hunter Lv 76 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 115th Health: 1599/1599 (4, 37/s) Mana: 2492/2492 (4, 37/s) Stamina: 2450/2450 (4, 37/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2550 (+1825) (+95) Speed: 140 (+851) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+674) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160) Control: 06 (+942) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+46) (+70) Luck: 74 (+20) Recovery: 1100 (+1167) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+46) (+40) Coins: 55.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Alchemy Lv 29 (+ 13 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), Motivation Lv 01, Skill Camouge Lv 01, Spells: Mana Cannon Lv 01, Mana Missiles Lv 01, Fire Cannon Lv 01, Spatial Maniption Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Status Copy Lv 01, Skills Copy Lv 01, Temporary Transformation Lv 01, Support Skills: sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 41 (+ 02 UP), Archer Lv 68 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 63 (+ 02 UP), Dark yer Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Silent Killer Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Mimic Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 25 (+ 12 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 393 - Frozen Wolf To make sure that nothing unpleasant would happen to him, Ryan decided to cross the ocean while flying several kilometers above sea level. However, while he managed to avoid those unpleasant surprises in the sea, Ryan had others when he finally reached Japan. Even though it wasn''t that cold in thest part he had visited in Russian, the whole Northern part of that country looked like the North Pole. Everything was covered in ice and snow, and Ryan couldn''t identify a singlendmark. Moreover, the number of monsters was ridiculous. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, he could only find a single species. Frozen Wolf ¨C Lv 300 Health: 8000/8000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 7000/7000 Strength: 1200 Dexterity: 1500 Speed: 750 Intelligence: 200 Endurance: 1000 Control: 1000 Mentality: 1500 Luck: 400 Recovery: 2500 Willpower: 1500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Ice ws Lv 280 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 200, Stealth Lv 150, Spells: Ice Spear Lv 250, Frost Armor Lv 250 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 400, Earth Resistance Lv 200, Electric Resistance Lv 150 "Shit¡­ level three hundred," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The dungeon which spawns those fuckers definitely broke more than five times." "If you don''t mind while you let the severity of the situation trouble you, can I use Magic Bow to kill them?" Femradiel asked. "Their numbers are high, so this will be a good opportunity for me who didn''t do anything battle-oriented in a while." While Ryan frowned when he heard that, he understood that Femradiel had a point. Besides, while those enemies certainly were tough, they weren''t a real threat to Ryan. He could fly, defend himself and attack without giving them a chance to attack with Silent Attack, so he let Femradiel stretch her battle instincts while he was pondering about the situation. "Can you feel any human presence?" Ryan asked. "Not a single one in twenty kilometers in all directions," Femradiel replied. Ryan would find it weird if there were any survivors around when Ryan could count hundreds of monsters with his eyes alone. Regardless, based on what Ryan knew, the frozen wolves were probably interfering with the environment. That was why everything was frozen or covered in snow. While that would take a while, he was determined to kill all the monsters and bosses he might find. You obtained 150 coins. You obtained 150 coins. You obtained 150 coins. ¡­ Unlike Ryan, Femradiel was really good at multitasking. After killing the monsters, she would use Telekinesis to bring them to Furball, and if they dropped something or iron ores, she would bring them as well. She was too efficient, so Ryan thought that he was cheating or something by relying on her¡­ even though she limited herself by using Ryan''s skills and attacking based on his status as well. "Magic Bow is really convenient¡­ there is no need to pull a trigger, after all," Ryan said. "Anyway, I guess I should help." Ryan equipped his Pestilence Crossbow and Heavy Crossbow and joined the massacre. After a while, when theynded, Furball began his feast. However, despite the number of corpses, his status wasn''t growing that fast. As expected, those were, at best, tier two monsters. While you are having your fun, don''t forget to search for humans, Femradiel," Ryan said. "I am using Radar and Awareness, but my range can''tpare to yours." "Trying to make more friends?" Femradiel asked. "While Victor is an asshole, he made me realize that an army of humans can be a powerful asset if trained correctly," Ryan replied. "I can''t make an army of humans if I don''t find any. In any case, if I rescue some and bring them to Alissa or even Gustavo and his friends, I am sure they will be useful eventually." "Why not train them yourself?" Femradiel asked. "Ah, wait¡­ your trust issues." "If you already know, then don''t ask," Ryan said. "Don''t answer your own questions either." The number of monsters was so high that Ryan made a mental note to pick the Necromancer ss the next time he sees it. While he couldn''t let the dungeons reach the max level anytime soon, he couldn''t just stay forever in a single ce hunting small fry creatures. While he was moving toward the South, he tried to kill as many monsters as possible, but he only killed those that actively stood in his way. Ryan and the others quickly found some dungeons, but he ignored them all since hundreds of bosses were protecting them, and all of them were only tier two. Femradiel still killed some of them, but only while she was passing by, the monsters chased them but eventually gave up. Ryan and Furball were just too fast. In the end, Ryan and the others crossed the entire northern part of Japan in a single day. While they still wasted some time moving around and looking for survivors, they didn''t find any. That was¡­ really worrisome. "I am picking presences in the South, several of them," Femradiel said. "But¡­ I don''t think things are looking good." "What do you mean by that?" Ryan frowned. "Their numbers are fairly big, but they are fighting against each other," Femradiel replied. "I increased my range by focusing on a single direction, and due to it, I can''t confirm that, but there are two fairly powerful presences among them and I don''t think they belong to humans'' presences." Ryan frowned when he heard that. He didn''t know many Japanese people, but he was fairly certain that they were a pretty civilized bunch. He couldn''t imagine people that valorized their culture all that much to turn down against each other after just five months of crisis. However, what Ryan was really worried about was those non-human presences¡­ why would monsters participate in the fights of humans. They certainly weren''t summoned monsters. After all, Ryan couldn''t imagine a summoned creature bing much more powerful than several humans. That would be way too weird¡­ Chapter 394 - Silver Tiger Ryan had to cross a small part of the Pacific Ocean to reach the ce where Femradiel found human presence, and much to his surprise, some survivors were really fighting against each other. As if that wasn''t enough, he saw two massive beasts fighting against each other as well. A silver tiger and a ck tortoise. Byakko ¨C Lv 330 Health: 71.000/85.000 Mana: 52.000/65.000 Stamina: 51.000/65.000 Strength: 3500 Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 1500 Intelligence: 3000 Endurance: 3500 Control: 1500 Mentality: 2000 Luck: 700 Recovery: 25.000 Willpower: 2000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Electric Strike Lv 280 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 250, Steel Skin Lv 150 Spells: Lightning Lv 200, Electric Spear Lv 180 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300, Fire Resistance Lv 200, Electric Resistance Lv 200, Genbu ¨C Lv 325 Health: 95.000/115.000 Mana: 31.000/35.000 Stamina: 25.000/35.000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 1500 Endurance: 5000 Control: 1000 Mentality: 4500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 25.000 Willpower: 4500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Burning Touch Lv 250 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 250, Bronze Skin Lv 200, Steel Skin Lv 150 Spells: Fire Cannon Lv 200, Fire Aura Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 350, Electric Resistance Lv 250, Cold Resistance Lv 150 Ryan felt like he watched some crazy movie while those stupidlyrge monsters were rampaging around and destroying the terrain. A single step was enough to make the ground tremble, and when they turned their bodies around, the survivors had to focus on not getting thrown away by the gusts of wind. "Ryan, those are dungeon bosses," Femradiel said. The bosses had the same size of dragons, but they were stronger than any dragon Ryan saw until now. While that was an important characteristic, Ryan ignored that and was wondering as to why the monsters were facing each other and ignoring the Japanese and the other way around. Why the heck the survivors were ignoring them¡­ "I am sensing a strange link between the humans here and those beasts," Femradiel said. "It is a link simr you and Furball have¡­ that link is giving humans power." Ryan''s expression darkened¡­ in the end. It looked like those survivors decided to join the monsters'' side. While they were still living on Earth, that doesn''t change anything from Ryan''s perspective. After using Appraisal on the survivors, Ryan saw that they had certain skills that looked very weird. Those who were on Byakko''s side had the Autumn''s Blessing, and those on Genbu''s side had the Winter''s Blessing. Ryan had no idea what those skills could do, but given that now and then, the survivors could cover their bodies with mes or lightning, he concluded that they were some type of elemental power up. "¡­ Let''s give them a single chance," Ryan grabbed his crossbows and then summoned the magic bows. "As for the monsters, they won''t have the same privilege." While Ryan wasn''t so above ground level, he was close enough to let the survivors see him, and they finally found him when Ryan started to rain bolts and magic bolts over the two massive beasts. Their health quickly decreased since he focused on hitting their heads. The Japanese survivors stopped fighting against each other and found the unknown man attacking the two monsters and couldn''t help but open their mouths wide in surprise. In their eyes, that was insanity. When the two beasts finally found Ryan, they also stopped attacking each other, and they opened their mouths toward him. A lightning bolt and a fire cannon flew toward Ryan, but he blocked the attacks with his shield. While the shield''s durability decreased by fifty percent in a single instant, the monsters'' received some of the reflected damage and were forced to stop their attacks. "You might want to speed up things a little bit," Femradiel said. Doing that alone was impossible, but instead of asking for help, Ryan focused his attacks on Byakko. The silver tiger immediately assumed a defensive instance while Ryan aimed at the monster''s eyes. To stop the unknown threat, the beast tried to jump attack Ryan, but Genbu bites Byakko''s tail. Ryan shook his head in disapproval. In the end, monsters will always be monsters. They could only see a single path in front of them, the path where everything would end in their favor. Byakko''s health was quickly approaching dangerous levels, so some of the survivors decided to attack Ryan. They fired many long-ranged electric attacks toward him, but before the number of attacks could escte, the other survivors did the same as Genbu and attacked them from behind. "So, it is going to be like that, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "What a pity¡­" While Genbu was holding back Byakko, Ryan pointed his crossbows toward those that attacked him. In an instant, fifteen survivors died when bolts pierced their hearts. The other ones froze in shock when they confirmed the power of someone who decided to challenge those massive beasts. You obtained 25.236 coins. You obtained 12.985 coins. You obtained 33.457 coins. ¡­ "You didn''t hesitate¡­ I am surprised," Femradiel said. "You already know that I won''t forgive those that attack me," Ryan said. The other group of survivors stepped back, and Ryan decided to ignore them for the time being and then focused his attention on Byakko again. Before the ck tortoise could finish off the monster with a single bite on its neck, Ryan used Seal and then transnted the boss''s soul on a crossbow. Ryan finally obtained his first magic weapon enchanted with the power of electricity. Thunder Lord Crossbow (Electric) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that shock your foes for 0.25 seconds. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 140/140 Without wasting time, Ryan pointed his new weapon at Genbu. When huge chunks of flesh began to fall from the monster''s face, the other survivors also attacked Ryan¡­ it looked like Ryan would have to cause another human massacre. Chapter 395 - Fire Master Crossbow Since Genbu was more of a tank and less than a long-ranged monster, Ryan wasted some time attacking to finish off the monsters. The Japanese survivors also bothered Ryan quite a lot, but Femradiel blocked their attacks with Ryan''s shield. In the end, Genbu also fell down. Those gigantic creatures were troublesome to some extent, but since they were fighting alone, they weren''t a real threat. Besides, Ryan wasn''t fighting alone anymore. Fire Master Crossbow (Fire) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that will burn your foes and decrease their recovery by fifty points for sixty seconds. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 140/140 After obtaining another powerful weapon, Ryan turned around to face the survivors. Despite everything, they didn''t retreat or showed any sign of fear or resignation. They were ready to die fighting. Ryan could only respect their spirit, but not their choices of joining the monsters'' side. Do you want me to do it?" Femradiel asked. "Why would I let you solve my problems?" Ryan asked. "Despite your resolution, I can see that you are disliking this quite a lot," Femradiel replied. Ryan couldn''t say anything to that. That was the truth. While those people decided to make an enemy out of him, he didn''t have to like the killing or the fact that the number of his enemies was decreasing. In the end, to satisfy his ego and to make the turmoil inside him to calm down, Ryan finished the survivors by firing Mana Arrows on their hearts. You obtained 9.632 coins. You obtained 17.789 coins. You obtained 20.036 coins. ¡­ Ryan took a deep breath after thest one of them fell. The path he had chosen to follow wasn''t an easy one. By cutting down the root of some problems that could grow in the future, Ryan saved himself from many headaches, but everything has a price. The price had to pay now was that he was more or less contributing to human extinction. While Furball was eating some parts of the fallen monsters, Ryan got the loot that the survivors had. Some pieces of armor and magic weapons of all types and shapes, but those weren''t particrly powerful. So, he sold all of them. "Things are a bit weird here¡­ bosses are fighting against other bosses and humans joined their fights as well," Ryan muttered. "It would be stupid to hope that I won''t see this scene repeating itself several times." Just thinking about that was enough to make Ryan tired. He will never get tired of hunting monsters. If he gets tired someday, it would be the same as abandoning Earth and leaving it in the hands of monsters. However, on the first day he took a human life, he got tired of it¡­ it was only natural. "Can you guide me to where you can feel simr presences of those monsters?" Ryan asked. You will have to head South a little more, I can''t pinpoint the location of the dungeons from so far away," Femradiel said. "But I can feel four massive concentrations of mana in a single area. I think those are what you call level three dungeons." "Are they close to each other?" Ryan asked. "Really close," Femradiel replied. "To the point where I can find it strange howe two bosses managed to reach this region." By the look of things, the dungeons were so close that the monsters could easily find each other. While Femradiel found it weird that those bosses hade to this region when their dungeons were hundreds of kilometers down South, Ryan found it natural. After all, there was no way that the dungeon masters of four dungeons that broke three or four times would manage to organize the positions of hundreds of bosses, even more so when some humans joined their side. In the end, Furball managed to get ten points in intelligence when he ate one of Byakko''s legs and ten points of recovery by eating one of the Genbu''s limbs. That was quite a lot of progress, considering that Furball only ate. Still, Ryan didn''t feel like celebrating or anything. Without wasting any more time, Ryan began to head South. However, instead of flying and easily revealing his position, he decided to let Furball transport him. Despite his size, he was quite silent while running, and with that, he will be able to surprise other bosses. However, after traveling for just a couple of minutes, he saw in the distance a group of survivors escorting other survivors, and a Byakko was with them. "Femradiel¡­ why didn''t you alert me of this?" Ryan asked. "I thought you were only interested in the dungeons," Femradiel said. "You will waste a lot of time if you decide to stop after finding every little situation on your path." At first, Ryan didn''t understand the meaning behind Femradiel''s words, but then he noticed that the group being escorted didn''t have weapons and looked pretty beaten down. Some special shackles were also restraining her hands and legs¡­ Ryan''s blood started to boil when he saw a boy who seemed no older than ten years with a single-arm, and the other arm still was bleeding. Despite your words and your cold attitude, you still can''t leave other humans alone, huh?" Femradiel said, and for some reason, she looked disappointed. "You can call me na?ve if you want, but in the end, by acting now, I will get rid of some assholes while doing something meaningful," Ryan said. "Besides, if I help those prisoners, I will be able to gather intel much faster than just by mindlessly killing monsters and other humans." "You don''t owe any exnations to me," Femradiel said. "I am just worried that if you decide to act like this every single time, you will end up dooming us some day. If you die, I die. Also, I am pretty sure that you are fully aware that hostages'' situations are where people like you expose your neck too much." Chapter 396 - Haruna Ryan couldn''t retort Femradiel''s words, but in the end, as long as he fights, as usual, the chances of things taking a wrong turn somewhere would be pretty small. In any case, Ryan had to choose his targets carefully. By the look of things, the hostages would be forced to join the monsters'' side. Ryan didn''t know of the details, but since the demons could capture humans as well and turn them into monsters, Ryan assumed that the ritual with the monsters in the area was less shady since the humans didn''t change all that much. "Who should I kill first?" Ryan asked himself while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The boss or the humans¡­ the boss will take a while to take down, so the humans might take the hostages and use them like shields. Not like that will be a problem, the problem is if one of them gets nervous and kills someone." While Byakko could also decide to kill the hostages, Ryan could prevent the monster with a barrage of attacks. The Thunder Lord Crossbow certainly could stop Byakko¡­ or maybe not, since Ryan created that weapon by using the soul of the same boss. "Well, it can''t hurt to try," Ryan said and then shrugged. That crossbow was one of his two most powerful weapons, after all. Before equipping that weapon, Ryan equipped the pestilence crossbow. In a matter of a few seconds, he activated Perfect Aim and then fired twenty points and made them fly toward the hearts of armed survivors. While they were wearing armor, the bolts still pierced their hearts due to the power of Ryan''s stealth skills and several other passive bonuses. The hostages opened their eyes widely in shock when their kidnappers began to fall dead one after the other, and soon, they began to run when Byakko began to tremble soon after some explosions happened. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Thunder Lord Crossbow was working. However, only for half of the period was it supposed to work. Still, that was more than Ryan actually needed. While Byakko was suffering from the shock effects, Ryan fired his pestilence crossbow''s bolts on the monster''s eyes. The creature tried to resist, but in the end, his relentless attacks made the monster lose its eyes. Not that had been necessary since the beast could only endure so much of Ryan''s attacks in that defenseless position. Ryan couldn''t help but frown, considering that such a monster was supposed to be stronger than ordinary dragons, and yet, Ryan killed it with ease¡­ well, not quite. Ryan used the soul of the monster to increase the power of his crossbow. Instead of celebrating that his most powerful weapon became ten percent more powerful, Ryan raised his guard because he noticed a third party''s approach thanks to Radar. He immediately pointed the crossbow in that direction, but he didn''t pull the trigger since the approaching people were walking normally and didn''t even try to hide their presence. After a while, some of them stayed behind, but a single dark-haired woman wearing purple armor and carrying a ive in her right hand showed. She raised her arms toward the sky to show that she means no harm, and then she said something, but Ryan shook his head since he didn''t understand a single thing. "I can''t speak Japanese," Ryan said. "English?" The dark-haired woman frowned. "Are you Australian?" "American," Ryan replied. The frown on the woman''s face got a little more severe, but then she rxed when she noticed that Ryan only killed the kidnappers. As for Ryan, he didn''t rx at all. That woman and others had been tailing the hostages, but they didn''t do anything, after all. Haruna ss: Swordsman Lv 35 / Samurai Lv 28 / Guard Lv 22 (--) Race: --/--/-- Rank: 7.654th Health: 1145/1145 Mana: 742/742 Stamina: 950/950 Strength: 550 (+ 150) Dexterity: 460 (+ 50) Speed: 500 (+ 150) Intelligence: 250 (+ 50) Endurance: 600 (+ 100) Control: 320 (+ 70) Mentality: 600 (+ 100) Luck: 100 Recovery: 400 (+ 150) Willpower: 600 (+ 100) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 55, War Cry Lv 30, Dash Lv 25, Passive Physical Skills:Swordsmanship Lv 45, Shield Mastery Lv 35 Spells: Fireball Lv 50, Frost Arrow Lv 45, Earth Arrow Lv 42 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 45, Cold Resistance Lv 41, Electric Lv 36 Ryan frowned when she saw that woman''s status. Considering her caution to rescue her fellow countrymen, she was a lot stronger than Ryan imagined. "I thank you for your help," Haruna said and then bowed. "My name is Haruna, may I ask who you are? I never heard of you and I believe someone with your level of strength would be pretty well-known in these parts." "The name is Ryan and I just arrived in your country," Ryan replied. "Anyway, you were following the hostages, right? Why didn''t you act sooner?" "¡­ We were waiting for the right moment to strike," Haruna hesitated. "We lost a battle against that group a few hours ago and our strength decreased. Another direct confrontation wouldn''t change anything, so we hoped that another boss would show up and start a fight. The idea was to rescue them during the confusion." "Did you watch that boy losing his arm in silence?" Ryan asked while pointing to the boy he saw before approaching alongside the other hostages. "¡­ I did," Haruna closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Despite everything, I decided not to act." "That is all that I needed to know," Ryan said and then approached the boy before healing his arm. "I believe I helped you guys quite a bit now, so I am going to ask a few questions and then move on since I don''t want to waste my time with you. What is going on with your country?" "Do you mind if we talk while we walk back to our hideout?" Haruna asked. "This is a long story and we are exposed here. Besides, it is gettingte." "Lead the way." Ryan replied. Chapter 397 - Offers In order to speed up things a little bit, Ryan gave Femradiel the duty to kill all mob monsters that approach the group. Her senses were better, and Ryan wanted to pay attention to Haruna''s story. Still, thanks to that, Haruna and her soldiers that were twenty pretty beaten down men and women, frowned when Ryan''s attacks killed several monsters without him looking at them. He was gaining credit for Femradiel''s works. The monsters that Ryan found were smaller versions of the bosses, and their names were pretty much the same, but they also had the name offspring after them. However, until now, Ryan only found Byakko''s offspring and Genbu''s offspring. "So, you aren''t from here¡­ Can I assume that the dragons caused a lot of destruction pretty much everywhere?" Haruna asked. "Yes, that happened in every single major city," Ryan replied. "I see¡­ after the dragons destroyed pretty much all of our civilization, those who managed to survive began to fight the monsters and obtain strength to recover ournds," Haruna exined. "However, human settlements were too far apart and too few, the number of monsters was too high. So, we felt like we were losing the war. When we found about dungeons and sses, the situation improved a little, but then when we found the four dungeons around Tokyo things took an unexpected turn." "The bosses offered you power," Ryan said. "Indeed¡­ so something simr happened in other ces?" Haruna asked. "In a sense, but it is the first time I saw the bosses fighting alongside humans," Ryan replied. "People like me found that too suspicious, but others quickly were convinced since they obtained power without doing anything particrly dangerous," Haruna said. "Besides, the four beasts were supposed to be mythical creatures that can bring luck, so many of us thought they were the answer to solve this crisis." "Byakko and Genbu¡­ what are the others?" Ryan asked. "Seiryu and Suzaku," Haruna replied. "Others like me found it strange that those monsters were at a war with each other. So, we were cautious of them. However, after a while, the four beasts managed to convince humans that those who didn''t ept their offer of power were infiltrate agents that worked for other monsters that soon might attack our country. We became their enemies and they even went as far as causing dungeon breaks to create copies of the original bosses." Ryan sighed when he heard that. While he could understand that many were blinded by the power they obtained since with that power, they could protect their family and friends. It was very disappointing that they went as far as causing dungeon breaks. No wonder the level of those monsters was that high. "The humans on the beast''s sides and the beasts themselves fought against each other for quite a while, but since their powers were pretty bnced, they failed at winning the fight," Haruna added. "So, they decided to capture other survivors and force them to join their side." "I can''t imagine how that might solve the problem, as far as I am concerned, those empowered soldiers weren''t that powerful," Ryan said. "They received some obvious power-ups at the beginning, but the beasts stopped doing that even though they apparently could power up a single human many times," Haruna said. "They wanted to make the humans on their side fight harder by promising those who might stand out even more power. While I think those guys you killed were pretty powerful thanks to it, they relied on that boost too much and thus their growth decreased." That was one of the reasons why Ryan didn''t want to rely on Femradiel''s power. Human nature is somethingplicated. Once most of them get used to something, they tend to overuse it, and when that something is too beneficial, it bes like an addicting drug. Power in itself was probably one of the most powerful drugs, but the path to bing powerful wasn''t an easy one. That was why some of the Japanese survivors allied themselves with the four beasts. "I am not familiar with Japanese mythical creatures, but I assume they are simr to the creatures in your folklore, right?" Ryan asked. "Byakko is a tiger and Genbu is a turtle, what are Seiryu and Suzaku?" "Seiryu is an Eastern dragon and Suzaku is like an Eastern version of Phoenix," Haruna said. "At least in terms of overall appearance." As expected, those monsters were Eastern mythological creatures. While for their size, Ryan managed to kill some of them with rtive ease, it was only because they were dumb and alone. Also, they couldn''t fly¡­ Seiryu and Suzaku can, and those will definitely be a pain to fight against. Not to mention, their numbers must be pretty insane by themselves, and Ryan had to multiply that by four. "Fortunately, most of them are just copies from the originals," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is there anything else you can say about them that you find it weird?" "I guess the fact that they never talk? Not even with their allies¡­" Haruna frowned. "I assumed that they really don''t see humans as allies or as foes strong enough foes, but I might be wrong about that because when I first heard of them, some survivors said that they did talk with them." "Possibly, talking is something only the originals can do," Ryan nodded to himself. "So, aside from those four dungeons near your capital, is there any other that can spawn really powerful creatures?" "No, but it has been a while since we investigated the Southern part of our country, so I can''t be sure," Haruna said. "Seiryus and Suzakus dominated those parts and we have even more trouble fighting them." So, the melee monsters that couldn''t fly were dominating the Northern region, and the long-ranged monsters that could fly were in the South. Ryan concluded that they figured out staying in a single ce and fighting against three other species wasn''t productive. So they divided themselves and moved a little¡­ Still, there was a question Ryan wouldn''t obtain by asking Haruna¡­ who are the dungeon masters, and why they put their dungeons so close to Tokyo? Chapter 398 - Mana-Eater "Well, that is all," Ryan said and then turned around just when they were about to reach their hideout. "Wait, you need a ce to rest, don''t you?" Haruna said. "You can stay with us since fighting at night is too dangerous. If we give us some time, we can recover and organize our forces and fight together, you are nning to clear the dungeons, right? You certainly will need our help." "I don''t think so, you neither have the strength or the spirit to be of any help," Ryan said. "You already know that." Haruna couldn''t say anything to contest Ryan, while fortunately, Ryan healed the boy''s arm that struggled against the survivors that joined the monster''s side. She still was agonizing over the fact that she chose to watch and wait for a better chance to rescue her allies. While she chose the majority''s safety over the life one, she still couldn''t forgive herself for that. In the end, she just watched Ryan leave on Furball''s back. "While also agreeing that you did the right thing in choosing not to fight with those who are weak and have weak spirits, I must say that you might be trying to bite more than you can chew," Femradiel said. "The whole situation is on another level ifpared to everything you faced until now." "As long as we proceed carefully, everything will work out in the end," Ryan said. "While we are in a race against time, there is only so much that can be done on Earth. It is annoying to admit that, but Earth is doomed, the dungeon masters will eventually arrive and I can''t prevent that, but I can prepare for it." "How so?" Femradiel asked. "By getting stronger like there is no tomorrow," Ryan replied, and as far as I am concerned, this is the perfect ce for that." "So, you are really nning to kill all the bosses?" Femradiel asked. "Even though the humans can cause dungeon breaks as much as they want?" "I don''t think that is true, if the humans on their side could cause as much dungeon breaks as they want, their level would be much higher, possibly, the dungeon would have reached the max level a long time ago." Femradiel realized that was true¡­ possibly, the dungeons could only grow so much in a short amount of time. Or maybe there could only exist a certain number of bosses at the same time, even though they were all copies from one original. Regardless, she realized that considering the monsters'' strength, Ryan wouldn''t have much use of Active Spiritual Recovery. So, for a while, she won''t receive that much mana. "I won''t be able to recover much mana while you fight, so I would like to level up some of your skills and learn others topensate for that during the times you will be resting between fights," Femradiel said. "Can I level up your Passive Recovery?" "You can make my skills level up as well with the mana you receive?" Ryan frowned. "Wait, isn''t that counterproductive for you?" "Yes, I can." Femradiel replied. "And no, even in the short term I will recover the mana invested pretty fast. There are other skills that you might learn to increase your mana regeneration, but knowing you, you won''t ept learning them. Unless, you decided to learn Hydromancy and Cryomancyter." "There is that option as well, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan considered his options carefully. Given the set of skills he obtainedtely, he didn''t have much use for magic aside from defending. Besides, the cost in the mana of his most powerful crossbows was pretty high. If he decides to use magic and his bolts and arrows to attack at the same time, he won''t be able to level up as fast as he wants his archer-rted sses. It was high time for Ryan to confirm the path he wanted to choose¡­ "All right, let''s learn the skills that you rmend," Ryan said. Femradiel was surprised by Ryan''s decision. While he let her help more than a few times as ofte, this time, he took a step forward to bnce the status of their cooperation. Since they had the contract, strictly speaking, Femradiel didn''t need all that much mana anymore. In fact, she was already receiving more mana now than when she had a body. "¡­ All right," Femradiel said. "I am going to pass the knowledge directly to your mind. There are some skills that will be really usefulter on, but let''s start with the basics." Ryan''s head began to hurt a little since the knowledge of that skill was quite dense andplicated. Still, once he understood the memories where Femradiel used the skill, he got how useful that skill would be, and that was one of the basic skills from Femradiel''s perspective. Congrattions! You learned the skill Mana-Eater. Effects: it grants you the power to consume the mana inside inorganic things. You can consume ten points of mana per level. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Passive Recovery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Passive Recovery has leveled up. ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Passive Recovery reached the max level. You obtained 30 status points. "What? Max level already?" Ryan frowned. "Femradiel¡­ you didn''t say the skill would reach the max level." "That surprised me as well¡­" Femradiel said. "I didn''t think humans could only level up some skills up to one hundred. How weird¡­ if I use the monster''s way to level up skills, that shouldn''t be a problem." "I am asking why you made the skill level up so many times¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Whatever¡­ This is an unexpected limitation. Why can some skills only reach one hundred and others don''t have the same limit?" Even after thinking for a while, not even Ryan or Femradiel managed to think of a proper exnation. He even managed to forget about Mana-Eater for a while due to it¡­ in any case, while that skill wasn''t that useful at level one, once it leveled up, Femradiel managed to obtain a lot of mana from the magic items Ryan made. Chapter 399 - Extermination Electric Short Spear Effect: Causes electric damage and paralyzes the foe for one second after every hit when causing more than five percent of damage per attack. Durability: 80/80 Mana: 760/800 Now that Ryan could use Mana-Eater, he also could see another piece of information on his magic items. It was the amount of mana they had within themselves, and it was exactly how much mana he could obtain. Since the number of mobs on his way was high, Ryan didn''t waste much time creating magic items. He only got the drops and then let Femradiel use Mana-Eater. "You can also use this spell on dead monsters," Femradiel said. "Let''s leave the bodies for Furball," Ryan said while watching a small battle between the silver tigers and the ck tortoises. "Besides, just like you said, I don''t have time to waste by making pauses so often." While Ryan decided to hunt those monsters down to strengthen himself, things already gotplicated pretty soon. Even a small-scale battle between those two species of monsters was something way too massive for Ryan. Attacking them randomly might turn him into everyone''s target, so Ryan had to proceed with caution¡­ to some extent. He didn''t have much time to be cautious. "I guess I should stick to the basics, attack with Thunder Lord Crossbow the ck tortoises and then burn the tigers with Fire Master Crossbow," Ryan muttered and then frowned when one of the silver tigers got hit by a body m and then hit a nearby mountain, making everything in the area tremble. Instead of waiting for the monsters to kill themselves a little more, Ryan equipped his Sagittarians'''' Bow and then knocked his Paralyzing Spear. Finally, he realized that he had to upgrade his longbow as well, and the best option was to create a new one. "Now that I can use Spatial Maniption, I can also store something as big as a ballista," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should make two of them and seal the souls of those freaks." The power of such enchanted weapons would really be something to see. However, that was something that could help him in the future, but not now. The most obvious solution to that problem was to rely on Power Shot. However, Ryan will hit only a single monster, and he has to defeat ten of them, before he bes their dinner. Attacking from above wasn''t a possible solution since the silver tigers could hit him with their lightning bolts. In the end, Ryan managed toe up with a n, it wouldn''t let him finish those ten monsters instantly, but it was something worth a shot. "Let''s see if this can work¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan summoned three magic crossbows and then equipped his most powerful weapons in each hand. In the end, even before starting, Ryan thought that what he was doing was insane¡­ but fighting against an army of thousands of monsters that were even stronger than dragons was equally insane. Regardless¡­ Ryan activated Power Shot in all his weapons, and it actually worked. "Holy shit¡­" Ryanughed nervously. His stamina was dropping at an insane speed, but Femradiel managed to recover Ryan''s stamina and mana by using several potions. The level of resistance of those creatures was insane, so Ryan only stopped charging after five minutes when his stock of stamina potions waspletely empty¡­ he will have to focus on those on his potion creating process as well. At thest moment, Ryan activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim, and then he fired. Even though he didn''t break a record of charging Power Shot, his skills still pushed Ryan backward and made him fly for dozens of meters. In the end, Furball got Ryan since he spun so much that he almost lost consciousness, but somehow, his crazy n worked. You obtained 70.000 coins. You obtained 70.000 coins. You obtained 65.000 coins. ¡­ Five bosses died instantly. The power of his crossbows was that insane. It was a pity that Ryan couldn''t the monsters'' souls to make more magic items, but that was just a minor nuisance. Before the monsters could find him, Ryan jumped on Furball''s back and then gave him the order to run. At the same time, he began to attack the monsters with his crossbows. Fortunately, it looked like Ryan picked the right targets. Only two silver tigers could keep up with Furball''s speed¡­ However, they failed to get close due to Thunder Lord Crossbow''s power. "Kitting have never been this fun," Ryan smirked. "You shouldn''t forget that you are low on mana potions," Femradiel said. "End this quickly before you have to rely on recovery alone to fight." "Yes, conscience," Ryan said. While Ryan was dying the monsters with Thunder Lord Crossbow, Ryan decided to charge another Power Shot with his other weapon. After a while, he fired the two bolts at the same time and made half of the face of a silver tiger explode. Before the creature could recover, Ryan pulled the triggers several times and then finished off the boss. After that, Ryan equipped his Pestilence Crossbow and fought the remaining monster with poisonous and electric bolts. Whenever the beast tried to open its mouth and hit Ryan with a lightning bolt, he hit the monster''s tongue with a bolt and shocked the beast. After a while, the monster''s mouth was so full of bolts that the creature couldn''t close it. In the end, the monster decided to retreat, but Ryan fired a Power Shot and destroyed one of the creature''s legs. Unable to do anything, the beast became an easy target for Ryan''s Magic Upgrade. He used the creature''s soul to make his crossbow even more powerful. "I can do these three more times, but I can''t neglect the other crossbow and those three ck tortoises." Ryan said and then gave Furball the order to return to where they left the remaining monsters. Killing three ck tortoises had been surprisingly easy since they were slow. Unfortunately, since Ryan kept his distance, the monsters pretty much destroyed all the area''s vegetation with their fire attacks. Chapter 400 - Mortal Needle Cannon After some experimentation, while he was crafting another ballista, Ryan realized that those wouldn''t help all that much per se. The reason was simple, the monsters were big, and he still would need a lot of time to charge the projectiles with Power Shot. His newest crossbows were a better option in terms of efficiency since Ryan could even use them alongside Firing Posture. So, he decided to adopt the ballista. Mortal Needle Cannon Effect: Consumes one hundred points of mana to fire a single massive steel needle capable of piercing the toughest flesh and ignoring ten percent of the target''s Endurance. Dexterity + 450 Durability: 250/250 The new ballista was thinner than the ones Ryan made before, but it was longer to be able to fire Steel Needles that were thirteen meters long. While those wouldn''t kill the monsters, the needles at least would bother the bosses during the whole fight. Ryan intended to use it to damage the bosses'' legs. However, before that, Ryan had to enchant the weapon with the soul of a monster. "No¡­ I will wait for a while," Ryan shook his head. "Crafting this thing took me a whole night and I don''t intend to make another for the time being. Instead of selecting a monster to enchant this weapon, I should take a look at the other two. For the time being, the ballista will serve its purpose." "As usual, you are always finding nastier ways to kill monsters," Femradiel said. Ryan was still hundreds of kilometers away from Tokyo, so it was time to pick up the pace using his newest creation. While finding survivors was hard, and that didn''t happen since the Haruna''s group, finding the bosses wrestling each other was prettymon, so Ryan soon obtained a chance to test the weapon. Byakko and Genbu were fighting pretty much alone. They were the perfect test subjects, but then Ryan had another nasty idea. "I didn''t think you could be this brutal¡­" Femradiel said, and she sounded pretty impressed in a negative way. "You already know what is about to happen, huh," Ryan smirked. Ryan created a small earth tower and then took out his ballista from his storage dimension. Without even using Power Shot, Ryan pulled the lever, but not after he activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The massive steel needle flew in a straight line toward Byakko''s right eye and pierced it. The creature screamed in agony, but despite the critical damage, the monster didn''t die¡­ yet. Ryan fired three more steel needles while Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim were also active. The projectiles hit the first needle and made it pierce the monster''s head even more. After the second shot, the first projectile broke, the third one took its ce, and the fourth one finished the job. You obtained 70.000 coins. Just like that, Ryan managed to kill a powerful monster without exposing himself. While he had to use half of his total mana, the experiment had been a sess. It wasn''t perfect, but it had a lot of room for growth. "I guess I was lucky that when I fought you, you weren''t this nasty," Femradiel said. "I can''t disagree with that," Ryan said. Killing the ck tortoise wouldn''t be that fast, so Ryan only aimed at the monster''s legs and made sure that the creature lost all the little mobility that it had. Once that happened, the monster couldn''t even turn around properly. Ryan just flew and thennded on the back of the creature and beat it down until he finally obtained the chance to use Magic Upgrade. "Nasty and efficient, that is how hunting monsters should be," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Go on, buddy. It is time for your breakfast, when we leave this country, I want you to be as strong as those fuckers." That was probably impossible, but no one could prevent Ryan from dreaming about it. In any case, while Ryan didn''t need to look for drops anymore, he found it weird thattely, the number of drops had been decreasing. It has been a long while since thest time he obtained a decent time by killing monsters. So, he considered the idea of increasing his luck again. "Luck is for weaklings," Femradiel said. "I thought you couldn''t read my mind¡­" Ryan frowned. "I didn''t read your mind, but your expressions are easy to read," Femradiel exined. "You should work more on your poker face and stop looking around trying to find loot." That was something difficult, given that Ryan was as straight as his arrows and bolts¡­ Regardless, he decided to increase his luck slightly and then see if things will improve a little bit. Even Furball had two times more luck than him, so perhaps Ryan should let him fight more small fries and see what happens. The problem was that the small fries had at least two times more health than him. "Femradiel, can you talk with Furball?" Ryan asked after suddenly having an idea. "In a sense," Femradiel replied. "Can you pass your knowledge of some skills to him?" Ryan asked. "That is impossible," Femradiel replied. "While Wargs are fairly intelligent monsters, he won''t be able to assimte the knowledge of a dragon. You are only able to do that because our spirits are connected due to the contract." "Is that so¡­ that is a pity," Ryan said. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t find another way to make Furball stronger. After Furball finished his meal, Ryan and the others proceeded to resume their journey. However, after a while, they change their course because Ryan found dozens of humans guarding a dungeon. Even from a distance, Ryan saw some Reptilians trying to leave the dungeon but failing due to the Japanese survivors. It was another tier two dungeon, it wasn''t worth Ryan''s time, but in the end, he chose another route because he didn''t want to kill more humans. Even if they had joined the monsters'' side¡­ Ryan didn''t want to be a butcher. Unless they attack himter, Ryan decided to leave them alone, to keep his sanity and his hands from being drenched with even more human blood. Chapter 401 - A Terrible Idea While Ryan didn''t feel the presence of any survivors hidden that hadn''t joined the monsters'' side, nor did Femradiel warn Ryan of that, he found several groups of bosses and survivors heading North. Their goal was obvious¡­ they were going there to look for that group that Ryan destroyed. "Now what?" Ryan scratched the back of his head. "If I keep ignoring those guys, eventually they will return to Tokyo, and I don''t want to leave my back exposed to them." There was also the question that they would hunt the survivors that Ryan helped. While Ryan didn''t feel any need to help Haruna and the others again, they decided not to join the monsters'' side, so at the very least, they weren''t his enemies. "If that is going to bother you all that much, you can kill the monsters, and I kill the humans," Femradiel said. "¡­ It isn''t that simple," Ryan sighed. "In one way or another, I will be responsible for their deaths. Hah¡­ I am sick and tired of this." Ryan didn''t want to help the monsters on their task of exterminating humans. Still, he could only do so much to evade certain situations. Leaving those people alone was also counterproductive since they will eventually make the dungeons break much sooner. To increase humans'' chances, survive that war, it looked like Ryan will be forced to dirty his hands with human blood again. After taking a deep breath, Ryan put his ballista out of the storage dimension and then pulled the lever while he also activated Perfect Aim. Like a machine gun, he blinded seven silver tigers. After that, he equipped his pestilence crossbow and attacked the survivors. When they finally found Ryan, he had already killed half of their forces. They tried to hide behind the monsters, but they failed miserably, and Ryan pierced their backs. "I was wondering¡­ what will happen if you use the soul of a human to make a magic weapon?" Femradiel said. "You didn''t do that yet, right?" "What an excellent time to propose such an idea¡­" Ryan sighed. "Just focus on using potions." Ryan equipped his Thunder Lord Crossbow and also created another one with Magic Crossbow. Even though he tried to prevent the monsters from attacks, he couldn''t do that against seven monsters. While the creatures lost their eyes, they still could sense Ryan and tried to fry him with lightning bolts. They failed miserably, and while that took a while, Ryan fished them off, not before he tried to tame one of them, but he failed miserably as well, after dozens of times. "I guess they can''t be tamed since they are copies from the original beasts," Ryan shrugged. "Well, let''s clean up this mess." Hiding the corpses of the monsters was impossible, but burying the humans was easy. So, Ryan did that while Furball was eating. Now that he decided to get rid of that problem, Ryan had to worry about another. It was only a matter of time before the real boss and the dungeon master noticed that someone was killing those giant beasts. Ryan had to prepare for that. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t imagine many ways to win an all-out war against thousands of those bosses. Not even his new weapons would help him with that. "As long as I fly and keep my distance from the monsters, I think I can win against Genbu and Byakko''s army," Ryan concluded. "However, if the flying monsters decide to join the fight to finish them off or to hunt me¡­ things will get really messy." It would be really great if Ryan could find a way to make the monsters fight against each other. He slowly and stealthily decreases their numbers, but hoping for that was a bit too much. "I sense a weird concentration of mana a few kilometers ahead," Femradiel said. "The number of humans and those silver tigers are pretty high." Ryan began to fly and then looked in that direction, but he didn''t see anything aside from overgrown grass, trees, and some mountains. Moreover, he was pretty sure that Tokyo wasn''t that close. "Let''s proceed from here onward with a little more caution," Ryan said. He didn''t even have to see the ce that Femradiel mentioned to understand what was ahead. Ryan found several silver tigers walking around in circles as if they were searching or guarding something. Without a doubt, that their base outside the dungeon was the first thing Ryan was going to find before he reached Tokyo. Ryan decided to confirm that by flying even more, higher than before, and then he saw a small city that had been rebuilt in thest few months. Strangely enough, the ce seemed kind of odd. The houses were made of wood and made Ryan recall some movies he saw in the past where the stars were some samurais. "I guess those houses are easier to build, but¡­ they are also equally easy to destroy," Ryan frowned. "They must have a lot of confidence in those monsters for them to build a city like that." In any case, Ryan just confirmed that trying to make the monsters go at each other would be much more difficult. Even if they hurry, the survivors and bosses will have to run for a couple of hours to find the other factions'' bases¡­ Assuming that the others had built some camps as well. "No¡­ if I decrease the number of monsters on one side and then make the other parties realize that one group has been weakened, they certainly will attack the weakened party," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The long-ranged attacks of the silver tigers are quite troublesome, so maybe I should start with them." It was a risky n. Moreover, Ryan will doom many survivors with that strategy. He was fully aware that most of those that joined the monsters'' side did so to be able to protect their family and friends¡­ so, Ryan will doom many people that never pointed their weapons at him. ss: Hunter Lv 80 (+ 04 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 109th Health: 1715/1715 (5,10/s) Mana: 2612/2612 (5,10/s) Stamina: 2650/2650 (5,10/s) Strength: 31 (+166) (+130) Dexterity: 2550 (+2175) (+220) Speed: 140 (+975) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+674) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+141) (+160) Control: 06 (+1055) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+56) (+70) Luck: 100 (+20) Recovery: 1100 (+1600) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+56) (+40) Coins: 4.055.441 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 96 (+ 03 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 78 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 78 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 78 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 78 (+ 03 UP), Passive Recovery Lv Max (+ 30 UP), Skill Camouge Lv 01, Spells: Magic Bow Lv 21 (+ 10 UP), Spatial Maniption Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Status Copy Lv 01, Skills Copy Lv 01, Temporary Transformation Lv 01, Mana-Eater Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Support Skills: sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 45 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 72 (+ 04 UP), Combat Archer Lv 67 (+ 04 UP), Sniper Lv 52 (+ 06 UP), Weapons Master Lv 35 (+ 07 UP), Sentinel Lv 25 (+ 05 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 21 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 25 (+ 07 UP), Silent Killer Lv 08 (+ 04 UP), Mimic Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 402 - Mana Reinforcement To prevent the worst-case scenario, Ryan decided toy some traps around the ce that he selected as his base. He wasn''t that close to the first camp he was going to attack, but he was close to seeing the main route they used to head straight toward the northern part of the country. Oddly enough, Ryan had selected the peak of a mountain for that job. Even though he didn''t expect that, he also found another route on the other side of the mountain that was used by the Genbu species. "Such dumb monsters¡­ so close to each other, and yet they don''t feel each other''s presence or notice their movements," Ryan sighed. "I need to learn from this and focus on leveling up Radar and Awareness. In any case, can you feel the location of the dungeons, Femradiel?" "Yes, they are located respectively in the cardinal points around Tokyo," Femradiel replied. "Byakko in the North, Genbu in the West, Seiryu in the East, and Suzaku in the South." Ryan nodded after hearing that; it makes sense that the bosses organized their species using those directions as well. While it made sense, Ryan felt that something was off¡­ but he couldn''t pinpoint what that was. Regardless, Ryan began the massacre. Whenever a boss entered his range, he attacked. However, not like usual. Ryan used his ballista in an unusual way. After charging it with Power Shot, he controlled the projectile with Force. He made it fly in a curve that made the projectile as if it hade from the West, the direction where the Genbu species could be found. Still, even a charged attack from the ballista didn''t finish off the monster. Still, Ryanpleted the task by firing another massive steel needle. "Next time, I should activate Deadly Aim," Ryan said. "I guess I also need to find a way to charge Power Shot faster. It is a pain and not very efficient to charge for five minutes every time I have to kill those behemoth-like creatures." Ryan also needed to find a way to charge his projectiles with mana. He recalled that Mana Transfusion could do that. Still, for some reason, whenever he tried to charge an attack with it, he failed. "You shouldn''t force your mana inside it," Femradiel said. "Your stamina doesn''t do that when you use Power Shot. You envelop the projectiles with them." While Femradiel helped quite a bit, it took a while for Ryan to sessfully cover a bolt with mana. It hadn''t been as easy as learning Power Shot. However, he learned that doing that, in a sense, was much better than just using Power Shot. The mana reinforced the bolts, increasing their durability, piercing power, and speed. Congrattions! You learned the skill Mana Reinforcement. Effect: At the cost of your mana, you can increase your physical abilities or the properties of any object. It increases your strength, endurance, and speed by five points per level. Cost: 30 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan nodded in satisfaction, but the skill was at such low-level that it would take a while for it to be useful. Ryan probably could forcefully increase the effects of the skill by using more mana, but even so¡­ "Femradiel¡­ you said you can use mana and coins to level up your skills, right?" Ryan asked. "Can you use coins to level up my skills?" "I don''t know¡­" Femradiel said. "I have some reserves of mana to do that. Why not use that method?" "That method won''t increase the mana that you will obtain in the long run, so that will be counterproductive for you," Ryan said. "Anyway, try to level Mana Reinforcement by using some coins." In the end, Femradiel could use coins to make Ryan''s skills level up, but she had to take over his body for a while. However, by doing so, she also had ess to Ryan''s coins as well. The only problem was the cost to level up the skills. It cost one thousand coins at level one at level two, two thousand coins, and at level three, four thousand coins, and so on¡­ "I guess it isn''t that efficient," Ryan said. "Well, no matter. I need to save some time here." Congrattions! The skill Mana Reinforcement has leveled up. ¡­ ¡­ You obtained nine status points. Since it was a buff, Ryan could keep the skill active, and it would level up by itself. So, Ryan could make it level up a few times every single day¡­ as long as he uses some mana potions. In any case, by using Power Shot, Mana Reinforcement, and Deadly Aim, Ryan managed to kill the monsters at a pretty decent pace without revealing his position, but there was still a problem: the corpses stayed visible for quite a while. Sometimes the silver tigers found ck tortoises in the direction Ryan made them think the attacks came from, but sometimes they didn''t. "I already knew that something like that might happen, so there is no reason to worry too much about it," Ryan shrugged. In the end, Ryan had to struggle not to kill any ck tortoise. If he had done that, both monsters would confirm that there was a third party nearby, and the n to make them go at each other would crumble apart. Still, despite his caution, the silver tigers noticed that something was off and eventually stopped going North to check things. Now they only guarded the region around their camp, and that makes a lot more difficult for Ryan. Despite that, Ryan caught himself smiling in front of that new problem. "You are really weird," Femradiel said. "I guess so," Ryan shrugged. "In any case, this is a good thing. I wouldn''t be stronger mentally and physically if the monsters don''t adapt to my actions. With these kinds of problems, I can force myself to be stronger and toe up with better ns to fight the hordes of monsters. Eventually, all this power and knowledge will make me reach my ultimate goal." Chapter 403 - Unavoidable Ryan was waiting expectantly for the day where he will be able to overpower his enemies, defeating them without relying on strategy. However, while he is waiting for it, he doesn''t have any other choice besides adapting and improvising to the troublesome scenarios the monsters will show to him. "The number of ordinary monsters here is too low," Ryan said while looking around. "I guess it would be troublesome to feed so many monsters if they stay in a single ce." Speaking of food, Ryan saw several vehiclesing now and then carrying the corpses of all kinds of monsters. As expected, the bosses that guarded the camp had to wait to obtain food like that since the ck tortoises weren''t stupid enough to get closer to their fortress. In any case, a solution for Ryan''s problems just fell on hisp. "I guess I will take over the dungeons and defeat the humans that are bringing the food. That way, I will force the silver tigers to leave their base to look for food," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There isn''t any dungeon in a few dozen kilometers, so the bosses will have to split to look for food." "Some unexpected visitors are approaching," Femradiel said. When Ryan heard that alert, he couldn''t help but frown. He didn''t mess up a single time, aside from the time he left the humans guarding that dungeon alone. Still, only that wouldn''t be enough to make the monsters find his hideout. However, when Ryan focused his eyes in the distance, he facepalmed¡­ Haruna and some survivors were heading toward the silver tigers'' camp. They were moving as if they were cautious, but they looked like a bunch of morons since Ryan found them so easily. "I can''t make them stay away since this business involves their country," Ryan said and then sighed. "I guess I will have to make them do something useful." Ryan couldn''t leave his position since he had to keep an eye on the surroundings, and there was no better ce to do that than a ce where he had the high-ground. So, he made Furball go meet those morons. They would recognize him since not even Ryan saw a dungeon that spawned Wargs until now. After a while, Furball returned alongside Haruna and five other survivors. It was hard to know if she only managed to convince only them or if she had decided to split her soldiers to do something else. "Hey¡­ hello again," Haruna forced a smile. "Fancy meeting you here." "You guys really do have a death wish, huh," Ryan frowned. "I can''t find any other exnation as to why people that are so bad at stealth would decide toe this far." "I don''t think you are right. We managed to avoid all fights, until now, after all," Haruna said. "Incredible¡­ if I didn''t know any better, I would be surprised if I hadn''t killed all the bosses that left this area," Ryan said. "Anyway, enough talking about that. If you guys want to do something useful, I will let you do it. Just don''t get in my way." "Of course¡­" Haruna nodded nervously while looking at Ryan''s ballista and also seeing some of the bosses'' corpses in the distance. "I need to find the location of all dungeons in the area that spawn big and organic monsters," Ryan said. "I want to cut the food supply of those freaks and make them expose themselves to my attacks even more." "We have that intel," Haruna said. "But only about from the Northern side of our country, we didn''t dare pass nearby Tokyo when those monsters were in that region." "That will be enough," Ryan said. "By the way, where are your other soldiers?" "They are not my soldiers. They are mypanions," Haruna shook her head. "We used this chance to split and keep the dungeons around under vignce. However, we didn''t have any n of recovering them since the number of survivors on the other side is higher." "I guess we will have to get rid of them," Ryan said with a serious look on his face. While Haruna felt that Ryan seemed pretty bloodthirsty by saying that so easily, Ryan still felt troubled by the fact that he had to keep killing humans. That was annoying, but at the very least, as long as he doesn''t think that such a thing is normal, everything will be rtively fine. Ryan considered his options. Cutting the food supply of the monsters will help him divide and conquer, but leaving his current position might also cause problemster since he will leave the monsters unchecked. He will also lose sight of them for a while. "Time is of the essence," Ryan said. "Guide me toward those dungeons." In the end, the only thing Ryan could do was to hurry. While his n might fail, there are various things he could do to decrease those chances. Without wasting any more time, Haruna guided Ryan to the nearest dungeon that spawned earthworms. While Ryan found some survivors and silver tigers guarding the ce, the monsters'' level reached level 220, which made Ryan feel like resisting the dungeon invasion seemed like a waste of time. In any case, Ryan summoned his ballista from his spatial storage, and just like before, he blinded the bosses with it. After that, he killed the survivors without hesitating. Upon noticing that an unknown force that could kill them was too far away from them, but still could massacre them, the monsters tried to escape. However, Ryan pierced their legs with the massive steel needles. While seeing Ryan being so bloody without even blinking, Haruna couldn''t help but sweat cold while gulping. Haruna thought that despite his cold fa?ade, Ryan was a pretty warm guy. He got angry when a kid lost his arm, after all, and didn''t even hesitate in fighting against so many dangerous beasts. Still, it looked like those assumptions were way off the mark. Chapter 404 - New Class Haruna''s impression of Ryan only worsened after he single-handedly defeated the guards that were protecting the dungeon. Mostly thanks to Furball since he got covered in blood while he was eating the bosses. Haruna almost threw up when she imagined that Ryan would make his partner eat the Japanese guards. Enemies or not, they were still her countrymen¡­ "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryan frowned. "I am not going to make my partner taste human flesh." Haruna sighed in relief since she confirmed that Ryan still had some morals. Regardless, she still was quite fearful of the strength of a single man that for some reason, decided to fight alone against the monsters. "Did you already clear this dungeon?" Ryan asked. "No," Haruna replied. "None of us have cleared it." It looked like Ryan will have to leave Furball on guard duty. While he was more trustworthy than anyone in thousands of kilometers, Ryan wanted to leave someone behind who actually could give a proper report about things. Regardless, Ryan took the lead and, alongside Haruna and the others, entered the dungeon and slew the earthworms that tried to devour him. Since he hurried, Ryan cleared the dungeon in less than five minutes, the boss didn''t even have the chance to attack, thanks to Thunder Lord Crossbow. "I guess they didn''t clear the dungeon because when the dungeon breaks, they will have more food for those enormous beasts," Ryan said. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: diator, Pyro Trickster, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Pyro Trickster! You obtained the following skills: Fire Charge, Explosive Touch, and Fire Armor. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Charge. Effect: It increases your speed explosively for a single moment while your charge toward your enemy covered in mes. If you hit the target, you will cause damage equal to your strength plus your intelligence. Momentary bonus of speed: 2% per level. Cost: 30 mana and 30 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Explosive Touch. Effect: It causes an explosion when punching or kicking your foes, causing damage equal to your strength plus strength + 05% per level. Cost: 25 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Armor. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an armor made of fire that increases your endurance and mentality by ten points per level. The armor decreases the effects of all fire-rted attacks fired against you by one percent per level and increases your fire-rted attacks by the same amount. Cost: 25 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan decided to get a tier two-ss, even though he wasn''t expecting much, he received some pleasant surprises. All of those skills would be useful in some way or another, so Ryan started to question if he wasn''t ignoring the potential of tier two sses. Regardless, Ryan began to summon golems and filled thest part of the dungeon with them. Those monsters will not only make sure that no earthworm will escape the dungeon but will also attack all humans that might try to enter the dungeon¡­ at least for a while. It was only natural that such a n wouldn''t work forever. "Summoning spells¡­ can you give them any order?" Haruna asked. "Yes, I just gave them the order to attack everything on sight," Ryan replied. "¡­ What will happen with the others that might help us?" Haruna asked. "While they won''t have time to level up the sses, they still will be useful." "If you want to make your friends get sses, then ask someone to go get them," Ryan said. "I am going to clean those paces as fast as possible and then prepare for when the monsters will leave their base to investigate, and I am not going to wait for anyone." While that was a golden opportunity, Haruna also realized that it was a race against time. Ryan had a point, and even Haruna knew that only a couple of survivors with two or three new sses wouldn''t be of much use to his ns. Since he wasn''t going to rely on them all that much anyway, Haruna and the others could only tag along and try their best to increase his chances of seeding. Haruna did exactly that. She sent her fastestpanion to alert the others and make them prepare for their arrival on the third dungeon. As far as she knew, there were only three dungeons where the silver tigers and some survivors that joined their side guarded, and all of them fit Ryan''s criteria: they spawned pretty massive organic monsters. The monsters that he was going to find in those dungeons were: Steel Eagle and Mad Elephants. Ryan frowned when he heard those names since they didn''t look like the names of any mythological creature Ryan has heard of¡­ Regardless, they were big and had plenty of meat on their bodies, and that was exactly what the silver tigers wanted. While Ryan and the others were heading toward the second dungeon, suddenly, he felt a slight difort¡­ as if someone invisible was too close to him. Ryan turned around and looked in all directions, but that sensation on his back didn''t leave him. You are being watched," Femradiel said. "Someone who has irvoyance has found you." Ryan knew that eventually, something troublesome would happen. Still, he didn''t expect it would be so soon, and the possible enemy would have such a skill¡­ His job suddenly got even more difficult. Chapter 405 - Steel Eagle Steel Eagle Health: 3500/3500 Mana: 7500/7500 Stamina: 5000/5000 Strength: 500 (+ 50) Dexterity: 900 (+ 150) Speed: 750 (+ 150) Intelligence: 850 (+ 150) Endurance: 300 Control: 750 Mentality: 500 (+ 150) Luck: 750 Recovery: 2000 Willpower: 500 (+ 150) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steel ws Lv 140 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 120, Focus Lv 100 Spells: Fly Lv 100, Steel Arrow Lv 90 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 150, Fire Resistance Lv 120, Cold Resistance Lv 100 In the end, instead of just killing the boss of the second dungeon, Ryan decided to tame the beast since it was a pretty decent fighter, and by using the creature, he would be able to save some mana while fighting. Not to mention, there are few things as cool as an armored eagle. As for the ss that Ryan got there, he picked Temr since his other options were Ninja and Alchemist, two sses that he already had. The skills Ryan got were: Protection, Rationality, and Holy Enchantment. "Another set of interesting skills, but I don''t these ones will be as useful as the others," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Protection makes me select an ally and receive some of the damage the ally received, Rationality passively increases my mentality, and Holy Enchantment is an elemental buff that is useful against demons and undead¡­" Despite that, Ryan felt satisfied thanks to his Steel Eagle. While the others were picking their sses, Ryan filled the past of the dungeon with golems again. His supply of potions was quickly running out since there weren''t many monsters in the area for him to kill, but it couldn''t be helped. "We are ready to go," Haruna dered. Ryan nodded, but before giving the order to proceed to the next dungeon, Ryan decided to ask a few more questions to her. While Ryan wasn''t expecting much, it was better than nothing. "Did you and your friends notice any weird creature aside from those four massive beasts?" Ryan asked. "From my perspective, pretty much all the monsters are weird," Haruna frowned. "I didn''t find anything weirder that the four beasts appearing, but¡­ I saw something inexplicable happening." "And that is?" Ryan asked. "When the dragons first arrived and attacked Tokyo, they destroyed a lot of the city," Haruna exined. "However, after a while, they just stopped attacking the city altogether and began to fly around in circles. I don''t know why, but eventually, they gave up on our country. If I had to make a guess, I would say it was thanks to the silver tigers and the ck tortoises since they were increasing in number and they were pretty troublesome for the dragons." That was a first¡­ Ryan never heard of the dragons giving up on destroying a city. Ryan decided to ask Femradiel''s opinion about itter, but she decided to give him some answers right at that moment. "I can think of a few possible exnations," Femradiel said. "Either the dragons found a really troublesome opponent that couldn''t fly or someone or something put a magic barrier around the city." "Or maybe both," Ryan said. "¡­ You are right," Femradiel said. Haruna frowned since she didn''t hear Femradiel''s voice, and from her perspective, Ryan was talking alone. Regardless, Ryan readily epted that hypothesis since it exined why the four beasts were fighting for Tokyo. They probably wanted to kill that person for one reason or the other, and the person who erected the barrier probably was the one who used irvoyance on Ryan earlier. While more questions were being added to the mystery, Ryan felt thankful since he was slowly approaching the end of the situation. However, if really a single person managed to keep the dragons away and could fight against the horde of those massive monsters, perhaps Ryan should stay away from Tokyo. "Not before I clear those four dungeons," Ryan shrugged. Ryan, Haruna, and the others proceeded toward the next dungeon, and just like before, Ryan mercilessly killed the guards who were keeping an eye on the ce and collecting the monsters'' bodies as resources. Once that happened, Haruna gave the sign to the survivors who were hidden nearby toe, and Ryan frowned when he saw two hundred of them. They were heavily armed, and they looked like they were about to face some final fight or something. "Are those all of your soldiers?" Ryan asked. "Those are all of mypanions," Haruna corrected. The number was pretty high, more than Ryan imagined, at least. The only problem was that some of them were elderly and kids¡­ at least they also had some long-ranged magic items. Mad Elephant ¨C Lv 240 Health: 8000/8000 Mana: 2500/2500 Stamina: 5000/5000 Strength: 2500 (+ 150) Dexterity: 400 (+ 50) Speed: 250 (+ 50) Intelligence: 250 (+ 50) Endurance: 2500 (+ 350) Control: 750 Mentality: 1000 (+ 250) Luck: 250 Recovery: 4000 Willpower: 1000 (+ 250) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Mad Charge Lv 140 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 120, Bronze Skin Lv 100 Spells: Mana Armor Lv 90, Regeneration Lv 50 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 200, Fire Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 200 Just as Ryan had expected, the mad elephants were bulky monsters. Not only were theyrger than the ones on Earth, but they were also green, and they fang and pretty long horns. Since they had some troublesome skills and high durability, Ryan used Deadly Aim whenever they showed up to finish off the job as fast as possible. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Temr, Trickster, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. It has been a while since that happened¡­ but Ryan indeed found a dungeon where all the sses he could obtain he already had. In the end, he just shrugged. Chapter 406 - New Formulas In the end, Ryan chose the Alchemist ss to make his skill at potion-making to increase. Besides, he wanted to obtain the recipe to create potions that will boost his dexterity. So, that was only natural. Fortunately, in another sense, he had been lucky. Congrattions! The ss Alchemist has reached level 30. Now you can produce DEX and SPE potions! DEX potion form: one red soul essence + eight green soul essences + one blue soul essence. SPE potion form: two red soul essences + six green soul essences + two blue soul essences. "And I didn''t even have the chance to use the STR potions," Ryanughed a little. "Well, it doesn''t really matter." While the others were choosing their sses, Ryan started to summon golems. It would be great if they could be used against the bosses, but unfortunately, that wasn''t the case. Despite the stupid cost in mana to summon them, not even if they reach the same level as the bosses, they will be a real threat to them. "You should leave a few of your soldiers here," Ryan said. "In case something unexpected happens, they will inform us." "They are mypanions¡­" Haruna said and then sighed. "Three of them should be fine, right?" Ryan nodded. He wanted to make her leave more people behind since they won''t be very useful against the bosses, and Ryan didn''t need more human deaths on his conscience, but that wasn''t his call. In any case, Ryan and the others turned around and followed the path they used in thest few hours. It was a bit annoying, but Ryan had to give the order for the other golems in the other dungeons not to attack Haruna and her soldiers. While that took Ryan another day, fortunately, he didn''t notice any changes in the monsters'' behavior. "What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "The silver tigers are being cautious since you destroyed several of their groups and they have no information about the situation North from their base," Femradiel replied. "I have no idea what the ck tortoises are thinking. You decreased the numbers of a group to the point that they should have noticed that they are weakened, and not stupid species would use that chance to attack." Ryan was also thinking along the same lines¡­ in any case, it was only a matter of time before the monsters began to starve. He doubted that those freaks would resist for longer since their growth will undoubtedly slow down due to it. Just waiting for the confrontation between the monsters wasn''t something Ryan wanted to do, so he began to think of ways to make Haruna and the others useful. The group was pretty well-bnced, but that also meant that they wouldn''t be a helpful force anytime soon unless Ryan finds a non-conventional way to power them up. Ryan checked their status and confirmed that everyone there had at least five hundred points of mana. While it wasn''t a decent number to use his crossbows, Ryan decided to craft some for them and then enchant with the souls of his golems. It was just a loan, and since that would help Ryan improve his skills, he had no reason not to do it. It would be great if he could make copies of the Thunder Lord Crossbow, but hope for that was a bit too much. "The n is going to be like this," Ryan began his exnation. "Since you guys are too weak, you will have to focus on attacking a single enemy. Even though you guys are weak, you will cause enough damage to kill a boss, even with a weapon that weaklings like you never used before." "¡­ Why do you have to keep reminding us of that?" Haruna asked, slightly annoyed. "To make you guys feel the urge to improve," Ryan said. Since he already knew all the parts of his crossbows, crafting them fast had been pretty easy. He just had to find the right amount of dirt, then transform it into steel, and then use Auto-Production. While the whole process consumed around one thousand points of his mana, the crossbows could be crafted in less than ten seconds. "I know that you know what you are doing, but given that you can make items easy just like that, shouldn''t you focus on increasing our strengths?" Haruna asked. "Long-ranged weapons are fine and all, but changing our fighting style so suddenly won''t be that helpful." "Do you seriously think your fighting style can let you survive a melee fight against monsters of that size?" Ryan asked. "¡­ No," Haruna said. "It looks like you are not a lost cause," Ryan said. "I don''t need you guys to die in front of me, so I will make sure that you will be useful to the very end and the only way to do that is not to put you guys on the frontlines." Haruna understood that Ryan was worried about their safety in his own cold way. The truth was that Ryan didn''t want to see more people dying, even more so when they were on his side. He still could recall the anger he felt when he fought against Mephisto, and that type of anger was dangerous. "So, you are going to use them as an army, just like Victor?" Femradiel asked. "It will take months for them to reach that level," Ryan shook his head. "But even with their status, they should be able to kill a few bosses in a short amount of time if they concentrate all their mana. I think I will need at least that much help if things take a wrong turn somewhere." "Well, if you are looking for help, I can offer you some," Femradiel said. "Don''t worry, you won''t have to transform into a dragon." "What exactly do you have in mind?" Ryan asked. "Have you heard off of doppelgangers and familiars?" Femradiel asked. "I can think that those can help you." Chapter 407 - Weird Knowledge Ryan frowned when he heard those names. Doppelgangers were basically a monster than can transform into their enemies¡­ Ryan was pretty sure that such skill was the low-level version of whatever skill the dungeon system uses to make copies of the bosses. "Doppelgangers are fake copies of yourself, they consume a lot of mana to exist, but since they don''t have a physical form, they can keep attacking as long as you have mana," Femradiel said. "I don''t think that fits my style, I already consume too much mana on my own," Ryan said. "While increasing the output of my attacks seems interesting, there is no meaning if I can''t maintain it for more than a few seconds." "That is true, but I was thinking of making a doppelganger of myself, I have a lot of mana stored, after all. While that will cost me a lot, it is a skill I truly want to level up and one day, master." "Did you really give up on recovering your body?" Ryan asked. "No, but I can''t see the need to have one constantly now," Femradiel said. "Just be able to move around now and then and fight in situations like this is enough for me, but I guess you have a point, if you are willing to let me fight alongside you more often, we can use the second option and I can assume the form of a familiar." "What are the differences between a familiar, a summoned monster, and a tamed one?" Ryan asked. "Basically, familiars are special creatures that are linked to your soul, just like me when we made the contract," Femradiel exined. "However, only special creatures can be familiars and you can''t use any skill to make them join you. They have to offer themselves to be your familiar. You can think of them as Pok¨¦mon, when you need them for battle, you can summon them without consuming your mana and whenever they obtain will be yours. When they aren''t needed to fight, they can join your spirit, and there they can recover their strength two times faster." "Why do you know about Pok¨¦mon?" Ryan frowned. That sounded pretty neat, but Ryan thought only dragons could make pacts with humans¡­ it was also weird that only certain creatures could be familiars. Why was that the case? Which were the requirements? "Another good thing of the familiars is that you can have as many as you want," Femradiel added. "Since I know the process on how to create a proper magic body, I can split my strength into several parts and then be multiple familiars." "That sounds way too useful¡­" Ryan frowned. "What about your real body?" "The familiars will be my new body, if I wish for it, I can fuse them and then recover my old body, once the familiars be strong enough," Femradiel replied. "Still, knowing you, you won''t ept that, since you are so fearful of betrayals." "Not at all, I am not worried about betrayals," Ryan shrugged. "I concluded that worrying endlessly is a waste of time. If someone betrays me and try to kill me, I just have to kill they first, end of the story. If the betrayal happens in a minor scale, then I just have to ignore them. I ampletely free from such worries now." While that sounded too good to be true, Ryan seemed so calm that he convinced Femradiel. He truly was thinking that was the absolute truth, and he didn''t have to worry about such things. While that was convenient for Femradiel, it also made her think that Ryan took his rtionships with others too lightly. "If you are fine with that, I will need some time to make a proper body that can withstand my power and can be fused with other bodies," Femradiel said. "I will have to focus, so keep an eye on your surroundings." Although letting Femradiel fight alongside him has be a normal urrence, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder when things changed. After all, he didn''t want to receive help from anyone while fighting. It was probably because sometimes he didn''t have a choice in the matter, like this time where Haruna and her soldiers decided to join Ryan to exterminate the monsters that took over their country. In the end, he couldn''t say no since the destiny of their homnd was hanging in the bnce. So, Ryan decided to make Femradiel have some opportunities to fight since she has been quite helpful as ofte. In any case, Ryan resumed his crossbow creation, and after crafting the first ten, he enchanted them the golems'' spirits. Only after that, he gave the weapons to Haruna and some other survivors. "Try to hit Furball with it," Ryan said. "Are you sure?" Haruna asked, visibly troubled. "Just don''t aim at his face, if you do, you will die by my hands," Ryan said. "If you guys hit any other part of his body, not even a scratch will be left behind." After hearing Ryan''s words, naturally, the survivors hesitated. However, Haruna decided to take the lead and attack Furball. Just as Ryan said, the bolt didn''t even leave a mark behind. As for Furball, he only lost a single point of health. Since he had more than three thousand, the damage wasughable. Others joined Haruna and soon learned some archery skills and level them up since Furball was much stronger than them. However, they didn''t get even close to scratching. While no one was looking, Ryan also cast Protect on his partner, and that increased Furball''s endurance even more. To motivate Haruna and the others, even more, Ryan used the free status points that Furball had and increased his recovery and endurance. While Ryan was doing that with the excuse to motivate the survivors, deep down, Ryan wasughing. That was refreshing, and it was precisely the thing he needed before an important battle. While the pile of bolts was increasing, Ryan thought he would be able to reuse them, but unfortunately, for some reason, he failed at using or even reforging them since the tips had been bent upon the impact. Chapter 408 - Ice Wyrm After exactly a full day, Ryan was starting to get impatient. He had already armed Haruna and the others with decent crossbows, but there was no sign of the monsters despite the wait. Not even mosses or the ordinary mobs. While Ryan could asionally see the ck tortoisesing and going, they weren''t his targets for the time being. "I guess ambushing them won''t be easy," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, at least that confirmed that whoever used irvoyance, isn''t on the monsters'' side." If that weren''t the case, the peak of the mountain where Ryan and the others were in would have been attacked a long time ago. Ryan didn''t have enough proofs to concluded that, but he assumed that the person who used irvoyance was also the same who erected the magical barrier around Tokyo. They were the single party that was participating in that game in which Ryan no information, after all. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. The bosses guarding the perimeter were a bit far away, but Ryan decided to harass them from a distance in hopes of inciting them to move. Ryan couldn''t use Deadly Aim or Perfect Aim on creatures he couldn''t see, so he made sure to charge a lot more mana on the steel needle by using Mana Reinforcement before firing it. By using Force, Ryan managed to see and control the projectile, and he confirmed that the bosses had retreated quite a lot, and now they formed a perfect encirclement around their base. Before Ryan made the needle pierce the head of a Byakko, he saw some bosses carrying the corpses of some ck tortoises. You obtained 70.000 coins. "They are fighting and hunting the monsters somewhere else¡­ they know that someone is hunting them here in the North and they don''t intend to let their numbers increase any further," Ryan said. "How did you learn that?" Haruna asked. "It is hard to exin," Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "¡­We will have to approach their base a little more." Haruna passed the messages to the others, and just like her, they didn''t like the idea very much. Getting closer to that camp means that the chances of them being attacked by dozens of those bosses would increase. While they were ready to fight to recover their country, they didn''t want to fight in such dire situations. However, in the end, they didn''tin. "I am ready," Femradiel suddenly said. "By the way, why can''t you attack from your current position?" "Because I need to use more mana to use Force and to boost the projectile," Ryan replied. "Anyway, do I need to do anything?" "No, I am going to offer you another pact," Femradiel replied. "This is like a second existence for me and since I divided my power, my name will be a bit different." The ice Wyrm, Fem, wishes to be your familiar. Do you want to make a pact with her? Y/N. Before Ryan could ask anything, that notification appeared before him¡­ while he knew that Wyrm was like shorter versions of dragons, he still was surprised that Femradiel managed to create a body of a different species of a dragon. Ryan chose yes, and then suddenly, a small dragon that had half of the length of an adult human appeared before him. Compared to her previous figure that looked far more fearsome, the new appearance disappointed Ryan. Femradiel''s new body was light blue and had some ice scales here and there, but overall. She didn''t look much powerful or dangerous. In a sense, she looked cute¡­ for a monster. Her eyes and wings looked like crystals, so Ryan felt a presence that kind seemed transcendental. Fem (Ice Wyrm) ¨C Lv 50 Health: 25.000 Mana: 40.000 Stamina: 20.000 Strength: 2000 Dexterity: 2000 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 3000 Endurance: 1000 Control: 1500 Mentality: 1500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 5000 Willpower: 1000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills:Freezing Touch Lv 70 Passive Physical Skills: Mind Enhancement Lv 50, Frost Armor Lv 80 Spells: Niffelheim Lv 90, Absolute Zero Lv 60, Ice Spear Lv 70 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 200, Wind Resistance Lv 80, Electric Resistance Lv 50 "Phew, now I am feeling much better," Femradiel said. "Who could have thought that having a body could give me such a feeling of freedom?" Haruna and the others jumped backward and equipped their weapons, but Ryan stopped them before they could attack. Ryan should have warned them¡­ while seeing that scene, Femradiel smirked. "Bahahaha, you fell for my trap, humans!" Femradielughed and then said. "Now you will be my food and a new source of strength." Femradiel waited for Ryan''s reactions, but he didn''t do anything. His poker face was that hard to break¡­ in the end. She just sighed in disappointment. "You are no fun," Femradiel said. "By the way, don''t take this seriously, ever." "Any time you want to regain your freedom, you are free to attack me," Ryan said. "No hard feelings, you already know that I won''t go down that easily, after all." "I would like to avoid that," Femradiel said. "While I gain in terms of raw power, your ingenuity and nastiness make you a fearsome enemy. I wouldn''t dare try to cross your path." Ryan checked his status and confirmed that everything was normal, he even still could hear Femradiel''s voice in his head, so it looked like nothing really changed. She exined that her spirit will always stay inside him. While that was a bit weird, she divided her power to create that body, and while she could exist outside Ryan''s body, she ultimately was like a drone. "Dragons sure have some useful skills, even though you lost your memories¡­" Ryan frowned. "I can''t imagine how you can retain the knowledge to create a body like that." "Dragons can reproduce by themselves and by interacting with other dragons," Femradiel said. "You can think that this new my body is my offspring." Dragons really were weird¡­ Chapter 409 - Start After heading South for a few hours, Ryan and the others finally could see the silver tigers'' base and the bosses guarding the ce. It really was a crazy sight to see hundreds of those creatures guarding a single ce¡­ even though they couldn''t live in there. Although Ryan exined that Femradiel was a monster that could talk and Ryan had tamed her, Haruna and the others were still quite fearful of her. Even though she was smaller, they could see her status and how much more powerful she was inparison to them. "If you get any closer, you will be noticed by them," Femradiel warned. "Also, while his position isn''t half bad, you should prepare some countermeasures in case the monsters decide to go all-out and attack you." "I don''t think they will, that would leave their basepletely unprotected and the ck-tortoises would use that chance to strike," Ryan said. "Still, you have a point. What kind of trap should I prepare here?" "You can focus on decreasing their numbers, leave the traps to me," Femradiel said. "My elemental attribute will be more efficient at slowing the bosses down." After saying that, Femradiel began to fly around, and then shended in some ces for a few seconds, Ryan used Detection, and he found some powerful magic traps armed around. Regardless, now he just had toe up with the perfect n of action. Two days have passed since he sealed the dungeons in which the silver tigers could get food, but they haven''t despaired enough since they could eat the ck tortoises. "We can only attack from his position since we will find many more monsters of the other species if we move," Ryan rubbed his chin. "I wanted to make the ck tortoises attack first, but after this long, I guess I can''t wait for that." Ryan looked behind him and saw Haruna and the survivors ready to crossbows. Their mana regeneration couldn''t bepared to his, so it looked like they would have to rely on potions. While they brought some, it was only a small number in which they could carry in a small backpack. Since Ryan had the Discount skill, he decided to buy a lot more mana potions for them. "This will be a loan," Ryan said. "I want you guys to pay me for thister. Anyway, just firing mindlessly won''t work. So, divide yourselves in two groups. When the first group runs out of mana, the second group will step forward and attack while the first group uses mana potions." Haruna nodded at that. While she also thought that it would be better to divide the groups in four to give them some time to rx and recover from the tension as well, she knew that it wasn''t possible. While their archery skills leveled up quite a lot in thest day, it wasn''t to the point where even twenty of them could win a fight against Furball. In the end, Ryan spent two million coins in potions. It took a while, but he managed to create a stock of eighty thousand potions. Haruna and her friends couldn''t help but stare in shock at the pile of potions. "I guess this is it¡­ I can''t think of anything else to increase our chances right now," Ryan said. Ryan only had a single doubt in his head. Should he use his DEX potions at the start of the fight and then y as many bosses as possible in five minutes or save them forter in case something unexpected happens? In the end, he decided to save them forst since he was that paranoid. Besides, Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim were the only skills he needed to at least blind all the silver tigers. Without wasting any more time, Ryan began to pull the level of his ballista. In quick session, he fired several of the steel needles and blinded several monsters before the first ones finally could find his position. Haruna and the others barely could see the monsters five kilometers away, but they still clenched their teeth and fist when they sensed the monster''s murderous gaze. Dozens of them began to run toward Ryan, and that distance was something that they could cross in just a couple of seconds. However, Ryan''s attack speed didn''t decrease, and he proceeded to blind several more monsters before some of them opened their mouths to fire their lightning bolts. Ryan aimed the ballista at them, but before he could attack, Femradiel, who was flying above the group, fired some Ice Spears and stunned the monsters for a brief moment. Their attacks had been interrupted, and Haruna and her allies used that as a cue to join the fight. "First group, Attack!" Haruna shouted. Haruna pointed toward the monster they should focus their attack on, and she was smart enough to focus on the monsters that Ryan had blinded. They suffered critical damage and were bleeding profoundly, so they could be killed pretty fast. And so, they did. While some nervous survivors missed their targets, the vast majority of them hit the monster who was blind and could only run in a straight line. After doing some fast calctions, Ryan concluded that Haruna''s groups could kill the silver tigers in around ten seconds if they focused their attacks. That wasn''t half bad. The real problem was that they could only attack for that long with their mana pool. "First group, stand down!" Haruna shouted. "Second group, step forward!" Haruna saved Ryan from some problems since he didn''t even think ofmanding them. In any case, she was doing a pretty neat job considering that she was also firing bolts non-stop. However, since Ryan was focusing on binding the enemies, eventually, they got even close to the point where they could just jump and smash everyone with their massive weight. Still, before that could happen, several ice spikes emerged from the ground and impaled the monsters'' limbs. Femradiel''s traps were finally working. Chapter 410 - Yomotsu Shikome In just a few minutes, Ryan, Femradiel, and the others managed to y thirty or so bosses. However, since Femradiel didn''t have much time toy traps, the monsters were getting even closer than before. It was time for Ryan to do more than just blind the enemies. "Wait for a while longer," Femradiel said. "I will slow them down a little bit more." After saying that, Femradiel flew skyward only to return after a few seconds while flying toward the monsters at supersonic speeds. Since they were too focused on Ryan and the survivors, they never noticed her approach. A few moments before she could hit the ground, Femradiel used Absolute Zero and froze everything in a two-kilometer radius. While the bosses were too tough for them to be ice statues, at least their legs froze, and they were having a hard time freeing themselves. Ryan used that chance to blind and cause even more critical damage. "Hey, you," Femradiel said to the boy Ryan had healed a few days ago. "Throw as many mana potions as you can at me. Be quick." The boy nodded and obeyed Femradiel. While she was using Telekinesis to use the potions that Ryan bought, it wasn''t nearly enough to recover her mana at a decent speed. "I thought you still had some reserves of mana," Ryan said. "I have, but this body is familiar, so I don''t have ess to that mana pool, I am outside your body, after all," Femradiel exined. Ryan didn''t have time to think if that made any sense or not. The monsters that were guarding the other sides of the camp finally appeared, and their numbers were insane¡­ Ryan immediately equipped the most powerful crossbows, but much to his surprise, the monster stopped their charge and then turned to face their Westside. Ryan did the same and saw a massive curtain of dust rising and approaching the silver tigers'' camp. The ck tortoises finally decided to join the fight. "Femradiel¡­ don''t you think this is a bit too soon?" Ryan asked. "How many bosses have we killed in thest few days?" "A little less than one hundred," Femradiel replied. "I also agree with you¡­ either they are putting a lot of faith in us or they have another reason to attack the camp now." Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have time to confirm anything. He just used that chance to y as many Byakkos as possible while they were in shock. However, it didn''t take long for them to understand what had happened. Ryan saw some flying monsters approaching from the Southern side of the camp. They were the Seiryu¡­ "Those dragons seem kind of weird," Femradiel said. "I bet they would say the same about you," Ryan said. In any case, another force joining the fight wasn''t something that Ryan had expected¡­ thatplicated things quite a bit since his n was to exterminate the white tigers and then decrease as much as possible the strength of the ck tortoises. However, now that the azure dragons joined the fight, Ryan didn''t know if things would go as he had nned¡­ in fact, it looked like the problems wouldn''t stop from appearing anytime soon. "Something ising from the camp¡­ I can sense a lot of bloodlust being directed toward you," Femradiel said. At the same time, Femradiel said that Ryan felt his body froze. He tried to muster all the strength in his body to resist the bloodlust, but in the end, before he could recover control of his body, suddenly, the scenario around him changed. Ryan noticed that the feeling of danger had disappeared when he appeared in what seemed to be a massive cave. Although there was no sunlight, Ryan could see his surroundings perfectly, but soon he wished that he couldn''t. When Ryan looked around, he saw hundreds of decaying corpses moving toward him. Immediately, he began to fly to escape them, and then he noticed that he was alone in there. Femradiel, Furball, Haruna, and the others weren''t nearby. "A forced Teleportation?" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "Where am I?" "You are in my territory now, and you will pay for getting on my way." Ryan suddenly heard a voiceing from above, and he frowned when he saw a weird creature slowly approaching toward him. It had the voice of a woman and also the body of one, but it was much taller than any ordinary human being. It was like three meters tall, and its body was also covered in hair. Only the face was free of the hair, but Ryan only found a distorted decaying face of what seemed to be a pretty ugly female version of Frankenstein. Yomotsu Shikome ¨C Lv 380 Health: 70.000/70.000 Mana: 140.000/140.000 Stamina: 50.000/50.000 Strength: 100 Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 7500 Endurance: 1500 Control: 3500 Mentality: 4000 Luck: 1700 Recovery: 40.000 Willpower: 4000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Decaying Touch Lv 330 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 350, Mind Enhancement Lv 250 Spells: Summon Zombie Lv 200, Bone Spear Lv 380, Illusionism Lv 250 Support Skills: Poison Resistance Lv 300, Curse Resistance Lv 300, Spiritual Resistance Lv 300, "Disgusting¡­" Ryan said. "HOW DARE YOU!" The monster shouted in anger. Several Bone Spears flew toward Ryan, but he moved to the side and dodged them all. However, he still felt an impact on his back, and he was sent flying while spinning toward the monster¡­ that didn''t make any sense, but before the creature could do anything, Ryan opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. His attack passed by the monster as if the creature hadn''t even been there, but weirdly enough, the beast didn''t do anything while he was attacking and slowing down. "An illusion¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan didn''t know what had happened, but if he had to guess, the boss of a dungeon teleported him toward theirir. He confirmed that after looking around for a single moment, and then he found a treasure box and the purple crystal¡­ Still, thest part of the dungeon was too big, and it was underground. That wasn''t a good match-up since Ryan didn''t know anything about the monster in front of him¡­ Chapter 411 - Decaying Ryan knew that the thing in front of him was an illusion. However, he couldn''t locate the monster''s body with Radar or Awareness. It was probably because the difference in skill was too high¡­ despite that, the monster wasn''t attacking blindly. Something was off¡­ "Can you hear me, Femradiel?" Ryan thought. While Ryan''s status didn''t change, he couldn''t talk with Femradiel. In any case, the situation was bad¡­ The monster was trying to understand why the Bone Spears didn''t damage Ryan, but it was only a matter of time before the creature realized that it had been a fluke thanks to his cape. "You must be the one controlling the silver tigers," Ryan said, trying to buy some time while he thinks of a proper n. "You used Summon Zombie to obtain control over them, didn''t you?" "You can try to stall for time as much as you want, nothing will change your fate," Yomotsu Shikome said. "Well, if that is the case, why don''t we take some time to talk, or are you afraid of something?" Ryan asked. "You will pay for your insolence dearly, puny mortal," Yomotsu Shikome said. "For a hag, you are quite impatient¡­" Ryan shrugged. "DON''T CALL ME THAT!" Yomotsu Shikome shouted. The monster fired much more Bone Spears. This time, dodging the attack wasn''t an option just by flying. So, Ryan used sh and appeared behind the illusion. He quickly turned around in order to have a good view of his surroundings, but he didn''t find anything that might give him the location of the monster. "That is what I call an overreaction," Ryan said while looking around. "You don''t like being called hag?" Yomotsu Shikome made several of those zombies fly toward Ryan, and when Ryan was about to use sh again, the monsters exploded, and their bones flew toward all directions in the shape of some tiny bone needles. Ryan blocked the attack with his shield, but even so, he felt a powerful impact. He also heard a grunting from the monster, but he failed to pinpoint its location. "I guess for the time being, this is the only way for me to cause damage," Ryan muttered. Suddenly, Ryan felt a shiver and something touching his right shoulder. When he turned around, he didn''t find anything, but then he felt pain passing through his right shoulder as if acid was burning everything when Ryan looked at it. He saw his shoulder rooting. "Shit! Shit!" Ryan muttered in shock while sweating cold. Ryan used Purification, but the rooting parts were increasing faster than he could dy them¡­ the difference in level was that high. While biting his lips, Ryan made his decision¡­ he pointed Thunder Lord Crossbow at his rooting shoulder and pulled the trigger. A big chunk of Ryan''s flesh flew in the distance and the pain crossing his body froze his nerves. Ryan barely could keep his eyes open, and his arm was only hanging in the right ce due to a small amount of flesh. He immediately used Full-Heal¡­ Ryan recovered near-instantly, and the physical pain disappeared, but the mental pain didn''t. "You are going to pay for this¡­" Ryan muttered. "Do that again, hag. Show me what a piece of shit like you can do." Instead of falling for Ryan''s taunts, the monster made several other zombies explode near him. Ryan blocked the attack with his shield again and this time focused his senses on hearing the sounding from behind him, but once again, he failed to pinpoint the origin of the grunt. The fucking monster was so good at illusion magic that it could even hide the noises caused by itself. When Ryan felt a shiver again, he made six magic crossbows that were the exact copy of his Thunder Lord Crossbow appear around him, and each one pointing in a different direction. He fired them at the same time, and then the shiver stopped. "¡­ Fucking monsters," Ryan said after clicking his tongue. Ryan prevented the attack, but the monster reacted on time to dodge his attacks. While that was annoying, at least he confirmed one of the few things that he knew about necromancers. They were weak physically speaking. While the monster had several tricks and much more health than Ryan, it still couldn''t let itself get caught in his attacks. Maybe it was due to the fact that it recognized Ryan''s strength, or it was because the monster didn''t know anything about him¡­ Counterattacking will be difficult, but Ryan could do a few things to increase his chances, one of them was to fight near the ground. After destroying some zombies, he stopped levitating and thennded. At the same time, Ryan made his me swords spin around him. "Now she can only attack from the above¡­" Ryan thought. "At least if she ns to use her Decaying Touch." Ryan just needed a single chance to obtain the opening that he wanted. However, the n seemed too obvious, even from his perspective. Yomotsu Shikome tried to make other zombies explode near Ryan from all directions and try to disrupt his focus, but the monster failed. Suddenly, a Bone Spear raising from the ground pierced Ryan''s right foot. In an instant, Ryan lost almost half of his leg. He thought that he could prevent attacks from below by staying on ground level, but it looked that he was wrong. Ryan closed the wound by using Heal, but he didn''t do any more than that. He wasn''t focused enough and decided to use his pain to help with that. That apparently worked since the spinning speed of his sword increased. In an instant, he made his weapons hit the zombies that were approaching him and then recovered some mana. Thanks to that, Ryan had a certain idea¡­ after opening his mouth, Ryan used Ice Breath and spun around itself. It almost escaped from his sight¡­ but he did notice a thinyer of ice forming around something invisible floating in the air. ss: Hunter Lv 82 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 101th Health: 1822/1822 (5,26/s) Mana: 2800/2800 (5,26/s) Stamina: 2810/2810 (5,26/s) Strength: 31 (+170) (+130) Dexterity: 2750 (+2299) (+220) Speed: 140 (+1033) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+689) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+143) (+160) Control: 06 (+1115) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+68) (+70) Luck: 140 (+20) Recovery: 1200 (+1600) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+66) (+40) Coins: 8.233.712 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 99 (+ 03 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 81 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 81 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 81 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 81 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 68 (+ 03 UP), Rationality Lv 01, Spells: Spatial Maniption Lv 11 (+ 05 UP), Mana-Eater Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Mana Reinforcement Lv 10, Fire Armor Lv 01, Protection Lv 01, Holy Enchantment Lv 01 Support Skills: Poison Resistance Lv 23 (+ 06 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 70 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 40 (+ 05 UP), Sentinel Lv 30 (+ 05 UP), Pyro Trickster Lv 01, Temr Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 37 (+ 03 UP), Merchant Lv 25 (+ 05 UP), Whitesmith Lv 19 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 412 - Undead Magic Staff Before the monster could escape from the range of Ice Breath and could get rid of theyer of ice, Ryan summoned his Frozen Crossbow and then fired at the creature. The monster fired its Bone Spears to block the projectiles, but Ryan summoned another behind the beast and hit the creature''s head. The beast finally appeared but then turned around and smashed the magic bow with those Bone Spears. "Don''t try to hide your ugly face," Ryan said. "Come and face me, if you don''t want to kill me in a one-on-one fight, why did you teleport me to this hellhole?" Yomotsu Shikome ignored Ryan''s taunts again and then tried to disappear. However, the creature couldn''t just disappear in the blink of an eye. Before the thing could seed, Ryan fired an electric bolt and hit the monster''s head, causing critical damage and snapping its neck. The beast looked at Ryan with its eyes full of hatred, but that only made him feel refreshed. The monster tried to summon several Bone Spears, but Ryan stopped the beast with another electric bolt. In terms of attacking speed, Ryan was better, but he couldn''t lose his focus. In the end, the monster decided to move away from Ryan slowly. He clicked his tongue when he noticed a purple mist slowly rising from the ground. The creature also could use poison without even moving its hands¡­ Ryan''s health wasn''t decreasing that fast, so that wasn''t Yomotsu Shikome''s specialty. He activated Regeneration and managed to counter the damage. Still, Ryan knew that he couldn''t let the fightst for too long. That was too dangerous. "I didn''t want to go all out without knowing fully what that thing can do, but I don''t have any other choice¡­" Ryan muttered. Using all his potions was risky since the fight outside the dungeon was still happening, but Ryan wouldn''t be able to help in any way if he dies. In the blink of an eye, Ryan summoned five magic bows and attacked all the zombies around. Yomotsu Shikome tried to make them explode and cause some damage, but the creature failed. Ryan stored away his magic weapons and then began to fire his electric bolts like there was no tomorrow. The beast tried to repel the attack with its own projectiles, but Ryan was much faster. His bolts destroyed the Bone Spears and eventually began to wound the boss. "HHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" Yomotsu Shikome screamed in agony, and somehow while ignoring Ryan''s attacks, it managed to decrease the illumination inside the dungeon. Ryan activated Perfect Aim before the creature could disappear from his sight, but much to his surprise, the skill stopped working after a while Ryan equipped his shield above himself and used Arrow Shower around himself as well. While it wouldn''t cause much damage, at least it would let you notice when the monster tries to approach. Suddenly, Ryan felt a shiver and then jumped to the side, and then he heard the sound of Bone Spears hitting the ground. Ryan''s annoyance was reaching a whole new level, but then itpletely disappeared, and a smirk appeared on his face¡­ Ryan used Skills Copy, and in the next moment, he saw the monster slowly approaching him. Ryan quickly made his smile disappear and then faked his annoyance. When Yomotsu Shikome was close enough and tried to grab Ryan''s neck, he filled the monster''s face with his electric bolts. "Let''s fix your damn ugly face a little bit," Ryan said. While Ryan''s attack surprised the monster, it also surprised Ryan as well since he wasn''t causing as much damage as he had expected. It was because he had temporarily lost all the passive skills that increased the power of his attacks. It was annoying, but there was nothing Ryan could do. Without the monster''s skills, he couldn''t see properly in that darkness. Ryan tried to cause as much critical damage as possible, but even in that situation, the monster somehow managed to react and protect its face with both arms. While the bolts caused some damage, they didn''t cause that much since the bolts turned into ashes after a few seconds. While furrowing his eyebrows at that sight, he took out his Paralyzing Spear from his spatial storage and then made the weapon spin. He also used Mana Reinforcement and Holy Enchantment to make his weapon more durable and sharper and then fired at the monster. The beast tried to grab the weapon, but in the end, a necromancer-type monster would never have the physical capabilities to stop Ryan''s attacks with their bare hands. The spear pierced the monster, and its wounds began to burn thanks to Holy Enchantment. Yomotsu Shikome screamed in agony again while her face was distorted by anger and pain. In the end, even Ryan''s Paralyzing Spear became ashes, but not before Ryan filled the monster with electric bolts. "You are going to pay for this," Yomotsu Shikome said. "You already said that," Ryan said and then put some bolts on the monster''s eye sockets. "In the end, you are just a fake as well, huh. I will wait for you expectantly once your dungeon reaches the appropriate level." After saying that, Yomotsu Shikome''s health dropped to zero, and the monster fell dead on the ground. Its body began to disintegrate with an astonishing speed, but not even that made Ryan''s mood improve. While he won, the dungeon master was still alive somewhere, and it was probably a much stronger version of that monster¡­ just thinking about that was really annoying. You obtained 200.000 coins. Undead Magic Staff (Unholy) Effect: It grants you the chance to use the skill Cursed Ray Lv 100. The spell consumes fifty points of mana per second but can decrease all of the target''s attributes by a certain percentage over time. Durability: 100/100 It was a coincidence that the monster dropped such an item, but Ryan still felt satisfied by that convenient coincidence. Hopefully, a weapon like that will be useful against undead creatures as well because the first one that Ryan faced caused too many problems¡­ Chapter 413 - New Class Ryan headed toward the treasure chest in a hurry, but he was stopped because some zombies began to spawn near the purple crystal. He killed them quickly, but that only confirmed his theory that the boss he just killed was just an ordinary monster being controlled by the dungeon master. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Crusader, Shinobi, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Shinobi! You obtained the following skills: Waterwalking, Dual Wield, and Substitution. Your intelligence and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, stamina, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Waterwalking. Effect: It grants you the power to walk and run-on surface of the water Cost: 05 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dual Wield Effect: It increases the power of your attacks by one percent per level when using a weapon in each hand. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Substitution. Effect: It grants you the power to trade ces with a selected object. You need to touch the predetermined object before using the skill. The range in which the skill can work equals the level of the skill multiplied by fifty meters. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan didn''t have time to waste thinking about what he should do, so he quickly selected his new ss. However, before he could leave the dungeon, he got another surprise. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 100 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 95th You obtained a Domain Stone. Ryan had forgotten that reaching the top 100 of the strongest on Earth had been one of his goals as well. In any case, he thought that it would take a while longer for that to happen¡­ while that was useful, Ryan didn''t have time to use the domain stoner or learn about its quirks and perks. After a few minutes of flying, Ryan finally left the dungeon and noticed that it was already dark. However, he couldn''t sense or see any signs of the battlefield. It looked like he had been teleported to a pretty far away dungeon. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Femradiel asked via telepathy. "¡­ I didn''t think I could almost go deaf by hearing a scream inside my head," Ryan frowned. "As you can see, I was teleported by a boss to their dungeon. Anyway, tell me which direction I should go, I have no idea where I am." "Head north, you are near one of the four dungeons that is around the capital of this country," Femradiel replied. "But you need to be careful since some of the azure dragons are alive and they are on your path." Ryan immediately began to fly toward that direction while he analyzed what happened. Most likely, specific skills couldn''t work while he was inside a dungeon. That was why despite the pact, he still lost the connection temporarily with Femradiel. That wasn''t very important. What was important was that somehow Yomotsu Shikome was controlling the silver tigers and their dungeon was actually her dungeon. "I guess she defeated that species and took over their world," Ryan nodded to himself. "Since she is a necromancer, she can easily replicate the bosses and the mobs. As for why the Japanese were fooled by her so easily, it was probably because she masqueraded the corpses with her illusion magic¡­ if they had seen their true form, they would have known that they were making pacts with an undead monster and not with one of the four creatures. Not that I can see any real difference between them¡­" Regardless, Ryan got in her way, and that was why she tried to kill Ryan before her minions could be wiped out. Now Ryan just had to confirm if the other three species of monsters were being controlled by other dungeon masters as well, and why they would go that far to fool humans. There was also the question of why the dungeon masters made their dungeons appear so close to Tokyo. After a while, Ryan managed to see some signs of battle and some creatures flying in the Northern sky. Without wasting time, Ryan summoned his magic bows and began to charge several Power Shots. He had to kill all of them at the same time because flying enemies were annoying by themselves. Still, in a group, they were much more dangerous. When the flying dragons finally noticed Ryan''s approach, he said hi to them by firing his magic bows at their faces. His first wave of attacks caused massive damage to the point where the azure dragons began to lose altitude. Femradiel noticed that was Ryan''s doing, and she also bombarded the beasts with Ice Spears. Thanks to theirbined attacks, Ryan and Femradiel knocked down the dragons on the silver tigers camp, and Rya was close enough to see that they were really zombies. The silver tiger''s camp waspletely destroyed, and the parts that haven''t been knocked down were burning. Ryan and Femradiel managed to defeat the few azure dragons that had decided to join the fight, and the silver tigers had been decimated. However, the ck tortoises were stilling alongside the humans who joined them. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned when he saw Haruna and her friends forming a circle around some prisoners. By the look of things, Haruna wanted to save those guys now that she had more or less a good idea and exnation to make them understand that they had been fooled, but there was a problem: the prisoners didn''t look like they wanted to be saved. Chapter 414 - Struggle In the end, Ryan decided to ignore Haruna and the others and then headed toward where Femradiel, Furball, and his Steel Eagle were fighting against some ck tortoises. Somehow, they managed to hold the monsters back since they still had some mana potions left, but those were about to end. Ryan equipped his Thunder Lord Crossbow and began to hit the faces of the slow monsters. In the end, Ryan could see dozens of corpses of those creatures, but only a few handfuls of them were still alive¡­ which was odd. "What happened here?" Ryan asked while frowning and looking around. "We struggled quite a bit when you disappeared," Femradiel replied. "Some of Haruna''s friends died thanks to the massive battle between three species of monsters. I tried to hold them back as much as possible, but with this body, that was impossible. However, some weird guys appeared out of nowhere and protected them. Not only that, they also made the ck tortoises back down. Those are the bosses that stayed behind to protect the retreat of the monsters that survived." "¡­ Where are they?" Ryan asked while frowning. "They were teleported to this ce and when they concluded that we could hold the monsters back, they disappeared," Femradiel said. "That is suspicious¡­" Ryan said. "That is just a part of the story," Femradiel said. "Those guys said that their leader is guarding Tokyo and he asked Haruna to protect the humans who joined the monsters'' side because he knows a way to free them." That was even more suspicious¡­ if someone had that power, why didn''t he use it sooner? Ryan thought that Haruna was more intelligent than that since she didn''t fall for the monsters'' cheap promises, but it looked like being saved by an unknown hero just when her team was about to be wiped out changed her mind a little bit. In any case, before he could confirm the rest of those facts, Ryan helped Femradiel and his monster to kill the remaining ck tortoises. Ryan sighed in relief when the battle was over, but he was a bit unsatisfied in the end since he didn''t gain as many coins as he had imagined. He missed a good part of the fight, after all. When Haruna saw Ryan approaching, she couldn''t help but get a little pale. He seemed pretty unsatisfied about her current position, after all. In any case, Ryan also confirmed the resolution in her eyes. Putting the sweet words of an unknown figure aside, she truly wanted to save the Japanese survivors who were fooled by the monsters. "It looks like you made your decision," Ryan said while looking around and grabbing some weapons with his Telekinesis. "Yes," Haruna said. "I won''t question your decision, but that doesn''t mean I will let some humans who might stab me in the back stay behind of me," Ryan said. "I hope you haven''t been fooled like them, so I wish you good luck." "You fought Yomotsu Shikome, didn''t you?" Haruna asked. "¡­ How do you know that?" Ryan frowned. "The soldiers of the guardian of Tokyo told us," Haruna said. "At the very beginning, he noticed that something was amiss with those dungeons and once he obtained a certain power, the guardian confirmed that the four bests were being controlled by other monsters. He knew all that, and yet he didn''t do anything. Are you fine in trusting someone like that?" "He did what he could, he protected a good number of people in Tokyo," Haruna said. "His soldiers said that he wants to talk with you, since you gave him the chance to deal a massive blow on the monsters'' force. If you head to Tokyo, he says that he will wee you and create a temporary alliance, but only if you go now." "Why the hurry?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know, but his soldiers seemed a bit angry when they were talking about you," Haruna said. "¡­ I will think about it," Ryan said and then headed toward where the azure dragons were. Without wasting any time, Ryan dug the dragons'' hearts and stored them inside his storage dimension. Meanwhile, Furball and the Steel Eagle were eating a good part of their bodies. "This was tiresome, so I am going to return if you don''t mind," Femradiel said, and then she turned into a sphere of light and entered Ryan''s body. "What do you think of that, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "My guess is that those soldiers sounded displeased because you killed too many survivors here," Femradiel replied. "While they were on the enemies'' side, it looks like there is really a way to save them. That was within their ns: to save the entire poption that joined the monsters'' side, but you made a mess out of the things from their perspective." Whoever was the so-called guardian of Tokyo, he certainly was a troublesome individual. He wanted to thank Ryan for giving him a chance to strike back the monsters, but he was also angry at him because he killed the humans who joined the monsters'' side. In the end, Ryan decided to ignore such troublesome individuals, nothing good woulde out from joining forces with people that could only see their own problems. "Anyway, why didn''t you realize that the silver tigers were zombies?" Ryan asked. "My Illusion Resistance is at a low-level, so it couldn''t be helped, but I was expecting moreing from you." "My skill isn''t that high leveled either," Femradiel said. "Illusion users neverst long while fighting me since I freeze them all in an instant." "¡­ It looks like the other monsters are also being controlled by other dungeon masters, did you notice anything different with them?" Ryan asked. "No, but it is pretty obvious at this point that there are some simrities between them," Femradiel replied. "Regardless, even if we didn''t notice, nothing would change, right?" "Yeah¡­ I still would have to kill them to clear the dungeons," Ryan nodded. Chapter 415 - Master Ryan forgot to ask Haruna a few things about Yomotsu Shikome, but in the end, he decided that he already knew plenty about her abilities. She was a necromancer that could use illusion magic. That was all that he needed to know. In any case, now Ryan had to attack the weakened ck tortoises. However, he decided to rest for the night, but he just used some spells on himself to level up his resistance after a while. "Self-harm, huh," Femradiel said. "You are crossing a dangerous road." "It is not like I have any other choice," Ryan said. "I can''t let myself get wounded in the middle of real fights." "It looks like you have a hard time against that undead creature, you could have easily solved the problem by using Draconic Transformation," Femradiel said. "I solved the situation without relying on it and that is all that matters," Ryan said. That had been a pretty unpleasant night, considering that Ryan had decided to just rest. Regardless, while it was only natural that Ryan would be good at dodging, even that has its demerits. It doesn''t happen often, but it happens. Even weak attacks cause a lot of damage since Ryan, pretty much on a daily basis, faced monsters much more powerful than him. "I have to take a few hours every day to train my resistances," Ryan got up when the sun began to rise. "Otherwise, it wille a day where just the st of wind caused by the movements of some monsters will make me fly dozens of meters." After resuming his journey, Ryan found a few dungeons here and there, and much to his surprise, they weren''t being guarded. However, he found that those ces have spawned thousands of monsters. "It looks like the humans working with the ck tortoises caused some dungeon breaks before they left this area," Ryan said, slightly annoyed. "They don''t want to make things easier for us." "This is a good opportunity for me," Femradiel said. "Let Furball, the eagle and me fight against some of those to gain some mana. We are not the only ones fighting here, so we don''t have to rush ahead without making some preparations, right?" Ryan considered the proposal. The monsters were only some smanders, so Femradiel had the elemental advantage, and Furball was strong enough to sweep the ground with those monsters. Ryan also needed more essences to make the special potions, so that really was an excellent opportunity for everyone. "Go on," Ryan said after using some potions on Femradiel, Furball, and the Steel Eagle. While his pets were ying with the smanders, Ryan used that chance to sell some of the crossbows he lent to Haruna and the others. He also used Mana-Eater on others to give a hand to Femradiel. Even though she was weaker than before, she still had been pivotal in thest fight. "I guess I need more of them," Ryan said while looking at his three pets. "The Steal Eagle eventually won''t be able to keep up with Furball and Femradiel, so it looks like that I reached a point where some summoned creatures and tamed monsters aren''t that useful in small numbers." Relying too much on monsters wasn''t something Ryan wanted to do since his best skills could only shine against hordes of them, but in the end, he couldn''t deny how useful Furball and Femradiel were¡­ he needed more creatures like them. Still, finding those that had a lot of potential would be difficult. After all, Ryan only found a single creature that decided to make a pact with him in six months. While Ryan was thinking about that, his Awareness alerted him of a presence behind him. Ryan summoned his shield and turned around, only to see three men wearing traditional Japanese red armor and carrying two katanas on their waist. He immediately recognized those¡­ that was what Femradiel mentioned as appearing out of nowhere. "What do you want?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Haruna and the others already reached the capital," One of the guard-looking men said. "Our master wants to know why you didn''te with them." "I am not interested in working with you guys," Ryan said. "We will pass the message to our master," The guard said. "If you don''t want to work with us, that is fine. However, our master would like to ask you not to kill any more survivors." "That will depend if they will point their weapons at me or not," Ryan said. The guards'' gaze on Ryan grew more severe, but they didn''t do anything. After a few moments, they just vanished in the air, and Ryan couldn''t feel their presence with Awareness anymore. "Are you fine with that?" Femradiel asked. "Maybe you should take a look at the guy." "I am not interested," Ryan said. "That is fine, but you should at least try to y nice with your friends in their backyard," Femradiel said. "As far as I can see, you already became enemies of too many monsters, you don''t need to be enemies of humans as well." "You sure seem like a pacifist, even though you tried to devour me the first time we met," Ryan said. Despite saying that, Ryan considered Femradiel''s advice. While he imed that he put his anger on check, it looked like it wasn''t that simple. He was naturally predisposed to distrust and be rude toward others that he couldn''t understand. "While fighting with my group alone, things will probably proceed well," Ryan nodded to himself. "Unless the so-called guardian of Tokyo isn''t an idiot, he will probably attack the monsters'' base at the same moment I decide to attack. However, I need to prepare some countermeasures in case Seiryu and Suzaku decide to join the fight." That would be hard since Ryan didn''t take a proper look at those monsters yet, but based on what he heard from Haruna, Seiryu was a dragon that used wind and water, and Suzaku is essentially a firebird. It wasn''t a lot of intel, but it was a start¡­ Chapter 416 - Fortress After a while, Ryan decided that it was time to move on. While Femradiel was right and that they weren''t fighting alone and didn''t need to hurry, they couldn''t just let the monsters prepare the terrain in their favor. Besides, the chance of dealing with the first strike was a valuable one, and Ryan had no intention of letting the monsters have that. Before finding the camp of the ck tortoises, Ryan found two other dungeons in which the survivors caused dungeon breaks. Ryan had a hard time keeping his anger in check since that was a golden chance to obtain a ss almost for free, but in the end, he calmed down. He couldn''t change his moral code because of that¡­ until the very end. He was determined to kill only those who point their weapons at him. "It looks like the guys around are pretty creative," Ryan said while looking around at his next target. Ryan didn''t find that in their status screen, but it looked like the ck tortoises also could use Earth Maniption. Their base was basically a massive fortress made of dirt. While it didn''t look that resilient, at least it worked well to hide their numbers and their secrets. Those creatures created something like abyrinth in which they could move around in a terrain surrounded by three mountains. Ryan could see several ck tortoises in the several entrances of those ces, but even if he kills them, Ryan won''t have the chance to attack the others because the corpses would work as a defense line. "The path that might projectiles have to cross will be blocked and thanks to the coveredbyrinth, I can''t even see more than a few monsters¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "This will be a pain." Now and then, Ryan could feel that he was being watched, and Femradiel confirmed that it was the same person who used irvoyance on him a few days ago. The guardian of Tokyo has his eyes on him, but not in a positive manner. Ryan was certain that unless he caused a massive blow to the monsters, he wouldn''t attack the monsters'' exposed back, which was why he couldn''t trust in someone like him. "What is the n now, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "I am still thinking about it," Ryan said. "Still, even though it looks a bit annoying and time consuming, maybe we can do some damage while sealing the entrances of their hideouts and wait for the monsters to starve." "That seems like a proper n, but we know that you aren''t that patient," Femradiel said. "That is right," Ryan nodded. "I guess we need to destroy a good part of their base in order to expose the monsters. While they are big and sturdy, they are slow and not that powerful when ites to long-ranged attacks. So, kitting them seems like a pretty decent n." The only problem was the fact that Ryan was obviously faster than the ck tortoises. Unless they are really stupid, the monsters won''t chase him. With that in mind, destroying their base was something that could be ignored since a few of them could repair everything. Ryan had to force the monsters to leave their hideout in one way or the other. There was actually a good way to make that happen¡­ "Which direction is the nearest dungeon, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "At your five o''clock," Femradiel replied. "You shoulde and join the party," Ryan said. "Let''s leave many surprises along the way for the monsters in that ce." Although Ryan said that, he waited for the sun to set before he finally left his position and headed toward the dungeon whileying many magic traps between the dungeon and the ck tortoise''s camp. Creating enough traps to decimate an army of those creatures was out of chance, but that was the real goal. Ryan just needed to cause some damage and make them expose themselves. "You should be more careful because I can''t sense things very well inside those dungeons," Femradiel said. "The concentration of mana can interrupt several skills; thus, I am unable to detect the number of enemies inside it. Based on what you told me, it is very likely that the boss is also using some spell to reinforce such a trait of the dungeon." "It is all right, if my guess is right, another creature like that hag is also controlling the ck tortoises," Ryan said. "So, if a monster goes as far as controlling massive monsters like that, the boss wouldn''t use the dungeon to spawn several copies of itself, they would use the same thing as Fenrir did." "There is no point in mentioning enemies that I don''t know of," Femradiel said. "If you don''t remember, part of our contract prevents me from reading your memories." Ryan exined the time he faced Fenrir and the army of dire wolves, and as expected, Femradiel understood the power of that ability pretty easily. The dungeon master selected a single boss from his army, and the other bosses that spawn during the dungeon breaks were only mass of power, or shadows that the original boss could absorb to get stronger. While that kind of technique has some limits, it was undoubtedly useful to make the bosses reach high levels. "So, you think the boss of the next dungeon did the same because they are a specialist at controlling monsters instead of fighting by themselves?" Femradiel asked. "I guess that does make sense since creatures that have that kind of power hold the advantage against other creatures that can''t even speak." While that did make sense, there was something that Ryan couldn''t understand yet, why the dungeon masters apparently had simr powers? Was it a coincidence that they were controlling four species of monsters that were well-known in Japanese mythology? Why are they fighting against each other, and why are they trying to invade Tokyo? Ryan started to think that he shouldn''t have decided to stay away from Tokyo''s guardian because he probably had the answer to those questions. Chapter 417 - Sneak Attack Ryan and Femradiel spent the night creating traps andying them on strategic points to dy the ck tortoises. However, even though Ryan rested for quite a while in thest few hours, he started to feel quite tired. At some points, he even fell asleep while standing for a few seconds. Much to his surprise, even his pets fell asleep. Femradiel wasn''t an exception. "Hey, Femradiel¡­" Ryan shook his head to get rid of his sleepiness. "You only left my body a few hours ago, howe you are so tired?" "Mmm? I don''t know¡­ ah, this is bad¡­" Femradiel suddenly said, and soon after, Ryan confirmed that something was off. Congrattions! The skill Sleep Resistance has leveled up. "Something is trying to make us fall asleep¡­ this body isn''t strong enough to withstand the spell," Femradiel said. Considering that Femradiel didn''t warn Ryan of any presence, either she didn''t sense any, or the sleep spell was affecting her too much. Ryan decided to call her back, but even inside his body, Femradiel still was sleepy. "If you move away¡­ from the dungeon¡­ you should be alright¡­ I think¡­" Femradiel said, and then Ryan didn''t hear her voice anymore. Ryan tried to use Purification, but his sleepiness didn''t leave his body. Making Furball and the Steel Eagle fly consumed a lot of his mana, but in the end, Ryan managed to find a good ce to hide them. "So reliable you guys are now¡­" Ryan forced a weak smile. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­ the next boss really wants to fight me one-on-one." Ryan wouldn''t dare to attack his pets with magic to keep them awake, but he didn''t hesitate at firing some Electric Bullets at his hand to make himself get rid of a little bit of his sleepiness. That indeed was a crazy powerful sleep spell since not even Ryan that skipped several nights of sleep in thest six months, could endure it. "Well, at least this is proof that the ck tortoises won''t be able to attack me from behind." Ryan shrugged. Ryan cursed his own carelessness. He should have increased his resistance against negative effects, he found some tomes that could teach him those skills, but since fighting against enemies that could use it rarely happened, he never felt the sense of urgency to do so. Regardless, it was toote forints, and Ryan couldn''t back down against a boss of a tier-three dungeon. His pride wouldn''t allow it. While heading West, Ryan had to damage himself with electric attacks pretty often to stay awake. He couldn''t fall asleep since the boss would use that chance to kill him. Ryan used that eagerness to make Ryan fall asleep to confirm that the boss was another weakling at closebat. Yomotsu Shikome caused him a lot of trouble. Still, ultimately, Ryan never feared a creature that relied on tricks like invisibility, illusion, and necromancy to fight. After a while, Ryan finally realized what was making him feel sleepy¡­ it was a song. A magic song that grew louder and louder the more he approached the dungeon. Ryan hurried to finish off the beast as fast as possible, but the very moment he touched the entrance of the dungeon, the song grew more powerful, and Ryan fell on the ground. Mustering all his willpower, Ryan took out one of his me swords and made it burn his leg. That woke him up, but only to the point where his eyes couldn''t close. The rest of his body was so heavy that Ryan couldn''t move a single inch. "I think I need lots of caffeine¡­" Ryan said. Using Telekinesis, Ryan got up. While the pain was preventing him from falling asleep, that wasn''t nearly enough. Fighting in that condition was suicide, so Ryan opened the dungeon shop and tried to look for anything that might help him solve that problem. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t find any obvious solution. Either his mind wasn''t working properly, or there wasn''t an easy solution to be found in the dungeon shop. "Come on, Ryan¡­ think¡­ use this poor excuse of a brain that you have," Ryan muttered. It would be great if Femradiel could wake up for a single moment and make Ryan''s Sleep Resistance level up, but he wasn''t counting on that. In the end, Ryan had to improvise. That didn''t seem like a good idea, but he decided to use Temporary Transformation and turn into a ck tortoise. Ryan positioned himself properly, and when he used the skill, the shell on his backpletely blocked the dungeon''s entrance. Even though Ryan decided to transform into the mob form of the creature, he couldn''t move a single inch since he now was ten meters long and weighed over several tons. However, he managed to block the sounding out of the dungeon. "Aw¡­e on¡­ now my back is asleep," Ryan sighed. Apparently, blocking the song wasn''t enough. Ryan wasn''t that sleepy anymore, but his body still could absorb the sound and fall asleep. It was just a temporary solution that bought him some seconds to think of something else. "Song¡­ song of sleep¡­ sleep song¡­ wind?" Ryan frowned. Even in that form, Ryan still could use his skills, so he used Wind Maniption and managed to block the sleep song from leaving the dungeon. However, due to the level of the spell, a lot of mana was being used. Ryan needed something more refined and efficient to be able to enter the dungeon and not fall asleep in the middle of the battle. Wind Armor tome Effect: Casts an armor made of wind around your whole body to increase your wind attacks'' power and decrease the damage of the same attribute from your enemies by one percent per level. When active, the skill increases your speed and dexterity by ten points per level. Cost: 25 mana per second Price: 1.000.000 coins. It was quite a costly solution to that problem, but in the end, Ryan didn''t hesitate to use the skill, and when he learned, Ryan already noticed a difference. Chapter 418 - Titania Ryan couldn''t use Mana Reinforcement to increase the intensity of Sleep Resistance, but he could use it to increase the power of Wind Armor and thus make it level up faster. After a few hours, the skill reached level ten, and now Ryan could stand without relying on Telekinesis. "I can''t underestimate this foe just because it is a creature that would rather kill me in my sleep than in an actual fight," Ryan muttered. "To be able to use such a spell in such a vast area and for so long¡­ this isn''t an enemy that I can face while getting ahead of myself." While Sleep Song was troublesome, it couldn''t actually damage Ryan. So, after a while, he felt confident that he could enter the dungeon. For some reason, the interior of the ce waspletely dark, and when Ryan used fire to illuminate the ce, he understood why. The walls and the ground werepletely covered in vegetation and vines. Ryan tried to analyze if that belongs to a monster or something, but he didn''t get any response. Those didn''t belong to a beast. The vegetation belonged to the biome of another world¡­ "Wait a minute¡­ Why didn''t I find any monster until now?" Ryan suddenly stopped and questioned himself. "The boss should know that I am approaching. So why?" Ryan''s Radar and Awareness were already working since he was inside the dungeon, but he couldn''t feel the presence of a single monster. The ce was huge, just like Yomotsu Shikome''s dungeon, but that doesn''t mean the ce was free of monsters. The more he fought them. The less Ryan could understand the dungeon masters. Eventually, the Sleep Song ended, and that confirmed Ryan''s previous thought. The boss understood that such tactics wouldn''t work on Ryan any longer, but despite that, Ryan didn''t deactivate Wind Armor since he could fall for a trap at any minute. After a while, Ryan eventually reached thest part of the dungeon, and he saw a massive underground forest. Although he was hoping to find another undead creature''sir, everything he saw was just a full of life forest. Ryan even found some springs and birds flying around while chirping. "Another illusion¡­" Ryan said. "Not quite, this is just a small part of our paradise here on your." Ryan heard a feminine voice and then saw a figure sitting on a throne made of flowers. Weirdly enough, he saw two thrones, but only one of them was being used. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Ryan found a blonde, green-eyed beauty sitting in that ce. She had a great figure and was also wearing a dress that seemed to be made of flowers. For an instant, Ryan thought the boss was a human, but he shook his head when he saw the pointy ears of the creature. Titania ¨C Lv 420 Health: 50.000/50.000 Mana: 180.000/180.000 Stamina: 90.000/90.000 Strength: 100 Dexterity: 2500 (+ 300) Speed: 2000 (+ 200) Intelligence: 8000 (+ 1500) Endurance: 2500 (+ 200) Control: 4000 (+ 500) Mentality: 5000 (+ 1000) Luck: 2500 Recovery: 60.000 Willpower: 5000 (+ 1000) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sleepy Touch Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 350, Mind Enhancement Lv 350, Blessing of the Fairies Lv 350 Spells: Sleep Song Lv 300, Fly Lv 350, Wind Maniption Lv 250, Wind Transformation Lv 250, Wind Creation Lv 250 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 350, Fire Resistance Lv 350, Shock Resistance Lv 350, "Hello, Ryan," Titania said. "It is nice to meet you, I am Titania, the queen of fairies." Ryan didn''t say anything. He just pointed his charged crossbow at her and then fired. However, with a powerful gust of wind, Titania made the projectile change its direction and hit the dungeon''s ceiling. Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, which had been five minutes charged Power Shot, after all. As expected, that would be another tough fight. "There is no need to be uncivilized here," Titania said. "Let''s talk for a while, I am sure we can reach an agreement. Fairies love peace and I don''t want to dirty this ce with blood." "Should I sleep while we talk?" Ryan asked. "It looks like you really want to put me to sleep, after all. I am sure that negotiating when the other side can''t do anything is very advantageous." "Well, you can''t me me for being cautious," Titania shrugged. "You killed Yomotsu Shikome, and while she is my enemy, I still don''t know what your goal is." "Absolute monster extermination," Ryan replied while charging another bolt with Power Shot and Mana Reinforcement. "Don''t be unreasonable, you know that is impossible," Titania smiled as if she had heard a very amusing thing. "It doesn''t matter what you or anyone else do, Earth is changing and returning back to its perfect era. Humans can only strive to survive, there is nothing else to be done." "Perfect era?" Ryan frowned. "What are you talking about?" "I guess it is only natural that the humans forgot about this," Titania said. "It has been quite a while, after all. What would you think if I told you that a long time ago creatures like around walked on Earth alongside mortals like you?" "I would say that is bullshit," Ryan replied. "You are truly amusing, Ryan," Titania smiled again. "But that is the undeniable truth. You should have already noticed by this point that the myths and legends of old, aren''t actually just fairy tales and stories made up by your elders to make children behave. We existed a long time ago with humans, no¡­ we coexisted with them. We gave them knowledge and to some extent power, some of us even married humans and gave birth to special mortals¡­ that happened a long time ago, in a period of human story called: the age of gods." Ryan couldn''t help smiling scenically while hearing all that, but despite that, something inside him was telling Ryan that Titania wasn''t making some crazy lies¡­ Chapter 419 - Age Of Gods "I don''t know all the details since I haven''t been around since the beginning, but I can guarantee you that the age of gods existed," Titania said. "It was a period where humans prospered thanks to us and eventually, they stood above the other mortal creatures, also thanks to us, but after some incidents, you people began to lose faith in us. That led to a situation where we couldn''t exist on the physical realm of Earth anymore. That is why we left¡­" "I find it hard to believe that people still believed in creatures like you after this long," Ryan said. "So, howe did you guys manage to return?" "Mana is overflowing on Earth again, that is why we can return now," Titania replied. "However, since pretty much all of us want to return, we can''t have the same power as we possessed before. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, after all." "I can see that¡­ you are feeling pretty nostalgic of killing and fooling humans, huh," Ryan said. "The situation is dire, so we had to take some drastic measures, but as you can see, I tried to save the lives of as many humans as possible," Titania said. "I even gave them powers to survive." "Yes, just like Yomotsu Shikome, you truly are pretty generous," Ryan shrugged. "Like I said, the situation is quite dire," Titania said. "If we don''t do anything, other creatures will take over the Earth first and prepare a terrain where they will have total advantage. You see, pacifist species like us are pretty rare nowadays. I can see the human potential, that is why I am talking to you, that is why I am doing what I am doing." "You are stalling for time because you think we have potential?" Ryan frowned. "Does that mean that nothing is heading to the dungeon right at this moment?" "¡­ You heard me, Ryan," Titania lost the smile on her face for a moment. "These are hard times even for us, we have to prepare for every single possible oue." "I can respect that, in any case, since we are already talking, why don''t you tell me why you guys returned now?" Ryan asked. "After so long, why do you guys still are interested on Earth when not a single human remembers or respects you? What triggered your return?" "We noticed that mana would flow on Earth again, that is why we decided to return, that being said I can only talk for my species and despite everything, Earth will always be our home," Titania replied. "In essence, we returned because we obtained a chance to do so." "Can you exin the system? Things were like that back then?" Ryan asked. "We had ess to the system, but humans didn''t," Titania replied. "That is to be expected though, since too many things changed in thest few thousand years." Titania didn''t seem like she was lying. Even if she was trying to stall for time, her story made too much sense from Ryan''s perspective. Demons, myths, and humans from legends¡­ all of them were walking on Earth now. While some creatures seemed weird, they were more or fewer creatures that humans have registered in their history in a sense. They didn''t look like aliens, so Ryan assumed that whatever was happening to Earth, it was due to those three types of creatures. It wasn''t an alien race or something that had suspicious ns for Earth and the human race. In a sense, that was a relief. "Now is the time where you try to convince me to join your side, right?" Ryan asked. "Let''s hear what you have for me before I make my decision." "I can offer you everything you always wanted," Titania said. "My eldest daughter is many times more astonishing than any female you might on Earth, you will have my permission to make a contract with her and you will have absolute control over and thus she will never betray you. While you are not one of us, you can be one of our most influential generals, all you have to do is to make sure that we will be the species that will be able to return to Earth first." Ryan asked just for curiosity''s sake, but in the end, he was left speechless by what he heard. Did she read his mind, or was Ryan just that easy to understand? Deep down, it looked like he didn''t change all that much. It looked like he was still the same guy from six months ago who just wanted to marry a beautiful woman and then have a nice family while he proves his skill at his work. That somehow made Ryan annoyed, and at the same time, it made him feel relieved. Despite everything, Ryan''s thirst for power was just a means to an end. Maybe Ryan still wanted that, but he wouldn''t let someone give that to him¡­ he didn''t want to receive a new life on a silver te. "That is an interesting offer, but I will politely refuse," Ryan said and then pointed his crossbow at Titania. "I might fail in the end, but at the very least I won''t give up until the very moment. I will prevent Earth from falling on the hands of you monsters, or die trying." "Well¡­ it is a pity, but it doesn''t matter," Titania said after a long sigh. "Even without your mind, you will be a fine addiction to our army." Before Ryan could pull the trigger, he heard some nuzzlinging from behind. In the end, he summoned his magic bows and aimed them at Titania, and pointed his Power Shot in the opposite direction only to see thousands of small creatures that seemed like very small versions of her. While those fairies were also cute, that was thest thing that appeared in Ryan''s mind. Their eyes were red and vicious, and that was more than enough to make Ryan want to some distance from them. Chapter 420 - Back Attack Fairy ¨C Lv 400 Health: 4000/4000 Mana: 15000/15000 Stamina: 3000/3000 Strength: 750 (+ 250) Dexterity: 1200 (+ 350) Speed: 1100 (+ 250) Intelligence: 1500 (+ 250) Endurance: 800 (+ 150) Control: 1100 (+ 250) Mentality: 1000 (+ 150) Luck: 750 (+ 50) Recovery: 1500 (+ 350) Willpower: 1000 (+ 150) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 320, Scratch Lv 320 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 250, Improved Speed Lv 250, Spells: Sleep Lv 400, Confusion Lv 400, Mind Control Lv 400 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 200 Ryan never tested that before, but before firing this bolt toward the mass of monsters, he enchanted it with Lesser Fire Enchantment and Elemental Nature. In the end, his bolt minced into bits hundreds of fairies and also caused an explosion that killed many others. When that happened, the shockwave almost knocked Ryan down, but he resisted and bombarded Titania with his magic bows. However, when he turned around, he saw her enveloped by a wind barrier. His attacks were beingpletely nullified. Although Ryan''s attacks decimated the fairies, Titania''s smile didn''t disappear from her face. He confirmed why when he heard the buzzing sound again. "... Annoying insects¡­" Ryan said after clicking his tongue. Ryan summoned his three me swords and then connected them before making them spin at super speeds in the entrance of thest part of the dungeon. The monsters that tried to pass by them were shed apart in several pieces by the magic weapons. However, they were also losing a lot of durability. While they weren''t sturdy monsters, the fairies still were monsters of a tier-three dungeon. "You will join my army, but not before paying for your crimes," Titania said. The smile had vanished from her face since her garden was one dirty with pieces of flesh and a lot of blood. Before she could do anything, Ryan fired his bolts at unbelievable speed towards Titania, but she blocked them by making lightning bolts fly from her hands and destroy the projectiles. It looked like the Thunder Lord crossbow won''t be that useful against her, so Ryan transformed his magic bows in the heavy crossbows. While they still were made of mana, the new projectiles still would have the earth element''s properties, thus making themst longer. The lightning bolts were so noisy that Ryan was having a hard time focusing hearing on the sides to avoid some unpleasant surprises. Titania finally began to fly around the room and tried to hit Ryan with one of her lightning bolts, but she only aimed at his leg, and Ryan dodged it by using sh. "She doesn''t want to kill me¡­ I guess she can''t control something dead," Ryan concluded. That would be useful, but only for a while. Someone as old as Titania wouldn''t take too many risks if she senses that her life is in danger¡­ With that in mind, Ryan had to try to finish the fight as soon as possible. While Ryan wanted that, all his bolts were being repelled by Titania''s lightning magic. That was insane since he was firing dozens of them every second. Ryan changed his strategy and decided to attack only with his magic bows, but then he equipped his newest weapon and fired Cursed Ray. Titania tried to block the attack as well, but she failed since the day didn''t have a physical form. She slightly frowned when she got hit by it, and her status decreased for a few seconds. In the end, that didn''t trouble in the slightest. She just increased her flying speed. Ryan tried to use Perfect Aim, but the skill didn''t activate. "Great¡­ it doesn''t work with all types of attacks¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. Ryan''s usual fighting style wasn''t working, so he decided to improvise. While still firing his magic bolts, Ryan equipped his Chaos Axe and then used Fire Cannon. While the skill wasn''t powerful or fast enough to burn Titania, it had arge area of effect and made the monster lose sight of Ryan for a few moments. Titania noticed that something was off, but she didn''t find Ryan even when she increased her speed. Suddenly, the mes disappeared and, on the ce Ryan was supposed to be, there was nothing. Titania tried to increase her speed once more while she turned around, but in the end, that was within Ryan''s predictions. Titania was forced to block the attack with her hands, and since Ryan used Concentrated Strike, a lot of blood wasing from her hands. At the same time, she was unable to block Ryan''s magic bolts. Ryan tried to blind her, but a wind Barrier protected her face. As if that wasn''t enough, Titania still used lightning to cover her hands. The electricity passed through the ax and hit Ryan, but he escaped by using sh. However, his weapon was now in Titania''s hand. Fortunately, her powers weren''t enough to break the weapon in a few seconds. "I guess it is time to take some risks," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Pointing his left hand toward Titania, Ryan activated Silence. In the end, the skill worked, but only for a single instant. The wind barrier reappeared nearly instantly but not fast enough to prevent Ryan from firing several poisoned bolts on Titania''s face. The bolts only scratched her face, but still activated the poisonous effects. Titania suddenly stopped flying and touched her face only to find some small marks of blood. Recovery healed her in a few seconds, but it looked like Ryan managed to damage more than her face¡­ he damaged her pride and her appearance, the things that she valued the most. "... Change of ns," Titania said, and her face suddenly transformed into a demon-like insect face. "You won''t be a soldier in our army, you will be a doll in which I will torment every day to get rid of my boredom. Be thankful that I won''t let you die. You will continue to exist until your very existence bes less valuable than of the insects." Chapter 421 - Cold Trap It looked like Ryan stepped on andmine. Yet, despite Titania''s words, he wasn''t even a little bit worried. Ryan already knew that something like that could, in fact, he considered that would happen as soon as the bosses defeated him. While that was a bit scary, he just used that as a fuel to motivate himself even more to win. Titania decides to stop pulling her punches and put her hands together before firing a single concentrated electricity beam toward Ryan. However, he blocked the attack with his shield. Thanks to the effect of the weapon, Titania''s attack didn''tst for long. However, while she lost two thousand points of health, Ryan''s shield lost ny percent of its durability. Using that kind of strategy probably won''t work for long. However, Ryan had a better idea¡­ Ryan canceled his magic bows and also stored the real ones, and then in the next moment, he created a massive sphere of water and then froze it with Water Transformation. Titania frowned since that obviously wouldn''t block the power of a concentrated lightning bolt. Still, she soon understood what Ryan was plotting since his image was getting distorted on the other side of the sphere and eventually disappeared. Instead of letting Ryan continue with his ns, Titania attacked the ice sphere and destroyed itpletely. A good part of the ice melted and became steam¡­ before Titania could find Ryan, the steam turned into mist¡­ no, Ryan made a cold mist cover the entire room. Titania bit her lips in annoyance since the temperature was quickly dropping. Titania tried to end things as fast as possible with her electric attacks, but when she charged the lightning bolt, she suffered some damage¡­ Titania wounded herself with her own magic. That wasn''t something that happened before without the intervention of her foes. "What was that¡­" Titania frowned. Before she could notice, Titania''s whole body was covered in a thinyer of ice, she was suffering damage, and her speed decreased as well. Trying to disperse the cold wind, Titania fired a powerful gust of wind toward the exit of the dungeon, but since she focused on dispersing the weather, her attack stopped at the ice wall that sealed the exit of the room. Right above it, she found Ryan, and despite the cold, he waspletely fine. "I thought you had great pride in your archery skills¡­ I guess I was wrong," Titania said. "You will have to try a little bit harder to taunt me," Ryan said. "Regardless, you don''t have to worry about that, I am going to finish you with my archery skills. I am just creating the right terrain for that." Titania tried to sense the presence of her pawns on the other side of that ice wall, but it looked like Ryan created a massive barrier in just a few seconds. Moreover, the weather was also increasing the barrier''s strength while his me swords were killing the monsters. They will probably break before Ryan manages to end the fight, but the ice wall will certainly stop the monsters. "I guess we can continue now," Ryan said and then equipped his heavy crossbows. Despite the unfavorable situation, Titania still was smiling. That made Ryan frown since it looked like she had a card hidden up her sleeve. Still, Ryan ignored it and began to fire his bolts. Titania''s speed had decreased thanks to the cold, and now she couldn''t out speed Ryan''s bolts anymore. Grabbing them with her hands, she managed to decrease the damage received, but she was running out of patience little by little. Ryan noticed that his mana regeneration had decreased slightly. That was a sign that one of his swords finally broke. While things were more or less under control, Ryan decided to go all out. In a single instant, Ryan uses dozens of DEX potions, and then his attack starts to make Titania''s hands hurt like hell. In a fit of rage, Titania gave up on stalling for time and charged toward Ryan. He tried to use sh to escape from her attack, but much to his surprise, Titania caused a small wind explosion behind her, making her speed increase. In the end, she grabbed his neck before he could escape. Titania used her lightning bolts again, while she still was damaging himself, it was obvious who wouldst longer. Ryan mustered all the willpower he had to control the cold air around and make it stick in Titania''s body after he also activated Regeneration. However, he wasn''t healing fast enough, and theyer of ice that was increasing the damage that she was suffering still wasn''t enough¡­ Ryan opened his mouth and used Ice Breath, trying to freeze Titania''s head while also blinding her temporarily with his attack. In the meantime, he also summoned his ballista behind her, and while using Telekinesis, he pulled the lever. The massive steel needle pierced Titania''s back and made her lose control over her powers for a second. An attack from behind in which she didn''t notice obviously caused critical damage, but it didn''t kill her, but it gave Ryan some room to breathe. Ryan activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim and tried to fire several bolts on Titania''s, yes, but her arms got in the way. That wasn''t good, soon she recovered from the damage suffered and used lightning bolts to shock him, but she was forced to stop when a massive ice needle pierced her from behind and froze a good part of her back. Controlling the cold air, Ryan created another one on his ballista and then pulled the level again.Her entire back froze¡­ "Where are you¡­ my dear¡­" Titania muttered before the third ice needle finally pierced her heart and turned her into an ice statue. You obtained 500.000 coins. Ryan fell on the ground when the corpse finally lost the grip over his neck. While coughing, Ryan tried to recover as fast as possible since his mana wasn''t regenerating as fast as before. Just as Ryan had imagined, Titania was waiting for reinforcements¡­ but from whom? ss: Hunter Lv 86 (+ 04 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 91th Health: 1925/1925 (5,26/s) Mana: 3050/3050 (5,26/s) Stamina: 3010/3010 (5,26/s) Strength: 31 (+170) (+130) Dexterity: 2750 (+2450) (+220) Speed: 140 (+1036) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+695) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+153) (+160) Control: 06 (+1118) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+73) (+70) Luck: 140 (+20) Recovery: 1200 (+1600) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+71) (+40) Coins: 17.233.712 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 84 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 84 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 84 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 84 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 71 (+ 03 UP), Dual Wield Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Spells: Water Walking Lv 01, Substitution Lv 01, Wind Armor Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Support Skills: Shock Resistance Lv 15 (+ 05 UP) sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 53 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Combat Archer Lv 75 (+ 05 UP), Sniper Lv 58 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 44 (+ 04 UP), Sentinel Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Ranger Lv 30 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Mimic Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 422 - New Class The fairies were starting to make the ice wall crack, but in the end, when they finally appeared, dozens of battle machines bombarded them alongside Ryan''s magic bows. Ryan lost three useful magic weapons thanks to them, so he didn''t hold back while massacring the little beasts. Fortunately, it looked like he was going to recover what he lost pretty soon, at least in a sense. You obtained 180 coins. You obtained 180 coins. You obtained 180 coins. ¡­ Ryan also used the extra mana he was getting to freeze some of the fairies while keeping them still was kind of hard since their hands were like very sharp ws and their teeth were even more powerful than their ws, he still managed to turn them into some special arrows and a new weapon. Confusion Crossbow (Mind) (+6) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that might confuse your foes based on their level of mentality and willpower for twenty seconds. Dexterity + 119, Intelligence + 64 Durability: 80/80 "I was expecting a mind-controlling weapon, but I guess this isn''t so bad," Ryan shrugged. "The monsters will probably harm each other when they enter the confusion status¡­ probably." While Titania didn''t drop anything, at least Ryan gained a new weapon and some intel. No, he actually confirmed his guess. Titania tried to stall for time while talking because she was hoping that something else aside from her fairies woulde¡­ it wasn''t the dungeon''s bosses since not a single one of them appeared¡­ it was probably another dungeon boss. "I thought it wasn''t possible for monsters of other dungeons to enter the dungeons of other monsters¡­" Ryan frowned. "Now that I think about it, this dungeon was supposed to spawn only fairies¡­ So why ck tortoisese from here?" There were too many questions that would keep bothering him for a while, but Ryan decided to put them aside for the time being. It was time to receive his true reward. Ryan approached the treasure box and touched it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Warmaster, Hexde, and Puppet Master. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. It looked like Ryan got lucky again, two new sses he could choose, and one of them was in the ce of his usual choice. That being said, he wasn''t quite sure if that ss would pay off given how much trouble Titania caused him. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Hexde! You obtained the following skills: Critical Focus, Crossbow Expert, and Sharpshooter. Your stamina and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Critical Focus. Effect: It grants you the chance to keep channeling spells and let skills stay active even when you receive damage that would likely make you lose focus. The amount of damage you can receive without losing the control of your abilities is twenty multiplied by the level of the skill You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Crossbow Expert Effect: It increases the power of your attacks when using crossbows by two percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sharpshooter. Effect: It increases the speed of your projectiles by ten percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. While the skills were a bit different than Ryan had expected, they weren''t half bad. Passive skills were one of the few things in this new Earth that Ryan would never get tired of, even more so when they increase his attack power. Ryan left the dungeon in a hurry to see how things were outside, and much to his surprise, he didn''t notice any changes. Furball and the Steel Eagle still were sleeping in the same ce he had left them. In the distance, Ryan couldn''t see any changes in the ck tortoises'' camp either. Since that was the case, Ryan returned to the dungeon and grabbed the loot dropped by the fairies. "It looks like I missed a few things¡­" Femradiel suddenly said. "You don''t say¡­" Ryan said. "To think I would fall asleep this badly without even noticing the enemy''s plot¡­ I am ashamed of myself," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "Well, no harm done," Ryan shrugged. "I defeated the dungeon master, at least the version in which she had brought to this world¡­ and in a sense, you helped me. You can''t feel relieved for that, though. Since it was by ident." "Can you give me a brief summary of what happened while I was away?" Femradiel asked. "To prevent that from happening again, I level up my Sleep Resistance." Ryan exined the few things that he was certain of, but in the end, more doubts entered his mind when he arrived at the ck tortoises'' camp, but he couldn''t find a single one of them. There wasn''t a single sign of fights either. "Based on what you told me, I can only assume that the ck tortoises were summoned monsters," Femradiel said. "The fairies summoned them and controlled them from the shadows to do their binding." "I guess their summoning was a bit different from the convention if they needed to do that¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "It is a pity; I was hoping to gain a lot more coins by defeating them." Now the real question was with who Titania was working with, but now that Ryan''s head had cooled down, he quickly found a possible exnation. There were two thrones in Titania''s garden, and that only means while she was a queen, she had a king on her side, and the king was in one of the two remaining dungeons. Chapter 423 - Lord Ryan Ryan wanted to rest a little since the fight against Titania had been tiresome, mentally speaking. As ofte, Ryan was able to use less and less often Power Shot to finish off the bosses. While that was only natural given the creatures, he was trying to face. It didn''t change the fact that it was annoying. However, his break was quickly interrupted when those three were teleported near him again¡ªthe soldiers of the man who was guarding Tokyo. "What now?" Ryan asked without trying to hide his displeasure. "We havee on behalf of our master to thank you for your actions," The man Ryan spoke earlier said, and despite Ryan''s words, he didn''t get angry. "Thanks to Lord Ryan, many of our citizens have been saved." "Who is Lord Ryan?" Ryan frowned. "I didn''t think I was teleported to the Middle Ages¡­ while my parents were quite awesome, they weren''t nobles." "As far as I know Japanese people are quite polite," Femradiel said. "So, I don''t think they are treating you like a nobleman. Anyway, they must be thanking you because you defeated the fairies and those were controlling some survivors while giving them powers." "I don''t need any thanks since I did that by ident," Ryan said. "Still, if someone wants to thank me, they shoulde in person, not send some¡­ emissaries or something." "Our master wants to do that, but he can''t leave his domain and currently, you stand too far away from the limits of his Telepathy," The guard said. "Our master once again expresses a wish to wee you to Tokyo, this time as an honorable guest." "I will check my agenda and confirm if I have any free time in the next few weeks," Ryan said. Despite his sarcasm, the guards only nodded after disappearing again. Once again, Ryan confirmed several interesting things¡­ it looked like the guardian of Tokyo really had a domain stone, and that was what granted him the power to erect a magic barrier on his camp. While that guy was quite troublesome, it was probably thanks to him that another dungeon master didn''t try to kill Ryan while he was fighting Titania. "What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "I think your predictions aren''t that off the mark," Femradiel replied. "Still, I wouldn''t just ept my words blindly, after this failure, I need sometime to reflect on my actions." "¡­ I guess even dragons can get depressed," Ryan shrugged. Several things were bing evident as ofte. One of them was the fact that the guardian of Tokyo couldn''t leave his domain because he didn''t have someone who he could trust with the authority and power granted by the domain stone. That was probably why he didn''t try to save the people outside his domain. Another thing that Ryan knew was that he could learn several things from him about the domain stones. It was much better to learn all the ins and outs before using it in order to prevent some mistakes. Since Femradiel didn''t warn him of any ill intentionsing from the guards, it was safe to assume that the invitation wasn''t a trap¡­ Still, Ryan was reluctant in meeting that person for some reason. "I guess it is probably because he is the most influential person of this country right now and because he is more powerful than me," Ryan said. "Therefore, I can''t just ignore him and do what I want in his yground." Since he wasn''t a monster, the guardian wasn''t Ryan''s enemy. So, he couldn''t act like usual¡­ That was something he never noticed before, but it looked like Ryan had a problem with figures of authority. "Who could have thought that I could be such a loose cannon," Ryanughed a little. In any case, Ryan decided to rx a while longer since Furball and the Steel Eagle still was sleeping. As usual, he didn''t rx at all and just created potions like a madman. Around noon the next day, Furball and the eagle woke up, and Ryan already knew where he should go: Tokyo. "I didn''t expect you would go there," Femradiel said. "While it will be a bit annoying, I need more intel about certain things. Besides, I can''t let my pride get on the way that often," Ryan exined. "Also, while I am not an emissary from my country, keep ignoring that man will probably cause problems for my homnd." The number of survivors around the world was incredibly low, so all the human race had to work together to face theirmon enemy: all the monsters. Ryan didn''t know if that would be useful given that the leader on the other side could use things like Telepathy and irvoyance, but he still decided to check something from the sky before reaching Tokyo. He didn''t find anything odd aside from the fact that most of the city had been destroyed, but the center was almost entirely intact¡­ or has been restored in thest few months. Since the camp was in the heart of the previous Tokyo, all the buildings were pretty tall and could house hundreds of people. "I can sense a magic barrier a few meters ahead," Femradiel said. Ryan made his Steel Eagle fly in circles while he was looking around and confirming that some soldiers were guarding the magic barrier''s borders. However, weirdly enough, Ryan didn''t find a single monster. "Apparently, there is a fight happening in the South-East side of the barrier," Femradiel said. "¡­ More and more I am finding it difficult to believe that you aren''t reading my mind," Ryan frowned. "I told you, your expressions are just that easy to read," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed since he also was starting to think that was indeed the case. His grumpiness decreased quite a lot after he began to explore things outside his country. So, instead of an angry expression, most people could only see a slightly confusing one on Ryan''s face. Chapter 424 - Ghost "It looks like you are finally here." When Ryannded and began to walk toward Tokyo, he suddenly heard that voice. While the voice seemed quite young and despite that calm and polite, Ryan couldn''t help but raise his guard against someone that could directly talk to his mind. "I apologize forst night, I was nning to offer you some support while you were clearing the dungeon, but since I noticed that another dungeon was changing in its behavior, I decided to keep it in check," The guardian of Tokyo said. "My name is Suzuki Yahiko, but you can call me by my first name." "So, you are Suzuki¡­" Ryan said. "Actually, Suzuki is my surname," Yahiko said, and he seemed a bit amused by Ryan''s words. "Regardless, I already formed the guards near you of your arrival, so you shouldn''t find any trouble while entering Tokyo." Just like Yahiko said, the guards that found Ryan didn''t do anything. Only after he crossed the magic barrier, one of them approached him and said that he would guide Ryan toward the guardian''s home. "So, that is a barrier made by the domain stone¡­" Femradiel said. "Did you notice something in it?" Ryan asked. "It is a spell-like no other that I have seen¡­" Femradiel exined. "It looks like the magic barrier is directly connected to the dungeon master, and he can determine with a single thought those that can enter and those that should leave. Also, for some reason, I feel like we just entered his range of attack." "Well, that isn''t surprising since he can use irvoyance and is powerful enough to hold back four tier-three dungeons mostly by himself," Ryan said. "It isn''t because of that¡­ it is because of the barrier¡­ like he can move around this ce almost without a single restriction," Femradiel said. "I am pretty sure he isn''t a long-ranged fighter like you." That picked Ryan''s interest. While it seemed like he entered into a danger zone, he also had the power to erect a domain like that, and it would be pretty awesome if he could have a range as massive as that. In any case, those who lived near the border of the barrier were mostly soldiers and guards, and those who lived in the center were civilians that had close to no powers. Ryan even saw some men and women rebuilding some buildings while kids were ying around with the skills they learned in thest six months. All in all, it looked like nothing seriously have happened to those people in thest six months, and that was at the very least shocking from Ryan''s perspective. He didn''t think the domain stone could do that much. Yahiko''s home was located at the top of a special building in which only those that worked directly for him could live in. While the building itself wasn''t something majestic or made to show how awesome they were, it still was pretty modern and kind of high-ss. The elevator even still was working¡­ "You can find him on thest floor. He should be able to receive you at this moment," The guard said. Ryan sighed¡­ why couldn''t they meet in a more appropriate ce¡­ why does he have to enter the apartment of a guy he didn''t know anything about? In any case, just to be sure, Ryan touched a certain vase on the first floor to activate Substitution. If something happens, he can instantly teleport to the first floor. However, when Ryan reached the floor where Yahiko''s apartment was, he only found a single ordinary room. The ce had some furniture, but overall, it was pretty empty. Yahiko was sitting cross-legged on his balcony, it looked like he was meditating, but Ryan couldn''t sense him gathering any mana. Yahiko was like the most Japanese man, dark-haired, tall, and his eyes were deep brown. Ryan couldn''t see anything in his overall appearance that could make him stand out as a powerful warrior. However, Ryan could sense a powerful aura around him¡­ an aura different from those who had joined forces with a dragon. "This guy is¡­" Femradiel said, visibly surprised. Yahiko (Ghost) ss: Ancient Samurai/ -- / -- Race: --/ -- / -- Rank: 05th Health: 25.000/25.000 Mana: 35.000/35.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 5000 Dexterity: 7000 Speed: 5000 Intelligence: 2500 Endurance: 3000 Control: 7500 Mentality: 4000 Luck: 2500 Recovery: 10.000 Willpower: 4000 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sonic sh Lv Max, Concentrated Strike Lv Max Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv Max, Strong Arms Lv Max, Improved Strength Lv Max Spells: Quick Legs Lv Max, Ghostly Samurai Absorption Lv Max Support Skills: Pain Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max "It is an honor to meet you finally, Ryan," Yahiko opened his eyes and spoke. "If you don''t mind, I would like to talk while I stay here. I need to keep my focus." "You are not a monster, are you?" Ryan asked. "In a sense, I guess I am," Yahiko smiled. "Shall I exin why you find my statuses weird?" "Go on. I have a feeling that this will be a pretty entertaining story," Ryan replied. "Well then¡­ everything started that day when the dragons started to destroy the world," Yahiko said. "I was in a graveyard visiting my parents that died five years ago, and before I could do anything, a fire dragon tried to destroy the ce and burn me alive. Somehow, I survived purely by chance because, in that graveyard, the spirit of an ancient samurai was resting there and possessed my body." "What?" Ryan asked with a frown on his face. "I know how that sounds, but that is exactly what happened," Yahiko smiled again. "The samurai summoned a ghost sword and then used it to y the dragon. At first, he tried to erase my existence for some reason, but once he realized that we had a connection, his spirit fused with mine." "A ghost took over your body¡­ why would a ghost suddenly appear at such a convenient time?" Ryan asked. "I think that is how the dragon yers are born," Femradiel replied. Chapter 425 - Dragon’s Smell Femradiel''s words only puzzled Ryan even more¡­ he thought that the dragon yers were just another type of monster that dungeons were spawning. But now that he thought about it, if that were indeed the case, they would do something else instead of hunting dragons. They would work hard to make their dungeons reach the max level first¡­ while hunting powerful creatures could help, hunting weaker monsters was much more efficient. "I didn''t notice, but it looks like you truly have a dragon spirit inside of you," Yahiko said. "That is weird since you don''t smell like them." "Do you hear that, Femradiel?" Ryan asked with a smile on his face. "He says that dragons'' smell¡­ bad, I assume." "I didn''t mean that," Yahiko said. "I was talking about the smell of their existence that smells like the seven deadly sins." "They smell like the seven deadly sins?" Ryan frowned. "I bet only some special soaps can help them with that." "¡­ Back to the topic," Yahiko said. "Since you already know the revival of some of us, I can skip some small details. Based on the information I obtained from the spirit of the samurai that possessed me, we weren''t summoned by unknown beings like the dragons, and we certainly aren''t like the other monsters that areing to Earth by using dungeons. The will of the is what summoned the guardians." "Guardians?" Ryan frowned. "The guys who keep hunting dragons?" "That is hard to exin, but I will try to be as simple as I can," Yahiko said. "Just like the creatures of old are returning to our world, some legends are being revived again. Some are being revived by those who existed in the age of gods, the will of the is summoning others who aren''t that easy to control." "That is quite convenient," Ryan said. "You are trying to look different from others who are in simr positions as you." "I can''t deny that," Yahiko said. "But if I were lying, I wouldn''t be standing here and talking with you. I would try to kill the dragon inside of you. She can read my mind, right? Then she must know that I am not your or her enemy." Femradiel didn''t reply, but it looked like she had the same thoughts Ryan had earlier about Yahiko. In any case, Ryan also couldn''t feel any intentionsing from him, so at the very least, they could maintain a neutral rtionship while their goal is the same. "You said that you obtained the power to defeat a dragon after absorbing the spirit of a samurai," Ryan said. "That is a bit hard to believe, that the people of centuries ago had that power. Unless their legends are deeply rted to the level of power you could obtain from them." "You were correct. How famous a certain legend also determines the power of a guardian or a fallen. That is how I refer to those who decided to side with the monsters," Yahiko said. "However, my current level of power isn''t due to absorbing the spirit of a single samurai. As you can see, I only have a special ss that I obtained when I first got the first spirit, but I also have a skill that grants me the power to absorb the spirits of other samurais." "It looks like a very useful but limited skill," Ryan said. "Well, we are on thends of the samurais, so there is no better ce to have it," Yahiko smiled. "Thanks to that skill, I managed to defeat and absorb the power of samurais of old, and also thanks to it, I managed to protect a good part of Tokyo and its citizens." "That is why I came here, to talk about the powers you obtained as a dungeon master," Ryan said. "If you tell me everything you know about it, we will be even, and you won''t have to treat me like you owe me something." "That is something I can dly share with you since you also have the same chance as me," Yahiko said. "There is no need to trade that small piece of information for the favor you gained with us by saving the lives of thousands." "That was an ident, and I don''t want to hear about useless things like that," Ryan said. "Right, right," Yahikoughed. "As you already know, the description of most skills and items doesn''t show everything they really can do. It is the same with the domain stone. The important thing that you need to know is that you can''t change your domain''s location once you use the stone. However, you can expand it with mana and coins. You also have ess to a number ofs where you can create dungeons to invade them, some of them are new to these kinds of changes made by mana, but others aren''t so new¡­ they are the worlds of where some creatures that are trying to invade Earth live." Ryan frowned when he heard that, since that a small detail that contested Ryan''s new theory that this whole invasion thing wasn''t something that was caused by an unknown being from an alien or civilization¡­ Yep, Ryan was assuming too many things while obtaining new pieces of information and forgetting others¡­ "You probably heard that you could only select up to five bosses to spawn, but you can buy more slots to make different types of creatures to appear once a dungeon breaks happen, at the cost of coins and mana, of course," Yahiko said. "The domain system is quiteplex, but those are the basics. You have to see for yourself instead of hearing my perspective about it." Ryan nodded at that because, in fact, he didn''t want to learn about everything. He only wanted to know about the limitations in order to prevent some troublesome mistakes. Now Ryan had to make another decision, look for other tiers, three dungeons all over the world, or create a domain in his home country¡­ Chapter 426 - Giving A Hand "Now, if you don''t mind, I would like to ask you about the fight you had with the bossst night," Yahiko said. "I have some predictions about the creature you faced, but I need to confirm it." Ryan also wanted to learn more about the creatures in the other dungeons, so talking now would help him in the short term. While Ryan still wanted to work alone, he didn''t need to work against Yahiko. "Titania, huh," Yahiko said. "As expected, we didn''t help youst night because Oberon, the king of fairies, left his dungeon and tried to interfere in your fight. Just as I mentioned before, I held him back and his army in the South." "You failed at killing him?" Ryan asked. "Fighting a boss without leaving this domain is possible, but very unlikely," Yahiko replied. "Right now, I don''t have someone I can trust with all the power of the dungeon master system. A single instant is enough to cause a lot of trouble and put the entire poption at risk. That is why I used summoned monsters to stop Oberon." "Is that so¡­ By the way, why did those four dungeons appear around Tokyo?" Ryan asked. "I assume they want my power as a dungeon master," Yahiko said. "With my domain stone, the bosses would have the perfect terrain to create a new base on our." Ryan nodded since it made a lot of sense. He saw more than a few kids ying around, and it looked like they never saw a monster in their lives. While Yahiko probably had to pay something to have such a high defense level, it was worth the cost. "I believe you still want to clear those dungeons," Yahiko said. "As you already know, I watched you from afar and heard a lot from Haruna, so I can understand that you would rather work alone, but for the sake of efficiency, we should split the work." That wasn''t a bad idea. While Ryan liked a challenge, there was no need to make things difficult. Besides, he was a stranger in thosends, so at the very least, he should consider Yahiko''s proposal in the matter. "I guess that is fine," Ryan shrugged. "What do you have in mind?" "Right now, the most troublesome opponent is Oberon since he can control the vermillion birds, also known as Suzaku," Yahiko said. "So, we should deal with him as soon as possible before Titania finds a way to intervene in the fight. While you just cleared her dungeon, we can''t underestimate them. I am not a bright strategist, and while I have some experience while fighting, I never cleared a dungeon, so the best thing I can do is give you some soldiers that will obey all yourmands." Ryan sighed¡­ that wasn''t what he had in mind. Until now, he only had the experience of a singlerge-scale battle while ''leading'' people. That was when he was facing the subus, and Alissa began to fly to fight the bosses. During that time, all he did was shout angry and call her soldiers'' names because they couldn''t fight while keeping their attention on their surroundings. "I am not someone who is appropriate to lead others," Ryan shrugged. "Mmm¡­ that might be a problem," Yahiko rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In that case, I will call Haruna to be the second leader of this operation, and she will be the one who will give the orders to my soldiers." "Why her?" Ryan frowned. "She knows you to some extent, right?" Yahiko asked. "Based on what she knows about you, she will give the orders. Also, she is a pretty good leader. She managed to keep her friends from joining the monsters'' side for quite a while, and the number of losses her group had over thest six months is quite small." That was a pretty solid argument, and Ryan knew that Yahiko was telling the truth since he knew Haruna to some extent. So, his worries were eased a little bit. Since everything was more or less ready, Ryan decided to wait for the others who would go with him on the Southern side of the barrier. "I will be waiting for them in the outskirts of the city," Ryan said and then turned around. "You really live at a crazy pace," Yahikoughed. "Just one more thing, Ryan. I believe we can cooperate more often, so I would like to open a telepathic channel with you. Given how much you like to travel, I would like to ask you to connect with other people who might help us in the future on this channel." In the end, Ryan didn''t even think of refusing since the other channel wasn''t bothering him in the slightest. While it would be useful just to put Yahiko on the first channel, Ryan wasn''t the one who created it, and Gustavo said clearly that he only wanted people who could transform into dragons on that one. "All right," Ryan said. All in all, that conversation had been quite fruitful. However, Ryan was still left with a worry in his head¡­ it was Yahiko''s position in the ranking. He was the fifth strongest human, and that was strange given the way he obtained power and the skills that he had. "It is time to make for messing upst night, Femradiel," Ryan said. "The enemies this time are firebirds¡­ essentially. You have the elemental advantage, so I am expecting great things from you." "How odd, given your usual tactic of solving everything by yourself," Femradiel said. "This time, I am not alone, so I don''t have to follow my code of honor that strictly," Ryan said. "Code of honor, huh¡­" Femradiel said. "That really fits you." Furball barked as if Ryan had forgotten about him, and then he patted his head. While Furball was reliable, the matchup this time was quite troublesome since the enemies could fly. Maybe it was time to upgrade Furball''s skill list¡­ Chapter 427 - Temporary Partnership Furball''s coolness increased quite a bit when Ryan bought the tome and made him learn Ice Cannon, a spell one tier below Ice Breath. While the range wasn''t that impressive, it was more than enough for the time being. Besides, with his speed, Furball could approach most enemies and attack them before they could react. While they were waiting for the others, Ryan gave Furball the order to train the skill, and he also used some mana potions on him. "Sorry for the wait," Haruna said after arriving while leading a group of twenty soldiers. "We met again much sooner than I expected." "I guess so," Ryan said. Ryan ignored Haruna''s smile and just went straight to the business. If his memories were correct, half of the guys she brought were her oldpanions, while the other half belonged to Yahiko''s army. It was hard to be sure since they all were using the same set of armor. The only real difference was that Haruna''s friends still had their old weapons alongside the two katanas the ordinary soldiers carried with them. "Let''s get going," Ryan said. "Our leader said that I would give the orders once the fight happens, but aren''t you going to say anything about what we should or shouldn''t do?" Haruna asked. "I don''t know how things will proceed since the enemies can fly, and they are much stronger than anything I faced before, so I can''t say what you should or shouldn''t do," Ryan replied. "You should ask those who had fought the vermillion birds a few times for tips and strategies. All I can say is that once we find the boss, you guys will have to hold back the minions for me. Trust me. You won''t like to stay nearby once the fight starts." Ryan recalled that he turned thest part of the dungeon into a pretty decent copy of the north pole to seal Titania''s attacks. Normal humans couldn''t endure that cold. Ryan only could because of Femradiel''s power. "Anyway, give me the details about the fightst night," Ryan said. "Yahiko blocked the monster''s advance, but he didn''t do it alone, right?" "Yes, although we didn''t have many chances to act since he went all out to help you," Haruna said. "We used some long-range weapons, but we didn''t help all that much. Since the fight, the vermillion birds and fairies stopped attacking us." As expected, the monster called Oberon decided to retreat now that he had lost Titania''s support. It looked like the fight was going to be more difficult since Oberon knew that he couldn''t underestimate Ryan and because he was mad. He killed his wife, after all. "What the vermillion birds can do?" Ryan asked. "They can create fire tornadoes when they p their wings, but they really like it to fire explosive fire arrows," Haruna replied. "When they are about to die, they always try to self-destruct near their enemies. We have to defeat them before they have that chance because the power of the explosion is massive and because they can revive if they manage to kill someone with the attack." That was a weird condition to revive. In any case, the monster really looked like the Eastern version of phoenix. Considering its elemental skills, Ryan considered the idea of killing some Azure dragons and making some magic crossbows, but in the end, he changed his mind. "Lord Yahiko selected the best users of ice magic for this job, so things should be fine," Haruna said. Added to that fact, Haruna and everyone else had a backpack filled with mana potions¡­ that wouldn''tst even for a single hour of fighting. "Lord Yahiko will send supplies to us whenever necessary, so you don''t have to worry about that," Haruna said. "See? I told you¡­ you are pretty easy to read." Femradiel said. "Hey, Yahiko," Ryan said. "If you are watching us, you should prepare a huge supply of mana potions and send them to us as soon as possible. I want to finish this job tomorrow, so don''t be stingy. Your people will pay for the potionster." No one aside from Haruna could understand what Ryan said, but they could guess based on his tone, and naturally, they didn''t like it. Despite that, some soldiers appeared after a few minutes carrying some boxes filled with potions. Ryan stored them inside his storage dimension in order to keep their pace. After walking for a while, Ryan frowned since they didn''t have to fight a single time, and there was no monster in the distance. Fairies could hide while they controlled their foes, so Ryan''s Radar was active but wasn''t picking anything. "Did you guys get attacked by the vermillion birds and the azure dragons at the same time?" Ryan asked. "... No, that never happened," Haruna replied after she made the same question to her allies. "Do you think the monsters might attack us from behind now that we are so far away from Tokyo?" "I think that it is possible," Ryan replied. "Do you know if the azure dragons are being controlled as well?" "We think that is the case," Haruna replied. "But until now, we haven''t confirmed that since we never had the chance to enter the dungeon. Lord Yahiko will probably send another team to investigate the remaining dungeon, so when we return, we will probably obtain the answer for that question." Ryan''s doubts would disappear if someone could tell him the precise time the other team will do their job¡­ in any case, while the possibility of being attacked from behind was small, Ryan couldn''t rx. To prevent that unpleasant surprise, Ryan gave the order for his steel eagle to fly high and keep its eyes on the surroundings. Hopefully, his pet will notice the enemies'' approach and will warn Ryan before the monsters could kill the eagle. Just to be sure, Ryan made his pet absurd some SPE potions, but that was only temporary and quite costly¡­ Ryan has to learn a spell that increases speed. Chapter 428 - Suzaku When Ryan found the monsters, his frost crossbow was already in his hands. However, instead of using it, Ryan just stared in amazement at the number of vermillion birds, the bosses and the ordinary ones. Suzaku ¨C Lv 350 Health: 55.000/55.000 Mana: 75.000/75.000 Stamina: 65.000/65.000 Strength: 3000 Dexterity: 3500 Speed: 2500 Intelligence: 4000 Endurance: 1500 Control: 2000 Mentality: 3000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 25.000 Willpower: 3000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Explosive Touch Lv 320 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 300, Improved Strength Lv 320 Spells: Fire Tornado Lv 350, Fireball Lv 350, Explosive Resurrection Lv 300 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 500, Shock Resistance Lv 250, Wind Resistance Lv 200 "Together, they look like a massive warehouse of dynamite that is about to explode," Ryan said while facing the thousands of monsters around the dungeon that was in the center of a grove. As expected, the fairies were also summoning the monsters. Ryan and the others could see that happening now and then. However, it also looked like they were focusing only on numbers since some of the monsters were just wandering around the dungeon with no apparent purpose. They weren''t being controlled. "What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "I would say that defeating this massive number of monsters is possible," Femradiel replied. "The real question is: can we defeat them before they get too close and use their self-destruction skill? Even though some of them aren''t being controlled, all of them will attack us one we begin to kill their kin." Ryan nodded at that; it was only natural. Although it was weird that the monsters couldn''t notice that some of their allies were being controlled by the fairies. The simplest way to prevent casualties was for Ryan to attack from the sky and keep the monsters'' focus on him. Oberon most likely would appear and try to kill Ryan, so the chances of that failing were quite low. Ryan just had tost for a while and then decrease the monsters'' army little by little alongside Haruna and the others. "Femradiel, you will stay here and bombard the enemies, since you can''t recover mana as fast as me, you will need to stay close to the mana potions," Ryan said. "If the monsters get close enough, don''t hesitate and go all-out." "So, I am babysitting," Femradiel said. "I think that it is more urate to say that you will make sure that those guys will be useful for as long as possible," Ryan said. "Besides, you will have the chance to attack as much as possible while I draw the monsters'' attention. So, this position is the best for you given the current circumstances." Furball would stay behind as well since a lot of mana was required to make him levitate. As for the Steel Eagle, the creature would remain on guard duty and make sure that no third party will join the fight unnoticed. Ryan doubted that those would be useful, but he decided to equip the Frozen Gauntlets just in case. After giving a few more warnings, Ryan began to fly high in the sky until he disappeared from everyone''s sight. His basic n was to cause as much damage as possible, so he will need some distance and distance over his enemies to seed in that. It would be great if Ryan could keep fighting at high altitudes, but if he does that, Femradiel, Haruna, and the others won''t be able to offer him any support. So, he decided to do that only at the beginning of the fight. "Well, here goes nothing¡­" Ryan said and then canceled Telekinesis. Ryan summoned his magic bows and began to charge Power Shots with them. A bit sooner than Ryan had expected, the monsters noticed his approach. He was just a tiny point in the sky five kilometers above ground level. However, they still noticed his approach or his energy being concentrated¡­ Regardless, Ryan decided to wait for a while longer since the monsters would fly toward him in a big mob. In the end, things proceeded as Ryan had nned, and when he finally released his Power Shots, dozens of bosses and hundreds of ordinary monsters died. While his mana was being recovered thanks to the monsters'' death, Ryan also activated Rapid Shot, Arrow Shower, along with his Magic Bows and continued to decimate the monsters. From Haruna''s perspective, it looked like a spaceship had just entered Earth and began to destroy everything in its path¡­ that was the power that Ryan had obtained. It was even insane due to the fact that Ryan wasn''t prideful and didn''t look satisfied with his level of power. While all humans wanted more power, it looked like Ryan''s hunger was on another level¡­ Haruna woke up from her stupor when Furball barked while looking in another direction. When she looked in the same direction, she saw a weird yellow-ish cloud moving toward them¡­ those were the fairies. "It is our turn now, everyone," Haruna said. As soon as Haruna finished that sentence, Femradiel opened her mouth and used Ice Breath. In just a few seconds, she froze hundreds of fairies, but since the massive sphere of ice that covered them was cracking, it looked like they didn''t die. "What are you waiting for?" Femradiel asked. "Attack!" Haruna and the others did as they were told, even though it felt weird obeying themands of a small dragon. While they were freezing, the fairies couldn''t do anything to evade the massive wave of attacks and died by the droves. When Ryan noticed that his mana regeneration increased a little bit, he also noticed that the others had already started the fight. So, he increased his attack speed even more by firing Ice Arrows at the monsters, but in the end, he was forced to slow down and use Telekinesis again to fly away since the vermillion birds started to explode near him. The heat caused by the explosions was no joke, and to make matters even moreplicated, their allies suffered no damage despite them. Chapter 429 - Oberon Ryan flew around the area while attacking with his Magic Bows. It was the only thing he could do in order not to lose speed. Still, even though he could control them with a single thought, the monsters still got close enough to attack him. "It won''t be that easy, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. When the nearest monster exploded, Ryan used sh and escaped from the damage caused. Still, soon enough, he had to repeat the same thing. It looked like the power of his Magic Bows that were essentially copies of his Frozen Crossbow wasn''t enough. It seemed a bit too soon for that, but in the end, Ryan used some DEX potions to increase his firepower alongside Ranger''s Awakening. Thanks to it, his bolts slowed down the monsters chasing him to the point where he didn''t even have to use sh anymore. Ryan smiled in satisfaction, but then he suddenly felt a shiver, and then he used sh several times in rapid session. Ryan''s ears began to ring when a massive lightning bolt passed by the ce he had been a few moments ago, and in an instant, it killed dozens of bosses. After looking in the direction the attack came from, Ryan saw a weird man at the dungeon entrance. He was also blond and had long pointy ears, but unlike Titania, he wasn''t wearing a dress made of flowers, he had a flower crown, but his body was covered by what seemed to be an electric barrier. Oberon ¨C Lv 450 Health: 60.000/60.000 Mana: 239.000/240.000 Stamina: 90.000/90.000 Strength: 500 Dexterity: 2500 (+ 300) Speed: 2500 (+ 200) Intelligence: 8500 (+ 1500) Endurance: 3000 (+ 200) Control: 4500 (+ 500) Mentality: 6000 (+ 1000) Luck: 2000 Recovery: 90.000 Willpower: 6000 (+ 1000) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Confusion Touch Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 380, Mind Enhancement Lv 350, Blessing of the Fairies Lv 380 Spells: Thunder Armor Lv 350, Fly Lv 400, Wind Maniption Lv 300, Wind Transformation Lv 300, Wind Creation Lv 300, Thunder Cannon Lv 400, Thunder Storm Lv 250 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 400, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Shock Resistance Lv 350, Cold Resistance Lv 250 Although he seemed pretty pissed, Oberon was indeed a good match for Titania. It was annoying to admit it, but he looked almost supernaturally handsome, even from Ryan''s perspective. However, Ryan was more interested in the type of weapon he could obtain if he seals his soul into a weapon. "It looks like ice magic won''t be of any use against him¡­" Ryan frowned. "That is odd, while he is a bit stronger than Titania, I can''t understand how his Cold Resistance is so high." It looked like Titania warned Oberon about how Ryan defeated her. That would exin why he left the dungeon so soon, but Ryan had a hard time believing that Oberon trained his Cold Resistance up to that point in just a few hours. "Femradiel, make sure that you and the others won''t get his attention," Ryan said. "It will be a terrible match up¡­ I will try to draw his attention to the other side of this area and you guys will keep attacking the monsters freely." "I don''t think he will let you," Femradiel said. "He will definitely try to get you by surprise while using the other monsters." "He is wee to try," Ryan said. Ryan pointed his Magic Bows at Oberon and fired. However, some sparks of lightning suddenly appeared around Oberon''s body and repelled the projectiles¡­ It was like some kind of automatic defense that can protect Oberon no matter what. Oberon kept ring at Ryan as if he was trying to open a hole in him with his eyes alone¡­ Ryan couldn''t understand why the guy was so angry, given that his wife has a semi-immortality. In any case, Ryan began to fly toward the opposite direction where he left Femradiel, Haruna, and the others, and just like Femradiel said, Oberon made the vermillion birds fly toward Ryan. He didn''t have time to slow them down, so the monsters got close enough and exploded. Ryan used sh to escape, but then another lightning bolt flew toward him¡­ Ryan escaped after using sh again, but his eyes were spinning. "This is getting old really quick," Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Ryan couldn''t even begin to think of a way to attack Oberon at the moment. It seemed like making him spend his mana as much as possible seemed like the best approach. However, with a recovery that high¡­ it didn''t seem like a usible n of action. "Let''s try that¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan began to charge a Power Shot after summoning his Fire Master Crossbow. Oberon just looked annoyed at him since it was evident that Ryan''s attacks wouldn''tnd that easily. Regardless, Oberon made the vermillion birds fly and explode once they got close to Ryan, but this time he only used sh once. When the lightning bolt flew toward him, Ryan blocked his shield after covering it in a thickyer of wind. Somehow, the shield withstands the attack, and Oberon tasted a bit of his own poison and trembled when he suffered damage. However, Ryan was stunned due to the sound caused by the impact of his shield against the Thunder Cannon. Several vermillion birds used that change to approach, but they stopped in midair after Ryan used Purification and summoned his newest crossbow to attack them. While his confusion crossbow only worked against the small fries, it showed Ryan something very interesting¡­ The bolts made the fairies lose total control over them. Against the bosses, it stunned them for several seconds since the fairies'' power and the effect of his crossbow countered each other. That cost him a lot of mana, but Ryan freed several of the monsters from the fairies'' control while Oberon was recovering from that unpleasant surprise. Femradiel, can you do two things at the same time?" Ryan asked. "Freeze or kill the fairies that will appear, right?" Femradiel asked. "Leave it to me." Chapter 430 - Explosive Long Sword Ryan and Femradiel quickly were decreasing Oberon''s army now that they didn''t need to kill all of them. Despite that, Oberon didn''t seem more enraged than before¡­ It looked like his fury had already reached the peak a long time ago. Upon noticing that an attack from a distance would give Ryan just enough time to escape, Oberon decided to change his tactics. He began to fly slowly toward him. Ryan didn''t know if he was trying to look badass since he was a king, or that was just another tactic to make Ryan get tense. Either way, he couldn''t care less about it. When Oberon pointed his right hand toward him, Ryan fired his Power Shot toward the boss. His bolt and Thunder Cannon collided against each other, and a massive explosion happened. Ryan used that chance to fly high and then free several other monsters from the fairies'' control, but much to his surprise, Oberon approached him and began to fire lightning bolts. Ryan used his shield enchanted with wind power to repel them, but his shield wouldn''tst long if that continues¡­ "¡­ I guess it is time to do what I wasn''t expecting to do," Ryan muttered after clicking his tongue. Ryan stopped firing with his Magic Bows and then used sh to approach Oberon. Whenever he moved slightly, Ryan moved to the side in order to escape from his sight. Before Oberon could find a pattern in Ryan''s movement, he disappeared from his sight. Then Oberon felt a powerful impact on his back, followed by several touches that slightly bothered him. When Oberon turned around, he saw Ryan shaking his arms that the electric barrier had electrocuted. Despite that, Ryan seeded in making some poisonous bolts pierce the monster''s skin, and he noticed that the boss was suffering considerable damage¡­ it wasn''t much, but it was progressing. "The barrier focused on the points my punches touched, that means I can''t open a hole in it¡­ shit," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw several monsters flying towards him. Just because Ryan found a hole in Oberon''s n of attack, it doesn''t mean his victory was assured. Regardless, while Oberon was pulling away from the bolts from his back, Ryan summoned the short spears he enchanted with the spirit of the fairies. However, instead of firing them from different directions, Ryan made them spin very close from each other, forming a longer spear. Oberon''s annoyance increased slightly since he knew what Ryan was nning. When the boss moved its hand, Ryan fired the short spears, and as expected, Oberon used Thunder Cannon. His attack slowly destroyed one spear after the other, but while doing that, his attack waspletely stopped. Oberon imagined that Ryan would use that chance to attack. Still, much to his surprise, Ryan flew away from him, and then hended on the ground, only using Earth Maniption and Earth Transformation to create a single long sword. After that, Ryan bombarded the face of a random vermillion bird until it froze and it was knocked down. Ryan used Seal on it. He repeated while his short spears were being destroyed one after the other. Explosive Long Sword (Fire) (+6) Effect: it causes explosions upon contact that consumes fifty points of mana per second, and the damage caused will be equal to your strength plus your intelligence. Strength + 150, Intelligence + 105 Durability: 150/150 "Now this is more like it," Ryan said while swinging around his new weapon that emitted a ck and red glow. "¡­ What do you think you are nning to do with that?" Oberon finally opened his mouth. "Oh, you can talk!" Ryan said, faking his surprise. "I can''t say it, since that would ruin the surprise¡­ but I can give you a small hint: it will be even worse than what I did with your wife." Oberon bit his lips until they started to bleed. In a single instant, dark clouds covered the sky, and Ryan confirmed it wasn''t a fluke since Oberon used half of his mana in that instant as well. "Focus on defense, Femradiel," Ryan said. Soon after Ryan finished that sentence, lightning bolts began to fall from the sky like rain. Some of them almost hit Ryan, but the vast majority decimated the vermillion birds and the fairies that controlled them. Ryan used sh non-stop to dodge the Thunder Storm, but he failed at protecting his eardrums¡­ his sense of bnce waspletely messed up, but even in that situation, Ryan continued to move around, trying to dodge the lightning bolts and while also charging Concentrated Strike. Ryan used several potions to increase his speed and another status alongside his mana and stamina, and much to his surprise, he wasn''t interrupted even a single time. The monsters couldn''t move without risking getting hit by lightning bolts, and even though he was trying his best, Oberon couldn''t control the power of such a massive spellpletely. When Ryan''s mana reached a certain point, he used Full-Heal and then recovered himself. It was time to put his n into practice¡­ little by little, Ryan approached the boss, he made sure to always stay in Oberon''s field of vision, trying to taunt him to attack as many times as possible in order to make the idiot spend his mana. Suddenly, Ryan used sh several times in a straight line to approach Oberon. He didn''t waste that chance, and Oberon prepared Thunder Cannon, but Ryan disappeared from his field of vision at thest minute. In the next moment, Oberon felt a sharp pain on his back, and then he began to fall¡­ his wings had been cut. "I told you that it would be worse than what I did to your¡­" Ryan said, but then he stopped when he felt a shiver. Ryan used sh to escape, but in the end, he still got hit by a lightning bolt when several of them fell from the sky around Oberon¡­ Ryan didn''t have the chance to block or dodge it. Chapter 431 - Titanium Storm Long Bow When Ryan opened his eyes again, he couldn''t move a single inch. Little by little, he began to recall what happened¡­ he cut down Oberon''s wings but then was hit by a single lightning bolt. In thest second, he somehow activated Wind Armor and Mana Barrier, and that was probably what saved him, but it looked like his joints had been fried up. "Woah, you survived that¡­" Femradiel said. "I thought you were a goner, I even stopped fighting since I thought I was going to disappear as well." Ryan looked around and only saw his new weapon at his side. Aside from that, he could only see the burned ground that the lightning bolts had hit. In the distance, he could see some vermillion birds flying, but Femradiel was keeping them busy. Then, Ryan suddenly began to hear footsteps¡­ it was Oberon. Using the little mana he had, Ryan tried to heal himself, but while his health was recovered, his body still was paralyzed¡­ that wasn''t good. For some reason, Oberon wasn''t trying to fry him with another lightning bolt, but that doesn''t mean he couldn''t do anything with his hands. Ryan used Telekinesis and forced his body to stand, only to see a half-dead Oberon walking toward him. As expected, he suffered quite a lot, even though he didn''t receive a direct hit by his own spell. "Not bad, king," Ryan said while he raised his sword by using Telekinesis. "You certainly are resilient¡­ for a fairy." Ryan made his sword spin and then fired it at Oberon, but he activated the electric barrier again. The piercing damage and even the power of the explosive effect only made Oberon stagger a little bit. Now that Ryan had recovered a little bit, he could see that Oberon lost an eye and the other was covered in blood¡­ that was probably why he was walking toward him instead of attacking from a safe distance. When Oberon finally saw Ryan''s shadow from his perspective, he pointed his hands toward him, but then Ryan created a hole beneath him by using Earth Maniption. Ryan tried to close the hole, but the electric barrier was getting in his way. "So annoying¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. Ryan had an idea when he noticed that the spell was automatic since they were close to each other. That was possible again¡­ Ryan created a lot of water around Oberon and then decreased the temperature while it was approaching the boss. Oberon tried to make it go away by using a gust of wind, but he only seeded in making the ice that was in front of him go away. The thinyer of ice on his sides and back began to melt and cover him in steam while it touched the electric barrier. Oberon started to suffer damage from the electricity as well and thus was forced to cancel the spell. "This is more like it¡­" Ryan said. Unfortunately, things didn''t be easier after that. Oberon fired several wind spheres that hit Ryan and make him fly backward for several meters. When Ryan finally stopped spinning, he used his sword to block the attacks, summoned a single Magic Bow, and activated Perfect Aim before firing. A single poisonous bolt destroyed Oberon''s remaining eye. "Ugh¡­ how dare you¡­" Oberon muttered. "There is no need to get upset," Ryan said. "This is just a fake body, right? Now, just obediently ept your defeat and be a magic weapon for me." Ryan prepared to cut off the boss''s limbs, but before he could do any of that, Oberon cast once again Thunder Storm¡­ Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance since he had too little mana. In the end, he activated Concentrated Strike and flew toward the monster before hitting his face with his knee. The spell was canceled since the boss finally fell unconscious. Ryan sighed in relief, but he couldn''t sit on the ground to rx since he couldn''t move his body. After using enough potions, Ryan used Purification and recovered some control over his body. In the distance, Ryan saw the number of vermillion birds decreasing while others just flew away from the battlefield¡­ which was good. He had some time to do what he wanted. Titanium Storm Long Bow (Stone) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of seventy-five points of mana that will shock your foes for a set amount of time-based on their Shock Resistance. Dexterity + 120, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 150/150 You obtained 3.562.100 coins "Not bad I guess," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Wait¡­ why did this guy have so many coins?" The cost of mana was troublesome as usual, but at least the effects and overall power were pretty useful. Besides, Ryan was feeling that he was gettingzy by relying solely on crossbows and automatic shots with the Magic Bow skill. If one wants to keep improving, one has to improve the basics. That being said, there wasn''t much where Ryan could improve since he practically knew the number of times he missed a shot. After thinking for a while, Ryan concluded that Oberon obtained coins by killing the vermillion birds and even his own fairies¡­ which was weird. Ryan felt like testing if that was possible, but he was stopped before he could do it. "If you don''t mind, we need some help to prevent the monsters from flying to other areas," Femradiel said. "Things are going well, for now, but it might bes messy with any misstep." Ryan sighed¡­ he wanted to rx a bit more since his muscles were still sore due to that lightning bolt. Still, he soon rejoined the fight since he wanted more coins and also wanted to make some more magic items by using the vermillion birds. He decided to think that as a necessary job to be done before he gets his real reward: the next ss. ss: Hunter Lv 90 (+ 04 UP / Elementalist Lv 57 (+ 02 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 85th Health: 2021/2021 (5,26/s) Mana: 3185/3185 (5,26/s) Stamina: 3230/3230 (5,26/s) Strength: 31 (+170) (+130) Dexterity: 2750 (+2720) (+220) Speed: 140 (+1195) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+695) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+153) (+160) Control: 06 (+1245) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+73) (+70) Luck: 140 (+20) Recovery: 1200 (+1600) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+71) (+40) Coins: 24.778.952 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv Max (+ 01 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 74 (+ 03 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Spells: Summon Warg Lv 55 (+ 04 UP), Ranger''s Awakening Lv 26 (+ 04 UP), Support Skills: Electric Resistance Lv 32 (+ 07 UP), Shock Resistance Lv 19 (+ 04 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 60 (+ 03 UP), Beastmaster Lv 53 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 84 (+ 04 UP), Combat Archer Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Sniper Lv 60 (+ 02 UP), Weapons Master Lv 49 (+ 05 UP), Sentinel Lv 38 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Hexde Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 33 (+ 03 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 432 - New Class Ryan sighed when he checked his skill list. His best skill finally reached the max level. To think that his best skill, the first active skill he learned by himself, would reach the level cap so soon was disheartening, to say the least. Not even the fact that he won the fight in a single day improved his mood. "I can''t believe we did it¡­ we won in a single afternoon!" Haruna shouted and jumped as if she had done something very impressive. While that was indeed impressive, Ryan couldn''t share the same excitement. Regardless, it was time to proceed toward the dungeon¡­ after getting his loot. While they were all fire-based, Ryan managed to obtain some magic items that were a little better than the old ones he lost in thest few days. As for the others he got, they were only half of the things the monsters dropped. "I guess we are set to go," Haruna smiled despite being exhausted due to the fight. "It looks like someone is happy because they are about to receive a promotion," Ryan said. "Well, I am just trying my best for my friends to receive good treatment," Haruna said. "While Lord Yahiko doesn''t discriminate the old or new members of his camp, he recognizes that fact that he needs to be careful with how he treats everyone." Lately, Ryan learned how useful it was to have a human army, but he also learned that he had to consider several useless things. What Haruna mentioned was one of them¡­ in the end, an army of monsters was less bnced, but at least he didn''t have to worry about that kind of bullshit. After the loot was distributed, Ryan, Haruna, and the others headed toward the dungeon. While Ryan kept his guard up in case Oberon had left something behind to cause problems for him, Ryan didn''t find anything. As usual, some fairies spawned inside the dungeon, but nothing major happened. "I guess they live in the same world¡­" Ryan said while looking at the ground, ceiling, and walls of the dungeon covered in flowers and vines. Now that Ryan thought about it, those flowers were from another. He wondered if they could be useful in some sort of way, but Analysis didn''t show him anything. In the end, they found the purple crystal and the treasure chest rather quickly. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Poisonous Archer, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "No luck this time, huh," Ryan said and then sighed while shrugging. "¡­ I suppose it can''t be helped." It happened again¡­ those were three sses that Ryan have already seen before. Regardless, that might be a good chance. Ryan suffered too much damage in a single moment against Oberon, so maybe it was time for him to grow a little sturdier. While the Conjurer ss interested Ryan, he already had his hands full by using two crossbows and controlling the Magic Bows with his mind. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Dark Knight! You obtained the following skills: Bloodthirsty, Cursed Rage, and Health Boost. Your health and strength will increase by six points, your stamina, mana, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bloodthirsty. Effect: It grants you the power to heal yourself based on the damage caused when using swords. You can heal one percent of the damage caused per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cursed Rage Effect: It consumes one point of health per attack to increase the power of your attacks when using swords by one percent. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Health Boost. Effect: It increases your health by twenty points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan couldn''t help but stare in amazement at those skills. Not only they didn''t consume his stamina and mana, but they were also incredibly useful. The Dark Knight ss granted Ryan a lot of survivability. "Who could have thought that you could be this excited by obtaining a ss that doesn''t improve your current fighting style¡­" Femradiel said. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 80 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 79th You obtained Fly tome. "¡­ What?" Ryan muttered in shock. Ryan thought he wouldn''t obtain anything anymore by raising his rank, but it looked like, once again, his predictions were off the mark... moreover, Ryan had been lucky. Fly consumed only twenty points of mana per second and increased his movement speed by one percent per level¡­ "That and several other spells you could have easily learned just by using Draconic Transformation just once," Femradiel said. "All this time, and you still don''t understand that I don''t intend to use such skill," Ryan sighed. "Why not?" Femradiel asked. "You already letting me join the fights, so why not stop being so stubborn?" "This is this and that is that," Ryan said while he shrugged. After a long sigh, Femradiel decided to end the talk right there. Regardless, while Haruna and the others were getting their sses, Ryan decided to level up Fly a little bit. Weirdly enough, it was much convenient to use Fly than use Telekinesis to move around. Ryan felt like since the day he was born, he could freely move in the air¡­ it was pretty fun, rxing, and the sense of freedom couldn''t bepared to anything else. Ryan decided to train that skill whenever possible because he would need that boost in movement speed. Chapter 433 - Dragon’s Diet After everyone picked their sses, Haruna left some of her friends behind. They would guard the dungeon until a proper team could take their ces. "Let''s get going," Ryan dered. In just a few minutes, the sun would set, so there was no real reason for Ryan to be in a hurry. Fighting at night against flying enemies alone was possible for Ryan, but today he will have to give up on that he won''t have the chance to clear the dungeon solo. It was already dark when they arrived in Tokyo, and the guards frowned since no one looked particrly injured, and those who came back seemed in a bad mood. "It looks like you seeded and much sooner than I predicted," Yahiko said via Telepathy. "You shoulde to my base; we have room for guests and food ready." "I am going to pass," Ryan said. "If you don''t mind, I want to pass my time here alone on the roof of the building." "Well¡­ you free to do that as long as you don''t damage anything," Yahiko said, and he sounded slightly surprised. Ryan flew to the roof of that building, and he took with him Furball while the steel eagle went alone. His pet ate a lot of monsters while Haruna and the others were gathering the loot, so only Ryan had to hurry about food. Fortunately, he stored a lot of the vermillion birds'' meat to cookter. "You don''t need to eat, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Dragons only need to eat to devour the mana that resides in the corpses of the defeated foes," Femradiel replied. "All this mana that I am getting while I exist inside of you serves like a pretty continuous banquette." "If that is the case, your next body should be fatter, since you clearly don''t exercise enough," Ryan said. Ryan cooked some of the meat he got and was more than satisfied with the taste. As expected, the tougher the enemy, the tastier they will be. While Ryan was eating, Yahiko suddenly appeared and decided to join. It was only thanks to him that Ryan noticed that the small Tokyo that had been rebuilt looked really pretty at night. Some houses had electricity, while others used fire-base tools to keep things illuminated, but even so, all those lights made Ryan feel a sense offort in his chest. Despite everything, the human race still was trying to keep moving¡­ "The team that I sent to clear the azure dragons returned," Yahiko said with a serious expression. "All of them returned alive, but¡­ their situation wasn''t good and they only killed a few bosses." That was very good for Ryan, more dragon hearts for him, but he couldn''t actually celebrate that since Yahiko''s soldiers probably almost died trying to do their job. Ryan thought they wouldn''t go as far as Yahiko kept them safe in the magic barrier, but Ryan''s presence and aplishments probably made them try harder. He was a foreigner that did in a few days what they failed at doing in months, after all. "So, no clue about the creature who is controlling them, huh," Ryan said. "Yes, although I don''t think it is safe to assume that all of the four beasts were being controlled," Yahiko said. "As I told you, the ghost that tried to take over my body was summoned by the will of the, we can''t confirm that they are on our soldiers, but they certainly are trying to prevent the destruction of the world." "Meaning?" Ryan asked. "What I mean is, in our culture, those four creatures were supposed to bring good luck," Yahiko said. "So, while some monsters tried to control them, there is a small chance that the azure dragons aren''t being controlled as well. They are aiming for my head because I absorbed the power of many ghosts that could have be guardians." That was a pretty interesting and confusing theory, but Ryan decided to keep his own hypothesis about the problem. Yahiko was powerful, but he somehow still could think that some external factors beyond human control were trying to keep the world safe. Ryan couldn''t do that; he couldn''t trust in what he couldn''t see when the world was in the situation, and humans have been losing the war for the past six months. Even Ryan was already working while assuming that they would keep losing the first battles until the dungeon masterse to Earth, but then that arrival would be the sign that they could win the war. If the true body of the dungeon masters is killed, then they will disappear for good. "I am thinking about going tomorrow to the dungeon with you," Yahiko said. "I think I found someone that can shoulder the weight of the power of a dungeon master." "Haruna¡­" Ryan said. "So, you noticed it," Yahiko said. "It is the most obvious choice given her aplishments and her personality," Ryan said. "Besides, you probably can read minds, so you are one hundred percent sure that she isn''t thinking of her own gains." "That is correct," Yahiko nodded. "I can''t say that I like that idea, I want the dragon hearts for myself," Ryan said. "You are refreshingly honest, Ryan," Yahikoughed. "Unfortunately, I can''t let get all of them. I want to give the chance to those who stayed behind in this race for power to recover the time lost. The dragon hearts will give me that chance." "That is all good and everything, but you are making a mistake," Ryan said. "Give too much power for the people to do what they want and they will begin to follow their own rules, I saw something like that happening a while ago. As far as I can tell, you have done a good job not getting ahead of yourself with all that power, so why not focus on strengthening yourself even further?" "Because that I am already carrying too much weight on my shoulders," Yahiko replied. "Whether I like it or not, I am the leader and the hope of my people and if I fall, the people here will probably lose all the hope and go down without a fight¡­ I can''t let that happen." Chapter 434 - Ghosts Equipment After that talk that Ryan had with Yahiko, he spent the night pondering about such things. In the end, he only confirmed the fact that working alone was the best. While his life was on the on a daily basis since he rarely picked the fights that he could easily win, at the very least, Ryan knew that the sess or the failures were resting only on his shoulders. He didn''t have to rely on anyone¡­ aside from his pets. "I guess I have what it takes to be a dictator," Ryan shrugged. "Or things go on my way, or they go the highway." "It took you a while to notice that," Femradiel said. It was only natural that he would think of his Steel Eagle as a vehicle than as his ally, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t do the same to Furball and, to some extent, with Femradiel. They helped him more than a little bit, so their safety was starting to bother him quite a bit as ofte¡­ bother him in a good sense. Still, as long as he survives, they will live, and Ryan wasn''t nning to die anytime soon. When the sun started to rise, Ryan noticed that things were getting kind of intense in that building. Many people were moving around in a hurry. Since that was a big deal and probably the first time that happened, Yahiko would alert everyone that he was going to leave his domain and someone else would do his job for him. "I am not nning to stay in a single ce forever, so I guess I have to find someone to look after my domain now and then," Ryan muttered. "Apparently, the range of the domain can increase by using mana and stamina, but I won''t be able to rx until my domain can cover the entire territory of arge state." "You are pretty ambitious," Femradiel said. "Aren''t you going to offer yourself that job?" Ryan asked. "Knowing you, you would only wonder if I am plotting something by doing that," Femradiel said. "I am not very interested in managing a dungeon, since the things that I need to be stronger will be consumed by the dungeon pretty much all the time." "So, you decided to stay away from that problem since it would only slow you down," Ryan said. "What a teammate you are." "While you are not wrong, it doesn''t mean I won''t do it," Femradiel said. "As long as I have some tools, I can counter some demerits and besides, if you give the order, I will obey it." "I really don''t want to give such an important job to someone who doesn''t want to do it," Ryan shrugged. Furball was pretty strong, so maybe he could guard the domain in case some creature clears the dungeons that Ryan might possess. As long as Ryan gives him the right skills, he truly could be an awesome watchdog. The only real problem was that it was kind of worrisome to give such an important task to someone who could only bark. Regardless, that was a problem Ryan could worry aboutter. While standing at the top of the building, Ryan watched Yahiko''s whole speech to his people. Ryan didn''t understand a single word, though. Thousands of people came to watch him, and despite everything, they didn''t make muchmotion. Just like Yahiko said, those people relied too much on him. When the people began to disperse, Ryan approached only to see a really excited Yahiko and a nervous Haruna. "Don''t worry, you got this," Yahiko said. "Yes, sir! I will try not to disappoint you too much, sir!" Haruna said. "¡­ I don''t think that is toote to reconsider this," Ryan said. After hearing that, Haruna got even more nervous and a bit depressed, but Yahiko onlyughed. In his eyes, it looked like Haruna was truly the person for the job. The only question was for how long? Ryan, Haruna, and the others cleared the previous dungeon in a single afternoon. Now he would clear a more difficult dungeon with the help of his pets and just another person¡­ they had to be faster because her nervousness might be too much for Haruna. She will end up making a mistake. If that happens, herck of confidence will only get worse. "Shall we go then?" Yahiko asked. Some people apanied Ryan and Yahiko, but they eventually stopped when they reached the barrier''s boundaries. At that moment, Ryan finally realized that Yahiko wasn''t wearing a single piece of armor. Even if his items were on a storage dimension, proceeding without equipping them at that moment seemed like arrogance. "Where are your items?" Ryan asked. "You mean this?" Yahiko asked after he summoned a semi-transparent set of Japanese armor and a katana. Ryan frowned when he saw those since he failed at identifying the items¡­ actually, they weren''t items. They were some kinds of skill that Ryan never saw before and couldn''t even begin to understand. "I call them the ghost sword and the ghost armor," Yahiko said. "By summoning the spirits of some samurais that I absorbed, I can transform them like this as well. If I use several spirits, the armor and the sword be much more powerful." "That seems pretty useful¡­" Ryan said. In a sense, it was like an item that could grow almost infinitely stronger. While Yahiko''s special skill had a limit, he will eventually find a way to improve it. Ryan wanted power like that too, or at least a weapon that could grow with him, but he didn''t have a single idea where he could get or how he could forge such a weapon. After advancing for a while, Ryan felt that weird sensation that he was being watched. In the end, Femradiel warned him about the location of a single enemy. Even before Ryan could do anything, an azure dragon hidden at the peak of a certain mountain began to fly away from them. Ryan began to charge his Power Shot, but in the blink of an eye, Yahiko swung his sword, and two secondster, the dragon lost its head Chapter 435 - Insane Power "I guess that was a scout dragon," Yahiko said while the monster was falling. "To think that they would even go as far as using a boss to do a scout''s work¡­ we really can''t underestimate them." Ryan was having a hard time keeping his mouth closed since he was astonished. He knew that Yahiko was powerful, but not to that extent¡­ Ryan could kill such a dragon in one shot, but he needed some preparation. In any case, Ryan recognized the skill he used. It was Sonic de. It was a skill that didn''t have many limitations aside from its high cost. So, it was evident that Yahiko could use it constantly without worrying about anything. "I guess the difference in rank is being shown inbat as well," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "I am d we aren''t his enemy." "You really are a coward, huh," Ryan said. "There is no courage in trying to fight an enemy that can weep the floor with your body, that is only madness," Femradiel said. After they approached the body, Yahiko cut it down into several parts before getting the dragon heart and storing it inside a ring. It was a relief for Ryan to know that Yahiko at least couldn''t use Space Maniption. In any case, instead of leaving the rest of the body behind, Yahiko teleported it back to Tokyo. "Are the bodies that useful?" Ryan asked. "Those dragons don''t look as sturdy as the other ones." "Azure dragons can be decent pieces of light armor for long-ranged fighters, but we mostly use them for their meat," Yahiko said. "I am sure that you already noticed, but the people of this country value their tradition and culture quite a lot. That is why most of them use traditional armor. Speaking of which, it is kind of strange to see an archer using such a ck armor." "It is the best armor that I found and I also wear it for some other reasons," Ryan said. Yahiko understood that was a topic Ryan didn''t want to talk about it, so he stayed silent after that. While Ryan thanked him for his consideration, he still got annoyedter¡­ Yahiko killed several other azure dragons in one shot. Thus, Ryan was starting to wonder if he really needed any help to clear the dungeon. "You are not messing with me, are you?" Ryan asked. "Hahaha, sorry about this," Yahiko said afterughing for a while. "The truth is, it has been a while since I fought a difficult fight, so I wasn''t so sure if I could clear this dungeon alone. While I do have some tracking skills, I am kind of slow when ites to that, I hoped that you would watch my back." "Despite how much I helped your country, you even have the nerve to use me like that, huh," Ryan said. "Why I am not surprised?" "I don''t think use is the correct word, I think trust is the correct one," Yahiko said. "Besides, I am going to pay for all your services once we finish this job." "Why I feel like I am not going to like my payment?" Ryan asked. "You are such a worrywart, Ryan," Yahikoughed. "Don''t worry, I assure you that you will like your reward." Ryan couldn''t feel any ill intentionsing from Yahiko. Still, he couldn''t bring himself to trust the guy that easily. It probably because he was monopolizing pretty much all the dragon hearts¡­ After a few hours, they finally found the azure dragon''s dungeon¡­ Yahiko wasn''t surprised by its location, but Ryan was¡­ it was in the ocean andpletely underwater. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, all the dragons were also hidden underwater. "You should have warned me about this," Ryan said. "Your Underwater Resistance is at a low-level?" Yahiko asked, surprised. "My apologies¡­ I didn''t consider that. Even though I spent training mine for weeks while I waited for this opportunity." "Well, there is a way to solve this problem to some extent," Ryan said. "My turn, huh," Femradiel said. While Ryan could just create a massive tank of water and level up the skill right there, he didn''t want to waste more time than he already was going to waste to clear the dungeon. Now more than ever, it made a lot of sense Yahiko came instead of sending his subordinates. Fighting monsters in their habitat is much more difficult. "Getting the loot after defeating them will be a pain in the ass," Ryan said. "Regardless, how we should proceed now? I am fairly certain that we can start the fight and decrease their numbers from a distance." "Are you fine in letting me take the charge when I didn''t have a decent fight in months?" Yahiko asked. "This is your country, and its future depends on this fight," Ryan replied. "If we fail here, I want you to be responsible for it. Or if we seed, everyone will know that you were responsible for it." "Sometimes it is hard to know if you are being considerate or cold," Yahiko frowned. "Well, they have the advantage in the ocean and in the sky, given their numbers, we shouldn''t give them the privilege to deal the first strike either. Let''s bombard them from a distance and make them taste a bit of their poison." It looked like Yahiko wanted to use that opportunity to release all the frustration and anger the monsters caused to him and his people. However, they were several kilometers away from the dungeon and the ocean. While they had the high ground due to the surface of the region, Ryan had no idea if Yahiko would be able to hit the monsters. He will have to help him with that¡­ "I assume you are thinking of using irvoyance to help with your aim, but you should have your mana for when the things start to get messy," Ryan said. "I will make the azure dragons leave the ocean." Chapter 436 - Might Yahiko was quite interested in how Ryan would do that since he had no idea how he could do the same. In the end, he didn''t notice anything while Ryan just stared at the ocean. However, eventually, his presence changed, and Yahiko tried to see what changed with Appraisal. He finally noticed his status and skills for the first time, but they were more mage-like than archer-like. Ryan raised his arms toward the sky, and then dark clouds appeared in the sky, his mana was being sucked at incredible speeds, but Femradiel used the potions to help him with that. Eventually, the preparations for Thunder Storm wereplete, but Ryan failed at controlling the spell. Dozens of lightning bolts felt on the ocean and electrocuted everything around, but several others also hit thend¡­ "Shit¡­ I wanted to hit them after they leave the ocean and slowly decrease their numbers¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue and then said. "What did you expect? You never train your spells at the same pace you train your archery skills," Femradiel said. You obtained 75.000 coins. You obtained 75.000 coins. You obtained 250 coins. ¡­ Ryan recognized that fact, but he still hoped that his focus would help him with that. Regardless, it looked like despite everything, Ryan seeded to some extent. Dozens of corpses of bosses began to float in the ocean, and hundreds of the mobs also appeared. After recovering from the shocking surprise, the others left the sea and prepared for the fight¡­ there was no point in hiding when Ryan could cause such much damage from afar. His strategy of copying Oberon''s skills and statuses worked. Maybe he should use those types of skills more often. Still, since they were never that satisfying to use, Ryan was reluctant despite their usefulness. Seiryu ¨C Lv 370 Health: 65.000/65.000 Mana: 80.000/80.000 Stamina: 65.000/65.000 Strength: 2000 Dexterity: 3500 Speed: 2000 Intelligence: 6000 Endurance: 1500 Control: 3000 Mentality: 4000 Luck: 1500 Recovery: 25.000 Willpower: 4000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 330 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 330, Improved Strength Lv 320, Improved Intelligence Lv 310 Spells: Water Tornado Lv 350, Water Maniption Lv 350, Wind Maniption Lv 350, Water Cannon Lv 300 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 220, Wind Resistance Lv 200, Water Resistance Lv 200 The monsters began to fly toward Ryan and Yahiko, but their range wasrger than they had predicted. The azure dragons opened their mouths and fired Water Cannons. Ryan summoned his shield to block and stop their advance, but it was unnecessary¡­ Yahiko swung his sword, not only cutting their attacks with Sonic de but also beheading the monsters that charged too eagerly¡­ "¡­ Maybe you should strive to reach that level of strength, Ryan," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "You can''t be arrogant until you reach that level of strength." Ryan ignored Femradiel''s words and then equipped his newest bow. Without worrying about the cost of mana each arrow consumed, he fired and shocked the dragons for a few precious moments. Yahiko used to behead them. They were a pretty good team¡­ but Ryan knew that his presence waspletely unnecessary there. Without breaking a sweat, Yahiko could kill dozens of dragons in a few seconds, after all. "Oh, well¡­ no point inining and getting annoyed," Ryan shrugged. "I just have to obtain as many coins as possible and then get my next ss." While Ryan and Yahiko''sbined attacks couldpletely stop the boss''s charge, the same couldn''t be said about the ordinary monsters. Their numbers easily reached the five digits mark, and it would be a waste to use Yahiko''s attacks just to kill them. Femradiel tried to kill them, but the elemental match-up wasn''t that favorable for her. "I guess I will need to develop some other elemental affinities and pass to the next familiar," Femradiel said. "You are nning to make more¡­ of your offspring and use them like that?" Ryan frowned. "That was just a manner of speaking," Femradiel said. "What I created and I can create is a small version of my body. Besides, that will be useful, I want to keep my main body with its natural properties." Dragons were weird¡­ but Ryan decided to forget about that and change his targets. Yahiko was more than capable of dealing with bosses alone. Without hesitating, Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and began to attack the ordinary monsters. Despite that, the monsters were getting close. Little by little¡­ things won''t be that easy, it seems. "We will have to split," Ryan said. "It is okay, don''t worry," Yahiko said. When the monsters were just five hundred meters away from them, Yahiko canceled his ghost armor and make it disperse. After a few seconds, several ghosts took shape, and for some reason, they were all wearing the armor and sword that Yahiko wears. However, Ryan could easily tell them apart. Even though they were ghosts, they had some scars on their bodies and their hairstyle was pretty much different from each other. "Kill them," Yahiko said. The ghosts flew in all directions while approaching the monsters. Several Water Cannons were fired towards them, but the spells passed through them¡­ they really were convenient creatures. As if they were some killing machines, the ghost began to split the azure dragons in two¡­ even faster than Ryan. "It looks like your pride is being damaged by the minute," Femradiel said. "Just¡­ shut up, Femradiel," Ryan said after a long sigh. In the end, Ryan only confirmed what he already knew. Yahiko didn''t need his help, and he couldn''t clear the dungeon by himself. The azure dragons weren''t pushovers, but they never had the chance to scratch Ryan or Yahiko. Still, he waited patiently for the time where the dungeon master who was pulling strings to show up and make the battle hard, as it should be¡­ but they never showed up. Chapter 437 - Reason "That was unexpectedly anticlimactic¡­" Yahiko said while he and Ryan walked across the corpses of the headless dragons. Ryan was as confused as Yahiko was. He didn''t imagine that the fight wouldn''t end like that¡­ maybe Yahiko was right, and no one controlled the azure dragons. Yet, Ryan decided to keep his guard up. He had a feeling that he couldn''t describe, with words bothering him in his chest. "Do you think something is waiting for us inside the dungeon?" Yahiko asked. "I am not sure," Ryan replied. "Underwater, I am not nearly as effective, but I don''t think you will face any problems. If someoneid a trap for us, that someone probably already know your attack power won''t decrease inside the dungeon¡­ considering that, it would be a pretty stupid idea to wait for all these monsters to be decimated and only after that attack." Another possibility was that the dungeon master gave up since the other three dungeons were cleared and the armies defeated. Facing a group of people who could do it alone wasn''t a good idea, even more so when Yahiko never participated in the fights and was strong enough to clear those dungeons alone. "Can you change the boss of your dungeon?" Ryan asked. "I can, but only once the bosses are defeated, or if I buy another slot for a boss, but the order can''t be changed," Yahiko replied. "Do you think the dungeon master was here but decided to escape upon noticing that their changes were small?" "I think it is possible¡­ while it is difficult, and probably requires a stupid amount of mana, I bet that some monsters can travel between the world and Earth without relying on the dungeons," Ryan replied while rubbing his chin. "When those four dungeons appeared?" "At the same day I obtained the domain stone¡­" Yahiko replied. "That is what made me think that they wanted my domain." "That was probably what caused their downfall¡­ they didn''t think you wouldst this long," Ryan said. "Anyway, hopefully, others that also used their domain stones won''t have fallen for the attack of monsters. Otherwise¡­ things might be pretty messy in other regions." Without wasting any more time, Ryan and Yahiko jumped into the ocean and swam toward the underwater dungeon. While some monsters were spawning, none of them were really a threat to them. In the end, they confirmed that there wasn''t a trap waiting for them inside the dungeon. That was disappointing, as it was a relief. Regardless, Ryan hurried to pick his ss because even though his skill improved his resistance, he could onlyst a couple of minutes underwater. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Warlord, Sentinel, and High Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan already had the Sentinel ss, and he had already seen the High Mage. While it was interesting, he was more interested in the melee one. Hopefully, he would get lucky again, but even if he doesn''t, Ryan was more interested in the bonus points he would receive with each level up. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Warlord! You obtained the following skills: Improved Strength, Steel Nerves, and War Cry. Your health and strength will increase by six points. Your stamina, mana, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Improved Strength. Effect: It passively increases your strength by five points per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Steel Nerves Effect: It increases your perception when dodging all types of attacks by one percent per level, making them apparently slower as they approach. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: War Cry. Effect: It increases your and your allies Strength and Endurance by five points per level for sixty seconds. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Before Ryan couldin about his new skills, he left the dungeon since he was running out of air. He had decided not to worry about the skills earlier, but in the end, he couldn''t help but feel disappointed. "Well¡­ at least I obtained a buff that works in the area and doesn''t consume much mana," Ryan said after sighing. "It looks like our work is done here," Yahiko said. "I am kind of excited that I got my first ss after clearing my first dungeon, but I don''t feel any difference in me." "My job is done here and since there is no other tier three dungeon, I am going to depart," Ryan said. "See ya." "I don''t think anyone can do that with the world in this state, but you should take it easy for a day at least, Ryan," Yahiko said. "I can tell that you have been in battle mode for quite a while¡­ you remember a documentary about soldiers that had PTSD and couldn''t go by a single day without thinking about fighting." "Your persuasion skills need some work," Ryan frowned. "While I look on edge from your perspective, I ampletely fine. I didn''tsh my anger at anyone¡­ yet. So, there is nothing to worry about." "But about your reward?" Yahiko said. "I left it in Tokyo and in this kind of situation, we need to celebrate our sess." "I hate crowds; besides, you are lying," Ryan said. "If you truly obtained something valuable that you intended to give me, you wouldn''t store somewhere else, not when you have a storage ring." "You got me there," Yahikoughed. "Still¡­ it doesn''t change the fact that I need to reward you in front of my allies for your efforts, while I don''t care about keeping appearances, this is something that I want to do, you freed thousands of Japanese men and women, after all." "¡­ I am not interested, but I will give you the chance to tell me one reason to stay here for a few more hours," Ryan sighed. "A reason? How about a Teleportation tome?" Yahiko showed an unusual smirk. Chapter 438 - Farewell In the end, Ryan decided to stay for the rest of the day and spend the night in Tokyo as well. It would be stupid to leave without receiving the tome. Considering how useful it would be, Ryan also decided to help Yahiko with the celebration. As long as he doesn''t have to give speeches and smile to everyone, he would stay and celebrate¡­ not like everyone would be able to understand his words. "I should have asked him to give me the tome in order to level up," Ryan said while he was watching the citizens of the city preparing for the party. "in any case, this is a good opportunity for me¡­ I have almost a full day to think about what I should do next." "Going home or keeping looking for other tier three dungeons, right?" Femradiel asked. "If you don''t intend to stay in your domain for long, you should look for a guardian to keep things in check while you travel. I know some spells that might help you with that, making sapient beingspletely obedient to you, but it won''t solve anything if that someone isn''t powerful enough to hold down a possible threat while you are away." "Are you talking about brainwashing?" Ryan frowned. "I would rather not use something like that¡­" "It isn''t brainwashing, it is just a spell to prevent someone from doing something you don''t want," Femradiel said. "Well, first you have to look for someone who you can trust for that. I am pretty sure you don''t have someone like that, right?" Ryan could only nod¡­ while he gave Zoe an important task, it was a bit different from that. Besides, he couldn''t put any more weight on her shoulders. Regardless, if Ryan doesn''t find someone appropriate, he could just fill his domain with summoned creatures. Now that he was going to learn Teleport, his movement speed would increase several times. While he probably didn''t have enough mana to move between countries, maybe one day he will have¡­ "Yeah, I am going to return for a while," Ryan nodded to himself. "I just need to look for a good ce where I can find many monsters of several species, I will be able to obtain a lot of mana and coins by creating a domain in such a ce. That is what I need to keep the domain growing." After making his decision, Ryan waited patiently for the celebration. Although there weren''t many resources to be used, Yahiko made sure that his people would be able to enjoy the party without holding back. After all, they will be able to leave his domain and do whatever they wanted from now on. Be it create other camps near other dungeons or try to rebuild the infrastructure of their old society. When the party started, Ryan felt incredibly out of ce because most of the Japanese wore clothes that looked traditional or at least prettyfortable. While Ryan didn''t take his equipment out even for a second. After the party''s start, Yahiko gave a speech on a wooden tform and soon called Ryan. While he heard some apuses, Ryan couldn''t help but frown¡­ it was weird to listen to an ovation in unknown words. In the end, Yahiko quickly gave Ryan the tome since it was obvious that he didn''t like to be the center of the attention. Congrattions! You learned the skill Teleport. Effect: It grants you the power to instantly move over long distances. You can teleport to ces that you have already been or that you can see. The distance crossed is equal to the amount of mana used multiplied by ten meters per level. Ryan finally grinned from ear to ear, but he should have done that after leaving the tform since he looked like someone who was nning to do something questionable with his new skill. Yahikoughed heartily at that, but the others who watched the whole event couldn''t help but frown. Ryan noticed his misstep and then slightly bowed before leaving while using Teleport. Ryan returned to the building''s roof in the blink of an eye, where Yahiko and his closest followers lived. "I see now¡­ this spell is different from sh, it requires some concentration to be used, so it can be cancelled by attacks and external forces," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Sorry about this, Femradiel, but I will use my mana like there is no tomorrow." "I was going to rmend you to do that," Femradiel said. "While I am nning to make another familiar, that isn''t something I am in a hurry to do." In that sense, Ryan wanted to give Femradiel some pointers since the familiar had to help him inbat, but that was hard, and Femradiel was the one who knew what is possible and what isn''t. After a while, Yahiko appeared and then gave Ryan a spatial ring. That was the one which he used, but right now was filled with the dragon hearts his soldiers managed to recover that day. Apparently, it will take three days for all of them to be recovered, so Ryan was getting one-third of the total. "There are five hundred of the big ones and fifteen hundred of the small ones here," Yahiko said. "You said that you won''t wait any longer, so you are going to miss a few thousand of the small ones." "That is fine, while I want my status to grow, relying on dragon hearts will probably make me a littlezy, even more so considering what I am going to do next," Ryan said. "Thanks for the help¡­ while you will use the dragon hearts to help your people, I can assure that the people in my country will pay a decent price if you decide to sell them." "I will think about it if the necessity arises," Yahiko said and then offered a handshake. "I hope that we will fight together soon, Ryan and the next time will be thest fight for the sake of our. I wish you good luck on your journey." "I wish you luck as well," Ryan said after epting the handshake. Chapter 439 - Changes Since Ryan wasn''t that sociable, Yahiko said that he could depart even in the middle of the night. His people would celebrate until sunrise, so only a few people would be able to see him off the next day. There was no sense in waiting¡­ without wasting time, Ryan began to use Teleport. He had the pretty crazy idea to use it to cross the Pacific Ocean in a straight line. That was even more insane, given that Ryan had to spend three times more mana thanks to Furball and the Steel Eagle. In any case, thanks to that, Ryan leveled up the skill at an insane speed. "Yep¡­ Crossing an ocean relying on potions alone would be pretty hard," Ryan nodded to himself. "Thankfully, I obtained a lot of magic items in thest few days and I can use Mana-Eater to get a lot of mana." Since that skill wasn''t at a high level, Ryan and his pets had to stay at a pretty high altitude in order for them not to fall in the ocean while he recovers his mana. But it was kind of fun to experience so many free falls, and his pets didn''t seem bothered by it. "Hehe, this feels awesome¡­" Ryan smiled, full of satisfaction. "Even at level one, this skill could let me cross twenty kilometers instantly¡­ I guess you should Zen more often, Femradiel. I need a lot more mana to increase the usefulness of this skill." "Like I said, the skill is always active," Femradiel said. "Besides, even if it is better than Meditation, you can''t expect miracles." In the end, it looked like the best option was to use some status points to increase his mana and recovery or just level up his magical sses. Thanks to recovery alone, Ryan could teleport fifty meters per second, but he wanted more¡­ "That is right¡­ I should make some magic items that increase recovery and upgrade them," Ryan muttered to himself. "I just need to find the right monsters that have a stupid level of recovery¡­ trolls will do." Ryan didn''t even return to his home country, and he already knew what he would do next. That was good, much better than to keep hesitating over his options. Around the time the sun was rising, Ryan found somend ahead. While his traveling speed thanks to Teleport had increased, it was crazy to think that he could cross the entire Pacific Ocean in just six hours. Eventually, he learned that he wasn''t back in his home country¡­ well, he was in a sense. He had arrived in Hawaii. "I guess my course was slightly off¡­" Ryan said while he was falling from the sky and watched the ind filled with monsters. "I can''t even imagine what the people here had to endure since they didn''t have many ces to hide or to run to¡­" Water Snake Lv 400 Health: 15.000/15.000 Mana: 20.000/20.000 Stamina: 10.000/10.000 Strength: 1500 Dexterity: 3500 Speed: 1500 Intelligence: 7500 Endurance: 2000 Control: 2500 Mentality: 5000 Luck: 1500 Recovery: 12.500 Willpower: 5000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Strangle Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 320, Improved Intelligence Lv 350 Spells: Poison Bullet Lv 300, Water Cannon Lv 350 Support Skills: Poison Resistance Lv 400, Underwater Resistance Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 350 Ryan couldn''t help but feel shivers when he finally identified the monsters¡­ they were some prettyrger blue and green snakes. Ryan never got close to any snake before, but it looked like he had some phobia level towards them. "Level four hundred¡­ I guess no one here had the chance to clear the dungeon," Ryan muttered. "I can''t see any other monster species, so I guess those creatures had been enough to decimate the biggest ind of this archipgo. Do you sense any other dungeon nearby Femradiel?" "No, and I am one hundred percent sure they belong only to a tier two dungeon," Femradiel replied. "I guess I can assume you don''t want me to waste much time here, huh," Ryan said. "I can''t sense any humans, so there is no real need for you to stay," Femradiel said. "You want to look for tier three dungeons and help other humans, right?" "Well¡­ if it is possible and doesn''t put me at risk¡­" Ryan shrugged. "In any case, this ce will give you some decent amount of mana, so let''s kill some snakes and dy the level up speed of these monsters." In the end, Femradiel assumed her Wyrm form and decided to increase their hunting speed. While her elemental nature wasn''t that favorable against the water snakes, she surprised Ryan while firing Lightning Bolts from her mouth. It looked like she was readying herself for the creation of the next familiar. While Femradiel, Furball, and the Steel Eagle were killing the snakes, Ryan used his old tactic to summon a golem and put it some battle machines in them. Only after creating one thousand of those, which made Ryan work all morning, he decided to move on. That was weird since Ryan and his pets didn''t even advance a few kilometers ind¡­ "I guess I am in a hurry to return as well¡­" Ryan frowned. It was understandable but surprising nheless. There was no ce like home¡­ while Ryan''s home had been destroyed, he still could feel much more rxed knowing that he in American soil¡­ or at least in the American continent. In the end, Ryan finally returned to America a few minutes before sunset. Still, he couldn''t help but frown when he saw hundreds of monsters walking around the coast as if they were the owners of the ce. That was weird since around that time, Mark''s n of guarding all the dungeons should have beenpleted¡­ "You were away only for a few weeks, but it looked like things changed for the worse in these parts¡­" Femradiel said. "I can sense many unguarded dungeons in this region." Ryan didn''t like to hear that¡­ but he thanked Femradiel for informing him sooner thanter. Ryan rushed back to the base in order to confirm what the hell was going on. Chapter 440 - Events Ryan arrived on the base at midnight, and even though his senses weren''t as good as Femradiel''s, he noticed that something was off. The number of guards around had decreased, and when he looked in the distance, Ryan confirmed that the parties guarding the dungeons decreased from six members to two. "It has finally happened, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. After using Search, Ryan found Mark in the meeting room, and despite the fact that it was in the middle of the night, many others were with him there. While Ryan was heading to the room in question, he noticed that there weren''t any signs of a fight inside the base. The number of people in there decreased considerably, but those who left did so without starting a fight¡­ that was good. Otherwise, Ryan would have some people to hunt down. He couldn''t leave such troublemakers alone, after all. Usually, when Ryan enters that room, he was received by some faces full of surprise, but to some extent, relief. However, this time, he was weed by several sighs. In fact, some people looked at him with pretty annoying expressions. Some of them were Anna, Natalia, and even John seemed pretty displeased. "It looks like some people here have been sucking lemons¡­" Ryan said. "Why the sour faces?" "It is amazing that you can joke around at times like these," Natalia said. "¡­ Where have you been, Ryan?" John asked. "Where should I start? I just spent the entire morning taking a sunbath in Hawaii," Ryan replied. "Stop with this, Ryan," John red at him. "Not a single person here is in the mood for that kind of nonsense." "Maybe I will consider that once you stop looking at me as if I am the cause of your problems," Ryan said and then noticed that Alissa wasn''t in the room, even though everyone he knew was there, with the sole exception of Zoe and Arthur. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Daniel, who stayed quiet for a while and maintained a neutral expression on his face, seemed a bit annoyed by Ryan''s words. It was only natural since he was more or less arguing with his father¡­ in any case, it looked like the idiot finally grew some balls and brains since he didn''t change his expression even when Ryan frowned while looking at him. "Can you sit, Ryan?" Mark asked. "I believe this conversation will take a while since we didn''t have time to talk in thest few days. I also believe that you have a lot of intel to sell." "I guess so¡­" Ryan said and then sat on a random chair. "I was so busy that I didn''t notice that." "I can''t believe some people have the nerve to think about their own gains in times like these¡­" Anna said. "I can''t believe that despite being a former cop, you failed at keeping the survivors of this ce on the line," Ryan said. "I guess you are getting out of shape." "Why, you little¡­" Anna got up and hit the steel table, making it crack. "Anna, if you can''t hold back your anger, perhaps you should live," Carter said. "This isn''t a ce where we should let our feelings get in the way." It looked like many things really changed¡­ since even the always silent Carter was scolding Anna. Maybe she also noticed that was unexpected, so Anna decided to sit back and stay quiet. "Your report," Mark said. Even Mark wasn''t being that polite anymore, but Ryan decided to let it slide in the end. Otherwise, that conversation wouldn''t go anywhere any time soon. It took a while, but Ryan eventually gave a pretty decent summary about the things he saw and learned after arriving on the next continent. While he stayed quiet about certain things like his domain stone and Teleport, he didn''t hide the things he learned about Yahiko and Victor. Yahiko didn''t seem like a threat given his absurd power, and Victor didn''t seem interested in expanding his theory. He was only interested in recovering the Russian territory from the hands of the monsters. However, not even that, and the fact that three dungeon masters tried to kill the fifth strongest man in the world surprised anyone. It looked like they were too tired to show any surprise, or maybe they couldn''t care less since their hands were already full as it is. "I guess it is your turn now," Ryan said. "¡­ As you already noticed, many people that once lived here left," Mark said after a long sigh. "Some of them grew tired of following simple rules, and others just left because they felt powerful enough to survive on their own. However, some of them decided to join the enemies'' side." "What about it?" Ryan asked. "Hunting them down is that difficult?" Finally, Mark''s expression broke, and seemed pretty amazed at Ryan''s calm words. He wasn''t the only one who showed a lot of surprises. Mia, Tristan, and Luke seemed pretty shocked by Ryan''s words. He finally understood why¡­ they probably never had to kill a single human being since the monsters appeared. While Ryan could understand those three conflict feelings, Mark''s reaction seemed weird from Ryan''s perspective. "What? You tried to capture Alissa and me, don''t tell me that you never thought about killing us," Ryan said. "¡­ I am a soldier¡­ a retired soldier, but I was trained to defend my people, not to kill them," Mark said. "Well, they decided not to be your people anymore," Ryan frowned. "So, I can''t see why you are conflicted about fighting them. While we don''t have many survivors on our side, those who joined the enemies'' camp don''t care about this. They are betting the future of the human race on their lives. Unless you want to trust such a thing on the shoulder of traitors, you should make up your mind about fighting those that were once yourrades. While that seems troublesome, I will stay for a while, so perhaps I should solve that problem for you. It looks like I was wrong about you guys, after all." Chapter 441 - Deaths Specters Ryan began to study the map where Mark had put the locations of all dungeons. Some of them were still blue, but more than half of the dungeons were red, while three of them were purple. Ryan recognized Baal and Lilith''s dungeon, but he had no idea who was the dungeon master of the third one, which was localized in¡­ Das. "¡­ What that dungeon is spawning?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Why are you interested in that region?" Mark frowned. "That is none of your business. Answer the question," Ryan said. "Mind your tongue when you are talking to my father," Hugo red at Ryan. "Otherwise, you might lose it." "I want to see that; do you want to try?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Ryan''s parents were buried there," John intervened before the arguing could escte. "You should give up on that region, for now, Ryan. Those who joined the enemies'' side headed there and the monsters spawned are also troublesome." "Good, I will hit two birds with a single stone," Ryan said and immediately disappeared. Everyone frowned when Ryan disappeared. After all, no one heard of an invisibility spell yet, and sh couldn''t make someone escape from a closed room. Regardless, it looked like Ryan was determined to clear the new dungeon, and no one would be able to stop him. "Ryan looked pretty resolute¡­" Tristan said. "While I understand he doesn''t to let the ce where his parents were buried in the hands of monsters, wasn''t Das nuked? Also, is he going to kill those that joined the monsters'' army?" "Some soldiers investigated the region, and there are no signs of radiation anymore. It is probably thanks to mana," Mark replied. "Unfortunately, it looks like Ryan doesn''t care as much as us about taking other humans'' lives because he already did so¡­ probably more than a few times." "I find that hard to believe¡­" Tristan said. "I saw him on the first day the monsters appeared, and he didn''t change all that much and based on what Daniel and Mia talked about him¡­" "He did what he did to survive¡­ probably," John said. "Even if he hadn''t killed a single person, I can say for certain that Ryan wouldn''t think twice about doing what he has to do to recover that area from the hands of monsters. Family is a touchy subject for everyone, even more so to those who lost pretty much everyone rted to them¡­" ---- ---- "You should calm down a little bit," Femradiel said. "While I can understand why you are angry, you should have obtained more information about the monsters in the area." "Are you sure that you can?" Ryan asked, annoyed. "My parents'' graves were nuked, they werepletely destroyed, I bet I won''t even find a precise location of where their bodies were buried, and now some bastards decided to join the fuckers'' side and defile even more thatnd." "All right, I can''t understand it," Femradiel said. "However, you still should calm down. I took a glimpse inside the minds of those guys, and I didn''t like what I saw. The monsters this time are troublesome in many ways. You should expect that the bosses and the dungeon master will be much more difficult." After hearing that, Ryan calmed down a little bit. In the end, he realized that the situation was weird¡­ even though he knew that some of the survivors would eventually cause problems, he didn''t imagine they would join the side of a dungeon master that just spawned its dungeon a few weeks ago¡­ Usually, the monsters would need some time to increase the level of their dungeon. Still, it looked like the opponent this time managed to cause problems and seduce the survivors with sweet words. "¡­ At the very least, that area has four dungeons close to each other, so I will be able to put my other ns in action while I took care of those problems," Ryan said after taking a deep breath. "While the three that existed before were only tier two dungeons, the sses that I will obtain by clearing them will help, even if just a little bit." Femradiel tried to convince Ryan to rest for a little bit before reaching his destination, but it was useless. Ryan''s anger didn''t dissipate entirely, and that was making him blind to his fatigue. However, when he finally arrived in the region and saw nothing but a deserted, ruined citypletely under monsters'' control, Ryan was forced to stop and ess the situation. He couldn''t only see a single type of monster since the new species probably decimated the others, and the new species was¡­ odd in many ways. Death''s Specter Lv 50 Health: 2500/2500 Mana: 4500/4500 Stamina: 1500/1500 Strength: 250 (+30) Dexterity: 500 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 750 (+120) Endurance: 300 Control: 750 Mentality: 500 (+150) Luck: 50 Recovery: 1000 Willpower: 500 (+150) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Alert Lv 50, Focus Lv 40, Spearmanship Lv 30, Intangibility Lv 80 Spells: Health Steal Lv 40, Mana Steal Lv 40, Stamina Steal Lv 40, Spectral Absorption Lv 30 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 30, Cold Resistance Lv 30, Shock Resistance Lv 30, Death Sense Lv 50 "What the heck is that¡­" Ryan said. "They are just too weak." "But they have some troublesome skills," Femradiel said. "Can you imagine the boss of those creatures and the dungeon master capable of summoning those things? You shouldn''t judge the severity of this situation by the level of those monsters." Ryan nodded at that because he saw the skills the monsters could use, and he couldn''t believe that they could use those. Besides, the name was pretty fitting for their figures. Even more than the fake shadows, those specters looked like the physical form of the reaper, and given their skills, it looked like that was pretty urate. It was kind of hard to believe, but there was a chance that Ryan might fight the physical form of Death inside the dungeon. ss: Hunter Lv 93 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 60 (+ 02 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 75th Health: 2215/2215 (5, 51/s) Mana: 3375/3375 (5, 51/s) Stamina: 3369/3369 (5,51/s) Strength: 31 (+186) (+130) Dexterity: 2900 (+2830) (+220) Speed: 140 (+1260) (+48) Intelligence: 81 (+745) (+33) Endurance: 28 (+162) (+160) Control: 06 (+1310) (+10) Mentality: 08 (+79) (+70) Luck: 140 (+20) Recovery: 1200 (+1750) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+71) (+40) Coins: 29.778.952 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Cursed Rage Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), Critical Focus Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 12 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 12 (+ 05 UP), Bloodthirsty Lv 01, Health Boost Lv 05, Fly Lv 10, Improved Strength Lv 01, Steel Nerves Lv 01, Spells: War Cry Lv 01, Teleport Lv 25 (+ 24 UP) Support Skills: sses: Combat: Sage Lv 63 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), Summoner Lv 39 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Sorcerer Lv 29 (+ 05 UP), Sentinel Lv 43 (+ 05 UP), Ranger Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Dark Knight Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 38 (+ 05 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 442 - Hydromancy Before using the domain stone, Ryan had to find a way to defeat the death specters. There was no sense in setting his domain before that since he would need some time to learn all the ins and outs of what a dungeon master could do. "If my guess is right, Death Sense will alert the monsters when you prepare an attack powerful enough to kill them," Femradiel said. "Once that happens, even if they don''t find it, they will use Intangibility to escape from all damage. That being said, I am pretty sure that Death Sense will alert them of your current position." "Still, they can only stay intangible for a determined amount of time," Ryan said. "Besides, I don''t think they might be able to pass through things made of mana since they will use mana to be intangible." "That is also what I think," Femradiel said. "But while you can lock them inside something made of mana like an ice cage, you are not as nearly proficient with magic as you are with a bow. You will probably waste too much time, and I don''t think that attacking them endlessly until they run out of mana is something wise either. You will also waste too much time and mana." Ryan once again nodded at Femradiel''s words. She was entirely right, and yet, it didn''t look like she was done talking. While Ryan couldn''t use magic as fast as it needed to be, Femradiel could. Dragons were essentially monsters pretty good at using mana, after all. "Here is the part where you say that you will handle them, right?" Ryan asked. "While I don''t intend to reject your help without reason, I can''t let you do all the work." "Not really. I was going to rmend you to learn Hydromancy," Femradiel said. "With that skill, your ability to control water-based spells will increase quite a bit. Besides, I want to create another familiar soon, so I need to conserve my mana." "¡­ Can I already learn that?" Ryan asked. "If you use Mana-Eater in just a few more magic items, we will reach a point where you can learn that without owing anything to me," Femradiel replied. "Although you say that you don''t mind my help anymore, you still don''t want to use my powers, right?" "Indeed," Ryan nodded. While Ryan was thankful for the understanding and sincerity of Femradiel, he couldn''t but feel that she was starting to understand him too much¡­ that was the downside of working with someone 24/7. In any case, after using Mana-Eater on a few more magic items, Ryan finally reached the requirements to learn the skill. Congrattions! You learned the skill Hydromancy. Effect: Greatly increases your control over the water elements and their variants. It also increases the power of your water-based attacks by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. It was a passive skill, as expected. Still, even at level one, Ryan noticed that his control over water reached a whole new level. Much faster than before, he could create all kinds of things with water. Bullets, arrows, spears, shields¡­ but for some reason, he wasn''t fast enough to learn the spells to create those. Ryan was missing something, but that was a question for another day. "This is kind of obvious, but you should look for isted targets to train how you are going to defeat them," Femradiel said. "Yeah, that is pretty obvious," Ryan said. It looked like Furball, and the Steel Eagle wouldn''t be of much help in this fight, so he decided to let them train in Shreveport on the dungeons there for the time being. Daniel''s friend, whose name Ryan had forgotten, and the other survivors who stayed behind when the people of Shreveport headed toward the secret base were put to sleep when Ryan copied Titania''s skill list. Considering that they were much weaker than his pets, Ryan assumed that they would sleep for a day or so. That was more than enough time to see if he was capable of dealing with those troublesome monsters. "I guess I really need to learn an invisibility spell," Ryan said after returning to Das and noticed how annoying it was to use magic. It was only obvious that Ryan''s spells didn''t have the range of his physical attacks, so he had to get very close to the monsters. Not only that, but he also had to look for those stupid enough to wander around alone. In the end, Ryan got impatient and decided to attack three specters that were at a certain distance from the main group but pretty close to each other. In the blink of an eye, Ryan created ayer of water around the monsters and also froze them. When the monsters noticed what was going on, they suddenly summoned some purple scythes to attack the ice. However, their strength wasn''t at a level where they could withstand Ryan''s magic. Ryan smirked from ear to ear, but only for a moment. His smile disappeared when the ice he was creating slowly disappeared in a single point around the spheres. Ryan tried to focus his mana on those points, but then the monsters changed their targets for the weak spots of the spheres. "I think they are draining the mana of your attack¡­" Femradiel said, and she seemed slightly surprised. "I didn''t think they could use that kind of ability on spells as well. Ah, you should go all out. They are absorbing the mana and leveling up." Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance and shrieking the ice spheres after he used some potions. As if that wasn''t enough, his health began to decrease¡­ even though the specters couldn''t see him. "How in the hell they can use such spells from a distance?" Ryan asked while frowning. Ryan''s health was being drained insanely fast. So, even though he went all-out and used all his mana, it took a while for the specters to die since they were decreasing the power of his attacks and recovering by draining his mana¡­ that fight was going to be more difficult than Ryan thought. Chapter 443 - Traitors While the first fight made Ryan realize that he will have to y it safe and be patient, it also gave him a few ideas on how to handle the monsters. Ryan assumed that Mana Steal was simr to Mana-Eater. At the same time, Ryan''s skills could only work while he was touching something. The first one wasn''t that powerful. So, Ryan decided to test a certain theory¡­ Instead of slowly covering his targets with ice, Ryan made their bodies wet and then cooled down the water. The monsters began to freeze, but then Ryan noticed that the effectiveness of Mana Steal was more significant when they also came in contact with things that had mana¡­ the ice began to melt faster than Ryan could make them freeze. "So annoying¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue. In the end, Ryan fired some electric bolts to see what would happen. While the melting process slowed down when the monsters noticed Ryan''s second wave of attacks, the bolts passed through the creature. That wasn''t supposed to be possible, but¡­ "They melt the areas where the bolts were going to hit¡­ and the son of a bitch used Intangibility in that single area of its body," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Your analytical skills are improving," Femradiel said. Ryan ignored thepliment and then created an Ice Arrow. Before firing it, he made it a spin. When the arrow was about to hit the monster, the bastard used Intangibility. Still, Ryan smirked since he made the arrow stop using Telekinesis inside the beast. The monster''s mana quickly began to decrease¡­ Just as Ryan had expected, Intangibility was incredibly costly. "This is more like it¡­" Ryan said while smiling in satisfaction. Ryan''s knowledge about those creatures was slowly increasing. He also was beginning to understand why he didn''t find a single survivor in that area. Fighting those creatures was very risky, and unless someone has the right skills and control using certain abilities, winning against them was impossible. Regardless, now that he knew what he should do, Ryan could proceed to the next phase: make magic weapons out of those freaks. They had awesome skills, and Ryan wanted them in his collection of crossbows. "I also have to create rings and make them increase my recovery," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Intangibility probably isn''t a skill I can get by sealing their souls in crossbows, but I won''t rest until I get three new crossbows, and each one of them could drain health, mana, and stamina from my enemies." "While that is good and all, you shouldn''t forget that this dungeon might break at any moment," Femradiel warned. "Those creatures are too troublesome, and the bosses¡­ even I think that a single one of them might be too much for you." Now that Ryan thought about it, why did the dungeon master didn''t make the humans who joined their side cause some dungeon breaks? Those three in Japan used that opportunity, so that made Ryan wonder why that didn''t happen yet¡­ Before anything suspicious could happen, Ryan decided to focus on crafting the three magic weapons that he wanted. As expected, the specters didn''t make Ryan''s job easy for him, but he eventuallypleted his set. Immortal''s Crossbow (+ 06) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that will drain thirty points of your foes health and heal you. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 140/140 Spiritualist''s Crossbow (+ 06) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that will drain thirty points of your foes mana and recover yours. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 140/140 Unstoppable Hunter''s Crossbow (+ 06) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that will drain thirty points of your foes stamina and recover yours. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 140/140 "I guess even those have a limit¡­" Ryan nodded to himself after he read the descriptions. "I need to level up Magic upgrade in order to strengthen those effects." The next step would be to create magic rings and improve them as much as possible. Then Ryan would finally try toe up with a n to clear the dungeon as fast as possible, but it looked like that wasn''t going to be possible. While he was looking for his next targets, Ryan saw some weird figures leaving the dungeon. Unlike the specters that looked like ghosts covered in a dark cloak, those were walking and seemed pretty human. After focusing his eyes in that direction, Ryan realized that they were indeed humans¡­ but something seemed off with them¡­ their eyes were all ck, and they looked like they were unfocused. The hair of those humans was alsopletely dark, even though that tone seemed weird in them. "Did they suffer some kind of metamorphosis?" Ryan frowned after asking. Justin ss: Swordsman Lv 65 / Brawler Lv 60 / Monk Lv 45 (--) Race: Reaper Rank: 155th Health: 4510/4510 Mana: 5550/5550 Stamina: 7500/7500 Strength: 4150 (+ 500) Dexterity: 2900 Speed: 1750 (+ 100) Intelligence: 3750 (+ 200) Endurance: 5000 (+ 800) Control: 1200 (+ 200) Mentality: 2550 (+ 400) Luck: 3500 (+ 200) Recovery: 12.500 (+ 750) Willpower: 2500 (+ 300) Coins: 00 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Drain Touch Lv 150, Spectral Absorption Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 120, Improved Strength Lv 120, Bronze Skin Lv 100 Spells: Health Steal Lv 170, Mana Steal Lv 170, Stamina Steal Lv 170, Soul Purification Lv 80, Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 150, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 150, Fatigue Resistance Lv 100, Spiritual Resistance Lv 100, Heat Resistance Lv 50 Ryan immediately used Appraisal and frowned even more. The skills, the new race that they had¡­ it was like the humans had been fused with the specters. Some of the specters indeed approached the humans, and they were also absorbed by them. Ryan confirmed by using Appraisal once again that their status and skills grew even more. His wish to kill them increased even more... traitors were the type of person Ryan hated the most. Chapter 444 - Power Up "As expected, you humans are really versatile," Femradiel said. "I think those creatures are more like entities than a proper species of monster, but they still manage to fuse their bodies with them and they still can absorb others for a power up." "That bloodline is too convenient¡­" Ryan said. "Still, I have a hard time believing that there are no demerits¡­ most likely, they sacrificed the potential they had to obtain other bloodlines for the sake of making a single one more powerful in their bodies." Femradiel nodded since that made a lot of sense. In any case, she didn''t think that they were being controlled. After absorbing some specters, they tested their new strength, and they looked pretty excited about it¡­ "What are you going to do with them?" Femradiel asked. "I already know the answer since those are probably some of the people who left that base, but this is probably a bad idea. While their numbers are rtively small, I don''t think you can kill them as fast as you need. Once they notice you, the fight will drag out and only you will lose if that happens." "When did you be such a coward?" Ryan asked. "I fought hundreds of times at a numerical disadvantage, this is like breathing to me." "That is right, but you don''t have many good experiences while fighting when your head was hot, right?" Femradiel asked. "Try to think for a second that this isn''t the ce where your parents are buried and thene up with a decent n of action." Thanks to Femradiel''s words, Ryan realized that he was too eager to fight. Sometimes that was good, but sometimes, it wasn''t. Ryan recalled the time when he lost his hand, and a few weeks after, he was almost crushed by a t-rex¡­ he had to calm down and think things through. Even if he can heal his body from most injuries, he wasn''t immortal, and Ryan''s true power could only be shown when he keeps his head cool. "While I say that, you still can let your blood rush to your head, but I would rmend using Draconic Transformation to increase your chances of winning," Femradiel added. "Only those who have brute strength and a lot of resilience can afford to let their feelings control their actions." "... You are not very convincing when you say two opposite things one after the other," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Anyway, thanks for helping me calm down." "Just don''t get used to it, I am a dragon and I like to rampage," Femradiel said. "I can''t let you do the same until you decide to use Draconic Transformation." Ryanughed a little, and he felt relieved by the fact that he still could listen to the advice of others, even though the others at that moment could only be resumed to Femradiel. In any case, Ryan wanted to watch more of the humans, but much to his disappointment, they returned to the dungeon after a while. It was weird¡­ Why didn''t they try to absorb all the specters? Their numbers were pretty high, and the dungeon was about to break¡­ Ryan knew very well about human greed, so he couldn''t understand they would waste such a chance to grow stronger. The only usible exnation was that only certain specters could be absorbed for some reason¡­ "I seriously need to level up Appraisal and reach a point where I can see all of the skills of my targets," Ryan said. "At this rate, I will get surprised in all future battles." If Appraisal couldn''t help Ryan at the moment, the only thing that could give him an exnation was to watch the specters. It seemed like a waste of time, but Ryan put on hold his ns of killing them. While flying high in the sky, Ryan managed to see a good part of the destroyed Das and almost all the specters moving around. Much to his surprise, not a single one of them left the perimeter, and with the exception of a few dozen that were hunting the monsters leaving the other dungeons, the vast majority moved around their dungeon in a circle. After approaching the specters that were hunting, Ryan noticed something weird¡­ when they killed some smanders and giant ants, their bodies turned into ashes¡­ "What was that?" Ryan frowned in surprise. "¡­ It looks like those creaturespletely erased from existence the soul of those monsters," Femradiel said, trying to keep herself as calm as possible. "They stole the monsters'' spirits when they died, thus absorbing all their strength and knowledge." That would exin why they suddenly grew stronger, but such a high-level was¡­ just insane. It was even weirder than those monsters were being used to strengthen humans that just joined their sides. If those specters could just leave the area and hunt monsters, they would make their dungeon reach max level in just a few weeks, so why aren''t they doing that? "I know that I am repeating myself, but for each answer I find, I get three more the more questions¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Whatever¡­ it is time to create my domain." Just like in Tokyo, the four dungeons were located in the cardinal points. However, the specters dungeon was more at the center than at the South of the area. Most likely, the dungeon master made the dungeon appear there on purpose to stay closer to each of the other three dungeons. Ryan was determined to do the same, but he would be even more insane since his domain wound starts off inside the square formed by those four dungeons. "I guess I need to prepare some surprises to deal with those humans," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don''t know how much my actions will be limited once I create the domain, so I need to solve this now¡­" While that would take some time to prepare, Ryan found more or less a good way to surprise them¡­ Chapter 445 - Dungeon Masters System After finishing his preparations, using an underground route, Ryan moved toward the center of the area, and without wasting any more time, he used the domain stone. Congrattions! You have sessfully activated and registered your domain. You now have ess to the dungeon master system. You can now ess and upgrade the current features: Area Lv 01: 1000 m2 Level UP cost: 100 coins or 1000 mana Monsters Book Lv 01 Level UP cost: 500 coins or 5000 mana Barrier Lv 01 Level UP cost: 1000 coins or 10.000 mana Army Lv 01 Level UP cost: 5000 coins or 50.000 mana Dungeon Lv 01 (T1) Level UP cost: 10.000 coins or 100.000 mana Coins stored: 00 Mana stored: 00 Ryan immediately made the Area of his domain level up several times. In an instant, it had five square miles and also covered the smanders, giant ants, and the velociraptors'' dungeon. The specters around the dungeon noticed that something changed and then tried to run away. However, Ryan essed the Barrier''s option and noticed that the barrier was OFF. He turned it ON, and the monsters failed to escape from it. Nothing could leave or enter his domain now, but when the specters attacked, Ryan saw his coins decreasing¡­ "I guess my wallet is directly connected to this ce¡­" Ryan frowned. "Regardless, it is time to finish the preparations. Femradiel, I will leave those fuckers to you." In just a few seconds, Femradiel covered the specters in ice and then froze them to death. Their numbers were low since the specters were basically invincible, even against some types of monsters that were two hundred levels above them. Regardless, when the monsters died, Ryan didn''t receive a single coin, but the domain received some and even mana when the specters'' bodies dissipated inside the barrier. That was interesting, and all, but Ryan paid no mind to it. He took hundreds of battle machines out of his storage dimension and positioned them in his domain but inside the barrier. They were going to be his second line of defense. "It looks like the mana that you are recovering is being transferred to the domain since your mana is full," Femradiel said. "I am going to let that happen for a while and help with Zen since we don''t know how the specters and those humans will proceed." "Thanks," Ryan said while he was finishing positioning the battle machines. "You should hurry and check the other options, they might be more useful than we thing," Femradiel added. Although the battle machines had a recovery effect that they used to create their ammo, that recovery wasn''t helping on the umtion of mana to the domain. However, when Ryan summoned a golem and registered on his army, the monster''s recovery helped. "Interesting¡­" Ryan smiled. While that was interesting, everything has some limitations. At level one, Ryan''s army could only register up to ten members. While he imagined that he could make the domain level up indefinitely, he would need a lot of resources to keep doing that. In any case, Ryan wanted to check the dungeon''s option as soon as possible, but it would be insane to do that while he had a troublesome enemy in front of him. Besides, it was quite costly to level up those options. To make the area reach level ten, Ryan spent one million coins, and that was the cheapest option he could level up right now¡­ In the end, Ryan spent almost ten million coins in a few seconds to make the barrier be more efficient and to increase the size of his army. He summoned several golems by using mana potions to help with the defense in all aspects of the domain, but in the end, the specters never returned to pick a fight¡­ "I don''t like this¡­ but I guess I can use this chance to increase the area of my domain," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I just noticed this, but it looks like even though those three dungeons are inside your domain, they are kind like holes," Femradiel said. "Your barrier is useless against them." "I expected as much¡­ In any case, I will allocate some golems to keep hunting them," Ryan nodded. "Anyway, you can focus on getting some mana again. By the way¡­ do you think you can use the mana stored on the domain?" "Yes, since it is directly connected with you," Femradiel said. "But we should avoid that, you didn''t forget that four dungeons appeared when Yahiko made his domain, did you? Many creatures will want your head now." Ryan nodded again¡­ Femradiel was helpful even moretely. Since despite everything, Ryan tends to run wild and let the blood rush to his head, the presence of someone like Femradiel was beyond useful. She was an ice dragon, so keeping her head cool seemed like something easy to her¡­ After a while, the sun began to set, and Ryan still couldn''t see any signs of the specters¡­ it looked like they really retreated to their dungeon. While that was worrisome, it was a problem that Ryan eventually would solve. Once he levels up the area of his dungeon two more times, he will be able to see the dungeon from pretty close, but leveling up after that would make the dungeon enter his domain, and that wouldn''t be wise. Once he did that, Ryan had to make even more battle machines and allocate them appropriately. At the same time, he finally noticed that he had an imaginary mini-map and could see everything that was happening inside his domain. Weirdly enough, everything allocated by him had a blue point representing its existence in the mini-map, and Ryan could move those at the cost of some mana. "Well¡­ I guess with this, I can move my troops in a pretty fast way," Ryan scratched his chin, slightly amused by his new powers. "Anyway, I need to understand this system and master it as fast as possible." Chapter 446 - Level 01 After finishing his preparations for the fight, Ryan decided to see what he could do by using the Monster Book option in his dungeon master interface. While he only had one thousand golems in his army, and that wasn''t nearly enough given the usual number of monsters he fights on a daily basis, Ryan wasn''t nning to use them in battle. They were there for support¡­ "It looks like I can summon monsters from the Monster Book¡­ at the cost of some mana or coins," Ryan said. "At level one I can summon slimes, goblins and giant bees." "You should be careful with the creatures you summon, since it might be a waste of time and resources," Femradiel said. "I am pretty sure that to make use of your domain properly, humans have to be registered in the army." Ryan recalled the bonuses that Alissa had mentioned before, while inside the domain, Ryan''s allies received a boost in power. He finally noticed that his status doubled¡­ which was quite insane¡­ maybe that was why the specters weren''t trying to fight. In any case, Ryan leveled up the Monster Book a few times, and his options increased, but all the monsters he could summon were pretty much tier one small fries. He also could select a single species of monster from the book and make it spawn automatically once he creates his dungeon, but Ryan wouldn''t do that since he wouldn''t be able to change itter. "I guess the n of creating a dungeon will have to be put on hold until I obtain a summon decent enough for the job or until I find something interesting on the monster book," Ryan said. "While dungeons can be a good source of ie, since it isn''t something that can be changed often, I have to handle this carefully." Ryan would immediately notice if something approaches or attacks the barrier, so he decided to clear the dungeons inside his domain in the meantime. The other dungeon master was preparing something, and since Ryan''s preparations had already been done, the only thing he could actually do was to get stronger. As expected, clearing those dungeons didn''t make Ryan even broke a sweat. Since they were tier one dungeons and the monsters spawned couldn''t even win against other monsters two hundred levels below them. Ryan got the sses: Mage, Cleric, and Wizard. Due to the fact that he already had the other sses, that would increase his dexterity. Thanks to Teleport, it looked Ryan''s ns to be sturdier had been put on hold. As for the skills he got, they were: Fireball, Earth Wall, Wind de, Focus, Blessing, Prayer, Dy, Ice Prison, and Improved Intelligence. Aside from Focus and Improved Intelligence that were passive boots that increase Ryan''s intelligence, he couldn''t imagine the others being useful inbat. They were just that week. "I thought I was going to stay on the defensive here, but I guess I will have to start this fight¡­" Ryan said upon confirming that the specters still were hiding inside the dungeon. "Most likely, they are waiting for the dungeon break," Femradiel said. "Based on what I discovered by reading Mark''s mind, this dungeon appeared exactly four weeks ago. So, the dungeon break is only two or three days away. Even if that isn''t the case, they might be waiting to ambush you inside the dungeon." Ryan considered that, and he could confirm it by using Telekinesis and Force in any projectile. Using thatbination, he would be able to create a drone that could show everything inside the dungeon. Ryan did that, and the very moment a steel spear appeared in front of the dungeon, he lost control over it after seeing dozens of specters inside, ready to ambush. "They can steal the mana of everything their eyes can see¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "My range is greater, so I can use that to my advantage, but I will have to leave the domain." "While you are an archer, you rely a lot on mana, this match up isn''t in your favor," Femradiel said. "Perhaps waiting for a while and preparing some traps might be the best n of action." It was a reasonable n given how much trouble the enemies this time were, but Ryan couldn''t withstand let those fucking monsters alive for long. Not in thend where his parents grew up and had been buried. Still, ignoring Femradiel''s opinions didn''t seem wise either¡­ and because of that, Ryan was conflicted. "Of course, there is always the third option," Femradiel said. "Use Draconic Transformation and freeze everything¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "There is also the fourth option, forget about attack using mana and use Power of Money." Ryan was pretty sure that those creatures would have some resistance against that kind of attack, but he doubted that they still could endure more than three of them. In any case, Ryan obviously reached another point where he had to choose between his pride and his wish to see thatnd free of monsters. In the end¡­ that hasn''t been a difficult decision at all. Without hesitating, Ryan used the skill and instantly assumed Femradiel''s previous form¡­ his draconic form was a bit different. Ryan''s body was less light-blue and more dark-blue ifpared to Femradiel''s. He looked a bit like he had imagined a cursed dragon to be¡­ it was as if Ryan''s dark thoughts had customized that appearance. ss: Hunter Lv 93 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 60 (+ 02 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 75th Health: 2215/2318 (5, 51/s) Mana: 3375/4381 (5, 51/s) Stamina: 3369/4372 (5,51/s) Strength: 31 (+186) (+130) (+100) Dexterity: 2900 (+2830) (+220) Speed: 140 (+1260) (+48) (+100) Intelligence: 81 (+751) (+33) (+100) Endurance: 28 (+162) (+160) (+100) Control: 06 (+1313) (+10) (+100) Mentality: 08 (+79) (+70) (+100) Luck: 140 (+20) (+100) Recovery: 1200 (+1753) (+100) (+360) Willpower: 30 (+71) (+40) (+100) Coins: 12.778.952 Status: 10 "This is disappointing, I feel a bit stronger, but only slightly," Ryan said. "What did you expect?" Femradiel asked. "The skill is at level one." Chapter 447 - Upset Stomach Ryan decided to level up Draconic Transformation for a bit. Since he wasn''t nning to rely on that skill ever again, it wouldn''t be a problem unless a simr situation happens. ording to Alissa, if she were to use Ryan''s body, she would be able to show a power that would be more or less twenty percent higher than she had ever been. It was thanks to Ryan''s skills, status, and sses. Also, ording to her, that skill probably could level up endlessly. So, it was by far the skill that had the most potential on Ryan''s arsenal. At level one hundred, the skill would grant Ryan one hundred thousand points in health, mana, and stamina. Meanwhile, the other attributes would increase by ten thousand points. "I wonder why the bonuses are like this¡­" Ryan said. "Given your previous power, I assumed it would affect my build." "The skill apparently was created to fit the bnce that humans have," Femradiel exined. "In the end, only your basic status will define in which area you will exceed." Ryan had previously imagined that Femradiel would make that skill level up here and there while he was unaware of it, but it really looked like she had be a real partner. Given Ryan''s previous stubbornness in refusing to use that kind of power, she assumed that it would take quite a while to convince him. It was so surprising that she hesitated to ask him to make the skill level up by using her mana. Regardless, she only confirmed once more that Ryan''s feelings for his parents were much stronger than his pride. "I wonder¡­ if dragons can also put their pride aside to do something like that," Femradiel said, after hesitating for a few moments. "To do what?" Ryan asked. "To honor their ancestors, be they alive or dead," Femradiel replied. "Don''t get all sentimental on me," Ryan shrugged. "Well¡­ I am not sure; I think it depends if you think that my actions right now were unexpected and unreasonable. Even if you lost your memories, you should be able to find the answer that question easily." While Femradiel thought that it was unexpected, she wasn''t quite sure if it had been something unreasonable. Not even after thinking for a while did she found the answer. It was much moreplicated than Ryan said it was¡­ Regardless, while Ryan was trying to get used to that new body, he noticed several problems. Moving the wings was something pretty tricky since he never had wings. Aside from that, leveling up the skill wasn''t as fast as he thought it would be¡­ it looked like the more useful a skill is, the harder it is to level up. However, some skills were much powerful than they should be¡­ all the ice-rted skills caused much more damage than they should, and that would be very useful. "When are you nning to attack?" Femradiel asked. "Tomorrow at noon," Ryan replied. "Most likely, the dungeon break will happen in two days, so I can''t level up this skill any more than that." "If you don''t mind, I would like some of your potions to train a certain skill," Femradiel said. "You are going to freeze them with an Ice Breath, right? I believe I may offer some assistance with that." "Sure¡­ I guess I really need to practice a better poker face," Ryan said after sighing. His n was too simplistic¡­ no, Ryan''s ns, in general, were too simplistic, but even so, he couldn''t help but feel slightly annoyed when others could predict his actions. After giving thousands of potions to Femradiel by letting her have ess to his storage dimension, Ryan decided to test a few things. He summoned his Magic Bow that was a replica of the Frozen Crossbow and then fired it in a rock. Not only was the rockpletely destroyed by his attack, but it even created a prettyrge crater on the ground. His status improved quite a bit thanks to Draconic Transformation and adding that to the elemental affinity of that body¡­ Ryan''s ice attacks reached a whole new level of damage output. "I barely saw the projectile moving¡­ I guess that is what happens when someone receives a sudden boost in status," Ryan nodded to himself. "Well, this type of skill can be trainedter, let''s focus on using Ice Breath." Ryan also realized that he had forgotten about the dragon hearts¡­ the Teleport spell really messed with his rhythm, added to the severity of the current situation of Das. Regardless, that was a good chance¡­ in his dragon form, he could eat several of them, and so Ryan did it. Your dexterity increased by twenty points. Your mana increased by twenty points. Your stamina increased by twenty points. ¡­ "Do you have a death wish?" Femradiel asked since Ryan''s actions surprised her. "No, I don''t think that¡­ I have," Ryanpleted after feeling a terrible stomach ache. "Oh, shit¡­ this is the worst stomach ache ever." "What did you expect? You just ate probably one of the things that has most mana in the universe¡­ Dozens of them," Femradiel said. "Well, surprisingly enough, I didn''t notice anything weird happening with your body. So, you should recover in a few hours¡­ humans'' bodies are truly weird." The feeling of power and lightness, his draconic form and the dragon hearts granted Ryan seemed so weak inparison to that stomach ache¡­ not even Purification helped. Regardless, Ryan endured it since he needed to train his new fighting style in that form. However, much to Ryan''s surprise, the specters began to leave the dungeon at that very moment. For an instant, Ryan froze in shock since that didn''t make any sense, but then he realized that his sudden power up probably alerted the monsters inside it. "It looks like they somehow know that I have many more dragon hearts¡­ but they don''t know about the side effects of eating too many," Ryan said and then used some INT potions. "It doesn''t matter, while I lost the chance to deal the first strike, I still have my traps ready to be used." Chapter 448 - Troublesome Foes Before using his traps, Ryan opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. However, the specters spread around, and only a few of them got hit, and those that got hit escaped for a while thanks to Intangibility. Suddenly, Femradiel assumed her Drake form and made lightning bolts fall from the sky. Some specters got hit by it since they didn''t have time to react. "Nice one¡­" Ryan said. "Don''t get used to it, though," Femradiel said. "It cost a lot of mana to make the mana concentrated high in the sky, in a ce where those creatures can''t sense it. I was hoping to use it while inside the dungeon, the ice would freeze the ground and conduct the electricity." Before Ryan could say anything, he noticed the mana of his Barrier was being consumed¡­ which was odd. The specters weren''t attacking¡­ then Ryan realized what was going on. "Aw,e on¡­ their Mana Steal even works against the Barrier," Ryan said after clicking his tongue. "Equip the battle machines in your golems and make them move around while also firing Bullet Stones," Femradiel said. "They can''t attack while they use Intangibility. They are bound to run out of mana." "I know, I know," Ryan said and then began to move the battle machines and the golems around the barrier. "Shit¡­ and the other guys still are nowhere to be seen." Ryan''s eyes weren''t moving away from the entrance of the dungeon. Even though it was prettyte, he still could see things perfectly. The vision wasn''t the problem, but the hundreds of specters draining the mana from his Barrier. Suddenly, Ryan recalled something that happened many times while he was in Japan and decided to do that. After touching one of the battle machines, he teleported the object in the middle of a group of specters¡­ he really could teleport things while he is touching them, even without teleporting himself. The battle machine hit several specters, causing quite a lot of damage, and only was stopped several secondster when one of the monsters finally noticed what was going on. Ryan smirked and then grabbed several other battle machines before teleporting them to the entrance of the specters'' dungeon. Dozens of monsters were still leaving the ce, but they have slowed down considerably thanks to the might of Ryan''s toys. "We can use that¡­" Femradiel said. "Pay attention to my signal." While he didn''t have any idea what Femradiel was plotting since he was too busy, Ryan decided to trust her. Femradiel deserved at least that much of a confidence vote. When Femradiel said "now," Ryan teleported her to the middle of a group of specters, and then she made all her mana explode. In the blink of an eye, all specters in a fifty meters radius froze and died. However, Femradiel had used all her mana, but Ryan quickly made her reenter the barrier using Telekinesis. "Only that much, huh¡­" Femradiel said, visibly disappointed. "I need to level up this body more¡­" While Ryan and Femradiel''s attacks killed almost a hundred specters in a few seconds, the number of monsters was increasing despite everything, and the mana in the magic barrier was quickly being drained as well¡­ without any other choice, Ryan made his golems leave his domain and approach the specters that were attacking from a safe distance. While the speed at which the mana being drained decreased, the specters began to steal the golem''s mana. "I feel like I am running in circles¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Let''s see if I can solve this in a different way¡­" Ryan began to use the Explosive Poisonous Arrow, a skill that he never used before, so the damage caused would be ridiculous. However, the more he fired, the more a purple cloud of poison began to grow in size around the barrier¡­ even though the specters could dodge the attacks, Ryan could make the arrows explode where he wanted, and so he did it. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the specters were trying to avoid the poisonous mist. Even though they looked like ghosts, they weren''t invulnerable to it¡­ However, soon those monsters began to steal the mana from the mist as well. "This is getting old really quick," Ryan said, visibly annoyed. Ryan managed to buy some time with his golems and battle machines, but only that¡­ he needed something else to win the fight. "Well, since it hase down to this, might as well use the mana stored in a full offensive," Ryan said. "Maybe you should reconsider," Femradiel said. "The humans who joined their sides didn''t appear yet and they will be much more troublesome." "I didn''t forget them," Ryan said and then teleported to the outside of the barrier. Once Ryan appeared in a ce, they could actually damage him, the monsters stopped attacking the barrier and focused his skills on draining his health. However, Mind Armor protected him. Before Ryan could run out of mana, he tried to replicate the skill Femradiel just used. The monsters noticed that their lives were in danger and decided to retreat. Ryan indeed made a massive concentration of mana explode, but unlike Femradiel''s attack, he just made a cold mist spread around the area instantly. In just a few seconds, Ryan, the domain, all the dungeons, and the monsters were covered in the cold mist. The monsters tried to escape, but then they hit a thin but durable wall of ice surrounding the mist. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough for them, they noticed that the mist was shrinking. While the ice walls were forcing them to retreat, the specters tried to attack and absorb the mana around them, but they failed in breaking the wall since the mist was made of mana, and it was also blocking their field of vision. The more the mist shrieked, the denser it became, and the more durable the walls became. In the end, Ryan used almost all the mana stored in his domain, but he created the perfect cage to lock and kill the specters. Chapter 449 - Deserters "You are better at controlling mana than I expected," Femradiel said, visibly impressed. "Hydromancy and the draconic form certainly are helping you, but even so, to be able to control such arge-scale magic attack on the first try¡­" Ryan ignored Femradiel''s remarks since he was having a hard time making the mist decrease in size fast enough. He was also trying to freeze the specters before they could find him, but the little bastards were resisting more than he had expected, that or Ryan really couldn''t do two things at the same time. Although Ryan failed at making the mist colder, the attack became colder the more the mist got thick. Little by little, the specters began to freeze and dir, but it looked like things wouldn''t proceed in Ryan''s favor for long." "I am going to give you a hand. I am sensing some weird presences leaving the dungeon," Femradiel said." Ryan couldn''t evenin or say no since his whole spell could be easily undone if the sphere gets attacked from outside. Femradiel did the same as Ryan and duplicated the effectiveness of the cold mist. In fact, it got several times colder since Femradiel was much better than Ryan at using magic. Just as Ryan had expected, the ice sphere began to break in several parts, but it took a while for the spell to be undone, and when that happened, all the specters had been killed, and Ryan was back to his domain. A few dozen humans were flying in the sky when the mist dissipated. All in all, those people had more or less the same level of strength, and the guy Ryan had appraised before¡­ in any case, Ryan made his golems return since those guys didn''t start with an attack. "My name is William," a random man suddenly moved a bit forward and then said. "You are a human, aren''t you?" "What about it?" Ryan asked while frowning. "As I suspected and that voice¡­ you are the one who always woulde and leave the secret base as you please," William said and he seemed quite hesitating. "Did youe to kill the deserters?" "Nope, I came to clear the dungeon that is about to break," Ryan replied. "So, you guys consider yourselves deserters, your life must be pretty bad, huh." "If that is the case, I am certain we can reach an agreement," William said. "You want to clear the dungeon to obtain more power and can provide that." "Really?" Ryan slightly frowned. "Well, I am listening." "You understood that humans are doomed, that is why you travelled in search of power and even found a dragon to make a contract," William said. "You are smart and have the willpower to withstand this¡­ if you show your guts, not only you will gain power easily, but you will also obtain immortality. All you have to do is drink a tiny drop of our master''s blood, the god of death, Thanatos." Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ drink the blood of a god¡­ that was probably why everyone there looked weird with that tone of hair and eye color. Regardless, to think that the dungeon master this time would be such a foe¡­ while he had ate start, Thanatos and his minions obviously had the upper hand against most monsters. "What did he demand from you guys?" Ryan crossed his arms and then asked. "Not much, just loyalty and the hard work to make others join us," William replied. "While some people will refuse us, eventually they will understand that there are no demerits in serving our god Thanatos. Only someone who has full control over death can grant humanity the chance to survive when our is in this chaotic situation." "Didn''t he mention anything in particr?" Ryan insisted. "... Yes, but only those who pledge loyalty to him have the right to hear his ns," William replied after a few seconds of hesitation, upon noticing that Ryan didn''t seem too eager to ept that offer. "I will give you guys one chance to walk away and never step on Earth again," Ryan said. "If you don''t do that, well¡­ the so-called god of death will be the least of your worries." William looked at his friends for a few seconds, and they looked back at him without saying a single word. Ryan didn''t have to be a genius or be able to read minds to understand that those people wouldn''t listen to his offer. "Let''s go, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Are you sure about that?" Femradiel asked. "Yes, I can''t save everyone, but I can at the very least, defeat those who might doom our species from inside," Ryan replied. Suddenly, lightning bolts fell from the sky and hit the ce where the targets had been. However, all of them used Intangibility and escaped unscathed. Soon after, those thirty or so reapers began to fly around the barrier and drain its mana by using Mana Steal. "Femradiel, try to raise that cold mist again," Ryan said. "I will buy you some time." "I don''t think the same strategy will work twice against humans," Femradiel said. "They are no longer humans," Ryan said. "Besides, the same strategy could still be effective by showing different results." Femradiel could more or less understand what Ryan meant by that, so she focused on making her mana slowly gather around the barrier at the ground level. The mist appeared and began to be thicker out of the reapers sight since they focused on attacking the barrier. "I will make you the temporary domain master, I can''t let them keep decreasing the mana from the barrier," Ryan said. "Use what you can to offer some support." "I am a dragon; I am not suited in the least to offer support¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "So, don''t expect much from this." After saying that, Ryan teleported to the outside of the barrier, and all the reapers finally focused their eyes on him. Chapter 450 - Semi-immortality The reapers tried to drain Ryan''s mana, but he summoned Magic Bows and fired frozen bolts towards them before they could do it. Those idiots underestimated the power of Ryan''s attacks and tried to destroy the projectiles with Mana Steal. Still, in the end, they decreased the power of the attacks to a certain extent, and when they got hit by it, their bodies exploded. "Wait, what?" Ryan frowned in surprise. "I knew that Draconic Transformation and added with Femradiel''s elemental affinity had increased the power of my frozen bolts, but those guys were supposed to be sturdier than that." However, before Ryan could find an exnation, the bodies of the reapers began to reassemble as if they were sort of moreplex slimes. Even the blood was returning to their bodies at a fearsome speed¡­ it looked like they weren''t exaggerating when they said that Thanatos granted them immortality. Ryan tried to freeze the bodies before they could healpletely, but much to his surprise, the ice he used to cover their bodies waspletely absorbed¡­ that was a power that they didn''t have even when they were conscious¡­ so how¡­ "Thanatos is interfering? Or did he give them such a convenient power that only worked when they were in that state?" Ryan frowned. In any case, there wasn''t much of what Ryan could do in that situation. While their health decreased to zero, he didn''t feel like he could use Seal and prevent that kind of ability¡­ truth to be told, Ryan had no idea how to finish the reapers off. So, he decided to buy Femradiel sometime by flying upward. Just as Ryan had expected, they flew toward him when their bodies werepletely repaired. They really want his power as dungeon master from Earth¡­ while that was something predictable, it was very weird that they could chase him so fearlessly. Didn''t they notice that Ryan just killed them in a single instant? Since Femradiel was busy nning her next attack, Ryan couldn''t wait for her support since she was too focused on creating the perfect trap. In the end, Ryan flew so high in the sky that he could even feel his speed decreasing since he was almost leaving the atmosphere. It wasn''t the best ce to fight, but at the very least, the reapers won''t notice Femradiel. When the reapers finally were close enough, Ryan flew toward them with his mouth open and while using Ice Breath. The scope of his attack made the monsters lose sight of him. They spread around in order to escape the attack and because getting in a single ce would be only advantageous for Ryan. "Despite their weird actions, they still can see the best ways to solve some simple situations," Ryan muttered. Before the reapers could use Mana Steal, Ryan used Teleport and reappeared behind them. Before the poor idiot could notice anything, Ryan grabbed him and immediately tried to freeze him with Ice Breath. The reaper instantly became a statue of ice, but Ryan didn''t receive any notification, and when he used Seal, the skill failed¡­ things won''t be easy, it seems. Ryan was forced to let the creature go when the other reapers began to steal his mana. Once again, he escaped from their sight by using Teleport. Since Ryan moved toward even higher than before, he was starting to have a hard time breathing, and he was beginning to feel his body getting lighter¡­ "I am about to reach outer space, huh¡­" Ryan muttered. "Let''s see if I can use this¡­" Ryan began to teleport around to escape the Reaper attacks. Once they got rxed enough to think that Ryan wouldn''t repeat old strategies, Ryan did the exact same thing. He reappeared behind a reaper, grabbed him, and then used Ice Breath. After the creature turned into an ice statue, Ryan teleported it to outer space. "Aw,e on¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Not even this can kill them?" Ryan could see the ice status moving around in outer space in the distance, but he didn''t receive any notification. The system didn''t recognize his enemy as dead yet¡­ moreover, some of the reapers retrieved the body of their friends using Telekinesis, and the bastard was back to the fight as if nothing had happened. In the end, it looked like a direct fight was the worst possible way to deal with those creatures¡­ they were servants of the so-called god of death, after all. While Ryan was pretty sure, there couldn''t exist a skill called Death Immunity. They probably had something simr¡­ Ryan teleported back to his domain in a single instant, only to see that Femradiel wasn''t ready yet. "Nothing works, huh," Femradiel said. "I warned you that the enemies this time would be a huge pain in the ass." "Comining won''t help solve the situation," Ryan said. "I hate to say this, but I don''t have the knowledge on how to solve this situation the way you want," Femradiel said. "Give up on trying to turn them into magic weapons. Maybe I had the knowledge on how to defeat enemies as troublesome as those, but I don''t have it anymore. We have only one real option here¡­" "Freeze them together and keep them sealed inside the domain forever, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. In the end, Ryan epted quite easily that was the only way to solve the situation¡­ The dungeon master this time was another mythological creature, but a few tiers above other monsters such as Cerberus and Fenrir, so it couldn''t be helped that his minions would be that annoying. "It is time to get in the way of another big shot, huh," Ryan said while looking upward and seeing the reapers approaching. "Let''s hurry up, Femradiel. This job is getting more annoying by the minute." After saying that, Ryan used several potions to increase several of his statuses because to seed in the only n that they had wouldn''t be that simple either¡­ Chapter 451 - Prison Since defeating the reapers wasn''t something the current Ryan or Femradiel could do, there was no reason to pull back his punches. Ryan wouldn''t gain a single coin anyway, so he could use Power of Money to buy a little time, and so he did it. To prevent the reapers from stealing his mana, Ryan used Power of Money on their necks and beheaded them. However, the others noticed that Ryan was using a new trick and spread it around again. When Ryan teleported to behind another reaper, the creature reacted fast enough to block his hands and drain his health. A few momentster, the others quickly found him as well. When Ryan was about to leave the monster alone¡­ "Now! Toss him toward the barrier!" Femradiel said. That seemed like insanity, but Ryan did exactly that. While the reapers and he now had more or less the same amount of strength, the mass of his body was much more significant. A single swing of his arm had been enough to make the reaper fly toward the barrier. Before the monster could hit it, Femradiel enveloped the creature in the blink of an eye in mist and turned its body into a crystal statue¡­ that was a pretty powerful ice attack. While controlling the ice, Femradiel made the monster enter the barrier, and for some reason, the spell wasn''t broken. Ryan found that weird, but he decided to think about itter. Ryan repeated that same action four more times before the reapers finally could notice that their friends weren''t going to return to the fight. For the first time, Ryan saw the hesitation in their eyes¡­ it wasn''t like they were afraid of anything now that they were immortals, but from their perspective, there were certain things worse than death¡­ "They are thinking of running away, you can''t let them escape," Femradiel said. "That goes without saying," Ryan said. There was another trick that Ryan has been hiding until now. While it annoyed him since it would make him think that Yahiko helped him indirectly win the fight, Ryan didn''t hesitate to copy him. "Herees a big one, Femradiel!" Ryan said. The very moment the reapers began to move away from Ryan was the moment they used Telekinesis to make them stop. Once that happened, he teleported the remaining twenty-five reapers to inside the thick cold mist Femradiel had created. They turned into crystal statues immediately, and then Femradiel moved them to inside the barrier. "Finally¡­" Ryan said and then sighed in relief. While the fight didn''tst that long, it wore Ryan out since the enemies couldn''t die by any normal means. However, the relief disappeared when Ryan returned to his human form and felt his whole body going asleep¡­ "What the hell¡­" Ryan said. "Rx, that is what happens when you use too much mana beyond your current capabilities," Femradiel exined. "This is amon urrence when people like you obtain draconic powers and use them for the first time. You should be all right in just a few minutes." "I see¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Anyway, what did you do this time? I tried to freeze them, but it didn''t work." "I used a lot of mana to freeze their entire bodies down to every single atom," Femradiel replied. "Every single part of their bodies possesses some level of mana, but if all those parts are frozen, not a single skill can be activated, not even the passive ones will work. That is probably why I decided to be a true ice dragon." "I see¡­ I thought you were born with that kind of affinity, but I guess I was wrong," Ryan said. "No, you are not wrong," Femradiel said. "While we were born with some talents, it doesn''t mean we can obtain others, but usually, it is more effective to train the things that we are good from the very beginning." That made sense. Regardless, while it required some preparation, Femradiel had a way to imprison their enemies if that is the only alternative. In any case, Ryan won''t give up on trying to find a way to turn the reapers into magic weapons. For the time being, they will be sealed away underground the domain, in a ce no one aside from Ryan and Femradiel will be able to reach. "It would be great if I could register them as my minions," Ryan said. "But I guess it isn''t possible without their volition. Anyway, let''s repair the defenses for a while before trying to clear the dungeon." This time, Ryan made sure to keep summoning golems and increase the size of his army. During the fight, he worried too much about the barrier, and that probably dyed the end of it to some extent. Perhaps if it had more mana, Femradiel could have helped Ryan earlier, or even Ryan could have found another way to defeat the reapers by himself. When the sun started to rise, Ryan and Femradiel had finished their jobs. Ryan even had time to bring back Furball and the Steel Eagle and wake up the idiots guarding the dungeons by using Purification. However, Ryan decided to wait for a few more hours. "Sometimes you are so cautious and sometimes you are so imprudent¡­" Femradiel said. "¡­ What do you think about what they said, Femradiel," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows while looking at the entrance of the dungeon. "Do you really think the reapers drank the blood of the god of death?" "While you humans are really versatile, I don''t think something like that is possible," Femradiel said. "My guess is that those guys fused themselves with the dungeon bosses that probably is a lifeform created by using a small part of the dungeon master''s body." "I guess so, that would exin why we didn''t find any bosses and the number of specters wasn''t that high," Ryan nodded. "Those guys caused dungeon breaks, but only to obtain power for themselves." "Why the sudden interest regarding that?" Femradiel asked. "¡­ Nah, it was nothing," Ryan said. Although he said that, Femradiel could easily think by his expression what Ryan was thinking, he wanted the power of the god of death to himself. ss: Hunter Lv 93 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 65 (+ 05 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 74th Health: 2702/2702 (5, 51/s) Mana: 4250/4250 (5, 51/s) Stamina: 4372/4372 (5,51/s) Strength: 31 (+186) (+130) Dexterity: 2950 (+2830) (+220) Speed: 320 (+1260) (+48) Intelligence: 381 (+972) (+33) Endurance: 128 (+162) (+160) Control: 226 (+1399) (+10) Mentality: 208 (+79) (+70) Luck: 320 (+20) Recovery: 1500 (+1872) (+360) Willpower: 230 (+71) (+40) Coins: 12.452.365 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Improved Intelligence Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Spells: Water Maniption Lv 39 (+ 06 UP), Water Transformation Lv 35 (+ 07 UP), Draconic Transformation Lv 15 (+14 UP), Water Creation Lv 29 (+ 08 UP), Teleport Lv 25 (+ 24 UP) Fireball Lv 01, Earth Wall Lv 01, Wind de Lv 01, Blessing Lv 01, Prayer Lv 01, Dy Lv 01, Ice Prison Lv 01, Support Skills: Hydromancy Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 67 (+ 04 UP), Sorcerer Lv 35 (+ 06 UP), Enchanter Lv 12 (+ 07 UP), Mage Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Cleric Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), and Wizard Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 452 - Thanatos In the draconic form, Ryan wouldn''t be able to enter the dungeon. So, they decided to enter the dungeon after sunset, but Femradiel was the one who would deal with the specters. She was better suited for that kind of job, anyway. Meanwhile, Ryan would prepare one heck of a Power Shot to deal with any possible bosses waiting for them. However, they didn''t find a single specter¡­ "I don''t like this¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. That kind of thing only could mean that some serious problems were waiting for them in thest of the dungeon. As if that wasn''t enough, the eerie atmosphere inside the dungeon and the skeleton-like faces engraved in the walls, ceiling, and ground only made everything much more nerve-wracking. In the end, Ryan didn''t find thest part of the dungeon. Well, he did it, but a massive shadowpletely sealed the ce. Ryan couldn''t use his beloved full-powered preemptive strike. "I guess there is a boss waiting for us inside it," Femradiel said. "You shouldn''t use Power Shot on that thing, it will probably be useless." "Oh, really?" Ryan asked. "If you hadn''t said, I would have never imagined that." "Anyway, I will prepare my attack inside your head and if things get dire, I will show myself," Femradiel said. "¡­ I am just saying, but you shouldn''t fall for the enemy''s words." Ryan sighed¡­ in the end, even from his perspective, it was insane to wish for that power. Still, if there was a chance that he could control death¡­ maybe he could revive some humans, or at least his parents, but what would be the price of that power? There are certain skills that Ryan didn''t even have enough mana to use, so to do something of that level¡­ perhaps not only mana was necessary¡­ and that was only the cost to activate a possible skill. There was still the cost Ryan had to pay in order to defeat the god of death or at the very least be his minion. "¡­ The chances are too small, and no matter what, I can''t join the monsters'' side," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I can''t throw mud in the name of my family." After activating several defensive spells, Ryan touched the shadow. Nothing happened aside from the fact that his fingers passed by it, but Ryan couldn''t sense anything inside it. Although it was a defensive spell, the shadow couldn''t prevent those who wanted to clear the dungeon from proceeding, only from attacking. When Ryan crossed the shadow barrier, he found himself in a ce simr to where he fought the undead hag, Yomotsu Shikome. It was really spacious, but what grabbed his attention was the numerous armored skeletons on the ground. It looked like a battlefield that happened years ago where two massive armies annihted each other. A few hundred meters ahead of him, Ryan could see the purple crystal and a massive specter flying above it. A few seconds after that, a new specter was spawned, and the bigger specter immediately sucked it. Reaper Lv 150 Health: 9500/9500 Mana: 13.500/13.500 Stamina: 7500/7500 Strength: 450 (+130) Dexterity: 1500 Speed: 1300 Intelligence: 1750 (+320) Endurance: 800 Control: 1750 Mentality: 900 (+350) Luck: 350 Recovery: 5000 Willpower: 900 (+350) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Alert Lv 90, Focus Lv 90, Spearmanship Lv 80, Intangibility Lv 120 Spells: Health Steal Lv 90, Mana Steal Lv 90, Stamina Steal Lv 90, Spectral Absorption Lv 120 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 80, Cold Resistance Lv 80, Shock Resistance Lv 80, Death Sense Lv 100 "Hey¡­ howe that thing obtained that much power in just half a day?" Ryan frowned. "Well, it isn''t an opponent that you will have trouble with, right?" Femradiel asked. "That is not the issue here," Ryan replied. The issue was about the potential those monsters had; Ryan was pretty sure that the monsters were as strong as the original boss of the dungeon. In any case, Ryan pointed his Titanium Electric Bow at the creature. Still, the beast created a mana barrier around itself and even managed to use Mana Steal on Ryan at the same time. Still, what surprised me most wasn''t that¡­ "Are you the human who defeated my servants?" Ryan heard a deep, grave voiceing from the creature. He also saw some dark eyes appearing in the faceless mass of shadow. It made Ryan recall the eyes of the reapers¡­ the god of death. Thanatos decided to assume the form of one of his minions. Just like before, the monster received a massive boost of strength, but the same thing that happened with Mephisto happened there as well. At a fearsome speed, the body of the creature began to crumble. "No, they are alive and rtively well," Ryan replied and then fired his arrow. Ryan activated all his buffs and skills to increase the power of his attack at thest moment. Despite that, Thanatos pointed his hand toward the projectile and made it disappearpletely. He didn''t even break a sweat¡­ "What?" Ryan opened his eyes widely in surprise. "Hey! Something is-" Femradiel tried to say something, but her voice suddenly vanished when Ryan was teleported to the outside of the dungeon. Ryan frowned when that happened, and he panicked when he noticed that he couldn''t control his body. As if that wasn''t strange enough, his body began to move itself backward. Little by little, the speed at which he was moving backward increased. Until he returned to his domain and then noticed that something was off when he stopped moving. "What the hell¡­" Ryan couldn''t even speak¡­ but the shock only increased when he realized that the sun was moving in the opposite direction. Then Ryan finally realized what Thanatos did. He was essing his memories backward. His guess was confirmed when he took Furball and the Steel Eagle back to the dungeon. The speed at which his memories were being read increased even more until it reached a point where Thanatos could see Ryan''s entire day in a single second¡­ for what he was doing that. Ryan had no clue. Chapter 453 - New Class If Thanatos was nning to annoy Ryan by watching all his memories, he aplished pretty soon. Ryan''s blood was boiling, and he barely could think straight when the speed of that memory reading slowed down on the day the monsters appeared. Once Ryan relived that memory where the dragons appeared, the dream ended, and he saw himself back in the dungeon. "I see, I have found those that will kill you," Thanatos said. "Being killed by their hands will be something that will make you taste true despair¡­ that is the perfect punishment for getting on my way." "Asshole¡­ show yourself, I will fucking kill you!" Ryan roared. "If you really want it, then use the purple crystal ande to my domain," Thanatos said. "Come here, bastard, aren''t you a god?" Ryan asked. "Come here and show me what the god of cowardice can do." "I will be waiting expectantly¡­" Thanatos said, and then a hit of a smile appeared in the face of the big specter. You obtained 5.325.638 coins. "Damn you! Damn that fucking bastard¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance, only stopped when a lot of blood began to fill his mouth. "I don''t know what he did to you, but you should calm down first," Femradiel said. "Whatever he did, had the sole purpose of taunting you." Ryan knew that¡­ but even so, he couldn''t think straight after the bastard saw all his memories of the previous months. Not only that, Thanatos''s words were bothering Ryan quite a bit¡­ who was he nning to use to kill Ryan on Earth? Despite being the god of death, he wouldn''t dare to face Ryan on Earth. Ryan thought that he was afraid of death despite the irony, but there was a big change that he was getting carried away, and Thanatos only wanted to y with him. "What did he do?" Femradiel asked. "¡­ He saw all my memories of thest six months," Ryan replied. "In just a single instant?" Femradiel asked, visibly surprised. "Those mythological creatures from your world are something else¡­" "A few minutes passed while I was in that state¡­" Ryan frowned. "Either his skills are so good that can be that efficient, or he can control time." "That is certainly a power that only god-like beings can have," Femradiel nodded. "Regardless, you defeated him¡­ more or less and put a stop on his ns at least in this location. So, don''t feel too bad about his words, they were the words of a loser, after all." Ryan sighed. While it was weird that Femradiel was trying tofort him, in the end, it worked. While he probably won''t forget Thanatos''s words, and they will haunt him for quite a while, Ryan wasn''t hot-blooded enough to fall for the obvious taunt, even if there was some truth in it¡­ he wouldn''t aplish anything by dying. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Chaotic Warrior, Tamer, and Archmage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. It has been a long while since Ryan found any ss rted to the power of taming monsters and other creatures. So, he couldn''t help but frown since that ss, in name at least, looked weaker ifpared to Beastmaster¡­ Regardless, he still chose that. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Tamer! You obtained the following skills: Beasts'' Ally, Animalistic Link, and Animalistic Transference. Your stamina and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Beasts'' Ally. Effect: It increases the number of tamed creatures under your control by two for every five levels of this skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Animalistic Link. Effect: It grants you the power tomunicate with all your tamed creatures no matter the distance between you and them. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Animalistic Transference. Effect: It grants you the power to transfer your spirit to one of your tamed monsters for a certain period of time. You will be able to use your skills and your tamed monster''s skills while this skill is active. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "If you ask me, the Archmage ss seemed way more useful," Femradiel said. "But I guess you are what they call an animal lover." "Just shut up, Femradiel¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Summoning skills are hard to find and their cost of mana is insane, in the end, the best option is to create an army of tamed monsters and use them as the core of any strategy to defend the domain. Thankfully, this ss granted me several more slots of tamed monsters." "What about the dungeon that you can have under your control?" Femradiel asked. "I was thinking about just using to make a weak, but a monster that could level up fast," Ryan replied. "That way, I will obtain more coins and perhaps lure some idiots to my domain." "You are really nasty¡­" Femradiel said. "Like I care," Ryan said. "I will do anything necessary to obtain the power to kill all the fuckers who are trying to dominate Earth." "If that is the case, then perhaps you should try to use those tamed monsters and obtain control over the domains of other worlds, you have too many enemies and it is time to decrease them before all of theme to this and try to crush you," Femradiel said. "If something like that happens, not even by using Draconic Transformation and Power of Money at the same time will be enough to save your skin." Chapter 454 - Again Ryan had considered that, and that was why he picked the Tamer ss. Fortunately, he got lucky and obtained the skills that would help him in the task of obtaining control of several other domains. The only real issue was that in the end, he could only have so many tamed monsters. So, he wouldn''t even be able to obtain control over all dungeons in the country. "We need to select the right ones because humans still need to be stronger," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "While there will always be some dungeons that I won''t be able to obtain control, only those can''t be used to increase our strength." Furball was a partner that Ryan couldn''t let go of, so he wasn''t going to use him for that. The first obvious candidate would be the steel eagle. While the creature could help Ryan save some mana, that skill wasn''t that necessary now that Ryan could use Teleport. "I bet I can use Fly and make my meleebat style more powerful, but that isn''t something that I need to worry about now," Ryan said and then faced the steel eagle. "In any case, you are going to be my first employee in my enterprise. It will be called Ryan Corp. Our goal is to get stronger while preventing Earth from falling on the hands of assholes." That was very well and good, but Ryan wasn''t confident that the steel eagle had enough power to defend the crystal of a dungeon master. The crystal that once belonged to that giant slime has some dungeons connected to several worlds, and that was an ie Ryan couldn''t ignore, and to secure the ie, the steel eagle needed more power. "I guess it is time for some Spartan training," Ryan said. After checking the skills of the Steel Eagle, Ryan discovered that the creature was weak against fire, ice, and electricity. So, he trained the beast by using powerful elemental attacks in a single instant and then casting Heal. Maybe Femradiel was correct when she said Ryan probably was an animal lover. Even though the pain caused by him onlysted for a moment, he still felt pretty bad about it. In the end, Ryan gave up after a couple of minutes, he could withstand the freezing humans who joined the monsters'' side, but he couldn''t bring himself to torment like that those who helped him. "... Let''s just buy some tomes of those elements and make you train the resistances and those spells at the same time," Ryan said and then bought some cheap spells for the Steel Eagle. "I suppose the Wind Armor will also help you." "Who could have thought that a cheapskate like you would spend so many coins because of such a thing¡­" Femradiel said. "This is an investment, I bet I can recover the coins by putting the eagle to guard that crystal in the slimes'' world in a single day," Ryan justified himself. "Now that I think about it, she will level up Cold Resistance and Heat Resistance by herself in that desert." "If you say so, in any case, what is the next step?" Femradiel asked. " Tame many powerful monsters and then make them guard the Crystals of the dungeon masters you even didn''t defeat yet?" "For the time being, you will guard the domain and keep increasing its area while I will look for some monsters to train at the same time," Ryan replied. "We will save some time that way." "What about the monster book?" Femradiel asked. "While it is good and all that you will obtain the rewards of other dungeons, we don''t know if you will be able to create new ones with them. You need to create your dungeon and then attack other worlds where your enemies live. Attacking then from the front and the back certainly will be effective." "... Do you think that by crossing my dungeon, my enemies will be able to show their true powers in this world?" Ryan asked. "Honestly, I am not sure," Femradiel replied. "Maybe we should do some tests before bothering the big shots." "Yeah¡­ anyway, I n to return as fast as possible, but you are free to level up the area and the monster book," Ryan said. "Maybe the army will also be a good choice, I will increase the number of golems eventually." Using Teleport, Ryan and the Steel Eagle reached the slimes dungeon in the blink of an eye. Inside the dungeon, they had to walk, but once they used the purple crystal, they used Teleport again and moved toward the ce where the crystal was. Since Ryan had already been there, he didn''t have to look for it. However, much to his surprise, a new gigantic slime was guarding the dungeon master crystal. "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. Slime (Dungeon Master) Health: 250.000/250.000 Mana: 250.000/250.000 Stamina: 250.000/250.000 Strength: 12.000 (+ 400) Dexterity: 2400 Speed: 1.200 (+ 400) Intelligence: 24.000 (+ 1400) Endurance: 18.000 (+ 1500) Control: 12.000 (+ 2400) Mentality: 12.000 (+ 1100) Luck: 6000 Recovery: 60.000 (+ 4400) Willpower: 12.000 (+ 1200) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Corrosive Touch Lv 480 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 300, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 290 Spells: Summon Slime Lv 650, Summon Fire Slime Lv 200, Summon Ice Slime Lv 200 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 600, Cold Resistance Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 600, Poison Resistance Lv 600, Earth Resistance Lv 600, That didn''t make any sense¡­ all the slimes in that world should have exploded when Ryan killed the dungeon master¡­ After thinking for a while, Ryan began to wonder howe slimes were born¡­ if they were creatures that just suddenly appear in that world, it would make sense that a new one would appear and take the ce of the old one, but from his perspective, that happened way too fast. In any case, now Ryan was more or less certain that his Steel Eagle won''t die of hunger in that world. Chapter 455 - Five Worlds Thousands of slimes like the other didn''t surround the new dungeon master, so Ryan was confident that the fight wouldn''tst long. That was an excellent opportunity, so he made the Steel Eagle attack the monster from hundreds of meters high in the sky, while Ryan stayed on ground level and bombarded the monster with his Magic Bows that could steal mana. The fights against the reapers and specters had been annoying, but Ryan learned a lot. When the dungeon master fired fire or ice slimes, he destroyed them all just by relying on the effect of the bolts. While that effect apparently didn''t add any power to Ryan''s attack, his bolts still pierced the body of the monster pretty deep, thanks to it. You obtained 2.438.983 coins. In the end, Ryan frowned since the fight ended in just a few seconds¡­ he had improved his fighting style considerably since thest fight, but he didn''t think it had been that much. Regardless, even though it was a dungeon master, it was a slime as well. So, Ryan didn''t think much of it. Since givingplex orders would take too much time, Ryan just decided to use Animalistic Transference and obtained control over the Steel Eagle''s body. Much to his surprise, when he touched the crystal, Ryan received the following notification. Congrattions! You have defeated the previous dungeon master of this crystal and obtained the rights over it. Do you wish to make your Steel Eagle be a resident of the STRS332 in order to be the new dungeon master? Y/N? "So, the system can even see me trying to cheat, huh," Ryan frowned slightly upon finding that. "Well, at least isn''t trying to screw with me." Ryan epted the offer, and then he obtained control over the domain of that. However, aside from the dungeon level that was a tier three granting three dungeons to Ryan, everything else was at level one. Based on what Ryan knew, he assumed that the tigers of the dungeons could increase once they reached the max level. While it was weird that slimes could aplish that, he understood why when he tried to check the dungeons. Dungeon 01 - Lv 001 -: Edertia. Edertia: a world dominated by insects and bugs that never gave birth to any sapient species. It joined the mana system 57 years ago when a mutant insect developed the power to wield mana. Dungeon 02 - Lv 001 -: Seregald. Seregald: a world inhabited by many tribes of orcs that are constantly in war against each other. It joined the mana system 33 years ago when some orcs developed their first spells. Dungeon 03 - Lv 001 -: Earth. Earth: a world inhabited by a weak species called humans. It joined the system when dragons were summoned to that world six months ago. Dungeon 04 Dungeon 05 Ryan frowned when he saw the information about Earth¡­ in other worlds, dungeons began to appear by ident, but the same thing didn''t happen on Earth. The dragons were summoned there¡­ Moreover, the growth speed of dungeons there was stupidly fasterpared to other worlds. "It looks like this whole event wasn''t an ident, after all," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "... Regardless, the first dungeon suffered two resets after reaching the max level two times and that granted the dungeon master the chance to create two other dungeons. By the look of things, the slimes were purely acting by instinct. That was why they never used the remaining slots." The change in the species of the dungeon master also forced a reset of the level of the dungeons, but that was just a minor nuisance. Ryan was already obtaining the coins he was supposed to obtain, after all. Ryan selected one of the avable slots of the dungeons and then saw a near endless list of worlds in which he could create new ones. However, even if he chooses to make one now, they will only spawn the next day. Apparently, dungeons can only appear on the day where all the others can break. Some of those worlds had dungeon masters. Some even had dozens of them. Although dozens of thousands ofs were part of the mana system, it didn''t take long for Ryan to find some that he would target in the future. He couldn''t see the name of the dungeon masters, but he could see the dominant species. The world of demons, reapers, dire wolves, reptilians¡­ and others that were on his list. "I am going to leave things easy for you for the time being, but you shouldn''t get used to it," Ryan said to the Steel Eagle. "You will need to train hard every day because eventually, I will need your help to annoy some assholes." Ryan created a dungeon in a world where all the monsters were basically ghosts possessing weird sets of armor. With her skills, the Steel Eagle will be able to kill those enemies if theye to this. There were other easier options, but since she was pretty much free from the other worlds, his pet would need to stay cautious of at least one type of enemy. After a while, Ryan noticed that the dungeons had a gauge below their levels. When the gauge was full, Ryan could make it level up and increase the strength of all the monsters on the said. "So, it is like that¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In any case, I guess I will make slimes spawn in that world, just ordinary ones." Since Ryan was going to use the ie of that domain to strengthen his own, he decided to y it safe. The Steel Eagle couldn''t summon anything, so Ryan had to make use of the monster book. Each slime would cost 25 coins to be spawned, and the boss would cost five hundred¡­ that was weird. Ryan was fairly certain that the first boss he killed only gave him fifty coins. Chapter 456 - Falcons Ryan made a mental note to add to his daily routine the act of checking things with his Steel Eagle. Aside from that, the only thing he does on a daily basis was to check things with Zoe and Arthur. The first step of his ns had been taken, but Ryan now has to look for some decent beasts to tame. However, before he could think of a proper answer, he heard a familiar voice echoing in his head. "Well, well¡­ it has been a while," Alissa said using the telepathic link. "How are you doing, Ryan?" "The same as ever, please don''t say that you just called to ask that," Ryan replied. "Nah, I just returned from a training camp and I heard that you were back," Alissa said. "However, when I searched for your presence, I didn''t find it, so I thought you had tried to chew more than you could bite. I am just checking things, hoping for my chance to adopt Arthur once and for all." "If you really wanted to do that, you would have already done it," Ryan said. "You only didn''t do it because you are smart enough that your position in the front lines will endanger Arthur." "... Enough talking about me, let''s talk about you," Alissa said. "What are you doing in another world again?" "We just started talking about you¡­ and why do you ask as if I have to give you any exnation about my actions?" Ryan asked after sighing. "Well, no matter, you might actually be useful for a change." In the end, Ryan exined to Alissa about his ns. Since he has been making enemies left and right as ofte, it was time to find some ways to speed up his growth while making sure that the number of enemies would keep increasing at singrity''s speed. "So, you can make tamed monsters be dungeon masters and now you have the skills to control them remotely," Alissa said. "Orgar seems pretty impressed here. So, you want to know about monsters that can be useful tamed beasts? I would rmend the Red Falcons; they are pretty good ranged fighters and their mobility is impressive as well. You would be able to fight while using their bodies just fine, the only real problem is that they aren''t that sturdy, but you are quite squishy yourself, so that is fine." "... Where can I find them?" Ryan asked, slightly annoyed. "If you ask nicely, I perhaps might answer," Alissa said, and Ryan could easily imagine her smirking. "I guess I was expecting too much from you¡­" Ryan sighed. "You are as boring as ever," Alissa said. "You can find their dungeon South of Kansas City. Their dungeon has been left alone for a few weeks since they are flying enemies and Mark doesn''t have enough personnel to guard all the dungeons." "What are you doing letting such a dungeon unguarded?" Ryan asked. "It is just a tier two dungeon, so it is fine, besides I can''t imagine a troublesome dungeon master on the other side," Alissa shrugged. "My guys and I are hunting the monsters in Canada; their numbers are starting to be a problem that I can''t overlook. Anyway, I guess I will use my domain stone as well. It looks like around these parts, only you and me can do what has to be done." After saying that, Alissa ended the call. Despite everything, it didn''t look like Alissa was fooling around. In her own way, she was working hard and had grown enough to consider copying Ryan''s actions. "... It looks like Alissa might deserve my trust in the near future, while our modus operandi arepletely opposite, I can''t deny her power and aplishments," Ryan nodded to himself. "Anyway, it is time to tame other birds." Ryan began to Teleport in a quick session since he had never been in Kansas City before. Although he had to stop a few times to use potions, in no time, he reached his destination. Red Falcon Lv 300 Health: 10.000/10.000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 25.000/25.000 Strength: 1500 (+ 100) Dexterity: 2500 (+ 300) Speed: 2500 (+ 200) Intelligence: 2500 (+ 200) Endurance: 1000 Control: 3000 (+ 300) Mentality: 2000 (+ 250) Luck: 500 Recovery: 5000 (+ 500) Willpower: 2000 (+ 150) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Charge Lv 250, Explosive Touch Lv 200, Steel ws Lv 200, Red Missile Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Speed Lv 200, Improved Concentration Lv 200, Improved Intelligence Lv 200 Spells: Explosive Fire Arrow Lv 180, Fly Lv 200, Fire Tornado Lv 200, Explosive Arrow Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 300, Wind Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 150, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Freeze Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 150 "I guess they indeed will be useful for guarding domains, but not for crafting magic weapons," Ryan nodded to himself after using Appraisal. "Ah, that''s right¡­ I need to make some magic rings, with those numbers, I should be able to make and upgrade a lot of them." Ryan had no idea what would make a ring more efficient in terms of status, so he transformed dirt into all kinds of materials. Gold, titanium, silver¡­ while the rarity yed a important part in it, Ryan learned that the time he spent crafting each ring also improved its quality. So, only after creating a set of ten crystal rings, he decided to hunt the red Falcons and use their souls. Crystal Ring Effect: Greatly increases the wearer''s recovery. Recovery + 50 Durability: 50/50 "It turned better than I expected," Ryan smiled in satisfaction. "If I keep improving, I will be able to make better items and if I also improve my patience, someday I will forge one heck of a magic ring¡­ well then, I guess it is time for the hunt." It was time to do some grinding with nonbat skill, while that would take some time for Ryan to achieve, it was something necessary to do. Chapter 457 - New Class Fire Crystal Ring (+ 07) Effect: Greatly increases the wearer''s recovery and increases the power of their attacks by seven percent. Recovery + 85 Durability: 64/64 Ryan couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear after seeing his new rings and their effects. While he wasn''t using many fire-based attacks as ofte, maybe he should consider that from now on. In any case, while the number of Red Falcons was pretty big, they posed no threat to Ryan that had several skills that boosted the power of his ice attacks. The swarm of monsters tried to decimate him, but after a few minutes, they gave up entirely and began to run away from the area. I can''t see any boss, so it has been a while since this dungeon broke," Ryan nodded to himself. "Well, not like the bosses would be that much better than the mobs after they lost their positions in the dungeon." In the end, Ryan headed to the dungeon that was at the center of a mountain and proceeded to beat the crap out of some Red Falcons before taming them. Since he couldn''t think of many dungeons where fire monsters would be highly effective, Ryan only tamed five of them. Training them would be hard since most of their skills already were at a high level, after all. "Their recovery is high, so maybe I should tame a few others and let them join the army in my domain," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "¡­ No, I can''t tame an infinite number of monsters and I should use all of those that I can to be dungeon masters. At least until I obtain some more summoning skills or knowledge about dungeon in which I can obtain more taming-rted skills." Since Ryan was already there, not clearing the dungeon would be a waste. In the end, the boss didn''t put up much of a fight. He was just an oversized version of the Red Falcons, after all. As for the ss¡­ he picked Gunslinger. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Gunmanship. Effect: It passively increases your damage when using firearms by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Gun. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a Magic Gun or a copy of a firearm that you have previously used, the number of weapons that can be summoned increased by one for every ten levels of this skill. Cost: 30 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Improved Luck. Effect: It passively increases your luck by five points per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Those certainly aren''t the best skills I have gotten so far, but they are not that bad, I guess," Ryan shrugged. "It is a pity that I only used that hand cannon so far, though." After summoning some golems and putting some battle machines around the dungeon to keep the Red Falcons poption under control, Ryan returned to his domain. Only to see that Femradiel had already made a mess out of the things. "What the hell is that?" Ryan asked. "A tower for defense purposes," Femradiel said. Femradiel''s tower was basically a group of golems, one standing above the other, and each golem had a battle machine on its shoulders. Ryan realized that he didn''t have monsters that could protect the upperyer of the barrier, and while those "towers" could do that, it looked extremely silly from his perspective. "¡­ Whatever, I suppose I can let you do what you want for the time being," Ryan said. "It will be interesting to see your crazy idea fail miserably." "Thank you as always for the vote of confidence," Femradiel said, visibly annoyed. Ryan noticed that his domain increased a few times since the time he left¡­ even though only a couple of hours had passed. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he should have created his domain in a ce closer to the center of the country. It would take a long while for that to happen, but he truly wanted to cover the whole country with his domain. While Alissa said that she should user her domain stone as well, she was too unpredictable. Besides, he didn''t know if two domains could continue to expand if they block each other''s path. Ryan thought that he would have to endure many things with the world in this situation, but notnd management¡­ "Anyway, I was messing with the monster book and I unlocked the Frozen Slimes," Femradiel said. "They are more or less like me, sturdy but powerful at long ranged attacks. Even better, they can be summoned by tier one dungeons." "Are they really that useful?" Ryan asked and then opened the monster''s book option. Frozen Slime Lv 01 Health: 300/300 Mana: 300/300 Stamina: 300/300 Strength: 60 Dexterity: 60 Speed: 60 Intelligence: 60 Endurance: 60 Control: 60 Mentality: 60 Luck: 60 Recovery: 60 Willpower: 60 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Frozen Arrow Lv 10, Frozen Bullet Lv 10, Ice Wall Lv 10, Frozen Explosion Lv 10 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 20, Freeze Resistance Lv 20 "Their most useful skill is Frozen Explosion, when their health reaches dangerous levels, they can use all their mana to freeze and cause damage to anything around them," Femradiel replied. "That will create an environmentpatible for ice monsters and thus their power will increase faster than usual. Against stupid foes, the self-destruct skill will at the very least grant a kill for our side, even if the frozen slime dies as well." "I guess you have no right to call me nasty," Ryan said while nodding. While it would take a while, a cold environment will also help Ryan and Femradiel in the long run. Although he wanted to be torn on his enemies'' back as soon as possible, Ryan needed to be patient. Tier one monsters won''t bother them all that much. He had to focus on speed and make his dungeon reach tier three as fast as possible. Chapter 458 - Spartan Training "Let''s use them," Ryan dered. Since they were at the very least six times more powerful than the regr slimes, Ryan also had to pay six times more coins to summon them. He also imagined that the more they level up, it will be more expensive to summon frozen slimes, but Ryan couldn''t believe that such a dungeon won''t increase his ie of coins after a while. After all, the monsters that the slimes defeat will grant him extra coins. Regardless, while Ryan was waiting for the dungeon to spawn and his crystal also show itself, he began to train his Red Falcons. It seemed a bit cruel, but he was forced to make those monsters resistant to petrification and curses since they didn''t have those skills. His several crossbows helped a lot with that. "I guess you guys will also need a few spells to train themselves while you guard other domains," Ryan scratched the back of his head. Ryan made his new pets train hard until six in the morning of the next day, and then suddenly, his crystal appeared, and his first dungeon was created. Ryan got quite excited since he could also see the interior of his dungeon. He had selected a called Lemony, which was a ce that conveniently had many fire slimes. However, before he could see how things would proceed for his Frozen Slimes, his domain began to tremble. "Ah¡­ the dungeon breaks," Ryan said. "This is the sixth time¡­" "It isn''t only that¡­" Femradiel said. "Some dungeons appeared around here." "Three?" Ryan asked, surprised. "I didn''t think that many would show up¡­" Hopefully, Ryan''s enemies wouldn''t have noticed what he was nning. As usual, he wanted to cause a massive blow and caught them when their pants were down¡­ Ryan looked in the distance, but he couldn''t see the dungeons. They were at least ten kilometers away from his domain, and Ryan didn''t have enough coins stored to increase the area and still have some left for the barrier. "You should rx a little bit," Femradiel said. "The dungeons just appeared and if they really are aiming for you, not a single monster will leave for a while." "I guess we should strike them back before they build their forces," Ryan said. "I don''t think that is a good idea," Femradiel shook her head. "While it is risky, in the long run, it will be more beneficial to you if they build their strength. Yahiko managed to fend his enemies off after he seeded in defending his domain from four tier three types of monsters. If you win against them in this situation, others will notice and leave you alone for a while. With seven dungeons so close to your domain, you will have a lot of time and resources to build this ce up." Ryan rubbed his chin¡­ it was really a risky n, but if they managed to pull that off, having seven dungeons inside their domain would be beyond amazing. Not only will the domain increase, but Ryan and his army won''t have a shortage of foes to fight defeat. "Well, let''s do that," Ryan said. "Just to be safe, you should hurry up in creating the new familiar, Femradiel. We might need two of you in the battlefield if things go wrong with this choice of ours." "All right then," Femradiel said. "I will be off for the next twenty-four hours. Don''t bother be if you want that to be dyed." Ryan just realized that creating familiars by relying on Femradiel seemed like much a better way to deal with the dungeon master''s crystals in the other worlds. The problem was that she needed too much mana. Ryan also realized that he could have essed the monster''s system when he was using the Steel Eagle body, but he forgot about it. "So many things to do¡­ so little time," Ryan said. "Well¡­ let''s start with something that I can''t forget: gathering intel." Since he had plenty of golems to spare, Ryan sent three of them toward the new dungeons. It was a bit scary to sacrifice those while he uses Animalistic Transference, but he didn''t have any other choice. Leaving his domain at that moment when Femradiel was busy was too risky. When the first golem approached the nearest dungeon, Ryan used Animalistic Transference. However, he didn''t find anything while looking at the entrance¡­ as expected. Things won''t be that easy. Ryan used Animalistic Transferred on the other golems, and he only confirmed the same thing. However, he did notice something else that the dungeons had inmon¡­ the interior was pretty dark and eerie. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan could see some sort of miasma being emanated from the walls, ceiling, and ground. Before Ryan could even think about the new types of enemies he was going to face, he received a call from the telepathic link created by Gustavo, and weirdly enough, everyone already was connected to it. "Let me guess, something happened," Ryan said. "Oh, boy¡­ so you noticed something odd, too?" Gustavo asked. "I just confirmed the arrival of some new dungeons in my country," Alissa said. "Some creatures called doppelgangers are starting to spawn here." "Something simr happened here, but the monsters in question are some skeletons riding other skeletons," Lucas said. "Mammoth skeletons¡­" "It looks like something big is starting to happen¡­ I was going to ask for your help, but it looks like everyone will be busy handling their own situations," Gustavo sighed and then said. "Where you are and what is happening on the region you are, Ryan?" "Well, from where should I start¡­ I just managed to clear the dungeon of a guy who called himself Thanatos and three dungeons appeared next my domain," Ryan replied. "I guess some assholes are targeting my to take over my domain." "That is bad, it is really bad¡­" Gustavo said and then sighed. "I obtained one domain stone, but I decided not to use because I was afraid of that possibility. If things get dire on your end, you should tell us, Ryan. We can''t afford to let the monsters have such a base on our." Chapter 459 - Progress Alissa imagined that it would be easier to find unicorns flying in the sky than wait for Ryan to ask for help. Still, in the end, she didn''t say anything about it. Nothing would change even if she says something, after all. After a while, Gustavo and Lucas left the call, and only Alissa and Ryan were left. "You are in the base, right?" Ryan asked. "How are things in there?" "They just rxed a little bit when I said to them that you dealt with the deserters, but this situation put them on the edge again," Alissa replied. "Do you think these dungeons suddenly spawning is the sign of something troublesome that is about to happen?" "Maybe, I am pretty sure that all the dungeons that appeared now are tier three dungeons, thanks to it, I just realized that it would be more convenient for the dungeon masters to make them spawn only thiste in the game," Ryan replied. "Why?" Alissa frowned. "Think about it, tier three monsters are naturally stronger than others, and some even have special skills that grant them the power to defeat monsters many levels above their own," Ryan exined. "Now that the poption of monsters in our world spiked, those new monsters can level up much faster than the others." "I guess that makes sense¡­ anyway, I am going to check things in that new dungeon," Alissa said. "We don''t want the dungeon master from that ce seducing deserters with their sweet words." Ryan imagined that Yahiko would contact them eventually. Hence, he decided to focus on what he could for the time being, which was to check the situation of the dungeons under his control. It didn''t look like anything changed in the ce where the Steel Eagle was, but Ryan noticed that the dungeon of the Frozen Slimes could level up, and so he made it. Area Lv 13: 20 square milesLevel UP cost: 250.000 coins or 2.500.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 05Level UP cost: 25.000 coins or 250.000 mana Barrier Lv 07 Level UP cost: 15.000 coins or 150.000 mana Army Lv 05 Level UP cost: 11.000 coins or 11.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 02 (15%)Level UP cost:20.000 coins or 200.000 mana Coins stored: 254.365Mana stored: 1.655.842 The cost to summon each Frost Slime increased by five. It wasn''t so bad. However, Ryan got more interested by the fact he could summon an unlimited number of monsters from the book to his domain. The only problem was that they woulde out at the same level they were registered in there, and it looked like they could only level up by making them spawn inside dungeons. "I guess this is something that wille in handyter," Ryan nodded to himself. In any case, Ryan decided to keep his domain in that situation until he finds out what the monsters from those three dungeons could do. Meanwhile, even if that wouldn''t help him all that much, he decided to keep following his schedule and train the Red Falcons. However, since he couldn''t go all out against them, Ryan had plenty of time to spare while the monsters recovered from the pain. Thanks to that, Ryan started to get restless, he had to use every single of his time doing something meaningful, or he might lose it. "I guess I should learn a new summoning skill in order to make sure that his next fight won''t get off the rails," Ryan rubbed his chin while considering what he should do. "Creating a stock of potions with all the essences I am getting now also seems like a good idea¡­ or maybe I should craft some special gear for the golems and make them sturdy." Not knowing what woulde out from these three dungeons really was making Ryan exhausted and putting him on edge. He wanted to send his minions to dispose of those creatures, but he knew that by doing that, he would give the monsters on the enemies'' side the chance to level up. However, letting them build up their numbers was starting to look like a bad idea. "Ah, crap¡­ I am too tense, I need to rx," Ryan said and then took a deep breath. It has been a long while since Ryan felt that the stakes were so high. Probably he only felt like that on the first day the monsters arrived. After getting used to fighting, he learned how to control his emotions, but now he was feeling like that again because he was protecting his domain. Something like that couldn''t fall on the hands of monsters. After taking deep breaths for a few minutes, Ryan calmed down. Failure wasn''t an option, so he didn''t need to think about that. He just needed to focus on doing what he can and find the best way to deal with his enemies. "Well, the problem is that I can''t find the best to fight them, when I don''t know who they are," Ryan said while showing the hint of a smile. "I guess I will just focus on creating better bows and crossbows for the time being." Ryan did precisely that for the next twenty-four hours, leveling up Craft, Auto-Production, and Improved Creation, he created new weapons at a slower pace, but each new weapon was slightly better than the other. Those would certainly be used when he finds some powerful monsters to seal their souls in them. Regardless, Ryan was forced to start when he felt somethinging from the three dungeons at the same time. While the monsters didn''t have much time to get stronger, the fact that they decided to show up at the same time troubled Ryan deeply. By using some drones, Ryan identified the three species of monsters. While they were certainly working together, they didn''t belong to the same dungeon master. They were: Centaur Archers, Giant Skulls, and Minotaurs¡­ Ryan couldn''t find a connection between the monsters. However, he still was one hundred percent sure that the monsters and the dungeon masters were working together. Chapter 460 - Analysis Centaur Archer - Lv 35 Health: 2500/2500 Mana: 4000/4000 Stamina: 4500/4500 Strength: 650 Dexterity: 1500 (+ 350) Speed: 750 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 500 Control: 350 Mentality: 800 Luck: 250 Recovery: 1500 (+200) Willpower: 800 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 75, Dash Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 70, Improved Dexterity Lv 50, Augmented Dexterity Lv 20, Heroic Archery Lv 10 Spells: Quick Legs Lv 30, Haste Lv 10 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 30, Cold Resistance Lv 30, Shock Resistance Lv 30 Giant Skull ¨C Lv 40 Health: 2500/2500 Mana: 5000/5000 Stamina: 1500/1500 Strength: 100 Dexterity: 600 Speed: 250 Intelligence: 2000 Endurance: 500 Control: 750 Mentality: 1200 Luck: 150 Recovery: 2500 Willpower: 1200 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 40, Improved Intelligence Lv 20, Augmented Intelligence Lv 10 Spells: Mana Shield Lv 70, Fire Storm Lv 60, Ice Storm Lv 50 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 40, Cold Resistance Lv 40, Shock Resistance Lv 40 Minotaur ¨C Lv 40 Health: 5000/5000 Mana: 1500/1500 Stamina: 3500/3500 Strength: 1500 (+ 300) Dexterity: 500 Speed: 1200 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 1000 (+300) Control: 300 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 50 Recovery: 2000 Willpower: 1000 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 60 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 40, Herculean Strength Lv 40, Axemanship Lv 40 Spells: Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50 Ryan used Appraisal to confirm some things, but, in the end, despite the weird fact that the monsters'' level wasn''t supposed to be that high, he confirmed what he knew based on their appearances. Centaurs were like humans who had horse-like legs, but their ears were a bit longer and pointy, and they also had a hairy body. The Giant Skulls were exactly that, giant skulls¡­ they could fly around, and they had some red spheres inside them to represent their eyes. Ryan couldn''t identify any other special features in their bodies. As for Minotaurs, they were humanoid bulls that could walk on two legs and had an ax as their weapon¡­ Ryan couldn''t remember many monsters that actually could use weapons. "¡­ They don''t look like undead or poison monsters, so why there is some miasma leaving their dungeon?" Ryan frowned. "Only the Giant Skulls, but there isn''t a skill that determines that in their skill set." Now that he thought about it, Ryan didn''t find anything in the dungeon masters'' menu that could grant him the power to change the environment of the interior of the dungeon that much. He knew that the monsters'' presences could change Earth''s environment, even more so when they be stronger. Still, then again, those three species of monsters didn''t look like they lived in a world like that or possessed that kind of magic attribute. Ryan thought those creatures would immediately attack his domain, but they spread around the area, much to his surprise. While it wasn''t perfect, they managed to create an encirclement and secure some points that looked like they would be advantageous to them. The Centaurs moved to the peak of a mountain. The Giant Skulls positioned themselves in some hills. The Minotaurs just stopped moving when they found a terrain without undtions. After a while, a few other monsters began to leave the dungeons. Ryan thought that the first group that consisted of a few hundred had done something weird to increase their level, like killing each other, but much to his surprise, the others also had the same level of power. "They certainly didn''t use a cheap trick," Femradiel suddenly said. "I am ready, do you wish to sign the contract with another familiar." "¡­ Yeah, better be prepared for all possible scenarios before we start this fight," Ryan nodded after frowning. The ice Wyrm, Fem, wishes to be your familiar. Do you wish to make a pact with her? Y/N. Diel (Electric Drake) ¨C Lv 40 Health: 35.000 Mana: 15.000 Stamina: 25.000 Strength: 2500 Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 1500 Intelligence: 1500 Endurance: 2500 Control: 1000 Mentality: 2000 Luck: 400 Recovery: 10000 Willpower: 2000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills:Electric Touch Lv 50, Electric Charge Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 50, Bronze Skin Lv 40, Steel Skin Lv 30 Spells: Electric Armor Lv 60, Electric Spear Lv 50, Electric Arrow Lv 50 Support Skills: Electric Resistance Lv 200, Wind Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 100 The new familiar was kind of weird. ording to Ryan''s knowledge, the Drake species couldn''t be found in any mythological story about dragons. They were wingless dragons; they could easily move while using their four legs. Since the new familiar was kind of small, it made Ryan recall an armored but slimmer horse. The scales covering its body sometimes even emanated electricity, so Ryan was expecting a lot from it. "This time I decided to make a sturdier familiar," Femradiel said. "While this body doesn''t have much mobility, you can expect that I will be able to draw a lot of the enemies'' aggro and resist for some time while I keep the attention of our foes." "I am more interested in how you learned and leveled up such skills in such a short time," Ryan frowned. "You know that I can do all kinds of things inside you, right?" Femradiel asked. "Training is just one of them." "You make it sound so weird¡­" Ryan frowned even more. "Anyway, I am starting to think that it isn''t a good idea to let those guys build their forces." "You are such a worrywart," Femradiel said. "Well, clearing those dungeons also might help us in the long run, if other dungeon masters think that we aren''t that confident and we are trying to clear the dungeon as fast as possible, they will attack us even more eagerly, thus, we will be able to cover more dungeons in the domain." "For some reason, I think that idea is also quite insane," Ryan said. "You can''tin about insanity," Femradiel said. "After all, you have been making enemies out of legendary creatures left and right." "You got me there," Ryan shrugged. Chapter 461 - The Right Time "Our status hasn''t grown as much as I had expected," Femradiel said while Ryan was making the final preparations for his attack. "You forgot to eat the dragon hearts, didn''t you?" "¡­ No¡­ I was just waiting for the right moment to eat them," Ryan forced a smile. "¡­ While I think that is good that you still can get nervous, you should get your shit together," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "What happened to the cold Ryan that couldn''t care less about the results of his action as long as he survives another day?" "He went on a vacation when he created a perfect ce for the invaders to build their forces," Ryan replied. "No matter what, I can''t let them get this domain." "While that is only obvious, you know that will only happen when you die, right?" Femradiel said. "You should focus on what you can do to not die and by proxy, you will seed in achieving everything else." That was logical¡­ in theory, but now that Ryan thought about it, he started to feel certain things around the time he began to feel more rxed, thanks to Furball and Femradiel. Who could have thought that anger could make you so unaware of some obvious problems like the fear of failure? Regardless, it was time to focus on the fight ahead. While Ryan could attack the enemies from his domain, he decided to expose himself a little more and then wipe out the three groups of monsters at the same time. "Do you think that you can hold back the minotaurs if you use your two bodies?" Ryan asked. "Holding them back should be possible if Ibine the powers of those two bodies, defeating them in a few minutes is another matter altogether," Femradiel replied. "In any case, the set of abilities of those three species of monsters are bothering me." "It is because they could work well together, right?" Ryan asked. "Indeed, and even though they split their forces, they can quickly move and offer support to the other groups if we don''t attack all of them at the same time," Femradiel said. Ryan was aware of that as well. However, not only wasn''t possible to attack the three groups at the same time, but it was also unlikely that he will be able to snipe them. Ryan had imagined some scenarios, and he could easily see them taking ce in the next few minutes. "Well, let''s focus on decreasing their numbers first," Ryan said. "It is not like we need to defeat all of them in a single attack." Femradiel nodded at that. In the end, Ryan gave her some time to get used to controlling two bodies. Ryan imagined that doing that would be like typing at two keyboards with his eyes closed and multiplying that already hard task by ten. When the two familiars left the domain, Ryan gave the order to Furball to stay behind. He needed some countermeasures, after all in case something unexpected happens. However, even before he could do anything, something already happened. The centaurs and giant skulls began to move. "So, they really are going to offer support to each other, huh," Ryan said, a bit annoyed. Ryan used Teleport and appeared a few hundred meters away from the giant skulls. Then he began to attack them with his Spiritualist Crossbow. The monsters summoned their mana shields and blocked all the damage Ryan tried to cause and even nullified the power of his special bolts. In the meantime, the Centaur Archers dashed toward him. Before the skulls'' mana could even reach the midway point, arrows began to rain over Ryan. "I knew it¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance since he had imagined that scenario taking ce. Ryan used Teleport and appeared behind the Centaurs. After summoning his Magic Bows, he made bolts rain over the monsters. However, much to his annoyance¡­ the Giant Skulls used Mana Shields to protect them. "Go on, Buddy," Ryan gave the order to Furball. In just a few seconds, Furball joined the fight and immediately crashed several Giant Skulls. However, before he could cause any real damage to the enemies'' troops, the Giant Skulls divided into two groups, one to offer support to Centaurs who still were trying to hit Ryan and another one to defend the group against Furball. "All right, let''s return," Ryan dered. "Already?" Femradiel asked. "I didn''t have to kill even a single one here." "It is fine," Ryan said. "Let''s adapt our strategy with the knowledge we obtained now." Using Teleport, Ryan brought back Furball and Femradiel to his domain. After using some potions to restore their mana, Ryan also used some STR potions to increase Furball''s physical damage and INT potions to boost Femradiel''s power. "Is that it?" Femradiel frowned. "No, there is something else," Ryan replied. "Try to charge some attacks, I will teleport you to the back of the Minotaurs." "Isn''t it a bit too soon to show them that you can do that?" Femradiel asked. "It doesn''t matter, I have other tricks up my sleeve and I think it will be more effective to let them wonder which one we will use afterward." Femradiel began to charge Niffelheim, and then when the time came, Ryan teleported her toward the Minotaurs back. When she unleashed her spell, only a few dozen monsters turned into ice statues. Still, then they broke into species when her other body, enveloped by electricity, charged at them. With lightning speed, the Minotaurs reached to their assault and immediately turned around and assumed defensive stances. Ryan watched all of them from above and learned another thing¡­ After using Teleport again, Ryan returned to his domain and brought with him the two familiars. "Did you notice that?" Femradiel asked. "Yep¡­ they responded too fast to that attack," Ryan nodded with a serious expression on his face. "They looked like machines¡­ machines that were being controlledpletely by something else." ss: Hunter Lv 96 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 70 (+ 05 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 66th Health: 2850/2850 (7,02/s) Mana: 4455/4455 (7,02/s) Stamina: 4584/4584 (7,02/s) Strength: 31 (+186) (+130) Dexterity: 3250 (+2990) (+220) Speed: 320 (+1365) (+48) Intelligence: 381 (+1050) (+33) Endurance: 128 (+162) (+160) Control: 226 (+1504) (+10) Mentality: 208 (+79) (+70) Luck: 320 (+25) Recovery: 1500 (+1872) (+845) Willpower: 230 (+71) (+40) Coins: 17.452.365 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Hawkeye Lv 58 (+ 05 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 77 (+ 03 UP), Focus Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Improved Intelligence Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Beasts'' Ally Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Gunmanship Lv 01, Improved Luck Lv 01, Spells: Teleport Lv 29 (+ 05 UP) Fireball Lv 01, Earth Wall Lv 01, Wind de Lv 01, Blessing Lv 01, Prayer Lv 01, Dy Lv 01, Ice Prison Lv 01, Animalistic Link Lv 01, Animalistic Transference Lv 01, Magic Gun Lv 01 Support Skills: Improved Creation Lv 09 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 71 (+ 04 UP), Beastmaster Lv 56 (+ 03 UP), Archer Lv 90 (+ 03 UP), Combat Archer Lv 84 (+ 04 UP), Weapons Master Lv 59 (+ 05 UP), Sentinel Lv 48 (+ 05 UP), Mage Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Cleric Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), and Wizard Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Tamer Lv 01, Gunslinger Lv 01 Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 40 (+ 03 UP), Whitesmith Lv 22 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 40 (+ 02 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 462 - Interference Ryan and Femradiel were one hundred percent sure that the dungeon masters were participating indirectly in that fight. It was hard to understand how they could control so many monsters at the same time like that, but Ryan had a weaker version of the spell that they were using to do that. It was Animalistic Transference. "I am pretty sure that the dungeon masters are using a skill much more advanced than that," Femradiel said. "The brain of all living things has limits, you can givemands to all of your golems, but they can only follow at the same pace to a certain extent. Maybe it is illusion magic." "In the end, it doesn''t matter how the dungeon masters are interfering," Ryan said. "We probably can''t cut their link between them and the monsters and there is also the fact that they are getting stronger the more they fight us. So, we need to be fast, precise, and destructive." "So¡­" Femradiel said. "I won''t use Draconic Transformation," Ryan said. "If I rely on that every time something troublesome happens, I will never obtain true strength." "You always have to make everything moreplicated," Femradiel shrugged. "We put some restrictions on ourselves, we can be stronger faster," Ryan said. "Or do you really need to use all of your power to defeat small fries such as them." "Don''t try to appeal to my pride," Femradiel said. "Did you forget that you destroyed it?" "I believe most things can be recovered or repaired," Ryan replied. "You should try to recover your pride, or at least a small portion of it in this fight." Femradiel recognized that Ryan wasn''t just saying empty words. He truly meant that. While it was only natural that it would make her try harder, the same thing could be applied for Ryan. His pride was quite damaged since he got his ass kicked several times in thest six months. In some battles, he only survived due to extremely useful skills such as Power of Money. Despite the severity of the situation, Ryan caught himself smiling. His worries more or less had disappeared because that was a chance like no other. Beating his foes with brute strength was fun. Overpowering them was quite satisfying as well, but nothing could bepared to what Ryan could do right now¡­ defeat his enemies at their own game. Thanks to his domain, Ryan will have to defeat his foes by relying on his brawn and brain from that point onward. "What is the next step?" Femradiel asked. "Annoy the hell out of our enemies," Ryan said. "If they think by working together and relying on strategy, they can defeat us, they are dead wrong." "What should I do?" Femradiel asked. "Just focus on strengthening your familiar forms," Ryan said while he was gathering the iron ores that the monsters in by his golems dropped. "My elemental enchantments are kind of weak, but if you can buff those bad boys with your magic, you can do that." "I think it is pretty early for you to rely on tricks," Femradiel frowned. "I told you before, we must make them worry about what we are going to do next," Ryan said. "Once that happens, they will start to get nervous and make mistakes. After that, they will be easy targets." Femradiel wasn''t quite sure that he wanted to win like that, but in the end, she did as she was told and enchanted Ryan''s battle machines with ice and electricity. Although they were rtively weak, Ryan decided to focus on decreasing the number of the Giant Skulls first since they could offer support to the other monsters. When Ryan teleported, a small tower filled with buffed battle machines, he couldn''t help but smirk when the monsters froze and were electrocuted at the same time. They couldn''t use their defensive spells when they were receiving elemental damage capable of preventing them from moving. You obtained 100 coins. You obtained 100 coins. You obtained 100 coins. ¡­ In the end, dozens of Giant Skulls died thanks to Ryan''s attack. Almost half of them were killed, and the other half only survived because the Centaur Archers came to their rescue. "Ah, that was refreshing," Ryan grinned from ear to ear. "You can''t rx just yet," Femradiel said while looking at one of the dungeons. Ryan looked in that direction, only to see a group of fifty Giant Skulls leaving. It was obvious that they were going to take the ce of the fallen monsters, but that didn''t trouble Ryan in the slightest. Ryan began to make another tower of battle machine, and that made Ryan frown since the monsters would be waiting for something like that. However, naturally, Ryan wouldn''t do the same thing. He didn''t even ask Femradiel to buff the battle machines. After teleporting the tower to the middle of the Giant Skulls again, the monsters reacted on time to protect themselves. However, when the Centaur Archers moved from their position, Ryan, Furball, and Femradiel appeared behind them and bombarded the stupid monsters with magic projectiles. Ryan summoned several copies of his Titanium Electric Bow in order to make sure that the Centaurs won''t have many chances to react, and just like before, dozens of those monsters died. "Ah, I love this mobility," Ryan said after returning to his domain. "I guess I owe Yahiko a lot¡­ just clearing four dungeons shouldn''t be enough to pay for a spell like this." "I hate to say this, but while hit-and-run tactics are useful in this kind of situation, I can''t see myself getting stronger," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded. In the end, not even Furball was having the chance to eat the monsters'' bodies. Ryan didn''t have the chance to make magic weapons with their souls either¡­ it looked like he had to change his tactics a little bit again. "All right, I guess with the two familiars and Furball, we have a decent front line," Ryan said. "I will let you guys run wild while I offer some support from the backline." Chapter 463 - Ominous Femradiel wanted to use her body a little more to feel herself getting stronger, and Ryan decided to give her that chance since it would more or less solve the other problems. It wasn''t the wisest idea, but Ryan gave a golem the rights to be a temporary dungeon master. The creature wouldn''t do anything without Ryan''smands, so that was fine. After that, he sent his army of golems toward the Giant Skulls. Even from very far away, where their attacks couldn''t hit the monsters with precision, the golems began to fire Stone Bullets. Obviously, the Centaur Archers and the Minotaurs proceeded to help them, but Ryan, Furball, and Femradiel blocked the path of the Minotaurs. The monsters charged at them since that was a golden chance, but those three creatures easily made the Minotaurs fly, after Ryan petrified their arms with magic copies of his Petrification Crossbow. Not only the monsters lost their ability to wield axes, but they also suffered severe damage when their petrified arms broke and became dust. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 120 coins. ¡­ However, many Minotaurs managed tond several hits on Ryan''s pets'' bodies despite the rampage. Despite the difference in level, the wounds were piling up. "Are you happy now?" Ryan asked. "Use Full-Heal!" Femradiel raised her voice. "¡­ Don''t give me orders, geez," Ryan said after sighing and then healed his pets. With renewed vigor, his pets rampaged in the middle of the Minotaurs. Those creatures didn''t even notice Ryan flying above them, firing petrification bolts with so much ease that he couldn''t help but frown. Seeing Furball biting and then munching the arms of some monsters even made him frown more. Ryan used that chance to use Seal on some Minotaurs, but theirpatibility with long-ranged weapons wasn''t that good. So, Ryan didn''t obtain any decent crossbow. Fortunately, they defeated one hundred Minotaurs before half of Ryan''s golems could be defeated. They weren''t that strong, but since they were sturdy, they could work well as a pretty decent wall. When Ryan and the others returned to the domain alongside the golems, their forces had decreased to four-tenths of the original size. Still, since they obtained some corpses to feed Furball and magic items to extract mana, Ryan felt that they had gained more than they lost. "More Minotaurs are leaving their dungeon, fifty of them," Femradiel said. "I guess it is safe to assume that their dungeon already reached level fifty," Ryan said while he was summoning more golems. "Do you have any idea how they leveled up that fast, Femradiel?" "If I have to guess, I would say that the dungeon master took over the boss''s body and made his minions attack him," Femradiel replied. "If the dungeon master focuses on healing itself, they shouldst for quite a while, that would grant a few levels to the monsters and so the dungeon. Once the boss dies, the monsters would level up many times more as well." "Like that, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess we should do that and level up our dungeon¡­ ah, crap. I forgot to check the level of the dungeon." Much to Ryan''s surprise, the experience obtained by the frozen slimes could keep umting even when they didn''t level up. So, in a single moment, he made them level up from two to level four. "I guess it is time to deal thest blow to the Minotaurs," Ryan said. "I don''t think it will be that easy," Femradiel said. Ryan soon realized what Femradiel meant by that. He saw a new group of Centaurs and Giant Skulls leaving their respective dungeons, and they headed straight to the Minotaurs. After that, the other two parties also joined them. Ryan couldn''t believe that they decided to stay together like that. "Are they stupid?" Ryan frowned. "They didn''t realize that their dungeons arepletely unprotected like this?" "I guess the dungeon masters don''t think that we know that they probably sacrificed the bosses to increase the level of the dungeon," Femradiel said. "In any case, the bosses will return eventually, but we can''t just assume that the dungeons are unprotected. They must have left some troops behind to guard the crystal." That made sense. If the dungeon masters managed to level up their troops only by sacrificing the bosses, then at least a few more hundred monsters were waiting for them inside it¡­ they were trying to bait Ryan. "I guess I am not the only one who can use mind games in this scenario," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still, that also means that even if we defeat all the troops outside, we will face some other hundreds inside the dungeon." "That is very likely," Femradiel nodded. "They will try to buy time in order for the bosses to spawn again." Ryan wasn''t so sure if the level fifty bosses of those species would be much of a threat, but then if the dungeon masters keep using them to strengthen their troops¡­ then Ryan couldn''t waste any time. "Defeating three hundred fifty of monsters like that won''t be easy, and I also need to keep my focus on the dungeon," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess there is no other choice." "Is it time for Draconic Transformation?" Femradiel asked. "¡­ Why do you want to see me using that skill so badly?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "Because if you do that, I can imagine myself getting rid of those pests," Femradiel said. "I miss a little bit my old form, after all." "I can''t understand that, since my version is more ominous," Ryan frowned. "¡­ Anyway, I don''t want to choose the easy way out. I guess this time I will destroy their formation by going melee." Ryan could use a charged Power Shot to cause devastating damage, but unless he gets really close, the Giant Skulls will react on time, and if he gets close, his own attack might kill him. However, there was another way to do that without risking his life¡­ and that was by starting a melee fight. Chapter 464 - New Crossbows After charging for several minutes Concentrated Strike, Ryan activated all the buffs that increased his strength and then teleported himself, Femradiel, and Furball to the middle of the enemies'' camp. Well, he actually teleported his allies to a few dozens of meters above the camp and then he punched a Giant Skull. His attack easily turned the monster into dust and created a shockwave that damaged the other creatures'' around while knocking down some of the Centaurs. In the end, he broke his fist but quickly healed after he summoned his magic weapons and made them spin and crush the monsters around. When the monsters finally recovered from Ryan''s attacks, they were stunned by Femradiel and Furball''s arrival. Using the ice Wyrm, Femradiel froze the whole terrain, and then Furball and the Electric Drake electrocuted pretty much everything around them. Ryan activated Deadly Aim and didn''t hold back in the use of mana. In seconds, hundreds of monsters died. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 100 coins. You obtained 90 coins. ¡­ The monsters tried to organize themselves to face Ryan''s group, but then Femradiel used Niffelheim and froze their legs. When some of them finally freed themselves from the spell, Ryan had petrified their arms or legs. Suddenly, upon noticing their imminent doom, the monsters decided to go all-out without caring about their safety or from their allies. The Giant Skulls cast Fire Tornadoes and Ice Tornadoes, and the Centaur Archers fired Power Shot after Power Shot. "Just try to endure it," Ryan said and then cast Mana Shield on everyone. "Femradiel, try to knock down the Giant Skulls and the Centaurs. I will finish off the Minotaurs." "They are being controlled, the only way to do that is by freezing them," Femradiel said. "They turn them into ice cream," Ryan said and then pointed several of his Magic Bows toward the Minotaurs and proceeded to bombard them while ignoring their attacks. Ryan focused on speed and the special effects of his weapons to decimate his foes, but even though he relied on the buffs that increased his defense when the battle ended, he was covered in blood. His own blood¡­ that was rare. He used Full-Heal to close the wounds, but he still felt his body burning for quite a while. Furball and Femradiel''s familiars didn''t look much better, but they weren''tining. In fact, Furball was eating Minotaurs as if his body covered in blood was just a minor nuisance. "Good work," Ryan said while looking at the ice status that Femradiel made to help Ryan. "It has been a while since you felt your life in danger, so how do you feel now?" "A bit refreshed and annoyed," Femradiel replied. "Refreshed because this was a good exercise and annoyed because these small fries caused me so much trouble." "Don''t feel too bad about it," Ryan said. "We are facing three dungeon masters, after all." Skull Crossbow (Ghost) (+7) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that might damage your foes mana and health by the same amount. Dexterity + 210, Intelligence + 119 Durability: 90/90 Extermination Crossbow (+7) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that causes twenty percent more damage when the target belongs to the Centaur race. Dexterity + 210, Intelligence + 119 Durability: 90/90 "Well¡­ not bad, I guess," Ryan frowned slightly. "It seems you don''t like sses and weapons that are only good against a certain type of enemy," Femradiel said. "I suppose¡­ my memory isn''t that good, so if this type of weapon keepsing, I will probably forget some of them," Ryan said. "I prefer special weapons that are hard to forget like the Spiritualist''s Crossbow." Regardless, it was time to separate the loot, but Ryan and the others didn''t find many useful items. As for tomes, he used most of them to power up Furball. Only a single one of them picked Ryan''s interest. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Improved Recovery. Effect: It passively increases your recovery by five points per level. You obtained 01 status points. "It is kind of weird that I learned a racial skill that is better than this early on," Ryan frowned. "I guess I need more monsters'' DNA, but those are incredibly hard to find." During the whole fight and even while he was gathering the loot, Ryan and Femradiel didn''t feel anything weirding from the dungeons. It looked like the n of the dungeon masters to build an army outside the dungeons backfired splendidly, and now they wanted to y it safe. Not that Ryan would let them. "What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "We can''t leave the domain alone, so I guess I will have to stay behind in my Drake form," Femradiel replied. "If I were you, I would use the Extermination Crossbow and try to clear the centaurs'' dungeon first, but in the end, it is your call." "I guess I will do that, then," Ryan said. "How unusual of you to obediently follow my advice," Femradiel said. "It is just obviously more efficient that way," Ryan said. "Anyway, don''t do anything with the domain that I wouldn''t do." Since monsters couldn''t enter other dungeons when they were in other worlds, Ryan was confident that he wouldn''t be attacked from behind. So, he entered the dungeon without hesitating, but in the end, he had to stop because the miasma was damaging him and decreasing his status. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Curse Resistance has leveled up. "Those are some pretty powerful poison and curse, given that this dungeon only appeared yesterday," Ryan frowned. "Maybe it was thanks to this that the monsters leveled up more than a few times¡­ even if this isn''t the sole region, it certainly helped them." Ryan had trained Furball to withstand curses and poisons since he could use those. As for the Wyrm, he seemed a bit down. While Femradiel controlled that body, she probably won''t talk much since she had to keep an eye on the other dungeons. Chapter 465 - New Class After a while, Ryan confirmed his suspicions. The monsters were obviously gathering themselves in thest part of the dungeon. That became evident since Ryan didn''t find a single monster while the path was going downward in a spiral for several minutes. "It has be like a normtely to fight in an underground massive arena," Ryan sighed after considering that possibility. "Even with this crossbow, it might be troublesome to fight against hundreds of archers." With Draconic Transformation, hundreds of Centaur Archers at that level wouldn''t be a problem, but since that was out of option, Ryan was thinking about what to do in case he finds himself in that situation. In the end, Ryan''s worries were confirmed in reality. He saw a massive arena-like room in front of him and hundreds of centaurs in front of him and pulling their bow''s strings. Ryan escaped before hundreds of arrows could pierce him by using Teleport, but his mood didn''t improve. "Now, what?" Ryan asked. Overpowering the enemies alongside Furball and Wyrm didn''t seem like an impossible feat. In fact, Ryan was confident that he could do it alone if he chooses the right skills, but doing that wouldn''t be enough. Just like before, he had to defeat his enemies in their own games and in the most satisfying way possible. Ryan smiled when he recalled that he already had the tools to deal with that situation in the way he wanted, making his enemies look like fools. He probably could improve that strategy, but he decided to hurry up since he didn''t want to fight the boss when many minions were around. After equipping his shield, Ryan returned to thest part of the dungeon and then received a storm of arrows. He had a hard time holding back the shield, but he endured all the pressure thanks to Telekinesis. Just as expected, the Centaur received some damage of their own attacks, and Ryan used that chance to attack the monsters with his magic bows. Even though most of the monsters survived his attacks since he focused on hitting all of them, Wyrm used that chance to finish off some and freeze others. When Ryanpleted the first wave of attacks, the Centaurs looked at him, and he could see the same annoyed look on their faces. It was only natural since Ryan destroyed the shoulder of their dominant arms, and now, they didn''t have the power to fight back. "Hey, is anyone there?" Ryan asked. "There is someone controlling those monsters, right? Anyway, thanks for creating a dungeon so close to my domain, thanks to you, it will grow a lot. Before u forget, don''t try to invade Earth again, or try to kill me, all right? I will leave your world alone for the time being, but if you decide to be annoying, I will destroy you and your world before you can even understand what happened." Ryan knew that he was pretty bold, but he needed to make at least his enemies annoyed, or they will keep looking down on him and humanity. In any case, he thought he would hear something from the mouth of the dungeon master, but nothing happened. "I guess I was mistaken," Ryan frowned. "Someone who threw their pride aside a d joined forces with others to defeat a single foe wouldn''t fall for that taunt." The Centaurs dashed toward Ryan. Even though they couldn''t use their bows, they still have their bodies. Ryan teleported himself and Wyrm to the dungeon''s ceiling and, while flying, began to finish off the monsters. Although that result was kind of obvious given the fact that the Centaurs were working with two other species, Ryan couldn''t help but feel that something was off¡­ The fight ended too easily. "Something doesn''t smell good here¡­ and it isn''t the miasma," Ryan frowned. Ryan couldn''t shake that feeling off, but in the end, he decided not to waste too much time about things he couldn''t understand. After summoning hundreds of golems and giving them the order to smash everything that appears in there with Stone Bullets, Ryan finally headed toward the treasure chest. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: me Swordsman, Bounty Hunter, and Toxic Wizard. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction since he couldn''t recall seeing those sses before. Although the sses themselves didn''t look that amazing, at least they belonged to the third tier. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Bounty Hunter! You obtained the following skills: Evading Shot, Hunt, and Bounty. Your stamina and dexterity will increase by six points, your health, mana, control, and speed will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Evading Shot. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a special arrow that will instantly move a few meters backward. The distance crossed after firing is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten meters. Cost: 40 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hunt. Effect: It passively increases your dexterity every minute when you fight the same enemy. The bonus of dexterity will disappear once you change your target or the foe dies. The bonus in dexterity will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bounty. Effect: It increases the number of coins you can receive based on the difference of strength between you and your foes. You obtained 01 status point. Evading Shot seemed pretty neat since Ryan couldn''t see a limit to its use, and Hunt would also help him a lot when fighting formidable enemies. Since now he is a dungeon master, Ryan probably didn''t have to worry all that much about coins, but as usual, he would wee all of them. Chapter 466 - They Are Back Ryan expected to see an army of monsters waiting for him at the exit of the dungeon, but he didn''t find anything. In order to prevent a fight against a boss and their underlings, Ryan decided to clear the next dungeons as fast as possible, but just when he was about to enter the Giant Skull''s dungeon, Femradiel called him. "We have a problem," Femradiel said. " An army of lizards areing from the East." "What?" Ryan asked in confusion. That timing was weird¡­ Why would another party try to attack him at such a time? By the look of things, Ryan assumed the lizards weren''t working with the dungeon masters that tried to take his domain, but Ryan was quite sure they were equally troublesome. When Ryan returned to his domain, he saw the army of lizards that Femradiel had said. He knew that army very well¡­ They were the lizards he defeated before when he got his pair of two long fire swords. The same guy who gave the swords to him was leading the army. "Echidna''s minions¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "To think they would show up right now¡­" Eci ¨C Lv 285 Health: 12500/12500 Mana: 8000/8000 Stamina: 12000/12000 Strength: 1750 (+250) Dexterity: 350 (+100) Speed: 900 (+150) Intelligence: 1550 (+300) Endurance: 1600 (+250) Control: 950 (+150) Mentality: 1350 (+250) Luck: 800 Recovery: 6000 (+1050) Willpower: 1100 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Furious Charge Lv 200, Freezing Touch Lv 120 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 190, Swordsmanship Lv 180 Spells: Water Spear Lv 180, Ice Spear Lv 120, Water Maniption Lv 100, Water Transformation Lv 80 Support Skills: Water Resistance Lv 220, Wind Resistance Lv 160, Shock Resistance Lv 150 Much to Ryan''s surprise, before he could think of how to proceed, the leader of the lizards recognized Ryan, and his face distorted in anger. "How weird¡­ did theye without knowing that I was here?" Ryan frowned. "Femradiel, the presence of the domains can be felt like dungeons?" Yes, the crystal you have and the crystal that can be found inside the dungeons emit the same presence," Femradiel replied. In any case, that didn''t matter all that much. The reptilians hade to take over his domain, and Ryan had to kill them for getting on his way once again. However, the fact that once they die, the bosses will inform Echidna was troubling. If she sends other creatures to hunt him like Cerberus, Ryan couldn''t imagine enduring for long. "Femradiel, you should focus on decreasing the number of Minotaurs and Giant Skulls," Ryan said. "You can use as many potions as you want, just make sure to open a path for my next sses." "It looks like you have a story with those guys," Femradiel said. "Just try not to get worked up, all right?" Ryan wouldn''t let that happen since he was too confused to get angry. Eci had be too strong ifpared to a few months ago, but what surprised Ryan even more was that he had skills that surpassed level one hundred. Ryan had Passive Recovery, but he only could level it up until it reached level one hundred. For a second, Ryan thought that the Reptilians would stop and fall back since their leader recognized Ryan, and thest time they fought, Ryan kicked his ass, but much to his surprise, Eci didn''t want to retreat. Once his troops got close enough, he gave them the order to enter formation while some of them were setting their camp. Unlike other stupid monsters, the Reptilians wanted the domain by usingmon war tactics. Ryan decided that they would fight like that because they wouldn''t receive support from other of Echidna''s minions, which was weird since a domain was supposed to greatly interest her. "Well, it doesn''t matter," Ryan shrugged. "Stay here, buddy and look after our yground. I am going to say hi to our temporary neighbors." Ryan summoned his Magic Bows, making several copies of the Fire Master Crossbow, and then immediately proceeded to charge several Power Shots as well. Using his most useful skill at the start of a fight didn''t seem like the wisest idea, but it wasn''t like the Reptilians could do anything against that. Besides, Ryan couldn''t imagine a better moment to explode hundreds of enemies. After using Teleport, Ryan appeared a few hundred meters above the Reptilian''s army. From that position, he finally could see how well prepared they were. They really hade ready for a war. Ryan could see several carts filled with supplies and many tents that had been set in a question of seconds. "I can''t leave those alone¡­ I guess I will have to stay here for a while longer," Ryan said after sighing. Ryan fired his magic projectiles and instantly decimated hundreds of Reptilians when the magic bolts hit the ground and caused massive explosions. Instead of celebrating his sessful ambush, Ryan proceeded to attack and destroy the tents alongside the supplies of the enemy. However, he didn''t have much time to do that. Hundreds of Ice Spears were fired toward him. Even the gravely wounded Reptilians were trying to ignore their pain and kill Ryan. After dodging the attacks while flying around, Ryan kept aiming at the supplies. In the end, Ryan quickly destroyed everything they had brought, but Ryan also realized they didn''t bring much, to begin with. "Since they are ready for a war, I guess they will have a steady line of supplies¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then decided to retreat. "I only dyed their ns for a day¡­ I should have focused on decreasing their numbers." When he returned to his domain, Ryan analyzed his memories. From above, he had seen more or less twenty battalions. It wasn''t a big number given that the Reptilians had the chance to increase their numbers for three months non-stop, but that doesn''t mean only them will participate in the fight. If otherse just like the supply line Ryan had imagined, the barrier won''tst long¡­ Chapter 467 - Even More To win that fight, Ryan knew that he couldn''t give the Reptilians the chance to attack. Even though they weren''t real mages, their magic attacks could cause a lot of damage to the barrier with those numbers. He had to keep them in check by ambushing them as much as possible. However, it looked like that wouldn''t be possible. As soon as they recovered to some extent from the first ambush, the Reptilians began to create massive walls of ice protecting the army from all angles. From above, the sides, their front, and their backs. "That consumed a lot of their mana, given their recovery, I have ten minutes to do something," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "They won''t be able to attack me for the next few minutes, after all." Ryan considered forming some squads of golems and destroying those walls, but the golems really weren''t suited for that kind of task. Even if he uses Teleport to help them with some mobility, they weren''t really that good at causing damage from a distance. "I miss the days where I was the attacker, not the defender¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. The Reptilians were three miles away from Ryan''s domain, so they were within his range. This time Ryan decided not to rely on tricks or strategy since the enemies were in an open terrain in front of him. Besides, given that more Reptilians were probably going to appear the next few days, Ryan''s bag of cheap tricks was bound to end. Instead of showing everything he could do to an enemy he would fight for many more days, he decided to just attack directly. Instead of summoning several Magic Bows, Ryan just equipped his Fire Master Crossbow and bent his right knee to assume afortable firing position. Now that he thought about it, that was the best way to keep his main sses leveled. Using a single weapon and only relying on mana to create projectiles. Without wasting any more time, Ryan activated Reptilian Transformation and Firing Posture. Dozens of fire bolts flew and exploded when they collided against the ice wall blocking their path. In the end, it didn''tst for long, and the Reptilians began to be hit by the bolts and die in the droves. Those in other battalions tried to help them. Still, before they could create any decent defense, Ryan destroyed everything on the paths of his bolts. In the end, returning to his original fighting style wasn''t so bad¡­ "How are things on your end?" Femradiel suddenly asked. "I hate to admit this, but it looks like I am going to stay here for a while. The boss just spawned and I barely can defeat more monsters than the dungeon can spawn." "I will manage," Ryan replied. "Shall I send Furball to offer some support?" "For the time being, that isn''t necessary," Femradiel replied. "Although I will probably need his help once I decrease the number of monsters in this dungeon. I will have to leave one of my bodies here and I won''t be able to do the same in the others with one body alone. Even though my strength is currently increasing at a pretty decent pace." "You should return and grab some battle machines to help you a little," Ryan said. "That would only make me feel more miserable," Femradiel said. Ryan wasn''t the only one who had some leeway to care about their pride while fighting. In the end, since that was the case, he couldn''t just force Femradiel to do what he wanted, even if he had that power. In the end, before Ryan could wipe out a single battalion, the group that he had been attacking decided to retreat. The other battalions on the side took the ce of that one and quickly created an ice wall. Ryan couldn''t help but frown at that. They should know better than something like that wouldn''t stop Ryan. Although he felt like that was a bit like moving away from his current goal, Ryan aligned all his DEX potions and then used all of them. Hundreds of potions easily tripled his max dexterity. Without wasting any time, he began to relentlessly attack the Reptilians again. This time each kick of the crossbow caused immense pain on Ryan''s right shoulder, but he endured it while smiling. How could he not? His bolts annihted the ice walls and the thousand Reptilians in front of him. In just a couple of minutes, almost ten thousand of them died, and Eci was forced to make his army retreat. In the end, Ryan killed a few hundred more, but he was forced to stop when the effect of his potions ended, and he barely could feel his right shoulder. Even after Ryan used Full-Heal, he could see a blue bruise in there¡­ a sign that all muscles and bones in that area had been deeply damaged and would take a while to fully recover. Congrattions! Your ss Hunter had reached the max level! Reach the max level with two other sses to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. Ryan, who didn''t even want to look for the loot right now due to the exhaustion and the pain on his shoulder, was forced to get up. In the end, it looked like sses could only reach level one hundred. That was too bad, but the prospect of obtaining a special ss every time three of his ss reaches the max level wasn''t. Moreover, Ryan just learned that some potions could even help his ss level up faster. Although he killed ten thousand Reptilians, he shouldn''t have made his first-ss level up four times on such a short notice¡­ "Well, I have another method to obtain power, but I guess first I need to obtain a certain ss to prevent situations like this to surprise me, again," Ryan nodded to himself. "I need irvoyance." Chapter 468 - Fire Golem Although Ryan was the one who caused that mess, he didn''t feel anything while looking at the red battlefield filled with blood and pieces of flesh that once belonged to the Reptilians'' bodies. Was that a sign that he had be a battle-hardened warrior, or it just proved that Ryan''s mind was really a mess? He couldn''t tell which option was the correct one. "Oh, boy¡­ finally I got lucky," Ryan smiled in satisfaction after finding a single tome that made him ignore all the pile of crap that was the loot he obtained. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Fire Golem. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a special variation of the original golem. Cost: 2500 mana You obtained 01 status points. Fire Golem ¨C Lv 01 Health: 500/500 Mana: 500/500 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 500 Dexterity: 200 Speed: 100 Intelligence: 800 Endurance: 500 Control: 200 Mentality: 500 Luck: 100 Recovery: 500 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Charge Lv 15, Self Destruction Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 20, Focus Lv 20 Spells: Fire Arrow Lv 20, Explosive Arrow Lv 10, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 50, Fire Resistance Lv 50 "Not bad, not bad at all," Ryan grinned from ear to ear. While Ryan will have to use more mana to summon the fire golems, they were obviously much better than the ordinary ones. Not only their overall recovery will increase the pace at which the mana obtained by his domain will increase, but they will also cause a lot of damage in a vast area with Self-Destruction. In fact, Ryan was already imagining using them as suicide minions on the battlefield since they could easily disrupt even the most organized troops. Ryan decided to check things with Femradiel, but he stopped when he felt a tremoring from the Centaurs dungeon. He used Animalistic Transference only to confirm that the boss spawned and was killed by the golems. However, the bastard killed dozens of them before finally getting crushed by their sheer numbers. "After filling my army with the fire golems, I guess I will make them guard the dungeons," Ryan said. "I need to make sure that they won''t have even a single second to get stronger." Although that wasn''t a matter rted to it, Ryan just had an idea on how to use something simr to irvoyance. He just needed to make the Red Falcons fly around the area and then use Animalistic Transference now and then. At the very least, that would solve the problem until he gets the real skill. "How are things in your end, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "You look less tense and angry¡­ did you already defeat that army?" Femradiel asked. "Yes and for thest time, don''t answer a question with another question¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I just learned some interesting things as well." "Well, good for you," Femradiel said. "I believe I am making some progress here, but I will need some more time." I know that you want to get your new sses as fast as possible, but this is an opportunity for me like no other. The level of difficulty in this dungeon is just right for these bodies." "You do realize that by taking your time, you are giving the enemy the chance to level up as well, right?" Ryan asked. "I know, I know," Femradiel said. "But trust me, we will gain more from this tha them. If my calctions are right, in less than a month those two bodies will be as strong as my old self." While that was interesting, it was also a bit troublesome for Ryan. He wanted to level up his new sses since that initial boost was very useful. Still, in the end, he decided to let Femradiel do what she wanted. While new sses were always wee, Ryan wanted to train his archer-rted sses and make them reach the max level to see what may happen. Based on his predictions, the sacrificed sses will probably y an important role in the selection of the special ss. "What are you going to do about the third dungeon?" Ryan asked. "I was going to ask you to buy a healing time for my Drake form," Femradiel said. "Soon my Wyrm form will be able to fight alone here, so¡­" "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I will buy two tomes of Heal, since I am actually getting a lot of coins while you are fighting there." By doing that, Femradiel''s two bodies now could take care of two-tier three dungeons by themselves. It was really convenient to be able to use two bodies and get stronger at the same time¡­ that kind of thing made Ryan consider another hypothesis. "Hey, Femradiel¡­ even if the monsters of a dungeon dies, the dungeon master still receives coins for some reason," Ryan said. "Also, even if they don''t do much, the bosses and other monsters that are defeated instantly also receive some experience, like their resistances to a certain attack increase when suffering a overkill¡­ doesn''t that mean that creating a dungeon in the middle of a powerful enemy territory isn''t a pretty good way to level up a dungeon?" "... Now that you mentioned¡­ I frowned when the Giant Skulls leveled up a while ago even though I dodged all their attacks," Femradiel hesitated. "I guess your assumptions aren''t that off the mark." Ryan facepalmed. In the end, despite the fact that he won the fight against those three species of monsters, they will reach at least one of their goals, which was to make their dungeon reach max level as fast as possible. Just like in games, people and monsters had to fight strong beings to be stronger as well. Since Ryan could clear tier-three dungeons with rtive ease, he was obviously the perfect target for some monsters. Move Over, his set of skills was pretty diversified¡­ so, he couldn''t help but sigh, imagining that his existence alone was helping some monsters. Chapter 469 - Trap Although Ryan noticed that having a domain was also a bit problematic, it wasn''t like he could just let the monsters run wild. Some dungeons will eventually reach the max level, and their dungeon masters will walk on Earth. There was nothing Ryan could do about it. In a sense, it was also quite useful to have a high leveled dungeon inside his domain since Ryan will obtain more coins and perhaps even charge some humans to use it. Regardless, while Ryan wanted to fight the Reptilians again, those creatures moved to a ce, where not even the Red Falcons could see from their current position. So, since he didn''t have anything better to do, Ryan decided to fill his army with Fire Golems. "My magic sses are leveling up instead of the archer ones," Ryan said while frowning. "Well, I guess this isn''t so bad since it increases my mana and recovery." If worsees to the worst and the Reptilians give up on attacking Ryan''s domain, he can always make his golem leave the dungeons and hunt the monsters inside his domain. At the very least, he will be able to fight six monsters per minute, and they were all above tier two, so it wasn''t so bad. In the end, thanks to Mana-Eater and all the loot he obtained in thest fight, Ryan managed to fill his army with Fire Golems alone in a couple of hours. He could increase the army''s size by spending some coins or mana in the dungeon masters'' interface, but Ryan wasn''t so sure about that. While he was hesitating, Ryan noticed that his slimes could reach level eight¡­ as expected. The environment of the other world was helping them. "I have to consider my next steps carefully," Ryan rubbed his chin. "First of all, I need to have a proper army stationed in my domain in case another army of monsterses to attack. I also need plenty of coins and mana for the barrier¡­ all that needs to be multiplied by two if I want to leave someday and look for more tier three dungeons. Unless I do that, I will need to keep expanding my domain endlessly." Ryan could use the dungeon masters'' tactics and then fight his Fire Golems or make them fight each other to make them level up. Still, it seemed like a rough and inefficient method, at least from his perspective. In the end, Ryan decided to strengthen them using another method by teleporting them to other dungeons in the distance. Since Ryan could use Teleport, he will be able toe to their rescue and obtain the coins before they could die. However, considering their level, Ryan could only imagine them seeding in tier one dungeons. "I suppose that is better than nothing," Ryan nodded to himself. "No¡­ I should look for the Reptilians and then make the golems self-destruct after causing a lot of damage, that will certainly make them level up pretty fast." Ryan recalled that he could use Search to track down Eci and his army, so he couldn''t help but smile when the skill worked, and Ryan saw them setting their camp twenty kilometers away from Ryan''s domain. Without exposing himself, Ryan teleported the first Fire Golems toward the middle of the Reptilians army. The monsters panicked when those massive monsters covered in fire, suddenly attacking them. Still, once they noticed that the monsters were weak, the Reptilians bombarded them with ice magic¡­ the same ice magic didn''t help them when the first golem exploded and caused a chain reaction, making the other Fire Golems explode and creating a massive, deadly area of effect attack. You obtained 189 coins. You obtained 189 coins. You obtained 189 coins. ¡­ "This is pretty effective, but I feel like I am moving away from my goal to obtain a special ss," Ryan frowned. "Speaking of which, I wonder if these special sses are like the one which Yahiko has¡­ I can''t imagine a ss more special than that. The trigger for him to obtain was weird, though." In the end, Ryan decided to make Furball y with the Fire Golems while he was going to harass Eci and his soldiers. When Ryan teleported to a nearby mountain right on the left side of the Reptilians camp, he saw them still trying to recover from the surprise attack caused by his Fire Golems. Ryan hadn''t been using some tactics to win some of his battles, so he wasn''t sure if the Eci had chosen an excellent position to set up a camp. The ce was between two mountains. Since the valley was quite deep and dense, it was supposed to be a pretty decent ce to hide a small army, but it looked like a perfect kill zone from Ryan''s perspective. "I guess they concluded the golems attack had been a fluke or an ident since they didn''t see me and don''t look like they are about to leave this ce," Ryan concluded. "That or they are just stupid and think that they can''t retreat any more than this." Before Ryan could start his next attack, he suddenly felt a shiver ran down his spine. Immediately, Ryan tried to return to his domain by using Teleport, but the skill failed, much to his surprise. "What?" Ryan muttered in shock since that never happened before. Around the mountain, Ryan saw some pirs of light emerging. Eventually, those four pirs emitted mana toward other directions until eventually, they joined together to create a perfect four sides barrier. "Shit¡­ now I have done it," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Well, let''s make sure to learn this lesson and not ever forget this situation. Hidden in the mountain, several creatures suddenly emerged. Ryan noticed that they were a bit more tough-looking Reptilians, and they looked a bit like Eci. Ryan finally found the other dungeon bosses that had been spawned in the Reptilians'' dungeon in thest four months. Chapter 470 - Spiritualits Spear Before the monsters could get too close to Ryan, he tried to see what he could do. His crossbow was working as usual, but not a single spell was being activated. Ryan couldn''t even use his Spatial Maniption. "I guess this is just like me, one time getting worried about failure and soon after getting carried away," Ryan said and then pointed his crossbow at one of the bosses trying to encircle her. "Let''s just learn this lesson and take it to heart." Fortunately, Ryan could tell that his passive skills were still working. So, the barrier was just a field created by mages to make active skills and spells impossible to use. Mages and archers would have a hard time fighting in there, but not warriors. Unfortunately, the bosses that had been waiting for Ryan to fall for the trap were all warrior types. After selecting a target, Ryan fired his explosive bolts at a Reptilian armed with a long spear. He tried to destroy his legs first, but the bastard blocked the darts with his weapon. After just a few hits, the monsters'' weapon broke, and Ryan clicked his tongue¡­ he was hoping to use that while he recovers some of his mana. His current crossbows consumed a lot of it, after all. Five Reptilians armed with spears dashed toward Ryan with their weapons ready to stab him. He tried by force by habit to escape by using Teleport and sh, but he failed. Ryan clenched his teeth and then fired two times against the monsters in front of him. The explosions stopped their charge, and Ryan moved toward them. After jumping, Ryan hit the face of a Reptilian with a dropkick. Still, the monster only moved a couple of meters. However, Ryan exploded the monster''s arms with his bolts and then grabbed its spear. Spiritualist''s Spear Effect: It drains two percent of the damage caused in the form of the target''s mana. Strength + 80, Speed + 40 Durability: 140/140 For some reason, Analysis worked¡­ probably because it was a skill that doesn''t interfere with his surroundings. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance¡­ it looked like they had prepared that trap since the very beginning. Eci''s surprise when he saw Ryan probably had been an act. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but considering that he could see that every weapon in the bosses hands emitted a light red, blue, or green glow, he doubted that was the case. After getting his hands on a new weapon, Ryan made sure to pierce it in the neck of the monster he just attacked. Causing damage over time, Ryan was also recovering some extra mana over time. He used that to stop the charge of the other monsters. However, other Reptilians leaped and decided to attack him from above as well. Ryan raised the body of the wounded Reptilian and used it as a shield. Much to his surprise, that didn''t stop the boss from cutting its body into pieces and then trying to cut down Ryan as well. You obtained 45.000 coins. Ryan clenched his teeth since there was no ce to run and just fired his crossbow wildly, causing some explosions that grew in size and then engulfed him and the monsters. Ryan damaged some of the Reptilians heavily, but others still managed to make their weapons cut and pierce him. While enduring the pain amidst the thick cloud of smoke, Ryan pointed his crossbow and fired in the direction the weapons that hit him came from. You obtained 45.000 coins. You obtained 45.000 coins. After feeling the movement of the wind caused by the swing of some spears, Ryan hurried to grab the weapons that belonged to the fallen bosses. Holding three spears together with a single hand wasn''t something easy, but Ryan was forced to do so since the effects of the weapons could stack with each other. Upon noticing that attacking from all directions wasn''t the best of their ideas, the bosses decided to get together and enter a formation. Although not all of them had spears, and not a single one of them had shields, they still entered tortoise formation because some ice shields suddenly appeared before them. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. Ryan thought that magic couldn''t be used from inside the barrier, but it looked like some people from outside could interfere. Now that Ryan thought about it, some reptilians mages were probably the ones who created that magic trap. They were also the ones who gave the bosses those shields. "Eighty-one bosses¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I guess they also prepared another trap on the other side of the valley. I have to finish this before the others can join this fight since I don''t know if the casters of this barrier can open holes for others to enter." Ryan fired and tried to focus his projectiles on a single point. However, much to his surprise, the shield only cracked a little after getting hit by five bolts. As if that wasn''t enough, the ice shield began to repair itself¡­ which was probably once again the mages trying to annoy Ryan. Ryan sighed while the Reptilians slowly began to march toward him. They sacrificed their speed, but in exchange, their survivability increased tenfold. Ryan''s condition worsened since he could only use and recover so much mana without relying on spells or potions. "Usually, this would be the moment where Femradiel or Furball woulde to my rescue and save my ass from this troublesome situation," Ryan said while smiling. "But I guess things won''t be that convenient." It was time to go all-out and care about the small stuff. Later, Ryan pointed his crossbow at the bosses in front of him and then bombarded them with explosive bolts. By using all his mana, Ryan destroyed all the ice shields in front of him and damaged the arms of some of them. He put his crossbow on his back with lightning speed and then dashed toward the monsters with his spears in his hands. Chapter 471 - Pieces Of... The monsters'' frowned when they saw someone as fragile as Ryan dashing toward them with spears in their hands. However, they changed their minds about his weakness in meleebat when he suddenly disappeared from their sight. Then, four Reptilians lost their eyes. The monsters around tried to surround Ryan now that he couldn''t use his crossbow, but even though they didn''t break their formation, he still moved forward as if he couldn''t care less about their ns. The Reptilians that still had their shields pointed their spears toward Ryan and raised their shields as well, but that didn''t stop him. Ryan jumped and thennded on the ice shields protecting the heads of the bosses and then, with all his might, attacked them. The monsters frowned when the spears pierced the shields and managed to wound them to some extent. They underestimated Ryan''s brute strength. They also couldn''t imagine that he has been eating dragon heartstely, which improved his physical strength considerably in thest few days. The Reptilians below him tried to stab Ryan, but he only suffered a few scratches in his legs since he jumped skyward with all his might. Unfortunately, that gave the monsters the chance to organize and create a kill zone on the ce he was going tond. However, before he could fall, Ryan equipped his crossbow and once again used all his mana to cause several explosions and raise another curtain of smoke in the middle of the enemies. In thest moment, the Reptilians used their shields to protect themselves, and that gave Ryan the chance tond on some shields instead of the spears. However, the monsters tried to stab him again even though they couldn''t see Ryan. That hurt like hell, but Ryan let them hit him. When his legs got pierced, Ryan found exactly where the head of his enemies was and didn''t hesitate in impaling them. You obtained 45.000 coins. You obtained 45.000 coins. Ryan made sure to let his spears drain enough health and mana from his foes before the monsters could die and the smoke dissipated. Before that could happen, several of the Reptilians moved away from the smoke curtain. Then suddenly, two of them got attacked by spears that flew toward their heads. They managed to block the projectiles with the ice shields. Still, those received considerable damage and could withstand the power of a single explosive bolt when Ryan fired them. Once again, two other Reptilians died when explosive boltsnded on their heads. The smokescreen finally dissipated, and Ryan''s figure half covered in blood made the monsters flinch. He was indeed winning the fight, but the angry expression on his face couldn''t make anyone think that was the case. "Stop staring," Ryan said. "I don''t have all day to deal with pieces of shit like you." The Reptilians understood Ryan''s words clearly, but they didn''t let themselves get taunted by them. They had created that trap knowing that Ryan wasn''t someone they could underestimate, after all. Still, it looked like the measures they had made for him weren''t enough since his strength and skill set also increased in thest three months. Regardless, Ryan was already tired of fighting like that. His crossbows had be as useful as his limbs, so fighting without them was beyond annoying or unpleasant. It was time to trust even more on the growth he had thanks to the dragon hearts, or Ryan could look for a less direct solution to the problem. The Reptilians assumed another defensive formation to face Ryan. If anything, they sure were disciplined. Despite being bosses, they never let their pride get in the way of the mission. In the end, Ryan decided to ignore them and grabbed the Spiritualist''s Spears that were on the ground before leaving the area by running. The Reptilians were caught off guard since they didn''t imagine that Ryan would do that. Ryan quickly reached the boundaries of the magic barrier and found on the corners several Reptilians wearing robes and equipped with a magic staff. Without hesitating, Ryan tried to attack them with Spiritualist''s Spears, but the magic barrier stopped him. However, the barrier was weakened thanks to the effect of the spears. Not only that, but the weapons also drained some mana from it. "Well, well, this certainly will be useful," Ryan smiled. When the bosses finally caught off with Ryan, they were received by a rain of explosive bolts. They were forced to slow down again since some of them died. However, Ryan was forced to stop. Eventually, he didn''t recover enough mana to keep doing that endlessly. He needed more of those spears¡­ Before the monsters could push Ryan even more against the wall, he dashed toward them again. However, this time the monsters abandoned all possibilities of assuming a defensive stance. They just pointed their weapons at Ryan in order to wound him with his own crazy charge. That worked like a charm for them. Even when several spears pierced his flesh and broke his bones, Ryan didn''t hesitate in moving forward. Not even his energy being drained prevented Ryan fromnding another dropkick on the face of a Reptilian. At the same time, he grabbed two more of the Spiritualist''s Spears. The number of weapons on his hands increased so much that Ryan had to carry the spears under his left arm. With that many, he probably could drain enough mana from the barrier and keep using his crossbow endlessly. However, the number of weapons also slowed him down. Before Ryan could turn around and retreat a little, his back was pierced by several spears. The monstersughed ecstatically when Ryan stopped moving for a second¡­ In the end, he suddenly charged forward and made all the spears under his control pierce a single Reptilian. A lot of colors suddenly returned to Ryan''s face, and then Ryan''s wounds closed a little. Congrattions! The Bloodthirst skill has leveled up! You obtained 01 status point. "Finally, this crap skill is healing me fast enough," Ryan muttered and then equipped his crossbow again. "I hope you had enjoyed this golden opportunity because you won''t have another again." ss: Hunter Lv Max (+ 04 UP / Elementalist Lv 70 (+ 05 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 66th Health: 3380/3380 (7,74/s) Mana: 4915/4915 (7,74/s) Stamina: 4919/4919 (7,74/s) Strength: 131 (+186) (+130) Dexterity: 3650 (+3090) (+350) Speed: 620 (+1365) (+48) Intelligence: 481 (+1050) (+33) Endurance: 358 (+162) (+160) Control: 526 (+1504) (+10) Mentality: 408 (+79) (+70) Luck: 580 (+25) Recovery: 1850 (+1950) (+845) Willpower: 430 (+71) (+40) Coins: 35.956.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Evading Shot Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 98 (+ 05 UP), Concentration Lv 98 (+ 05 UP), Archery Lv 98 (+ 05 UP), uracy Lv 98 (+ 05 UP), Gunmanship Lv 01, Improved Luck Lv 01, Improved Recovery Lv 01, Hunt Lv 01, Bounty Lv 01 Spells: Mana-Eater Lv 20 (+ 04 UP), Animalistic Transference Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Magic Gun Lv 01, Summon Fire Golem Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Support Skills: Master''s Support Lv 37 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 75 (+ 04 UP), Beastmaster Lv 60 (+ 04 UP), Archer Lv 92 (+ 04 UP), Summoner Lv 46 (+ 04 UP), Combat Archer Lv 87 (+ 03 UP), Sniper Lv 65 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 53 (+ 05 UP), Ranger Lv 43 (+ 05 UP), Hexde Lv 19 (+ 07 UP), Tamer Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 472 - Don’t Ask Ryan was feeling like crap. The blood loss might make him fall unconscious at any moment. So, he hurried to empty all his mana again. Thanks to the spears, he recovered plenty of mana while one of the Reptilians was slowly being killed by him. Still, even with that, he managed to y only three more of them before raising another curtain of smoke. Ryan decided to approach the magic barrier at the nearest point. Still, he changed his mind when he saw another group of heavily armed Reptilians. It looked like another group of bosses decided to join that fight too. "¡­ Let''s move to the other side of the barrier," Ryan said, slightly annoyed. He hated to admit it, but Ryan wasn''t in a condition to fight another group of one hundred Reptilians. As soon as he gets a chance, he should escape and stop pushing his luck after that mess up. The Reptilians already knew what Ryan might do, so they dashed to leave the curtain of smoke and follow him, but while keeping their formation, they wasted too much time. When they tried to split, Ryan slowed down the fastest ones with a few explosive bolts. In the end, Ryan and the Reptilians reached the other side of the barrier pretty much at the same time, but only Ryan gained something with that. Without hesitating, he pierced his spears in the magic barrier. The monsters entered a single line formation and raised their shields in order to keep advancing when Ryan pointed his crossbow at them. Much faster than before, he killed the Reptilians. Still, despite the corpses leaving behind, the bosses managed to keep advancing at a steady pace. Even though Firing Posture was working¡­ However, in the end, Ryan just had to improvise a little bit to solve the situation. Firing at their feet, Ryan caused explosions that not only messed with their bnce but also damaged the ice shields in their weakest points: the borders. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan also had a pleasant surprise¡­ Congrattions! The ss Archer has reached the max level. Reach the max level with another ss to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. Ryan''s bolts suddenly caused more damage, and he started to decimate the bosses by destroying their legs with rtive ease. Upon noticing that Ryan obtained a sudden power-up, the Reptilians tried onest all-out attack by throwing their ice shields at him to block his field of vision, but that didn''t work. After a few more seconds, all the bosses had been eliminated. After sighing in relief, Ryan started to focus again and attacked the magic barrier with his explosive bolts. Although Ryan was causing a lot of damage and also draining a lot of mana with the spears, Ryan couldn''t see the barrier weakening. "So freaking annoying¡­" Ryan sighed. "Still, the other bosses didn''t follow us for this side of the barrier, and they didn''t show up until now, so I guess the mages who cast this can''t just open holes in it to make them enter." To make sure that was indeed the case, Ryan attacked the magic barrier nonstop. Even if dozens of Reptilian mages were keeping the magic barrier active, they could only do so as long as they have mana, and Ryan doubted that they could keep it active forever while he keeps attacking. It took a while, but Ryan''s predictions were confirmed. He could tell that the magic barrier was getting thinner, and the mana he was draining was decreasing as well. Suddenly, the magical barrier disappeared entirely, and Ryan used that change to return to his domain by using Teleport. Furball greeted him by barking as if nothing had happened, even though he was covered in blood and bruises. "You have disappointed me, buddy," Ryan said and then fell to the ground. "As if¡­ this mess was solely caused by me." Ryan used Full-Heal, and then his wounds started to close at an insane pace. However, the exhaustion didn''t leave his body when he used Stamina Restoration. He needed a break, but Ryan couldn''t have one while such an army was so close to his domain. "I killed one hundred of the bosses, and one hundred more were ready to ambush me there," Ryan said. "Based on what I know, at least two times more bosses than the army should have¡­ Still, I don''t know if those others wille. The Reptilians wouldn''t be stupid enough to leave their base behind and bet everything on defeating me¡­ probably."] If they were really that desperate, they should have brought other species to help them. In the end, they were all Echidna''s minions. Given that she was the mother of monsters, she probably had many more species like Reptilians under her control, so why not make them work together? "I guess being like her wouldn''t use such ns to defeat a single human," Ryan nodded to himself. "If she was really serious about hunting me, she would use several monsters like Cerberus to do it. As for the Reptilians, they are working alone to show their might to their master, or something like that." Ryan felt safe to assume that the Reptilians were the only monsters working for Echidna in North America. While that doesn''t mean other creatures will keeping to take what Ryan had, it was a relief to know that such troublesome creatures wouldn''t work with another army. "Where have you been?" Femradiel suddenly asked. "I noticed that your presence disappeared from my radar for a moment." "¡­ I just went to check a few dungeons in the area," Ryan replied after a few moments of silence. "Really? Didn''t you fall in some trap after getting carried away?" Femradiel asked. "If you already know, then don''t ask¡­" Ryan sighed. "Anyway, you should hurry. I want to level up the Combat Archer ss, and I don''t know if I will have the chance to do it today efficiently thanks to those oversized lizards." Chapter 473 - Changes In the end, Femradiel asked Ryan to be a bit more patient. However, that wasn''t his forte. Ryan got used to traveling around and clearing dungeons. Even though he had five dungeons at his disposal to keep training on his domain, it didn''t help him to feel less bored. At some point, Ryan decided to attack the Reptilians'' camp by using Power Shot, Mana Reinforcement, and Force. However, even though he amassed ten minutes'' worth of energy, his attack didn''t do anything. A mana barrier was erected at the same moment his attack reached the Reptilians'' camp¡­ the mages who trapped him could be used in many ways, it seemed. "I guess I will justy some magic traps around since that skill belongs to Combat Archer ss¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I can''t let the domain keep sucking my extra mana." While it was hard to know if the Magic Traps would be of any use, at least Ryan would train his ss. It was another tedious work, but Ryan forced himself to do that since nothing else would do. Suddenly, to free him from his boredom or to make his headache increase, even more, Ryan received a telepathic call from Yahiko¡­ he took quite a while to do that. "It has been a while, Ryan," Yahiko said. "How have you been?" "Too busy, haven''t you been as well?" Ryan asked. "Not really, Haruna has been helping me a lot, and the burden on my shoulders lessened," Yahiko said. "Even though a few other dungeons appeared around Tokyo, things have been going well here." Ryan frowned when he heard that. It didn''t make any sense¡­ maybe Yahiko was trying to mess with him since he was much more powerful, and the problems Ryan was facing could be easily dealt with by him. However, Yahiko wasn''t that type of guy. Even the arrival of some tier three dungeons wouldn''t change many things from his perspective, but from his people, on the other hand¡­ "¡­ Did you want to talk about anything specific?" Ryan asked. "It seems you are busy, so I will tell you what I discovered," Yahiko said. "I have been able to move around more freely, and thanks to it, I checked how things were in other nations. Well, I only checked things in India and China. I decided to check those countries first since their poption was quite high before the monsters'' arrival." "I assume you learned some interesting things," Ryan said. "Indeed, it looks like China''s new leader is someone like me," Yahiko said. "A man who obtained a special ss by ident. While we have our history about warriors in Japan, things are on a whole different scale in China. They have registers of several millennia of mighty warriors, and they also experimented many years of conflict over the unification of the country that had been divided into several realms along with their history." "So, their leader is even more powerful than you, and he has the same ability," Ryan said. "Yes and no," Yahiko said. "He is indeed more powerful than I am, but he has another type of power. He can learn all the skills of guardians and of the fallen he faces. At the same time, he can also grant the same skills to his friends." "That is quite convenient¡­" Ryan frowned. "It looks like you watched him for a while, but you didn''t talk to him. Are you afraid that he might do something troublesome?" "No, but I know that our methods are far too different," Yahiko said. "He is giving too much power to those who are close to him, and that is causing a division among his people. The difference in power is bing too drastic. Aside from that, he is also hunting fallen and guardians alike because he doesn''t trust those entities to guarantee the safety of our." "Well¡­ it is not like I can''t understand where he ising from," Ryan said. "I certainly wouldn''t trust my fate on the hands of someone I can''t understand." "That is natural, but the problem is that the bnce is hanging too much on a single side," Yahiko said. "That might cause some issuester." "Let''s leave our future problems to our future selves," Ryan said. "Anyway, what did you discover in India?" "Things are the exact opposite of China," Yahiko replied. "There are plenty of guardians and fallen fighting against each other thanks to their culture and religion. Their mythological creatures are at all-out war, and they involve humans in it. Those who want to make things as chaotic as possible joined the side of the fallen, those who want to live in a more harmonious society joined the guardians'' side. Things are even for the time being, but eventually¡­ things will get out of hand." "Why do you think that?" Ryan asked. "Some of the fallen and guardians joined the side of some dungeon masters, and thus they are causing dungeon breaks to make their sides more powerful than the others," Yahiko said. "Thest time I checked, some of their dungeons were at level 550. I believe right now they probably reached level six hundred. In less than three months. The dungeon masters wille to our world using that region, and I have no idea what they will do once that happens." Ryan didn''t even want to think about it. While that situation was happening too far away from his country, Earth now was a world where a powerful being can cross entire continents in a couple of minutes. In the best-case scenario, the dungeon masters will reward those who helped them. That was good, but it was also troublesome because the humans who didn''t join them will be their enemies. After that, the dungeon masters will try to mold the new Earth ording to their wishes. Even if they leave humans alone, Ryan could bet they won''t leave the other dungeon masters. Ryan and Yahiko were probably one of the few that knew that Earth was about to be a massive battleground between mystical forces beyond human''s understanding. Chapter 474 - Promises In the end, Yahiko warned Ryan to increase his defenses in his country. He would do the same since the future was bing even more uncertain. The problem was that Ryan could only count on the help of his pets. Moreover, he still had to consider what to do with the deserters that didn''t join the monsters'' side. When things get messy again, those types of people will be the first ones to cause a lot of problems. "Give me a break. I didn''t even solve the matter with the Reptilians," Ryan said and then sighed. "Yeah, I have to keep increasing the area of my domain and the size of my army." Ryan could obtain some coins by checking things with his Steel Eagle. Still, it was too risky to going so far away and leave his domain alone, even if only for a couple of minutes. Maybe he should capture some trolls and tame them. Those monsters had a stupid amount of Recovery, after all. Although Ryan himself had plenty of coins in which he could use to strengthen his domain, doing that wouldn''t be wise. After all, he needed to keep strengthening himself, and the best way to do that is by getting his hands on some rare tomes. "I guess the only thing I can do now is to try to make another ss reach the max level as soon as possible," Ryan said and then nodded to himself. Ryan gave the order for his monsters to leave the smanders, velociraptors, and the giant bees alone. Those monsters will leave the dungeon, and Ryan will be the one to deal with them. They were tier one monsters, so letting them roam free in his domain wouldn''t cause an issue. Besides, Ryan could see and kill anything in his domain. His range was that long. The worst thing that could have happened in the end happened. Ryan didn''t do anything aside from killing small fries and eating dragon hearts for two days straight. Meanwhile, the Reptilians were organizing their forces. In those two days, forty thousand more Reptilians arrived in that region and joined the first army that had decreased to a little less than ten thousand. Ryan tried to kill some of them by using the Fire Golem suicide attack, but that strategy lost its use after a while. The Reptilians got used to the attack and eventually began to react in time and froze the golems before they could explode. While facing an army of fifty thousand seemed insane when he was on the defense side, Ryan wasn''t that nervous. If anything, he was looking forward to it since it would be the perfect chance to take another ss to reach level one hundred. "In order for that to happen as soon as possible, I should avoid using mana to do other things that aren''t rted to my main skills," Ryan nodded to himself. "So, I should use two crossbows and rely as much as possible on Firing Posture." Once the Reptilianse, Ryan''s domain will suffer a lot of damage if he tries to hold them back by relying only on that fighting style. Still, as usual, Ryan couldn''t get everything he wanted. Ryan almost had 38 million coins, and then he checked the dungeon shop for irvoyance since that skill would help him a lot to cause some damage before the fight. However, the skill wasn''t avable to be purchased. "Should I keep storing coins in order to buy that single skill?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don''t think I should¡­ then again, I can''t think of any other skill that mighte in handy right now." If Ryan makes his Steel Eagle give him the coins that she obtained in thest few days, his coins will reach the forty million mark, but for some reason, Ryan thought that irvoyance will cost at the very least fifty million. "If I just wait six more days, I should be able to obtain an amount by just killing the monsters in these seven dungeons¡­" Ryan nodded to himself and then sighed. "Who could have thought that I would need to use math like this when the world is about to fall on the hands of mythical creatures." Maybe Ryan could have that amount if he had sold some weapons instead of just using them to obtain more mana, but it was toote to regret that. He confirmed by using Animalistic Transferred with his Red Falcons that the Reptilians were already ready to attack. A force of fifty thousand very strong monsters was about to attack his domain. Yet, Ryan couldn''t think of anything else aside from trying to make his Combat Archer ss reach the max level before that battle ends. "It looks like I will have to stop my training," Femradiel suddenly said. "I suppose it can''t be helped." "Oh, Femradiel! How have you been?" Ryan asked while frowning. "Have you been enjoying your vacation?" "My apologies for letting you fight alone in thest few days, but I think I will be able topensate you for that," Femradiel said. "The level of my power isn''t at a desirable level yet, but I believe I will be able to prevent the worst-case scenario." "Nah, it is cool. You can keep training," Ryan said. "If things get really dire, I will call you." "Are you sure of that?" Femradiel asked, visibly surprised. "Yes, we can''t leave the dungeons that haven''t been cleared yet alone," Ryan exined. "That might cause some problemster. While I think that this fight will help you reach that strength faster, I will ask you to sit this one out. I want to make some of my sses reach the max level today." "All right then," Femradiel said. "In any case, I will pay attention to the fight to help you if the need arises." Ryan nodded after hearing that and then began to summon some Fire Golems. The Reptilians finally began to march, and the whole army wasing, so Ryan couldn''t pull his punches. Chapter 475 - Battlefield When the Reptilians finally could be seen by Ryan without anything obstructing his vision, he immediately used some DEX potions. Then, Ryan began to use his most powerful crossbows. As expected, when the projectiles were about to reach the enemy''s army, a magic barrier was raised by the Reptilians sorcerers. Electric and explosive bolts came to a halt without causing any damage. However, that didn''t bother Ryan in the slightest. He saw the direction in which the barrier was formed and immediately teleported several Fire Golems in that direction. In the end, the monsters caused a massive chain reaction when the first one exploded. The mages were caught off guard since they didn''t imagine Ryan would do something that already failed so many times before. However, that would only work once¡­ that was all that Ryan needed. Ryan pulled the triggers of his crossbows again, and this time the first line of defense was hit by his projectiles. Some mages of the enemies'' side had been killed, so at least that toon waspletely unprotected. Some of them tried to do what they could by using Ice Walls, but those didn''t help as nearly as they wanted. Ryan chose magic weapons enchanted by fire and electricity for a reason. "All right, go," Ryan said to his first line of Fire Golems. In the end, Ryan divided his three thousand Fire Golems into six groups of five hundred. While it would be more useful in a massive melee, it was obvious that the Reptilians wouldn''t want to approach Ryan''s domain before they destroy the barrier. The task of the Fire Golems was to dy that from happening for as long as possible. Not only will that prevent Ryan''sst line of defense from copsing too soon, but it also would grant the chance for Ryan to keep attacking unrestrained for longer. Fire Golem ¨C Lv 60 Health: 7.000/7.000 Mana: 7.000/7.000 Stamina: 7.000/7.000 Strength: 1500 Dexterity: 1500 Speed: 300 Intelligence: 1500 Endurance: 1500 Control: 1500 Mentality: 1500 Luck: 300 Recovery: 5000 Willpower: 1500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Charge Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 40, Focus Lv 40 Spells: Explosive Bullet Lv 40, Explosive Arrow Lv 40 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 150, Fire Resistance Lv 150 While they were marching, the Fire Golems began to bombard the Reptilians army with Explosive Bullets. While that wasn''t their most powerful or useful spell, at least that slowed down the enemies'' army and made the Fire Golems enter their radar. The Reptilians began to fire Ice Spears toward them once the Fire Golems left Ryan''s domain. However, Ryan gave the order for his monsters to use Fire Charge. The mes around their bodies increased for a second while they dashed hundreds of meters forward in a few moments, rendering the Ice Spearspletely useless. The enemies'' army kept firing Ice Spears, so Ryan decided to go all-out and made the Fire Golems use Fire Charge many more times and they only stopped when they hit against the enemies'' army. The Ice Walls were shattered in pieces, and several Reptilians were knocking down. "Oh, man¡­ what a sight," Ryan grinned from ear to ear. "Maybe I don''t really need a human army." Ryan gave the order for his golems to use Fire Charge once again in order to break the enemy''s formation. When the Fire Golems advanced a few more meters, Ryan used several SPE potions and increased his reaction and overall speed. Ryan''s firing speed increased as well, and he managed to quickly kill dozens of monsters wounded by his golems. Still, much to Ryan''s surprise, thousands of Reptilians began to march toward the domain while ignoring the Fire Golems. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan suddenly saw his golems flying¡­ no, they have been attacked, and the weight behind the attacks made the Fire Golems move several meters skyward. After that, some mages made the Fire Golems explode by decreasing their health with Ice Spears. "Damn, bosses¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance once he saw Eci moving around and making several golems fly to avoid the damage of the Self-Destruct skill. "I should have killed all of them when I had the chance¡­ all over again." As much as that annoyed him, Ryan decided to leave the bosses forter. He still had five more groups of Fire Golems in which he could move, so that was just a minor nuisance from his perspective. Besides, Ryan had other reasons to keep his head cool¡­ Congrattions! The ss: Combat Archer has reached the level 92. Your stamina and dexterity increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control increased by three points. Ryan smiled. He just needed eight more levels. He will be able to grant those fucker Reptilians a very nasty surprise¡­ probably. In fact, Ryan had no idea what would happen once he got a special ss. At the very least, he will gain some status bonuses and three skills, but the skills would be at level one. So, it was hard to tell if something would actually happen¡­ Ryan gave the order for the second toon of Fire Golems to march toward the fight. Again, his sole goal was to prevent giving the monsters the chance to attack the barrier. Even if most of them were melee soldiers, a lot of damage would be caused by Ice Spears. Just like before, the Fire Golems closed the distance by using Fire Charge several times. However, the Reptilians ignored them by jumping all at the same time. "The hell¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "That coordination¡­" As if that wasn''t annoying enough, the Reptilians fired numerous Ice Spears toward the barrier. Ryan tried to deflect those projectiles with his own, but the difference in numbers was just too big. In their first attack, the Reptilians caused a lot of damage to the barrier, and before Ryan could kill them all, they kept attacking relentlessly. Those mob monsters didn''t have the semi-immortality of the bosses. Still, they were ready to sacrifice their single lives to attain victory¡­ Chapter 476 - Almost There Much sooner than he expected, Ryan was forced to send his third and four group of Fire Golems to stop the Reptilians. In the end, his troops failed at keeping the enemies at a distance where they couldn''t attack the barrier. Still, at the very least, the enemies reached a point where they were starting to activate his Magic Traps and receiving considerable damage. However, such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he noticed that the battlefield had be a scorched wastnd thanks to his Fire Golems. "I can use that¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan gave the order to his Golems to stop fighting and then turn to their left side. Soon afterward, all of them used Fire Charge, burning the ground of the battlefield even more. However, Ryan didn''t stop there. He made his Fire Golems move toward their two o''clock, and then they used Fire Charge again. They repeated that two more times until some parts of the ground had melted and even became hot like magma. The heat distorted the vision of the Reptilians, and their attack and movement speed decreased considerably. "It is now or never¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan relentlessly attacked the closest Reptilians and killed dozens of them in a few moments. However, the sorceress on the enemy''s side cast some spell that made cold winds decrease the temperature and even snow. As if that wasn''t enough, the bosses who stayed in the back lines for the past few minutes began to focus on the Fire Golems again. "Go and kill those fuckers," Ryan said and then made his remaining Fire Golems join the fight. The Fire Golems used Fire Charge several times until they reached the sorcerers in the backline. When the bosses finally noticed what Ryan was nning, the spells had already been stopped, and the tide of the battle changed in Ryan''s favor again. When the bosses tried to save the sorcerers, Ryan couldn''t help but smirk. He even went as far as stopping firing his bolts for a second to do that¡­ "Explode," Ryan said. In the end, the fifth and sixth group of golems exploded even before a single one of them had suffered critical damage. However, in exchange for that, hundreds of Reptilian sorcerers died alongside a few of their bosses. Ryan only used his crossbows after a few seconds since the massive continuous explosions made the whole area tremble for a while. Fearing that Ryan would make the same thing happen again if they got too close, Eci made the bosses move away from the Fire Golems and from the battlefield. He could lose as many minions as he wanted, but he couldn''t risk losing all of his generals again. Not against an enemy that already defeated all of them once in the past. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Eci turned the bosses into a detached force and made them move around the barrier in order to attack in a ce where the golems couldn''t get in their way. Ryan suddenly saw himself in a bind since the number of Reptilians still was at least ten timesrger than Fire Golems. Moreover, the seventy or so bosses could easily cause equal damage to the barrier that would be equal to thousands of level two hundred monsters¡­ it wasn''t a power that he could underestimate. "Now what¡­" Ryan said and then took a deep breath to calm down. Ryan could always ask Femradiel for help, but in the end, he decided not to do it. Instead of that, he gave Furball the order to help the Fire Golems while he will fight the bosses. Without the support of the sorcerers, they probably won''tst long¡­ or so Ryan was hoping. Congrattions! The ss: Combat Archer has reached level 96. Your dexterity and stamina increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control increased by three points. "Not yet, huh¡­" Ryan sighed while he was running toward the bosses. "I guess these guys won''t help me with that all that much." When the bosses began to attack the barrier, Ryan teleported to behind them and then proceeded to pull the trigger of his crossbows. However, much to his surprise, even though the monsters didn''t turn around, some Ice Shields appeared to protect them. That was odd¡­ there were no sorcerers around. All of them had probably been exterminated by the Fire Golems¡­ The surprises didn''t end there. The Ice Shields was quite sturdy as well. Ryan point nk attacks took a while to destroy a single one of them, and when that happened, all the bosses were already ready to fire Ice Spears toward him. Ryan teleported to several hundred meters skyward and decided to go all out for real. He used all the DEX potions he had made in thest few days. He reached a level of power where every single kick of his crossbows decreased his health by dozens of points, and his weapons also would receive some damage with every single shot. However, the new Ice Shields became useless at the same time, and the bosses began to explode in pieces after getting hit by just a few bolts. "Spread!" Eci shouted. The bosses obeyed Eci''s orders without any hesitation, but the surprises didn''t end there. The Reptilians spread, but not to attack Ryan, but to attack the barrier. When some of them made their weapons touch the barrier, they finally pointed their other hand toward Ryan. "Sons of a bitch¡­" Ryan said, visibly astonished. Dozens of Ice Spears flew toward Ryan. To think that those fuckers would replicate the strategy he used against them. They either wanted to die horribly, or they really couldn''t think of anything else in order to defeat Ryan. Ryan summoned his shield to block the magic projectiles and then proceeded to ponder about the best way to make those fuckers regret that choice. In the end, there was an obvious way to make them feel true despair¡­ and that method would actually help Ryan a lot. Chapter 477 - Artemis Disciple Ryan equipped his Spiritualist''s Crossbow and began to pull the trigger to destroy the Ice Spears. When the objects collided, obviously Ryan''s projectiles won. They had a special effect that granted them the chance to drain mana. The Reptilians bosses were meleed fighters. So, their magic attacks were seriouslycking. Since he focused on standing still while flying and destroying the magic projectiles, the other bosses also used that chance to make their spears touch the barrier and drain mana from it. They also began to attack Ryan using Ice Spears. "Hehe, dumbasses¡­." Ryan grinned from ear to ear. Although sixty or so bosses were firing several Ice Spears at Ryan every second, they never managed to hit him once. The effect of his DEX potions still was working, so even though Ryan could fire eight times fewer projectiles every second, due to the nature of the bolts and the power of his attacks, they were ten times stronger than the half-assed spells of melee fighters. Ryan could easily kill those stupid oversized lizards if he wanted. They had their backs against the barrier, so they didn''t have any ce to escape. However, he didn''t do it¡­ he let them drain mana from the barrier and attack him as much as they wanted. A confrontation like that where both sides could continuously attack nonstop was the best thing Ryan could use to make himself stronger. Congrattions! The ss: Combat Archer has reached level 98. Your dexterity and stamina increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control increased by three points. "Come on¡­e on, just a little more," Ryan smiled while moving his crossbow around to hit the Ice Spears. Eci couldn''t help but frown while looking at Ryan. He couldn''t understand his actions. Even though he didn''t know the full extent of his power, what Ryan was doing right now didn''t make any sense¡­ and yet, Eci couldn''t think of anything else to do. They couldn''t destroy the crystal and thus make Ryan lose his rights as a dungeon master unless the barrier disappears. They couldn''t defeat Ryan in a direct fight since he could freely use Teleport. However, what he couldn''t truly understand was howe Ryan could have ess to so much mana outside his domain¡­ he had no idea that Ryan was making the Fire Golems self-destruct, and that was killing dozens of Reptilians every second. In the end, Eci confirmed his fears. Ryan''s smile suddenly grew wider, even though he didn''t notice any changes in the fight or on his strength. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Hunter, Archer, and Combat Archer? Y/N? Ryan had no idea why the system asked that there was no downside in sacrificing certain sses since apparently. Unless the sacrificed sses determine the special ss obtained. Regardless, Ryan chose yes¡­ Congrattions! You received the ss Artemis'' Disciple. You learned the skills: Hunters'' Eye, Lunar Arrow, and Enhanced Concentration. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by twelve points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by six points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hunter''s Eye. Effect: When used, it shows the points in your target''s body where the chances of them blocking your projectiles are low. When hitting those points, you will cause ten percent more damage per level Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lunar Arrow. Effect: It grants you the power to fire an arrow of condensed light thates from the moon, and it is almost impossible to defend against. It can be used only at night, and the circles of the moon affect the power of the projectile. The damage caused is equal to your intelligence plus dexterity multiplied 250% per level. Cost: 500 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Enhanced Concentration. Effect: It passively increases your dexterity by twenty points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 60 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 58th You obtained Heroic Swordsmanship tome. Ryan was waiting for just a single surprise, but he got several in the end. The name of the ss was quite weird¡­ given that he had faced Medusas before, it wouldn''t be hard to believe that someday he might find the Greek goddess of hunt¡­ what will happen if such a day reallyes? Regardless, Ryan decided to fight seriously because he already achieved his goal. Ryan''s attack output suddenly increased when he used Chaotic Arrows. The massive release of magic arrows surprised the bosses. Their power added with Ryan''s ordinary attacks finally overpowered the enemies. Some of them got hit and were forced to stop their attacks. Ryan used that chance to use Hunter''s Eye and then move away from that position. When hended on the ground, he saw that the monsters had the same weak points¡­ the wheels of their right foot. "What are they? Achilles?" Ryan frowned. "No¡­ that is their current weak point because of their instance." Weirdly enough, all the bosses were right-handed. So, at the moment, their pivot leg was rtively unprotected since they would try to protect their exposed left side. Ryan''s DEX potions'' effects were about to end, so he hurried to attack the monsters. When they finally found him, Ryan fired his bolts while also activating Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. Some monsters tried to block his attacks by using Ice Shields, but they didn''t work this time. The shields were shattered into pieces, just like their right legs. In a single moment, he had knocked down twenty or so of the bosses. Meanwhile, the others couldn''t help but stare at him in shock¡­ if Ryan could have done that before, why didn''t he do it? The answer was simple: Ryan wanted to make them realize the difference in power. Chapter 478 - Victory? Only ten more bosses had to lose their legs to make the others realize that their n wouldn''t work anymore. This time they seriously split in all directions while they were trying to move in Ryan''s blind spots. In the end, Ryan only sighed¡­ he finally understood why those monsters were fighting alone instead of alongside with others that served Echidna. They were too weak and dumb to be of any use. They were so desperate to impress their mother that they couldn''t see some obvious weakness in their ns or that they didn''t have what was necessary to defeat a dungeon master. Ryan just teleported back to his domain and then proceeded to finish off the heavily wounded bosses. At the same time, he picked the fallen weapons. While he already had five of those with the same effects, the more, the merrier. Slowly but surely, the bosses began to move away from Ryan''s domain. It was only obvious after everything they experimented so far, but it was also a bit toote for that. Ryan used Hunter''s Eye again and confirmed that their weak spots had changed and not all of the bosses shared the same any longer. That was a bit troublesome. Moreover, the DEX potions effects were finally gone. "Well, it is time to change tactics a little bit," Ryan said and then made the Spiritualist''s Spears fly and spin with Telekinesis. At the same time, Ryan grabbed several INT potions from his storage dimension and used them. The spears suddenly began to spin faster while making a high-pitched sound that made the Reptilians sweat cold. Controlling dozens of those cost Ryan a lot of mana. Still, thanks to his golems, he had enough to spare and even fire them only after activating Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The bosses began to run away the very moment the spears flew toward them. Only a single one of them stayed behind to block the projectiles. That was Eci. He tried to attack Ryan''s projectiles, but his own weapon broke on the first try. He opened his eyes widely in shock, but then the shock also disappeared from his face when the same projectile passed through him, making his body explode in several pieces. You obtained 85.000 coins. "I guess even bosses can give more or less coins ording to their level," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Thirty or so of those bosses quickly died in the next seconds, while the others who haven''t been targeted used that chance to create some distance over Ryan. That had been obviously a waste of time because Ryan quickly caught up with them by using Teleport. Besides, they were so scared that they were only running in the same direction. "Let''s see¡­ Anesthetic Crossbow wille in handy right now," Ryan said and then equipped that weapon. Ryan quickly destroyed the limbs of his targets even though that wasn''t his best weapon. Fortunately, despite the number of attacks, the Reptilians hit by it lost control over their bodies. It took a while, but Ryan managed to kill all the bosses that tried to run away while also capturing eight of them. He didn''t do that to torture them for information, but because Ryan wanted to make a new weapon using their souls¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he noticed that was much worse than torture. Amphibian Crossbow (+7) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of thirty points of mana that doesn''t lose speed when they are fired underwater. Dexterity + 210, Intelligence + 119 Durability: 90/90 "Well¡­ this is a weapon really specific for certain asions," Ryan shrugged. After that, Ryan quickly returned to the other battlefield where his Fire Golems were. However, things weren''t as nearly as chaotic as he thought. The Reptilians started their retreat a long time ago¡­ probably when the bosses decided to run away. Furball and the Fire Golems were chasing and killing ten thousand or so of those creatures, but in the end, Ryan gave them the order to stop. Not only were the golems slower, but they were also destroying everything on their paths thanks to their bodies. "I guess we won, buddy," Ryan said and then patted Furball''s head. As usual, Ryan felt more troubled than satisfied with the result. Not only he had to see the loot of the battles, but he also had to do something about that hell-like scenario created by his golems. "Maybe I should let Femradiel solve all of this, since she didn''t help at all," Ryan said. "Do I need to make you remember that you were the one who decided that?" Femradiel asked. "That is a small detail," Ryan shrugged. "How convenient for you," Femradiel said. In the end, Ryan managed to solve things without shamelessly making Femradiel clean up his mess. Although they were covered in fire, the golems weren''t damaging thend anymore, so Ryan made them collect the loot and put all the corpses in a single pile. Even though Ryan obtained thirty or so of those spears that could drain mana, he still hoped that the monsters had dropped something even more useful than that. Naturally, his hopes were shattered in pieces. "All right¡­ let''s divide the loot in three parts," Ryan said after a long sigh. "The items which will be sold, the items that will be deconstructed, and the items I will use to obtain mana." That was another pretty tedious work, but after all that fighting, Ryan weed it. He also used that chance to analyze his new ss. Ryan finally noticed that he didn''t level it up a single time¡­ even though he killed dozens of bosses. "Based on the bonuses in status, I can assume that is a tier six ss," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I didn''t notice that until now, but the more powerful a ss is, the more difficult it will be to make it level up. To obtain more bonuses in status from the new ss, I will have to fight tougher enemies¡­" Chapter 479 - It Is Time Ryan was fairly certain that his assumptions weren''t off the mark. Still, he didn''t have to worry about that since his domain entered the radar of many other creatures and dungeon masters. From now on, the fights won''t be easier, so that wasn''t actually a problem. What was a problem was which sses Ryan should try to reach the max level next? "Before that, I need to get the sses of those two dungeons¡­" Ryan muttered. "All right, all right¡­ I already made you waste too much time," Femradiel said. "Can I at least defeat the bosses myself? It shouldn''t take long and you can keep an eye on the domain by using Animalistic Transference." "You somehow always seed in making me think that I am getting in your way," Ryan frowned. "I guess that is fine¡­ I need a break after this fight anyway." Ryan entered the Giant Skull''s dungeon and then eventually found Femradiel''s Wyrm form using magic to stop the boss''s attacks, which was a giant skull covered in mes, and when a new Giant Skull spawned, she quickly froze it and turned into an ice statue. Fiery Giant Skull ¨C Lv 70 Health: 7.600/17.000 Mana: 15.500/26.000 Stamina: 9000/9000 Strength: 400 Dexterity: 1600 Speed: 750 Intelligence: 7500 Endurance: 1500 Control: 1700 Mentality: 4500 Luck: 450 Recovery: 15000 Willpower: 4500 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 60, Improved Intelligence Lv 60, Augmented Intelligence Lv 50 Spells: Mana Shield Lv 80, Fire Storm Lv 80, Ice Storm Lv 70, Fire Lance Lv 90 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 140, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 90 "You really are strengthening yourself and them at the same time, huh," Ryan frowned. "Who do you think is stronger? A level one hundred dragon or a level one hundred slime?" Femradiel asked. "Right now, you are not a dragon, you are a Wyrm," Ryan said. "The difference in strength still is that obvious," Femradiel said. Ryan was too tired to argue with Femradiel. He just wanted to clear those two dungeons and then take a nap. It has been days since he had one, and considering that the number of possible troublemakers was increasing, he had to use all the chances he could get to rest. "If Artemis'' Disciple is a tier six ss, I guess the ss sacrifice isn''t that simple," Ryan thought before he could decide his middle-term goal. "It isn''t just a matter of three plus three plus three equals nine¡­ With that in mind, if I focus on leveling up tier one sses, I certainly won''t get a ss as good as the new one. Perhaps I won''t even obtain a tier four ss¡­" sses like Elementalist and Sage were the closest ones to reach the level max. The only problem was that Ryan barely uses the Elementalist ss anymore. As for the Sage ss, it levels up naturally when Ryan fights against numerous opponents. Aside from those two, only Sniper was above level sixty¡­ "I guess I will have to wait for a while longer before sacrificing three sses to obtain a special one," Ryan shrugged. That was quite an interesting feature of the system, but in the end, Ryan''s main path to bing stronger was to rely on bows and crossbows. Instead of messing up with his build even more than he already did, Ryan decided to keep doing the same thing he did against the Reptilians: keep doing the basics and then level up only sses like Sniper, Sentinel, and Ranger. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Mystic Knight, Sniper, and Storm Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. In the end, Femradiel apparently fought during thest few days while holding back. Even alone, she could easily clear a tier-three dungeon at her level. That became clear once she defeated the boss in just a few minutes. Regardless, while Ryan could see two new sses, he already had the option that he usually would go for¡­ it was a pity, but his lucky stream had been broken. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Mystic Knight! You obtained the following skills: Repel, Magic Rupture, and Pain Immunity. Your health and mana will increase by six points, your stamina, recovery, endurance, and willpower will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Repel. Effect: It grants you the power to consume your mana topletely nullify the damage of a physical attack and then reflect toward the target by consuming the same amount of mana used previously. The mana consumed equals the damage caused minus the level of the skill multiplied by fifty You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Rupture. Effect: It grants you the power to attack the ground and cause magic damage on all opponents within the range of the skill. The damage equals the mana used multiplied by the skill level, and range equals five meters multiplied by the level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Pain Immunity. Effect: It decreases the effect of pain caused by all types of attacks by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Despite everything, the Mystic Knight ss still pleasantly surprised Ryan. While he would rather not use Rupture and Repel will onlye in handy in some drastic situations, Pain Immunity was a skill Ryan wasn''t expecting to receive. That one will certainlye in handy in the future when he starts to receive a lot of damage and won''t have many chances to focus on aiming¡­ the only problem was that to train that skill, he will have to let the enemies get too close, and that was against his nature as a long-range fighter. Chapter 480 - Clairvoyance "To the next dungeon," Ryan said. Although Femradiel sighed, she didn''tin about the fact that she will have to wait for a full day before the next boss appears. She will have a lot of time between fights until then, but she decided to use that to level up Zen. For the time being, she didn''t have any idea which type of body she will make next time, but gathering mana foe that early on certainly won''t be a bother. Things were a bit moreplicated in the final dungeon due to the fact that the boss of that dungeon and Drake were two tank monsters. Thanks to that, they could recover from the damage caused from each other before any side could deliver a decisive blow. However, the tide of the battle changed when Ryan tossed a few STR potions on Drake''s body. Femradiel looked at Ryan, and she was pretty displeased. "Sorry, but we all have topromise in some aspects," Ryan shrugged. In the end, Femradiel could only nod at Ryan''s words and defeat the monster before the potion''s effects wear off. Despite everything, or maybe because the boss was developing their Electric Resistance thanks to the long fight, Femradiel barely won before the bonus in strength could disappear. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Warlord, Ranger, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Oh, well¡­ it already happened before, so there is no use inining," Ryan shrugged. Ryan got unlucky again. However, this time he only had a single option, and that was to pick the ss that he didn''t have yet since the others he already had. Fortunately, the Conjurer ss seemed very appealing, and the skills didn''t disappoint him. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Conjurer! You obtained the following skills: Fast Conjuration, Augmented Intelligence, and Zen. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points, your stamina, health, recovery, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fast Conjuration. Effect: It passively increases the speed at which you cast your spells by ten percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Augmented Intelligence Effect: It passively increases your intelligence by ten points per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! Since you already have the Zen skill, the same will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. "I guess this is it," Ryan said and then began to walk toward the exit. "I am going to take a long nap before I can continue my next job. Are you going to continue fighting here? You should take some sunlight now and then at least." "Yes, I don''t know what you are thinking, but dragons don''t need sunlight," Femradiel said. "We are dragons that can stay inside caves for decades, after all." "It must be something pretty fun¡­" Ryan said and then yawned. After using Teleport, Ryan arrived on Furball''s side and then made a mental note to prepare a decent ce for him to sleep. While Furball''s fur wasfy and warm, the fact that he was a war machine that could eat several corpses of monsters was a massive minus. Since he was a monster, he didn''t feel the need to bathe for long either. Regardless, Ryanid his back against his pet and then fell asleep in just a few moments. Ryan suddenly woke up and got up. Although he felt like he slept only for a few minutes, everything around was covered in the darkness. Judging by his biological clock, Ryan felt like it was around midnight. "A few minutes my ass, I slept for almost ten hours straight," Ryan frowned while watching Furball sleeping like a log. Fortunately, Ryan''s Fire Golems kept everything under control. Still, Ryan proceeded to summon more of them to fill his army once again, but in the end, Ryan stopped because he finally could see Lunar Arrow in action. It wasn''t a full month''s night, but that was just a minor problem. When Ryan activated the skill, a small shooting star fell from the sky and hit a random tree he had aimed at. Although Ryan more or less knew things would work like that, he was still surprised by the projectile''s sheer speed. Moreover, weirdly enough, the projectile didn''t make the tree explode or anything¡­ it just split in half, making both sides fall in different directions. When Ryan approached it, he noticed that the borders of the tree were pretty warm, and a small hole in the ground could be found. It was small but deep¡­ "This will be useful¡­ since it is a projectile made of light, it doesn''t have normal properties," Ryan nodded to himself. "I bet this would be great with irvoyance¡­ ah, I need to check if I can buy that skill." Ryan was so tired that he even forgot that he already had fifty million coins. Without wasting a single second, Ryan opened the Dungeon Shop and couldn''t help but smile. irvoyance tome Effect: It grants you the power to see things beyond the limit of your eyesight. The limits of the skill will be determined by the amount of mana used, the level of the skill, and your level of intelligence. Price: 50.000.000 Ryan immediately bought the skill¡­ and he realized that he certainly hade a long way considering that he couldn''t spend 50 million coins just like that. In the end, Ryan confirmed that the skill was much more useful than he had imagined. Using one thousand points of mana per second, he could see things ten kilometers away from him with ease¡­ and the skill became two times more effective when it leveled up¡­ it looked like Ryan''s range would increase exponentially much sooner than he had predicted. Chapter 481 - Decision In the end, Ryan spent the night using irvoyance. He reached the point where he could see things happening back in Shreveport for a few seconds. If he tried to use some INT potions, he would be able to do a little bit more, but Ryan decided to save those for the time he starts to train the Conjurer ss. Maybe his attack speed firing magic projectiles might reach the same speed he fires his bolts¡­ "I guess for a few days I am free of attacks from other army made of monsters," Ryan nodded to himself when the sun began to rise. "Regardless¡­ I can finally return to my task of training my tamed monsters." Thanks to those hours of resting, Ryan''s mind was working much better than before. He had the idea of training the skills of his Elementalist ss while training the resistances of the Red Falcons. Since the skills were at a low level, they wouldn''t suffer all that much. At the same time, his Frozen Slimes also reached level twenty, and now they were finally giving Ryan some profit. "How are things on your end, Ryan?" Alissa suddenly asked by forcefully activating the telepathic channel. "How did you¡­" Ryan frowned. "Forget about it¡­ I faced some problems, but I solved them in the end. That is all." "Give me details," Alissa said. "I don''t want to," Ryan said. "Why did you call me at such a time? Aren''t you suppose to be busy with the arrival of the new dungeons?" "Nah, we have things under control thanks to my guys," Alissa replied. "Anyway, despite everything, the people here in the base are being pushed more and more against the wall. I just wanted to tell you that." "What do you mean by despite everything?" Ryan asked. "What I meant is, things are great for me," Alissa said, and she seemed pretty cheerful for some reason. "Arthur is already as big as a two years old kid and he finally called me "mama," so I can''t see how things could improve from this." "Is there any doctor in the base that can check if this growth speed isn''t causing some issues to his body?" Ryan asked. "I don''t think that is relevant, but you said that he finally called you that, but you didn''t say that was the first time." "You had to remind me of that¡­ yeah, he called Mia first, must for my annoyance, but it is fine¡­" Alissa said after taking deep breaths to calm down her nerves. "I can more or less check the situation of his body just fine and I didn''t notice anything off. Some doctors also confirmed that. ording to Orgar, dragons are also creatures that grow fast, but they don''t suffer any issues from it." Ryan couldn''t help but sigh since Alissa was dumb enough topare a few months old boy with a dragon¡­ Regardless, he was fine, and that was all that mattered. As for the other guys in the base, aside from Zoe and Arthur, he couldn''t care less about them. "Although I am giving them a hand pretty often nowadays, things are gettingplicated," Alissa said. "Even Zoe is working pretty hard from adults'' standards." "Why now of all times you mentioned that¡­" Ryan sighed. "Why aren''t you helping her?" "I like the kid, so I am doing what I can, but I have responsibilities over my soldiers," Alissa replied. "When ites down to it, I don''t have any other choice but choose them over her." "¡­ What is happening over there?" Ryan asked while he was massaging his forehead. "The naivety of your friends is the problem, they don''t have enough manpower to keep the dungeons they want over their control and thus the number of wounded is increasing," Alissa said. "They tried to use your methods to keep some dungeons under control but it isn''t working. Summoner ss, Beastmaster ss or the Necromancer ss isn''t enough for them." "If you had to pinpoint a problem, the core problem, what would that be?" Ryan asked. "I guess it is the fact that they don''t have many survivors who are good at fighting in close range," Alissa exined. "Those who stayed behind are good people, but they didn''t be true warriors in thest six months. Those who left had be true warriors¡­ asshole warriors, but warriors nheless." Ryan couldn''t understand howe they couldn''t solve that problem with summoned monsters. The tome to learn Summon Golem should be something some of them could acquire¡­ After thinking for a while, Ryan came to the conclusion that few people could control hundreds of monsters. Probably their control status was low. That was an attribute that archer-based ss could increase a lot, and by the look of things, most survivors of the base followed the magic route. It was obviously a less difficult path for most people, after all. "The problem is that they chose the safest and easiest options since the very beginning," Ryan said. "I guess so, what are you going to do?" Alissa asked. "Don''t always assume that I am going to do something," Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You disappointed me, Alissa. To think that you couldn''t solve such small problems easily¡­" "Nice try, Ryan," Alissa said. "You aren''t going to seed in taunting me to solve the problems of others. Unlike you, I don''t like to solve certain problems using unexpected strategies, I have been taking a liking to clearing dungeons by myself. Besides, as far as I am concerned, the faster those creaturese to this world, the better. I will find the answer Orgar is looking for that way more easily." Ryan sighed¡­ in the end, Alissa had be a battle freak, but unlike Ryan, she wasn''t a worrywart. Leaving dungeons unguarded was something that could easily do without a care and from her perspective, what Mark and the others were trying to do was something impossible. Still, Ryan didn''t want to solve their problems, but he at least decided to give them a wake-up call. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 01 / Elementalist Lv 73 (+ 03 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 57th Health: 3625/3625 (7,74/s) Mana: 5133/5133 (7,74/s) Stamina: 4155/5155 (7,74/s) Strength: 131 (+210) (+130) Dexterity: 3682 (+3350) (+350) Speed: 620 (+1455) (+48) Intelligence: 481 (+1095) (+33) Endurance: 358 (+165) (+160) Control: 526 (+1595) (+10) Mentality: 408 (+115) (+70) Luck: 580 (+25) Recovery: 1853 (+2020) (+845) Willpower: 430 (+119) (+40) Coins: 452.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Evading Shot Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv Max (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv Max (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv Max (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv Max (+ 02 UP), Alchemy Lv 49 (+ 05 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 40 (+ 05 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 30 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 30(+ 05 UP), Hunt Lv 01, Bounty Lv 01, Hunter''s Eye Lv 01, Enhanced Concentration Lv 01, Heroic Swordsmanship Lv 01, Augmented Intelligence Lv 01 Spells: Potion Creation Lv 40 (+ 05 UP), Spatial Maniption Lv 21 (+ 05 UP), Lunar Arrow Lv 01, irvoyance Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Support Skills: Fast Conjuration Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 78 (+ 06 UP), Beastmaster Lv 64 (+ 04 UP), Sorcerer Lv 40 (+ 05 UP), Sniper Lv 68 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 62 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 57 (+ 04 UP), Ranger Lv 46 (+ 06 UP), Hexde Lv 23 (+ 04 UP), Dark Knight Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Mystic Knight Lv 01, Conjurer Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 42 (+ 02 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 482 - Unpleasant Surprise When Daniel woke up that morning, he barely managed to muster enough willpower to get up from the bed. He had barely slept for two hours, and that night had been actually the one in which he slept most in thest two weeks. When he left his room, Daniel found Hond crossing the corridor just like him, as if he was a living corpse. Both of them were too exhausted to greet each other, so they only barely nodded at each other. While he was brushing his teeth, Daniel studied the image in the mirror with an absent mind. He didn''t look like someone who was only twenty-three¡­ not a single person actually aged in thest few months, but the continuous fight and the few hours of rest were starting to make Daniel looked like someone in their forties¡­ at least when he was half-asleep. Suddenly, the base began to tremble, and the mirror in front of Daniel cracked. Nowadays, he hated earthquakes because usually, they weren''t just earthquakes. They were an rm informing humans of the impending doom¡­ Fortunately, the dungeon breaks happened just a week ago, so Daniel didn''t get nervous. However, the earthquake intensified, and his worries were confirmed when the rm of the base started to ring. "A dungeon break¡­ shit," Daniel bit his lips in exasperation. "How? Why?" Daniel and Hond dashed toward the meeting room and met their friends along the way. Tristan, Anna, Cole, Natalia, and all the others they have been working with for several months headed toward the same direction. The serious expression on their faces only worsened when another intense earthquake happened. "No way¡­" Luke muttered in shock. "Two dungeon breaks?" Mark and Hugo didn''t even have arrived at the meeting room when that group finally arrived. Anna essed the room''sputer, made the satellite move and gave them images of the three dungeons in the area. Before she could seed, another earthquake happened¡­ Everyone stopped and looked at each other and waited for another earthquake that never came. That was good, but it was also bad since they had three dungeons nearby¡­ When Mark and Hugo finally showed up, Anna seeded in making the satellite show some points in Indianapolis. The first one had been the Golems dungeon, and much to their despair, hundreds of them were leaving the dungeon. Anna didn''t let the shock slow her down any further, and then she also checked the situation on the other two dungeons. As expected, monsters wereing out from those two. Mark couldn''t mutter a single word to say or order anything¡­ that was the worst-case scenario. "Why the hell are you not moving?" John suddenly appeared and then asked, already imagining why everyone was in shock. "We have to deal with this problem before it is toote!" "... Right¡­" Mark said after taking a deep breath. "Hugo, Daniel, John, and Hond will lead our melee fighters and try to slow down the golems. Meanwhile, Mia, Natalia, Tristan and Luke will do the same against the Poisonous Frogs. Take everyone that has a decent aim with you guys." "What about the others?" Anna asked. "You and the other will follow me and fight off the Giant Bees," Mark replied. "Anyone know where Alissa is?" "She said that she would clear some dungeons in Canada and will only return in a week," Daniel replied. "Why now of all times¡­" Mark bit his lips in exasperation. "Zoe, you will stay behind and make sure that the other kids won''t leave the base. This situation is too risky and we can only rely on you to do that." Although she wanted to help too, she knew that it wasn''t time to argue. After giving those orders, everyone left the room and began to prepare their gear while selecting those that would apany them. The first group that managed to leave the base fast enough had been Daniel and the melee fighters who would fight the Golems. Much to their surprise, they saw a massive earth tower in the middle of the town, and at the top of it, they found Ryan lying down and watching the monsters approaching. "Ryan?" Daniel asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Usually, Daniel would feel happy for the presence of someone like Ryan at such a moment. However, he felt that something was off. Ryan showed and said many times that he wouldn''t be someone who would solve their problems. He had his own goals and would follow them no matter what happens with the survivors in the base. With that in mind, his presence was suspicious, if anything. "I am enjoying the show," Ryan replied. "You should hurry, you don''t want the Golems to get too close. They are heavy and if they fight seriously, they might damage the internal structure of the base." Daniel didn''t even ask if Ryan would join the fight. He already had recognized the fact that he couldn''t ask anything of him. Besides, he was right. Of all monsters, the Golems were the only ones who couldn''t get close to the town no matter what. "Let''s get going, Daniel," Hond said. "We don''t have any time to waste." Those who knew Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at him, but in the end, more or less everyone in the base recognized that he wasn''t one of them. It was only natural. Still, when people like John, Mark, Mia, Tristan, and Luke saw him watching the start of the fight and not lifting a single finger to help, they couldn''t help but have conflicting feelings. Ryan wasn''t one of them, but he certainly wasn''t an enemy, so his behavior didn''t make any sense. The three parties went all out from the very beginning. Thanks to it, they managed to slow the advance of the monsters for a few minutes, but eventually, the golems started to advance once again thanks to the fact that the survivors were running out of mana. Not only that, they were trying to slow down fifty thousand golems with three hundred survivors¡­ it was an unavoidable oue. Chapter 483 - Groups Power Daniel, while covered in sweat and bruises, dashed toward a group of twenty Golems. If anything, he certainly had guts. When the monsters entered his range, instead of trying to split them in half from head to toe with his sword, Daniel only cut down the heads of three of them after he kicked the ground and increased his speed. Ryan finally could watch him without sighing all that much. In thest few minutes, he looked like a dumbass swinging his sword around, but finally, he improved a little bit. "I guess that idiot uses the same tactic over and over again to defeat his targets," Ryan said. "I suppose that to master a sword is harder than a crossbow, but to think that he uses the same attack pattern over and over again¡­ he is truly a dumbass." While the other warriors didn''t have any decent skills, Daniel, Hond, John, and Hugo were quite good. While they weren''t as wild as Hond and Daniel, the other two far more precise and received much less damage as well. Maybe it was a coincidence, but John and Hugo fight while using some bracers. Their punches were powerful enough even to knock down a level three hundred golems. "I guess they practiced boxing in their youth," Ryan nodded to himself. "While they don''t kill Golems as fast as the other two, they can contain the enemies advance by knocking down just a few of them." The other two groups were surprising, putting a fight better than Daniel''s group. In special, Mia''s group that was fighting the Giant Bees was doing one heck of a job. Even after twenty minutes, they didn''t retreat a single inch. For some reason, many of the survivors in that group used crossbows, but only Mia used two of them. "It must be my imagination¡­ Alissa probably didn''t open her mouth about my fighting style," Ryan frowned. "Come to think of it, I only started using two crossbows rather recently, Alissa was the one who did that first." While Ryan had a hard admitting that, he certainly did a good job training Mia. Her uracy was leagues above the others, just like her overall power. Following her lead, the other survivors were starting to get used to that situation. However, the tide of the whole battle changed when the bosses finally joined the fight. As one would expect, Ryan''s acquaintances took the lead and decided to fight them off while the other survivors fought the small fries. However, each group had a least three one hundred bosses. It was only a matter of time before a disaster happens¡­ Upon noticing this, Mark approached Ryan. "What are you doing here if you are not going to help?" Mark asked. "Right now, I am watching a bunch of morons trying to survive," Ryan replied. "This is your territory, right? You shouldn''t expect that someone will alwayse to save your ass when something unexpected happens." Mark clicked his tongue in annoyance and rejoined the fight against the Poisoned Frogs. Despite his age, he was a pretty good melee fighter. His weapon of choice was a spear, and his swings were fast and precise. However, given that he was in the middle of creatures that could poison him to death, he wasted more time dodging attacks than causing any real damage. Suddenly, a group of ten giant golems dashed forward and then made Daniel, Hond, John, and Hugo fly. Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he saw some of their limbs bending in the wrong direction. Although they put up a decent fight for quite a while, it looked like they didn''t outgrow the golems even though some of them probably had two-tier three sses. As soon as theynded, those four used Heal to restore their bodies. While creating a build in which warriors could heal themselves that fast wasn''t a bad idea, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh since apparently, they decided to use all their mana to guarantee their survivability. While that also wasn''t such a bad idea, it was probably the worst thing they had agreed to do, considering the fact that dungeon breaks were happening all over the world. It doesn''t matter if you are nearly immortal. If you can''t kill small fries like golems fast enough, then all that survivability goes to the trash can. Mia and Mark''s groups also were forced to retreat a little bit as well. The number of bosses was just too big for a few talented people to hold them back. Moreover, the number of gravely wounded or poisoned was increased by the minute. Although most survivors also could use Heal and Purification, that was only dying the inevitable. At some point, all the survivors began to look at Ryan with their eyes full of hatred. Someone who was strong enough and could help them was only watching them struggle. He even had the courage to yawn when more the one people at a time shouted and insulted him. "I guess it is about time¡­" Ryan said and then got up. After Ryan said that, he saw the very moment a Giant Golem destroyed the legs of sure survivors with Stone Bullets. While agonizing in pain, the man fell on his knees, but the Giant Golem wasn''t done yet. The creature raised its arms to crush the man into a pulp, and the beast would have seeded if Daniel hasn''t got in the way and blocked the attack with his sword. "Well, that is rather impressive," Ryan said. "He is powerful enough to block the attack of level three hundred and tier two boss. Too bad that his brains didn''t evolve a single bit in those six months." Suddenly, Daniel''s sword broke, and the arms of the boss have smashed his shoulders. It hadn''t been enough to knock Daniel down, but he lost his arms, at least for a while. That was what happens when you swung your swords around against monsters made of stone and don''t care about their durability. Chapter 484 - Disappointment Before the monster could actually kill Daniel, his father dashed toward him and attacked the monster with everything he got. Surprisingly enough, the Giant Golem was knocked down, but John''s fists started to bleed a lot after that attack. Somehow, Daniel used Heal before he could fall unconscious and prevented himself from bing a burden to others. However, now he didn''t have a weapon, and his arms will take a while to properly heal. Instead of looking for a dropped item to substitute his broken sword, he just decided to fight by kicking the monsters. "He sure is muscle-head," Ryanughed. "What is so funny?" Katelyn, the woman who slew a dragon without a single ss, asked. "Don''t you think that is funny?" Ryan frowned. "I mean look at that¡­" "Someone trying really hard to survive and struggling that much isn''t funny!" Katelyn raised her voice. "I think everything is a matter of perspective," Ryan shrugged. "¡­ You are not the man I thought you were," Katelyn said, and she didn''t try to hide her disgust. "Yep, you shouldn''t judge a book by its cover," Ryan nodded. Katelyn stayed outside Ryan''s radar, probably because she wasn''t fighting, but she was doing something far more important than that. She was using the monsters'' spirits to create specialized weapons¡­ weapons that would grant extra power against certain types of foes. "So, she can easily do that, huh," Ryan said, visibly impressed. "I guess I have a long way ahead of me when ites to weapon creation." Unlike Ryan, who would give the weapons she was making to the most powerful survivors, Katelyn was giving them to the people who were struggling most of all groups. It was probably thanks to her that not a single person fled from the battlefield¡­ then again, humans could only fight for so long at their peak. As for the golems¡­ they don''t tire. While they were only tiered two monsters, they certainly were among the worst types of monsters humans could face. Ryan was starting to feel like he was wasting an excellent opportunity to train his low-level sses and obtain some massive amounts of coins. However, despite that, he decided to just watch everything. What would be the point of causing those dungeon breaks and then solving the issue himself? Those dumbasses wouldn''t learn anything from that¡­ In the end, the result really surprised Ryan. Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, the survivors of the base managed to prevent the monsters from entering the small town in which their headquarters was located below. Ryan didn''t want to think that something as cheesy as that the wish to protect their new home and the kids who stayed behind motivated them but ignoring that possibility would certainly be foolish. Maybe it was a matter ofpatibility, but Mia by far was the one who slew most monsters. Unlike the pathetic expressions that she showed Ryan many times during thest six months, she really looked like a battle-hardened warrior while she was killing the giant bees, even though she was bleeding heavily from several scratches caused by the monsters. "I guess this is it, huh¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Around noon and thanks to Mia, the number of Giant Bee Bosses finally reached the one-digit mark. Even from far away, Ryan could already see Mia giving orders to other survivors to go and help the other groups. The number of ordinary monstersing from the dungeon in that direction was also less than one thousand, so they would have pacified the region in just a few minutes. However, Ryan had other ns for them¡­ "Now then, how should I do this?" Ryan asked. "I can always do it and then y dumb, but that isn''t something I would like to do. As for the other method, I will end up making myself an enemy out of everyone here¡­ Well, who cares?" Ryan pointed his crossbow and the Giant Bees dungeon and then pulled the trigger. Everyone in that direction heard the high-pitching sound of an object passing above them. Mia frowned when she noticed that something came from Ryan''s direction and her face went pale when another earthquake happened. "Ryan?" Mia muttered in shock. Everyone that knew Ryan slightly had considered that possibility¡­ but in the end, they refused to admit that Ryan had gone mad to the point of risking the safety of everyone in the secret base. Some directly questioned his sanity with those who interacted more than a few times with him. Still, in the end, they couldn''t show any proof that Ryan someday would be a threat¡­ now they had the proof that they needed. Until now, somehow, thanks to everyone''s hard work, not a single survivor had died. Many of them were in pain due to some serious injuries, but only that. However, if someone dies now, everyone will see Ryan as an enemy. That thought alone made Mia feel shivers. Despite everything, despite the fact that she was about to move on with her life, she didn''t want to see others considering him an enemy. "Quickly! Gather the loot and equip whatever suits you best!" Mia shouted. "Be quick and don''t fight over it!" They had a few seconds before the new monsters could arrive, but Mia knew that wasn''t enough. She began to advance toward the dungeon, charging a Power Shot with one of her crossbows and then ying the Giant Bees with the other. Her power and skill reached a point where she could do that with rtive ease. When the next horde of monsters finally showed up, Mia weed them with her Power Shot. Instantly, hundreds of Giant Bees were decimated by her attack. Still, at best, she bought only ten or so seconds with her attack. While everyone was trying hard to upgrade their gear as fast as possible, Ryan watched the three battlefields with a serious expression. Despite everything, those people still had some spirit in them. They were exhausted and in pain, but Ryan couldn''t see anyone who looked that was about to flee. Running away in that situation wouldn''t solve anything, after all¡­ Chapter 485 - Conclusion "I guess they aren''t a lost cause," Ryan muttered. "Still, I think they need another push¡­" Ryan came to the secret base with the idea of forcing these idiots to be truly desperate and then make them reach another level of strength. Until now, at least from Ryan''s perspective, they have been trying to survive while relying on the customs of the old human society. That was working fairly well given that they had one thousand or so survivors that wouldn''t run away even in a situation like that. However, it wasn''t enough¡­ they needed to be thirstier for power while also maintaining some aspects of their naivety. By fighting and oveing that hardship, their teamwork will probably reach another level as well. Still, unless all of them at least see death in front of them a few times in a single day, they will never survive when the true hardships start to happen. "They obviously need amon enemy, someone who will make them angry¡­ a target to surpass no matter what," Ryan nodded to himself. "A monster can''t y that role¡­ I guess the obvious option is me." After thinking for a while, Ryan considered the downsides of his n. He was quite tired of being so edgy all the time. Still, in the end, he couldn''t find any other way to draw the hatred of these people aside from causing them such a massive problem and then mock his effortster. The first goal was more or less achieved. He just needed to make the other dungeons break a few times and then solve all problems before they suffered heavy casualties. "Yep, I can''t think of a better option¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It would be great if the demon generals could have caused more problems for the survivors right now. That way, Ryan would be able to avoid certain issues. Still, if the worstes to the worst, Ryan can always take some really drastic measures and solve the whole problem. In fact, he decided to do that right now. Ryan pointed his crossbows at the dungeons and then pulled the trigger. A few secondster, another earthquake made the whole area tremble. If anyone had any doubts that Ryan wasn''t an ally, those doubts vanished. He was the one who caused the whole situation, and if someone dies, he will be the culprit. "Have you lost your mind, Ryan?" Daniel shouted. "You don''t have time to waste shouting," Ryan said. "Show me what dumbasses like yourselves can do, I want to see idiots trying to bite more than they can chew." Anger and confusion filled the face of those who knew Ryan. He wasn''t making any sense. It was only obvious since he had gone mad¡­ Regardless, when the new wave of monsters arrived, they forgot about him and focused their senses on the fight. However, the result had already been decided¡­ Even Mia, who had kept the whole East side of the battlefield under control, wasn''t doing much anymore. Her uracy had dropped significantly, and the Giant Bees were starting to push the whole group backward. After fighting against Poisoned Frogs for almost an entire day, the second group of survivors barely could stand. While they had the skills to counter poison, there were only so many times their bodies could withstand being poisoned. As for Daniel''s group, they were in a pretty dire situation. They were refusing to retreat, and some of them didn''t yet simply because they were too stubborn. That being said, some survivors were starting to copse on the ground. "It is finally time¡­" Ryan said and then stored away his crossbows. Ryan jumped, and then when he was high enough, he used Draconic Transformation. The survivors who were fighting fiercely suddenly stopped fighting when they saw a huge shadow covering the battlefield. After a few seconds, those who didn''t notice the dark and blue dragon above them finally noticed. "HAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared. Ryan''s shout, full of anger and annoyance, stopped the whole battlefield. Even the golems who couldn''t feel really anything stopped fighting. Although the manner in which Ryan was pping his wings was quite clumsy, no one cared about that. They only cared about the fact that he began to fly over the battlefield and turning the golems into ice statues with his Ice Breath. While that was an excellent way to hunt, he didn''t like it¡­ it was too easy, and the bonus in status granted by the skill made him feel more ufortable than anything. In just a few seconds, thousands of golems froze and died. Those who survived froze and couldn''t move a single inch. Ryan looked at the survivors for a second and only confirmed his progress. The survivors were looking at him as if he was a demon himself. As for Daniel, John, Hugo, and Hond, they couldn''t see him as anything but a threat. Even more easily than with the Golems, Ryan froze and killed the Poisoned Frogs and Giant Bees. The same thing happened over those battlefields¡­ the survivors there were having a hard time controlling their wishes to point their weapons at Ryan and attack. However, they weren''t crazy enough to pick a fight with someone who could defeat an army of monsters in which they barely could hold them back. After the end of the show, Ryan returned to his Earth tower. Still, hended there on his draconic form. He even howled once again to make the expressions of anger around him turn into expressions filled with anxiety and fear. "Here is a message for all the dumbasses who want to y hero in this new world: give up, you can''t save everyone and you can''t prevent the monsters from keepinging to our world," Ryan said. "I have no right to decide what each one of you should do, but I won''t stay quiet and watch some idiots involving others in their stupid and naive ideas. If the same thing happens again, I won''t cause a dungeon break, I will fight the idiots myself. It will be better to get rid of them early on than letting them leave and cause problems in the future." Chapter 486 - Unforgivable " I hope that you guys understood my message," Ryan said and then returned to his human form and then prepared to leave. "Wait, Ryan!" Daniel said. "Why did you do this? We don''t have time to waste with your nonsense." "I could say the same thing," Ryan said. "I did that because you guys have been causing some problems to me. I solved all of them until now, but it doesn''t mean that I will overlook that." "You can''t juste and go and tell us what to do!" Anna shouted. "I didn''t tell you anything like that, I just told you that you will endure the proper consequences of your actions," Ryan said. "I am not your enemy, but I am not your ally either. From now on if your actions start to bother me, I will make you pay for it. Hopefully, not many of you will die, but who can tell that?" "The hell are you talking about?" "Don''t mess with us your egotistical bastard!" "I am talking about the deserters you let live until now and the fact that your ambitions are affecting others," Ryan replied. "Don''t try to bite more than you can chew, or you might choke to death." Although Ryan said that, it took a while for the survivors to understand his words. They were trying to be as civilized as they could, that was good, and all, but thanks to it, people like Zoe were being affected and had to work harder more than anyone. Not only that, their inability to deal with the deserters was a problem that would only escte over time. Ryan defeated those that joined Thanatos'' side, but they weren''t dead per se. If Ryan had arrived one or two weekster, perhaps he would have been the one who would have suffered defeat. Pretty much everyone there understood Ryan''s message, but despite all that, they couldn''t bring themselves to forgive Ryan''s actions. He had been too irrational since he risked the lives of every single survivor in the base, be they children or the elderly. Ryan also recognized that fact, and that was why he didn''t want to be forgiven. Forgiveness was useless when the lives of individuals were put on the line. In any case, Ryan aplished his goals¡­ to a certain extent. The survivors looked more angry than ashamed. Hopefully, that would be enough to make them change theirck of determination¡­ After that, Ryan used Teleport to return to his domain, and then he sighed since that had been tiresome in many ways. He didn''t want to waste time preaching to anyone. If someone were too useless or a troublemaker, he would deal with them fast to solve and prevent all possible troublesome situations. However, it couldn''t have been that radical with the survivors of the secret base for many reasons. "You have put quite the show there," Femradiel suddenly said. "Despite everything, you still hold the people there in high-regards." "Only a few of them," Ryan said. "If you say so," Femradiel said. Area Lv 16: 35 square milesLevel UP cost: 370.000 coins or 3.700.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 05Level UP cost: 2.500 coins or 25.000 mana Barrier Lv 07 Level UP cost:7000 coins or 70.000 mana Army Lv 08 Level UP cost: 15.000 coins or 150.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 23 (55%) Level UP cost:40.000 coins or 400.000 mana Coins stored: 125.365Mana stored: 655.842 Ryan checked the status of his domain and then used the coins they had to make several options level up. Before he went to Indianapolis, he checked things with his Steel Eagle, so he had some coins to spare with that. Now all of the seven dungeons in the area were inside his domain, but Ryan wasn''t satisfied with that. Ryan didn''t have anything else to do, for the time being, so he proceeded to train his Red Falcons and his Elementalist ss. While he was doing that, Ryan noticed that the Sage ss leveled up a lot thanks to his show in Indianapolis. Then he considered the idea of causing more dungeon breaks in the future. As long as he chooses his targets wisely, he won''t have to face things like the god of death or Echidna too early. "Then again, even if only a few dungeons level up faster and those are not connected to the world of certain creatures, the mana level of the will make other dungeons grow a little bit faster," Ryan muttered to himself. "I can gain some time by doing that, and make myself more prepared when the real fight starts, the question is: should I do something like that when only I will benefit from it?" That was quite risky, but there was another way to do that without worrying about such an obvious downside¡­ Ryan just had to defeat certain dungeon masters, make one of his pets take over their ce and then summon the bosses of those domains by using the coins that he will obtain from those same ces. It was quite a good idea since Ryan probably would be able to fight certain bosses more than a few times every day. "I guess I can use that to increase the number of weapons in my arsenal, but it will take a while before I can defeat a dungeon master of a tier three dungeon¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In any case, I already know what dungeon masters I should defeat next." Ryan would try to defeat the dungeon masters in the same order he cleared his first dungeons. Hopefully, that won''t take much time as he was imagining. There was a way for Ryan to achieve that at a decent pace. He just needed to be as harsh with his pets as he were with humans, but that was easier said than done. Being harsh with those that helped him on a daily basis was difficult without reason. While that could cause problemster on, at the very least, by being like that, he didn''t have any conflicting feelings. Chapter 487 - Tyrant In the end, to make up for hisck of harshness, Ryan trained his Red Falcons at a decent pace and whenever possible by using several other skills aside from the ones who belong to the Elementalist ss. Thanks to that, they reached the same level as the Steel Eagle in five days. That was quite the aplishment since the Steel Eagle stayed with Ryan for weeks. "I guess it is time to defeat some dungeon masters, but I am starting to feel like I need to get a new tier three ss soon," Ryan said while scratching the back of his head. "I am really bing more and more thirsty for power, huh¡­" Now that he more or less broke his ties with the secret base, he couldn''t rely on them to obtain certain pieces of information. The location of new dungeons was something that Ryan had to find by himself, but could he leave his domain for who knows how long in order to do that much exploration? While he could quickly cross distances, he needed a lot of mana to do that. "Femradiel, I think it is time for you to n the creation of another familiar," Ryan said. "I will need at least a week to n the type of the body," Femradiel said. "And at least another day to create it. However, I don''t have any ideas for a new type of body." "You can always just make another copy of one of those two bodies," Ryan said. "That would be a waste of time and effort, I would rather use these rare opportunities to n and create something that has a lot of potential," Femradiel exined. "You are soplicated¡­" Ryan sighed. "I need to obtain more tier three sses since it will take a while before I get another special one. Anyway, if you want to have different versions of familiars, I can''t imagine you having more than a few bodies. Why limit yourself like that?" "Are you out of all people asking me that?" Femradiel asked. "You are always refusing to use Power of Money and Draconic Transformation is asking me why am I limiting myself?" "You got me there¡­" Ryanughed. "How about you create a Tyrant type of dragon? Those look really cool." "Creating a smaller version of that is impossible," Femradiel said. "I don''t think it fits my style, but I guess it is a good idea, the only problem is the stupid amount of mana I will need. It will be evenrger than the mana I would need to recreate my old body." Ryan didn''t consider that, but now that he thought about it, it made a lot of sense. To make matters worse, he didn''t have much knowledge about dragons. Until a few months ago, they were just fictional creatures, after all. With the exception of some oversized lizards that exist on Earth. "I don''t know what your options are, but you should consider them from now on and choose one of them as soon as possible," Ryan said. "I don''t know how much time I am going to spend defeating the dungeon masters and making the Red Falcons assume their ces, but it shouldn''t take me more than a week." "I think you are underestimating your enemies," Femradiel said. "Even if some dungeons spawn low-level monsters, it doesn''t mean their world only has low-level monsters as well." Ryan could only nod after hearing that. He was going to face the dungeon master that was spawning goblins, and that species of monster was one of the few that tried to build a camp in another world. Despite everything, they were a sapient species that had a pretty decent grasp of strategy. He couldn''t underestimate the monster controlling them. "All right, buddy," Ryan said while patting Furball. "You will guard this ce while I am out since we can''t rely on Femradiel. She is too busy hanging out with her new cool friends." As usual, Furball barked as if he was saying yes. In any case, while his friend couldn''t do much if another armyes to attack, Femradiel can always warn Ryan about the danger if something like that happens. Without wasting any more time, Ryan began to use Teleport. It was kind of hard to use it on five different creatures at the same time, but in the end, he managed. Since there was no telling of how the mission wouldst, Ryan also didn''t try to save mana potions. Hopefully, he will have time to craft them if he ran out of those. Much to Ryan''s surprise, he didn''t find anyone guarding the goblins dungeon¡­ the mission barely started, and Ryan was already getting annoyed. The people that Daniel and the others left behind finally showed their true colors. Either they moved to another dungeon when they outgrew the goblins, or they joined the monsters'' side after receiving the offer of a dungeon master. It was hard to tell since Ryan only kept an eye on them for a few days. "There is also the possibility that they created a deserters'' camp with the others that left the secret base¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Sometime in the near future, I will have to ask Femradiel to help me find some survivors'' camps in the country and confirm what they are up to. Can''t let troublemakers run wild for too long." Weirdly enough, Ryan didn''t find an army of goblins guarding the dungeon. He also didn''t see many goblins moving around in the area. There was no camp in any ce to be seen as well¡­ Most likely, the idiots in the secret base cleared the dungeon in thest few days. Some goblins appeared and tried to block Ryan''s path, but he quickly defeated them by making their head explode with a single bolt. Even though they were almost level three hundred monsters, they posed no threat to Ryan. After a couple of minutes, Ryan finally met an old enemy¡­ the hobgoblin that took his arm. It was time to pay his debt¡­ Chapter 488 - Carnage Sword Carnage Sword Goblerio (Hobgoblin) ¨C Lv 330 Health: 25.000/25.000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 35.000/35.000 Strength: 3500 (+500) Dexterity: 1200 Speed: 1500 Intelligence: 1500 (+200) Endurance: 2000 (+300) Control: 750 Mentality: 2500 (+300) Luck: 500 Recovery: 10.000 (+1500) Willpower: 2500 (+300) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 150, Throw Lv 140 Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 250, Shield Mastery Lv 200, Improved Strength Lv 180, Improved Recovery Lv 250 Spells: Fireball Lv 150, Ice Arrow Lv 150, Stone Bullet Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 200 "Oh, you do have a name," Ryan said, surprised. "It kind of sucks, though." Despite the surprise, Ryan was quite in a good mood. Who could have thought that he would face the same motherfucker that made him lose his arm once at such a time? Ryan was so satisfied that he gave the monster the chance to attack him first. Obviously, he didn''t let the attacknd. He escaped by using sh and then finally equipped his Thunder Lord crossbow. Before the monster could turn around, Ryan pulled the trigger and hit the shoulder of the creature. While he was in a good mood, Ryan also wanted to make the boss lose both of its arms. Even though Ryan only lost once¡­ The bolt hit the monster and pierced deeply, but much to Ryan''s surprise, a single attack wasn''t enough to reach his goal. It looked like he was getting carried away with his recent aplishments, that or he was looking down on the power of the enemy. The hobgoblin muttered something impossible to understand due to the pain. Ryan used that opportunity tond several more bolts on the boss''s shoulders. In the end, the creature lost both arms, and Ryan obtained their shield and sword. Hopefully, the items would have increased just like the level of the creature. However, Ryan wanted more, and he used Seal to create a magic weapon by using the monster''s spirit. Brute Crossbow Effect: fires special bolts at the cost of thirty points of mana that causes twenty percent more damage against monsters bigger than yourself. Dexterity + 120, Intelligence + 60 Durability: 90/90 Carnage Sword (+7) Effect: a weapon that prevents the natural regeneration of the flesh that has been cut down by it. Only high-level purification or healing spells can counter this effect. Strength + 129, Endurance + 68. Durability: 80/80 Protector''s Shield (+6) Effect: decreases the damage caused by long-range attacks by three percent. Endurance + 100, Willpower + 100 Durability: 150/150 "Ah, so it was due to the effect of the sword that I didn''t heal my arm that day," Ryan said, slightly surprised. "To think that a low level monster would have such a weapon. In any case, I just confirmed that the equipment of bosses also can be upgraded." Ryan realized that he had to study more the dungeon master system. He didn''t notice that before because when he fought the Reptilians, the bosses were using special weapons forged to attack domains, and Ryan was the one who gave them that idea. In any case, after analyzing those items, something inside Ryan''s mind alerted him that perhaps defeating the dungeon master wouldn''t be that easy. Given that a signal boss had ess to such items, it was only natural to think that the species as a whole would have ess to a lot of decent gear. To prevent unpleasant surprises, Ryan decided to leave four of his five Red Falcons behind. They would take care of the monsters that would spawn. Meanwhile, the other one would help Ryan¡­ at least a little bit when ites down to flying and saving some of his mana. Ryan and the Red Falcon touched the crystal, and in the next moment, they appeared at the top of a mountain. He quickly memorized the ce in case something happens that might force Ryan to run by instantly using Teleport. Still, then the ce quickly disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he looked around. Despite being in an alien world that belonged to Goblins, Ryan found several medium-sized towns around the mountain. They didn''t look like half-assed camps built by monsters thatcked any real architect knowledge. Those were well-nned towns that have existed for several decades. "How odd¡­" Ryan frowned. "I was expecting to see some unusual things, but¡­ this certainly is more shocking than anything that I have imagined." Before trying to analyze those towns, Ryan jumped on the Red Falcon''s back and then gave his pet the order to fly pretty high in the sky. A red point moving around wasn''t exactly hard to notice. Besides, Ryan had good eyes and could use irvoyance, so there was no real need to stay close. Ryan began to frown when he noticed that the goblins'' society was pretty organized. While they weren''t that advanced, all of their people were doing something rted tobat. The kids were training with swords, spears, and shields. Meanwhile, the adult goblins were marching around their terrain and confirming that everything was in order¡­ It looked like they were expecting some bad visitors like Ryan. "Come to think of it¡­ wasn''t I supposed to appear near the dungeon master''s crystal?" Ryan frowned. "The same thing happened in the slimes world¡­ is it random the ce where enemies might appear inside the domain?" If that was the case, perhaps increasing the range of his domain was a double-edged sword¡­ Regardless, Ryan confirmed that there were hundreds of goblins towns in such a world, and in each one of them had at least a single hobgoblin that was several levels above the others. The overall goblin strength was around level 150. That was quite impressive, considering that they probably didn''t have many monsters to hunt in such a world. That was interesting, but Ryan was more interested in finding the dungeon master, and it looked like that would take a while. Chapter 489 - Goblins Army In the end, even after several hours of searching, Ryan didn''t find the dungeon master. Knowing that they were probably the core member of the goblin society, Ryan thought such a creature would be easy to find. He even imagined the monster living in a grand castle. "Now what?" Ryan asked. "I thought I could defeat the dungeon master before they mobilize its armies, but I guess that is too unrealistic. I will have to draw them out by massacring the goblins all over the world." There was no other option. Something like that would have to be done sooner orter. Otherwise, Ryan would have to leave the Red Falcon behind in a world full of enemies. That made him feel a bad taste in his mouth, but it didn''t prevent Ryan from making up his mind. "Usually, I would have to worry about being surrounded since the dungeon masters can control pretty much everything in their domains, but I guess that guy is too busy since they didn''t notice my presence," Ryan concluded. "That, or I just came at a time they are not here." Although that seemed convenient, Ryan decided to y it safe. He already fell into a trap by misjudging the situation and the intelligence of his foes once, and Ryan wasn''t nning on doing that again. Ryan thought he would see all kinds of goblins in that world, but much to his surprise, he only saw the ordinary ones and the hobgoblins. There were no other variations or evolutions. Since that was the case, Ryan decided to attack them while flying on the Red Falcons'' back. His first targets have been the towns around the mountain where he spawned, and he pretty much wiped out the ces from the map by using the Fire Master crossbow. In just a few seconds, those towns became a sea of mes. Not even the Hobgoblins had the chance to react in time and do anything. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 110 coins. ¡­ The smoke rose to the sky, and the inhabitants of the other towns finally noticed that an enemy had shown up. In just a couple of minutes, several battalions of goblins marched toward those ces in order to hunt Ryan down. In the end, his ns to draw everyone''s attention worked better than he had expected. The goblins became easy targets walking in big numbers like that. He decimated them easily with his explosive crossbows. Ryan felt quite troubled by it, but he didn''t hesitate in attacking all the buildings he saw. He couldn''t be na?ve and let any survivors hidden in those ces. Even if they were children, they were monsters and his enemies. For quite a while, Ryan destroyed town after town without having a hard time firing his bolts and attacking the monsters before they could do anything. Still, then suddenly, he felt something on his back. When he turned around, Ryan saw a massive army of goblins wearing cloaks and holding wands. Goblin Shaman ¨C Lv 450 Health: 10.000/10.000 Mana: 75.000/75.000 Stamina: 5.000/5.000 Strength: 500 (+100) Dexterity: 3200 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 4500 (+900) Endurance: 1500 (+300) Control: 2750 Mentality: 2500 (+300) Luck: 500 Recovery: 15.000 (+4500) Willpower: 2500 (+300) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Intelligence Lv 100, Improved Recovery Lv 100, Augmented Recovery Lv 100 Spells: Fire Spear Lv 250, Ice Spear Lv 250, Mana Shield Lv 250 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 250, Cold Resistance Lv 250, Shock Resistance Lv 200, Wand Mastery Lv 150 "No name¡­ they must be monsters spawned from a dungeon master crystal," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "That level also confirms that¡­" As if they had trained that thousands of times, the Goblins shaman cast Fire Spear and fired them at Ryan at the exact same time. Even from a distance, he could tell that such an attack was leagues above the magic projectiles the Reptilians used¡­ Ryan couldn''t deflect them by using his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Ryan used Teleport and then reappeared behind the monsters'' army. However, much to his annoyance and surprise, he felt that weird sensation on his back again, and Radar made Ryan confirm his worries. Another army of Goblins shaman had been summoned and was behind Ryan. In a hurry, Ryan teleported to the sky. Still, then when he turned and aimed his crossbows at the armies below, the Goblins were already casting Fire Spears and Ice Spears toward him. "There is no mistake, they are monsters summoned by the crystal and the dungeon master is controlling them," Ryan said and then equipped his shield while he also gave the order for his Red Falcon to fly skyward. The number of magic projectiles that almost hit him and the Red Falcon decreased thanks to the fact that they moved away. However, each projectile that hit his shield made its durability drop considerably¡­ Some Goblins suffered damage thanks to the effects of the shield, but it hadn''t been nearly enough to kill them. Moreover, even when Ryan was several kilometers above the army, their projectiles still could reach him. Fortunately, the Red Falcon had enough time to recognize the threat and dodge it at that distance. "As expected of level four hundred monsters¡­ even if they belong to a low tier, they can''t be taken lightly," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Trying to attack them near the ground won''t work, surprise attacks are out of the question as well since the dungeon master can reallocate his minions freely." In the end, Femradiel was right. Ryan really underestimated his foes¡­ to a certain extent. While he was caught off guard, he didn''t feel for any traps yet. Besides, Ryan was yet to cause any damage on the Goblins shamans, and as far as he was concerned, he barely had used any offensive skill. "I will have plenty of chances to attack, but I need to be as efficient as possible," Ryan muttered. "The enemy has more resources and the advantage of the terrain, after all." Chapter 490 - Inquisition Crossbow After considering his options for a while, Ryan decided not to show his best skills for the time being. He had no idea if the Goblin Shamans were the most powerful troops in the enemy''s hand, so he had to be careful. Since he had already used Teleport, that one could be used to some extent. While that wouldn''t be nearly as effective as if he tried to use them in meleebat, Ryan teleported several of his Spiritualist Spears and then made them spin with Telekinesis when they appeared in the middle of the two armies of goblins. The creatures were caught off guard and were forced to activate Mana Shield to protect themselves, but dozens of them had already died when that happened. "Let''s get a little closer," Ryan said to the Red Falcon. Even while the Goblin shamans were busy against the spears, Ryan attacked them from above by using his Spiritualist Crossbows. He made several copies of them. Still, instead of attacking several foes, he attacked one at a time. Ryan spent a lot of mana, but eventually, he began to y the shamans since their mana was being drained by the bolts and also being consumed to protect the monsters from Ryan''s raw power. "This is taking too long¡­ I need another way to catch them off guard," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I need something much more effective and that won''t give them the chance to react on time." After saying that, Ryan recovered his spears. He had several crossbows that would be useful against such opponents, but the Mana Shield was a problem. Suddenly, Ryan has another one of his nasty ideas, and he couldn''t help but smirk. "I won''t be able to use this more than once, but it will certainly surprise them," Ryan grinned. Ryan jumped from the Red Falcon''s back and then approached the shaman''s army. When the monsters began to fire their magic projectiles at Ryan, he used Teleport. He appeared right in the middle of one of the armies. Before the monsters could react, he grabbed one of them by the beck and then escaped by using Teleport. "Good day to you," Ryan said and then used his spears to drain all the mana from his target after he returned to the Red Falcon''s back. "Don''t try to struggle. This will end soon¡­ The monster''s Mana Shield got in the way at first. Still, eventually, the goblin lost all its mana and the capacity to do anything. After that, he used Charge Trap in several parts of the monster''s body and then tossed the creature away. To make sure that the monster wouldn''t do anything, Ryan snapped its neck with Telepathy. After a while, when the beast fell in the middle of one of the shaman''s army, a massive explosion happened. You obtained 600 coins. You obtained 600 coins. You obtained 600 coins. ¡­ Judging by the number of notifications, Ryan confirmed that hundreds of goblin shamans died. The idiots never considered the possibility that Ryan transformed their ally into a bomb. The first army had beenpletely obliterated. The goblins that survived didn''t manage to do anything when Ryan equipped his crossbows again and finished them off. The second army tried to prevent that, but they never hit Ryan. However, another army was summoned. Ryan finally realized that such a battle willst forever unless he finds the dungeon master. "The problem is that I can''t just ignore them¡­" Ryan said and then made his Red Falcon fly toward the next town. "While this is a good opportunity to level up some sses, I can''t neglect the real goal here, which is to decrease the number of possible future threats." Getting stronger was as crucial as decreasing the number of enemies. Still, Ryan didn''t know how he should do that. He had some tracking skills, but that probably wouldn''t be enough. As far as he was concerned, that new world was as big as Earth, so that will take a while. "Using summons here will be a waste of time since I will have to spend mana and the dungeon master can do the same by using potions," Ryan nodded to himself. "So, I guess I will cause as much destruction as possible and then decrease the number of ces they can hide." That was quite the drastic measure, but it was better than wasting too much time with a nearly infinite army of shamans. Besides, if he focuses too much on them, Ryan will end up giving too much time for the ordinary goblins to prepare themselves for the fight. While flying around and killing the ordinary goblins, Ryan recovered a lot of mana and used it to kidnap some goblin shamans by using Telekinesis. The monsters resisted by using Mana Shield, but the spell was only useful against attacks. Eventually, Ryan created another decent crossbow. Inquisition Crossbow (+ 07) Effect: It decreases the intelligence of your foes by ten points for thirty seconds. Dexterity + 130, Intelligence + 130 Durability: 120/120 "Well, the effect is a little different than I was waiting, but not bad I guess," Ryan shrugged. "Still, it wille in handy in some situations. While it was helpful against mages, it couldn''t do anything to them when they had Mana Shields activated 24/7. Regardless, the dungeon master tried to allocate their troops in order to stop Ryan from spreading destruction in the domain, but it failed miserably. When the two armies suddenly appeared before him, Ryan increased his altitude. When they appeared on the sides, he used Teleport to escape the barrage of attacks. Eventually, the dungeon master summoned another two armies to stop Ryan for good by surrounding him by the sides and stopping his advance, but it was useless. Ryan just increased the distance he traveled and escaped the monsters altogether. Upon noticing that the goblin shamans wouldn''t be enough to stop Ryan, the dungeon master finally revealed another one of their hidden cards¡­ the goblins archer. Chapter 491 - Enemies’ Strategy When suddenly twenty-five thousand goblins archers appeared in front of him, with their arrows nocked and ready to be shot, Ryan couldn''t help but open his eyes widely in surprise. He waited for the moment they would fire the arrows, but the moment never came. Instead, they waited for the moment where Ryan would pass above them. Ryan used Teleport to escape. Still, then he noticed that only a few of them had fired, and the others were already aiming at his next location. Goblin Archer ¨C Lv 420 Health: 15.000/15.000 Mana: 20.000/20.000 Stamina: 35.000/35.000 Strength: 1500 (+100) Dexterity: 6500 (+ 1500) Speed: 2500 (+500) Intelligence: 2500 (+300) Endurance: 1500 Control: 3750 (+300) Mentality: 1500 (+300) Luck: 1500 Recovery: 10.000 (+1500) Willpower: 1500 (+300) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Speed Lv 100, Improved Control Lv 100, Concentration Lv 300, Archery Lv 300 Spells: Fire Arrow Lv 150, Ice Arrow Lv 150, Earth Arrow Lv 150 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 150, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 100 When Ryan saw their status, he noticed why they were so fast to correct their aim and fire. He used his shield to block the projectiles since it was obvious that the dungeon master wanted to make him run out of mana. Still, as expected given their high dexterity, the shield''s durability began to decrease quite fast. As if that wasn''t enough, the dungeon master also decided to change their strategies a little more. Instead of teleporting around the whole army, he divided the shamans and archers into smaller groups. He put them around the numerous towns in the area. When Ryan got close to them, he was bombarded by magic projectiles and arrows. "Shit¡­ I will need to change my ns again," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Ryan had already predicted that a fight against any decent dungeon master would be like a game of chess. Still, he didn''t predict it would be that annoying. He should have brought Femradiel with him¡­ although she could talk with him, noticing any powerful presence nearby was impossible. "Wait a minute¡­ why didn''t I try that before?" Ryan frowned when a sudden idea came to his mind. When Ryan and his Red Falcon approached the next town, he was weed by two hundred goblins, shamans, and two hundred archers. Instead of teleporting to another position, he made his pet change its trajectory. At the same time, he used Telekinesis on ten goblin archers that had rxed their posture after firing. However, he used Telekinesis to steal their bows. Trying to steal the weapons of ten enemies had been a bit too much for Ryan, but he at least seeded in stealing six of them. Reinforced Longbow Effect: it grants the user the power to firemon wooden arrows at the cost of two points of mana. Dexterity + 40 Durability: 50/50 Mana: 500/500 "Yep, they really are monsters summoned by the dungeon master crystal," Ryan nodded to himself. "These are some shitty bows¡­ still, they will recover some of my mana." Seeding in doing the same with the goblin shamans will be a bit harder due to the Mana Shield, but as far as he was concerned, causing such a headache for the dungeon master was more than enough for the time being. Killing those monsters while trying to dodge their attacks and projectiles was a bit difficult, but stealing their weapons wasn''t. Ryan rxed a little. Now his head was cool enough that he missed some important pieces of information when he used Appraisal on the goblin archers. Why they could use Power Shot at level two hundred when Ryan''s limit was level one hundred? Whoever created the system and the limitations humans had, the bastard certainly wanted to see the humans struggle in one hell-like of a disadvantageous environment. After using Mana-Eater and recovering some mana thanks to the bows, Ryan proceeded to repeat the previous action. Still, naturally, the archers tried to resist. However, Ryan learned that if he focuses on three of them at a time, the monsters couldn''t counter his actions. Unfortunately, his Red Falcon started to get hit and suffered some serious damage since the monsters already knew that Ryan was nning. "¡­ I guess I can''t do this all the time," Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "It is time to give those assholes another bombastic surprise, that will buy me some time for the next n." Ryan and his Red Falcon flew skyward, but then Ryan jumped while the goblins still could see him. Since the dungeon master divided his forces, the number of creatures trying to attack Ryan decreased, but the vast concentration of projectiles wasn''t something Ryan couldugh at. With Telekinesis, he stopped the arrows from hitting him, and by using Water Maniption, and Hydromancy he obtained control of the Ice Spears the shamans cast. At the same time, Ryan used those to destroy the Fire Spears. Thanks to the elemental advantage, the ice projectiles weresting long enough for Ryan to use them as a shield. When the shamans noticed that Ryan was plotting something, they stopped using ice magic, but it was toote. After making the several smaller Ice Spears spin, Ryan fired. In the exact same moment, he teleported them to where the shamans were. The creatures tried to defend themselves with Mana Shield, but they failed miserably. The very moment the projectile hit the ground, the Charge Traps Ryan had put in them exploded, destroying everything around, even in the archers that were several dozen meters away. You obtained 600 coins. You obtained 600 coins. You obtained 600 coins. ¡­ "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan frowned while smiling. "What they say is really true, necessity really breeds innovation." Ryan already had another nasty idea in mind. While that would make him level up some sses he had left behind, it certainly would solve the current problematic situation¡­ ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 01 / Elementalist Lv 79 (+ 06 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 55th Health: 3975/3975 (9,02/s) Mana: 5453/5453 (9,02/s) Stamina: 5655/5655 (9,02/s) Strength: 131 (+210) (+130) Dexterity: 4100 (+3590) (+350) Speed: 920 (+1555) (+48) Intelligence: 781 (+1295) (+33) Endurance: 658 (+165) (+160) Control: 726 (+1695) (+10) Mentality: 608 (+215) (+70) Luck: 780 (+25) Recovery: 2250 (+2320) (+845) Willpower: 630 (+219) (+40) Coins: 4.121.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Hawkeye Lv 73 (+ 05 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Precision Lv 85 (+ 05 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 95 (+ 05 UP), Firing Posture Lv 76 (+ 05 UP), Alchemy Lv 54 (+ 05 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 45 (+ 05 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Improved Recovery Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Spells: Lunar Arrow Lv 04 (+ 03), irvoyance Lv 10 (+ 03 UP), Support Skills: Hydromancy Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), Fast Conjuration Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sage Lv 89 (+ 17 UP), Beastmaster Lv 69 (+ 05 UP), Summoner Lv 56 (+ 05 UP), Rogue Lv 05 (+ 02 UP), Sniper Lv 71 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 65 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 61 (+ 04 UP), Tamer Lv 13 (+ 06 UP), Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 45 (+ 03 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 492 - + 10 Ryan needed some time to prepare, and since he couldn''t let the monsters see what he was doing, he decided to flee to where his Red Falcon was, high in the sky. After a few seconds, he returned while holding his Titanium Electric Bow. However, instead of firing the conventional electric arrows, he picked an Ice Arrow from his storage dimension and nocked it. Ryan didn''t even use Power Shot since it would give the dungeon master plenty of time to teleport their troops. Still, he activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim in a single goblin shaman that was right in the middle of the toon. When Ryan fired the projectile, the group of goblins disappeared. However, the ice arrow changed its course. It flew toward the location where the monsters had appeared, five kilometers away from their previous location. The monsters, upon noticing the projectile, activated Mana Shield to protect them. However, they failed once again. When the projectile hit the Mana Shield, it exploded, spreading a massive wave of destruction that wiped out everything close to the monsters in that area. "Hehe, who could have thought that I could use Charge Trap in some of my projectiles," Ryan smirked. In fact, that wasn''t possible. Charge traps could only be used in certain objects. It couldn''t be used in projectiles created by bows and crossbows. The reason why was that the very moment they were made, they would be used soon afterward¡­ it was a magical thing that only had a single purpose and would lose its purpose after being used. Ryan nocked another ice arrow and then looked for the next target. He had to be quick before the dungeon master decides to split their forces even more. However, he suddenly stopped when he noticed his mana decreasing several times in a row. Ryan frowned since no monster attacked him so that only meant one thing: the dungeon master was nearby and had tried to use Appraisal on him. "How surprising for a lone archer to have the skills to kill so many of my minions and even counter my own spells. What is your name, human?" After hearing that unknown voice that apparently belonged to a female creature echoing inside his head, Ryan couldn''t help but frown¡­ to think that the dungeon master would speak to him¡­ that was very unexpected, even more so than the fact that it could speak English. "Show yourself, buddy," Ryan said. "Let''s talk while looking each other in the eye. You don''t need to be shy, let me take a good look on you and I will dly tell you my name." "What is the point of seeing me? Your intentions are obvious. While I can understand why you came here, I would like to offer you something as a proof of my goodwill." It has been a while since an enemy offered Ryan something. If he remembers well, the Reptilians tried that. Regardless, it looked like that was amon modus operandi for some dungeon masters. Suddenly, a very familiar crossbow appeared in front of Ryan, one that looked quite ominous while emanating a dark-green glow. Pestilence Crossbow (+10) Effect: Consumes twenty points of mana to create and fire a poisoned bolt. Dexterity + 150, intelligence + 100 Extra Effect: Each bolt can cause the value of your intelligence as magic damage during five seconds. Hitting the target with other bolts will also increase the damage of the poison by eleven percent. Durability: 120/120 "How about this crossbow? I am sure it can help you quite a bit, it is at the same level of your previous weapon, isn''t it?" "I already have one, so I am going to pass," Ryan said. "Really, those are quite rare, where did you find it?" "I obtained it after I killed a dragon," Ryan replied. "Anyway, stop making me waste my time." "My apologies, I am sure this one will be a more suited gift." "You are trying to be cheap while giving gifts? You sure have some nerve," Ryan said, and then he stopped when another crossbow appeared in front of him. Holy Crossbow (+10) Effect: Consumes fifty points of mana to create and bolt enchanted with holy magic. Dexterity + 200, intelligence + 140 Extra Effect: Each bolt causes fifty percent more damage against undead and demons. Durability: 150/150 "Well, I will ept both just in case," Ryan said and then stored the weapons in his storage space. "Congrattions, with those two weapons you have bought five minutes of my time. Since I am in a good mood, I won''t do anything if I notice you mobilizing your troops to do anything shady." "Don''t worry, I really just want to talk. Well then, let''s start with the introductions. My name is Padmi, what is yours?" "... Ryan," Ryan replied. "Well then, Ryan, what is your current goal here?" Padmi asked. "Killing me certainly isn''t your end goal, right? You want my ce as the dungeon master of this world for a reason, which is¡­?" "Kill all the motherfuckers who are trying to invade my home," Ryan replied. "You certainly are ambitious, usually, I would say that this is something impossible, but considering how much far you have gone in just a few months, perhaps your goal is achievable," Padmi said. "However, even though you obtained this much power, it isn''t enough. You can''t aplish what you want alone." "Really? What do you propose then?" Ryan asked. "That we should work together," Padmi said. "I have been doing this for quite a while and this isn''t the only under my control. I know how this game is yed and I have much experience and knowledge than you. You certainly have the skills, but the wisdom to use them effectively. Before deciding anything, you should know that many of the beings who are trying to invade your aren''t working alone. You certainly won''t have the chance to kill each one of them at a time." Chapter 493 - Reason An alliance made by several aliens that want to take over Earth¡­ as if it wasn''t enough that Ryan had to worry about the mythical beings that had god-like powers. It was kind of surprising that Ryan didn''t consider such a possibility. Still, in the end, it only confirmed something that Ryan considered a while ago: that the battle for Earth willst for quite a while. "I know that humans have a strange potential, although I can''t understand why you have such potential but are also limited in other aspects," Padmi said. "That is why I have been waiting to find one of you that could have a fruitful partnership with me." "You don''t say¡­" Ryan frowned. The strange potential was probably about the power to obtain sses. Until now, Ryan didn''t see the monsters having anything like it, they had their own systems, and they didn''t have a level cap in certain skills. However, Ryan still thought that humans had a small advantage over them. It was weird that not even the demons had such a possibility. Although they certainly weren''t human, they weren''t that different¡­ Now that he thought about it, Ryan noticed that he probably could break the level cap of some skills, he just had to talk with Femradiel to give him a hand, but that was a question forter. "You probably don''t know this, but being a dungeon master is quiteplicated and obtain control over a single crystal won''t give you much advantage against other dungeon masters," Padmi said. "Besides, you can''t leave your domain unprotected, but if you don''t do it now and then, your actions will be extremely limited." In the end, Padmi wasn''t a dungeon master several levels below the lines Ryan wanted to kill. To think that such a creature wouldn''t realize that Ryan also was another dungeon master¡­ that was really disappointing. However, even without considering that, Ryan had plenty of reasons to say no to an invader. "Before I give you my answer, I would like to ask if you were the one who gave the orders to the goblins to attack everything in sight and capture humans," Ryan said. "Also, there were some humans guarding the dungeon that you have on my, what happened to them?" "... It looks like you aren''t as rational as I imagined," Padme said. "Why would such a thing influence your decision? We were at war, and naturally my minions followed my orders in order to be stronger as fast as possible. As for the humans who were guarding the dungeon, they came to this world imagining that it would be easy to defeat me. What I can say after that¡­ they didn''t like the result." "I just asked out of curiosity, I made up my mind a long time ago," Ryan said. "Any fucking bastard that tries to take over my home will have to endure the pain caused by my bolts up on their ass. Still, I would feel bad if I have to kill you after obtaining such awesome weapons. So, I will give you this one chance to escape. Don''t make me waste my time and I will be merciful." "That was something nice to hear," Padmiughed. "If you really think that with your brain you can defeat me, you are weed to try." After hearing that, hundreds of Hobgoblins appeared around Ryan and swung their swords at him. However, their weapons only hit against each other since Ryan escaped by using Teleport and reappeared several hundred meters above them. Before Ryan could prepare for the next attack, he heard the hissing sounds crossing the air, and he realized that he wasn''t safe. Ryan used Teleport two times more in a row to go to where his Red Falcon was and then to return to the ce where he first arrived. He needed some time to think, but it looked like Padmi wouldn''t let him. A few secondster, the mountain was surrounded by goblins, shamans, and archers that attacked him. Naturally, they wouldn''t fall for the same trick twice, so only Fire Spears was fired. Ryan was getting tired of using Teleport, so he decided to improvise. After creating a massive amount of water and cooling it down to turn into ice, Ryan used it to block the numerous Fire Spears. Ryan achieved his goal when a massive cloud of steam covered the whole mountain. While Padmi could always find where he was, the monsters couldn''t attack with the same precision. The monsters moved away from the mountain, spreading in all directions since they knew that Ryan''s ice arrows were unusually powerful. In the end, they saw from a distance the mist taking its time to dissipate. That wasn''t a natural phenomenon¡­ despite that the goblins couldn''t just attack without knowing what Ryan was plotting. After a while, they noticed a thinyer of ice expanding from the mountain at a fearsome speed. The goblins shamans tried to destroy the ice, but it only made the steamy cloud increase in size. The shamans tried to break the ice by using Ice Spears. Still, much to their surprise, their projectiles barely caused a y damage and eventually melted and became a part of theyer of ice. The archers joined the fray, but even though they caused some damage, the ice was quickly being repaired. Without any other choice, the monsters began to move away while firing at the mountain. However, their attacks never stopped the ice from spreading around. In fact, it only increased its progression speed. Hidden within the mist, Ryan clicked his tongue since his mana potions were quickly running out. Although he also used some INT potions to increase the power and effects of his Hydromancy, Water Maniption, and Water Transformation, it was only natural that he would have to stop soon. However, in the end, Ryan had a certain idea. He would use Padmi''s n to save some coins against her. Chapter 494 - Troublesome Foe Since the enemy would notice what Ryan was nning pretty soon, Ryan couldn''t rush. Even more than usually, he had to be precise and deadly. So, he prepared his next attack while he also expanded the frozen area. Padmi knew that her minions would have a hard time if they got caught by the ice, so she couldn''t do anything aside from making them run away for quite a while. She would regret that deeply¡­ Suddenly, ice arrows flew from the mist toward all directions. Padmi made her minions teleport toward many ces. Still, soon she confirmed that her minions weren''t the targets of the ice arrows¡­ It was her town. One after the other, the towns got hit by the arrows and were instantly annihted by them. Hundreds of goblins died each time a vige was destroyed, and Ryan recovered a lot of mana. Mana that he used to expand theyer of ice that he had created. Padmi, at first, watched everything explode and burn in a daze since she didn''t expect that. However, she eventually moved her minions to stop that. Teleporting her shamans and archers to several towns, she made them attack the special ice arrows. Much to Ryan''s surprise, they managed to prevent a lot of destruction, but he quickly found a way to counter that. It cost him some more mana, but Ryan made the ice arrows teleport to near their targets, thus making the goblins unable to prevent the destruction. "It is truly a pity," Padmi said and then let out a long sigh. "We could have be a decent team to win this massive war¡­ but since you are just a foolish human, it won''t happen." "Already admitting defeat, huh," Ryan said and stopped his attacks to use irvoyance and search for the dungeon master. "It looks I thought too highly of you. I can''t believe you are running away even without a fight." "Your taunting skills can use some work," Padmi said. "I didn''t survive until now to feel the need to crush a beginner like you. I used your to test a few things and strengthen my forces while gathering Intel. Now I know that I don''t have to waste my time with your species. Have fun agonizing while your burns." Ryan failed at finding any traces that belonged to Padmi. While that annoyed him, Ryan soon recovered. It was only natural that he wouldn''t be able to catch that easily someone who could abandon a domain. While Padmi decided not to fight, Ryan realized that it wasn''t due to fear. She was just cautious and calcting. She could lose a lot trying to defeat Ryan. She wouldn''t gain much more than she already had¡­ in any case, it looked like she really was serious about forming a partnership with Ryan. If that weren''t the case, she wouldn''t escape like that. "Shit¡­ I need more tracking skills," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I can''t obtain a domain and leave a tamed monster to guard it, when such an enemy mighte back to retrieve it." At the very least, Ryan confirmed that some low-level dungeon masters weren''t like that giant slime that he faced before, and he was strong enough to put them on guard. In any case, the goblins didn''t disappear, so Ryan had a lot of work to do. "Padmi probably isn''t a goblin, she used the same strategy that I used, create a dungeon and make it spawn weak monsters in order to lure dumb bastards," Ryan nodded to himself while he was firing his special ice arrows and decimating goblins and towns alike. "Still, to think that a dungeon master would call this whole mess a "game"... that was something I didn''t consider. Judging by what she said, it looks like she had been a dungeon master for quite a while." Padmi probably wasn''t a mythological creature from Earth, so it was only natural that she wouldn''t be a thousand years old like Thanatos and Echidna. However, Ryan had conflicted feelings knowing that his enemies could perhaps reach the four-digit mark. Without Padmi to control them, the goblins weren''t much of a threat. To make things easier and to prevent some future problems, Ryan also summoned Fire Golems with all that extra mana. In case Padmi returns a bit sooner than expected, they will help the Red Falcon and buy Ryan some time. Although Ryan had to work for quite a while, the night never came. It looked like the days were longer in that world¡­ in any case, Ryan easily found the dungeon master crystal. He just had to attack it once since the dungeon master had left the and didn''t leave a substitute. Ryan thought the goblins kingdom was bigger than that. Still, it looked like Padmi used illusion magic to hide the crystal and create the illusion of many towns¡­ no wonder Ryan felt that they looked so simr to each other. In total, the towns didn''t even get the three-digit mark. "This crystal has only a single dungeon¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. "Padmi wasn''t lying. She really used a domain just to study the human race. The dungeon was reset, but Ryan couldn''t change the monsters that were being spawned. Even though the goblins could give him some profit from the very beginning, he decided to do something else and make the dungeon level up faster. "I will leave a Fire Golem inside the dungeon, since the creature is much stronger and doesn''t need to eat, it will be the perfect monster for this job," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "I will gain coins in both ends of this trade and even make the monsters level up faster." Ryan felt a bit troubled when he left that world since the dungeon master managed to escape, but in the end, he forgot about that soon enough since he reached his goal. Now he had three dungeons master crystal under his control. Chapter 495 - Ghouls When Ryan left the dungeon, he was weed by his Red Falcons. He was hoping to see some tears since their partner had been left behind with another world alongside five hundred Fire Golems. Still, it looked like Red Falcons weren''t that sentimental. "Ryan," Femradiel said while frowning due to the subject. "A new dungeon just appeared around your domain. Did you piss someone on your first try?" "Maybe¡­" Ryan replied and then began to consider the possibility of Padmi being the dungeon master of the new dungeon. "She didn''t know that I was a dungeon master, but this timing is just too weird¡­ I guess I can''t underestimate the intel gathering skills of a dungeon master that had several domains." Ryan was immediately forced to return to his domain alongside his Red Falcons, but not before leaving a single Fire Golem behind to y the goblins. After a couple of minutes, he arrived and immediately saw a new type of enemy spawning in a dungeon very close to his domain. Ghoul ¨C Lv 01 Health: 500/500 Mana: --/-- Stamina: --/-- Strength: 100 Dexterity: 100 Speed: 100 Intelligence: 100 Endurance: 100 Control: 100 Mentality: 100 Luck: 100 Recovery: 100 Willpower: 100 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous Touch Lv 50, Cursed Touch Lv 50, Anesthetic Touch Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: Absolute Recovery Lv 01 "That fucking bitch¡­" Ryan said, annoyed and while clenching his teeth. Ghouls were creatures that deeply resemble humans. The only real difference is that they weren''t actually undead monsters and that their skin was yellow and smelled like death¡­ it was only obvious that Padmi had created that dungeon and selected those creatures to spawn it. Even from far away, Ryan barely could withstand their smell¡­ if his domain had humans instead of summoned monsters, that would be an excellent tactic to drop the morale of any army. You obtained 09 coins. You obtained 09 coins. You obtained 09 coins. ¡­ Ryan easily killed the ghouls, but after a while, he couldn''t help but frown. The destroyed corpses began to regenerate¡­ that was the power of Absolute Recovery¡­ even though it was only at level one. Ryan froze the creatures with magic until flesh and ice couldn''t be spread apart, and only after that, he used his crossbow again. This time the ghouls died for good. "Nice thinking," Femradiel said. "Anyway, I don''t think those things should be eaten. By the look on your face, I guess you have a good idea of who did this." "Yeah¡­ it is the dungeon master that made the goblins dungeon spawn near my hometown," Ryan replied. "I guess she wants to have direct ess to the interior of my domain, that is the only exnation for such a bitch to create a dungeon so close to my domain." "I guess that makes sense, considering that those creatures can go back to life even after aplete death, they certainly can get insanely strong even by just being defeated and not having any chance to retaliate," Femradiel nodded. Ryan didn''t waste any time and just entered the new dungeon. Before those disgusting creatures could make Earth smell even worse, he had to kill them inside the dungeon. Doing that automatically with ice magic wasn''t possible. Still, Ryan was pretty sure that burning the ghouls to ashes was good enough. He confirmed that theory by using Fire Golems, the difference in power was absolute. The Fire Golems could crush the Ghouls easily. They just had to wait for a little while their bodies burn the remains of the monsters. Ryan was ready for pretty much everything waiting for him at the end of that dungeon, but in the end, he still was surprised by the sight of the boss. The creature was even more disgusting than the Ghouls¡­ because it was a huge mass of Ghouls'' corpses clustered together. Ghouls'' Legion ¨C Lv 01 Health: 5000/5000 Mana: --/-- Stamina: --/-- Strength: 500 Dexterity: 500 Speed: 500 Intelligence: 500 Endurance: 500 Control: 500 Mentality: 500 Luck: 500 Recovery: 500 Willpower: 500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous Touch Lv 100, Cursed Touch Lv 100, Anesthetic Touch Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: Absolute Recovery Lv 20, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50 "That fucking bitch¡­" Ryan said, even more, annoyed than before. "You are going to pay for this, Padmi. Don''t you try to pretend that you can''t see me." "Don''t worry, I am not going to pretend," Padmi said, and her voice echoed through the walls of the dungeon. "I can''t understand why you are so mad, though. I just selected a creature that will eventually cause you a lot of trouble. You should be thankful for me giving this opportunity to you." Ryan fought hard the urge to massacre that disturbing sight with all his might. Still, in the end, he couldn''t let the anger control his actions and end up revealing more of what he could do to an enemy. Instead of that, he just equipped his Froze Crossbow and Fire Master Crossbow. Before the monster could approach it, Ryan began to fire and explode some parts of the monsters and froze others. When the pieces of flesh began to move, trying to return to their original ce, Ryan fired at them and destroyed them for good. Despite the fact that it was a level one monster, Ryan had to attack for several minutes due to the fact that the monster was as big as a dragon. Padmi wasn''t joking when she said that such a monster would give him a lot of trouble in the future. You obtained 10.000 coins. In the end, the monster didn''t drop anything. Not that anything dropped by a level one monster would be of any use. Regardless, before opening the treasure chest, Ryan filled thest past of the dungeon with Fire Golems, to the point where the heat even was beginning to bother him. Chapter 496 - New Class "I hope you have fun watching your monsters being destroyed by my Fire Golems," Ryan said. "Don''t worry, I will use them well," Padmi said. Even after everything she lost and saw, Padmi still could annoy Ryan that much by putting doubt in his mind. Regardless, Ryan at least shouldn''t let his anger be that easy to spot. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: diator, Beastmaster, and Battlemage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Well, it looks like this time I am going for the melee ss," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Battlemage sounds awesome, but it isn''t something I should be given that I suffered a lot when I decided to fight in close quarters." Congrattions! You have be a Level one diator! You obtained the following skills: Stunning Impact, Stamina Boost, and Fury. Your strength and health will increase by four points. Your stamina, mana, endurance, and willpower will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stunning Impact. Effect: It grants you the power to increase the damage caused by your next attack. The attack will also shake the target''s entire body, stunning him for a limited amount of time. Cost: 30 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Boost. Effect: It passively increases your stamina by twenty points per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fury. Effect: It passively increases your attack damage by the same percentage when your health decreases. The bonus of damage will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. Those were some awesome skills, given that it was a tier two ss. In any case, at least Ryan gained something nice in exchange for all that crap. Ryan had to take a deep breath to calm down his nerves when he left the dungeon. Again, he couldn''t let his enemies make the blood rush to his head. Padmi was probably trying to keep an eye on Ryan and, at the same time, annoy and taunt him with a possibility of a sudden invasion. In any case, Ryan had work to be done. Still, fortunately, since he was calmer, he realized that he had some business with Femradiel. "Hey, Femradiel," Ryan said. "You noticed that some of my skills have a level cap, right? Can you do something about this?" "I believe I can, but you will only be able to use those skills past the level cap when you use Draconic Transformation," Femradiel exined. "This system isn''t perfect, but it has some pretty solid rules. You can bend then to some extent, but unless you be as powerful as those who created the system, you will have to endure those limitations." Ryan didn''t consider that, but it made sense. In any case, that was a problem. Draconic Transformation was even more useful than Ryan thought. However, he still wanted to seed and reach his goals on his own merits. At this point in time, he couldn''t say that he wouldn''t use the skill ever again, but thanks to that, he won''t be able to improve some skills that had an awesome potential. "I guess this is fine, for the time being, I should focus on learning more skills that will reinforce my base power," Ryan nodded to himself. "It isn''t the same thing, but I have been relying too much on Power Shot, just like I relied on Power of Money." "You sure like to put restrictions on yourself¡­" Femradiel said. "It is bordering an inexplicable level of masochism and self-punishment." "Enough of that," Ryan said. "How many level ups had the Skulls and Minotaurs since I left?" "Only ten, I am trying to defeat them as fast as possible, but it looks like your guess was right," Femradiel said. "Monsters spawned by dungeons can level up pretty fast even when they don''t do anything." Based on Ryan''s calctions, it will take a while for the dungeon masters that have dungeons inside their domains to be able toe to Earth. However, Ryan was pretty sure the first dungeon masters will begin to appear in six months or less. It was more or less the same amount of time he had to obtain his power level since the monsters appeared. Still, Ryan couldn''t feel confident in obtaining enough power to defeat them in six months. Obtaining domains were supposed to help Ryan buy more expensive tomes. Still, until now, he only used that extra money to protect his main domain and increase its specs. "I guess I need to be a bit more random with my action," Ryan said to himself. "Just trying to defeat the dungeon masters of the dungeons I already defeated won''t be enough¡­ I need to clear dungeons in which I haven''t cleared yet and then train the new sses in those worlds as well¡­ that should optimize my progress and my ability to improvise in certain situations." "I can''t believe that you areing up with new methods to restrain yourself," Femradiel said. "It is just a temporary thing that will help me pretty early on," Ryan exined. "Even you should understand that." "What do you mean by ''even you''?" Femradiel asked, and she seemed pretty annoyed. "I perfectly understand that you are a masochist, knowing that, understanding your reasoning is pretty easy." While Ryan wanted to contest that, he really couldn''t. Ryan himself couldn''t deny that he was a bit of a masochist, self-destructive, and self-centered guy. Some of those were characteristics that he would have hated in the past, but now he really liked them. After all, thanks to all that, he could feel a sense of freedom like never before. Chapter 497 - Disappointment While Ryan was thinking about what to do next, he decided to check things with the Red Falcon. He left the world of the goblins. Not much to his surprise, he noticed that something was attacking the barrier. When Ryan used irvoyance to confirm who was doing that, Ryan saw a new dungeon, goblinsing out of it and attacking. "It looks like this will be a daily urrence here," Ryan said and then teleported some of his golems to the area to kick the goblins'' asses and clear the dungeon. After doing that, Ryan used irvoyance to check the boss and the treasure chest. He saw another Hobgoblin, but he didn''t find a treasure chest. "This is weird¡­ maybe considering that sses are only something humans can have, the treasure chests only appear on Earth," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still¡­ that only makes things weirder." Ryan still didn''t solve the mystery as to why only humans have that feature of the system. Regardless, he obtained another source of ie thanks to the stupidity of Padmi, so things weren''t that bad. After deactivating Animalistic Transference, Ryan returned to his domain. In the end, to prevent some headaches, he decided to clear the dungeons near his domain and then try to obtain the domain of those dungeon masters. There was no point in obtaining a domain that was too far away from his own, after all. Even though Teleport could make Ryan cross massive distances in a few seconds, he still had to waste some time moving between those ces. Thanks to Femradiel''s help, Ryan found the nearest dungeon that Ryan hadn''t cleared yet. Even better, the dungeon was spawning a type of monster Ryan hadn''t seen yet. So, he would be able to create a new type of crossbow¡­ probably. Giant Mantis ¨C Lv 320 Health: 15.000/15.000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 25.000/25.000 Strength: 3000 (+ 700) Dexterity: 3500 (+ 700) Speed: 3000 (+ 500) Intelligence: 1550 (+ 400) Endurance: 2000 (+ 300) Control: 2500 (+ 400) Mentality: 1500 (+ 200) Luck: 2500 Recovery: 5000 Willpower: 1500 (+ 200) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 200, Sonic sh Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 300, Improved Concentration Lv 200, Improved Speed Lv 200, Improved Strength Lv 200 Spells: Quick Legs Lv 150, Haste Lv 100 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 150, Freezing Resistance Lv 100, Electric Resistance Lv 100 Giant Mantis was precisely like the mantis from Earth. The only real differences are that they were gigantic, had a murderous gaze thanks to the blood-like eyes, and instead of arms, they had a pair of des attached to their bodies. "With those status, they can''t be stronger than tier two monsters," Ryan nodded to himself. "In any case, I guess I can use the des of their bodies. While I can create as many items as I want, saving some mana is always good." Mantis obviously was weak against fire, so Ryan didn''t hesitate in exterminating them with the Fire Master Crossbow. Despite his speed and the massive explosions caused by his arrows, the monsters still had the chance to attack Ryan. He couldn''t help but frown when he saw the monsters swinging their arms and sending through the air an attack that seemed pretty simr to Sonic de. Ryan blocked it with his shield, but that wasn''t a good idea. While he was causing some damage by reflecting the attacks, the shield wouldn''tst much longer than the Giant Mantis. "This will take a while¡­" Ryan frowned. "All right, you guys are up. Go cause some destruction." The Red Falcons squeaked after hearing Ryan''smand and then proceeded to attack the Giant Mantis as well. Ryan could see in the distance that the vegetation of the monsters'' world was starting to get more evident on Earth, so things would be more intense as they proceeded. It wasn''t at the level of a jungle. Still, the tall grass was so high that Ryan could barely see the monsters or any sign of human civilization within it. It was time to burn all that¡­ Congrattions! The Sage ss had reached the level 96. Sonic Crossbow (+7) Effect: It fires special bolts at the cost of sixty points of mana that are thirty percent faster than ordinary bolts. Dexterity: + 170, Intelligence + 102 Durability: 120/120 It took a while, but Ryan finally cleared up all the tall grass that had appeared thanks to the level of the Giant Mantis'' dungeon. Thanks to his attentive work, he managed to level up the Sage ss quite a lot, and soon it would reach the max level. "From this point onward, I really need to adapt my fighting style in order to get a special ss that will effectively help me inbat," Ryan nodded to himself. "A hybrid between archer and mage ss probably will have its own merits, but I think the skills I will obtain from aplete mage ss will be more useful. At least in some situations." Ryan sacrificed the sses to obtain the Artemis'' Disciple ss and determined the ss he would get. Still, essentially, the skills of the three sses didn''t y a pivotal role. So, Ryan could mix three magic sses that had different types of skills. Sage, Elementalist, and Summoner didn''t have much synchrony between them. Still, Ryan would make those three reach the level max next. "Well, let''s enter the dungeon and see what those things have in store for me," Ryan said while looking at a dungeon semi-hidden between vines and tall grass at the bottom of a valley. Since Ryan had to level up the Summoner ss as fast as possible due to the fact that that one was at the lowest level from those three, he decided to summon several Fire Golems and then make them enter the dungeon before him. In the end, Ryan did the right thing. The very moment the first monster reached thest part of the dungeon, it was split in half by something. Chapter 498 - Sharp Foes Ryan and his other Fire Golems were forcefully teleported to thest part of the dungeon when the fight started, and he couldn''t help but frown when he saw a humanoid creature that quite resembled a Mantis. However, that one had four limbs like humans, but instead of legs and arms, it had some pretty sharp-looking des. Mantisilian ¨C Lv 400 Health: 35.000/35.000 Mana: 25.000/25.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 5000 (+ 900) Dexterity: 5500 (+ 800) Speed: 4000 (+ 700) Intelligence: 2800 (+ 600) Endurance: 3000 (+ 500) Control: 3500 (+ 800) Mentality: 1900 (+ 400) Luck: 2500 Recovery: 15000 Willpower: 1900 (+ 400) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 250, Sonic de Lv 300, Sonic sh Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Swordsmanship Lv 400, Improved Concentration Lv 250, Improved Speed Lv 250, Improved Strength Lv 250 Spells: Quick Legs Lv 250, Haste Lv 200 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 250, Shock Resistance Lv 200, Freezing Resistance Lv 100, Electric Resistance Lv 200 "Just my luck¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. As soon as Ryan appeared, the boss looked at him, and that was proof enough to make Ryan imagine what he would find in the next world. Many other creatures like that thing, and they had a decent level of intelligence¡­ Ryan wouldn''t give up on it yet, but he could see his ns of obtaining other domains as fast as possible quickly falling apart. He already learned that, but it was starting to be even more obvious that not even the domains that had only low-level dungeons would be easy to conquer. The boss contorted its whole body, and then the four des that were its limbs started to emit a light glow. Ryan knew what wasing. However, he still waited and just pointed his hands at the monster and fired some Fireballs. The boss got hit by it, but even though the fire was its apparent weakness, Ryan didn''t prevent the creature from firing several Sonic des toward him. Ryan used Teleport to escape the barrage of attacks, but the monster kept shooting Sonic des while it was turning around and when it found him. As expected, the low level of Fireball was a problem, but Ryan didn''t try to use another spell. Congrattions! The skill Fireball has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Fireball has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. ¡­ Little by little, Ryan''s attack was bing stronger. Fortunately, it looked like he would have plenty of time to keep leveling up Fireball since his flying speed was enough to dodge the barrage of Sonic des. Besides, his damage output was bigger than the recovery speed of the boss. Sooner orter, he will run out of health, stamina, or mana. "That thing doesn''t want me to get closer¡­" Ryan frowned. "That is weird. I don''t look like a melee fighter. Is acting like that because the dungeon master saw me using some Giant Mantis to create and upgrade a magic crossbow?" That was something hard to confirm. In any case, that was some seriously wed strategy since the boss''s movements were too obvious, and the creature couldn''t predict Ryan''s movements. In the end, Ryan''s simple strategy proved itself to be highly effective. The boss never even scratched him. However, not even when the creature lost one limb after bing charcoal, it didn''t stop from attacking while using Sonic des. Not even when its health reached a level where its mind could barely work. You obtained 80.000 coins. Ryan lost the chance to use the boss to create an interesting weapon, but he was too confused to worry about that. Even though Fireball was weak at the beginning, it was a spell from an element that was the monster''s weakness. How could such a creature endure that for so long and until the veryst moment? "I don''t think it was being controlled by the dungeon master," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I would have noticed that and they probably would have used a more decent strategy." In any case, Ryan would find the answer to that question once he finds the dungeon master¡­ hopefully. Without wasting any more time, Ryan approached the treasure chest and opened it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Barbarian, Assassin, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Ryan had two options, and while Barbarian seemed pretty interesting. Ryan didn''t have his ass kicked, thanks to the fact that he increased his defensive attributestely. As usual, he chose the ss that grew his strengths. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Assassin! You obtained the following skills: Shadowy Disguise, Triple sh, and Poison Bomb. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Shadowy Disguise. Effect: While standing still in the middle of the night, it decreases the chances of your foes noticing your presence. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Triple sh. Effect: It grants you the power to cause damage to your foes three times in a single instant. Cost: 75 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Bomb. Effect: It grants you the chance to throw a magic bomb that explodes upon contact and raises a poisonous cloud around the target. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. "I am not relying too much on stealth as ofte, but I guess those skills will always be useful," Ryan nodded after reading the description of those new skills. "Come to think of it, maybe I should mix some archer sses with this one, that should give me one heck of a special ss once I sacrifice them." Chapter 499 - Elemental Creation Thanks to the dragon hearts, Ryan''s luck increased exponentially in thest few days. Still, even so, it hadn''t been high enough to grant him any decent iteming from the boss or its minions. Regardless, he at least obtained a huge deal of those des in which he could meltter and created many other things. Just like before, Ryan left some of the Red Falcons behind and only took one with him on the next world. However, as soon as they touched the crystal, he learned that the ability to fly wouldn''t be of much use there. Ryan appeared in the middle of a massive jungle. Perhaps massive wasn''t even the right word to use it. The grass was like a dozen meters tall, and the trees were several kilometers tall as well. Even if it was a magic world that had monsters and stuff, that was just too unbelievable. "I can''t sense anything nearby¡­ even though I am already inside the domain of the dungeon masters¡­" Ryan frowned while looking at the tree leaves that were preventing him from seeing the sky. "Well, I guess I shouldn''t use fire magic here. The dungeon master probably already knows that I am here, so not using certain weapons would be foolish, the real problem is the smoke that will appear in case I burn this ce. Just to be safe, I shouldn''t use electric bolts as well." While it was difficult to fly since numerous trees and vines were on the way, Ryan and his Red Falcon managed to take a good look at the area by decreasing their flying speed. Unlike the things Ryan saw in the goblins'' world, he didn''t find many settlements in that massive forest. Not like the Giant Mantis would have much need for a town or a base. Still, given how smart the boss he faced looked like, he was expecting to find some. Unfortunately, Ryan failed at that. "Here was I hoping that I would have the chance to level up my magic ss against hordes of enemies¡­" Ryan shrugged. "What a massive letdown." As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan couldn''t find any traces of monsters or other inhabitants of that world. Since he was flying pretty high, it was obvious that Radar wouldn''t pick many presences below, but Ryan still was expecting some results. It was a bit bothersome, but Ryan decided to make his Red Falcon fly low while he would advance through the tall grass. It was the only way he could think to find some enemies, after all. After a couple of minutes, Ryan realized that his idea wouldn''t work. Either the number of enemies in that world was that low, or the dungeon master teleported all the monsters to protect their base. Regardless, it was toote to back down now. He could at least explore that world for a single day in order to confirm that the dungeon master there wouldn''t be a real threat to Earth¡­ given that they weren''t attacking Ryan, that possibility was rtively high. However, much to Ryan''s surprise, he didn''t have to search for a full day. "Hello, traveler. Is there anything I can help you with?" Ryan looked around just to confirm it, but it was obvious that the voice wasing from his head. This time the owner of the voice appeared to be a man, and unlike Padmi, he seemed pretty calm. "You should know that this isn''t possible," Ryan replied. "Is that so¡­ you look different from the others, since you didn''t make your monster burn our forest. With that in mind, I would like to offer you something." "More gifts, huh," Ryan said and then sighed. "I am not interested, let''s do what we have to do since we are enemies. You are invaders of my world and I am one from yours. Enemies shouldn''t waste time trying to fool others." "I have no intention of fighting you and I want to offer you a gift in order not to let you leave without a properpensation and because I want you to seal the dungeon from your side." Ryan frowned when he heard that. It wasn''t like he never imagined that he wouldn''t find a pacifist dungeon master, but now that he found one, he had no idea of what to do. Sealing the dungeon from the other side was a clear sign that the monster didn''t want to wage war against the human race and only created a dungeon on Earth for the sake of resources. That seemed a bit too convenient, but given how desperate the boss wanted to keep Ryan away from that world, that proposal made sense. "All right¡­ show me a proof of your sincerity," Ryan said. Ryan decided to put some weight on the enemies'' shoulders and try to look that he would leave them alone if he gets satisfied with a gift. His standards are pretty high, so he could use that as an excuse to burn that entire forest if the dungeon master gives him something cheap. That was something only an asshole would do, but Ryan couldn''t care less about it. Finding the dungeon master of that world would be impossible without that. He wanted to confirm that the dungeon master wasn''t a real threat. Besides, even if Ryan is convinced to retreat now, it doesn''t mean that he won''t be able to hunt the dungeon master again at ater date if he does something annoying. Regardless, suddenly three tomes appeared in front of Ryan, one blue, one yellow, and one green. Tomes were a pretty decent gift, but Ryan couldn''t think that elemental tomes would be enough. However, he changed his mind after he used Appraisal. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Creation. Effect: It grants you the power to create the fire element, and it also increases the power of all of your fire attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Earth Creation. Effect: It grants you the power to create the earth element, and it also increases the power of all of your earth attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wind Creation. Effect: It grants you the power to create the wind element, and it also increases the power of all of your wind attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Chapter 500 - Adaptation "Can I assume that you are satisfied with my proof of sincerity?" "Not really," Ryan said while shrugging. Although he was quite satisfied, Ryan decided to y it cool. There was no point in letting a possible enemy know what he was feeling and thinking. While the dungeon master just gave him for free gifts that were worth thirty million coins, Ryan was fully aware that a level one dungeon could grant him the same amount in less than two weeks if he ys his hands correctly. "I wish I could give you more, but I can''t sacrifice the defenses of our domain. So, I will give you some knowledge instead. With any of those skills, you can increase exponentially the power of your attacks. Not by enchanting them, but by focusing all of your mana in a single elemental attack. To reach that level of mastery, you will have to train hard, but I believe you have the potential to reach it." "Is that so¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Maybe that was the answer Ryan had been waiting for to power up his attacks even more than Power Shot could. In any case, he stayed silent for a while, hoping that the dungeon master would give him something more, but Ryan received only silence. Maybe it was time to retreat since the dungeon master proved themselves to be pretty sincere¡­ but not without leaving some words of warning. "I will leave now and seal the dungeon from my side," Ryan said. "However, if any creature spawned by this dungeon does more than it should, I will return and I will burn this world down without hesitation." "You have my world that my creatures won''t do such a thing." That had been a weird ''encounter''¡­ but in the end, Ryan feltpelled to retreat. He obtained a great deal of knowledge and power, and if he doesn''t keep his word, he would be even worse than the enemies he wanted to hunt. Ryan couldn''t be the monsters he wanted to deal with. After Ryan returned to Earth, he filled thest part of the dungeon with Fire Golems and then sighed. He was repeating himself, but he couldn''t help butin since the task of getting new domains was being harder than he had predicted. "No sess this time huh," Femradiel suddenly said. "Surprisingly, you don''t look wounded and yet you gave up pretty quickly." "It is due to the circumstances¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I am adapting my ns over and over again, but in the end, I feel like I am walking in circles." "I can''t say that I hate interrupting you right now, but¡­ you have some visitors," Femradiel said. "I wasn''t expecting anyone¡­" Ryan frowned. "Much trouble, huh." "I guess, from a sense," Femradiel said. "That friend of yours and her dragon just arrived and it looks like they want to use the dungeons." Alissa¡­ as usual, she does whatever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants. Not like Ryan couldin since he wasn''t any better. Regardless, Ryan decided to return before anything could happen since Femradiel probably wouldn''t leave the dungeons unless Ryan returns. Much to his surprise, Ryan found Alissa and herckeys already inside his domain when he teleported back. Despite the fact that Femradiel helped them with that, at least they had the decency to wait for Ryan. "Oh? Teleport? Nice," Alissa said, visibly impressed. "I didn''t expect you would get such ability before me." "Stop wasting time talking nonsense," Ryan said. "You came to clear these dungeons, right?" "Indeed, and I am even willing to pay for everyone here," Alissa said. "I heard you did that when you were in Russia." "... You don''t need to pay, but you are going to owe me for this," Ryan said after thinking for a few seconds. "Now it is my turn to make you feel ufortable by owing me." "How devious of you¡­ what are you nning to do with that?" Alissa asked while showing a bewitching smile. "Nothing that certainly would boost your ego even more, chopping board," Ryan shrugged. "I already told you not to call me that!" Alissa raised her voice in exasperation. While Alissa wasining, Ryan made his golems leave the dungeon. Femradiel also did that without making much of a fuss. Alissa''sckeys reached the three digits mark a long time ago, so it would take a while before all of them manage to clear all the dungeons and obtain all the possible sses. Still, despite that, Alissa didn''t join the first groups that entered the dungeon. "What are you waiting for?" Ryan asked. "An invitation to enter the dungeon?" "That can wait, I was thinking about training with you for a while," Alissa said. "You can transform into a dragon, right? I can''t imagine a better training partner than you at the moment." "I am not interested," Ryan said. "What? Are you afraid of having your ass kicked by a girl?" Alissa showed a condescending smile. "I didn''t know that a training session had actually winners and losers." Ryan frowned. "Thanks for informing me of that¡­ Anyway, you can fight against Femradiel if you feel like it." Alissa frowned when she saw Femradiel approaching in her Wyrm and Drake form. Apparently, Organ didn''t have the idea of creating new bodies. Maybe he wasn''t good at that kind of thing, or perhaps it was a waste of time since his spirit was merging with Alissa''s. "You and her did some interesting things," Alissa frowned. "While her strength is pretty impressive, I don''t think this would be much of a training session." "... You might be wrong about that," Femradiel said. Ryan realized that she was pretty annoyed by Alissa''s words. "I may be weaker than I once was, but I am still a one hundred percent dragon. The chances of me losing against someone who has draconic powers but didn''t aplish anything without them is virtually none." Chapter 501 - Offer After hearing those words, Ryan heard the sound of something snappinging from Alissa. It looked like Femradiel stepped on andmine. "Haha, you sure can talk big, huh," Alissa said. "Even though you lost to a single human and even begged for him to be his vessel." "I admitted my defeat, so your words don''t bother me," Femradiel said. "While I really bothered him many times for Ryan to be my vessel, I don''t regret that either and I would dly do that many more times if the necessity arises. Bing Ryan''s partner opened many doors to me and I can''t even see how strong I can be by working with him, I was fortunate. I can''t say the same thing about your partner." "All right, all right¡­" Alissa showed a cold smile. "You will have the chance to train with me, hopefully, you will have the chance to regret itter." Ryan watched the whole exchange with a frown on his face. It looked like Alissa and Femradiel were much more prideful than he thought. They couldn''t withstand hearing so many taunts without doing anything, but what surprised Ryan most was the fact that Orgar stayed quiet the whole time. "Why don''t you say something?" Ryan thought. "I am quite interested in the power this dragon of yours has," Orgar replied. "Besides, Alissa hasn''t fought a difficult battle in a while. I believe this will help her in that regard." What a stupid reason¡­ in any case, letting those two runs wild inside his domain would be insanity. The best ce for them to train against each other would be in the slime''s world. While some slimes suddenly appeared there, they certainly wouldn''t get in their way. "If you guys are serious about this, then you will have to move to another ce," Ryan said. "Nah, don''t worry," Alissa said. "I won''t transform or even move from this spot. Unless your friend here sucks at controlling her powers, then you won''t have to worry about this situation inside your domain." "Is that so¡­" Femradiel made her Wyrm body move forward and then said. "If that is the case, this one here will be enough." Ryan sighed, he could easily imagine that conversation moving forward, and those two would keep saying things that they wouldn''t do in order to keep the fight fairer. However, in the end, that was just a way to taunt each other. Unless Ryan steps in and decides some rules, that training session was bound to cause a massive headache to him. "I don''t know why I am doing this, but you will decide the rules," Ryan said. "If you feel unsatisfied by it, then this won''t happen at all." In the end, Alissa and Femradiel didn''tin. In order to prevent the other side from using any poor excuses, they would need some rules and a referee. Since Ryan was someone who couldn''t care less about their pride, he probably was the best person for the job. "All right, the first rule is that neither of you can move from the spot you are, you can move your body to dodge some attacks, but if both of your feet move away from your current position, you lose," Ryan said. "The second rule is that you can''t fire a projectile bigger than your hand, if you get too worked up and fire a too big projectile, you lose as well." Truth to be told, Ryan wasn''t so sure that such a rule would be enough. Two people with Draconic Powers could easily cause a lot of destruction just by firing small magic projectiles. "The third rule is, you get hit once, you lose," Ryan said. "Again, don''t try anything funny in the heat of the moment. That is all." "No meleebat, huh," Alissa furrowed her eyebrows. "As for a meleebat without moving would be too restrictive," Ryan said. "It is better if you fight in a way that skill can y a major part in the final result." Since Femradiel didn''t have anything to say, Alissa also feltpelled to ept all the rules. In the end, the training session would be pretty straightforward, but the most skilled would stand victorious¡­ Again, Ryan couldn''t understand the necessity of a training session when one side had to lose and the other had to win. Ryan raised his right arm to give the sign of the start of the training session, but it was more urate to call that a fight with some pretty restrictive rules at that point in time. When he moved his arm downward, the fight started. Using both of her hands, Alissa fired several Thunder Bullets at Femradiel. However, those were blocked by an Ice Wall. Still, given the power and the number of projectiles, the Ice Wall quickly began to melt. Femradiel couldn''t stay on the defensive for long, so she fired several Ice Bullets from the sides of the Ice Wall. Ryan couldn''t help but frown at that¡­ Essentially, Femradiel was firing projectiles from a ce she wasn''t. It was easier to cast spells by using the hands, after all. So, it looked like she was mimicking Ryan when he used the Magic Bows. The Ice Bullets quickly lost speed the more they approached Alissa. Ryan recognized what she was doing¡­ she changed the gravity field in a certain area to do that. As if that wasn''t enough, she also gathered all the Ice Bullets, increased their size by clustering a few of them together, and then fired it back at Femradiel. Femradiel used several Ice Walls to block the attack, and in the end, they never hit her as well. As expected, even though Femradiel had far fewer tricks up her sleeve, her ice magic was probably more effective than anything that Alissa could use. In the end, since the area was getting filled with Ice Walls, Alissa decided to melt everything with Fire Bullets. It was the perfect moment to use that since it was Femradiel''s elemental weakness, and much to everyone''s surprise, the Fire Bullets quickly passed through the Ice Walls. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 04 (+ 03 UP) / Elementalist Lv 89 (+ 10 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 54th Health: 4421/4421 (9,94/s) Mana: 5920/5920 (9,94/s) Stamina: 6240/6240 (9,94/s) Strength: 531 (+254) (+130) Dexterity: 4600 (+3825) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+1710) (+48) Intelligence: 981 (+1395) (+33) Endurance: 858 (+227) (+160) Control: 926 (+1810) (+10) Mentality: 908 (+247) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+25) Recovery: 2700 (+2420) (+845) Willpower: 930 (+259) (+40) Coins: 9.652.412 Status: 03 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Stunning Impact Lv 01, Triple sh Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Stamina Boost Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Fury Lv 01 Spells: Teleport Lv 34 (+ 05 UP) Fireball Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Lunar Arrow Lv 04 (+ 03), irvoyance Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Shadowy Disguise Lv 01, Poison Bomb Lv 01, Fire Creation Lv 01, Earth Creation Lv 01, Wind Creation Lv 01, Support Skills: Fast Conjuration Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Sage Lv 96 (+ 07 UP), Summoner Lv 61 (+ 05 UP), Sorcerer Lv 45 (+ 05 UP), Mage Lv 15 (+ 07 UP), and Wizard Lv 13 (+ 05 UP), Conjurer Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), diator Lv 01, Assassin Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 49 (+ 04 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon Chapter 502 - Countdown Although the Fire Bullets were powerful enough to easily pass through the Ice Walls, they weren''t powerful enough topletely shatter them. So, Femradiel had the chance to create some concentrated Ice Bullets and cancel the Fire Bullets. Ryan really felt proud of himself foring up with that idea. Whatever happens now, neither of them will be able toin about the result, which was indeed a contest of skill. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but worry that Femradiel might go a bit overboard and use her reserves of mana to go all-out and win. The mana she had been saving to create a new body. Ryan''s predictions came true much sooner than he had imagined. Femradiel began to condense her mana in several points around her. Those points turned into invisible machine guns that fired endless Ice Bullets. "Femradiel¡­" Ryan facepalmed. Alissa tried to stop them by using Gravity, but as expected, it wasn''t enough. So, she cast several Fire Walls to decrease the Ice Bullets'' power. Before Ryan could notice, the area around them was getting covered by mist. A lot of ice melted, after all, so something like that couldn''t be helped. "10, 9, 8¡­" Ryan suddenly said. "What is that?" Alissa frowned. "The countdown for the end of the only round of this¡­ whatever the hell you want to call this," Ryan replied. "You never said anything about a time-limit!" Femradiel protested. "Really? Well, my bad," Ryan shrugged. "4, 3, 2, 1. The fight is over, both of you are losers. Happy now?" "There are no losers when there are no winners¡­" Alissa said and then sighed. In the end, both sides didn''t feel like taunting each other anymore. While it didn''tst long, the fight served a good purpose. Neither of them could underestimate the other side. After all, their skills were more or less at the same level. A contest of brute strength could have a winner, but neither of them would feel satisfied by that. When Ryan noticed that, he couldn''t help but frown. Unlike those two, he certainly liked to overpower his foes. Skill was just another factor to him. "I forgot to mention, but it looks like your show worked," Alissa suddenly said. "I wished I had watched that." "My show?" Ryan frowned. "That thing you showed to everyone back in the base," Alissa exined. "Thanks to you, those idiots back there changed their ways a little bit. Upon noticing that a single human could have easily defeated them, they noticed that they needed more power to protect themselves in case you go crazy again. Now they are only guarding and training the real difficult dungeons." "Is that so," Ryan said, trying not to look much interested in that. It looked like Ryan achieved his goal. While it might cause some issuester to leave the low-level dungeons alone, it couldn''t be helped given the severity of the situation. Humans couldn''t afford to think that far ahead when god-like creatures will begin to walk on Earth in less than six months. "That being said, with only a few exceptions, pretty much everyone at the base hates you," Alissa said. "I couldn''t care less about that," Ryan shrugged. That was already something within Ryan''s expectations. The real important thing about that whole mess is that the people there won''t cause problems to Arthur and Zoe. Now that the low-level dungeons would be left alone, perhaps that was a good chance for Ryan to level up his magic ss. The more low-level creatures around, the more chances he will have to use the weak spells in his arsenal. "You said before that low-level monsters fear your presence," Ryan said. "I imagine you solved that problem by now. Do you know any skill that might attract the monsters toward us?" "Orgar taught me how to hide his presence from other monsters, so from their perspective I am not much different from a human," Alissa said. "That being said. I know of some spells that might cause the monsters in a certain area to feel your presence and feel enraged by it, but there are several limitations." "I know some spells that can do that too," Femradiel said. "Why are you suddenly sopetitive¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Taunting Aura. Effect: It makes your presence more easily noticed by all savage creatures in the area. It also entices them to attack you. The range of the skill is one hundred meters multiplied by the level of the skill. However, the skill level also increases the physical attack and the endurance of the monsters affected by it by one percent per level. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. In the end, Ryan chose that skill because it seemed the more efficient. However, the extra effect was a bit troublesome. It might cause some issues for him to boost the strength and the endurance of his foes by one hundred percent at higher levels. It would be fine if the rewards could also increase by the same amount, but that obviously wasn''t possible. Without wasting any time, Ryan activated it to make the skill level up as fast as possible. "I guess I am going to clear some dungeons and make this skill level up," Ryan said. Although he only failed a single time, Padmi''s situation annoyed Ryan quite a little bit and still was troubling him. Maybe Ryan needed more intel before invading a world in order to obtain another domain, or perhaps he just needed to level up Taunting Aura to prevent the dungeon masters from controlling their minions effectively. "I forgot to ask this as well, but howe do you have eight dungeons inside your domain?" Alissa asked. "I have been postponing the use of the domain stone, but if this is the result of using one, maybe I never will." It was a bit troublesome, but in the end, Ryan gave Alissa a summary of the things he experienced in thest few weeks. Maybe she won''t use the domain stone, but she will need to know at least that much to prevent some headaches and to solve problems instead of causing new ones by using her domain stone. Chapter 503 - Another Perspective "I see, so you''re having some troubles while dealing with dungeon masters," Alissa nodded after she heard Ryan''s summary of thest events. "Well, it isn''t that surprising given that they are creatures that probably lived for much longer than us. Still, if you ask me, I would say that you are losing a golden chance because you are rushing ahead trying to deal with small fries." "What do you mean by that?" Ryan frowned. "Those are going to cause problems for us aren''t those dungeon masters who try to do things behind the scenes," Alissa replied. "If we keep strengthening ourselves, when the timees, they will be at best, a minor nuisance. Think about it, what they will be able to do if someone like Thanatos and Lilith decided to go at each other. Nothing, right?" "That isn''t the issue here, while it isn''t much, by obtaining some domains we can decrease the problems we will faceter on," Ryan said. "Besides, the domains can also be a good source of coins." "You can get as many coins as you want just by fighting and by doing so, you will also be stronger," Alissa said. "Considering the things, you said, trying to take a domain from some sapient beings can be a huge pain in the ass. Besides, the more domains you have, the more time you will have to spend guarding them. Thus, you will have less time to train certain skills and obtain more sses." Alissa was strangely convincing¡­ Ryan was pretty sure that she wasn''t that logical a few months ago. Ryan recognized her points, but he still couldn''t believe that the human race could survive a war against mythological beings just by relying on brute strength. They needed some trump cards, and the domains could y that role. While some dungeon masters attack Earth, their back would be exposed on their bases, and Ryan wanted to use that chance to strike. However, since dungeon masters couldn''t manifest themselves in all worlds when they reach a certain level of power, a lot of preparation was needed. "I hate to say this, but¡­ she has a point," Femradiel said. "We know that you have been facing some problems trying to defeat other dungeon masters. I guess it is too early for that. Come to think of it, it is already amazing that you have three domains when most of the dungeon masters lived for hundreds of years. You should focus on increasing your strength and once you be a few times more powerful than you are, defeating dungeon masters and obtaining their domains will be something that you will do much more smoothly." Ryan was stubborn and prideful, but he wasn''t that stupid. Alissa and Femradiel had a point. He rushed ahead without thinking because he realized the potential the domains had. Still, Ryan couldn''t get his hands on several of them when he wasn''t even on the rank of the ten strongest humans. Come to think of it, he realized that the special sses would help him much more than any domain until at least he obtains an equal number of domains and sses. "I guess you are right¡­" Ryan said after a lot of hesitation. "What? Who are you and what you did to Ryan?" Alissa said, showing an expression of disbelief. "The Ryan that I know would never admit that he is wrong about something¡­" "¡­ How many guys called Ryan you know that call you a chopping board?" Ryan asked. "Only one¡­ and he is probably the most stupid guy who I know," Alissa said and then crossed her arms, trying to y it cool. "Who cares about boobs anyway, they are just lumps of fat." "Whatever you say," Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, I am going to train this new skill. You guys can keep training, but if you damage the domain or kill any of my summoned creatures¡­ well, I won''t be as understanding as before." Without wasting any more time, Ryan teleported to another dungeon that was rtively close by. The dungeon was spawning Harpies, and since those creatures could fly and were pretty good ranged attackers, leaving them alone. At the same time, multiplying wasn''t the wisest of the ideas. Fortunately, that was a tier two dungeon, so Ryan would be able to train his skills rtively well. "Let''s do this without crossbows," Ryan stored his weapons away. "Thunder Bullet probably would be enough to deal with them, but in order to level up the Mage ss, I will have to stick with Fireball." The harpies were scattered around several mountains, but then when Ryan activated Taunting Aura, several of them began to fly towards him. Just as expected, when the skill worked on several monsters, it soon leveled up, and the range expanded, making even more monsters fly toward him. "I need to start now, before they can overwhelm me with sheer numbers," Ryan said. "Without my archer skills and crossbows, I am pretty much an ordinary survivor." Although his primary skills were sealed, Ryan still had many others. His magic damage was far above the average survivor. When the Fireballs hit the Harpies'' faces, they exploded and caused critical damage that made the monsters stagger and became easy targets for a barrage of other Fireballs. The Harpies caused some trouble when they used their wind magic, but Ryan could easily dodge them with Teleport. He was starting to feel that he was relying too much on that skill, but in the end, not leveling it up would be insane. After a couple of minutes, the hundred or so harpies had been killed, and Ryan had gained a level in the Sage ss, two in the Elementalist, and eight in the Mage ss. As much as it felt weird not using crossbows, it was definitely the right choice when facing small fries. Fortunately, just before he killed all the monsters outside the dungeon, the Sage ss reached the max level. Now, Ryan just needed two more¡­ Chapter 504 - Butcher Unlike before, after clearing the dungeon, Ryan didn''t fill thest part of the ce with Fire Golems. Leaving the harpies increasing in number and then returningter to exterminate them was undoubtedly the best option to level up new sses. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Butcher, Assassin, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. "Only one option this time, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­ Still, what a name for a ss." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Butcher! You obtained the following skills: Bloodstorm, Cleave, and Seismic m. Your strength and health will increase by four points. Your stamina, mana, endurance, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bloodstorm. Effect: Swings your melee weapon around, and the more enemies you hit, the more powerful your attack will be. Cost: 50 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cleave. Effect: In midair, it increases the power of your next attack when using a melee weapon. Cost: 50 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Seismic m. Effect: It increases the power of your next attack and, when hitting the ground, causes a tremor that will disrupt the movement of the foes around. Cost: 100 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Butcher really deserved the title of a melee ss with those skills. They certainly would have some synergy with sses like Dark Knight and Dark yer. "I guess sacrificing those three sses will give birth to a pretty insane special ss," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Still training then will be something else since I am not used at fighting in close quarters." Despite that, Ryan felt pretty good about himself. Trying to obtain domains only caused him some severe headaches, but getting new sses was always something refreshing to do. That only wasn''t true when he has to clear tier-three dungeons that haven''t been cleared a single time. "I guess I should return to my domain before looking for the next dungeon," Ryan said. "I need to confirm that those two didn''t destroy my base while I was away." Much to Ryan''s surprise, when he returned, he saw Alissa and Femradiel sitting on the ground and talking calmly about something. Weirdly enough, they were pretty close, and they didn''t seem to be bickering about some nonsense. "Yeah, Orgar always says that I should use Zen more often, but it is so boring," Alissa said. "I already spent my whole life on a bed without doing anything, but now I want to move my body and exercise it while I hunt some monsters." "That is understandable, but you can''t neglect how useful Zen can be," Femradiel said. "Zen is that much useful in the long run and besides, you can fight all day every day. That is where Zen really is important, it can rest your body and spirit at the same time." It looked like they were giving advice to each other. That was weird. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder howe they managed to solve their issues and be friends so fast. In any case, Ryan didn''t want to interrupt, and he certainly wasn''t to join the conversation. Before Femradiel and Alissa could notice his arrival, Ryan decided to leave again. Ryan quickly found a horde of smanders several kilometers at the North of his base. "I guess I will have to use Wind de this time," Ryan shrugged. "Not the best option, but it should do the job here." Before activating Taunting Aura, Ryan sneakily used Wind de to attack and y some Smanders and then level up his skill. Despite everything, two shots in the neck were enough to kill the level three hundred smanders. Congrattions! Your ss Elementalist has leveled up. Elementalist Lv 99 ? Lv Max Intelligence + 2, Mana + 2, Health + 1, stamina + 1, recovery + 1, control +1. "Finally¡­" Ryan sighed in relief. Due to the fact that he was using a weaker skill, Ryan had to fight for quite a while to y all the monsters in the vicinity of the dungeon. However, thanks to that insistence, he managed to reach another important point. However, making another magic ss will probably take a while. Unless Ryan uses mana potions like there is no tomorrow. "After obtaining the next special ss, it will take a while to get the next one," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I will be able to focus on leveling up the new sses." Although Ryan had the ns to sacrifice some archer sses with another one that had stealth skills and do the same with Dark yer, Butcher, or Dark Knight, leveling up those would take a certain amount of time because they were at least tier two sses. He didn''t have any other choice but do that sporadically. When Ryan entered the dungeon, he slew the few monsters that got on his way without any trouble. Killing the boss using low-level spells to increase the amount of time he will train his magic sses would be something pretty tricky, so he had to focus, but in the end, his focus was disrupted when he saw the dungeon boss¡ªa two-headed smander. Two-headed Elder Smander ¨C Lv 550 (Mutant) Health: 75.000/75.000 Mana: 75.000/75.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 5000 (+ 1000) Dexterity: 2500 (+ 400) Speed: 2500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 5000 (+ 1200) Endurance: 4500 (+ 500) Control: 3500 (+ 600) Mentality: 3500 (+ 700) Luck: 2500 Recovery: 45.000 (+ 15.000) Willpower: 3500 (+ 600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dash Lv 250, Paralyzing Bite Lv 200 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 150, Enhanced Recovery Lv 150, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 150 Spells: methrower Lv 400, Ice Cannon Lv 400, Fire Spear Lv 350, Ice Spear Lv 350 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 600, Cold Resistance Lv 400, Shock Resistance Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 400 Chapter 505 - Mutant Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at the boss and its status. He never imagined he would find a mutant species so far, thiste in the game¡­ either he was very unlucky, or those creatures were rarer than he thought. Even though Ryan kept his distance and didn''t move, the boss noticed his presence and fired a massive wave of mes covering a good part of the dungeon. Ryan managed to block it with his shield. Still, then he was forcefully teleported to thest part of the dungeon¡­ that certainly wasn''t a creature he could mess with. "I guess it can''t be helped," Ryan said and then equipped his Spiritualist Crossbow and Thunder Lord Crossbow. The monster finally found him again and tried to burn Ryan to ashes, but he escaped after using Teleport. However, when he pointed his weapons toward the beast, the other head opened its mouth and used Ice Cannon. Ryan was caught off guard since he didn''t imagine any ice skills would cause him damage, but his legs quickly froze. Ryan used Purification to decrease those effects a little bit and then began to fire his bolts at the enemy. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance when his bolts decreased in speed and lost a lot of power thanks to the Ice Cannon. In the end, the projectiles hit the monster but barely caused any damage. "I guess this one won''t be tamed¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. The other head of the smander moved to hit Ryan with its attack as well, and Ryan used that chance to teleport away from their range. When he reappeared behind the monster, Ryan summoned several Magic Bows that had the same effects as his Spiritualist''s Bow. Defenseless, the boss was bombarded by numerous attacks and lost a lot of mana, but even so¡­ Ryan didn''t cause enough damage to make the enemy feel any real pain. "Come on¡­" Ryan frowned. "It is just a tier two monster, even if it is a mutant, it shouldn''t cause me so much trouble." Ryan was starting to think that he was getting carried away. It couldn''t be helped since it has been a long while since that type of monster caused him any trouble. Despite that, Ryan forced himself to use some DEX potions. The power of his attacks managed to overpower the methrower and the Ice Cannon. Still, even so, Ryan was also forced to use a lot of mana potions before the beast finally fell dead. In the end, Ryan felt more troubled than victorious¡­ You obtained 250.000 coins. "I guess I am getting carried awaytely¡­" Ryan scratched the back of his head. The surprises didn''t end there that day. On the ce the two-headed smander fell, Ryan found a small bottle that contained the monster''s blood. It has been a while since he got one of those, but as usual, getting them was quite a pleasant surprise. Kobold ''s Blood. It grants you the following skills: Dark Vision, Heroic Axe Mastery, Steel Skin. As expected, the blood of another monster would grant Ryan some skills challenging to find. In any case, as usual, he drank it without thinking too much about it. However, for the first time after doing that, Ryan felt a wave of pain passing through his entire body for a single moment that paralyzed him. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dark Vision. Effect: It grants you the chance to see to some extent in entirely dark ces. The range of the skill is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five meters. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heroic Ax Mastery. Effect: Increases damage when using axes by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Steel Skin. Effect: It passively increases your endurance by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. "I guess I already have too much of monsters'' blood inside me¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows after he checked his body and confirmed that nothing changed. "It is a pity that I can''t ask anyone about this. The only person who is crazy enough to use several of those is me." After that, Ryan headed toward the treasure chest and sighed when it opened. It was only natural, but it looked like his options were decreasing as ofte. That was kind of weird considering that there were more than two hundred dungeons in his country. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Spearman, Trickster, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Spearman! You obtained the following skills: Hyper Body, Iron Will, and Death Leap. Your strength and health will increase by four points, your mana, stamina, speed, and endurance will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hyper Body. Effect: It temporarily increases your health by fifty points per level. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Iron Will. Effect: It temporarily increases your mentality by ten points per level. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Death Leap. Effect: A powerful attack that increases in power the higher you jump. Cost: 100 stamina You obtained 01 status point. It was a pity that Ryan didn''t get a single passive skill. Still, in any case, Hyper Body certainly would be useful in some extreme situations. Like in situations where his health would drop to zero, he will be able to escape by using it. Hopefully, his health won''t drop to zero once the skill is deactivated. Chapter 506 - Cheating The System When Ryan returned to his domain, he saw Alissa and Femradiel sparring again. He had to work for an entire day and night to kill all the smanders around that dungeon, but he couldn''t understand howe they were still at it. Ryan more or less knew that rivalry between men could create a friendship. He even saw that in the past, but he never expected that something like that could happen between women. "You sure arete, Ryan," Alissa said since this time she noticed his arrival. "I guess I was wrong, your partner certainly is someone reliable." "Yep¡­ Furball certainly is reliable," Ryan said. "So, I am still below Furball in terms of trust, huh," Femradiel said. "Don''t me yourself for it," Ryan shrugged. "I do have high standards, after all." "Ryan, you already can learn Cryomancy, do you want to obtain that ability now?" Femradiel asked. "Normally, I would say yes, but I can''t see why I should do it when I am not going to use it anytime soon," Ryan replied. "I want to find a way to level up a specific ss as fast as possible and while Cryomancy is a magical skill, it will only slowdown that process since several other sses will level up as well." "If you want to level up a specific ss, you should use the skills that that ss granted you," Alissa said. "Everyone knows that, but I was wondering if there is something else that can be done, like a trick in the system," Ryan exined. "I highly doubt that you will find such a convenient thing thiste in the game," Alissa said. Ryan could only nod at those words. Femradiel could help Ryan a little with that with the monster''s system, but even that much help won''t be that effective. The best way to level up a skill is by using potions that increase the main attribute that determines the power of that skill and fight against a powerful foe. Ryan suddenly realized that he could boost the leveling up the speed of his sses if he transforms into a dragon that uses potions like DEX potion and then fights against like Alissa. Still, in the end, he didn''t feel that good about changing his mind. Strangely enough, Alissa was looking at him as if she was reading his mind, but that shouldn''t be possible since Mind Armor was active. "It looks like you finally realized that," Alissa said. "So, what is going to be? You will do anything to achieve his next goal or will you let your pride get in the way? Before you use that as an excuse, I still owe you a lot since my guys are gaining a lot of coins while they are fighting inside the dungeons." In the end, aside from his pride, there was no real reason to not train with Alissa. Given that she was the only one who could kick Ryan''s ass in the country and that Ryan also could transform into a dragon, both of them would benefit from that. "I guess it is fine, it is not like I will end up owing anything to you again after this," Ryan shrugged. "You are a real pain in the ass, the same as ever," Alissa said. Alissa thought Ryan would transform right at that moment. Still, much to her disappointment, Ryan proceeded to create a lot of INT potions. As usual, Ryan couldn''t see her attributes, so he will have to confirm how much damage she would receive once the fight starts. Alissa used Draconic Transformation, but nothing changed in her appearance. As always, she looked quite menacing, and her presence was that intense. However, Alissa couldn''t help but frown when Ryan transformed. "A blue dragon with a lot of dark shades?" Alissa said, visibly surprised. "I have never seen anything like it." "I would say that Ryan''s powers are affecting Femradiel''s previous appearance since his power has increased exponentially before he epted the contract," Orgar exined. "It is quitemon for the emotions of a human to take shape like that." Ryan already had imagined that was the case. Although he calmed down in thest few months, it looked like his dark side wouldn''t never leave him alone. However, instead of getting worried about that, he felt relieved. If he ever forgets about his past, Ryan knew that he was bound to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, and that was something he couldn''t afford to do. Since they were training for the sake of increasing their own power, Alissa decided to let Ryan attack first. Both of them knew that Ryan was obviously the weakest one of them, so until he obtains a certain level of strength, things won''t proceed all that well. Without hesitation, Ryan fired several Wind des, and those hit on Alissa''s shoulders. It was kind of shocking, and that left a dreadful feeling inside Ryan, but not a single scratch was caused. However, on the other hand¡­ Congrattions! The skill Wind de has leveled up! Congrattions! The skill Wind de has leveled up! Congrattions! The skill Wind de has leveled up! You obtained three status points. "So, it is like that, huh," Ryan frowned. "Don''t feel too bad about it," Alissa smirked. "Femradiel told me that you barely used Draconic Transformation. My skill on the other hand is at level 150." That must give her some crazy bonuses in all attributes. No wonder Ryan didn''t cause any scratch¡­ in any case, Alissa let Ryan attack as much as he wanted because she knew that his ability to withstand damage was below average. "Go on," Alissa said with a condescending smile. "We will stay here for a little more than two days. Hopefully, you reach the level of strength where you will be able to scratch me." "Getting reckless, aren''t we?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Speaking of which, what is your position in the ranking now, Alissa?" "I am the fourth," Alissa replied. Chapter 507 - Three Others Despite all her power, Alissa still was only the fourth strongest human in the world. It was rather impressive that in terms of raw power alone, she was stronger than Yahiko. Still, the real problem was that three individuals were stronger than her, and Ryan had no idea who they were. "It isn''t time to space out," Alissa said, and then she shrugged. "Come on, you need to be stronger in order for one day you be a decent training partner. It would be really helpful if you can achieve that in our lifetime." Ryan sighed. If he had been getting carried awaytely, Alissa was too far ahead of herself. In any case, she deserved some punishment. After waiting for five minutes, the effects of the INT potions ended, and Ryan proceeded to use all the others that he had. Every single one¡­ in just a few seconds, he used four hundred of them, and Ryan''s intelligence spiked to around twenty thousand points. When the next Wind de hit Alissa, the massive impact made her whole body tremble, and then her left shoulder was also pushed back quite a lot. She frowned since she didn''t bother to use Analysis on the potions Ryan used. "You are cheating, aren''t you?" Alissa frowned. "I am just trying to make things as efficient as possible," Ryan shrugged. "If it hurts too much, I will try to hold back." "Ugh¡­" Alissa groaned in annoyance. "That is why I told you to study your skills more," Orgar suddenly said. Although the difference in power was big, Ryan just learned that he could decrease it by using hundreds of potions. That meant that even beings like Thanatos and the demon generals could be defeated. Regardless, Ryan''s goal had been aplished, so he held back a little. His goal wasn''t to wound Alissa. She had learned her lesson, after all. However, in the end, she forced him to go all out when she began to fire several Wind des toward him as well. To protect himself, Ryan fired the magic projectiles and repelled Alissa''s. Every time they collided, the air around vibrated. That was rather shocking, but in the end, Ryan won that trade since his skill was at low-level but was leveling up like crazy. The skill Wind de has leveled up. The ss Mage has leveled up. The skill Wind de has leveled up. The ss Mage has leveled up. ¡­ Although Ryan won the first round since Alissa was exhausted, he didn''t feel victorious. Not only did he have to use all his INT potions to increase his magic powers, but he also had to use several mana potions. Meanwhile, Alissa didn''t use a single one. The good side of that was that the Mage ss leveled up ten times in just five minutes. "I guess it is actually possible to make the Mage ss reach the max level before Alissa leaves," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should put my sses aside for the time being." "To think that you would cause this much damage without using your crossbows¡­" Alissa said, visibly annoyed. "I guess I was getting carried away." "Did you have any ss that reached the max level?" Ryan asked. "No, what of it?" Alissa asked. "I am pretty sure that such a thing has nothing to do with this." "So, you just use whatever skill you want when you are fighting without putting much thought into it?" Ryan frowned. "Yep," Alissa replied. "Aside from those two demons, I have yet to find a worthy enemy that will force me to use strategy or something as boring as that." Ryan sighed when he heard that. Alissa sometimes was just too much¡­ in the end, he exined to her about the special sses, and when night came, he showed her the might of his Lunar Arrow. Even in her draconic form, Alissa tried to block the attack. She seeded, but in the end, the ce was burning quite a bit. After that, she tried to dodge the attack, but even though she knew the magic projectile woulde from the same direction as the moon, she wasn''t fast enough. Her tail got hit by it, and then she spent several minutes applying cold water in the burned area. "What the hell was that?" Alissa asked in disbelief. "Howe a skill that has such a low-level of mana can be so fast and so powerful?" "You already know why, it is a light-type spell and your resistance against that is low," Orgar exined. "So, it is really like that," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Although this skill had some hidden bonuses due to the ss it belongs to." "What ss?" Alissa asked. "Artemis'' disciple," Ryan replied. "The Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon?" Alissa frowned. "That is a weird name for a ss¡­" "I couldn''t agree more," Ryan shrugged. For a while, Alissa considered the potential of those special sses. Lunar Arrow was a fine example of how they could be interesting to have. Still, in the end, Ryan''s thirst for power was what made her decide to pursue those sses as well. Even though his pride gets in his way many times, he still reached a point where he could wound her pretty deeply. Even though he could do that only at night¡­ because that was the condition to use Lunar Arrow. Ryan continued to use Wind de in order to level up his Mage ss. Still, his progress speed decreased a little since Alissa used several skills in order to level their sses that were at high-level. Despite that, Ryan still managed to reach his goal. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Elementalist, Sage, and Mage? Y/N? With arge grin on his face, Ryan chose yes. As expected, those moments where he had no idea what exactly would happen next were insanely exciting. To the point where he could even forget that Earth was quickly approaching a chaotic era like no other¡­ Chapter 508 - Spellcaster Congrattions! You have be a Level one Spellcaster! You obtained the following skills: Ice ster, cial Spike, and Ice Cannon. Your intelligence and mana will increase by eight points. Your health, stamina, recovery, and mentality will increase by four points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice ster. Effect: It fires an orb at the enemy and, upon impact, causes damage and freezes them for one second. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: cial Spike. Effect: It summons a spike of ice and causes damage on the enemy by surprising them with an attack from below. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Cannon. Effect: The ice version of methrower that decreases the speed of the foes by one point per level per second. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan was betrayed by his high expectation¡­ he had forgotten a single but very important detail. The rank of the sses also influenced the rank of the special ss. Given that Elementalist and Mage were tier one sses, it wasn''t that surprising that he received just a tier four special ss. As if that disappointment wasn''t enough, Alissa and Femradiel were also quite curious as to what was Ryan''s new ss. In the end, a quick demonstration had been enough to make them frown as well. "Is that it?" Alissa asked. "Those can''t even bepared to Lunar Arrow." "Well, I forgot to mention that the rank of the sacrificed sses ys a major role," Ryan said. "I suppose we should be happy that this is a tier four ss." "What a letdown¡­ in any case, I am going to clear the dungeons since my soldiers are already ready to leave," Alissa said. In those four days, Ryan''s overall magic powers increased quite a lot, thanks to Alissa. That was probably the method he had been looking for to cheat the system. Find someone powerful who isn''t an enemy and train with them. In any case, Ryan couldn''t even say that she owed him anything since she made Ryan save a lot of time. "I have to be more careful with the sses I am going to sacrifice," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Tier three dungeons are hard to find, but I guess they are going to spawn more frequently from now on. The real probably will be the time to level them up." "You probably will save some time if you have the chance to sacrifice some low-level special sses," Femradiel said. "Can that be done?" "No idea, but if it is impossible, I will definitely do it," Ryan replied. There was only one way to find out if that was possible, by obtaining three of those tier four special sses and then make them reach the max level. No¡­ if he reaches the max level in a single one, the system will notify Ryan if that ss can be sacrificed. It looks like Ryan will have to level up the Spellcaster ss quite often from now on. In the end, Alissa cleared all the eight dungeons in less than one hour and alone. The power of the fourth strongest human wasn''t something tough at. Ryan will have to work pretty hard to reach that level of power. It would be a difficult task, given that Alissa was dumb but not a cker. "I guess this is it," Alissa said. "I wille back to y if I have some free time. Things are rather dull in that base, after all. If it weren''t for Arthur, I would have any real reason to go there." "Now that I think about it, you are going to stay away from the base for more than a few days, huh," Ryan said. "Certainly, you won''t consider these four days anything but a break." "Are you joking?" Alissa asked. "We obtained four tier three sses and four tier two sses in just four days. This is a lot of progress for just a few days'' time, I will certainly return to the base and then y with Arthur at least for a week." Ryan changed his mind. Alissa certainly was a cker, but it was only natural since she couldn''t risk letting her soldiers fight for too long. They have be quite the powerful individuals, but they weren''t at Ryan or Alissa''s level when ites to harsh training. After saying her goodbyes to Femradiel as well, Alissa and herckeys left Ryan''s domain. Although things had been rather noisy in thest few days, Ryan didn''t feel annoyed by it. Besides, now more than ever, Ryan confirmed that Alissa was one of few people he could trust when things start to get really rough. "Well, then," Femradiel said. "I am going to resume my training. Before that, do you want to learn Cryomancy or not?" Ryan thought for a second, not learning that skill would be a waste since he didn''t know what else he should learn. Besides, that skill will certainly increase the power of his Frozen Spellcaster ss and skills. "All right, let''s do it," Ryan said. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Cryomancy. Effect: Greatly increases your control over the ice element and its variants. It also increases the power of your ice-based attacks by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. "Thanks, I didn''t ask before, but is your training proceeding at a favorable speed?" Ryan asked. "More or less, it would be better if I could take my time fighting the bosses, but we can''t risk letting them be too powerful too fast, right?" Femradiel said. "¡­ You know what, you should do that," Ryan said. "If we can''t defeat those dungeon masters that don''t have the confidence in fighting alone, there is no way that we will have any chance facing the big guns. You can focus on what you can do to be stronger, I will do the same thing." Chapter 509 - Two Hundred Classes While Ryan''s words surprised Femradiel, in the end, she didn''t try to change his mind. Ryan was changing again and in a positive manner. Instead of worrying about how strong his opponents can be, he decided to focus on his own power. "Anyway, I will return to the dungeons, you should organize your golems again," Femradiel said. "Thanks to Alissa''s help, I had a good idea for the next familiar, but I will need some time to obtain enough mana." "Is that so¡­ I guess her visit hadn''t been that useless," Ryan said. While Ryan was allocating his golems inside the dungeons, he considered his options. As usual, he could leave the country and search for tier three dungeons in Africa and Europe, but he already knew how much of a pain some natives could be. Not that he would be any better. If a stranger suddenly asks to use his dungeons, Ryan probably would throw them in the ocean. "I have almost two hundred dungeons nearby that I can clear for sses," Ryan said. "That is the other option. Should I focus on that while I increase my domain in all aspects?" That was a tough question. Staying would grant Ryan some stability and peace of mind while going abroad was risky, but it also could give him some nice rewards. ording to Yahiko, the Indians and the Chinese were focusing on their problem. Probably many of them realized that in less than six months, things will be even harder. That was why no one was acting with world domination in mind. Still, not seeing the situation in those ces with his eyes seemed like a bad idea. Things could be better in Africa and in Europe, but Ryan wouldn''t bet on that." "Oh, well," Ryan said and then shrugged. "Thiste in the game I can risk everything by trying to ess the situation of the whole. Instead of worrying about others I will expand my domain and raise the strength of my army." Ryan will be forced to be stronger when the big guns start to spawn on Earth, but he won''t have many chances to do so if the difference in strength is that big. Fortunately, his army already had some powerful generals. They were Furball and Femradiel''s familiars. Ryan just needed more powerful minions while he became stronger as well. "Keep watching things while I am away, buddy," Ryan patted Furball''s head. "You can eat your veggies without worrying about anything, but just make sure to stay away from the Ghouls. I think I don''t need to say this, but they probably won''t be a decent snack for you." Area Lv 23: 59 square miles Level UP cost: 550.000 coins or 5.500.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 08 Level UP cost: 4.500 coins or 40.000 mana Barrier Lv 12 Level UP cost: 12.000 coins or 120.000 mana Army Lv 11 Level UP cost: 23.000 coins or 230.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 44 (93%) Level UP cost: 88.000 coins or 880.000 mana Coins stored: 756.338 Mana stored: 3.652.842 "My domain is alreadyrge enough that I can''t see the borders while I am at the center," Ryan said after he opened the domain''s menu for a second. "It is time to look for other types of minions to put in my army." After using Teleport, Ryan quickly found another dungeon near his domain. The creatures being spawned there were Earthworms, and he couldn''t let those attack his barrier from underground. While they certainly weren''t a species that would be useful in his army, Ryan still approached and used Taunting Aura to lure them since their dungeon was one that he hadn''t cleared yet. When the monsters approached, Ryan mercilessly killed them with his Magic Bows as he walked toward the dungeon. He didn''t even have to use his hands and pull the triggers of his real crossbows to eliminate the threat. In the end, he left a trail of corpses behind and entered the dungeon while pondering about the next ss he should level up. "To make things as efficient as possible, I need the potions that boost my stats when I decide the next ss to level up," Ryan nodded to himself. "Alissa has her own things to do, so I can''t afford to bother her with this whenever I feel like it. Besides, if transformed into dragons outside my domain, we are bound to draw the attention of some troublesome foes. Hell, I don''t even know if we are safe enough inside the barrier." While Ryan couldn''t bother Alissa often, it was toote to pretend that he didn''t have Draconic Transformation. Several enemies already knew that Ryan had Femradiel''s power, so Ryan feltpelled to use that skill while he ''trains'' his powers against some troublesome foes that he shouldn''t leave alone. "I knew this was going to happen¡­ the more I use that power, I feel lesspelled not to use it," Ryan said and then sighed. "While that skill leveled up quite a lot, in those four days, I shouldn''t use it again¡­ Unless I have no other choice." Resealing that skill would be for the best. Not only Ryan''s enemies wouldn''t know the total power he could obtain from it, it will also work as a mental trap to make them wonder when Ryan is going to use it. Even when Ryan reached thest part of the dungeon, he had no idea which ss he should use it. To make things as inconvenient as possible for him, Ryan decided to use the skills of thest ss he obtained. That would be a pretty efficient way to keep his guard up and to level up sses that Ryan usually didn''t use. So, after using some STR potions, Ryan equipped his strongest spear. Weirdly enough, the spears he got from the Reptilians still were the best he had¡­ even though they hadn''t been upgraded a single time. While that was disappointing, in the end, it worked pretty well against the boss of the dungeon that was just a gigantic Earthworm. Chapter 510 - New Class Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Viking, Combat Archer, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Viking! You obtained the following skills: Flurry, Bash, and Headbutt. Your strength and health will increase by four points, your mana, stamina, speed, and endurance will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Flurry. Effect: Based on the number of stamina consumed, itnds a flurry of near-instant hits on the target. Cost: 30 stamina per hit. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bash. Effect: It used a shield to smash the head of your target, causing massive damage and stunning them for a second. Cost: 50 stamina You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Headbutt. Effect: It grants you the power to harden your head and deliver a surprise attack using your head as a weapon. The strike will paralyze the foe for two seconds after the attack. Cost: 30 stamina You obtained 01 status point. After clearing the dungeon and opening the treasure chest, that was the surprise that he had. Since he only had a single option, he couldn''tin about the skills, but Viking ss certainly had some too simplistic skills¡­ "Using these skills to clear the next dungeon will be a real pain in the ass¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Before leaving the dungeon, Ryan checked the dungeon shop to see what types of summoning skills he could learn. Much to his disappointment, he could only buy the tomes: Ice Golem, Magma Golem, Electric Golem, and Steel Golem. "With the exception of Giant Bee, all the summons are inorganic creatures¡­ why?" Ryan asked while frowning. While those types of golems were quite useful in their own right, Ryan was expecting to be able to summon far more powerful and useful monsters than golems. With the monster book, Ryan could summon all types of monsters, from goblins to Steel Eagles. However, he couldn''t actually summon them unless he obtains a new dungeon for each type of monster and assigns them to a dungeon. Since they would be useful to slow down and freeze some monsters when a new army arrives and try to attack his domain, in the end, Ryan bought the Summon Ice Golem tome, and that cost him five million coins. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Ice Golem. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a special variation of the original golem. Cost: 3000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Ice Golem ¨C Lv 01 Health: 600/600 Mana: 600/600 Stamina: 600/600 Strength: 500 Dexterity: 200 Speed: 100 Intelligence: 1000 Endurance: 700 Control: 200 Mentality: 600 Luck: 100 Recovery: 700 Willpower: 600 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Punch Lv 15, Ice Fortress Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 20, Focus Lv 20 Spells: Ice Arrow Lv 20, Ice Trap Lv 10, Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 50, Freezing Resistance Lv 50 As expected, they were a bit stronger since they cost more mana to be summoned. In any case, leveling them up would be a pain since they were too weak ifpared to most monsters in the world. Ryan will have to be patient and let them be stronger while they just exist. However, he had another idea when he noticed that the sun was setting. "It is time to pay them a visit," Ryan smirked. Ryan activated Silent Movement and then used Teleport. He repeated that several times until he reached the Reptilians camp one hour after. Although things were pretty dark, he easily found the monsters'' base. Things changed greatly since thest time Ryan had been there. Not only the Reptilians increased the area of their base, but they also built several buildings and even created some ice walls to protect everything inside from attack by unwee guests. "Ice Golems aren''t a good match up against them, but I guess it is fine," Ryan said. "I just want to make them level up a little bit while I also destroy the base of those fuckers." While that was possible and a pretty good idea, given that it would be a pain to let those creatures attack his domain whenever they have enough strength, Ryan had to be fast. As far as he knew, only a single person had the nerves to attack the Reptilians before and anyone who worked for Echidna. That someone was Ryan himself, so before Echidna noticed that he was doing something and reinforcements, Ryan had to finish his job really quick. "They have three dungeons here¡­e to think of it, what will happen if I try to obtain a ss that I sacrificed?" Ryan frowned since he had no idea what would happen. "Can I recover that ss? I need to test thatter¡­" Ryan was pretty sure that would be impossible since he still had the skills of those sses, but it was worth the shot. Before Ryan could get even more sidetracked, he began to summon Ice Golems. While he was using potions like crazy since he didn''t deactivate Silent Movement, Ryan never took his eyes out of the Reptilians base. Those creatures should have to get used to being attacked by monsters now and then, but not by humans. So, that much caution was absolutely necessary. "I guess I will have to sacrifice these guys since teleporting them back to my domain will take too much time," Ryan concluded after he summoned the hundredth ice golem. "Well¡­ forcing them in suicidal charge will probably make them level up faster¡­" Ryan realized that was something his enemies have been doing quite often, but in the end. It wasn''t like he had any other choice¡­ Chapter 511 - Revenge Ryan decided to put his ns in motion when he had two hundred Ice Golems under his control. Since he didn''t want to leave any of his traces behind, Ryan made his golems run toward the Reptilians camp after he teleported to several kilometers above the camp. Only someone with eyes as good as his would be able to find him. Before the Ice Golems could be found or start their rampage, Ryan looked for the bosses in the area. They were the most troublesome foes, after all. Much to his surprise, Ryan even found Eci eating something in front of a campfire. It was hard to tell from that position, but he looked pretty down. "I guess it is only natural, he got his ass kicked many times against me, after all," Ryan shrugged. "It is kind of surprising that he didn''t lose his job or was executed for his failures. All viins execute their ipetent minions¡­ Maybe I am using the wrong type of knowledge here." Before Ryan could waste even more time, he used Lunar Arrow and instantly killed Eci and several other bosses. While it was surprising that he did that with a low-level skill, Ryan was more surprised that only their heads were destroyed by the attacks. Even though they probably didn''t have Light Resistance, their mentality was surprisingly high. You obtained 80.000 coins. You obtained 80.000 coins. You obtained 80.000 coins. ... The Reptilians were caught off guard when their leaders were suddenly shot down, they tried to find the enemy, but they didn''t find anything in the dark sky of the night. As if that wasn''t enough, the Ice Golems suddenly jumped over the ice walls as if they never existed from the very beginning. The unarmed Reptilians tried to fight back, but only the guards in the walls managed to deal any real damage at the low-level ice golems. In total synchrony, the Ice Golems fired Ice Arrows at the Reptilians. They managed to kill a few monsters just by the sheer number of projectiles, but that wouldn''t be enough. Several other Reptilians got their weapons in the meantime. "I can''t see any more bosses, so I guess I can focus on the regr monsters," Ryan said. "This would be the perfect chance to level up my weakest sses, but I can''t let those fuckers see me. I can''t use crossbows either. So, now what?" Ryan couldn''t even use the skills he already showed to the Reptilians. While Lunar Arrow was hard to see as a proper arrow, the cost of mana was too high for Ryan to use to kill mob monsters. In the end, Ryan decided to use something new. Something that could cause a lot of damage even though it was at a low level. Ryan created several boulders using Earth Creation and then let them fall after using Deadly Aim. Gravity did its magic, and then several Reptilians had their heads crushed by the two-hundred-pound boulders after a few seconds. The skill Earth Creation has leveled up. The skill Earth Creation has leveled up. The skill Earth Creation has leveled up. ¡­ "Hehe, this isn''t so bad," Ryan grinned from ear to ear. It was certainly impossible for the Reptilians to identify the attacker by using such a tactic alone. From their perspective, it wouldn''t be weird if they think that some meteors were falling at a very bad time. While that was good and all since the level of the skill was low, Ryan was spending too much time creating the boulders, and while his Ice Golems gained many levels, they were quickly being disposed of by the Reptilians. "I suppose it is time to retreat, without the bosses, they probably will have a hard time building their strength again," Ryan said. Ryan felt satisfied by the fact that he discovered a new way to attack while conserving a lot of mana. When Ryan returned to his camp, he suddenly felt weird. Thest few days had been oddly peaceful for him. Even though he killed thousands of monsters¡­ not only that, returning to his domain every time was starting to feel like he was returning to his home after a day of work. Even though there was a single thing in all his domain that could make him remember his old home. "This is weird¡­ I guess it is because I have been traveling around nonstop," Ryan said and scratched the back of his head. "Well, now that hase to this, maybe I should teleport that old hut here." Although that had been his idea, Ryan began to wonder if he should really do it. What was the point? The number of hours in which he sleeps during a week could be counted with the fingers of his hands. "Nah, I shouldn''t let these weird ideas get the better of me," Ryan said. "I can''t rx at such times; humans are at war against monsters. Besides¡­" Ryan didn''t want to say that out loud since it would be the same as admitting that his past was haunting him, but he didn''t want to be that person, that happy-go-lucky idiot that he once was. Having a home would certainly make him be rtivelyx¡­ in order for him to leave hisbat mode. A house or even a proper bed waspletely unnecessary. "As expected, socializing with other people is making me have more and more thoughts unrted to fighting," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This isn''t a good..." Fortunately, that was a problem that could easily be solved. Ryan just had to find another target. Even though the whole country was covered by the darkness of the night, Ryan still decided to leave his domain and then look for another dungeon to clear. Anything was better than him returning to his past self, even bing a death machine, a battle freak, or robot whose sole purpose is to hunt and kill monsters. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 04 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 01 / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 53th Health: 4690/4690 (10,65/s) Mana: 6220/6220 (10,65/s) Stamina: 6550/6550 (10,65/s) Strength: 531 (+288) (+130) Dexterity: 4750 (+3825) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+1810) (+48) Intelligence: 981 (+1604) (+33) Endurance: 858 (+269) (+160) Control: 926 (+1910) (+10) Mentality: 908 (+293) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+25) Recovery: 3000 (+2550) (+845) Willpower: 930 (+309) (+40) Coins: 652.412 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Stunning Impact Lv 01, Triple sh Lv 01, Blood Storm Lv 01, Cleave Lv 01, Seismic m Lv 01, Death Leap Lv 07 (+ 06 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Stealth Lv 95 (+ 05 UP), Stamina Boost Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Fury Lv 01, Dark Vision Lv 01, Heroic Ax Mastery Lv 01, Steel Skin Lv 01, Flurry Lv 01, Bash Lv 01, Headbutt Lv 01, Spells: Taunting Aura Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Hyper Body Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Iron Will Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Ice ster Lv 01, cial Spike Lv 01, Ice Cannon Lv 01, Summon Ice Golem Lv 01, Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 35 (+ 05 UP), Fast Conjuration Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Cryomancy Lv 01 sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 73 (+ 04 UP), diator Lv 01, Assassin Lv 01, Butcher Lv 01, Spearman Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Viking Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Whitesmith Lv 25 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 52 (+ 03 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 512 - Champion Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Champion, Rogue, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Champion! You obtained the following skills: Ki Explosion, Tiger Stance, and Tiger Cannon. Your strength and health will increase by four points. Your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ki Explosion. Effect: It grants you the power to cause an explosion around your body that will cause equal damage to all the enemies around you. Cost: 100 health, 100 mana, 100 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tiger Stance. Effect: It passively increases the attack speed of your unarmed attacks by two percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tiger Cannon. Effect: It grants you the power to send a shockwave through your hands that causes magical and physical damage. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan spent the entire night cleaning a nearby area of monsters that a certain dungeon had spawned. While it had been pretty difficult at the start, Ryan managed to fight while using only the skills he obtained from thest ss he received. While the new ss wasn''t that impressive, Ryan obtained some nice spoils. Mirage Crossbow (+8) Effect: at the cost of 100 points of mana, it grants the user the chance to fire invisible bolts. Dexterity + 144, Intelligence + 144 Durability: 120/120 It was kind of surprising that Ryan never heard of the Invisible Treants before. In any case, despite their convenient skill to be semi-invisible, they were shorter than the other treants. They were much frailer as well to the point where Ryan could defeat them with Headbutts. He spent the night spamming that skill in order or level up his Viking ss. "I am not satisfied with my level of power, but I guess clearing two dungeons and getting two sses every day is a pretty decent feat," Ryan nodded to himself when he arrived in his domain. "Now I guess I need to have another goal rted with special sses¡­ obtaining one of them every week seems close to impossible, but how about one every two weeks?" While Ryan was thinking about that, he noticed that things in his domain were awfully quiet. Usually, Furball woulde to greet him, but this time he didn''t do that. Fortunately, if Femradiel didn''t warn him of anything, Ryan knew that nothing serious had happened. After a while, Ryan noticed that the number of his Fire Golems had decreased and that Furball and several of them were fighting inside the specters'' dungeon. Death''s Specter Lv 110 Health: 3500/3500 Mana: 6500/6500 Stamina: 2500/2500 Strength: 300 (+130) Dexterity: 700 Speed: 800 Intelligence: 950 (+170) Endurance: 500 Control: 1150 Mentality: 800 (+250) Luck: 150 Recovery: 2000 Willpower: 800 (+250) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Alert Lv 80, Focus Lv 60, Spearmanship Lv 50, Intangibility Lv 120 Spells: Health Steal Lv 70, Mana Steal Lv 70, Stamina Steal Lv 70, Spectral Absorption Lv 60 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50, Death Sense Lv 70 "It looks like the leveling up speed of my Fire Golems isn''t keeping up with them," Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I knew this was going to happen, but not so soon¡­" While Ryan could summon an undetermined number of monsters to guard his domain, they had a level cap. That was a major w in his strategy, given that the monsters that the dungeons spawn don''t have such a limit. In thest few days, Ryan assigned his Red Falcons on the guard duty as well to make them stronger. Still, as expected, not even them could be stronger than tier three monsters. That was the limit of Ryan''s strategy to rely on monsters to help him. At the end, that made Ryan realize that perhaps the dungeon system, at least when ites down to humans, was only useful when the dungeon master can use many of them to do certain things. Thanks to the sses, they could be strong faster than most monsters. However, Ryan wouldn''t give up yet. He summoned and then lent him one of his crossbows. After doing some tests, Ryan confirmed some things. "Not good, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Already knew that summoned monsters can''t learn skills that easily, but I guess it is also a waste of time to lend them some weapons. The only ideas Ryan had to solve that situation at the moment were to rely on other necromancer''s skills or just head to Canada and then tame some skeletons. The second option didn''t seem that appealing, but the first option seemed pretty difficult. "You did well, buddy," Ryan said to Furball. "It is a pity you can''t use weapons. Well, not that you need it." For the time being, Ryan just summoned several other Fire Golems and gave the order to Furball to keep doing that job of helping in clearing certain dungeons when the necessity arises. However, since that was risky. Ryan created some equipment for him that would increase his resistance against monsters, such as the specters that can steal health, mana, and stamina. "I guess Femradiel is busy fighting and projecting the next body," Ryan said after he realized that she didn''te up with an excuse not to help Furball. In the end, it looked like Ryan will have to improvise again. Summoning sses were hard toe by. He certainly couldn''t ask Mark or the others for information about the dungeons in which will grant him those sses. He refused to help them time and time again, after all. Chapter 513 - Immobilizing Crossbow Although it was possible, summoning all types of creatures wasn''t the most efficient way to level up the Summoner ss. The most efficient way was to use Summon Slime, Summon Giant Bee, and use Protect. In order not to mess up with his ns of using his newest ss to clear the next dungeon, Ryan decided to use the Giant Bees to guard the Centaur Archers'' dungeon. Despite the fact that only a few of them would be able to attack the Centaurs that will spawn, Ryan filled the entire dungeon with them in order for the ce to remain guarded for at least a few days and also because Ryan wanted to level up his ss and skill. Congrattions! The Summoner ss reached level 80. Congrattions! The skill Summon Giant Bee reached level 75. "I guess this will be enough for the time being, let''s check in a few days how many times the ss and the skill will manage to level up," Ryan said. Ryan left his domain again, but instead of looking for the next dungeon to be cleared, he went to the slimes'' dungeon. Clearing the ce had been easy since he had left some monsters behind to guard the ce, and they were still working. Ryan even had the idea of using the slimes to create a new crossbow. However, the treasure chest didn''t open when he tried it. "I guess it is really impossible," Ryan shrugged. "Well, at least I managed to obtain a new weapon with an interesting effect." Immobilizing Crossbow (+8) Effect: at the cost of fifty points of mana, it grants you the power to fire crossbows that put your enemies under the slow status for thirty seconds when they are hit by the bolts. Each projectile decreases their speed by five points. Dexterity + 136, Intelligence + 136 Durability: 120/120 In the end, the weapon was slightly weaker ifpared to thest one since Ryan used the spirits of the slimes, but that didn''t bother him. While humming, which was a rare urrence, Ryan left the dungeon, only to be surprised by the arrival of some unexpected individuals. Tristan, Natalia, and some other survivors from the secret base. "You¡­" Natalia said as if she was munching something very unpleasant. Natalia''s hostility didn''t surprise Ryan, but he couldn''t help but frown due to the fact that Tristan seemed even more pissed than his sister. In fact, Ryan could clearly see that he was about to start the fight. He was barely preventing himself from doing something stupid since he knew that they had no chance against Ryan, even less so if he uses Draconic Transformation. "You have guts kid, and you have a brain as well," Ryan said. "I guess you will survive for long." Tristan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Although Ryan wasn''t exactly taunting him, Tristan couldn''t hear anything but mockerying from Ryan''s mouth. In any case, while it was only natural that he would be received with much hostility even by some people who he didn''t even know, Ryan was getting quite pissed. To the point where he even considered ying the role of the viin even further. If some people don''t have the courage to face their enemies, then they shouldn''t have the luxury to expose their hatred toward them. "What are you guys doing here?" Ryan asked and then equipped his newest crossbow. That immediately made the other survivors, aside from Tristan and Natalia to back down. "We don''t owe you any exnations," Natalia replied. "What are you doing here?" "I don''t owe you any exnations," Ryan replied. Natalia clicked her tongue as well, and, in the end, she just guided the people that were with them to inside the dungeon. Ryan couldn''t help but shrug since that behavior was cute, if anything. They certainly need to practice how to make their anger look a bit more menacing. "Don''t try anything funny in there, this ce is under my control," Ryan said. "What are you going to do if we don''t care about your useless ims?" Natalia asked. "Are you going to put on another show again?" "No way, bad kids don''t deserve to see a spectacle," Ryan replied. "Bad kids need to be punished." "¡­ You have disappointed me, Ryan," Tristan said without trying to hide the hatred in his eyes. "I wonder how I am going to live with myself after hearing this¡­" Ryan shrugged. After understanding that nothing woulde from continuing that conversation, Tristan, Natalia, and the others entered the dungeon. That was a bit annoying, but Ryan had to stay behind in order to confirm that they won''t cause problems. That dungeon was another source of ie for Ryan, and since no one imed ownership of that ce before, now it belonged to Ryan. In any case, they probably came this far to discover why the number of slimes had decreased. It was only obvious that they wouldn''t return to that area without a good reason. Moreover, the survivors didn''t look as exhaustedpared with thest time Ryan saw them, so that confirmed what Alissa said about the change in their behavior. After a while, the group left the dungeon and the area without looking behind or saying anything. Ryan felt more or less good about how he forced them to change. Now he was pretty sure that they wouldn''t be a burden when the real fight starts. That being said, he was a bit worried about how their behavior changed Arthur and Zoe''s life inside the base. Ryan didn''t want to use irvoyance to check with his own eyes how those two were doing, but he doubted that Alissa''s reports alone would put his mind at ease. "Oh, well," Ryan said. "About that anything bad will happen to them while Alissa stays there and they also know that things will get messy for them if I discover something that I don''t like. For the good or worse, Mia is also there and I doubt that she will let anything happen to those two, so it is fine." Chapter 514 - Vision Back in the secret military base near Indianapolis, Mark and his allies were having one of those meetings. A while ago, they only happened once a week. Still, now they were happening pretty much every day since everyone who was living in the base started to work in the nearest dungeons. Now that they didn''t have to walk or run for days for them to have a chance to arrive at their new home. "Report," Mark said. "Things proceeded favorably today as well," Hugo said. "ording to our estimations, Daniel will obtain a domain stone in two days." "What about Mia?" Mark asked. "She didn''t change her mind yet," Hugo replied. "¡­ Good grief, that girl needs to get a grip," Mark said after a long sigh. "Can''t she move on already?" "I believe she already moved on," Katelin said. "The real problem is the fact that she doesn''t want to be Ryan''s enemy." Currently, the only people who were close to Mark but weren''t in the room were Daniel, who was fighting and clearing dungeons to be one of the top one hundred strongest humans to obtain a domain stone, Mia who was taking a break and looking after Arthur, and Tristan and Natalia, who went to check why they didn''t find a single slime using their satellite. Just as Ryan had expected, they changed their modus operandi. Instead of doing what they couldn''t, everyone in the base made up their minds to pursue the power that they needed to protect their new home. Going too far away was a waste of time, so they decreased their area of action. Regardless, due to her innate talent, Mia bes the first member in the base to obtain a domain stone. While Alissa had one and didn''t use it yet, everyone knew that such an item had some ipatible characteristics with Alissa. Thus asking her to use it would be a waste of time. "What is the point of worrying about that now?" Mark asked. "I believe she is fine not working together with him, but bing an enemy is another matter altogether," Katelin said. "She deeply believes after hearing Alissa''s exnation that all those who obtain a domain on Earth will be enemies at some point. She doesn''t want to be the main responsible for Ryan''s fall if a battle between our forces were to happen." "Even after all that?!" Mark raised his voice. "I am just saying what I think she is thinking," Katelin shrugged. "There is no point in getting angry at me." "What do you think Ryan''s current goal is?" Cole asked. "ording to the images that we received; his domain covers a good part of old Das. In less than a month, he will probably have the entire region under his control. Alongside many other dungeons that will only increase the speed of his domain expansion." "Who cares about that?" Anna asked. "You should care about it, Anna," Carter said. "Until now, we more or less knew what Ryan wanted, buttely, it is impossible to determine. He is living only with his own summoned monsters and barely interacts with anyone else. Someone with such a damaged psych, might do many unexpected things." "I know that she doesn''t trust anyone aside from his summoned monsters that are forced to obey him, but he crossed the line," Cole said. "He might be thinking that he is doing this for the sake of our country or of the world, but his actions have been far too irresponsible. He almost caused the doom of thousands of survivors here just to prove his point." "What has he been doingtely?" Hond asked. "Can we even do anything without a domain if he goes mad again?" "ording to what we learned, only certain people allowed by the dungeon master can enter a domain," Hugo exined. "There are two ways to enter without being an ally, through a dungeon or by destroying the barrier. ording to what we observed, he has been clearing dungeons and trying to obtain more domains. So, we might be his next target the very moment someone uses a domain stone in here." "We will prepare ordingly not to lose our next trump card," Mark said. "For the time being, that is the only thing we can to prevent another chaotic situation. You are all dismissed." After a while, Mark saw himself alone in the meeting room. He essed hisputer in order to check the situation of all survivors that had returned that day from their duties in clearing the nearest dungeons. Mark couldn''t approve of Ryan''s methods, but he couldn''t deny their effectiveness. After surviving the dungeon breaks that he had caused, all the survivors inside the base that could fight experienced a huge boost in strength and morale. It was no surprise that something like that would happen at such a crazy event. As if that wasn''t enough, not a single life had been lost since Ryan''s stupid show. That was how Mark called the day where he caused the dungeon breaks. Moreover, even those who were sent to the most difficult dungeons only returned with a few scratches on their bodies. Mark sighed when he analyzed those archives for a few more minutes. He couldn''t but me himself for the misdeeds of the younger generation. If he had done something else from waiting for other branches of the government toe and help them, Mark and his men could have obtained a power that would grant them the chance not to rely too much on Ryan and Alissa. Since that didn''t happen, those two have been doing whatever they wanted, and no one could stop them. Until now, Alissa didn''t cause any trouble, but who knows that another incident like that will happen, and this time the perpetrator might be Alissa herself. "Power corrupts, huh¡­" Mark muttered under his breath. Mark didn''t want to believe that was the case, he wanted to believe that only bad people would do bad things with power, buttely, he felt less and lesspelled to think that way¡­ Chapter 515 - Crusader Although those have been helping Ryan a lottely, Ryan couldn''t help but feel thankful when he noticed that his stock of dragon hearts was almost over. While those tasted good in all ways one could think to cook them, Ryan was already sick of it. It was no surprise. Not even the craziest human could withstand eating something like pizza for one month without taking a break. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Crusader, Combat Archer, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Crusader! You obtained the following skills: Holy Cross, Indomitable Spirit, and Boomerang Shield. Your strength and health will increase by four points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Holy Cross. Effect: A quick double sh in the shape of a cross that causes explosive damage and even more damage against demons and undead. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Indomitable Spirit. Effect: It casts around the user a magic barrier that will protect him against negative effects. The power of the negative effects will decrease ording to the level of the skill. Cost: 30 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Boomerang Shield. Effect: A skill that can only be used when a shield is equipped. The heavier the shield, the more damage the skill will cause. Cost: 50 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. After another day of hard work, Ryan teleported back to his domain to check things and rx for an hour or two before he left to search for another dungeon to clear. However, instead of rxing, he was bothered by Alissa. "Ryan¡­ you won''t believe what I just heard," Alissa said while she apparently was having a hard time controlling herughter. "A lot of people here in the base think that you have gone mad and your actions might put the whole country at risk." "That isn''t surprising," Ryan said. "Rather than that, it is surprising that you haven''t been caught hearing other people''s conversations or reading their minds." "Unlike what you might be thinking, I only did that to make sure I know what is happening and seems out of ce," Alissa exined. "This certainly is a good motive." "I don''t really care if you don''t have a motive or not, but if you were caught doing that it might cause some issues," Ryan said. "Besides, you don''t owe me anything." "You worry too much, I just found it funny that the people here think you are plotting world domination," Alissa said. "Anyway, you shouldn''t drop your guard since everyone here is wary of you." After saying that, Alissa ended the telepathic link. In the end, it really looked like she just tried to share a funny story and that she wasn''t even a little bit worried about the severity of that situation. Before Ryan could think a little more about the results of his actions regarding the people in the secret base, he noticed that another telepathic link between someone and him was being forcefully created. Alissa was the only one who usually would do that, but since she just did, what would be the point of doing again? Much to Ryan''s surprise, Gustavo was the one who did it. "Hello again, Ryan," Gustavo said, and he sounded too tired for any more greetings. "What''s up? You sound tired," Ryan said. "Just facing a troublesome situation with underwater dungeonstely," Gustavo replied. "I wanted to talk about that, have you people in your country having problems with those types of dungeons?" "Not that I am aware," Ryan replied. "As far as I know, all the survivor camps are pretty far from the sea. That being said, I would know if monsters from the sea started to invade thend." Ryan was using irvoyance pretty much whenever possible to find new dungeons, so he would have noticed such a problem if his country was facing such a problem. However, maybe even if there are some underwater dungeons near his country, would the monsters leave the ocean and lose the terrain where they have such an advantage? "I am d to hear it," Gustavo said while smiling. "Anyway, but you should stay cautious of possible attacks. Another type of monster has been causing several problems to ustely, to the point where we are even considering the idea to move away from the coast." "That sounds like one hell of a monster¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. "Didn''t Alissa share the knowledge about the domain stones with you guys? I would bet that would help." "We tried to use that, but it didn''t work," Gustavo said. "Since the center of the domain was in the center of our city, the border of the domain quickly reached the ocean, but that only worked for the barrier to be a target for the Hydras." "Hydras¡­" Ryan frowned when he heard that name. "Are they those dragon-like serpents that I heard in Greek mythology?" "Indeed, they are," Gustavo said while nodding. "As far as we know here, it looked like they kept a low-profile until now in order to build up their forces. Thanks to that, they now control a good part of the area of the Antic Ocean we monitor." Ryan didn''t like what he heard¡­ to think that a single species of monsters managed to defeat all the others and now was causing problems for humans. That was something beyond troublesome. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he should increase his investigation scope¡­ Chapter 516 - Underwater Ryan got curious about the subject, so he asked a little more about the Hydras to Gustavo. ording to him, they were essentially invincible in the ocean. While they could be wounded, they could heal insanely fast. Gustavo and his friends didn''t even have the chance to try to behead one and see what would happen. So, they were unaware if those creatures could obtain two more heads when they lose one. Before he could notice, Ryan created a massive pool and then entered it to train his Underwater Resistance. While that was beyond unpleasant, Ryan discovered that he could increase his time underwater by using Regeneration and other healing spells. Thanks to his health, Ryan could stay for quite a while underwater, but losing health for being unable to breathe was, again, beyond unpleasant. "No Water Breathing technique, huh," Ryan said between one of the training sessions he used to level up Underwater Resistance. "It is a high-level skill¡­ so, maybe I should clear some more tier three dungeons to find it." There was also the possibility that Ryan could obtain a ss that would have that skill, but the chances were quite low. That would be one heck of a specific ss, after all. While Ryan was readying himself for another training session. Femradiel approached in her Wyrm form. "You are doing something weird again¡­" Femradiel said. "Did I miss something?" "It looks like some troublesome dungeon master managed to take over the Southern side of the Antic Ocean," Ryan replied. "I want to check how things are on our side." "Permission to say that is one of your stupidest ideas," Femradiel said. "Permission not granted," Ryan said. "This is serious Ryan, there is no doubt in my mind that humans aren''t creatures made to fight underwater," Femradiel said. "Well, I am human, but I also am Night Demon, Lesser Dragon, Centaur¡­" Ryan shrugged. "None of those bloodlines grant you any skill that makes you stronger underwater," Femradiel said. "Underwater, your powers will be at least halved. You might be able to surprise some enemies, but most of them will be able to feel your presence from a simr distance. Your eyesight will be way less effective due to the density of the water. Not to mention, even with your new body that can''t bepared with the ones humans had in the past, you can''t survive if you were pulled to a certain distance below sea level. You would need certain skills to survive that and you don''t have a single one." "If things get dire, I can always use Teleport," Ryan said. "Your optimism alwayses at the worst of the times¡­" Femradiel said. "Well, it looks like you are determined to fight in the ocean no matter what. So, I guess I will have to help you. I believe I have a lot more experience than you at fighting in such a ce." "You didn''t notice several thingstely, even though your spirit is supposed to be inside me," Ryan said. "Are you sure you can control remotely those two familiars while also offering me some support?" "I can''t guarantee that I won''t make any mistakes, but this will be good training for me, I need to get used to being at three ces at the same time, after all," Femradiel said. Although Femradiel was treating that as training, he couldn''tin since he would need all the help he could get. Besides, her power to find dungeons would reallye in handy¡­ Hopefully, he won''t have to face too many bosses before he gets the chance to clear them. Femradiel tried to teach Ryan some techniques that would allow him to stay underwater without suffering damage. Still, in the end, those required way too much control over mana, and Ryan wasn''t that good at it. So, he will have to increase his ability to stay underwater in a hard way. After training that skill nonstop for a full day, Ryan felt confident that he could stay underwater for at least half an hour while maintaining his state of almost totalposure. So, once again, he left Furball in guard duty while he teleported to the country''s East Coast. Upon arriving there, Femradiel got unusually confused. "I never investigated these parts, but¡­" Femradiel hesitated. "But?" Ryan asked. "There are too many dungeons near this coast," Femradiel said. "That is weird since we can''t see a single monster leaving the ocean." "Give me an exact number," Ryan said. "I can sense a few dozen pretty easily since they are tier two dungeons, but there might be more even deeper," Femradiel said. "I won''t be able to track them down unless you use Draconic Transformation and approach deeper levels." "That skill again, huh¡­" Ryan said. "It can''t be helped, the level of mana in the ocean is much higher than I remember, that works like a barrier that more or less decreases the power of tracking skill," Femradiel exined. As usual, Draconic Transformation could help Ryan quite a lot. Femradiel didn''t mention it, but it was possible that it would grant Ryan the chance to stay underwater for an unlimited amount of time. After all, the first time he found Femradiel, she was hiding underwater. "How deep are those tier two dungeons?" Ryan asked. "It is within the range of how far you can go," Femradiel said. "I can give you the exact location, the pressure might cause some problems in your ears if you teleport to them." "There is that as well, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Great." "Of course, that isn''t a problem if¡­" Femradiel said. "If I use Draconic Transformation¡­" Ryan said. "Dear me, you sure love that body." "We are prideful creatures, you didn''t forget it, right?" Femradiel asked. "How could I forget it, you are always nearby to remind me," Ryan shrugged. Without wasting any more time, Ryan jumped into the ocean, and much to his surprise, the water was a lot colder than it was supposed to be. Femradiel wasn''t joking when she mentioned the mana level in the oceans¡­ Chapter 517 - Submerged Dungeons It didn''t take long for Ryan to find the nearest dungeon and the first wave of enemies that would get on his way. Those creatures were much uglier now that they had human size. They were the mutated or an alien version of the Seahorses. While Ryan didn''t know much about those types of creatures, he was pretty sure they weren''t supposed to have a light blue skin tone. Azure Seahorse Lv 430 Health: 35.000/35.000 Mana: 55.000/55.000 Stamina: 25.000/25.000 Strength: 2600 (+ 300) Dexterity: 3900 (+ 600) Speed: 2500 (+ 300) Intelligence: 5500 (+ 900) Endurance: 1900 (+ 400) Control: 3800 (+ 700) Mentality: 3300 (+ 400) Luck: 2500 (+ 300) Recovery: 12.000 (+ 3000) Willpower: 3300 (+ 400) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 250, Improved Recovery Lv 250, Swim Lv 500 Spells: Water Cannon Lv 350, Ice Spear Lv 300 Support Skills: Cryomancy Lv 350, Hydromancy Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 600, Water Breathing Lv 600 "I never saw those creatures before, but their level is pretty high¡­" Femradiel said via Telepathy. "They must be the species that are hunting in the Giant Crabs in these parts, that is why we didn''t find any of them." Ryan had a few things to say, but he just nodded since he couldn''t speak underwater. However, in the end, Femradiel notified him of a pretty obvious fact. "You don''t need to use your mouth to talk," Femradiel said. "I can read your thoughts; you just need to give me temporary permission." "Ah¡­ right," Ryan thought. Ryan already had done something simr before. In fact, he does that whenever he leaves his domain. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able tomunicate with her properly over long distances. Several of those creatures spread around the area in order to surround Ryan. He immediately equipped his Amphibian Crossbow and pulled the trigger. However, much to his surprise, his target sped up and dodged the projectiles. Despite the effect of his weapon, the bolts still were much slower than he had imagined. The number of enemies was rtively low, so Ryan didn''t have to worry about mana. Before they could enter their attack range, he activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The monsters were fast, but not that fast. As expected, the monsters suffered critical damage at every single shot. They were fast and rtively decent long-ranged fighters, but their endurance was stupidly low. "I suppose I should make a crossbow using their spirits," Ryan thought. Aquatic Crossbow (+8) Effect: At the cost of one hundred points of mana, it temporarily increases your intelligence after using this weapon for ten seconds. The bonus in intelligence will be four points per shot and can stack. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 150 Durability: 130/130 Despite the fact that Ryan was pretty sure he was the fast person stupid enough to fight underwater, he didn''t find that many monsters. Ryan and Femradiel found several azure seahorses, but it couldn''t even bepared to the number of monsters he usually faced in dungeons that have been left alone for several weeks. "It is probably because they aren''t at the top of the food chain here," Femradiel said. "While they must have the advantage against Giant Crabs, those creatures probably only serve as a snack for the Megalodons." Ryan nodded at that, but in the end, not even those gigantic sharks were the kings of the oceans. While Ryan was warier of the Hydras, it doesn''t mean that there were no other predators around. Hopefully, Ryan won''t have to deal with creatures like Krakens. If Megalodons exist, then those other monsters probably exist as well. However, Ryan found himself shivering while imagining their long and slimy tentacles. It looked like Ryan found another fear¡­ "How weird of you to have a fear like that¡­" Femradiel said. "I am already regretting letting you read my mind¡­" Ryan thought. "Anyway, which direction is the nearest dungeon?" "At your one o''clock, five hundred meters away from your current position," Femradiel replied. Moving underwater wasn''t that difficult since Ryan could use Telekinesis to move his own body. Still, then he realized that he was wasting a good chance. Congrattions! You learned the skill swim. Effect: it passively increases your movement speed while underwater by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. While it would take a while for Ryan to reach a decent speed while using that skill alone, he was certain that it would be worth the hassle. In the end, Ryan found the dungeon with plenty of time left before he started to feel the need to return to the surface. In the end, the dungeon was just another underwater cave, and much to his disappointment, there wasn''t a single boss guarding the ce. The number of azure seahorses barely reached the three-digit mark. "Something is off here¡­" Ryan thought. "Really? If you ask me there is nothing weird," Femradiel said. "This dungeon might have broken several times and hundreds of bosses spawned, but they wouldn''t endure stay inside their base for so long without feeling the need to hunt for food. They probably left and spread around and were hunted down by a stronger monster." What a terrifying imagination¡­ but in the end, Ryan noticed that it was only logical. From the monster''s perspective, it was probably easier to hunt other monsters in the ocean. He thought things down there would be way more terrifying given that all the underwater dungeons pretty much broke more than six times, but in the end, that wasn''t the case. Or so Ryan thought at the beginning, then he realized that theck of monsters was a sign that the big guns were more powerful than any monster Ryan fought ind. "I should have asked the Hydra''s level to Gustavo¡­" Ryan thought. It was toote to worry about that. Still, Ryan decided to proceed carefully since theck of monsters was a sign that something powerful cleared the area a few days ago. Chapter 518 - Darkness After going to the surface to breathe for a while, Ryan returned to underwater and then headed to the dungeon as fast as possible. He felt that his ears were a bit weird since he was going downward too fast, but it looked like his body was adapting fairly fast to the environment. Although the dungeon waspletely dark, thanks to Dark Vision, Ryan could see his surroundings fairly well. He did the right thing in training that skill previously¡­ However, that skill wasn''t a level high enough to grant Ryan the power to see far ahead in the darkness. So, he only found the boss''s presence thanks to Radar instead of thanks to his eyes. "Shit¡­ forget about preemptive strikes, I won''t even be able to see thest part of the dungeonpletely like this," Ryan thought. "I can see things fairly well here," Femradiel said. "So, you can leave the fight to me. While it is pretty a decent foe, I should be able to defeat it using your skills alone. You can focus on using potions." "But that is¡­" Ryan hesitated. "If you didn''t put so many restrictions in yourself, this fight would be a breeze," Femradiel said. "Besides, as far as I can tell, that one is a tier two monster. You shouldn''t feel that troubled by this." Although Femradiel would be using her instincts and Ryan''s skills to fight, he still couldn''t help but feel troubled by it. It was only natural that he would need some support to fight underwater. Still, he didn''t imagine he would have to leave an entire boss fight in Femradiel''s hands. In any case, while Ryan could rely on Radar to fight, aiming properly wouldn''t be the same thing as before. Ryan wouldn''t even be able to use Perfect Aim or Deadly Aim, after all. He had to have a clear vision of the foe. Given the current range of Dark Vision, Ryan would have to get too close, and that would nullify his advantagepletely as a long-ranged fighter. "For someone who can take pride in your decision-making speed, you sure think too much about the small stuff," Femradiel said. "Rx, in a few hours, Dark Vision should be powerful enough and make youpletely able to see your foes in ces like this. Remember, you are wasting your breath while you hesitate." "All right, then," Ryan thought. "Let''s see if this idea of yours is really usible." Ryan gave Femradiel the chance to control his body. Then he focused his mind on using Spatial Maniption and Telekinesis only. After a few seconds, Femradiel used Teleport and suddenly appeared in front of the boss. Ryan should have asked about her battle n¡­ Antis Knight Lv 550 Health: 125.000/125.000 Mana: 175.000/175.000 Stamina: 75.000/75.000 Strength: 8000 (+ 1300) Dexterity: 6500 (+ 1200) Speed: 3500 (+ 900) Intelligence: 12500 (+ 1800) Endurance: 4200 (+ 800) Control: 4500 (+ 900) Mentality: 6500 (+ 800) Luck: 2500 (+ 300) Recovery: 40.000 (+ 10.000) Willpower: 6500 (+ 800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 500, Death Blow Lv 450, Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 450, Improved Recovery Lv 550, Swim Lv 700 Spells: Water Cannon Lv 550, Ice Spear Lv 500, Support Skills: Cryomancy Lv 550, Hydromancy Lv 600, Cold Resistance Lv 800, Water Breathing Lv Max Although Femradiel said that the enemy wasn''t that strong, Ryan had the chance to use Appraisal when she got too close and confirmed that certainly wasn''t the case. Putting the name that made Ryan worry aside, that boss certainly was at the level where he could defeat the previous Femradiel in the ocean. The boss resembled quite a bit the Azure Seahorses. Still, that one actually had arms and legs, and he also had a pretty fit body. It looked like, unlike its minions, the boss would rather fight in close quarters. The monster not only had a fit body, but it also had a blue-spiked helmet and a breastte made of corals that looked like diamonds. Instead of asking if she had lost her mind, Ryan began to use potions left and right while Femradiel summoned several Magic Bows and attacked the boss. The creature also had a trident, but despite the melee weapon, the boss just repelled the attacks and tried to gain some distance over them. Despite the fact that they actually had the advantage in a long and medium ranged fight, Femradiel kept following the boss and getting closer with Teleport. Eventually, Femradiel noticed that was a waste of time. The boss was just too fast. Ryan didn''t notice it since Femradiel had been pretty cautious about it and because of the darkness of the ce. Still, then when the boss finally stopped moving, he saw that Alissa hadid some traps here and there. While he was moving around, Alissa created some steel grains. She made them attack the boss''s body while it was moving around and dodging her magic attacks. Those grains quickly moved toward the monster''s legs and then began to pull it down after it took a shake of some sharp-looking shackles. While the monster was receiving some damage since it was resisting, Femradiel prepared a big attack. However, before she could actually attack, the boss attacked the shackles. A single attack had been enough to make the creature give up on its legs. As soon as the attack was repelled by the weirdly sturdy shackles, they proceeded to cut off its own legs. Everything below its knees had been sacrificed. "Holy shit¡­ I didn''t think even monsters could do that so easily," Ryan frowned. In order not to fall for the same trick twice, the monster gave up on the strategy of moving away from the enemy. The monster charged, and Ryan barely saw the creature closing the distance between them. Femradiel did and used his shield to block the attack. However, a single attack had been enough to shatter it into pieces. Ryan wanted to scream, but he didn''t do it. Despite the fact, that was one heck of an expensive shield. Chapter 519 - Unpleasant Surprise Even without its legs, the boss could move much faster than Femradiel. Although the creature was suffering some damage from her attacks, it wasn''t nearly enough to stop or even slow down the boss. At some point, the creature got close enough and impaled Ryan''s right shoulder with the trident. However, Femradiel instantly healed the wound. "Hey¡­" Ryan thought since he was unable to keep quiet any longer. "My bad, my bad," Femradiel said. "It won''t happen again." Ryan wanted to know howe Femradiel could affirm that so easily, but in the end, what she said turned out to be true. He didn''t realize it before, but Femradiel has been attacking the boss with the magic copies of his Immobilizing Crossbow, and the monster was quickly losing its speed. After that first attack, the boss never had the chance to get close enough for its trident to even scratch Ryan''s body. Once the boss''s speed dropped, Femradiel''s aim naturally improved, and the monster became unable to dodge or even block most of her attacks. Despite the fact that the power that Ryan''s body had been halved, the monster didn''t evenst five minutes. You obtained 125.000 coins. "I guess I underestimated this creature as well¡­" Femradiel said. "I forgot to mention it, but while the power of your body has been halved due to the environment, the aquatic monsters overall power increased by thirty percent." Ryan noticed that at some point in the fight. That was why the fightsts longer than it was supposed to, considering that their target was just a tier two monster. Even though the creature was at level 550¡­ Much to Ryan''s surprise, the monster''s equipment disappeared when the creature fell dead. However, the trident didn''t. He didn''t analyze the weapon before, but it seemed a pretty decent one. Antis Knight ''s Trident. Effect: It increases the damage caused by your physical attacks by twenty percent while fighting underwater. Strength + 150, Speed + 120 Durability: 50/200 Antis¡­ Ryan didn''t like to see that name again. Antis, ording to Greek mythology, was Poseidon''s kingdom. The pride of the god of the oceans and brother of Zeus¡­ suppose Poseidon was really the one controlling the seas. In that case, he would probably be the first Olympian god to manifest himself on Earth. Ryan naturally would slow down that as much as possible. Still, just the idea of drawing the wrath of the Olympian gods to himself was enough to make his head hurt. "First the six generals of hell and now the Greek gods¡­" Ryan thought. "Why does my life have to be so intense?" Before that thought could depress Ryan even further, he decided to open the treasure chest. Checking the purple crystal was out of the question since he didn''t want to risk seeing a Greek god at such a time. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of three following sses: Barbarian, Archer, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Barbarian! You obtained the following skills: Deathblow, Defend, and Inspire. Your strength and health will increase by four points, your mana, stamina, speed, and endurance will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deathblow. Effect: A powerful horizontal swing that increases in power while you charge at the enemy. Cost: 50 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Defend. Effect: It temporarily increases your defense against long-ranged attacks by raising a shield and entering a defensive posture. The damage decreased will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 30 stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Inspire. Effect: It temporarily increases the mentality and willpower of your allies by ten points per level when fighting in the frontlines. Cost: 30 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan picked another melee ss, which was the sixth in a row that only increased his melee-rted status. While Ryan was satisfied that he was sturdier, it was a pity that fighting up-close with those new sses was a suicide in such an environment. After obtaining his newest ss, Ryan left the dungeon and then returned to the surface. Things had been far less dangerous and time-consuming in the ocean than he had predicted. However, Ryan didn''t drop his guard. "I bet my Ice Golems can survive underwater, but the difference in power between them and the Azure Seahorses is too big," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Even hundreds of them probably won''t be able to hold back the Antis Knights for more than a couple of minutes." "The elemental affinity is also a problem," Femradiel added. "They won''t cause any real damage. Maybe at level one hundred, the Electric Golems will be able to do something, but it will take a while for you to make them reach that level." Ryan could only nod at it. Still, he couldn''t waste time thinking about the problems he couldn''t solve. The only thing he could do right at that moment was to confirm if Poseidon really was the one who was going to spawn first. Letting that happen would be disastrous since seventy percent of the Earth''s surface was made of water, and given what Poseidon could do based on mythology, he alone probably could destroy the entire world. "Where is the next dungeon, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "So, you want more, huh," Femradiel said. "I guess this will be the start of a very long mission¡­" Despite the fact that she fought pretty well in the ocean, it looked like Femradiel wasn''t that fond of it. Regardless, at least she didn''t try to stop Ryan again. Chapter 520 - Boss Once again, it didn''t long take for Ryan and Femradiel to find their next dungeon. Fortunately, the dungeon wasn''t that deep since it was spawning Giant Crabs, and they liked to fight underwater and out. Their numbers were pretty low, and their levels weren''t that high as well, the reason being a certain predator that was moving around the area in search of food. Megalodon ¨C Lv 490 Health: 150.000/150.000 Mana: 100.000/100.000 Stamina: 60.000/60.000 Strength: 7500 (+1500) Dexterity: 5500 (+500) Speed: 2000 (+500) Intelligence: 5000 (+1000) Endurance: 7000 (+1100) Control: 1800 (+200) Mentality: 5000 (+1200) Luck: 2000 Recovery: 50.000 (+10.000) Willpower: 5000 (+1200) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Swim Lv 550, Improved Recovery Lv 300, Enhanced Recovery Lv 250 Spells: Water Creation Lv 400, Water Maniption Lv 320 Support Skills: Underwater Resistance Lv 550, Cold Resistance Lv 600, Freezing Resistance Lv 500 "For Odin''s eyepatch¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in shock. "Is it just me or that thing is bigger than I remember?" "It is just ten meters bigger than the ordinary ones," Femradiel said. "I guess it is a boss." "Still, I don''t remember the other one being that menacing," Ryan thought. "Now that I think about it, why those monsters always have too much health, mana, and stamina and other attributes that are more important arepletely neglected." "Those two things are rted," Femradiel replied. "The more vital energy a creature has, the more menacing it looks from the perspective of weaker monsters. Creatures like Megalodons find it more appealing to defeat their targets even before the fight. Just look, despite its level, the big guy here is just waiting for the Giant Crabs to spawn. This one probably saw itspanions having their ass kicked and decided to build its strength hunting Giant Crabs and Azure Seahorses." As usual, Femradiel''s theories seemed pretty reasonable. Still, that couldn''t exin why he found a single megalodon in the area. Maybe the monsters migrated to other areas only to have their ass kicked, but that was just a possibility. In any case, to enter the Giant Crabs dungeon, Ryan will have to defeat that massive beast. No, he could act teleport to inside the dungeon, but Ryan felt that would be a waste¡­ "Well, I guess that thing and underwater, I can''t afford to pull my punches, '''' Ryan thought and summoned several Magic Bows and the activated Power Shot in all of them. "If something else approaches while I am fighting that, I will be counting on you to warn me, Femradiel." "I think not using Draconic Transformation also counts as pulling your punches, but whatever," Femradiel said. Ryan concealed his bloodlust, but after a while, the monster noticed his presence due to the vast concentration of energy around him. As expected, the beast dashed toward Ryan since he looked like a pretty decent snack. He had to wait until the veryst moment since the monster was too fast. Fortunately, in the end, Ryan made the monster eat his magic projectiles. The creature not only suffered a lot of damage but also was slowed down enough that it granted Ryan the chance to escape by using Teleport. Ryan immediately prepared for the next wave of attacks. Still, he noticed that the monster was already moving toward and its wounds were being healed at terrifying speed. As expected, just fighting directly fair and the square was a lousy idea¡­ After firing another wave of Power Shots that have been charged just for a couple of seconds, Ryan equipped his Immobilizing Crossbows and then created several magic copies of them. "Oh? Am I really seeing this?" Femradiel asked. As much as that annoyed him, Ryan decided to shamelessly copy Femradiel''s previous tactic. He also decided to ignore her words since it wasn''t time for that, and he didn''t have time toe up with a good strategy against that kind of foe. It took a while, and even though that was one boring strategy, Ryan escaped by using Teleport from the big shark attacks and then decreased the monster''s speed little by little until he bes much slower than Ryan. With that massive body, the Megalodon just became a practicing target for Ryan. In the end, Ryan decided to use the monster''s spirit instead of just killing. Ryan also considered the possibility of taming the beast, but for science''s sake, he created a new magic weapon first. Aquatic Predator Crossbow Effect: At the cost of one hundred points of mana, it restores one hundred points of your health every time an aquatic foe is killed. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 110 Durability: 140/140 "Not bad, huh," Ryan thought. "So, are we just ignoring the fact that you copied my strategy?" Femradiel asked. "I wouldn''t say that I copied," Ryan shrugged. "I would say that use it as a basis for a new one. After all, you charged mindlessly at the boss while I did the reverse." "I did for a reason, you know," Femradiel said. "Just like you like to fight under several restrictions to make yourself stronger, I did something simr to improve my battle senses. Giving even more advantages to the enemy is risky, but also increases the obtainedbat experience." "Well, let''s just be happy that you are learning something from me," Ryan shrugged again. "You are impossible¡­" Femradiel sighed. Ryanughed, but, in the end, he admitted that he learned something from Femradiel, even though he also realized that was a basic simple strategy that was stupidly effective. Regardless, before upgrading that already powerful crossbow, Ryan decided to tame the next Megalodon. While until now he was holding his own underwater, Ryan wouldn''t mind some extra help. Besides, he couldn''t think of any other monster that could be even more useful in such an environment. Without wasting any more time, Ryan proceeded toward the dungeon while making sure to kill the Giant Crabs with bolts that wouldn''t ruin their taste. Those would taste even more heavenly once Ryan''s diet based on dragon hearts ends. Chapter 521 - Magic Archer In the end, as expected, clearing the dungeon had been rtively easy. Ryan just had defeated with rtive ease a true predator of the seas, after all. A giant crab wouldn''t be the monster that would make him face some hardships underwater. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Temr, Magic Archer, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Magic Archer! You obtained the following skills: Radiant Arrow, Stunning Trap, and Nerve Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your mana, health, speed, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Radiant Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that causes damage and blinds the enemy for a moment. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stunning Trap. Effect: It grants the user the chance to create a magic trap able to stun your foes for a second. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Nerve Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that decreases the mentality of your target for ten seconds. The amount of mentality decreased will be equal to the level of the skill, and this effect can stack. Cost: 50 mana per attack. You obtained 01 status point. "It feels like forever since thest time I obtained a true archery-rted ss," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction once he left the ocean to take a break and breathe some air. "In any case, who could have thought that hunting in the ocean would have been such a great idea¡­ I bet I can clear two more dungeons before sun starts to set." "It looks like someone is getting ahead of themselves," Femradiel said. "Anyway, after all this exploration, didn''t you notice anything stranger." "I noticed many strange things, you will have to be more specific than that," Ryan said. "I am talking about the number of monsters and their species," Femradiel said. "It must be obvious, but few dungeon masters would try to create underwater dungeons since it isn''t an environment where most monsters could fight. Dungeon masters create dungeons in ces where they have a certain advantage, but despite that things are too peaceful underwater¡­ as if someone is already ruling the seas." Ryan nodded after hearing that¡­ It made a lot of sense. Moreover, given that the Azure Seahorses were probably working for Poseidon, they weren''t putting much of a fight, and Ryan couldn''t imagine a mythological creature that could dominate the seas. As if that wasn''t enough, the Hydras that Gustavo mentioned, for some reason, Ryan felt that they were working for a dungeon master and not for themselves. That was the only exnation as to why they were so keen to destroy their domain. "Do you think a dungeon master created several underwater dungeons to make a single species of monsters prey on all others to be stronger?" Ryan asked. "I can''t think of any other reason as to why the Megalodons lost their sovereignty over the oceans so fast," Femradiel replied. That theory didn''t make much sense, and that was weird given that Femradiel''s theories always make sense. Despite that, Ryan couldn''t discard the possibility. As far as he knew, dungeon masters were too unpredictable, and their strategies could variate quite a lot since they were part of this ''game'' for several millennia. Ryan had to solve the mystery of the oceans as fast as possible, but that would be quite a difficult task since locating himself underwater was extremely difficult, and his senses were also dulled. After thinking for a while, aside from using a Megalodon to help him on that task, Ryan decided to use Seal to speed up things as well. Since some monsters had the Water Breathing technique, Ryan could create some equipment that would have that ability at a level much higher than his. At the very least, he should use them to make sure that he won''t suffocate due to a time limit while fighting bosses. Ryan also decided to finally test the power of his electric-based skills. Much to his surprise, he noticed that the attacks didn''t damage or shock him. While the more the projectiles traveled, the more they lost their elemental affinity. They only electrocuted anything when they entered in contact with something. After returning to where the Azure Seahorses were spawning, Ryan created a single ring that would grant him that skill at a high level. He didn''t actually test how long he could stay underwater while wearing a single one of them, but it probably would help him hold his breath for a few hours. Deep Ocean Ring (+8) Effect: it grants you the effects of the skill Water Breathing Lv 160. Durability Lv 50/50 "All right, now we just need a Megalodon to use as a taxi and killing machine," Ryan said. "I wish you luck trying to ride one," Femradiel said. "Hopefully, you won''t pass out when the creature reaches absurd speeds in the ocean and your brain won''t receive some damage as well." "Your optimism always encourages me, Femradiel," Ryan said. In any case, while obtaining tier two sses were nice and all, Ryan couldn''t afford to keep clearing them forever. To obtain answers about the situation in the seas, he had to look for the tier three dungeons that were hidden there. Ryan knew that was a pretty risky n, but he was the type that couldn''t focus on the grinding without knowing what his enemies were up to. "All right, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Where is the direction in which we can find the dungeon that has the highest concentration of mana?" Chapter 522 - Triton Even though her senses were pretty good, it took Femradiel a while to find a tier-three dungeon. The dungeon was located hundreds of kilometers away from the coast, so when they found it, it was already dark. "I can pinpoint the location of some monsters below us, but you won''t be able to use Appraisal on them, right?" Femradiel asked. "You need a clear view of them for the skill to work and in this type of situation, it won''t happen." "Indeed," Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully." Still, I feel like leaving now would be a waste of time. I want to train Lunar Arrow whenever I have the chance, after all." Attacking the monsters was possible, and Lunar Arrow probably won''t lose any power since it isn''t a physical projectile, so the chances of Ryan killing the tier three monsters in a single shot were pretty high. However, doing so without knowing about their skills and attributes was just too reckless, even for Ryan''s standards. After thinking for a while, Ryan decided that he will have to take his chances to obtain the Intel that he wanted. Fortunately, he wasn''t alone, so he could decrease the level of danger by relying on Femradiel. "Femradiel, you will use Teleport and make me get close to the nearest enemy that is alone," Ryan dered. "After that, I will do the rest of the job." "If you say so," Femradiel said. "Let''s hope you mess by entering a range you aren''t using at fighting." Without giving a proper warning, Femradiel just teleported Ryan underwater. Since the monster wasn''t far away from the surface, Ryan didn''t feel weird by suddenly appearing below sea level. In front of him, Ryan found another creature that had a light blue body. However, that one closely resembled a real fish. The beast had light blue and yellow scales covering some parts of its body. Instead of ears, the monster had fins. At the same time, the upperyer of the body was humanoid, but the loweryer was like the one which belonged to a fish. As expected, as if that was a standard weapon for the warriors of the oceans, the creature had a trident. Triton Lv 500 Health: 46.000/46.000 Mana: 62.000/62.000 Stamina: 37.000/37.000 Strength: 4500 (+ 1200) Dexterity: 3300 (+ 800) Speed: 3100 (+ 500) Intelligence: 4500 (+ 800) Endurance: 3100 (+ 900) Control: 3500 (+ 600) Mentality: 3500 (+ 600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 18.000 (+ 4000) Willpower: 3500 (+ 600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 400, Harpoon Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 350, Improved Recovery Lv 300, Swim Lv 600 Spells: Water Cannon Lv 350, Ice Spear Lv 300 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 600, Water Breathing Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 150 Ryan was caught off guard, given that the monster was even more powerful than the Azure Seahorses. However, the very moment the creature swung its spear, Ryan used Lunar Arrow. At lightning speed, the projectile fell from the sky and hit the monster''s back, damaging its spinal cord. At least Ryan thought that had happened. He had no idea if monsters actually have a spinal cord. Although the creature''s status was pretty impressive, a single attack on its back had been enough to paralyze the beast. Ryan easily avoided the attack and then grabbed the monster''s body and left the ocean by using Teleport since other monsters were around. He couldn''t let them notice his presence. "It looks like their vision isn''t that amazing at night¡­" Ryan frowned while looking at the paralyzed monster that still was alive. "Hey, Femradiel, can you read his mind and find some useful information?" "I can only see what he is thinking right now," Femradiel replied. "But even if I ask some questions, we won''t obtain any decent Intel since he is just an ordinary monster. You will need a boss for that." That made sense. In the end, before the monster could recover from the damage, Ryan beat the crap out of the creature and then used Seal on the monster''s body and then transferred his spirit to a crossbow. Aquatic Hunter Crossbow Effect: it passively increases the power of your attacks by one point for every minute you stay underwater. The bonus damage disappears once you leave the ocean. Each bolt costs 50 points of mana. Dexterity + 130, Intelligence + 90 Durability: 100/100 "Nice, another interesting weapon for my arsenal," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction and then teleported the Triton''s body in the distance. "The bonus will increase exponentially while I upgrade the weapon, so I should do it before I challenge the boss." "You really like to create new weapons, huh," Femradiel said. "I guess everyone needs a hobby, but yours is quite weird." "You are in no position to say that, I know that dragons love to guard and increase their treasure," Ryan said. "I am more practical than mist dragons, if it isn''t useful to me in the short and medium term, I don''t consider most things a treasure," Femradiel said. "Still, this habit of yours is making me change my mind a little bit." It was only natural since Femradiel already knew how useful a huge set of crossbows could be useful when used alongside the Magic Bow skill. That being said, the cost of mana of all weapons Ryan had in store was quite something. In any case, now that Ryan had an idea of what he was going to face next, he could adapt his ns. First of all, he decided to upgrade his newest crossbow up to plus eight since that was the limit of the skill. To make sure that would proceed as smoothly as possible, Ryan used the same strategy to capture the Tritons. As expected, it took a while for Ryan to find the perfect conditions, but he seeded in achieving his goal in the end. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 04 (+ 04 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 05 (+ 04 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 51st Health: 4970/4970 (11,74/s) Mana: 6520/6520 (11,74/s) Stamina: 6950/6950 (11,74/s) Strength: 631 (+428) (+130) Dexterity: 5150 (+4155) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+1910) (+48) Intelligence: 981 (+1604) (+33) Endurance: 858 (+309) (+160) Control: 926 (+2040) (+10) Mentality: 908 (+433) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+35) Recovery: 3450 (+2750) (+845) Willpower: 930 (+409) (+40) Coins: 3.652.992 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Flurry Lv 01, Bash Lv 01, Headbutt Lv 01, Ki Explosion Lv 01, Tiger Cannon Lv 01, Defend Lv 01, Inspire Lv 01, Radiant Arrow Lv 01, Stunning Trap Lv 01, Nerve Arrow Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Improved Concentration Lv 85 (+ 05 UP), Enhanced Concentration Lv 39 (+ 04 UP), Dark Vision Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Spells: Earth Creation Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Summon Ice Golem Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Support Skills: sses: Combat: Beastmaster Weapons Master Lv 75 (+ 08 UP), Butcher Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Spearman Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Viking Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Champion Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Crusader Lv 01, Barbarian Lv 01, Magic Archer Lv 01 Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 45 (+ 05 UP), Whitesmith Lv 28 (+ 06 UP), Alchemist Lv 55 (+ 03 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 523 - Royal Guard In the end, clearing an underwater dungeon at night was just too reckless, even for Ryan''s standards. So, Ryan decided to wait until morning, but he waited while he was underwater. The reason being the effect of the Aquatic Hunter Crossbow. When the weapon reached the eighth upgrade, the bonus damage increased considerably. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan also equipped the previous crossbow that he had made, the one who would raise his intelligence for a time. "That is quite thebination you have there," Femradiel said. "But unless you are fast enough, you will lose the bonus of intelligence of the other crossbow." "I know, and that is why I waited until now," Ryan said. "Thanks to sunlight, I won''t miss all that much." Although Ryan felt pretty confident with that strategy, staying underwater for several hours without proper equipment was beyond weird. While his body could withstand the environment and even recover after a couple of minutes of rest, there was no way a human would like to stay wet all the fucking time. Regardless, before Ryan could reach the limit, he decided to attack. There was no point in wasting time, so he wouldn''t be able to use his stealthy skills. When Ryan approached the dungeon, the monster felt his presence and proceeded to move toward him. However, each one of them fell after a single second when Ryan hit them with his newest crossbow, the Aquatic crossbow, and a magic copy of his Titanium Electric Bow. While Ryan had to fire three times with each one of them, it doesn''t change the fact that he had been fast and used less mana than he used with Lunar Arrow. You obtained 250 coins. You obtained 250 coins. You obtained 250 coins. ¡­ "Not bad, huh," Ryan thought. "This strategy is rtively simple, but extremely useful." "It would be weird given how many weapons you have, that at some point, you wouldn''t be able to do at least this much," Femradiel said. "In any case, you don''t have time to celebrate yet." Ryan managed to y the Tritons that were in the area, but many others were spread around. The number was pretty significant since they spawned freely, at least for a few days, without being bothered. Regardless, Ryan massaged them before they could get too close. It was a pity that whenever those creatures die, their equipment also disappears. Otherwise, Ryan would be able to make a killing by selling since they looked pretty high level. Thanks to his magic weapons, it looked like Ryan managed to decrease considerably the difficulty of fighting underwater. However, he didn''t expect things would be that convenient even though he barely had the chance to use the Aquatic Crossbow. In any case, Ryan decided to hurry up and clear the next dungeon to take a break. After a full day of investigation, he didn''t find a single answer to his questions. He had some hypotheses, but that wasn''t enough. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the interior of the next dungeon was covered in a coral reef. Now that he didn''t have to worry about enemies trying to surround him, he noticed that the waters were crystal clear. As expected, the dungeon master of that ce probably lived in a world of very clean water. That environment was beginning to show itself on Earth. Antis Royal Guard Lv 600 Health: 162.000/162.000 Mana: 143.000/143.000 Stamina: 112.000/112.000 Strength: 9500 (+ 1200) Dexterity: 4300 (+ 800) Speed: 5100 (+ 500) Intelligence: 6500 (+ 800) Endurance: 5100 (+ 900) Control: 4500 (+ 600) Mentality: 6500 (+ 600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 58.000 (+ 4000) Willpower: 6500 (+ 600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 400, Harpoon Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 350, Improved Recovery Lv 300, Swim Lv 600 Spells: Water Cannon Lv 350, Ice Spear Lv 300 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 600, Water Breathing Lv 600, Hydromancy Lv 500, Electric Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 150 Due to the fact that the coral reefs were emitting a lot of light in thest part of the dungeon, Ryan found the boss pretty easily. Fortunately, fighting in such a ce wouldn''t be that difficult, at least in theory. The boss''s status was beyond impressive. If Ryan receives critical damage, he might die. "I hate to say this Ryan, but you shouldn''t underestimate this guy," Femradiel said. "You might notst long without Draconic Transformation. A fight against a boss of this level will take a lot of time and the effects of the ring were about to end." "Well then, I guess I need to be fast," Ryan thought. Ryan didn''t feel thatpelled to use Draconic Transformation against the boss. While he waspletely aware that the fight was going to be difficult, there were other ways to decrease the difficulty. A good preemptive strike was one of them. Although he didn''t test what he learned before in the Giant Mantis'' world until now, Ryan decided to do that. He stored away his crossbows for a while on his back and then equipped his Titanium Electric Bow. When the arrow appeared, he charged Power Shot and also used Wind Creation and Wind Transformation around the projectile. Thanks to the vast amounts of mana Ryan was using, it didn''t take long for the projectile to be as big as a spear made of lightning. Congrattions! The skill Wind Creations has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Wind Creations has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Wind Creations has leveled up. ¡­ Despite the constant and surprisingly good notifications, Ryan didn''t lower his guard. The reason being the boss was looking at him. Despite the fact that he knew that a big attack wasing, the big Triton had no intention of moving from its spot. Strangely enough, the creature was right in front of the purple crystal. As if he knew that someone might try a preemptive strike and wanted to use some fools to cause a dungeon break. Ryan noticed that possibility, but even after that, he didn''t manage to rx. The boss was just too confident¡­ Chapter 524 - Underhanded Tricks Since Ryan''s weapons have been improving, he managed to charge a powerful attack like no other for twenty minutes. He could have done that for a long time. Still, since he was also putting a lot of elemental energy in his projectile, the bow began to lose some of its durability a lot sooner. In the end, just to make sure the dumbass creature wouldn''t do anything troublesome, Ryan activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. After firing, Ryan felt a massive force pushing him backward. As expected, all those bonuses of the attack were finally there to ask for a price. Since Ryan already expected that, he managed to stop spinning pretty soon, only to notice the fingers of both of his hands had been broken by the attack. Even though the projectile never caused any real damage to him, the electric aura also paralyzed his fingers. As if all that wasn''t enough, the entire area began to tremble due to the impact of Ryan''s attacks. However, he didn''t receive any notification. The boss was still alive, and Ryan confirmed that the beast not only managed to block the attack but still was managing no to be pushed backward and hit the walls of the dungeon. Even though the monster was being electrocuted by the elemental energy Ryan had put in his arrow. "It looked like you were right," Ryan thought and then equipped his crossbows. "I would have been done for if I had tried to face this thing fair and square." "That possibility still exists, you know," Femradiel said, and Ryan noticed that the monster barely lost thirty percent of its max health. That had been Ryan''s strongest attack so far. It didn''t matter if the environment decreased his status and the efficiency of his skills. That attack probably could have killed ten dragons if they were put one behind the other. "Just make sure to read his mind as much as possible," Ryan said and then proceeded to attack the monster. "I won''t be able to read anything if he doesn''t think about anything else aside from killing you," Femradiel said. It was toote to think about anything else. Then, Ryan began to fire while using the Immobilizing Crossbow and the Pestilence Crossbow. There was no time or reason to use the others when the monster endured the previous attack. Decreasing the monster speed and causing some extra damage over time would definitely help Ryan. However, before the bolts could hit the monster, the boss did something that made the projectiles lose a lot of speed before hitting them. Even though the creature just looked at them¡­ It wasn''t Telekinesis. It was Hydromancy. Even though the boss still was busy holding back Ryan''s arrow and the creature certainly wasn''t a mage-type, it still could do something like that¡­ "No wonder this asshole was so confident and epted my preemptive strike head-on," Ryan thought while furrowing his eyebrows. Ryan increased his firing speed, but before that could be really effective, the boss finally stopped his first attackpletely. While spinning its trident, the creature repelled all of Ryan''s bolts, and using its freehand, it made Ryan move toward it. "Hydromancy again¡­" Ryan thought while he was trying to counter the skill with Telekinesis. Ryan has to change this tactic again and quickly. In the end, he just created several copies of his Electric crossbows. He hoped that the elemental damage would be enough to make the dungeon boss suffer damage. In the end, the attacks indeed caused some damage, but recovery of the creature alone was enough to counter it. "Damn, to think this fucking boss would be this¡­" Ryan thought, but then his thoughts vanished when the creature finally swam toward him. Ryan somehow managed to react on time and move toward the other side of the dungeon. Still, he confirmed his fears when he saw the beast hitting the dungeon''s wall and then making the entire ce tremble. He changed his mind. A critical attack wouldn''t be enough to kill him. Any attack at that level would. Ryan''s ns to weaken the enemy weren''t effective against that type of opponent, so he had to return to the basics. If Ryan couldn''t weaken the enemy and charged attacks weren''t that useful, Ryan just had to improve his main attributes. After getting and using several DEX potions from his storage dimension, Ryan began to fire again. This time, when the boss tried to charge, its speed decreased considerably, and Ryan saw some blooding from the creature''s hands. "Yeah, just like this¡­" Ryan thought. Ryan''s increase in power surprised the monster, but not enough topletely change the tide of the battle. Suddenly, the dungeon boss threw its spear at Ryan. Without thinking, Ryan teleported to the side. Still, in the very moment, he reappeared, and the trident hit the wall. The dungeon boss hit him with an elbow attack. The air escapedpletely from Ryan''s lungs, but he managed to use full-heal before his health could drop to zero. However, he was forced to clench his teeth and use the skill again when his back was hit against the dungeon''s wall. Even while his eyes were closed, Ryan knew that the monster would attack again. Hence, he used Teleport to appear behind the purple crystal. That was the only ce he could think of in such a short time. Ryan didn''t have many options to change the tide of the battle, so he decided to risk everything with a semi-suicidal attack. Before the monster could find him or recover its weapon, Ryan fired several Poison Bombs at the creature. When the creature saw that small and rtively small object moving towards itself, it punched without thinking about it and destroyed it. The water around the boss turned green, and that blinded the beast a little bit. "I am going to pollute your habitat a little bit," Ryan thought. "Don''t hate me for it." "As expected of Ryan," Femradiel said. "You refuse to use power ups like Draconic Transformation, but you still can use underhanded and dirty tactics like this." Chapter 525 - Endurance Ignoring Femradiel''s words, in just a few seconds, Ryan turned the whole crystal-clear water of thest part of the dungeon into a deadly prison of poisonous water in a matter of seconds. Just as Ryan had expected, the poison wasn''t escaping from the dungeon due to the barrier that prevented anyone from escaping from a boss battle. The beast was caught off guard since Ryan only used bolts and arrows to attack until now. In any case, Ryan used that chance to attack the semi-blinded monster with real Poisonous arrows. Still, as expected, the beast noticed the approach of the projectile by the movement in the water. "He won''t go down that easy¡­" Ryan thought. "In that case¡­" Ryan fired some magic arrows, and the boss repelled them again. However, one attack came that the creature failed at blocking. A Cursed Ray passed through the trident and hit the boss''s body. It wasn''t much, but Ryan decreased the attributes of the creature. The very moment the boss decided to counterattack, the Cursed Ray stopped. The creature dashed toward where Ryan was, but in the end, the monster only hit the dungeon walls. That wasn''t supposed to be possible. Even if Ryan used Teleport to escape, he should have moved the water around a little bit. While the boss was thinking about what happened, another Cursed Ray hit its back. "As expected, Silent Movement also works like this," Ryan thought. "If you don''t know this, Cursed Ray can decrease the status that you want more than the others," Femradiel said. "You just have to aim at the right part of the enemy''s body." Ryan wanted toin about why she didn''t mention such valuable information sooner, but he didn''t have time for that. He had to Teleport and escape from the boss attack again. Besides, it wasn''t like he could properly aim the monster''s legs. Ryan couldn''t see the beast. He could only imagine his position thanks to Radar. After using that same tactic a few more times, the boss finally decided to do something different. While Ryan was hitting the creature with Cursed Ray, the monster used Hydromancy and somehow managed to put all the poison that covered thest part of the dungeon in a single sphere of water that was big as itself. Ryan couldn''t help but frown at that since one crazy level of skill was necessary to separate the poison that has been mixed with the water for the past few minutes. As if that wasn''t enough, the monster turned the sphere poison into a green sphere of ice to seal itpletely. Despite that, Ryan didn''t feel bothered by it since he decreased the boss''s speed considerably while the creature was busy. Not only that, but the health of the beast also reached the halfway point. Besides, seeing that much ice gave Ryan some ideas¡­ When the boss dashed toward Ryan again, this time, he didn''t have time to dodge. However, the creature''s trident only pierced a mirror of ice. The ice shards caused some damage, but they only caused a few scratches. A few seconds after, Ryan hit the monster''s legs with Cursed Ray again. However, despite the fact that the beast lost some speed, it still hit Ryan when it dashed again¡­ or so the monster thought. The very moment it''s trident touched Ryan''s chest, Ryan transformed into the sphere of frozen poison. The shards cut the boss''s body in several parts, causing considerable damage and even poisoning the beast again. It was all thanks to Ryan''s Substitution skill. Instead of getting carried away with sess, Ryan used Telekinesis to make some of the ice shards pierce the boss''s body. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the boss didn''t try to dodge or block the shards. While the creature was bleeding, it was just at Ryan with a murderous gaze. It has been a while since he felt that ''how dare you wound me like this mongrel'' like a gaze, so he only felt refreshed by it, but not for long. While spinning its trident, the boss created a whirlpool-like attack that was pulling Ryan towards it. He managed to evade it using Telekinesis alone. Still, then the creature used Hydromancy as well, and things got suddenly more difficult. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, Ryan began to feel that ufortable agony in his chest growing in power¡­ he was running out of air. "It looks like this attack is making the oxygen inside you being used faster," Femradiel said. "That is obvious," Ryan said while frowning. "Any idea how I can counter this?" "Without using Draconic Transformation? No," Femradiel replied while shrugging. Ryan felt pretty stupid for asking, but in the end, he didn''t let that bother him for long. He wasn''t in a situation where he could let anything else bother him. After all, he was running out of air, and the boss was using its secret technique made to suffocate its targets or to prevent them from escaping a melee fight. Ryan''s magic projectiles probably won''t have any effect since the whirlpool will make them change directions before hitting the boss. Besides, the Triton can always use ice magic to block them, so Ryan really was in a bind¡­ "No other choice, huh¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance since he was considering using Draconic Transformation. However, in the end, Ryan changed his mind when he had a certain idea. It was kind of risky since he was running out of air and won''t have time to think of anything else, but Ryan decided to bet all his coins on it. Ryan fired several Poison Bombs, but they exploded even more, they could hit the Triton, but in the end, that worked in Ryan''s favor. In a brief moment, several Poison Bombs exploded and made Ryan escape from the boss''s sight. He put his real n in action, and before the boss could notice, he was impaled by dozens of spears. Chapter 526 - Unbreakable The whirlpool lost power at the same time the Triton suffered critical damage by all the spears. "Wow, not only you managed to pull that off, but your n also worked," Femradiel said. "I am really impressed." Ryan''s n was rtively simple. While the boss couldn''t see him, he summoned thirty or so of his Spiritualist''s Spears, activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim before teleporting all of them around the boss. Somehow, Ryan managed to do that in a fraction of a second, even though he had to use all his mana. Despite that, the Triton still was alive and conscious enough to use Hydromancy and try to move the spears away from his body. "If you want me to obtain some Intel, you should let me make a few questions to him before killing it," Femradiel said. "Can''t I make the questions?" Ryan thought. "Oh wait¡­ I can''t speak underwater." In order to prevent Ryan from learning Telepathy, Femradiel used a roundabout way to use that skill. She summoned an ice golem and then used Animalistic Transference while she also was draining the mana from the monster to prevent the creature from trying anything. In the end, Femradiel suddenly killed the beast. "What was that?" Ryan thought. "This is one of the guys who you can''t break no matter what," Femradiel replied. "Anyway, I learned a few things, but you are running out of air." When Ryan heard that, he panicked. For some reason, he stayed fine while Femradiel was using his body, but then suddenly, things got agonizing again. In a hurry, Ryan opened the treasure chest and didn''t even think too much about it. He just chose the usual option and then teleported outside. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Royal Knight, Royal Archer, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Royal Archer! You obtained the following skills: Vital Hunter, Mana Falcon, and True Sniping. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Vital Hunter. Effect: It decreases your foe''s endurance by one point per level during ten seconds. The effect can stack and willst for ten seconds after thest use of the skill Cost: 50 mana per attack You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Falcon. Effect: It creates a falcon made of mana that will pursue a determined target, and it will explode upon contact. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: True Sniping. Effect: it grants you extra damage when causing critical hits. The extra damage is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten points. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan nodded in satisfaction since he got another ss that will directly help in his main fighting style. While Mana Falcon seemed a bit weird for a skill of a bowman, the others were excellent. Vital Hunter would reallye in handy many times in the future. Even though the cost was high and consumed mana after every shot. It wouldn''t be a good idea to use low-level skills in such a ce where Ryan''s disadvantage was already too big. Still, considering its potential, Ryan decided to take his chances. But first, he had to hear about the things Femradiel learned. "Well, Femradiel, what did you learn?" Ryan asked. "Unlike what I predicted, it looks like not even the underwater dungeon bosses have the answers that you want," Femradiel replied. "The reason being that their dungeon master is a pretty serious guy who thinks too highly of himself and doesn''t share the important stuff with his followers." "I am waiting for more details," Ryan said. "As you expected, the dungeon master who is controlling the oceans truly is Poseidon," Femradiel said. "He indeed created dozens of underwater dungeons all over the just to make sure that his monsters would grow stronger fighting each other and eventually would reach the top of the food chain of these parts." "Poseidon¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I saw him, Ryan and I am one hundred percent sure that guy is seriously bad news," Femradiel said, and she seemed strangely worried. "That guy talked with hi Triton only once even though he was a member of his Royal Guard. Not to mention, he looked at him as if he was a piece of trash that didn''t deserve to stay hundreds of meters away from him." "Well, he is a Greek god, so I already expected a real haughty and prideful individual," Ryan said. "He is many times more prideful and haughty than you can imagine," Femradiel said. "Based on the look of his eyes, I can assure that Poseidon isn''ting to obtain followers on Earth. He ising to destroy and conquer without caring about the human race. If he doesn''t care about his followers, he certainly won''t care about the well-being of another species." After hearing Femradiel''s worried words, Ryan began to ponder about what might happen if Poseidon genuinely bes the first dungeon master to have the chance to show itself and its true power on Earth. Few creatures could make dragons be wary of them, so if even Femradiel was warning Ryan that intensely, then perhaps he has to worry about the severity of the situation and change his ns ordingly. However, in the end, Ryan couldn''t do much aside from obtaining more sses and decreased a little bit the number of monsters in the oceans. "Let''s take a break," Ryan said and then sighed. "I want to check things in my domain before continuing with this." Chapter 527 - Odd Place In the end, aside from the fact that Ryan had to summon some Giant Bees and Golems that had died fighting inside the dungeon, nothing had changed in his domain. Ryan upgraded his domain a little bit, but it would take a while before other dungeons are close enough to enter. Area Lv 27: 75 square miles Level UP cost: 690.000 coins or 6.900.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 10 Level UP cost: 5.500 coins or 55.000 mana Barrier Lv 15 Level UP cost: 15.000 coins or 150.000 mana Army Lv 14 Level UP cost: 29.000 coins or 290.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 52 (71%) Level UP cost: 104.000 coins or 1.040.000 mana Coins stored: 1.885.338 Mana stored: 7.623.222 "Now that I think about it, I cleared some dungeons that broke several times but didn''t have enough spawned monsters and bosses," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There were no signs of battles in those ces¡­ so I guess the number of monsters was small because the dungeon master didn''t have enough coins and mana stored to make all the monsters that could appear spawn. The seventh dungeon break is going to take ce in ten days, maybe I should save coins and mana for that." Until now, his Frozen Slime''s dungeon hasn''t been cleared yet, and the times Ryan checked it, there wasn''t a single sign of any creature entering the dungeon, so he assumed things would proceed ordingly. "Femradiel, can''t you create your new body already?" Ryan asked. "No, it will take a while since you are using a lot more mana than usual," Femradiel said. "But it is fine, I am still deciding a few details in my mind." Ryan really wanted to see Femradiel''s tyrant form, even though she didn''t say that she would create that type of body anything soon. Regardless, Ryan felt like he was looking for reasons to ck off. He didn''t want to fight in the ocean anytime soon since he felt weaker than usual. Still, then again, that would be such a waste considering the fact that finding dungeons easy to clear was rtively easy. "If that is the case, let''s return to the ocean¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "We obtained some intel in thest fight, so now I think we should check things over the coast instead of moving away to find certain dungeons." "Are you fine with that?" Femradiel asked. "You really were looking forward to clearing the tier three underwater dungeons." "No, but I need to confirm other things," Ryan said. "Even if he is the god of the oceans, and he is extremely prideful and haughty, Poseidon is obviously someone cautious. That is why he created several dungeons underwater. Someone like him probably put some dungeons in strategic points around the coast of all continents." "I suppose that makes sense," Femradiel said. "So, you want to look for those dungeons and then dy his ns a little bit." That was the gist of things, but instead of just strategically causing problems for Poseidon, Ryan felt like harassing him just because he truly wanted to. Someone like him who treats his subjects that poorly certainly deserved an ass-kicking. Even more so when the creatures that served under him obeyed him by their own volition, unlike Ryan''s monsters that werepletely bound by his will. It looked like Ryan was a bit jealous, but he would never say that out loud. "To make things proceed a bit faster, you should let me use Teleport in your ce," Femradiel said. "It will be too much of a pain to tell you the exact ce you need to go." "All right, just remember than my goal is to find any ce that might be an advantageous ce for Ryan to build a military base and tier three dungeons near the coast," Ryan said. "Although he will probably rebuild his kingdom somewhere in the Mediterranean, we can''t ignore any ce that might look suspicious." "Understood," Femradiel said. While they had a lot of ground to cover up North, Ryan and Femradiel didn''t want to stay for long in freezing waters. In fact, they didn''t want to stay even for a couple of minutes. While both of them had a high level of Cold Resistance and they probably had the advantage up North, they doubted they would find any sign of Poseidon''s army. Besides, warm waters were prettyfy. "... I can sense a tier three dungeon a few kilometers away from here," Femradiel said. "The number of monsters around is rtively high." "What type of monsters are there?" Ryan asked. "It is hard to say, I can feel the presence of several types of monsters," Femradiel replied. That was odd¡­ but then Ryan considered the possibility that some species were hunting another stronger one. If the attackers belonged to Poseidon''s army, then everything would make perfect sense. Femradiel returned to Ryan the control over his body, and then he approached the area mentioned. Even from far away, Ryan could tell that some fierce battle was taking ce there since that part of the ocean had be slightly red. Instead of entering the water, Ryan kept his distance and then used irvoyance. The sunlight helped me see things clearly on the underwater battlefield. In the end, Ryan opened his eyes widely in surprise when he saw a group of Megalodons attacking some Tritons and Azure Seahorses. As expected, the megalodons were fighting alone, and the other two species were working together. "Another Triton''s dungeon," Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "To think that such a high-level dungeon would be this close to Miami¡­ but what is the purpose given that they can''t leave the ocean?" Before Ryan could find a proper answer to that question, he felt the approach of something. Not from the air, but from underwater¡­ in an instant, something joined the fight and attacked the megalodons. This time Ryan opened his eyes widely in shock when he saw a single Hydra wiping out the megalodons in a single instant. Chapter 528 - Hydra Hydra Lv 750 Health: 380.000/380.000 Mana: 250.000/250.000 Stamina: 244.000/244.000 Strength: 13.500 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 8500 (+ 1800) Speed: 10.000 (+ 1500) Intelligence: 7500 (+ 1800) Endurance: 7600 (+ 900) Control: 4500 (+ 1600) Mentality: 7500 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 120.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 7500 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Devour Lv 700, Paralyzing Bite Lv 600 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 400, Enhanced Recovery Lv 300, Swim Lv Max Spells: Haste Lv 400, Tsunami Lv 400, Sea Storm Lv 400 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 800, Water Breathing Lv 900, Hydromancy Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Shock Resistance Lv 350 "What the hell? Level 750?" Ryan almost shouted due to the surprise. "And those statuses¡­ that is insane." "No wonder your friends in Brazil are having a hard time against them," Femradiel said. "They are not my friends¡­" Ryan frowned. "You really like to say that, don''t you?" Femradiel asked. It was hard to know if that Hydra was a boss or not, but if Ryan had to bet, he would say that it was. The creature was simr to an eastern dragon, but its features were way more savage and rough inparison. Moreover, that monster had a snake-like body instead of a lizard or dragon-like body as Ryan had imagined. Regardless, as if the monsters under Poseidon''s control had nned that from the very beginning, the Hydra left the area after the sessful ambush. "It looks like this god of the seas also uses some cheap tricks to power up his troops," Femradiel said. "So, the Hydras truly are being controlled by Poseidon¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I thought we would have five more months before the first dungeon master has the chance toe and show its true power on Earth, but I guess I was wrong." "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "That thing is at a level where even while using Draconic Transformation, you might lose. In fact, the chances of you losing are much higher than winning." "... Let''s follow it," Ryan dered. "I want to know the routes those creatures are using and if there are many of them in the Northern part of the Antic Ocean." Femradiel sighed, but in the end, she didn''tin. Ryan''s ideas were getting more insane as ofte, but at least that one made some sense. Following a monster was the only thing he was nning to do for the time being. Fighting wille after once he confirms that there is no other Hydra nearby. Much to Ryan''s disbelief, he could barely follow the thirty meters long monster even though the creature was just swimming and he was teleporting. Fighting against such a monster would be quite the ordeal... "As expected, that thing is moving around and attacking the big guns that don''t belong to Poseidon''s army," Femradiel said. "That thing is truly a beast whose sole purpose is to reach the max level of its dungeon." Ryan used Telekinesis to confirm that and saw the beast attacking Megalodons whenever one entered its search range. The Hydra was so fast that not even them could react, and given that the bit of the monster could paralyze its foes, it looked like escaping or winning a fight were virtually impossible. "Not even your arrows can move that fast," Femradiel said. "How exactly do you n on fighting that thing? You certainly can''t fight, even if you stay outside water." "You certainly are pessimistic¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I am going to use one of the first tactics my father taught me. Watch and learn." That was the perfect chance for Ryan to show Femradiel how awesome his father had been once as a hunter. To the point where he decided not to use any DEX potions. For a while, Ryan just waited and pursued the Hydra without doing anything. Still, then when the Hydra found another prey and opened its mouth to bite them, Ryan summoned several copies of his Immobilizing Crossbow. As expected, Femradiel frowned since that was an old tactic, but then she noticed that Ryan also activated Vital Hunter. "Woah, incredible. Youbined two negative effects," Femradiel said. "Instead of a single attribute, you are going to decrease two without using magic¡­ that is what I call a genius." "That isn''t the question, moron," Ryan said. "You said that my projectiles will never hit the Hydra, but I just hit it. One of the best times to attack prey is when the prey is eating." "Who doesn''t know that?" Femradiel asked. Now that Ryan thought about it, that was indeed a pretty simple strategy. Anyone could actually reach that conclusion¡­ Regardless, it wasn''t time to waste time talking or thinking. Ryan''s bolts were still hitting the Hydra, but who knows for how long? As far as he could tell, a monster wouldn''t use its top-speed just to move around while looking for food. Congrattions! The skill Vital Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Vital Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Vital Hunter has leveled up. ¡­ While Ryan was grinning due to the constant notifications, he suddenly stopped when he felt a shiver like no other. While Ryan was attacking the monster with bolts, the creature just stopped moving and red at him. Even though the monster was underwater and Ryan was five kilometers above sea level. "I guess that isn''t surprising¡­" Ryan gulped. "That thing has more dexterity than me." In the end, the Hydra just moved downward until it reached a point where sunlight couldn''t reach¡­ As expected, the beast could even live at such a deep level. After Ryan''s bolts reached one hundred meters below sea level, they stopped hitting the Hydra. "Well, at least you can learn from a failure," Femradiel said. "So, don''t feel too bad about it." "Why would I feel too bad about it when I learned so much from that monster?" Ryan asked. "Now I know exactly what I should do to kill that thing." Chapter 529 - Preparation Femradiel had no idea how much Ryan actually learned after the failure. Still, she concluded it hadn''t been much since he spent the entire day doing nothing and just stayed in the same ce he had been when he attacked the Hydra. The truth is, Ryan didn''t spend the day doing nothing. Femradiel just didn''t know what he had done. After sunset, Ryan approached the ocean, then suddenly and out of nowhere, something jumped from thepletely dark ocean. Even Femradiel didn''t notice the Hydra''s approach, but Ryan did. Despite that, the Hydra approached faster than he could escape with Teleport and ate him as a whole. "HHUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARREERRGGGGGGGGHHHH." Before the monster could fall into the ocean, the creature screamed from the depths of its soul. Ryan watched the monster vomit a lot of blood, but he wasn''t done yet. Ten shooting stars passed through the dark sky and hit the Hydra. Despite the low level, that Ryan''s most powerful offensive skill¡­ and yet, it barely pierced the monster''s face. "You really have Steel nerves," Femradiel said. "I didn''t notice when you hid the Spiritualists Spears in the ocean and used Substitution. You also had the chance to fire ten Lunar Arrows¡­ too bad that all that only made the Hydra lose fifty percent of its health." Ryan couldn''t help but feel annoyed since Femradiel managed to see his n in action, even though he tried really hard to shut her smart mouth. However, Ryan didn''t give up yet. After decreasing his altitude again, Ryan waited for another surprise attack that never came. As expected, even though the creature was a monster, it wouldn''t fall for the same trick twice. Ryan used Search to track the monster during the whole day, and he still was using it to confirm that the Hydra was around. However, even though the monster was close enough and Ryan was walking on the ocean''s surface, the creature didn''t try to attack him. "What a troublesome monster¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "It already knows that it can''t surprise me, but it is violent enough not to leave alone a prey like me." In the end, Ryan decided to ept some risks in order to try to kill the monster before it can heal or try to get rid of the spears inside its mouth. Ryan deactivated Water Walking, and then he began to sink. Still, he only felt the Hydra''s movements when he was almost one hundred meters below sea level. This time, much to Femradiel and the Hydra''s surprise, Ryan didn''t try any trick. He was hit in full by the Hydra''s face, but before the monster could eat him, the creature trembled viciously. "Seriously¡­ how can you go this far and not use Draconic Transformation?" Femradiel asked. Ryan almost passed out from the impact, and by the speed, the Hydra could move. Still, not only he endured and survived the attack, but he also managed to use Telepathy and make the spears inside the Hydra''s mouth pierce the beast''s flesh even further. The pain slowed down the beast, who tried to shake off Ryan, who was semi-stuck between the monster''s teeth. Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and then attacked again with his bolts that could decrease endurance and speed. However, even though he was firing and hitting the insides of the monster''s mouth, he barely was causing any real damage. As if that wasn''t bad enough, the Hydra suddenly stopped moving to the sides and then began to dive downward. "Crap, this is bad¡­" Ryan thought in shock. Ryan tried to move away from the monster, but he failed, and, in the end, he ended up teleporting himself and the beast to outside the ocean. For some reason, that cost a lot more mana than usual, but at least Ryan escaped from the monster''s devious n. Since they weren''t in the ocean, there wasn''t much the Hydra could do, so Ryan tried to free himself¡­ only to fail miserably again. Before he could think of anything, the weather in the area suddenly changed. A massive downpour began to fall, and lightning bolts began to hit the ocean. The light emitted by them made Ryan see something that he didn''t like¡­ in the distance. Dozens of incrediblyrge whirlwinds were moving toward him and the Hydra. "I guess this is the special skill of the Hydra''s, the dragon''s rage," Femradiel said. "Why are you so calm and talk as if this problem isn''t yours?" Ryan asked. "I am pretty sure this skill has another name." Before Ryan couldin, even more, he and the Hydra fell on the ocean again. However, the monster made sure to let its face out of water in order to split him apart from the whirlwinds. Ryan panicked as they approached and tried to focus his Telekinesis on a single spear, the one who was closest to the monster''s brain. Still, despite that, he failed at preventing the attack. "Now is the time, Ryan," Femradiel said. Although Ryan wanted to say no, it looked like this time he didn''t have any other choice. However, in the end, Ryan decided to bet his life anyway. Who would die first? He or the Hydra? To make sure things would be as unpleasant as possible for the Hydra, Ryan summoned a Fire Golem inside the monster''s mouth and immediately made the creature self-destruct. The whirlwinds that were already pulling Ryan away from the monster''s mouth lost some power and speed, but soon they recovered. "I guess it isn''t going to be that easy¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. The whirlwinds finally pulled Ryan away from the Hydra. However, he had to pay the price for it. The monster''s teeth dcerated everything below his waist, and once again, the pain almost made him faint. Before the power of the winds could pull Ryan''s limbs from his body, he used Teleport to escape to the most unexpected ce¡­ to inside the Hydra''s mouth, who was already deep underwater. Chapter 530 - All Of Them Ryan tried to touch several spears in order to recover some mana, but in the end, he only managed to touch five. Despite that, in just a second, he recovered one thousand points of mana. Instead of getting excited, Ryan used Telepathy and began to use INT potions like there was no tomorrow. At that point in time, everything aside from using Draconic Transformation was allowed. "Screw it," Ryan thought. "You will regret picking a fight with me." "But you were the one who started the fight," Femradiel said. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the Hydra didn''t try to dive even more profound than it already was. That was strange since the monster was smart enough to understand why Ryan used Teleport on himself and on the Hydra. Still, then he considered the possibility that the creature had to stay rtively close to the surface to control Sea Storm. When Ryan''s INT potions had all been used, he decided to go all out. First of all, he teleported himself and the creature back to the storm above the ocean. Immediately, both of them were caught in the air and spinning like crazy due to the whirlwinds, but Ryan didn''t let that stop him. Now that the water-resistance waspletely gone, Ryan used Telepathy on all spears inside the Hydra''s mouth and made them pierce the monster''s flesh even further. The monster trembled since it had be unable to scream due to the strong winds, but Ryan didn''t stop there. He continued to make the spears pierce until, much to his surprise and shock, the Hydra was hit by several lightning bolts in a quick session. Ryan received considerable damage as well since the insides of the monster had the spears, and he was touching several of them. Still, he escaped from passing out thanks to Femradiel, who used Full-Heal. You obtained 750.000 coins. In the end, the Hydra was killed, the Sea Storm spell was canceled, and both Ryan and the corpse began to fall toward the ocean again. Ryan was worried about the reason why several lightning bolts conveniently hit the Hydra. Still, in the end, he couldn''t stay in the area and ponder about it. He used Teleport, and then after a couple of minutes, he was back to his domain. "It looks like the cost of teleporting corpses is surprisingly low¡­" Ryan said. "Anyway, Femradiel. Do you have any idea what happened?" "No clue," Femradiel replied. "But I am one hundred percent sure that it wasn''t by coincidence. Someone tried to take you out by sacrificing that Hydra as well." At that point in time, it was impossible not to recognize the fact that such a creature was a boss monster. Just the thought that hundreds if not thousands of those were swimming across the oceans and hunting other monsters to be stronger was enough to make Ryan depressed. Although he didn''t pay attention to Femradiel''s warnings, at the very least, Ryan had to recognize the fact that he wasn''t powerful enough to win against such a beast in a one-on-one fight. After all, he didn''t fight like he usually fights. "What is the n now, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "I am not quite sure¡­" Ryan replied. "It annoys me to admit it, but I can''t hunt the Hydras. At some point, I am bound to run against a group of them, and surviving such a fight is probably impossible. Winning then was just an impossible dream¡­" "Did you eat something weird?" Femradiel asked. "It is kind of strange to hear you admit your weaknesses like that." Ryan sighed¡­ to think that Femradiel could make such ament at that time. It looked like she had already been corrupted by Ryan''s sarcasm. Regardless, it has been a while, but Ryan found another enemy that he couldn''t win against. Thest time such a thing happened was probably when he faced the demons. Although he couldn''t imagine himself winning in a severe fight against Yahiko and Alissa, they weren''t enemies. "For the time being, I need to go be stronger as fast as possible and then try to hunt some of these fuckers again," Ryan said and then kicked the Hydra''s corpse. "The only way I know to do that is by clearing dungeons and leveling up my sses that are at a low-level." Ryan''s archery sses would help him more to improve his main fighting style, but against monsters such as Hydra, just using a bow or crossbow and then try to keep his distance from them was impossible¡­ or maybe not. After checking his skill list, Ryan found a skill that he had neglected until now that could help him with that. It was Evading Shot. Attacking while using that skill and Ryan''s most powerful crossbows would consume a lot of mana, but he didn''t have much of choice. To increase his attack speed and firepower output, some problems have to be epted. "You can return to your own training, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Speaking of which, it is almost the time you mentioned, right? For the familiars to be as strong as your previous self." "Yeah, but why stop now when they can be even stronger?" Femradiel asked. "You are so stubborn that you refuse to use Draconic Transformation, so I can''t see you using them anytime soon. I should just let them keep training until the real fight begins." "If you say so," Ryan shrugged. "In any case, now I have to create a body that will be more useful in underwater battles," Femradiel said. "I suppose that one will cost less mana to create than the Tyrant form." While Femradiel was mumbling to herself, Ryan looked for the nearest dungeon that he hadn''t been cleared yet. This time he wouldn''t mess up, he had already discovered several methods to keep improving, and Ryan just had to find the perfect bnce between them. "That will be difficult, but in the end, I reached a point where I can''t choose the way to be strong," Ryan said to himself. "I have to use them all." Chapter 531 - Practice Maybe it was due to the fact that he lost a lot of blood for some other reason. Still, after the fight against the Hydra, Ryan was so hungry that he ended up eating thest dozen dragon hearts on the same day. Also, strangely enough, his body felt full of vigor after those meals. When Ryan found a dungeon that was spawning Desert Wolves, he didn''t hesitate in attacking the monsters with some Stone Bullets. They were pretty fast, so they would be the perfect test subjects for Evading Shot. Instead of just using the skill when a monster dashed at him, Ryan waited until thest moment to use it. Basically, he just used it when he felt the bad smelling from the monster''s mouths. Then he would use Evading Shot, hit the interior of the nearest monster, and then appear ten meters away from the previous location. You obtained 120 coins. "It isn''t a skill like sh and Teleport," Ryan muttered to himself after he saw Evading Shot in action. "Essentially, it is just high-speed movement skill that, unlike the others, can be stopped and seen." That seemed a bit problematic, but soon Ryan confirmed that wasn''t the case. When a pack of Desert Wolves tried to jump toward him, Ryan hit them almost at the same time and then appeared forty-five meters away from his previous position. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 120 coins. ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Evading Shot has leveled up. You obtained 01 status point. "I see now¡­ I will change my position based on the direction the projectile was fired," Ryan muttered to himself again. Ryan barely noticed the sudden movements of his body when the effect of the skill took ce. He only noticed because he almost missed thest shot since he didn''t consider that new fact about the skill. It was another factor that Ryan had to consider while fighting, but it would be more useful than troublesome. In order to sharpen his sense and be more used to that skill, Ryan let the monsters approach and attack him. He only used the skill at the veryst moment¡­ but at some point, he got bored since the Desert Wolves always stared at him in confusion after he escaped his attacks. As expected, Ryan would have to face at least a middle-ranked boss to have any decent training. Although it was unnecessary for the sake of leveling up Evading Shot, Ryan used it whenever he killed a Desert Wolf since he was recovering enough mana to do it. In the middle of the hunt, Ryan even learned a few more gimmicks of the skill. He could activate the skill even when he was using the Magic Bows alone, and the effects could stack. Not only that, Ryan''s position would change ording to the direction and the order his Magic Bows were fired. "This is getting kind ofplicated, but it is good that I can move without giving any sign with my body to which direction I am going," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. While Ryan was practicing Evading Shot and killing the Desert Wolves, he recalled that he should contact Gustavo and his friends. He didn''t mention that probably Poseidon was controlling the Hydras, after all. So, the chances of them not knowing that were actually high. Without wasting any time, Ryan used the telepathic channel, and Gustavo epted the call quite quick. "Ryan? How unexpected, you never started the telepathic link before," Gustavo said. "I wanted to talk about the Hydras," Ryan said. "I found a big one, and I learned a few things about the situation in the oceans. Did any of you guys tried to clear any underwater dungeons that can be found there?" "No¡­ that was too risky," Gustavo said, and he sounded surprised. "You cleared some underwater dungeons and even fought against a Hydra in there?" "That is right, I found one moving around these parts, but I guess their numbers aren''t that high in the northern part of the Antic," Ryan replied. In the end, the only thing Gustavo and his friends knew was that the Hydras were hunting other species of monsters. They learned that when their draconic partners used their powers to track those monsters down. Another thing they learned was that attacking a domain served as a real good training practice. The bigger the domain, the faster one could level up their skills. That was why the Hydras attacked Gustavo''s domain whenever possible. Ryan didn''t obtain all that much information, but in the end, he decided to share everything he learned. After all, few people could or had the nerve to fight in the ocean, and only those who had dragons under control could fight and show their true power. While Ryan was mentioning the events of thest days, he noticed that it was quite weird that Gustavo and his friends didn''t explore the oceans, even though their Draconic Transformation was a level much higher than his. "Poseidon, huh¡­" Gustavo said and then sighed. "It looks like things were getting even more difficult for the human race." "Do you have any idea how we can slow down the leveling up the speed of the Hydra''s dungeon?" Ryan asked. "It would also be interesting if we could find where it is. I am pretty sure it is near where you guys live." "No, we don''t have any idea¡­" Gustavo said and then sighed again. "We also think that their dungeon is indeed close by, but we can''t pinpoint its location exactly. All that we know is that there is a massive storm in the middle of the Antic Ocean. We believe that is caused by the Sea Storm spell that is been cast by dozens of Hydras. Thus, we can''t approach it." "I guess that at least is a start," Ryan said. "For the time being, we can''t do anything aside from strengthening ourselves and hope that we will have the chance to do something before Poseidon can manifest himself and show its true power on Earth." ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 09 (+ 05 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 07 (+ 02 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 49th Health: 5240/5240 (12,19/s) Mana: 6920/6920 (12,19/s) Stamina: 7250/7250 (12,19/s) Strength: 831 (+458) (+130) Dexterity: 5450 (+4355) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2050) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+1654) (+33) Endurance: 1158 (+329) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2120) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+473) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+40) Recovery: 3650 (+2850) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+449) (+40) Coins: 5.985.323 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Vital Hunter Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Evading Shot Lv 12 (+ 11 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Stealth Lv Max (+ 05 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 37 (+ 12 UP), Spearmanship Lv 54 (+ 09 UP), True Sniping Lv 09 (+ 08), Spells: Teleport Lv 39 (+ 05 UP), Summon Fire Golem Lv 62 (+ 11 UP), Lunar Arrow Lv 07 (+ 03 UP), irvoyance Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Poison Bomb Lv 14 (+ 13 UP) Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Wind Resistance Lv 21 (+ 06 UP), sses: Combat: Summoner Lv 85 (+ 05 UP), Sniper Lv 85 (+ 06 UP), Weapons Master Lv 75 (+ 08 UP), Sentinel Lv 76 (+ 07 UP), Hexde Lv 36 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Royal Archer Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 45 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 55 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 532 - Slayer Before ending the telepathic link, Gustavo said to Ryan that he and his friends would focus only on developing some kind of strategy to hunt the Hydras. Until now, they let several other problems keep their minds busy, but now they didn''t have any other choice to rely on others to solve them. As for Ryan, he just continued to train Evading Shot. Due to that, his hunting speed decreased considerably, and he only cleared a tier two dungeon after a full day. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Knight, yer, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one yer! You obtained the following skills: Quick Roll, Retaliate, and Cold Blood. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your mana, health, speed, and control will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Quick Roll. Effect: An evasive maneuver that grants the user the chance to roll on the ground in a near-instantaneous movement. Cost: 20 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Retaliate. Effect: It grants the user the chance to enter a state of total retaliation. By activating the skill, the user can counter all attacks delivered by a single target. The extra damage caused is equal to the level of skill. Cost: 30 stamina per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cold Blood. Effect: It temporarily increases the attacking speed when using all types of weapons by two percent per level. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. Those skills certainly will help him to improve his fighting style. That being said, he had no intention of changing his ns for the time being. "Although Evading Shot doesn''t actually put any weight on my back or arms, gravity is already annoying enough," 3 said while he was massaging his shoulders. "Since this skill isn''t a movement that transcends space like sh and Teleport, my body is suffering a little bit." The problem was Ryan''s endurance. It was just too low. The only way to decrease that was by leveling up Ryan''s melee sses, but that would slow down Evading Shot leveling up speed. "I guess using it with Magic Bows too often is no good," Ryan concluded. "But I guess using it when a single weapon is under my control will be bearable." Given that the strain on Ryan''s body will be even more intense when he tries to use Evading Shot underwater, he decided to look for another dungeon and train his melee sses. Usually, when Ryan changes his ns, something happens, and things even troublesome get in his way, but this time nothing actually happened. "I guess I am overly conscious about my fair amount of unluckiness," Ryan shrugged. Ryan started to look for another dungeon. It didn''t matter the rank, he just wanted to fight against a vast number of monsters, but in the end, he was stopped because Femradiel suddenly called him. "Hey, I believe we have a problem," Femradiel said. "Define what is a problem from your perspective," Ryan said. "Another dungeon appeared and this one is spawning monsters that are doing weird things," Femradiel replied. It looked like Ryan wasn''t being overly conscious about his problems, after all. In any case, he hurried and returned to his domain in the blink of an eye, only to find a dungeon spawning some golems that looked far weirder than his. Elemental Golem Lv 02 Health: 5.000/5.000 Mana: 5.000/5.000 Stamina: 5.000/5.000 Strength: 510 (+ 60) Dexterity: 510 (+ 60) Speed: 510 (+ 60) Intelligence: 510 (+ 60) Endurance: 510 (+ 60) Control: 510 (+ 60) Mentality: 510 (+ 60) Luck: 510 (+ 60) Recovery: 510 (+ 60) Willpower: 510 (+ 60) Coins: -- Status: Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Ice Wall Lv 30, Fire Wall Lv 30, Earth Wall Lv 30, Water Creation Lv 40, Fire Creation Lv 40, Wind Creation Lv 40, Earth Creation Lv 40 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 60, Fire Resistance Lv 60, Wind Resistance Lv 60, Earth Resistance Lv 60 The golems were a mix of all golems Ryan had seen before. Some parts of their bodies were made of magma. Others were made of ice and electricity. Even their set of skills looked weird, but what really looked weird in them was their behavior. The very moment they leave the dungeon, the golems make holes in the ground and then fill them with a lot of water. In just a few seconds, those creatures could create an entire Olympic pool. "They are weird, all right," Ryan frowned. "Can''t say that I have seen a monster who wants to make pools." "Don''t you find this weird?" Femradiel asked. "The goal of those creatures is to cover this area''s surface with water¡­" "Poseidon, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrow. "I guess he was the one who tried to fry me alive with those lightning bolts¡­ Although it is weird that the god of the seas can control lightning, it wouldn''t surprise me if he can use all types of magic spells." What really was troublesome was the power level of the elemental golems, they weren''t a problem now, but in due time, they indeed would be a massive pain in the ass just like the Specters. There was no doubt that they were a tier-three monster¡­ that being said, Furball was doing a good job stopping them as fast as possible and then eating their cores. "I guess guarding this dungeon will be your job, buddy," Ryan said. "Lately, the enemies haven''t been causing too many problems for you, so I guess this is a good chance for you to train and sharpen your instincts." Chapter 533 - Warmage It was evident that Ryan''s golems soon wouldn''t be a treat to the elemental golems, so Furball had to get used to fighting against the boss as soon as possible. That being said, Ryan couldn''t take any chances, so he went inside the dungeon to offer him some support. "The next time I level up the area of my domain, it will certainly engulf this dungeon¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Letting creatures that have this kind of goal have ess to the interior of my domain might cause some real nasty problemster, so I will have to think carefully about how to deal with them once Furball bes unable to defeat the boss by himself." "I can always solve this problem by guarding this dungeon with my third body," Femradiel said. "No, you will guard the domain when I leave," Ryan said. "It will be better that way since you will be able to notice if something happens in any of the dungeons." Ryan considered the possibility of taming the elemental golems, but in the end, he decided not to. As ofte, he wasn''t using his taming skill all that much since obtaining new domains was more difficult than he thought, and letting the monsters guarding all dungeons near his domain seemed like a waste since Ryan could use the monsters to level up his newest sses. Also, considering the level of the monsters, they wouldn''t be much stronger under hismand. Theyout of the dungeon was pretty basic, it was essentially a spiral corridor that was leading them downstairs, but in some parts, Ryan could find some parts covered in ice, spitting magma, and walls that could electrocute the explorers. "Poseidon might be a big asshole, but he certainly knows how to keep his guests entertained," Ryan said. "So, you are already assuming that he is an asshole," Femradiel said. "Yep, it is better if I lower my expectations of my enemies," Ryan said. "That way, they won''t surprise me negatively when I meet them for the first time." After a couple of seconds, Ryan and the others finally arrived in thest part of the dungeon. As expected, it was big, like the ce where he fought Yomotsu Shikome. That was weird given that the boss in front of the crystal wasn''t even ten meters tall. However, Ryan knew that such arge space only represented how powerful the dungeon''s bosses could be once they reached high levels. The boss of the dungeon was essentially just another elemental golem, just a bit bigger. The only other noticeable feature was that the elemental parts of their bodies were constantly moving. At one point, the left leg of the boss was made of ice, and a few secondster, it was made of magma. Even the area around the core of the creature didn''t remain uniform. "I see¡­ this creature is a specialist at blocking elemental attacks," Femradiel said. "At some point, most dragons won''t be able to cause any damage against it." "You hold your kin in such low regards¡­" Ryan frowned. "That being said, I can easily imagine what you are thinking." Furball was a monster specialized in non-elemental attacks, but that doesn''t mean he would have an easy time against the boss. After all, Furball has to bite and scratch the monster or use a body m when he attacks, so it was only natural that he would suffer damage from that boss. Despite that, as if he had felt Ryan''s worry, Furball dashed toward the monster and didn''t think twice in biting the left arm of the beast that was covered by magma. It looked like Ryan had underestimated Furball''s strength and viciousness. His partner easily bit off the arm of the elemental golem and tossed it aside. It looked like the spiciness of magma didn''t suit his pte. Although the boss soon created another arm made of magma, Furball kicked the beast''s ass quite easily¡­ in the end, the elemental golems were a creature that would cause a lot of trouble¡­ in the future. Ryan could only hope that Furball''s growth would be more impressive than theirs. "Thanks, buddy," Ryan patterd Furball''s head. "It looks like you are quite excited about this job." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Gunner, and Warmage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Warmage! You obtained the following skills: Fire Orb, Ice Orb, and Electric Orb. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your health, stamina, recovery, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Orb. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an elemental orb that will fly around you for five minutes. The orb can be thrown at your targets, or it can support you in closebat. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Orb. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an elemental orb that will fly around you for five minutes. The orb can be thrown at your targets, or it can support you in closebat. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Orb. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an elemental orb that will fly around you for five minutes. The orb can be thrown at your targets, or it can support you in closebat. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. In the end, Ryan left the dungeon pretty satisfied with the ss. Fighting using those skills would be pretty hard, but surprising his enemies with them won''t. Chapter 534 - Banshee Although Ryan won''t be able to fight alongside the always helpful squire for a while, he left the dungeon while humming. "You seem to be in a good mood," Femradiel said. "Furball will be one badass before the real fight begins, so I can''t see why I shouldn''t be in a good mood," Ryan said. "Well, things seem to be going well for you, I just hope that a demon''s dungeon won''t spawn near your domain," Femradiel said. "They are the only ones left that you pissed off but still didn''t try to have a base near your domain, after all." That made Ryan realize that some dungeons appeared in his domain between the time of the dungeon breaks. By the look of things, he didn''t know everything that there was to know about the dungeon master''s system. Regardless, he could think of a few hypotheses, but none seemed urate. Suddenly, the area trembled, and Ryan recognized that type of tremor. It was the same as when a dungeon breaks. However, the seventh dungeon break still was a few days away. That means¡­ "Femradiel¡­" Ryan said while he furrowed his eyebrows. "It is just a coincidence¡­ that being said, I can feel a new source of mana close by," Femradiel said. Ryan immediately teleported to the ce Femradiel mentioned, and he found another underground dungeon, but he had to wait for a while before the first monster finally could appear. Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he saw what seemed to be ghost-like floating around. The creature resembled a little bit Yomotsu Shikome, but unlike the undead creature, the new one was wearing a single-piece dress that was white but had some red marks. Banshee Lv 01 Health: 3.000/3.000 Mana: 3.000/3.000 Stamina: 3.000/3.000 Strength: 360 (+ 05) Dexterity: 360 (+ 05) Speed: 360 (+ 05) Intelligence: 360 (+ 05) Endurance: 360 (+ 05) Control: 360 (+ 05) Mentality: 360 (+ 05) Luck: 360 (+ 05) Recovery: 360 (+ 05) Willpower: 360 (+ 05) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Envy Eyes Lv 40 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 20, Freeze Resistance Lv 20, Fire Resistance Lv 20, Wind Resistance Lv 20, Earth Resistance Lv 20, Electric Resistance Lv 20, Shock Resistance Lv 20 "Banshee?" Ryan frowned. "What kind of creature is that?" The very moment Ryan used Appraisal, the monster looked in his direction. Although he couldn''t see the creature''s expression due to its long messy hair covering her whole face, Ryan could feel the re. Suddenly, the creature two Magic Bows out of nowhere and attacked Ryan. Despite the surprise, he reacted in time to do the same, only to fail at summoning his Magic Bows. In the end, Ryan managed to dodge the attack since he was much faster than the level one monster. "What the hell¡­ why did the skill fail?" Ryan opened his eyes in surprise. "It seems Envy Eyes can temporarily steal one of your skills," Femradiel replied. That was why Ryan dodged the attack despite the fact that he failed on his first try. He knew that skill all too well. In any case, before he could summon a crossbow, the Banshee fired another, but this time Ryan didn''t see the projectile. In the end, he was forced to Teleport to several meters above ground level. "Femradiel¡­" Ryan said. "... it looks like her skill is moreplicated than I thought," Femradiel said. "I have never seen anything like it, but it looks like the monster can temporarily steal your ways of attack." "How so?" Ryan asked. "Don''t expect me to know everything, I am a dragon with amnesia, if you have forgotten," Femradiel replied. That sequence of words seemed weird, but in any case, Ryan could study his enemyter. While Ryan was in midair, he equipped his Thunder Lord crossbow and fired, but then the Banshee finally found him and then fired again, and she moved backward several meters¡­ the monster just used Evading Shot as well. "Let''s see, if I had to guess, I would say for every ten levels of her skill, she can steal a skill of yours¡­" Femradiel said. "This type of enemy will be a real pain in theter." Ryan couldn''t agree more, but it was surprising that Femradiel still was trying to analyze the enemy''s powers despite having failed a few times. In the end, Ryan got tired of it and then just used Telekinesis to make the monster from escaping again. After that, he crushed the enemy''s head on the ground. You obtained 150 coins. "Nasty as usual, huh," Femradiel said. "Said the dragon that tries to eat her enemies alive," Ryan said. "It is easy for you to talk, humans are so privileged that they obtain strength two times after clearing the dungeon, by getting sses and skills," Femradiel said. "I don''t know any race that can do that." Before that could turn into an actual argument, Ryan decided to shut up. Anyway, another troublesome monster appeared, but Ryan had no idea if Poseidon had created another dungeon to monitor him. That would be way too weird. That being said, Ryan didn''t make many enemiestely¡­ Before Ryan could find a proper answer, another Banshee left the dungeon and then tried to use Telekinesis on him. Unable to use Telekinesis himself, Ryan just used his Thunder Lord crossbow and made bolts rain over the creature. The beast tried to summon a Magic Bow and counter the attacks, but in the end, the difference in power was just too big. "What a strange type of monster," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Howe it has such an impressive ability, but when ites down to using it¡­" "You can''t forget this is just a mob monster created through the power of the dungeon master''s system," Femradiel said. "You can defeat them as much as you want, but the real fight will only startter, you should hurry ande up with some kind of n to defeat then without relying on certain skills." Chapter 535 - Magic Existence The future was bing grim by the minute, but in the end, Ryan decided to focus on the good side of the problems that just appeared. Another dungeon means more coins to his domain and a new ss for him. That being said, Ryan was quite curious as to what type of boss he would find inside the dungeon. If the minions alone could be that troublesome even at a lower level, the boss probably wouldn''t have been contained by his summoned monsters for long. Unlike the elemental golem''s dungeons, Ryan didn''t find anything weird or different inside the Banshee''s dungeon. The only real difference is that inside, they had an easier time trying to repel his bolts by using Magic Bows. They could hit Ryan''s attacks despite the incredible difference in speed, but losing in raw power was inevitable for them. "Aren''t you going to use them to create new crossbows?" Femradiel asked. "I will wait for a while longer, the effects of my weapons will be more powerful ording to the level of the monsters I use Seal in," Ryan replied. "That would exin why you didn''t try to use Seal, not even in that colorful golem," Femradiel said. "Anyway, any idea how you are going to keep this dungeon guarded?" "I am working on it," Ryan replied. Aside from using several types of golems to make sure that the Banshees wouldn''t be able to counter all of them at the same time, Ryan couldn''t think of any other idea on how to deal with them. In the end, he reached thest part of the dungeon without thinking of a proper way to deal with the mobs. Dealing with the boss then seemed impossible with summoned monsters. Ryan put his worries aside when he reached thest part of the dungeon. Sitting on a red throne, he found a weird creature¡­ It made Ryan recall the shadows he found when he was clearing some dungeons in Canada. Weirdly enough, the shadow even had a sword made of shadows. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "Not again¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. It has been quite a while since Appraisal proved to be useless against an opponent. Still, Ryan could easily remember the time the skill proved to be useless¡­ that happened a few times when Ryan tried to use it on Dungeon masters and their avatars when they were dungeon bosses. Ryan didn''t want to waste time with pleasantries, so he just summoned several magic copies of his Titanium Electric bow and then charged Power Shot. However, before he could do that for more than a few seconds, he felt his body being pulled toward thest room of the dungeon. Ryan could feel the re of the monster¡­ "Telekinesis¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, there is no point in wasting my time with a low-level boss. In the end, Ryan attacked before the boss could make him enter the dungeon. However, much to his surprise, Ryan''s bolts passed through the shadow, but at that exact same time, the shadow stopped using Telekinesis. "I see now¡­ Intangibility," Ryan muttered. After he canceled his magic bows, Ryan summoned his Holy Crossbow and Immobilizing Crossbow, and when the shadow got up, he made bolts rain over them. Although there was no way to prove that, Ryan had a feeling that the dungeon master was a demon. That was weird since all the demon generals Ryan fought so far talked too much. Once again, Ryan''s bolts didn''t hit the enemy. However, the creature didn''t have the chance to attack as well. That was the problem of Intangibility. While the creature couldn''t do anything, it suddenly charged toward Ryan with its sword covered in the darkness, ready to strike. Even while the sword was approaching his head, Ryan didn''t move away or try to escape. In the end, the sword made of shadows almost scratched Ryan''s forehead, but the creature was forced to stop since his bolts finally caused so much damage that it paralyzed the creature¡­ no, the Holy Crossbow was the sole cause of that. "You really are a demon general, aren''t you?" Ryan asked. The shadow red at Ryan, but even in defeat, it didn''t say anything. In the end, it only did that until its body began to turn into an unrecognizable and lifeless dust. You obtained 10.000 coins. "That was surprisingly easy," Femradiel said. "¡­ Did you read this thing''s mind?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I am sorry, but if Appraisal doesn''t work, then reading an enemy''s mind is impossible," Femradiel said. "There are some ways to counter that kind of power, but I believe it will prove useless against this type of opponent." "Why?" Ryan asked. "Spells like Mind Armor rely solely on mana to protect their users, but I am pretty sure that thing''s health and mana are deeply connected," Femradiel exined. "If you try to make it run out of mana by using Appraisal, the monster will probably vanish once its mana is emptied. Thus, making me unable to read its mind." That was a prettyplicated exnation, but Ryan understood and agreed with the main points. In the end, not even he was sure if the monster died due to the holy bolts that he fired or if he just died due tock of mana. It was hard to believe that a dungeon boss would run out of mana after using Intangibility for a couple of seconds. Still, then again, Ryan didn''t have all that much information about what dungeon bosses and dungeon masters could really do. At least not the ones that have been alive for thousands of years. Regardless, the main problem was that too many enemies were trying to stay close to Ryan''s backyard, and once their dungeons reached the level max, things would be messy for him. Chapter 536 - Punisher Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Mystic Knight, Punisher, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Punisher! You obtained the following skills: Killing Spree, Heroic Gunmanship, and Deadly Bullet. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Killing Spree. Effect: It increases your dexterity for ten seconds after killing a foe. The bonus in dexterity will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heroic Gunmanship. Effect: It increases the power of your attacks when guns by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deadly Bullet. Effect: fires a special bullet that decreases the recovery of your target. The value decreased will be equal to the level of the skill, and the effect willst for sixty seconds. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Fortunately, something good always happens soon after something bad happens. Although that wasn''t a rule in Ryan''s life, most of the time, he was pretty much certain that something like a tier three-ss falling on hisp would be the reward for his hard work. In the end, Ryan decided to let his Red Falcons guarding the dungeon. Thest part of the dungeon was fairlyrge, so they would have plenty of room to fly and attack. Besides, the dungeon boss was weak against continuous attacks. At least that was the truth considering the high cost of mana Intangibility has. "You should hurry up and decide to use Draconic Transformation to strengthen your skills," Femradiel said. "By using it, your summoned monsters will be able to level up past level one hundred and thus the difference in power between them and dungeon monsters will decrease considerably." "What are my other options?" Ryan asked. "Stay inside your domain and keep hunting all those monsters without getting new sses until the dungeon masters appear," Femradiel replied. As much as it was annoying for him to admit, Ryan really couldn''t see any other way to solve that problematic situation. The battle machines couldn''t work well with the Fire Golems or even the Ice Golems since their elemental bodies could damage them. As for the ordinary golems, they weren''t that sturdy ifpared with the others. Another problem was the fact that Ryan couldn''te up with any decent n because the boss didn''t show much of their skills. Besides, putting too many battle machines inside the dungeon would only work to strengthen the spawned monsters faster than usual. If Ryan weren''t so prideful, things could be solved much faster. Still, he felt like if he starts to choose the easiest option whenever something appeared, things would only be harderter on. "My head hurts¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I am going to look for a new dungeon to clear in order to refresh my mind, I need a break." Maybe leveling up a few times his new sses will liven up Ryan''s mood. However, before he could look for his next target, Alissa called him via the telepathic link. "Ryan, are you busy now?" Alissa asked. "I need to talk with you." "What was the point of asking? You already forcefully opened the link," Ryan said and facepalmed. "Anyway, I am free now, but now for long. Please don''t say that you want to share more gossips about the situation in the secret base." "Nah, I just wanted to talk with you about Femradiel, is she sleeping a lottely?" Alissa asked. "I am not sure, I have no idea to know when she is resting," Ryan replied. "...Why do you ask?" "It is about Orgar, he is being pretty quiet as ofte, he says that he has been sleeping since I have been living a boring life, but even so, he is sleeping too much," Alissa said. "... He is an old dragon, so of course he will sleep a lot," Ryan said after he recalled the conversation he had with Orgar about his situation. "In my head, I always imagined Orgar to be a seventy-, or eighty-years old man." "I can see why you would think that," Alissa said. "Well, talk with youter." After saying that, Alissa ended the call. Ryan sighed in relief, but then he worried if Alissa would ask the same thing to Gustavo and his friends. Unlike him, they didn''t have a single reason to lie. They didn''t know about how Alissa and Orgar became partners, after all. "Great¡­ another thing to bother me at night," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I guess that is one of the signs that Orgar''s mind is being mixed with Alissa''s. Yet, she didn''t notice anything out of ce¡­" Ryan thought Alissa would be the only one who would manage to do what was necessary aside from Ryan to protect the country. She certainly wouldn''t do something like that in the past, but now she was a leader who cared about her underlings. The question was: will that continue once Orgar disappears? Despite everything, Alissa was fairly egoistical, so he couldn''t imagine her living a life where her sole goal was helping her underlings. Ryan was even wondering about the possibility that he would be, for real this time, a target to vent Alissa''s frustrations in a bad way. He was the only one who knew what was happening to Orgar, and yet, he decided to keep quiet about it. If anything, Ryan''s future was getting bleaker by the minute¡­ before he could begin to sigh, even more. Ryan began to look for some dungeons to clear. Chapter 537 - Thief While Ryan was looking for another dungeon clear, he surprisingly found a slimes'' dungeon. Those were quite rare in his country territory, just like the chance to obtain a tier-one dungeon. Naturally, Ryan didn''t have any difficulties clearing the ce. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordsman, Thief, and Novice. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Thief! You obtained the following skills: Venom Knife, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment, and Poison Creation. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Venom Knife. Effect: It fires a magic knife with poisonous attributes that causes critical damage and poison your enemies. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Enchantment. Since you already have this skill, it will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Creation. Effect: It grants you the power to create a bottle of poison that causes damage equal to the level of intelligence of the maker and extra damage ording to the level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. "Who could have thought this ss would be this useful¡­ and its skills cost so much mana," Ryan frowned. "I guess the system realized that they were too good for a tier one skill." Although getting a single tier-one ss didn''t liven up his mood all that much, Ryan at least had a good time while thinking about how to improve his fighting style since the slimes weren''t a real threat to him, not even when they reached the level four hundred. It has been quite a while since thest time he thought about that since he obtained skills like Magic Bows that were just too good to ignore. Ryan already had a decent set of skills, and in the future, he will obtain, even more, so he didn''t have to worry about that. He had to worry about how and when to use them. Skills like throw had be kind of obsolete since Ryan could fire certain melee weapons with his bow. They just needed to have the right shape. Fortunately, Ryan could create those melee weapons to satisfy his needs. But even then, that wasn''t what Ryan needed. He needed something that would grant him the power to exterminate his powers even while he was hundreds of kilometers away from them. "irvoyance will help me with that, the real problem is the cost of mana to fight while using such high-level skills," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There is also the problem regarding his projectiles losing power while crossing over long distances. Aside from Lunar Arrow, all of my attacks would lose power and speed after travelling for ten kilometers." That seemed like a solution much less troublesome than relying on summoned monsters and tamed monsters. Still, then again, the cost of mana was too big of a problem. It seemed like Ryan needed other skills that will help his ability to obtain mana from extra sources. Since he couldn''t talk with the secret base for that kind of intel anymore, Femradiel was the only one he could talk with. The problem was: she couldn''t remember anything aside from Mana-Eater that could help Ryan right now. "Screw it," Ryan said. "Let''s keep focusing on leveling up my sses and hope that someday I will obtain the inspiration needed to solve those problems." Before he could decide on returning to his domain or looking for another dungeon to clear, Ryan suddenly heard Femradiel''s voice. Despite her words, she seemed pretty calm. "Ryan, I am sensing a massive translocation of mana up North," Femradiel said. "If my guess is right, dozens of thousands of monsters are heading West." "Can you use my irvoyance and confirm things?" Ryan asked. "I am kind of busy here, so I can''t do it." Ryan sighed¡­ what a partner Femradiel was¡­ As expected, he could only count on Furball. Before the night could fall, Ryan decided to look for those months with irvoyance. While up North was rather non-specific, he decided to look in a straight-line up North from his location, and much to his surprise Ryan indeed found something. Somewhere in Kansas, Ryan found thousands of Desert Wolves and Dire Wolves moving together as if they weren''t enemies. That was weird. Ryan was pretty sure there wasn''t supposed to exist a Dire Wolves'' dungeon in the territory of his country. However, the weirdest thing of all was a group of a few hundred monsters. Werewolf - Lv 550 Health: 75.000/75.000 Mana: 52.000/52.000 Stamina: 59.000/59.000 Strength: 7900 (+800) Dexterity: 3500 (+200) Speed: 2500 (+300) Intelligence: 2500 (+200) Endurance: 7500 (+600) Control: 1500 (+100) Mentality: 4500 (+500) Luck: 2500 Recovery: 20.000 (+8.000) Willpower: 4500 (+500) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Voracious ws Lv 400, Paralyzing Bite Lv 350 Passive Physical Skills: Predator Scent Lv 350, Improved Strength Lv 250, Improved Concentration Lv 250 Spells: Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 400, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Freeze Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 200 "How the heck I didn''t find these creatures before?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief. That whole situation was quite weird, but as far as Ryan knew, there was no human settlement in the western side of the country. So, those monsters weren''t nning to cause problems for the human race. Despite that, Ryan felt reallypelled to follow them. Chapter 538 - Illusory Barrier Even before finding their destination, Ryan already knew a few things about that army of monsters that was heading West. First of all, the Werewolves were tier two monsters. That being said, Ryan couldn''t underestimate them. Given the fact that he never heard of them, they weren''t ordinary monsters, and also, given their skills, he couldn''t attack them. If he does that, Ryan won''t find their dungeon. He tried to find anything that resembled their dungeon, but he didn''t find anything. Second of all, it was obvious that those dogs were working for a few dungeon masters that decided to make an alliance. It was weird to make an alliance when they were on Earth, but it wasn''t made to wipe out the remaining humans. If that were their goal, they wouldn''t move toward a location in the opposite direction of the only human settlement in the country. They would split and attack from all sides. In the end, Ryan decided to quietly follow them from very far away while using irvoyance. Thanks to it, he was never discovered, and the army of dogs proceeded at a steady pace for a full day. Only to suddenly disappear out of nowhere when they crossed the borders between Colorado and Utah. "As expected, they have a few tricks up their sleeve¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then decided to use Teleport. After activating Silent Movement, Ryan flew around the area where all the monsters suddenly disappeared. From above, he didn''t find anything ordinary, only the overgrown grass of thest seven months and the destruction that was caused by the monsters. Fortunately, it was gettingte, so Ryan decided to investigate once the darkness of the night covers everything. "It looks like you found something interesting to keep you upied," Femradiel said. "You shouldn''t waste time here; they are only tier two monsters. They are probably ying war against other species." "Now you are interested, huh," Ryan frowned. "Well, they will have to find another ce to y. I will probably fail many times, but I will try really hard to prevent those fuckers from destroying even more thisnd." "You are sometimes so stubborn when ites to certain things¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "I am finishing the details of my new body, so I am going to be busy for the next week. That being said, I will give you a hand here." "You know, as ofte, I have a feel that I am more helping you than you are helping me," Ryan said. "I feel the same way," Femradiel said. "But it can''t be helped since you are really looking forward to having three familiars that are as strong as my former self. Anyway, an illusory barrier is probably the thing that is preventing you from finding what you want. Some real troublesome sorcerers are in the area. So, you will be found immediately if you try to enter or even touch the barrier." "I figured that myself," Ryan said. "Did you also figure that this type of barrier has certain demerits?" Femradiel asked. "They can fool your eyes, but they won''t fool you if you don''t look directly at them. Considering that, they can only work while they aren''t obstructed." "Obstruction¡­ So, I can enter the barrier by using an underground route?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then asked. "That is right, illusions are only used to keep the enemies away from the caster," Femradiel exined. "Given their high cost, it wouldn''t make any sense to make them fool everything in certain directions. Anyway, I am going to focus on my job, I will try not inform you toote if something unexpected happens." Ryan sighed. Femradiel was bing more and more rxed as ofte. While she has yet to fail on anything, maybe it was time for Ryan to find some sort of punishment to make her walk on the line. After waiting for a while, Ryan decided to infiltrate the ce. Despite the fact that such a job was something new for him, he didn''t feel that worried or nervous. Maybe it was due to the fact that he fought more terrifying enemies in worse situations, or perhaps he wasn''t bothered by the enemies this time. In any case, Ryan began to dig a tunnel, all the skills that granted him some control over the ground. Much to his surprise, digging had be considerably easier ifpared to thest time he did it. Thest time he had to work quite a lot on his first battle against the Reptilians. After a couple of minutes, Ryan felt that he has passed below the boundaries of the barrier. Still, in the end, he decided to proceed a little more since some guards probably were stationed in the borders. After digging for a mile or so, he finally decided to check things on the surface. Fortunately, Ryan didn''t feel any presence nearby with Radar. Before using irvoyance, Ryan had to open a hole above him. Even that skill had some demerits. Ryan couldn''t see things in confined spaces he had never been, after all. However, once Ryan opened the hole, things went as smoothly as possible, even though the hole was thinner than a finger. After using irvoyance and his vision moved and left the underground, Ryan could finally see the illusionary barrier''s interior. Still, he had a hard time believing in what he was seeing. He didn''t know much about the area where he was, but he was fairly sure that there wasn''t a single big city in dozens of miles, but he could see one. Despite the fact that it had been built by monsters, the ce was quite organized andplex. Since the wolves were fairly big, everything looked two times bigger than usual. At first, Ryan thought that some buildings looked like extremelyrge dog houses, but in fact, they were just hangar-like buildings where the monsters could use to rest and practice. At least that was what Ryan saw happening in there. Chapter 539 - Demi Felines "This ce looks like an improvised domain¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A base created by monsters that obviously has some militaristic purpose¡­" Weirdly enough, the illusory barrier worked like a mirror that could be found in interrogation rooms but in reverse. Anyone inside could see things happening outside, for a bunch of smelly dogs, they sure were cautious about their security. Regardless, after looking for a while, Ryan found a dungeon in the center of that ce. However, there was no sign of the sorcerer that summoned the illusory barrier. As expected, finding someone that powerful won''t be that easy. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t risk starting the attack, given that the sorcerer managed to hide a horde of thousands of monsters with its powers in a single instant. "For a tier two monster, it certainly has a massive mana pool and recovery to keep this massive barrier active at all times," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That or the sorcerer has some interesting trick up their sleeve." The most obvious ce to find the boss would be in the dungeon, but entering there won''t be that easy. Well, it will, but once the fight starts, things will be messy since several werewolf bosses were around the dungeon. Even despite the fact that their barrier probably has never been broken, they were even more serious about the security around the dungeon. "Let''s see¡­ I can attack then at night with Lunar Arrow, I just have to find another ce where the chances of me being found will be even less likely," Ryan muttered. "However, if there are more than one dungeon master in that dungeon, then the attack will alert all of them and if they use their powers to hide themselves while they escape¡­" In the end, the best option seemed indeed the one where Ryan would use Teleport, appear inside the dungeon, and fight enemies from all sides. At the very least, that way, the boss of bosses won''t have the opportunity to escape, but that was indeed a reckless n, even though it was only a tier two dungeon. Ryan only faced enemies good at illusions a few times, so he wasn''t that confident in winning before they became a real pain in the ass. "Oh, well¡­ whatever happens, I can always escape by using Teleport," Ryan shrugged. "It is not like I need to stay until the very end after starting a fight." Ryan''s pride probably won''t allow that, but that convinced him to do what was necessary to prevent the boss of bosses from escaping. Before Ryan could start the attack, things suddenly got noisy outside. Dire wolves, Desert wolves, and the Werewolves left their hangar-like buildings. They began to run toward the northern part of the barrier. "It looks like this ce isn''t as safe as I thought," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Something or someone decided to start a night raid." The thought that he had never been discovered crossed Ryan''s mind. After all, he was on the eastern side of the camp. Regardless that was the perfect time to attack, but the Werewolves guarding the dungeon didn''t move an inch. That means that the boss or the bosses inside probably won''t leave as well. Before teleporting to the dungeon, Ryan used irvoyance to see what was happening. He was left speechless when he saw some very suspicious-looking monsters crossing the barrier and attacking anything in sight. Ryan had a hard time epting that, but the monsters looked like humans using some cat costumes¡­ some pretty well-made costumes, Demi Felines - Lv 500 Health: 35.000/35.000 Mana: 26.000/26.000 Stamina: 33.000/33.000 Strength: 3900 (+600) Dexterity: 3000 (+300) Speed: 2500 (+400) Intelligence: 3000 (+400) Endurance: 3000 (+400) Control: 1500 (+400) Mentality: 3500 (+400) Luck: 3500 Recovery: 10.000 (+4.000) Willpower: 3500 (+400) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Poisonous ws Lv 300, Paralyzing ws Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 250, Improved Concentration Lv 250, Improved Speed Lv 250 Spells: Cursed Sphere Lv 350, Earth Spear Lv 300, Earth Creation Lv 300, Earth Transformation Lv 250 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 280, Cold Resistance Lv 280, Electric Resistance Lv 280, Freeze Resistance Lv 150, Shock Resistance Lv 150 "The hell is going on¡­" Ryan frowned. " First, all of the dogs seem to be working together and now some cat-people are attacking them¡­ I must be hallucinating." After using irvoyance to see if there was a dungeon up North, Ryan only confirmed that there was a massive round area that was weirdly quiet¡­ as expected, it was another illusory barrier, but to think that dog and the cat-like monsters would use the same tactic¡­ it looked like Ryan will have to be more attentive in the future, some troublesome dungeon master might be building their strength using the same method. The number of monsters attacking was rtively small. Ryan couldn''t even count five thousand of them. Since it was only a minor skirmish, he wouldn''t have much time to attack. Without wasting any more time, Ryan aligned several potions in front of him and then used Lunar Arrow. You obtained 120.000 coins. You obtained 120.000 coins. You obtained 120.000 coins. ¡­ Ryan had been so fast and precise that even he was surprised by the results. Thirty or so Werewolves'' bosses were killed by a rain of shooting stars¡­ it was a pity since Ryan wanted to make some weapons out of them. Before anything inside the dungeon could notice what had happened, Ryan teleported to inside and buried the bosses as well. After the cleanup, Ryan hurried to thest part of the dungeon, but in the end, it didn''t take long for him to notice that something was off. After running for a few seconds, he suddenly saw himself leaving the dungeon. "What the heck¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. Despite the speed and precision of his attacks, it looked like Ryan had been noticed by the sorcerer. It was toote toin now, but it was toote to retreat as well. He had to find a way to deal with the illusion¡­ Chapter 540 - Night Hunter It didn''t take long for Ryan to learn that breaking the illusion would be much moreplicated than he thought. It was because his Mind Armor was active. That skill also worked against Illusions¡­ at least with works against Illusions that affect his body directly, and that wasn''t the case right at that moment. "This must be an illusion that affects my sense of direction¡­." Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Somewhere inside the dungeon, I probably take a turn without noticing and ended up returning to the entrance." In the end, instead of hurrying, Ryan decided to walk inside the dungeon while touching the walls with his Spiritualist Spear. Those could drain the mana even from domains, so they should be of some use. Since Ryan didn''t let the weirdness of the situation get the better of him, it didn''t take long for him to find some fake walls made by illusion magic. Without hesitating, Ryan began to explore those, and thanks to it, he finally found some werewolves waiting for enemies. Ryan made magic bolts rain over them. The creature died pretty fast since their level of strength couldn''t bepared to the bosses he defeated earlier. Fortunately, one of the monsters resisted Ryan''s attacks quite a lot, and he had the chance to make a magic crossbow. Night Hunter Crossbow Effect: at the cost of eight points of mana, it grants the user the chance to fire bolts that cause two percent more damage at night. Dexterity + 120, Intelligence + 80 Durability: 100/100 After feeling satisfied with the result, Ryan proceeded with his task. However, perhaps because he was too cautious not to fall for another illusion, some monsters began to appear from behind. They were just ordinary werewolves, but their numbers were pretty high. "I guess they do understand that the sorcerer is more important than protecting their borders," Ryan said and then summoned some Magic Bows to kill the creatures. "Now that I think about it, if this is a werewolves'' dungeon and the boss is just another werewolf¡­ why aren''t they using illusion magic as well?" That question was bothering Ryan quite a bit. Still, in the end, he decided to put it aside and focus on proceeding toward thest part of the dungeon. Fortunately, it didn''t take long for Ryan to reach his destination. Still, before he proceeded, Ryan put several of his spears on the path toward thest part of the dungeon and made them spin. His focus would be divided, but at least now, he knew that anyone or anything that tries to interfere in the fight will be sliced apart to death. Charging a preemptive strike with mana and stamina while his spears were spinning like that wouldn''t be possible. Besides, if the monsters see Ryan preparing, they will probably be more violent, and the spears won''tst that long. So, he moved toward thest part of the dungeon and then saw a weird-looking creature meditating while floating. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ???, ??? "Again¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Why those guys insist so much on being such a massive pain in the ass?" Ryan had a hard time describing the creature. Still, at least now, Ryan knew that they were some sort of high-level mythological being. Regardless, the creature had a blue staff on itsp, and they also had a body covered with brown fur. A dark cloak covered almost every part of the boss''s body, aside from the head and forearms. Ryan couldn''t see the eyes of the creature, but they had a long nose that made Ryan recall an armadillo and ears that seemed like it belongs to a dog. It really was a strange creature¡­ "Ryan¡­" The creature muttered without expressing many feelings through its rough voice. "You know me?" Ryan frowned, already pointing two crossbows at the creature. "Indeed¡­ those who try to challenge the elder gods tend to be rtively famous around us¡­ for the short amount of time they live after doing it," The creature replied. "Elder gods?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Sorry, but you guys are more like alien invaders than anything." "Thisnd you im to be yours, have always been ours¡­" The creature said. "Even if we weren''t here for the past few millennia, nothing would change that." "I disagree in all possible sense," Ryan said. "Finders keepers." "Do you know the first being who said that?" The creature asked. "I can''t say that I know," Ryan shrugged. "But if I had to guess, I would say that was a human. A rtively smart one." "A thief is the correct answer," The creature said. "What did you humans do with this aside from destroying it? Despite that, you im ownership of something that you can''t even repair or treat with care?" "Tough question¡­" Ryan said. "Well, in all humans'' defense I can say that you guys caused far more destruction and death than any of us in all those millennia that you refer to. So, there is no sense in trying to make me feel guilty or rethink if I am on the right side." "To think that human arrogance has reached this level in the meantime we were away¡­" The creature said while shaking its head. "It is truly a pity given that once, a long time ago, your species had a tremendous potential, but now all of you were just an empty shell of your former glory. Perhaps all of you indeed deserve extermination." "Perhaps, I don''t know if you can decide this, but I can decide by myself that I won''t go down without a fight," Ryan said. "So, give your best shot, self-proimed elder god." As soon as Ryan finished that sentence, the boss divided itself into hundreds of illusory copies¡­ maybe Ryan failed at estimating the strength of a tier two boss. Chapter 541 - Surprise Ryan tried to identify the real boss by using Radar, but much to his surprise. The skill showed him that all of them were real. That wasn''t supposed to be possible, and yet, Radar never failed before. Unfortunately, before Ryan could think of any way to solve that mess, the boss attacked him by firing some Fireballs. That was a spell that he didn''t see any boss using in quite a while, but that didn''t matter since all the copies also attacked using the same skill. There wasn''t any ce Ryan could escape, so in the end, Ryan used Mana Shield to block the attacks and confirm what he learned previously. Every time the shield was hit, his mana decreased. "Hey¡­ seriously?" Ryan''s mouth was hanging open due to the surprise. It was not surprising that hundreds of those projectiles could cause so much damage. Besides, Ryan was pretty sure that the skill the monster had was at least at level two hundred or something. However, using such an attack so many times wasn''t wise. Even bosses were bound to run out of mana if they kept firing so many spells. Ryan decided to use some potions and see for how long the boss could keep attacking like that. Still, in the end, after a full minute, Ryan understood that the boss wasn''t joking. He truly intended to keep firing hundreds of Fireballs every second to defeat Ryan. "What the hell¡­ just how?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Even if that thing''s Meditation and Zen is at level one thousand or something, firing this many projectiles should be impossible." Before Ryan could mess up again and lose even more mana, he activated Ice Armor. He then teleported to where the copies of the bosses were floating. Not even with his eyes and up close, he could find any difference between the copies. A few seconds after, the copies changed the direction of their attacks and started to attack Ryan again. He dodged some attacks and let the Ice Armor block some of them, but that didn''t help at all. Dozens of Fireballs hit the copies, but not a single one of them actually hit them. They only passed through as if the copies were ghosts. "How incredibly annoying¡­" Ryan said. Congrattions! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. Ryan was receiving a lot of damage, but he still could counter it by using Regeneration. However, that was just Ryan dying the inevitable. He needed to think of a way to find the real boss. In the end, Ryan used Ice Breath to repel the Fireballs. Much to his surprise, the skill alone protected him against all the Fireballs. It even raised a curtain of steam that made everyone in thest part of the dungeon disappear. Ryan activated Silent Movement and then used Teleport. With that alone, he escaped from the boss''s vicious attacks and gained some time. After closing his eyes, Ryan tried to focus his senses in order to notice anything out of ce in the dungeon. Although his vision was obstructed, Ryan still could hear and feel any movement within the cloud of steam, but much to his surprise, he found nothing. Without any other choice, Ryan used irvoyance to find the copies within the mist, only to find them clustered in the same ce. As expected, the boss was enough to do that since it would be the easiest way to spot Ryan without exposing himself. Ryan finally had another idea when he saw that. Attacking all of them seemed like a good idea, but Ryan decided to use Ice Breath again, this time upward. By doing so, the boss wouldn''t be able to identify Ryan''s position since his attack would cross the entire mist and even strengthen it. When the boss noticed what Ryan was nning was already toote. The copies tried to disperse the mist by reheating everything, but that only worked for speed up Ryan''s ns. The ice melted and a short rain fell for a few couple seconds. The boss tried to hide the real one behind several copies, but Ryan found a single copy wet thanks to irvoyance. Without holding back, Ryan fired bolts like a machine gun, only to see his attacks be blocked by a Mana Shield in front of the original. "You found me¡­" The boss said. "You are not as smart as you think," Ryan shrugged. Ryan activated Perfect Aim to make sure that the boss wouldn''t disappear from his sight again, and the creature noticed that. Cheap tricks wouldn''t work anymore. Ryan had already discovered that the original was making Fireballs appear in front of the illusions. The only thing Ryan couldn''t understand was howe the illusions could fool his Radar. The most usible exnation was that the difference in the level of both skills was just that high. Another thing Ryan couldn''t understand was howe the boss could use so much mana, but in the end, the creature wouldn''t give him enough time to think about it. Suddenly, a massive quagmire appeared on the ground of the dungeon, but Ryan escaped by flying. From the quagmire, Ryan saw some undead-like handsing out right below him¡­ those certainly would try to grab him if Ryan gets too close, and that was creepy as hell. "Another illusion?" Ryan muttered. "Let them grab you and you will soon find out," The boss said. "No, thank you," Ryan said and then pointed his weapon at the boss. "I wasn''t asking you," The boss said. Suddenly, Ryan''s body got a lot heavier. Even before the system could tell him what was happening, he had already figured out¡­ gravity magic. Even though he could considerably stronger since thest time, it looked like his physical strength was as useless as usual even against it. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 12 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 10 (+ 03 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 49th Health: 5440/5440 (12, 52/s) Mana: 7220/7220 (12, 52/s) Stamina: 7490/7490 (12, 52/s) Strength: 831 (+538) (+130) Dexterity: 5450 (+4355) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2150) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+1754) (+33) Endurance: 1158 (+389) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2120) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+533) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+50) Recovery: 3800 (+2900) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+529) (+40) Coins: 9.653.777 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Retaliate Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Deadly Bullet Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Venom Knife Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Steel Skin Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), True Sniping Lv 09 (+ 08), Cold Blood Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Killing Spree Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Heroic Gunmanship Lv 01, Spells: Fire Orb Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Ice Orb Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Electric Orb Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Poison Creation Lv 01 Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 53 (+ 04 UP), Fast Conjuration Lv 09 (+ 04 UP), sses: Combat: Swordsman Lv 21 (+ 07 UP), Combat Mechanic Lv 06 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 15 (+ 06 UP), Magehunter Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Pyro Trickster Lv 11 (+ 07 UP), Temr Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Dark Knight Lv 09 (+ 05 UP), Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 49 (+ 04 UP), Alchemist Lv 58 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 542 - Unknown Although that was a rare opportunity to train one of his resistances, Ryan wasn''t in a training mood. While trying to counter the gravity effect, Ryan used Telekinesis, but it wasn''t nearly enough for that. Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and then made them attack the boss Mana Shield. At first, the creature ignored it, but then he noticed that the arrows were causing too much damage too fast. Ryan got the diversion that he wanted and then teleported behind the monster and pierced one of his Spiritualist''s Spears in the monster''s back. He frowned when his mana began to be restored at insane speeds, and a blue liquid left the monster''s body. "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered. "Your blood is¡­ mana liquid?" The boss swung its staff and hit Ryan''s right shoulder. Despite being a mage excellent at illusion magic, the creature had enough strength to cause critical damage and make Ryan spin several times before hitting the walls behind and breaking several of his limbs. Without wasting any time, Ryan used Full-Heal, but the feeling on his shoulder didn''te back. "Great¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in anger. Ryan tried to end that fight as fast as possible, but it looked like that had been the wrong approach. In the end, he underestimated the boss for far too long and equipped the Inquisition Crossbow. If he wanted to win that fight, Ryan will have to decrease the boss''s power in a more direct way. Before Ryan could actually use his newly equipped weapon, the boss suddenly made his copies disappear¡­ which was weird. It was even weirder that he still was bleeding the mana liquid through his back. Also, he didn''t take Ryan''s spear from the wound. "For an elder god, you sure need a few tricks, huh," Ryan grinned. "And here was I wondering howe the boss of this dungeon isn''t a werewolf. You did something to that body and now you can assume a physical form on Earth without suffering damage overtime." Ryan didn''t know if he had guessed right, but he assumed that had been the case since the boss looked pretty pissed. Still, for a body like that needs to suffer that many modifications to withstand the power of the dungeon master¡­ just what the hell was that creature? The boss''s body couldn''t be healed by conventional methods. That was why he went as far as creating so many illusions to keep his body safe. Maybe Ryan indeed could win that a bit faster than usual, but it looked like the boss wanted to take him down with him for that disgrace. The beast pointed one hand in Ryan''s direction, and that annoying gravity was back. At the same time, he wrote something in the air while Ryan was struggling, and the air inside the dungeon changed¡­ That wasn''t good. Ryan pointed his crossbow toward the boss and fired. This time, weirdly enough, the monster didn''t try to block the attacks. It looked like that borrowed body could only use so much magic. The boss''s intelligence was being decreased with each shot¡­ probably. Ryan couldn''t confirm it, but despite that, the effects of gravity in his body weren''t decreasing. As if that wasn''t enough, the boss finally finished whatever he was doing. A dark portal appeared in the center of the dungeon, and it began to pull Ryan. At the same time, the center of gravity of the entire ce changed. "You have got to be kidding me¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth. Without thinking too much about it, the boss let his staff be sucked by the portal. Whatever was on the other side, it probably was a safe ce for the creature. Ryan confirmed that since the monster wasn''t resisting that much the portal, only just enough to make sure that Ryan would enter first. While sweating cold, Ryan used Purification and any other spell that he thought it might help in that situation, but they didn''t work. It looked like Ryan would really have to transform into a dragon to escape that mess, but at thest moment, he had another idea. He used Skills Copy and Status Copy, and the effect of the portal decreased a lot on his body. That was the result of bing a magic-oriented fighter by copying the boss. The creature frowned when he noticed that something changed. Still, before the monster could try anything else, Ryan used all his mana to power up the gravity field and pulled the boss faster than he could resist. Much to his surprise, the creature was split in half when his lower half entered the portal. You obtained 500.000 coins. "Holy Freya¡­" Ryan frowned and then sighed in relief when the interior of the dungeon returned its natural state. Ryan let himself fall on the ground to catch his breath and rx a little. It has been a while since a tier two boss spooked him so much, but in the end, he learned his lesson. He couldn''t think he had won the fight based on the level and the types of monsters that a dungeon spawn. "That creature¡­ what was that?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It wasn''t a mutated animal and given that it modified the body of a boss to withstand his power, it certainly served to host a dungeon master. It makes sense since I didn''t find a single creature until now that could have kept erect an illusory barrier this big." Wondering if his vision wasn''t clouded for other types of problems that could be even more disastrous than the powerhouses like Greek gods and Lucifer''s demons, Ryan approached the treasure chest to pick his ss. It looked like Ryan will have to try to expand his domain faster than before in order for these types of problems not to escape his sight again. However, he didn''t have much faith that much could be done before Poseidon finally obtained the chance toe to Earth and show his true might. Chapter 543 - Guard Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guard, Archer, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Guard! You obtained the following skills: Guard''s Vitality, Perseverance, and Stamina Regeneration. Your health and strength will increase by four points. Your stamina, mana, endurance, and willpower will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Guard''s Vitality. Effect: It passively increases your vitality by five points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Perseverance. Effect: It passively increases your willpower by five points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Regeneration. Effect: It passively increases your stamina regeneration by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. While the options Ryan had this time weren''t that impressive, he still left the dungeon feeling quite aplished. He survived one hell of a fight against a tough opponent, after all. Unfortunately, the job wasn''tplete yet. While he was leaving the dungeon, Ryan saw his spears slicing apart several Werewolves. That part of the dungeon was utterly red due to the blood. Still, things wouldn''t be so bad if Ryan only had to see blood, but unfortunately, that wasn''t the case. Before that bloody sight could be engraved in his memories, even more, Ryan grabbed the items the monsters dropped and then teleported to the exit of the dungeon. Although the fightsts longer than Ryan expected, things were still pretty noisy outside the dungeon. Only a few monsters noticed that the guards had been killed, so the vast majority of the troops were fighting the cat-like monsters. Before Ryan could be found by more monsters, he used Teleport and then began to fly above the battlefield. The barrier had disappeared alongside the boss, so Ryan didn''t have to worry about anything. After half an hour, half of the forces that attacked the Werewolves base had been wiped out, so the remaining ones decided to run away since theysted longer and caused a lot of damage considering the fact that they fought against three different types of species. As expected, the monsters ran away to the North, and they suddenly disappeared when they arrived in a mountainous region. Ryan tried to track them down with irvoyance, but he failed due to some trees. Most likely, the trees were a natural defense that the cat-like monsters were using to hide their illusory barrier. "More illusions, huh¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "This is going to be a pain." Suddenly, Ryan felt that weird sensation. He was being watched by someone who had irvoyance. That wasn''t good. He had been discovered too soon. "Are you the one who defeated Set?" When Ryan was about to use Teleport to retreat, he suddenly heard a female voice echoing in the area. That was weird. It looked like a version of Telepathy, but since no one aside from a few exceptions could talk directly to his mind, that woman changed her strategy. "Maybe, who is asking?" Ryan asked. Ryan had no idea who Seth was. If he had to guess, it would be the armadillo-looking boss he just defeated. "It seems you are one of the humans who have been causing havoctely," The woman said. "My name is Isis, and I have an offer for you, young warrior. Help me defeat Seth and his army and I shall reward you ordingly." "Sorry, but I don''t ept work from an employer that I don''t know anything of," Ryan said. "I assume you are the one who decided to attack Set''s base a few hours ago. While I don''t know why you two are fighting, I would like to ask you to fight against each other somewhere else. I can''t have two powerhouses destroying Earth even further." "This isn''t a fight that I wanted, but it is necessary," Isis said. "Set is one of the few who can cause destruction beyond your imagination. Before he causes more grief to my family, I am going to stop him. As long as he stays in this area, I don''t intend to leave." "Well then, if that is the case, we will be neighbors," Ryan said. "That being said, I don''t like noise. You might have a quarrel with this Seth fellow, but that isn''t my problem. If I see you destroying thisnd or doing anything suspicious, you will suffer the same fate that he will have as many times." "You are mad if you think that you can antagonize all the elder gods," Isis said. "This is myst offer, help me defeat Seth and return to Earth before him and I swear to you that I will treat you and your friends like my royal guards. No elder god will offer you anything better or even close to this." "I would be damned if I had fought and survived this far only to bend the knee now to someone like you who did who knows what hidden in these parts," Ryan said. "Here is my counter offer, deactivate your illusory barrier and then stop the creatures that your dungeon is spawning from leaving the dungeon. Show me that much sincerity and I will assure you that your troops will guard Set''s dungeon day in and day out without disturbances." "... Surviving this far made you get ahead of yourself, human," Isis said. "If that is how you want, then you will be a puppet not an ally." After hearing that, Ryan confirmed that the negotiations were over. As much as he hated to let Isis alone for the time being, it couldn''t be helped. However, Ryan decided to strike at the moment she least waits for it. Chapter 544 - Brawler Although Isis and Seth were probably too busy dealing with each other, Ryan decided to y safe and not let them have too many monsters to hunt around their bases. So, he began to hunt for massive concentrations of monsters. "So many problems to deal with, I need to learn how to create copies of myself," Ryan said and then sighed. While Ryan was hunting, he also decided to contact Gustavo and his friends once again. They seemed to be a quite knowledgeable bunch, so they probably knew how those were Seth and Isis. "Gustavo is busy. What do you want?" Bianca asked. "As tactful as ever, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows when he heard Bianca''s voice since it had be naturally annoying in his head. "I wanted to confirm if you guys know about some creatures called Seth and Isis. They are two dungeon masters fighting each other in my country. Still, I am not sure if they are some sort of famous mythological creatures." "What did you study at school if you don''t know about the story of Isis, Set, and Osiris?" Bianca asked. "You know, the usual, math and chemistry. I can''t say that I think mythology or historical facts about other countries could help people like me before things changed," Ryan replied. "Anyway, I don''t like to talk with you the same way as you don''t like to talk to me, so give me just a brief summary about them." "They are considered Egyptian gods, Isis and Osiris were once married, but Seth killed Osiris to take his throne," Bianca exined. That was a really short lecture, but Ryan was satisfied with that much. He already fought Seth and knew what he could do, for now at least. Now that he thought about it, he fought against Osiris while he was in Brazil. The only one covered in mystery was Isis, but while Ryan didn''t know what she could do, he knew how to taunt her. In any case, attacking her base in the next few days and seeding in defeating her is probably impossible. The seventh dungeon break is about to happen, and she has all the reasons to y alert against Ryan. While he was thinking about the best way to proceed, Ryan found a weird goblins dungeon¡­ one that was only spawning shaman goblins. So, he decided to y with them while he decides what to do. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Brawler, Rogue, and Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Brawler! You obtained the following skills: Deadly Fury, Punching Bag, and Bull Rush. Your strength and health will increase by four points. Your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deadly Fury. Effect: It puts you in a state of semi-invincibility where the pain caused by your enemies is decreased exponentially, and you can cause extra damage the more your health decreases. Cost: 50 health per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Punching Bag. Effect: It passively your strength when attacking the same enemy over and over again. The bonus in strength will be equal to the level of the skill per minute. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bull Rush. Effect: It grants you the power to charge at the enemy and cause extra damage the greater the distance between you and the target. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Ryan tried to make some new crossbows by using the goblins'' spirits, but he failed at that. Or it was more urate to say that he wasn''t lucky. In any case, at least he had a good chance to train his elemental resistances and decide what to do. During the time he fought the goblins, Ryan used irvoyance to keep watching things on Set''s camp. As expected, after a full day, the barrier was back, but despite the fact that Ryan could attack at any moment, Isis still her troops to attack the enemy''s camp whenever possible. "I guess her desire for revenge is too strong, and she can''t see that this is a bad move," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway, Seth had to magically modify a werewolf to be able to take over the body and not suffer damage over time, but I didn''t expect that was something he could do so fast." Maybe Ryan was missing something, but he couldn''t be sure what that was without confirming things with his own eyes. He used irvoyance, but the skill failed. As expected, Seth thought of some countermeasures after learning about what Ryan could do. Now that both parties were fully aware of Ryan, he couldn''t just go in and out as much as he wanted. Besides, he couldn''t focus on that area alone. The only thing he could do to minimize the damage Isis and Seth could cause is by letting them go at each other and prevent Isis'' dungeon from breaking for the seventh time. If that were to happen, she would probably have enough strength to crush Set''s army, and that would break the bnce of power. To make sure that Set''s troops won''t cause her, probably again, Isis would increase her strength by making her monsters expand their area of action. As much as letting monsters kill monsters was appealing for Ryan, he knew he couldn''t let that happen so often. Considering all things Ryan had to deal with, he decided to attack Isis'' camp after sunset. While waiting for a few more days would probably make her wear down her troops due to the fear of an attack, Ryan didn''t have time to wait. It was time to put into practice all that training he had in thest few days. Chapter 545 - Power Of The Elder Gods As usual, before an important battle, Ryan spent several hours making potions that might help him in some dire situations. However, after sunset, he didn''t even wait for Isis'' troops to leave their camp and attack Set''s. There was no time to waste, so he immediately teleported to the forest in that mountainous area and then crossed the Illusory barrier that Isis had set. Naturally, he entered by using the Northern side. Ryan wanted to make all the forces avable there focus on him, in case Set''s troops decided to attack once they notice something out of ce. Unless they are stupid enough, they wille from the south. Still, despite everything, Ryan couldn''t help but frown upon crossing the barrier. He found hundreds of those humanoid felines guarding that part of the camp, and they didn''t waste time and began to attack him. As if it were rain, the beasts fired hundreds of Cursed Spheres toward Ryan, but their coordination couldn''t even bepared to what Seth could do. Ryan summoned some Magic Bows and began to massacre the monsters while also moving around by using Evading Shot. Every time he used it, he escaped from the monsters'' radar for a few precious seconds, and he used those moments to decimate dozens of them. Much faster than Ryan expected, the monsters changed their strategy. If Cursed Spheres weren''t fast enough to hit Ryan, they decided to use earth magic. In just a few seconds, Ryan saw his body being covered by dirt. Still, then the same dirt fell on the ground whenever he hit the head of a demi-feline with his magic projectiles. Standing still while trying to kill Ryan with magic wasn''t a good idea, after all. Once again, the monsters changed their strategy. Their magic wasn''t good enough to kill Ryan, so when the second wave of those humanoid cats approached and joined the battle, they decided to start a massive melee. By surrounding him from all sides, Ryan wouldn''t be able to use Evading Shot the way he wanted, so that was more or less the perfect countermeasure against a target that liked to move around too much. However, when the monsters jumped to attack him, they were weed by several spinning spears that reduced their bodies to pieces. Ryan also ran toward the dungeon in the center of the area while firing with his Magic Bows, and no monster managed to survivor in front of him for more than a few moments. Wherever Ryan went, dozens of monsters and a rain of blood followed him, but despite that, he didn''t stop. Even when the blood covering his body made Ryan look even more savage and vicious than the monsters he was fighting, he kept moving forward. At least until he finally arrived at the dungeon and found an army of bosses waiting for him. "This will be a little trickier¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Or not." Ryan pointed his right hand toward the dungeon, and then several Lunar Arrows fell from the sky like shooting stars. The first bosses got caught off-guard and died instantly, but others managed to block the projectiles at the cost of their w-like weapons. While pouring mana potions over his body, Ryan kept firing at them. Until the veryst died. Congrattions! The ss: Artemis'' Disciple has reached level 14. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by twelve points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by six points. "To think that you also would have the power of the elder gods¡­" Ryan heard Isis''s voice once again. "A small fraction, but you still can use it to y my troops nheless." Ryan couldn''t say anything to refute that. If anything, it only confirmed his suspicion that the name of that ss wasn''t just a coincidence. Still, such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he heard Isis'' following words. "¡­ All right," Isis said. "I ept your terms." "What terms?" Ryan frowned. "Don''t you think that you are going to fool me after I havee this far?" "You have to clear the dungeon, so I will let you do that without any interference. That way, you won''t feel threatened by my forces all that much, am I right?" Isis asked. "Just give me your word that you will help me until I decimate Set''s forces. No matter what happens, I can''t let him have more strength than me." "¡­ Why the sudden change of mind?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "As I said, you have and can wield the power of the elder gods," Isis said. "You are not all talk, it seems. I won''t attack anything or anyone in this territory of yours. As long as I return faster than Set, I will be your ally." That seemed too good to be true, but in the end, Ryan just had kept his guard up. Whether Isis is trying to fool him or not, he knew some ways to keep her under vignce, and since she agreed to his terms, Ryan could push a little bit more. Just as Isis said, Ryan wasn''t attacked anymore, and, in the end, he reached thest part of the dungeon and saw the boss just waiting to be in by him. At that point in time, Ryan couldn''t help but worry¡­ things were going weirdly well. Still, suppose Isis was going as far as letting him defeat the dungeon boss without showing any resistance. In that case, he couldn''t imagine what the hell she was nning. In the end, Ryan decided to y his card that he had stored to enrage Isis. If she does something, Ryan would confirm if she was lying or not. "Before this, I need to tell you something," Ryan said. "I found Osiris and defeated him, or at least a weakened form that he had assumed here on Earth." Silence took over the entire dungeon¡­ it looked like Ryan should have chosen his words more carefully. Chapter 546 - Revenge Crossbow "¡­ Is that so," Isis said. "So, he is trying to return as well." Isis''s words kind of surprised Ryan. She didn''t seem as mad as he had imagined considering that she hated Seth for what he had done to her husband. Maybe that was an act to make Ryan drop his guard, but she would need to do more for that to happen. "So, when are you going to attack me?" Ryan asked. "Apparently you misunderstand something about this situation," Isis said. "Osiris forgot about his past life whenever he dies and revives. So, he forgot about me and our son. He needs to achieve the same thing as the other dungeon masters to be able to revive on Earth again, but that doesn''t mean anything. We cannot have our old life, so as long as you face him like a true warrior, I don''t see why I should hate you." That was really weird andplicated. Then again, it would be even weirder if the life of those elder gods were something simple. Maybe Ryan''s persecutions instincts were too strong, but he couldn''t believe blindly on what Isis said. Regardless, he defeated the dungeon boss without issues, so now he was forced to help her. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Iron Fist, Sentinel, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Iron Fist! You obtained the following skills: Ghost Punch, Heroic Martial Arts, and Chakra. Your strength and health will increase by six points, your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ghost Punch. Effect: It grants you the power to punch your enemies even when they aren''t close to you by causing a shockwave filled with mana. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heroic Martial Arts. Effect: It increases the power of your attacks when attacking by using fists and kicks by three percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Chakra. Effect: It grants you the chance to restore some of your health and stamina at the cost of some of your mana. It also decreases the effects of negative status by a percentage that will be equal to the level of the skill. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Isis''s dungeon was a tier three, but now that he thought about it, it made sense since her minions could face several species of wolves at the same time. "Are you going to keep your word?" Isis asked. "Sure, but if you don''t mind, I will keep some golems here," Ryan said. "You need to understand why I am cautious." "As long as I have an edge over Seth, I don''t care about anything else," Isis said. When Ryan left the dungeon, he saw an army of werewolves, Dire Wolves, and Desert Wolves attacking the camp. As expected, given how much manpower he lost thanks to Ryan in the previous night, he would try to do the same when Ryan caused a ruckus on the enemy''s camp as well. However, Seth never imagined that Ryan would clear the dungeon so fast and even help the Demi-Felines hunt his troops. While Isis''s army was holding them back, Ryan wiped out Seth''s minions from a distance pretty easily. Once again, Ryan was reminded how good it was to have an army of really sapient beings on his side. Seth''s minions tried to run away, but Ryan destroyed the army that has left their camp before they could escape with his Magic Bows. In the end, Ryan kept attacking Seth''s camp since Isis''s minions were too bloodthirsty. "Now I feel like I am on the bullies'' side," Ryan thought and furrowed his eyebrows. In the end, the fight didn''tst even for an entire night. It was only natural since Ryan managed to infiltrate Seth''s camp and defeat a lot of monsters previously. Besides, Isis''s army could attack the same camp every night despite having fewer troops. When the fight was over, Ryan made sure to put three Golems inside Isis dungeon to guard thest part and the entrance. He also put the other three at the entrance of Seth''s dungeon. It was annoying but defeating him now was too risky, and since Ryan wouldn''t obtain a new ss, the risks weren''t that necessary. "You have kept your word and helped me much faster than I predicted," Isis suddenly said. "I also give you my word that I won''t do anything that will damage your people or yournds. It is not like I was interested in this ce anyway." Ryan frowned when he heard. As expected, beings like Seth and Isis were probably trying to return by using dungeons in their homnd. While that also means that Isis could be up to no good somewhere else, Ryan didn''t have the leisure to care about ces so far beyond his reach. "Here is an extra and a sign to prove that I am serious," Isis said and then made a dark crossbow appear before Ryan. Revenge Crossbow (+25) Effect: at the cost of one hundred points of mana, it grants the user the power to fire bolts that cause extra damage based on your lost life. The extra damage caused will be equal to the percentage of your lost health and can reach a max of twenty-five percent. Dexterity + 350, Intelligence + 175. Durability: 250/250 "If you agree to help me in the future, I will make sure to reward with more weapons like this," Isis said. "Naturally, I won''t force you to do anything that will cause harm to your people." Chapter 547 - Radiel In the end, Ryan returned to his domain while feeling a bit conflicted about the whole situation he just witnessed. Not only did he see a dungeon master creating an alliance with others, but Ryan also defeated one of them, but also joined forces with another and then received an incredibly powerful weapon. Ryan had no intention of lowering his guard yet, but maybe he should change his perspective for some things. Apparently, not all dungeon masters were evil or wanted to dominate Earth. Some of them just had other goals that weren''t even close to world domination. While Ryan was thinking about that, he saw a weird creature in the middle of his domain. Since the creature had a body that was white and blue and also had a familiar presence, Ryan didn''t have to think too much about it before he could see who that was. It was Femradiel in her new body, but much to Ryan''s disappointment, that body was more like a bird than the body of a dragon. It was like Ice Eagle, but the new body had a tail-like thing that had several branches. It certainly wasn''t the body of an Eagle. "Ah, you came much sooner than I expected and ruined the surprise," Femradiel said. "So, this is the new form that Alissa inspired you to create¡­ I should have known that she would cause problems in some sort of way with her visit," Ryan said and then sighed. "You sure like toin," Femradiel said. "I will have you know that this body has much more potential than the others." "Why a bird?" Ryan asked. "I am surprised that you would create a body that isn''t that close to the body of dragons." Radiel (Ice Phoenix) ¨C Lv 30 Health: 30.000 Mana: 55.000 Stamina: 25.000 Strength: 3000 (+ 500) Dexterity: 2500 (+ 200) Speed: 2500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 4500 (+ 900) Endurance: 2000 (+ 300) Control: 1500 (+ 200) Mentality: 3000 (+ 300) Luck: 400 Recovery: 15.000 (+ 3000) Willpower: 3000 (+ 300) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Frozen Touch Lv 50, Frozen Charge Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Intelligence Lv 40, Augmented Recovery Lv 40, Frozen Petals Lv 30 Spells: Ice Spear Lv 60, Snow Storm Lv 50, Ice Meteor Lv 30 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 200, Cold Immunity Lv 100, Icebound Lv 100 Ryan was surprised by the skills and status of his new familiar. No wonder Femradiel said that the new body had a lot more potential than the others. That was the absolute truth. "This is not a bird, this is the body of Ice Phoenix," Femradiel said. "Your sense of aesthetics is so weird¡­ only big and scary things like Tyrant dragons are interesting to you?" "Yes," Ryan replied. In the end, Femradiel could only sigh at Ryan''s sincerity. His sense of aesthetics was really distorted, but only because he became abat machine in thest seven months. Regardless, Ryan at least was expecting a lot from Femradiel''s new body, even though the Ice Phoenix was smaller than a human. "Anyway, your naming sense sucks as usual," Ryan said. "Also, how do you n to cast an Ice Meteor inside dungeons? What does this Frozen Petal skill do?" "I don''t want to hear that from you who named a Warg as Furball," Femradiel said. "I can decide at will where the Ice Meteor will be created, so it isn''t a problem. As for thest thing you asked. You at least know what a phoenix can do, right? You see these tails? They represent how many times this body can be revived every day. For each ten levels of the skill, I can revive one more time every day. The only downside is that I have to charge the skill with mana, one million points of mana are needed for that." Despite the absurd cost, the skill still was very useful. No wonder Femradiel had been busy in thest few days and didn''t even notice the things Ryan experienced with Seth and Isis. "You look slightly troubled; did I miss something while I was busy?" Femradiel asked. In the end, Ryan decided to tell Femradiel what happened since he didn''t have anything better to do and because he needed someone else''s perspective in the matter. Maybe he was missing something¡­ "Well, I think you graduated from your normal status this time," Femradiel said. "What do you mean?" Ryan asked. "This time you ended a situation by making an enemy and a possible ally," Femradiel replied. "Knowing your record, that is a pretty big aplishment." "¡­ Do you think I missed something?" Ryan asked. "Don''t know, I wasn''t there to see things in detail," Femradiel replied. "But based on the things you told me, I guess you did the right thing. If this Isis went as far as to let you kill her minions only to obtain an ally in a fight against the other dungeon master, either she is crazy or she really was telling the truth. Maybe both. Well, knowing you even if she is nning to backstab youter, she probably won''t find a good opportunity." "I don''t think she will," Ryan said. "Considering that she didn''t try to ally herself with other dungeon masters here, her goal truly is to keep Seth on check and build her strength to defeat him once and for all¡­ if that is actually possible." Even while using a minion, Seth was a master of illusions. Certainly, defeat a foe like that won''t be easy. That was one of the reasons Ryan didn''t feel like fighting him again for the time being. "What is your goal now?" Femradiel asked. "Make sure to keep you busy," Ryan replied. "I will need you to find any other weird ces like the ones Seth and Isis created in this country. I can''t let beings like those elder gods creating massive armies to do whatever the hell they want." "Even my tracking powers have limits," Femradiel said. "You shouldn''t put too much trust on them." Chapter 548 - Analysis Instead of letting Femradiel train her new body, he decided to take her to check things all over the country. By using Teleport, they managed to check all the states in a single day. While Ryan didn''t have many chances to level up some skills or obtain a new ss, at least he managed to map the country and find the ces where there were massive concentrations of monsters. Fortunately, there were no other dungeon masters like Seth and Isis, so things were rtively safe in his country. While Ryan was working on that, things were taking another weird turn in the secret base that was being controlled by Mark. Since they didn''t have the need to look for new dungeons or new threats, they have been keeping a close eye on Ryan. Despite the darkness of the night, they saw him fighting alongside the Demi-felines against the Werewolves. "What do you people think of this?" Mark asked after making the few members of his circle of trust watch the footage of the two days Ryan stayed in Utah. Even though the movie''s speed had been increased by eight times, they still had to watch a pretty boring movie thatsted six hours. Despite that, everyone in the room watched everything attentively. "It looked like Ryan noticed something amiss that we didn''t notice," Cole replied. "He took action to eliminate the threat as usual, but then¡­" "He joined the side of one of the monsters¡­" Anna finished Cole''s sentence. "¡­ It sure looks that way," Cole said, slightly annoyed. "What do you think, Carter?" Mark asked. "Can you give us a more cold analysis about this?" "If I have to guess, based on Ryan''s implementation, he talked with the dungeon master of the second dungeon more than once," Carter said. "In a certain part of the footage, he prepared to attack, but then suddenly stopped for some reason. I would bet that was the first time the dungeon master contacted him to offer something." "They offered him something, but then he refused at first?" Mark frowned. "Why?" "Ryan is pretty reckless and has plenty of confidence in his skills, the fact that he survived alone until now only shows that," Carter nodded. "The first offer probably hadn''t been enough for Ryan, but then after he massacred the guards around the dungeon, things changed. The dungeon master probably recognized his skills since the barrier was lifted the very moment Ryan crossed it." For a few moments, the whole room stayed silent while the people there absorbed that information. It was hard to believe that an alien sapient creature would recognize the power and even the existence of a human. Few people in the room had the chance to fight highly intelligent monsters, so they had a hard time grasping the true meaning of that. "I apologize for saying this, but¡­ is this conversation really that important?" Tristan asked. "... What do you mean by that, Tristan?" Natalia asked while ring at her little brother. "What I mean is¡­ Ryan''s domain has several dungeons that only show how much dungeon masters are trying to kill him," Tristan said. "While I do believe this while the situation is a bit weird, I don''t think we have enough Intel to conclude that Ryan joined the monster''s side." "No one said that yet," Mark said. "Yeah, but pretty much everyone here is already thinking that," Tristan said. "We are only trying to find new clues to confirm that. Look, I once respected Ryan, but now I think his actions are unjustified. However, that doesn''t mean I will look for a way to find fault in every single of his actions." Once again, the entire room fell silent. Tristan''s words annoyed a few but made the vast majority realize that they indeed were doing that¡­ trying to find more reasons to hate Ryan and treat him as an enemy. That was another downside of the fact that all the inhabitants of the secret base had be more battle-oriented as ofte. They were making their choices based on how much power or other benefits they would obtain and not how their actions would improve the lives of others in the future. "... Let''s proceed to the next subject of this meeting," Mark said. "Is Daniel''s team working as hard as usual? How is their physical condition on the battlefield?" "They are trying pretty hard to obtain new sses and level up the ones they already have," Katelyn replied. "All those who trained to warn them that they should slow down a little bit have beenpletely ignored by them." "When was thest time they returned to the base?" Mark asked. "Ten days ago," Katelyn replied. Many people sighed when they heard that. Staying outside wasn''t only dangerous. It was also very ufortable. Despite that, Daniel, Hond, Lilian, Luke, Hugo, and Ang have been doing that pretty much whenever possible. They have been the ones who felt more ashamed and angrier when Ryan caused the dungeon breaks. They couldn''t stop him when he put the lives of their friends on the line, and now, they are dead set in obtaining the power to prevent anything like that from happening again. When Daniel obtained a domain stone, the first thing he did was use it and then give full rights to control his domain to his father. Thanks to Mark''s help, pretty much everyone in the base donated thousands of coins to increase the size and the other aspects of the domain. Still, despite that, Daniel and the others had their own goals. In the end, Mark ended the meeting feeling that he had wasted a lot of time. Keeping an eye on what Ryan was doing was necessary, but too hard since he could teleport. Besides, it wasn''t like anything will change if he or others think that he is up to no good. There was a possibility that someday they would have to fight him. Still, Mark was fully aware that only a few dozen would be able to endure his attacks. Chapter 549 - Squire While Mark and the others were having the meeting, Alissa was ying with Arthur, Mia, and Zoe. However, at some point, she stopped ying since she began tough too hard. "Alissa, you shouldn''t spy on others, even less so when Arthur is watching," Mia said while she was using Meditation and training the skill Fly that she just obtained. "You are setting a bad example." "If you haven''t opened your mouth to say exactly what I was doing, Arthur would never know," Alissa furrowed her eyebrows. "Anyway, I just can''t help it. The meetings here are always just so funny. Your friends just spent six hours watching one hell of a boring movie in an extremely low resolution. Talk about being bored." "Alissa, you shouldn''t spy on others. That is bad," Arthur said. "My name is not Alissa. My name is mama," Alissa said. "Call me mama, and then I will buy you the Fly tome." "Mama said that is bad," Arthur said. Arthur already was as big as a three years old boy. Despite the fact that he was actually seven months old, he already could think and talk like a normal kid around his age. Until now, no one noticed anything out of ce due to his growth speed, but Mia still was attentive to all details. "Did they talk about big bro?" Zoe asked. "Naturally, and that was why I wasughing so hard," Alissa replied. "They were considering the possibility that Ryan joined the monster''s side. He is so stupidly stubborn that in four months, he only used Femradiel''s power three times. And your friends think they joined the monster''s side after talking with a dungeon master two times." Although the age difference was noticeable, Zoe also grew up at the same speed as Arthur. However, even though she grew taller in those six months, no one could say if she had matured mentally by that same amount. That was difficult since she was young, and the atmosphere inside the base wasn''t thatfortable anymore. Besides, only a few people could have contact with Zoe due to her skills and importance to the ce. "Who is big bru?" Arthur asked. "A guy who is a real pain in the ass," Alissa replied. "Despite that, he is always at the core of some very funny situations." "He is funny?" Arthur asked. "But why does mama look sad when someone talks about him?" "Because, like I said, he is a pain in the ass," Alissa said. "Ass¡­ ass," Arthur repeated and then began tough. "That is funny, like big bru." "Yes, Ryan is an ass," Alissa shrugged. "Anyway, things sure are quiet around here these days. For the better or, the worse, Daniel and his groupies always made this ce livelier." "... Daniel''s team is trying hard to be stronger," Mia replied. "Hond and he already surpassed my rank." "Boys are always sopetitive¡­" Alissa said and then sighed. "Anyway, you truly aren''t interested in using your domain stone, am I right? Still, you should fight a little harder to make sure that you won''t lose by losing your current position in the rank and thus hand it over forcefully the domain stone to someone else." "¡­ Yeah," Mia said. Alissa had control of her feelings; Mia was even more annoying than usual with herck of energy. In any case, even Alissa was having a hard timetely staying in high spirits with the things that were happening as ofte. First of all, Orgar was sleeping quite a lot, and now Daniel and the others were on a quest to obtain power. If Alissa didn''t know any better, it looked like her position in the secret base was losing power and influence over time. While she wasn''t that fond of the ce, it was where she could find Arthur and Zoe. Besides, that was the home of her followers. After watching all the work Ryan had to deal with in his domain, Alissa concluded that it was too much of a hassle to keep one. While Alissa still knew that Ryan''s approach was kind of messy since he was making enemies left and right, she still didn''t feel like having one. While looking around and trying to find something to do to get rid of the heavy mood in the base. Alissa had an interesting idea. One that would amuse her quite a lot and perhaps make everyone stop wasting time wondering about useless things. ----- ----- After Ryan and Femradiel finished the job of checking all states, they found a slimes'' dungeon that had never been cleared and, in the end, they killed all the monsters in a couple of minutes when Ryan used Ice Breath and covered in ice several mountains thanks to the amount of mana he recovered. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Squire, Thief, and Novice. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Squire! You obtained the following skills: Longsword Mastery, Swordsmanship, and Provoke. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your speed, health, mana, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Longsword Master. Effect: It passively increases the power of your attacks when using swords that requires two hands to be used. The extra damage will increase by five points multiplied by the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Swordsmanship. Since you already have this skill, it will level up five times. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Provoke. Effect: It grants you the chance to provoke a target, increasing their physical attack by decreasing their defense. Each level of the skill decreases the foe''s defense by one percent per level. Cost: 10 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Without wasting any more time, Ryan and Femradiel returned to their domain¡­ only to find some unexpected visitors. This time, even Ryan couldn''t help but open his eyes widely in surprise. Alissa brought with her, Mia, Zoe, and Arthur. Chapter 550 - Battle-freak "What is the meaning of this, Alissa?" Ryan asked while ring at Alissa. "Wow, what a piercing re," Alissa said, and despite her words, she was smiling. "I just bring some friends to y in your backyard. That is no big deal, right?" "Do you have any idea how dangerous and imprudent your actions are?" Ryan asked. "Don''t start a lecture now, Ryan," Alissa said. "Besides, they wanted to see you. You can''tin since by solving a problem, you caused another. The atmosphere in the base isn''t suited for women and children." "Even though you are a woman and also a child, I don''t think you are suited to decide that," Ryan said. "I am twenty!" Alissa protested. "I think your mental age is even lower than Zoe''s," Ryan said. In the end, Ryan sighed and just epted what had happened. His re and harsh words were scaring the visitors, so he took a deep breath to calm down his nerves. Even Zoe who more or less knew Ryan''s usual behavior felt like she had done something bad by epting Alissa''s idea. "I would say for you guys to enter and sit down, but there is no ce to enter or sit down here," Ryan massaged his eyebrows. "That is not a problem. I carry with me many things," Alissa said and then took out a lot of chairs and a table from her storage dimension. "Unlike Ryan, I don''t only store weapons in my vault." "Are you angry, big bro?" Zoe asked. "Not because of you," Ryan replied. "You can rx since your nervousness is also making Arthur quite wary of me." Mia and Zoe were holding Arthur''s hands. Thest time Ryan saw him, he barely could stand alone, but now he was big enough even to run while tripping only a few times. Ryan thought Arthur would grow up to be a cheeky child, but much to his surprise, he looked pretty wary and perhaps scared of Ryan. He was looking at him as if Ryan was the strangest and most suspicious-looking person he had ever seen. Arthur''s instincts were probably right. "¡­ It has been a while, Ryan," Mia finally said. "I don''t think so," Ryan said. "We met when I caused the dungeon breaks near the base. Anyway, there is nothing to see here, so I have no idea why you guys came. Do you want to clear the dungeons?" "You are so bad at receiving others," Alissa said. "When are you going to build some buildings here? What do you do when it rains? Anyway, we have tough a little. I am going to share with you some funny things I heardtely." Alissa is bing even more unnerving by the day. That was weird since she was supposed to be fusing with Orgar''s spirits, and he certainly wasn''t that annoying, much less a joker. Regardless, Alissa''s attitude to always do things at her own pace lightened the mood. In the end, Alissa just told Ryan what she had told Mia and the others regarding the meeting that Mark and the others had. Just like Mia, Ryan told Alissa to fix that bad habit of hers, but it didn''t look like she had any intention of doing that. "It looks like some idiots think I am stupid enough to join forces with other dungeon masters," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I don''t want to force others to think that I am smart, but it is annoying that they think I am that stupid." "So, what happened when you attacked those ces?" Alissa asked. Ryan doesn''t owe anyone any exnation, but in the end, he decided to talk about what happened since Zoe looked interested. Arthur''s opinion of him was already pretty low. Ryan could tell since the kid was pretty quiet, and at that age, most kids weren''t that quiet. "Elder gods¡­ from Egypt," Alissa said those words while showing a rare serious expression. "Well, this situation doesn''t surprise me all that much. Dragons also have their set of values and goals, so it is only natural that such beings would be the same." After that, things stayed quiet for a while. Ryan was used to that, but his visitors looked pretty ufortable with the silence. In the end, they only tried to find something interesting to see in the distance, but they only saw a ce that had been devastated by a nuke. There was nothing to see there¡­ aside from his summoned monsters and the Hydra that Ryan killed. "So, this is one of the Hydras Gustavo and your noisy friends mentioned," Alissa and then approached the body that had been mostly eaten by Furball. "I can see that you had a hard time fighting this." "How so?" Ryan asked. "You only brought a single body, after all," Alissa said. "Anyway, you are awfully quiet today, Femradiel." "This mood is too heavy, even for dragons," Femradiel said. "I want to resume my training, but I guess that would be too rude to you." "It looks like someone else also had be a battle-freak," Alissa said. "Anyway, I am bored since Ryan is a terrible host, so I bet I can help you with this training of yours." "I am grateful for your assistance," Femradiel said. Ryan was one hundred percent sure that Alissa left to make things as awkward as possible for him, but in the end, he only felt thankful for that. The noisy person finally left, and Ryan finally had some peace of mind. That being said, after a couple of minutes, Ryan began to feel that he was wasting time¡­ he should be hunting monsters, not watching his acquaintances spar. Upon noticing that Mia and Zoe were fidgeting since they didn''t have anything better to do, Ryan told them to clear some dungeons. Even if they were only two, they certainly were strong enough to easily clear the tier two dungeons. "At least they know that they can''t waste this good opportunity," Ryan muttered. At the same time, he watched those three heading toward the dungeons. Chapter 551 - Preparations Although Ryan knew that Mia and Zoe could protect themselves in tier two dungeons, he decided to stay behind in order to make sure that things wouldn''t get out of hand. Trusting Alissa too much wasn''t a good idea since she was too wild, so Ryan spent his days creating potions and increasing the types of potions he could make. Based on Ryan''s estimations, when the Alchemy skill reaches level one hundred, Ryan will be able to make potions that boost all status. Knowing that Ryan couldn''t help but wonder: what will happen if he continues to level up the skill while using Draconic Transformation? "That is certainly something I look forward to," Ryan muttered to himself. "I only need to do something about my pride." While Ryan was thinking about that, he saw Mia, Zoe, and Arthur leaving the dungeon. Ryan decided to use Appraisal on the kid, only to see that Arthur had already more than three sses. As if that wasn''t enough, all of his statuses were pretty high for a kid of his age. To the point where he could cause a lot of destruction if he were to try some mischief. Despite that, it didn''t look like Mia and Alissa had problems with that. "I suppose they concluded it would be good for him to have some sses, at least from the dungeons that can be easily cleared," Ryan nodded to himself. "While they probably won''t let Arthur join the fights anytime soon, it will only be harder to obtain more sses and skills in the future." Ryan considered the possibility of using the Teacher ss and teaching Arthur some skills, but others probably did that. Besides, Ryan didn''t want to grow overly attached to the kid. Most of his thoughts considered his and Zoe''s safety, after all, and Ryan certainly didn''t want to think more about them. "I forgot to mention it, Ryan," Alissa said in her draconic form while she was blocking Femradiel''s Ice Spears in her Ice Phoenix form. "I obtained two of those special sses. They were pretty awesome." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. "As you already know, I don''t ept thanks, only coins." "Actually, I wanted to exchange information with you about those sses," Alissa said. "That way, we will learn the right sses to sacrifice, and them obtain the sses and skills we want." That was interesting and a pretty good idea. So, Ryan couldn''t help but think why he didn''t consider that before¡­ probably because few people could reach at that level of progress in a few months. Besides, even fewer people would feelpelled to exchange such valuable pieces of information. Without making much of a fuss, Ryan told Alissa the sses he sacrificed to obtain Artemis'' Disciple ss. Although he didn''t think it would be much useful to her, he also told her about the ones he used to obtain Frozen Spellcaster. "Somehow, I don''t feel like learning Lunar Arrow. That skill kinds of traumatized me," Alissa said. "Anyway, by sacrificing the sses Knight, Sorcerer, and Priest, I obtained the Valkyrie ss. Also, by sacrificing Combat Ranger, Thief, and Demon Hunter, I obtained the Demonic Trapsmith ss. My two sses are cooler, so I win." Ryan had no idea what Alissa was trying to win, but he couldn''t say that she was wrong. After she exined the skills she got, Ryan truly believed that she had won in all sense. With Valkyrie ss, she could buff arge-sized army and even prevent deaths while leading the attacks. The Demonic Trapsmith ss could do exactly that, trap demons. However, the skills only worked in demons much weaker than Alissa. She thinks that she will be able to seal a high-leveled demon in a trap in the future. Still, Ryan wasn''t so sure about that. "I am pretty sure only women can be Valkyries, so I don''t think this piece of information will be that useful," Ryan said. In the end, Alissa kicked Femradiel''s ass for a while, but then she decided to stop since it was gettingte, and she was smart enough to understand that things might be problematic if she doesn''t return Mia, Zoe, and Arthur to the dungeon as soon as possible. "I guess it is time to go," Alissa said. "Next time, I will bring my guys to clear the new dungeons, and then we will train again. Look forward to having your ass kicked nicely." "Bye, big bro," Zoe said. Ryan hesitated in saying anything, but at least he managed to wave his right hand. Mia also hesitated in saying anything, but since Ryan didn''t have been that difficult, she mustered her courage. "Until next time, Ryan," Mia said. "Yeah," Ryan nodded. Alissa and the others soon disappeared in the distance since she had put some type of high movement speed spell somewhere around. Things finally got quiet again, and Ryan sighed in relief. Despite that, he felt slightly troubled due to a weird feeling inside him. It was annoying to admit, but Ryan felt refreshed since he truly managed to forget about fighting for an entire day. "I can''t rx even for a second, huh," Ryan said and then sighed. "Hey, Femradiel. What are you going to do now? Keep another dungeon in check?" "That was the idea. The Banshee''s dungeon already is causing a lot of problems," Femradiel said. "That being said, my Wyrm and Drake form already are powerful enough to be of some assistance to you, so we can leave those two dungeons in the hands of your golems if the necessity arises." "Ryan," Gustavo said via telepathy. "We are nning to attack the Hydra''s dungeon. Are you going to help us?" It looked like Ryan was going to face some action again, but in the ocean, Femradiel wouldn''t be of any help. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 15 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 13 (+ 03 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 48th Health: 5615/5615 (12,62/s) Mana: 7405/7405 (12,62/s) Stamina: 7725/7725 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+588) (+130) Dexterity: 5600 (+4555) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2250) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+1854) (+33) Endurance: 1158 (+449) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2220) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+583) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+75) Recovery: 3800 (+3000) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+589) (+40) Coins: 12.252.333 Status: 150 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Arrow Shower Lv 54 (+ 10 UP), Provoke Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Ma Lv Max (+ 05 UP), True Sniping Lv 13 (+ 04) Cold Blood Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Killing Spree Lv 11 (+ 03 UP), Longsword Mastery Lv 01 Spells: Search Lv 25 (+ 09 UP), Radar Lv 49 (+ 09 UP), Teleport Lv 49 (+ 10 UP), Lunar Arrow Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 57 (+ 04 UP), Fast Conjuration Lv 19 (+ 10 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 79 (+ 06 UP), Sorcerer Lv 56 (+ 06 UP), Sniper Lv 93 (+ 08 UP), Weapons Master Lv 81 (+ 06 UP), Sentinel Lv 84 (+ 08 UP), Ranger Lv 69 (+ 08 UP), Dark yer Lv 14 (+ 05 UP), Silent Killer Lv 19 (+ 03 UP), Hexde Lv 42 (+ 06 UP), Brawler Lv 01, Iron Fist Lv 01, Squire Lv 01 Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 54 (+ 04 UP), Alchemist Lv 64 (+ 06 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 552 - It Cant Be Helped "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "I find it hard to believe that you guys came up with a n so quickly." "Yeah, about that¡­ we are losing too much mana and coins thanks to the continuous attacks of the Hydras," Gustavo replied. "At any moment, we might end up losing our final line of defense. Everything is ready for evacuation if that is to happen, but we can''t let things reached that point." "You didn''t tell me what your n is yet," Ryan said. "There is no n involved. We will fight the Hydras in their terrain," Gustavo said. "Winning this fight is probably impossible since they had the chance to level up and grow in numbers for seven months, but we need to at least decrease their strength before the next dungeon break. The n is simple, we will fight underwater in our draconic forms together." "You weren''t joking when you said there is no n involved¡­" Ryan frowned. "Are you guys seriously that desperate?" "Yeah, like I said, we even prepared a total evacuation, but then Alissa mentioned that you can use Teleport, so I decided to take this chance and at least try something," Gustavo replied. Ryan sighed. Alissa and her big mouth¡­ while he couldn''t see much sense in hiding that skill from people like Gustavo, Ryan still wanted to keep certain skills as hidden as possible from monsters and dungeon masters. Draconic Transformation was at the top of that list, but if Ryan uses that to fight the Hydras, then his n will fall apart. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ryan wasn''t that interested in participating in that mission. A trump card like Draconic Transformation wasn''t something thates around that often. Then again, what would be the use of a trump card if he never uses it? As Gustavo said, winning that fight before the next dungeon break is probably impossible, but dying Poseidon''s ns was absolutely necessary. "I suppose it can''t be helped. Count me in," Ryan said. "Great, having you around will definitely decrease our chances of failure," Gustavo said. "Our objective is to let you focus on using Teleport if things get dicey and save our asses, but you can attack as you see fit." "What about Lucas and Alissa?" Ryan asked. "Lucas is too busy with the arrival of some new dungeons in his country," Gustavo said. "As for Alissa, we understand that she is the strongest of us, and she isn''t the type who holds back, but we decided to let her out of this in order to keep her true power hidden. We have six days before the next dungeon break, so when are you nning toe?" "I will probably arrive before sunrise tomorrow," Ryan said while he was watching the sunset. "Great, we will be waiting for you," Gustavo said. Ryan sighed when the call ended. Although fighting with the other five that could use Draconic Transformation was better than fighting alone, he still felt like sighing. "It looks like I will have to stay on guard duty," Femradiel said. "Yeah¡­ your three forms aren''t suited for underwaterbat," Ryan nodded. "If only you had created a Tyrant body instead of an Ice Phoenix¡­" "It wouldn''t change anything. Such a body would probably sink and would be too slow for close-rangedbat," Femradiel said. "Well, despite that, someone will have to keep an eye on things while you are away." Ryan nodded. That was unavoidable. He couldn''t leave his domain defenseless while he will stay several days away. Even if he rushes, Ryan couldn''t just go back and from Brazil in just a couple of minutes, and that was enough time for any dungeon master to cause beyond repair damage. "Look on the bright side, while using Draconic Transformation, you will have the chance to level your sses faster," Femradiel said. "With some luck, you might obtain two or perhaps even more special sses." Femradiel wasn''t that optimistic, so Ryan couldn''t help but frown. Regardless, before departing, Ryan bought several potions and then began to summon thousands of golems that Femradiel will use in case something happens. Guarding ten dungeons wasn''t something easy, after all. In the end, Ryan even let some of his potions that could temporarily boost the status and gave them to Femradiel to use in came of emergency. Despite everything, she was a prideful dragon, so there was a chance that she wouldn''t use it. Still, she would do everything necessary not to let Ryan down, so she would be forced to use it if she doesn''t have any other choice. "I don''t think anything troublesome will happen while I am away, not even I can be that unlucky, but you should contact me if anything out of the ordinary happens," Ryan said. "Why are you so sure about that?" Femradiel asked. "Because the dungeon break is happening, and all dungeon masters probably are saving some coins to have enough in case they seed," Ryan replied. "Anyway, I am going. Don''t do anything I wouldn''t do." To make sure no one would follow him by using irvoyance or anything else, Ryan waited until the sky got clouded at midnight. After using Teleport, he reappeared dozens of kilometers above ground level and kept using Teleport at that altitude. Even dungeon masters probably will have a hard time feeling his presence there. For the first time in a good while, Ryan felt nervous before a hunt. The enemies this time were several levels beyond anything else he had faced thus far. Despite that, Ryan was quite excited. To the point where he was questioning his sanity since the chances of him dying were pretty high. "Although this feeling is quite worrisome, everything will be fine as long as I don''t get carried away," Ryan muttered to himself. "Just to make sure, I also need to capture some of the Hydras and make some equipment that might be used in our draconic forms. It will be a pain to make them, but it will be useful during the mission." Chapter 553 - Role Just as expected, Ryan arrived one hour before sunrise in Rio de Janeiro. Fortunately, he still remembered where he could find the building which Gustavo and his friends used during their meetings. Much to his surprise, despite the time, things were already pretty intense in the area. While only Ryan and Gustavo''s group would actively participate in the battle, others would have to guard the dungeons nearby and prepare for a fight in case the attack group suddenly retreats. Fortunately, when Ryan suddenly arrived, Carlos was nearby to notice him. The middle-aged man who was losing the fight against baldness quickly weed Ryan and guided him toward where the others were. "I am grateful for your assistance and foring to help us at such short notice," Carlos said. "No problem," Ryan said. "It is not like I am not going to gain anything in exchange for this work." "So, you are really looking forward to some rewards," Bianca said. Unfortunately, Ryan and Carlos had arrived at their destination pretty soon, and Bianca heard that. She was a difficult person, and she was as annoying as Anna. That was probably why Ryan never wondered too much as to why he never liked her. "Thanks foring, Ryan," Gustavo said. "Our supplies will be distributed soon. You can rest while you wait for it. Aside from that, everything else is pretty much ready." "Is that so?" Ryan asked. "Anyway, are we just going to move in a straight line toward the dungeon, or will we defeat the Hydras close to the coast and then proceed slowly as we kill them?" "We never tried to face them underwater, so we thought taking things slowly to gain experience and see bow battles underwater can proceed, but since you have experience fighting them, we will hear it." "I don''t have much experience fighting them, and I never fought them in Draconic form, so I can''t say anything useful," Ryan said. "I fought the Hydra like this, and the beast pretty much kicked my ass even after I filled its mouth with spears and exploded it with a Fire Golem. What I can say for certain is that they won''t let any of us go if we damage them to a certain extent. Those creatures are extremely prideful and won''t let their prey go away. They will wait in the shadows until we make a mistake." "I see¡­ it seems taking them down as fast as possible seems the most efficient way to deal with them," Gustavo said. "If that is the case, we should attack smaller groups and immobilize them while some of us will focus on causing damage," Paulo said. "Those who have powerful magic that can paralyze or even slow down some foes should focus on immobilizing the Hydras." "I guess that should work, but only Fernanda and Ryan can use that type of magic," Gustavo said. "Besides, to make sure that the ambushes will always surprise the monsters, Ryan should focus solely on teleporting us before the start of the fights." That seemed logical, but it looked like Ryan won''t have much time to create items or even enchant them with Seal. Hydras had a pretty long tracking range, so before and after the battle, Ryan would have to focus on teleporting everyone around to decrease the chances of things going South. At least at the beginning of the fights while everyone obtains some battle experience. "Most elemental attacks won''t work underwater, so you guys have other means to attack from a distance and cause some real damage?" Ryan asked. "We forged some special spears that we will use alongside with Throw since we don''t have other long-range weapons that will fit our hands in the Draconic form," Gustavo replied. "Still, before properly using them, we should see if the first strategy is useful. Fernanda will be Teleported behind a Hydra, and then we will attack with punches and kicks." Seeing dragons punching and kicking probably will be something funny to see. Still, Ryan would be lying if he says that he doesn''t want to see a dragon fighting up close without relying on mana. In any case, when the potions arrived and they were divided among those six, Ryan noticed that he was the only one who could use long-ranged attacks without elemental spells. Ryan literally took all the DEX potions for himself since he was the only archer of the group. Things will beplicated if their spears break since only Fernanda could use an element underwater that wouldn''t lose any power. Carlos was a specialist in Earth magic due to his dragons. Gustavo was in a simr situation, but he was good at fire magic. As for Bianca and Paulo, they actually had dragons that were good at poison magic. "Shall we get going then?" Gustavo asked. "We need to see how things will proceed as soon as possible and then make the necessary adaptations." Ryan and the others nodded. After jumping several meters skyward, they turned into their draconic forms. Even Ryan couldn''t but frown since he readily transformed¡­ that was weird. He thought that at thest moment, he would hesitate a little more. Regardless, it was quite a sight to see six dragons together. So, the people near the coasts couldn''t help but gasp in shock and admiration. Since he never saw their draconic forms before, Ryan finally had the chance to confirm something: his transformation was indeed an ominous one. While Gustavo and the others didn''t have a body that has scales of a single color, their body was pretty uniform, and the main color still was predominant. Unlike Ryan''s body, which was full of sharp-looking dark-blue scales. "All right, let''s try to erase our presence as much as possible," Gustavo said. "Ryan, if you find a lone target, you can teleport Fernanda to behind them. If you find more than one, I will trust your judgment as to how to proceed." Ryan wanted to say that his role was being more important than he had imagined, but he didn''tin and just began to work in the end. Chapter 554 - Tactics It didn''t take long for Ryan to find the first Hydra. As he already knew, those creatures were pretty vicious. While the monsters watched them from the ocean, Ryan approached Fernanda and then tried to touch her shoulder, but she slightly flinched. Even in her draconic form, she was shy of strangers, that kind of hurt Ryan a little. "Sorry¡­" Fernanda forced a smile. In the end, Ryan decided to ignore her to prevent any more waste of time. When he touched her shoulder, he immediately teleported to behind the Hydra, and she grabbed the creature with her arms and legs. It was kind of weird to see a dragon doing that. Still, it had been highly effective when Fernanda covered her whole body in electricity and began to shock the Hydra. Some damage was being caused, but not nearly enough to kill the monster in less than a single minute. Ryan approached Gustavo and Carlos, who were the strongest physically, and then teleported both to in front of the paralyzed Hydra. Without a hint of hesitation, they began to kick and punch the monster, and even though they were dozens of meters underwater, their movements caused massive sshes on the surface of the ocean. While Fernanda''s electricity damaged them a little, it wasn''t nearly enough to slow them down. She was so good at her magic that she could focus her spell on the neck of the Hydra. Despite the fact that the Hydra couldn''t resist, Gustavo and Carlos had to attack for fifteen seconds before they managed to surpass the monster''s scales and then kill the beast. Even though their Draconic Transformations had leveled up much more than Ryan''s, the Hydras were that much of a difficult foe. Before any more blood could be spilled and warn the other monsters, Ryan teleported those three and the body back to the beach. Ryan didn''t use as much mana as he thought he would, but as expected, just doing a support job was boring and not very rewarding. The survivors on the beach opened their mouths in admiration when they finally saw a Hydra up close. Not only were they almost as big as a dragon, but they also looked equally fearsome. Ryan felt something simr when he used Appraisal on the creature and saw that the monsters had gained thirty levels in thest few days. "That took longer than expected," Gustavo said. "You guys can create magic weapons, right?" Ryan asked. "You should make some of the people on the beach work to dismantle the Hydra''s body. I bet using their bodies as materials to forge new weapons will save us some time." "I will do that," Gustavo said. "Anyway, did you guys notice anything strange? It is hard to focus on our surroundings while fighting that intensely." "You took too long, and a lot of blood was spilled," Paulo said. "That way, sooner than we want it, dozens of Hydras wille to attack us." "We have to prevent that, naturally," Bianca said. "I guess it is time to test the power of our weapons, then," Gustavo said. "We will cause more damage and faster with them." "Let''s try that, but let me offer a slight change in your ns," Ryan said. They frowned when they heard that. It was just too soon to make any changes. As usual, Bianca seemed highly displeased by that, but Ryan told them his idea anyway. The n was simple, Ryan would work as bait to speed up things. Instead of teleporting Gustavo and his friends to the ocean, he would teleport the Hydras to the air where they couldn''t move all that well. In such a position, they would be a punching bag for Gustavo and his friends. Even better, they would be able to use their magic with no restraints. However, they decided to take things slowly since they didn''t want to alert all the Hydras in the area. Just as proposed, Ryan stayed underwater while everyone else was waiting for several hundred meters above sea level. Unlike the first time, Ryan didn''t feel slow or heavier. If anything, he felt much more powerful than before. That feeling really was worrisome¡­ but in the end, Ryan focused his senses when he felt the approach of a Hydra. "Things are proceeding quite fast¡­ probably because those creatures took over the entire Brazilian coast for themselves," Ryan thought. Unlikest time, Ryan saw the monster''s approach, and he was fast enough to react to it. When the beast tried to bite him, Ryan used both arms to stop the beast. As expected, he wasn''t strong enough topletely stop the Hydra, but he was strong enough to prevent the monster''s mouth from closing. Ryan smirked and then teleported himself and the beast to the ce where Gustavo and his friends were ready to attack. Once Ryan and the Hydra began to fall, he let the monster''s mouth goal, but not before trying something¡­ a single punch. In the end, Ryan didn''t cause much damage, but he gained a lot from it. Congrattions! Your ss: monk has reached level 26. Your health and strength have increased by eighteen points. Your stamina, mana, speed, and endurance have increased by nine points. Nine levels up in ss thanks to a single point¡­ no wonder Ryan was grinning while Gustavo and his friends were preparing to impale the monster with their massive spears. Draconic Transformation was indeed useful to level up sses, just as it was to face powerful monsters. Regardless, as expected, when Gustavo and his friends skewered the Hydra with their spears at the same time, the monster onlysted for a few seconds. It would be weird if they couldn''t do at least that much together when using Draconic Transformation. "This was surprisingly easy," Gustavo said, visibly perplexed. "Maybe clearing the Hydra''s dungeon in five days isn''t that impossible." "It looks like someone is getting carried away¡­" Ryan said. In the end, Gustavo could onlyugh since he let that small progress boosted his morale a bit too much, but at least he recognized that fact and recovered his focus. Chapter 555 - Lord Of The Seas Spear Ryan thought that he wouldn''t level up his skills a lot since he was only doing some support work. Still, much to his surprise, Draconic Transformation leveled up three times in a single hour. After wondering why that happened, Ryan considered that it was due to the massive mana he was using to teleport himself and the monsters around. "While that is good and all, I want to level up my main sses," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, since we are only facing lone targets so far, maybe I shouldn''t hurry." Or maybe Ryan should hurry since things were proceeding too well, and that could change at any minute. However, since the mission''s goal was to decrease Poseidon''s army, Ryan decided to stick with the n. "I guess we should try to move more around the coast," Gustavo said. "I think we will have better chances of finding other Hydras by doing that. What do you guys think?" "What if the Hydras attack while we are away?" Bianca asked with her arms crossed. "That is a problem, isn''t it?" Gustavo said and then scratched the back of his head. "If we capture some Hydras and use their spirits to enchant some Ballista, the people who will stay in the city will have the means to fight back," Ryan said. "Killing them will probably be impossible by using such a weapon alone, but at least it will make the monsters leave to recover their wounds." Gustavo looked at his friends, and they nodded at him. That seemed like a usible n, and since the survivors dismantling the corpses weren''t fast enough, that was the only thing they could do. Gustavo and his friends also had plenty of experience crafting weapons, so they quickly created several Ballista. Due to their size, only those who had more than five hundred mana points would be able to use them, but they would need at least projectiles at least that big to pierce the Hydra''s skin, so it couldn''t be helped. After forging those weapons and spreading them around the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Ryan returned to his work as a bait. Although it took a while, around noon, the city survivors had some crazy Ballista at their disposal. Even better, those weapons were specialized and good at hunting aquatic monsters. Heroic Fisherman''s Ballista Effect: At the cost of five hundred points of mana, it grants the user the chance to fire a massive spear that causes thirty percent more damage at enemies in the ocean. Dexterity + 700 Durability: 500/500 Just like Ryan, Gustavo and his friends could use Magic Upgrade. Still, after testing the weapons a few times, they concluded that was unnecessary for the time being. Besides, they needed a break, so they stopped for lunch since all the tension of the fights wore down their nerves. "What do you want to eat, Ryan?" Gustavo asked. "I think we should eat whatever we want and as much as we want to celebrate and to recover our energy. I never thought we would be able to kill one hundred of those beasts in a single morning." "Whatever is fine, I am not picky with food," Ryan said while he was trying to rx while floating. "I will ept your rmendation." "You don''t seem that excited, Ryan," Gustavo said while he furrowed his eyebrows. "Did something happen?" "As far as I know, he is that kind of guy, right?" Bianca asked. "Since when can you answer for me?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "It is nothing. It is just that I don''t feel that excited since we didn''t face a single boss until now." While Ryan was only realistic, he ended up darkening the mood on the beach. Everyone knew that bosses were at least five times stronger than any mob. Considering that the Hydras dungeon has been left alone for six months, thousands of those are somewhere in the oceans. Although Ryan killed the mood, Gustavo and his friends recovered pretty quickly since they were that type of people. In fact, even Ryan couldn''t stay in a bad mood on the beach and under that crazy hot sun. It was almost hellish, but it was refreshing as well. After lunch and while Gustavo and the others were making the final preparations to return to work. Ryan decided to make a massive spear for himself as well. While he would rather use a bow, storing such a weapon inside his storage dimension was impossible. Besides, Ryan needed to keep his hands free to protect himself and to teleport others. So, a spear added with the power of Telekinesis would do the trick. "Let''s see¡­ I need new material, one that canst longer and still be rtively light," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I have plenty of iron ores, so I just need to refine and transform them into something else. The question is: what type of material do I need here?" To transform dirt in any type of metal, a certain quantity of mana was necessary. If Ryan doesn''t keep his focus, he might end up creating a weapon that will have several types of material, and that was disastrous. Titanium was the material that Ryan had a certain affinity, but just creating a big ass spear made of titanium wouldn''t be efficient. Ryan didn''t have much free time, so he ended up creating a fifty meters long titanium spear. However, he also made a mental note to research new types of metal in the future. Perhaps Femradiel knows some. Or Isis¡­ though Ryan would hate to owe her any favors. Lord of the Sea''s Spear Effect: It grants you an extra speed and physical damage of ten percent while underwater. Strength + 550, Speed + 330 Durability: 350/350 Ryan soon had the chance to enchant his weapon with a Hydra''s spirit. As expected, just increasing the size boosted its power quite a bit, but in terms of how much mana Ryan had used, it wasn''t as nearly as efficient. Chapter 556 - Maybe Not Ryan, Gustavo, and the others began to look for Hydras while moving along the Brazilian coast. Just as expected, they found several of them near other coast cities. Maybe it was due to that, or perhaps it was due to their actions, but eventually, the fights against lone targets came to an end. Suddenly two Hydras appeared and began to swim at high speeds toward Ryan. Gustavo and the others decided to approach, but using the telepathic channel, Ryan stopped them. One of the Hydras was attacked in the chest by Ryan''s spear and was forced toe to a halt, and the other was stopped by Ryan''s draconic arms. As usual and as quickly as possible, Ryan teleported the one who was trying to bite him to where Gustavo and the others were. The second Hydra finally managed to overpower the spear and Ryan''s Telekinesis, but only to be attacked by a massive stream of magic bolts. Ryan made several copies of the crossbows that could decrease endurance and speed, and thanks to it, when the monster tried to block the attacks with its arms, it only sped up its doom. Ryan quickly weakened the beast and then teleported to where the others were before too much of its blood could spread around the ocean. Congrattions! The ss: Sniper has reached level 93. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Congrattions! The ss: Sentinel has reached the level 84. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Ryan couldn''t help but smirk while he received those notifications. All the extra bonuses in statuses he had while using that skill were just too awesome. Then again, after getting excited, he began to worry. That was the usual pattern of his behavior when that skill was involved¡­ worried about if he wouldn''t stop growing truly by over-relying on that skill. "Are you all right, Ryan?" Gustavo asked after the second Hydra died. "Yeah, what are you going to do with those corpses?" Ryan asked. "We are too far away from Rio de Janeiro. While I can teleport to an empty space on the beach, I will have to use a lot of mana." "Our territory is pretty much one hundred percent secure, so we can leave near the coast and work to transport them back to our base once weplete the mission," Bianca replied. Although no one disagreed with Bianca, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about that. As if that wasn''t enough, someone else put another worry in Ryan''s head. "Hey, I have been thinking," Paulo said. "Aren''t Hydras supposed to be near immortal creatures that can only be killed when their heads are cut down, and their necks are burned? Howe we managed to defeat hundreds of them just by causing direct damage while we pierced their vitals with our spears?" "While that is indeed weird, we can''t assume that all the mythological stories are true," Carlos replied. "If the Hydras had that much regenerative ability, we would be able to see a skill in their skill list that would represent that." From Ryan''s perspective having one hundred twenty thousand points in recovery alone was already more than enough. Still, now that he thought about it, it was weird that they were never forced to cut down the Hydras'' heads before. After thinking for a while, Ryan imagined that their high recovery was to make them able to fight for long periods of time, even against the most troublesome opponents. However, the status of a spawned beast was beyond the control of a dungeon master. Considering all that, Ryan felt that things were going way too favorable for Poseidon. "I guess that is the problem of using the same tool my enemies have been using for thousands of years," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Our knowledgepared to them will always be pretty basic. They know much more than any human. Thus, they could put into action and make several things that Ryan couldn''t understand. Therefore, he was forced to think that things were way too favorable to his enemies. Instead of focusing on things he didn''t know, Ryan focused on his job. He had no idea if Gustavo and his friends were nning to hunt at night, so he decided to speed up even more. To the point where he refused the help of Gustavo when three Hydras finally appeared and swam toward him. "Don''t worry, I got this," Ryan thought via the telepathic channel. As usual, Ryan made his spear spin and then attacked one of the monster''s mouths. While the beast was losing its bad teeth, it was forced to slow down. As for the other two, Ryan bombarded one of them with his Magic Bows and its effects that could decrease speed. The beast suffered a lot of damage and was slowed down as well, and then thest tried to bite Ryan''s neck, only to face his draconic ws. This time Ryan didn''t waste time and teleported the beast toward Gustavo and his friends since the second monster was about to attack from his left side. Ryan took a quick nce at the first enemy and saw that it was almost stopping the spear''s spin. "Maybe not¡­" Ryan thought. Ryan opened his mouth and then used Ice Breath. At all that many monsters they had killed, Poseidon probably already discovered that someone was hunting his golden fish. So, Ryan went all out. His Ice Breath underwater froze everything between him and the two Hydras, and while he froze them, he could see life in their eyes. The damage being caused wasn''t enough either¡­ While Ryan was thinking about what to do, he felt the presence of two other Hydras approaching. He immediately used irvoyance to check the monsters, and he cursed when he saw their status. They were two Hydra bosses. Chapter 557 - Grinding Ryan probably will regret thatter, but in the end, he touched the block of ice that he created by using Ice Breath and then teleported it alongside with the Hydras to where Gustavo and the others were. That cost him a decent amount of mana, but that was a problem forter. After summoning several magic copies of his Titanium Storm Long Bow, Ryan fired a massive barrage of arrows that hit the Hydras and paralyzed them for a few precious moments. Even underwater, those beasts barely could stay shocked for more than a blink of an eye. "Well, might as well get used to this¡­" Ryan thought once he noticed that Gustavo and the others still were busy fighting the three hydras. When the bosses got close enough, Ryan prepared his hands. The monsters noticed that he wanted a fistfight. Still, much to their surprise, Ryan made several Spiritualist''s Spears appear out of nowhere and fired at the monsters'' eyes. Despite that, the Hydras moved their arms to block the projectiles. For a fraction of a second, the monster lost sight of Ryan, and he punched the monster''s arms and made the spears pierce their flesh even further. Ryan recovered some mana and caused a lot of damage, but as expected, his weapons lost a lot of durabilities. They were like toothpicks whenpared to Hydras and Dragons, after all. When the monsters moved their arms, Ryan was no longer in their field of vision, but then one of them suddenly began to tremble when the monster felt its tail being pulled by something. Only one creature was able to turn around and see what was going on, and found Ryan pulling the second Hydra by the tail and then gaining a moment to use it as a whip or whatever the hell he was thinking. "This fucking thing is too damn heavy¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth and then thought. Even with the strength of Draconic Transformation, Ryan failed at using the monster to attack the other. Still, fortunately, before he could be attacked, a massive lightning bolt fell from the sky and hit the free monster. The creature was paralyzed just for enough time, and then Ryan made the Hydras'' heads hit against each other. Congrattions! Your ss: monk has reached level 32. Your health and strength have increased by twelve points. Your stamina, mana, speed, and endurance have increased by six points. "I really¡­ like¡­ this!" Ryan thought, and then he made the Hydra spin again before making the heads of the beasts collide again. Thanks to the second impact, the monsters lost consciousness for a few precious moments. Ryan dly used that chance to fill their mouths with poisonous bolts after he summoned several copies of his pestilence crossbow. At least that way, the monsters wouldn''t bleed that much. Regardless, soon Gustavo and his friends came to help Ryan. Congrattions! The ss: Sentinel has reached the level 86. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. "Well, this certainly ended faster than expected," Ryan said once he left the oceans to take a break and teleport the corpses tond. "That was too risky," Gustavo said. "As expected, we can''t let Ryan stay underwater alone." "Nah, I got this," Ryan said. "I am pretty sure you thought that you didn''t. The telepathic channel was open when the bosses appeared," Gustavo said. "Fernanda, your electric attacks are probably the best option we had to stop the monsters if another big group appears. Can you give Ryan a hand?" "Okay," Fernanda said while she nodded. In the end, Ryan couldn''t even say that Gustavo had imagined things since pretty much everyone heard his thoughts. Putting that aside, Fernanda certainly had a sweet voice. Ryan felt that it was a pity since she rarely talked. He could easily picture her as some sort of singer. In the end, Gustavo made the right call by asking Fernand to assist Ryan underwater. The fights became more frequent, and the number of monsters increased in number as well before sunset. While nothing major happened, Gustavo decided to call it a day since everyone was pretty much exhausted. "I guess this is enough for today," Gustavo said. "We killed more than one thousand Hydras and two bosses, and this is more than enough for our first day here." Ryan certainly didn''t feel that was enough. Basically, they didn''t even kill the number of monsters a dungeon could spawn in a single day. Despite Gustavo''s words, everyone knew that things only proceeded well because they didn''t face many bosses. After teleporting everyone back to Rio de Janeiro, Ryan decided to take a nap in one of the barracks that had been set near the beach, and he slept until around midnight. When most people went to sleep, he woke up and then teleported back to the ocean, and no one spotted him. "I can''t let this chance go to waste," Ryan thought while he was swimming in his draconic form. "Hunt only for twelve hours? What a joke." Although he knew it was risky, Ryan wasn''t the type to sit around and lose half of the time he had just because of the danger. Besides, that was a rare opportunity for him to train his sses, now that he didn''t have to worry if he should use Draconic Transformation or not. That being said, even Ryan wasn''t stupid enough to fight two bosses at the same time and alone. When that happened, he retreated since the signs of the fights would alert other monsters and the people near the coast. "In the end, I am at Gustavo and his friend''s backyard. I can''t do whatever I want since it might cause some issuester," Ryan scratched his chin in his draconic form and felt that was quite rxing despite his frozen ws. "Regardless, it is time to focus on the grinding." Chapter 558 - Hydras Bow Congrattions! The ss: Sniper has reached the max level. Reach the max level with two other sses to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Although Ryan decided to return one hour and a half before sunset since he achieved his goal pretty early, he still found someone unexpected in front of his tent¡­ even though he closed the ce in order that no one noticed the fact that Bianca was there. "¡­ Do I need to expect that something might happen today?" Bianca asked. "What do you mean?" Ryan frowned. "Did your night hunting cause something in the oceans? Will the monsters be wary of us?" Bianca asked. "I don''t think so," Ryan replied. "I made sure to hunt mostly lone targets, and when I fought them, I teleported too high in the sky in order to prevent alerting other monsters. Are you the only one who noticed that I left?" "Unlike me, the others are pretty rxed," Bianca replied. "Anyway, I won''t say that you shouldn''t do that, but you will take full responsibility if something happens due to your reckless behavior." "Naturally," Ryan shrugged. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Bianca left after only saying that much. While she was simr to Anna, she wasn''t that noisy. Or maybe it was due to the fact that Ryan was helping them a lot thanks to Teleport. Either way, it didn''t matter. Ryan decided to take another nap before the sun could rise. When Ryan woke up, everything was ready for the next day of the hunt since they had to refill only a few potions that they used during the day, and most of them were mana potions. It looked like everyone underestimated the might of those who could use Draconic Transformation. "Yesterday we went South, so let''s try to go North today," Gustavo said. "While the number of fights might change, I believe we can handle after all thatbat experience we obtained. Are you fine with that, Ryan?" "What do you mean?" Ryan frowned. "We are taking our time here, and you are away from your home country and domain," Gustavo said. "Can you stay with us for a bit longer without worrying about how things are back there? "That is no problem," Ryan shrugged. "Someone rtively trustworthy is watching my domain, and I am not the only one protecting my country." "Rtively trustworthy?" Gustavo frowned while smiling. "That is my highest tier of how someone can be trustworthy in my eyes," Ryan said. "I have high standards." Gustavo couldn''t help butugh after hearing that, too bad that Ryan wasn''t joking. Regardless, Ryan thought that they would depart immediately, but much to his surprise, some soldiers stopped them. When Ryan turned around, he saw some vehicles approaching. They were carrying some crazy things¡­ they were weapons made of bones, Hydras'' bones. Gustavo and the soldiers talked about something in Portuguese. After a while, Gustavo exined that the people who stayed behind worked all night to craft some weapons to be used in their Draconic forms. While Ryan would dly ept any gift, he felt a little troubled, even more, so the valuable ones, since he didn''t have much space in his storage dimension. He could increase it since he didn''t do it since the very first time, he used Spatial Maniption, but that seemed like a pain. Gigantic Hydra''s Bow Effect: it grants you the power to fire arrows that, at the cost of three hundred points of mana, causes twenty percent more damage against aquatic monsters and restores your health by fifty points per aquatic monster killed. Dexterity + 600, Speed + 300 Durability: 500/500 For some reason, the people there knew that Ryan was a bow user. Even though he wasn''t as popr as Gustavo and his friends, he didn''t receive a different treatment. "I guess increasing my storage dimension is worth a shot due to this," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan didn''t intend to use the bow with his hands, but he stored it anyway. If anything, he could always sell itter now that he could make a magic copy of it. As for the others, they gained a sword, hammer, a spear, staff, and even gloves. Weirdly enough, Gustavo and his friends used those kinds of weapons each, even though Ryan never saw them fighting in human form. "With those, I bet I will be able to fight while taking some risks," Gustavo said. "Letting Ryan Teleport the Hydras to the air is convenient, but that is starting to get too easy." "You are getting carried away again, Gustavo¡­" Bianca said and then sighed. "While that is true, he has a point," Paulo said. "We should do some tests, but we should fight underwater more frequently to improve our fighting style underwater and because the blood spilled by the monsters will attract other monsters. Thus, we will kill more of them and waste less time." Either if it was risky or not, Ryan couldn''t care less. He would be able to focus on attacking, and that was what he truly wanted. Everyone agreed to fight underwater while using their weapons, but to avoid problems, they divided themselves into three groups of two. Ryan would work with Fernanda again, and their job was to support the others who would fight up close. Fernanda would help Paulo, and Carlos and Ryan would help Gustavo and Bianca. Since they looked like a pain, Ryan wanted to trade ces with Fernanda, but he decided to stay quiet. "You can attack as you see fit, Ryan," Gustavo said. "However, once the Hydras enter within reach of our melee attacks, you will need to step back and keep an eye on our surroundings." That was only natural since everyone was just too big in their Draconic forms, so Ryan only nodded. Chapter 559 - Competition Since Ryan and the others never moved too far away from the coast, they didn''t find a single underwater dungeon the previous day. However, things changed when they entered the ocean and began to move up North. They quickly found some that were spawning Giant Crabs and Azure Seahorses. Naturally, the Seahorses were hunting them down to extermination. "Should we clear these dungeons?" Gustavo asked. "We should do thatter, once the Antic Ocean is calmer," Bianca replied. As soon as Bianca said that, all of them felt the approach of some Hydras. Immediately, they divided into groups, and Ryan was the first to attack since he found four Hydras due to irvoyance. With the magic copies of his new bow, Ryan caused a lot of damage in the four beasts and slowed down as well. Even though his sole goal was to test their firepower. When her eyes finally found the monsters, Fernanda fired several Electric Spears. Still, in the end, since they were too eager to test their weapons, Gustavo, Bianca, Carlos, and Paulo dashed toward the monsters and made them split as well. Ryan changed his position, and from above, he could quickly attack the monsters while making sure Gustavo and the others wouldn''t be hit, but in the end, he didn''t do it since that wasn''t necessary. Although they never used weapons in their draconic forms, they were overpowering the Hydras with their attacks. "As expected, it is just too weird to see dragons wielding weapons," Ryan thought. "In any case, thanks to those weapons, I noticed that my weapon creation ability reached a level where I can make decent materials that can rival the bodies of monsters such as Hydras, but it isn''t enough since they are just Poseidon''s pawns." Just as Paulo had predicted, they managed to defeat the monsters while conserving some energy. Still, the fight and blood spilled attracted other Hydras. This time, Ryan attacked the beasts while using Immobilizing Crossbow and Vital Hunter. He didn''t have much time to cause much damage and due to the fact that he focused on attacking all the monsters at the same time. But Ryan did notice that Gustavo and the others killed the monsters a bit faster. "I guess if I focus on detection and using Immobilizing Crossbow and Vital Hunter, things will proceed faster here," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. That seemed pretty boring, but Ryan was fully aware that he wasn''t fighting enemies that he could kill in a couple of seconds, not even while using Draconic Transformation. Besides, he always knew that archers mainly yed a support role inrge-scale battles when both sides of a fight have more or less the same level of strength. Once the fight was over, Gustavo stored the loot and asked Ryan to teleport Hydras''s bodies tond. It was probably a waste to do that since it would take months to dismantle all those bodies and turn them into a weapon at that point in time. Still, at least he didn''t want to enrage other Hydras by letting their dead bodies exposed in the ocean. "As expected, the number of flights increased, but thanks to the weapons and our teamwork, things are proceeding well," Gustavo said. "Since that is the case, let''s focus on hunting two thousand Hydras today instead of one thousand." "You are getting carried away again¡­" Bianca said. "Hahaha, my bad," Gustavoughed and then scratched the back of his head. Although it was kind of unnerving from Ryan''s perspective to see those two acting like a stupid couple, it looked like that was a normal urrence in that group. The others didn''t feel annoyed. They onlyughed and shrugged. Regardless, even though Ryan expected that at some point that day, they would face dozens of Hydras at the same time due to the increased number of fights, that never happened. In the end, thergest number of Hydras they faced was only six¡­ "It is probably because they are too fucking huge, and they need a lot of meat to sustain themselves," Ryan concluded. "Working with others would mean less food for them, after all." Things got a bitplicated when once again, two bosses showed up to fight. However, thanks to Fernanda''s lightning magic and Ryan''s debuffs, nothing serious happened. In the end, Gustavo achieved his goal for the day: hunt two thousand Hydras. Aside from Ryan and Bianca, pretty much everyone looked relieved and satisfied with the result of their hunt. While they knew things would be a bit riskier, Gustavo''s party more or less knew now that they could fight back the Hydras, even without Ryan''s help. Still, deep down, everyone also knew that their goal to clear the Hydra''s dungeon and stop Poseidon''s ns seemed too far away from them. Once again, Ryan toasted some Hydra''s meat, ate, and then prepared to sleep for a couple of hours before he left in the middle of the night to hunt again. Despite the power that they obtained in thest two days, Gustavo didn''t want to risk his friends'' lives hunting at night. In the end, Ryan recognized that as the right choice since there weren''t many Hydras to hunt at night. It looked like those monsters liked to let the dungeons spawn monsters throughout the entire night, and then the next day, they would have a reinforced breakfast. Before Ryan could fall asleep, he noticed Bianca''s presence approaching. That was weird. While he didn''t talk with others all that much aside from Gustavo, it was obvious that she was the one who certainly wouldn''t get along with him. "Are you going to hunt at night again?" Bianca asked. "I don''t know yet," Ryan replied. "So, you are nning to go," Bianca said. "¡­ What is it?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "Tell me, what are our chances of clearing the dungeon in time?" Bianca asked. "Considering the strength that you are obtaining by hunting at night as well." "None," Ryan readily replied. Chapter 560 - Realism Ryan''s quick response didn''t surprise Bianca. As expected, she truly wanted to clear the Hydras'' dungeon. Still, she was realistic enough to understand that do that in three days was probably impossible. "At this pace, it is impossible, huh¡­" Bianca said. "That is right," Ryan nodded. "Even if we increase our pace by five times, it won''t be enough," Ryan said. "That is just my spection, but Poseidon is looking down on us. He probably already knows about what we are doing. Still, he didn''t send or organized a team of bosses to wipe us out because he knows that we can slow down his return more than a little bit." The idea of killing ten thousand Hydras every day seemed like madness from Bianca''s perspective, but she had faith in her friends in the end. Maybe in two weeks, they will be enough to do that, even without Ryan''s help. However, that won''t be enough. In less than ny hours, the seventh dungeon break will happen. Everyone knew that the Hydras dungeon level would increase by at least fifty. During the day, the Hydras'' level increased by three, so there was a clear chance that their dungeon would reach the max level even before the eighth dungeon break¡­ Everyone''s predictions were way off the mark. Even Ryan''s who was the worst one¡­ "What do you n to do in case we fail?" Bianca asked. "I will make the most out of the situation," Ryan shrugged. "If I obtain at least two special sses before the dungeon break, I will be satisfied with it. Speaking of which, how many times you guys obtained special sses, I don''t think those will prevent the dungeon break, but it will certainly improve our prospects." "Two times¡­ we are a bit far away from reaching the third time since we rarely change our fighting style," Bianca said. It looked like Ryan would be the only one who would obtain a special ss the next day. It was only natural since Gustavo''s team didn''t have the leisure to try new skills and sses. Each one of them had a role in the team, and trying new skills would decrease their performance in each role, thus causing problems to others. In the end, Bianca left while biting her nails. It looked like it would increase their chances of slowing down Poseidon''s return even for a few days to her friends. She would have to adapt to the situation. That seemed like madness since they never tried new things, even against weaker targets. So, trying that against Hydras was the same as asking to get hurt. Still, that wasn''t Ryan''s problem, so he quickly fell asleep since he already knew what he had to do. As usual, around midnight, when things got really quiet, Ryan left to hunt again. However, this time he looked for Hydras more carefully. While he had a certain image of Poseidon, it doesn''t mean that he couldn''t be more wrong and that the dungeon master could be preparing some trap to get rid of them. Congrattions! The ss: Sentinel has reached the max level. Reach the max level with another ss to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. However, in the end, nothing truly happened. At that point in time, Ryan couldn''t help but feel slightly pissed at his own theory. If Poseidon was looking down on them, Ryan would make sure to fire one very sharp arrow up his wet ass. Once again, Ryan returned a bit earlier than expected to take a nap. However, things were a bit different the next day. While Ryan was expecting to receive some defensive gear made of bones or scales of the Hydras, no one showed up to give that, not even to Gustavo and his friends. "Making weapons out of bones is easy, but the same thing can''t be said about armor and shield," Gustavo exined once he noticed that Ryan was looking around and waiting for that. "Besides, it is not like we are in dire need of equipment, right?" "Not yet," Ryan said. "Come on, don''t be pessimistic," Gustavo slightly hit Ryan''s back. "Pessimism and stubbornness were the only things that helped me survive this far," Ryan said. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Gustavo didn''t say anything after that. He doesn''t remember sharing his life with anyone, but it looked like from some outside source, they knew more or less about Ryan''s footsteps. That outside source is probably a t-chested, silver-haired girl who has the bad habit of reading other people''s minds. Things changed in the ocean as well, the very moment Ryan and the others began to search for Hydras, they noticed that the number of fights had decreased. Even after Ryan teleported them up North for quite a while, that didn''t change. "It looks like the Hydras are truly concentrated in the middle of the Antic Ocean, between South America and Africa," Gustavo said. "That is where their dungeon is¡­" "Despite theirck of concern for our attacks, they still have some sort of defensive strategy," Bianca said. "The more we approach, the more we will fight and tire. That will give plenty of chances to other groups of Hydras to finish us off." "What are we going to do?" Paulo asked. "Our main goal was to clear the Hydras'' dungeon, but that is beyond our abilities. We can return and feel satisfied with our achievements, Gustavo. Our domain is safe now." "Yeah¡­ but until when?" Gustavo asked with an unusually serious expression on his face. "Even if we focus single-mindedly on increasing the strength of our domain, it won''t be enough when Poseidon obtains the power to manifest himself and show his true power on Earth. We will definitely be his first target, but before that happens, we need to decrease his forces as much as possible¡­" Chapter 561 - Rage While Gustavo''s friends showed some concern for the change in their actions again, none of them openly opposed the idea. Usually, Bianca would be the one toin first. Still, since she was too quiet, everyone understood that she also was thinking along those lines. It was a necessary risk. "Yesterday, things proceeded well with that formation. I am sure that today won''t be different," Gustavo said. "Just in case things might be a bit more difficult than usual, let''s use some buff potions before the fights while Ryan and Fernanda slow down the enemies." Since things might be a bit messier, Ryan will have to keep irvoyance active as much as possible, but that much was fine with him since he could use Brazilians'' potions without restraint. After moving a few kilometers away from the Brazilian coast, everyone noticed a few changes. Pretty much every one or two kilometers they advanced, they found a party of at least six Hydras. When the fight prolonged for a while, others would join and make the fightst even longer to the point where the frontline members started to get tired and suffer some annoying wounds. "Damn, at this rate, we will never reach that storm," Gustavo cursed and then said. It was rare for Gustavo to lose his cool. Still, it was understandable since he also noticed that he was getting too rxed and forgot about the real goal of that mission. He also realized that what Ryan said earlier was true. They would need some defensive gear in order to win that war of attrition. "Mmm? Is that true?" Gustavo frowned. Ryan frowned as well since he didn''t hear anything, but then he realized that Gustavo was talking with the dragon inside him. Gustavo''s expression lightened since he apparently heard something good. Suddenly, everyone also started to mumble with themselves, Ryan felt left out. Still, since he wasn''t that interested in the dragons inside Gustavo and the others, he just waited patiently. "Inoctis said that we should use Rage. That should help us a lot in the fights," Gustavo said. "Is that so? Good for you, but that skill ispletely useless for me," Ryan said. "While that skill is convenient since it will boost our physical status, it will dull our sense, and we might get out of control," Gustavo said. "So, we will need you two to cover us even more than before." "I didn''t think that skill was thatplicated," Ryan frowned. "You are cool-headed, so you didn''t use that skill all that much, but we did it," Gustavo said. "The higher the level of the skill, the more clouded our judgment bes. It is a side effect of suddenly losing a lot of intelligence, mentality, and willpower. That skill is even more troublesome when we use Draconic Transformation because dragons are easily influenceable for negative emotions." That made sense. Now that Ryan thought about it, Yahiko said that Ryan didn''t smell much like dragons, and dragons smelled like the seven deadly sins. Wrath was one of the most dangerous sins, after all. Considering that, Ryan couldn''t help but think if there were other skills rted to the deadly sins. While he was hot-headed enough, Ryan could keep his anger in check. If there were some other skills rted to the deadly sins, Ryan needed them to further increase his power. Once the next fight started, Gustavo, Carlos, Paulo, and Bianca immediately activated Rage. Ryan saw their physical attributes increasing by seventeen percent, and their magical status decreased by the same amount. However, the first thing they did instead of attacking the Hydras was to roar¡­ roar underwater. Despite that, the entire area trembled, to the point where even the Hydras hesitated. Those four used that chance to charge and attack the Hydras. Much to Ryan''s surprise, they quickly surpassed the monsters'' defense, but then it finally happened. Instead of aiming at the monster''s vitals. Gustavo had an excellent idea to behead the beast. Naturally, his sword caused a lot of damage, but not enough to chop it off in a single swing. Eventually, he seeded, but then as the head fell to the bottom of the ocean, others appeared. "Great¡­" Ryan thought. Fortunately, the others weren''t as hot-headed as Gustavo. So, they didn''t try to behead the monsters. They only tried to make Sushi out of them. "Can you keep the two-headed monster busy?" Fernanda asked. "A good electric spear will calm down, Gustavo." "Right," Ryan said and then teleported to behind the monster. Ryan grabbed the monster''s tail and then used Teleport again and appeared several kilometers above sea level. Before the creature could fall, Ryan activated the fly and then began to spin while holding the monster''s tail. It was a bit risky, but Ryan kept spinning the beast for several minutes until his arms got tired of it, but at least he confirmed what he wanted. "Good, those fuckers can''t use magic while they are dizzy," Ryan said while he was fighting against the dizziness as well. While Ryan wanted to send the monster go from that distance, he wasn''t confident in his brute strength. So, he teleported again to a point where he could barely feel gravity and finally let the monster go¡­ to space. It took a few seconds for the monster to freeze to death, but eventually, Ryan received his notification. You obtained 8.000 coins. "I guess absurd recovery won''t prevent me from freezing to death¡­" Ryan said while he was watching the Hydra moving away from Earth. "I need to be extra careful. All these powers and skills only made me a bit stronger than before. My mortality is as strong as ever." After Ryan returned, he saw Gustavo offering support for the others alongside Fernanda, and he seemed pretty down. Probably because he lost his cool¡­ as expected, he seemed too good-natured to be true. Gustavo had his own demons like everyone else. "I guess I am not ready for that skill again," Gustavo forced a smile. "Well, fortunately, those three won''t see me as a target, even amidst their rage." ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 22 (+ 07 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 13 (+ 03 UP) / Monk Lv 32 (+ 16 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 46th Health: 5905/5905 (12,62/s) Mana: 7850/7850 (12,62/s) Stamina: 8110/8110 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+588) (+130) Dexterity: 5855 (+4725) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2330) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+1944) (+33) Endurance: 1158 (+449) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2360) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+633) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+75) Recovery: 3800 (+3120) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+649) (+40) Coins: 19.365.785 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Vital Hunter Lv 22 (+ 09 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Concentration Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Archery Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), uracy Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Stealth Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Art of Sniping Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Improved Concentration Lv 85 (+ 05 UP), Enhanced Concentration Lv 39 (+ 04 UP), Alchemy Lv 79 (+ 05 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 70 (+ 05 UP) Spells: Magic Upgrade Lv 45(+ 10 UP), Magic Bow Lv 49 (+ 07 UP), Teleport Lv 57 (+ 08 UP) Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 40 (+ 04 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 57 (+ 04 UP), sses: Combat: Sniper Lv Max (+ 15 UP), Weapons Master Lv 87 (+ 06 UP), Sentinel Lv Max (+ 24 UP), Ranger Lv 77 (+ 08 UP), Hexde Lv 48 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 12 (+ 09 UP), Royal Archer Lv 11 (+ 05 UP) Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 58 (+ 04 UP), Alchemist Lv 65 (+ 05 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 562 - William Tell Ryan had a hard time believing in Gustavo. Still, in the end, even when he got close to them after the fight, Carlos, Paulo, and Bianca didn''t do anything to him. Talking seemed beyond their capabilities, but only that. "This is so weird¡­" Ryan frowned. "Our dragons exined to us that skills like Rage blinds us to most types of instincts," Fernanda began to exin. "However, all sentiments had a target. While the target depends on the user, it isn''t that destructive. For example, aside from Gustavo, our rage is directed to the monsters who destroyed our world and killed our families and friends." "What about Gustavo?" Ryan asked. "¡­ His parents died when dragons attacked Rio de Janeiro, but his little sister was killed by humans," Fernanda said. "I don''t like to remember what happened back then when he discovered that, so I won''t talk about it." Ryan couldn''t help but show aplicated expression. While he had a hard time when things started, in a sense, he was saved from a lot of trauma. His parents didn''t die due to dragons, it was an ident, and he was a single child. If he had some other closer rtive, even if he weren''t a brother a sister, he would have gone nuts if monsters or humans had done something to them. After hearing the iplete history, Ryan decided to keep his wish of getting a skill simr to Rage in check. Poweres to a price, and maybe the skill he will obtain might bring more trouble than solutions. Instead of heading toward the dungeon, Gustavo decided to guide everyone and move in a circle since the fights would only get more intense as they moved forward. They couldn''t risk getting surrounded. Although they didn''t get surrounded, the fights got more intense. The number of Hydras they faced skyrocketed to the point where they stayed in a single ce for two hours, and the Hydras kepting one after the other. In the end, they had to take a break much sooner than expected¡­ at noon, since thanks to Rage, everyone''s bodies had reached the limit. However, Ryan retreated with a smile on his face. Congrattions! The ss: Weapons Master has reached the level 95. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Congrattions! The ss: Ranger has reached the level 91. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Just a little more, and Ryan will get his third special ss, but he needed to control his actions and the way he fights more cautiously. He couldn''t let the wrong ss reach the max level first then the other. Although Weapons Master was useful, Ryan had no idea what woulde out by sacrificing that one alongside Sniper and Sentinel. However, if Ranger is sacrificed alongside them, something at the same level as Artemis'' Disciple would definitelye. "You don''t look bothered by our sudden retreat," Bianca said. "Knowing you, I thought you would feel pissed by losing such a golden chance to level up your sses. "Do I look that selfish to you?" Ryan asked. "You have been working alone for the past seven months, right?" Bianca asked. "So, I am not really sure if the word selfish describes you enough." "Touch¨¦," Ryan shrugged. At that point in time, being called selfish was thest of Ryan''s worries. In any case, after resting for two hours, Gustavo gave the call to resume the mission. That was a bit unexpected since they had already broken the record of the previous day. "Are you certain this is a good idea, Gustavo?" Bianca asked. "It is okay," Gustavo said. "Let''s try a little harder until sunset. Once we get back, I will take of everything while you guys rest since I didn''t have the chance to do much line the front liners." Ryan couldn''t but frown at those self-deprecating jokes. It looked like Gustavo not only had a dark side but also a depressing side. That was unexpected since he became the leader of thousands of survivors¡­ but in the end, Ryan couldn''t help but think that perhaps his standards for a leader were too high. Maybe that was why he couldn''t see himself leading anyone. Either way, despite the retreat and the fact that Gustavo was kind of down during the whole afternoon, in the end, things worked out. Not a single ident happened, and Ryan also achieved his goal for the day. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Sentinel, Sniper, and Ranger? Y/N? Ryan couldn''t help but smirk while reading that notification. Although they were in the middle of a battle, he still chose yes and hoped for the best oue possible. Congrattions! You received the ss William Tell''s Apprentice. You learned the skills: Archer''s Faith, Perfect Shot, and Secret Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by twelve points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by six points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Archer''s Faith. Effect: It passively increases the power of your arrows and bolts when fighting behind your allies by one percent per level You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Perfect Shot. Effect: It passively increases the damage of your arrows and bolts by five percent per level when your first hit causes critical damage You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Secret Arrow. Effect: When causing a critical hit, your spirit might fire another arrow or bolt that will hit the ce the first attacknded, causing another critical hit. You obtained 01 status point. Ryanughed a little after receiving that notification. First Artemis and now William Tell¡­ it was quite amusing that the system was granting him sses of famous figures that used bows. May they be mythological or historical¡­ Chapter 563 - None Ryan''s mood improved so much that everyone noticed. It was only natural that it would happen since he got one heck of a ss that gave him three passive skills that worked very well with his stealthy fighting style. "You finally cheered up for some reason," Gustavo said while he slightly frowned. "May I ask what we missed?" "I obtained a special ss, don''t ask more than this," Ryan said. "We obtained two of them as well. While those sses were useful, they didn''t make us grin from ear to ear," Gustavo said. "That is probably because you sacrificed sses that aren''t that rted to each other, or they belonged to a low tier," Ryan said. "Anyway, while I don''t want to talk about the skills, you will notice tomorrow the changes in my attack power." In any case, that day, thanks to their improvement in fighting style and actions, the party managed to y five thousand Hydras. Still, everyone knew that they didn''t face a single boss. That was worrisome. Besides, their goal was more distant from them than ever. They barely crossed a few dozen miles toward the target, and they had to cross hundreds of them. Defeating so many enemies, doing something about the massive Sea Storm, killing thousands of bosses¡­ in two days. It didn''t seem like an achievable goal. Due to the intense fights, everyone aside from Ryan, Fernanda, and Gustavo went to sleep as soon as they had their dinner. While Ryan wanted to take a nap as well before hunting at night, Gustavo decided to bother him alongside Fernanda. "Things are already ready for the hunt tomorrow, but I would like to talk to you about what we can do to improve our hunting speed," Gustavo said. "Do you have any idea, Ryan?" "None," Ryan said. "Are you sure?" Gustavo insisted. "As long as it isn''t anything too dangerous, I think everyone will dly ept your ideas." "You give me too much credit. This situation is more troublesome than we thought," Ryan said. "It isn''t something we can solve with a quick brainstorm." "What do you think, Fernanda?" Gustavo asked. "I share the same feeling. If we had more allies that could fight the Hydras, perhaps things would be different," Fernanda replied. "Even if we try hard without caring about how many resources we use, we need at least half a minute to defeat a Hydra. Adding that to the time we have to search for them, the time we have to use potions and transport their bodies tond¡­ I think that we are already doing too much. Trying to do more might be pushing our luck." Gustavo crossed his arms and closed his eyes to consider everything he heard. It wasn''t much, but that was what Ryan and Fernanda were thinking. "To be honest, I also don''t have any idea of what to do now. Just hunting Hydras seems too little considering that we want to stop Poseidon''s return¡­" Gustavo said. "I was thinking of flying and using all of my magic powers to attack the Sea Storm and see what happens, but I guess that is too reckless, even for me." At least Gustavo was smart enough to understand that. Even if they seed, even though it seems pretty far-fetched, nothing guarantees that things will improve. They still would have to hunt and kill thousands of bosses. In the end, the only idea that Gustavo had was to divide his friends and make each one of them lead a group of humans. In their Draconic form, they would draw the Hydra''s attention, and their allies would attack from a distance. Even though the difference in power was absurd, a group of twenty experienced humans could cause as much damage as they could. Ryan didn''t want to give up that easily, but he at least had to consider the possibility of a failure. The meeting that Gustavo started ended much sooner than he expected. Still, at least he recognized that despite everything, they earned a lot in that mission. Confidence to fight the monsters back even in their territory and a lot of their bioproducts would considerably increase the power of the humans'' forces. A few hourster, Ryan returned to the ocean. Still, instead of hunting as soon as possible, he used irvoyance to see what lies ahead. After a while, he saw the massive Sea Storm Gustavo had mentioned, and even though Ryan tried to see things inside and below the storm, he failed. "I see¡­ since that is a spell cast by several Hydras bosses, it can also work as a magic barrier," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I can''t let the mission end at least without knowing what lies ahead at the core of that storm¡­" After thinking for a while, Ryan decided to tame a Hydra and then use it to infiltrate that region. While the massive concentration of mana worked to repel skills like irvoyance, it probably wouldn''t stop Animalistic Transference. However, to make the chances of the infiltration, Ryan decided to tame a boss. "That will set the difficulty a bit higher, but it is absolutely necessary," Ryan nodded to himself. While using irvoyance again, Ryan looked for a Hydra boss to tame, but much to his annoyance, he didn''t find a single one, even after half an hour. At that point in time, he was wasting an excellent opportunity to level up his sses. Without much of a choice, Ryan used Teleport to capture an ordinary Hydra and much to his surprise. Things worked pretty well; the moment didn''t even resist a few dozen times. It was hard to tell if his Draconic Transformation was ying a major role or if the difference in power was already that big. In any case, now that he had one Hydra, his totalmand, Ryan had a hard time treating the monster like arade. He had killed thousands of those, after all. Regardless, before things could get even moreplicated, he sent the creature toward the eye of the storm. Chapter 564 - Castle Ryan monitored the Hydra with irvoyance and confirmed that no other monster attacked the creature or changed their behavior upon seeing some of their kin returning to their base. That made Ryan realize that such behavior was probablymon among them¡­ perhaps it was due to that reason they didn''t fight many bossestely. Regardless, Ryan lost sight of his tamed monster when it began to cross the Sea Storm, so Ryan used Animalistic Transference. The skill worked, and now Ryan obtained control over the Hydra. While from outside, Ryan didn''t see much, thanks to the vast concentration of mana, from inside, he could see hundreds of whirlwinds blocking the Hydra''s path. The creature had a crazy level at the Swim skill, so Ryan managed to avoid those, but he felt a lot of power pulling him to them. While controlling the Hydra''s body, Ryan had to cross dozens of kilometers of stormy waters, and while he had to dodge countless whirlwinds, he didn''t see a single monster. However, after a while, the water calmed down, and Ryan saw numerous monsters ahead of him. While the vast majority weren''t Hydras'' bosses, the number of ordinary mobs was just too insane. But what really surprised Ryan was the fact that they weren''t fighting amongst themselves. All the monsters were working together and building one heck of an ice castle. "Hey, hey¡­ seriously?" Ryan frowned in disbelief. "Are they really building Poseidon''s castle in the middle of the Antic Ocean? Why make it using ice, though?" Now that Ryan thought about it, Hydra''s Cryomancy level was higher than the level of their basic water-type attacks. It was without a doubt because they were being used to build one massive castle made of ice. Ryan let out a long sigh¡­ defeating all those monsters was impossible, even if he works together with Gustavo and his friends for an entire month, day and night. Poseidon''s castle will be finished, and the Hydra''s dungeon will reach the max level even sooner than that. Despite the odds, Ryan didn''t feel that bothered by it. Maybe he didn''t have the strength to defeat a Greek god now, but as far as he was concerned, his potential probably didn''t have a limit. As long as dungeon masters try to create a link to Earth, he will always have new chances to obtain more sses. For an instant, Ryan considered making his Hydra attack the ice castle and cause as much destruction as possible, but in the end, he changed his mind. Losing such a monster would be a waste and besides, letting Poseidon underestimate them for a while longer wasn''t so bad. While the Hydra was returning by itself, Ryan checked his sses. Weapons Master was about to reach the max level, but that wasn''t a ss that was specialized for archers like him. While Ryan had some other archer-rted sses, they will take a while to reach the max level. "I guess I will use this opportunity to train for those sses," Ryan nodded to himself. "While we lost this battle, we won''t ept losing the war. That is why I need to make sure to be as powerful as possible before Poseidon returns." As soon as his Hydra returned, Ryan began to hunt others. In order to make the most out of his time, Ryan used all the skills he could use while his Hydra was luring other Hydras toward the fight. Thanks to Evading Shot, Vital Hunter, and his Immobilizing Crossbow, even when he was fighting four against one, Ryan didn''t receive a single scratch. He used a lot of mana indeed, but that was a normal urrence. ---- ---- In the end, nothing major happened in the next two days. Gustavo also talked with his other friends in order to see if they had some good idea as to how to handle that situation, but they didn''t. At some point, they managed to hunt seven thousand Hydras every day, but that was their limit. Since Ryan was going back home, Gustavo decided to decrease that amount by at least two thousand. Hunting four or five thousand Hydras every day was good enough considering that the dungeon could only spawn less than a thousand per day. "So, how are you going to handle this?" Ryan asked while he was standing on an earth tform created by him, alongside Gustavo, Bianca, Carlos, Paulo, and Fernanda. "We will equip everyone with magic items that will improve their strengths while fighting underwater," Gustavo said while they were watching the sun rising on the sixth day after Ryan''s arrival. "That ring you mentioned is going to help a lot, and even though only a few of us have experience fighting the Hydras, I am sure that we will need mana. We just need to make others lose their fears in such an environment." Ryan could already imagine that n working¡­ to some extent. Hydras were voracious beasts, so they would always attack the strongest prey first. So, as long as at least one member of Gustavo''s party stays with them, he couldn''t see the Hydras eating humans alive first. As soon as the sun emerged from the horizon, everyone felt the Earth tremble. As usual, those earthquakes were as powerful as they were unnerving, and for some reasons, they always seemed stronger than before. After a couple of minutes, a tsunamiing from the ocean approached Rio de Janeiro. However, before the massive wave could hit the city, hundreds of survivors used their Water Maniption to prevent it. Gustavo said that was something they had to do every month, so they had that group that specialized in manipting water. Regardless, Ryan didn''t stay until now to see that. Instead, he stayed in order to make sure the Hydra wouldn''t try anything soon after the dungeon break. The whole city kept their eyes in the ocean in order to fight the possible threat, but in the end, at noon, they resumed their normal lives. Based on Ryan''s findings, everyone understood that the new Hydras would only speed up the construction of Poseidon''s castle. Chapter 565 - Inspiration "Thanks for your help again, Ryan," Gustavo said and then offered a handshake. "I think we will be pretty busy in the next few weeks, but if something happens and you need a hand, you can call us." "I can''t say that I am the type who asks for help, but sure," Ryan said and then epted the handshake. "Once the Hydras are about to reach the max level, contact me. I will make sure to be here if Poseidon tries anything funny. I will also make sure to have some surprises in store for him as well. Of course, we can''t receive certain guests without certain gifts." "Hahaha, I am not as confident as you when facing beings like that, but we will try the same," Gustavo forced augh and then said. "Thanks for your help, ill-humored archer," Carlos said and then patted Ryan''s right shoulder. "You won''t be the only one who will surprise Poseidon," Paulo said and then showed Ryan a brofist. "Thank you for your help, and I look forward to working with you again," Fernanda said and then bowed. "As long as you don''t get in the way, I don''t mind receiving your help," Bianca said and then snorted. As much as Ryan wanted to say some sarcastic things after hearing all that, he decided not to. That atmosphere was just too weird for a lone wolf like him, so he just nodded and used Teleport to return home as soon as possible. Even though his home was just a semi-wastnd with a single building in sight. Thanks to the fact that Gustavo lent him some pretty powerful mana potions, Ryan managed to return to Das in a couple of minutes. Unlike him, who wanted to do everything by himself, Gustavo had some people specialized in brewing potions. So, the difference in quality and effectiveness was that high. "Oh? You came while using Draconic Transformation¡­ how unexpected," Femradiel said. "It would be faster that way," Ryan said and then deactivated the skill. "Still, to think you leveled up that skill so many times and returned after six days¡­" Femradiel frowned. "You don''t look like you seeded, though." "It is a long story that you can hearter," Ryan said. "Instead of that, did something happen while I was away?" "Absolutely nothing. Things were as dull as they could be," Femradiel replied. "Your theory that dungeon master''s save coins and mana when their dungeons are about to break appears to be correct." While that was surprising, Ryan already confirmed that after using irvoyance and confirming the state of things in every single dungeon. In the end, Ryan told Femradiel what happened while he also checked her growth. Radiel (Ice Phoenix) ¨C Lv 85 Health: 42.000 Mana: 73.000 Stamina: 36.000 Strength: 4100 (+ 650) Dexterity: 2900 (+ 250) Speed: 3000 (+ 550) Intelligence: 5200 (+ 1100) Endurance: 2940 (+ 390) Control: 1900 (+ 290) Mentality: 3700 (+ 350) Luck: 400 Recovery: 19.000 (+ 3500) Willpower: 3700 (+ 350) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Frozen Touch Lv 94, Frozen Charge Lv +4 Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Intelligence Lv 80, Augmented Recovery Lv 60, Frozen Petals Lv 65 Spells: Ice Spear Lv 79, Snow Storm Lv 79, Ice Meteor Lv 52 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 250, Cold Immunity Lv 140, Icebound Lv 139 "I see¡­ Poseidon really looks like the worst type of enemy humans could have at the beginning of this new stage," Femradiel said. In any other situation, Ryan wouldment about how scared Femradiel was regarding Poseidon, but he couldn''t do that now after dealing with a small portion of his troops. Poseidon was proving himself to be pretty annoying, and once he came to Earth with his full power¡­ After checking the dungeon master''s menu, Ryan confirmed that the Frozen Slimes dungeon broke, and now they were at level ny. That wasn''t so bad, but it looked like his n of being a pain in the other dungeon masters couldn''t be done in time. Hopefully, it will be useful in the future, but even Ryan didn''t know if he was na?ve in waiting for that. "What is the n now?" Femradiel asked. "I was nning on developing some countermeasures against Poseidon, but I can''t do it without knowing a single thing about him and relying on myths for that might cause more problems than help," Ryan said. "So, until I have some clear idea, I will focus on doing the same thing I have been doingtely, making my country safer while I also steadily increase my strength." "So, you are going to wait for inspiration," Femradiel said. Ryan hated to admit that, but it was exactly what he was thinking. He still had a n B, but he didn''t want to do it since it would put him in a very ufortable position. However, if Ryan doesn''t find a proper answer in just a few days, he will have to go with n B. No matter what happens, he can''t let Poseidon do whatever he wants as soon as he returns. Although Ryan just returned from an aquatic mission, he soon returned to the ocean in order to check if his Hydra reached the closest beach. Since he gave the monster the order toe after the fifth day of the hunt, the creature was there waiting for him while eating some Giant Crabs that were leaving a dungeon. "No, no. You will have to face the Tritons," Ryan said. "Those weaklings won''t make you stronger. While you be stronger, you also have to decrease Poseidon''s influence in this area." Although Ryan went as far as using some buffs in his Hydra and kept it active indefinitely, the difference in strength between his Hydra and the others already reached a level where his new pet barely could keep up with them. Just as expected, the dungeon break made the monsters level up fifty times. With some strategy, maybe his Hydra could win a one-on-one fight, but a murderous and hungry beast could only use so much strategy. Chapter 566 - Guardian In the end, to solve the Hydra''s problem, Ryan decided to use his battle machines. Although it seemed pretty silly at first, creating a semi-robotic Hydra turned out to be cooler than Ryan expected, and the results had been better than expected. Thanks to the help of ten battle machines, his Hydra was able to take down a stronger one. "I guess this should be enough," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "The chances of you finding another Hydra before recoveringpletely are quite slim, after all." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guardian, Sniper, and Storm Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Guardian! You obtained the following skills: Sacrifice, True Shield, and Defensive Aura. Your strength and health will increase by six points, your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sacrifice. Effect: A skill that sacrifices the user''s health to recover the health of an ally. Cost: 100 health You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: True Shield. Effect: It grants you the power to take damage in the ce of an ally. For every ten levels of the skill, you can take damage from one extra ally, and they need to be within your eyesight''s range for this effect to take ce. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Defensive Aura. Effect: It boosts the Endurance of your allies against all types of attacks by five points per level of the skill. Range: skill level multiplied by ten meters. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Thanks to the help of his Hydra, Ryan managed to clear a dungeon he had ignored before and obtained a melee ss since he already had one of the potions, and the other didn''t fit his fighting style. "I feel kind of heavy now that I am fighting without Draconic Transformation¡­ as expected. That skill is dangerous in many ways," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. While decreasing Poseidon''s strength was a must, Ryan returned to his domain after clearing that dungeon. But, of course, it would be better if he keeps thinking that only real enemies wereing from Brazil while Ryan''s Hydra keeps hunting all his minions up North. In any case, now that Ryan was back, again, he couldn''t help but sigh. He worked for a full day to clear that tier three dungeon, but in the end, he didn''t get any inspiration. "All right, I guess I need topromise here. If in three days I don''t find a satisfying answer for this problem, I will have to use n B," Ryan nodded to himself. "Can I hear about n B?" Femradiel asked. "No," Ryan replied. "I see¡­ so it must be a touchy subject," Femradiel nodded to herself. "Knowing you, it must be something rted to asking help for someone you don''t want to." Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance¡­ it was very troublesome to be that easy to read. In any case, he couldn''t let his anger be all that obvious. So, Ryan decided to change the subject. "How are things in the Banshee''s dungeon?" Ryan asked. "I am dealing with that personally. You don''t have to worry about it," Femradiel replied. "You sound so confident that only makes me more worried," Ryan frowned. "While they are troublesome creatures, I am stronger and smarter," Femradiel said. "I can even defeat the boss pretty easily. If someday I lose to them, I will live as an ordinary lizard instead of a dragon." While Ryan shattered Femradiel''s pride, at least he didn''t make her think of that. That would be troublesome in many ways¡­ Regardless, things in his domain were fine despite everything. Ryan thought that he would have several more Elemental Golems dungeons since he thought Poseidon would try anything to drown his domain, but that didn''t happen. Just like the other dungeon masters, he was preparing for his arrival. "It looks like my Fire Golems are about to reach the max level¡­" Ryan said while he watched those summoned monsters fighting some specters. "It is time to make your choice," Femradiel said. "Let them stay at that level forever, or let them be even stronger by using Draconic Transformation." In some very specific situations, Ryan couldn''t help but use that skill. He was repeating himself, but Ryan truly didn''t want to rely on that skill. His reasons didn''t change¡­ now that he thought about it, Ryan noticed that he only used that skill when he was forced to fight for his pride and to protect others. First, he used it against the specters to recover thend where his parents were resting. Then, he used it in Indianapolis because he needed to force the people there to realize several things. Ryan also used to train with Alissa because she needed a hand since it had been a while since she had a real fight. Lastly, he used it when Gustavo asked to help him protect his domain and the people in Rio de Janeiro. While that didn''t fit his style, Ryan was satisfied with the situations where he used that skill because he felt like he used it based on the things his parents taught him. Fighting to protect pride and fighting to protect others¡­ "Judging those situations from others will be pretty hard, but I guess those are the breaks that I need," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. However, now that Ryan thought about it, if he dies, he won''t be able to protect his pride, and thend where his parents were resting would be defiled by monsters again. So, if he is in a situation where he is about to die, should he use Draconic Transformation or not? While he was protecting his life or his pride by doing so? That was a tough question¡­ Chapter 567 - Demolisher After spending another day clearing another dungeon and obtaining a new ss, Ryan finally epted that he got ahead of himself. Until now, he didn''t have a single idea as to how to be even a minor nuisance in Poseidon''s ass. Not even the new ss that seemed pretty interesting helped him with that. Regardless, the skills were useful and they woulde in handy in many situations. Even if Ryan tries to fight with long-ranged weapons or melee ones. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Demolisher, Poisonous Archer, and Arch Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Demolisher! You obtained the following skills: Adrenaline, Harden, and Havoc. Your strength and health will increase by six points, your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Adrenaline. Effect: It increases your strength for ten seconds after killing a foe. The bonus in strength will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Harden. Effect: It increases your endurance for ten seconds after killing a foe. The bonus in endurance will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Havoc. Effect: It increases your attack speed when using melee weapons by twenty percent per level. Cost: 100 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. "Wow, those are some interesting skills, and you didn''t even look at them for a single minute," Femradiel said. "Are you that bored, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Besides, you couldn''t be more wrong. I just have other things to consider. I already know how I should use them." "Yes, I am," Femradiel replied. "Even though my life on the southern part of the continent wasn''t exactly exciting,tely I feel like yawning quite a lot." "What about the dungeons you were supposed to be guarding?" Ryan asked. "I am letting the dungeon masters umte some monsters in order for them to pose a real challenge to me," Femradiel replied. "Don''t worry, the bosses will spawn in ten hours, and I will make sure to deal with all the minions before they could be a real problem. Anyway, it looks like you are about to use n B, even though I don''t have any idea what your n B is." "You are so smart. Maybe I should wait for you to give me an answer to my problems," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I am pretty sure you wouldn''t fall that much," Femradiel said. "Don''t give up on hope yet, Ryan." Ryan sighed. Lately, it was too tiring to discuss with Femradiel about certain things. Ryan felt like a child, and he should be since most dragons were probably centenary creatures. He felt like calling Femradiel an old hag, but that didn''t feel that urate either. After thinking for a while, Ryan came up with an answer... not a very satisfying one, but at least it would guide him to a solution to at least one of his problems. "Whatever, I am going to talk with Isis," Ryan said. "¡­ What are you going to ask her?" Femradiel, and she seemed pretty surprised. "I am to ask if she knows about some alien technology or material that can be useful to me," Ryan replied. "I can create most types of metal on Earth, but I guess I reached the limit of how powerful my weapons can be by using them. Since most of my enemies live on aliens, then it should be obvious that I would have to go that far someday." "I wish I could help you with that, but as you already know, I lost all my memories when I came to Earth," Femradiel said. "It is fine. It can''t be helped," Ryan said. "Now that you mention, you haven''t recovered a single memory yet? Even though you said power is rted to our memories, and the familiars already are more powerful than your previous form?" "Yes¡­ I have no idea why that is the case, though," Femradiel said after she turned to the side and began to watch the blue sky. "I don''t think I was wrong, but¡­ It is hard to find a proper exnation." Ryan recalled that Alissa wanted to ask the dungeon masters why the dragons lost their memories. Unlike Ryan, she probably didn''t try to negotiate with one, so she couldn''t ask someone like Isis for that answer. Ryan made a mental note to talk about that with Isis as well¡­ even though that will probably make him owe a lot to her. That was an, even more so for someone like Ryan. "I suppose that is necessary. That kind of information might be useful¡­ if she has," Ryan said. "What might be useful?" Femradiel asked. "Nothing important¡­ I was just thinking out loud," Ryan replied while he shrugged. Femradiel didn''t insist on the matter since she knew how stubborn Ryan could be. While Ryan wanted to tell her, it was useless to make her hope for something that Ryan wasn''t so sure. While Isis probably was as powerful and used the system as long as the demon generals, it doesn''t mean that she would know as much. Ryan used Animalistic Transferred and confirmed that his golems were alive and stationed where he left them in Isis'' camp, so he immediately headed there to talk with her. While she could talk with him, it was obvious that she would need a lot of mana, and it was only natural to go to someone else''s life in order to ask for a favor. Chapter 568 - Request "I didn''t expect you would return without being called," Ryan suddenly heard Isis''s voice when he arrived in the area and found her camp. "I didn''t expect either, but here I am, and I want a favor," Ryan said. "A favor you say¡­" Isis said, and she seemed amused for some reason. Ryan sighed. From someone else''s perspective, seeing someone prideful like Ryan asking for a favor was amusing by itself. However, from Ryan''s perspective, things couldn''t be more annoying. That was why he didn''t want toe. "I am listening," Isis said. While Ryan wasn''t that interested in meeting Isis in person, he couldn''t help but wonder until when he would base his image of Isis based on her voice. Then, while he couldn''t care less about her looks, at least by looking at her, he would be able to at least try to see if she was fooling him or not. "I am interested in alien technology. More specifically, I want to know if you have ess to types of metals that can''t be found on Earth," Ryan said. "If they can be turned into weapons, even better." "I know some, two types more exactly, that I have ess to and that can be used to forge weapons, armors and even upgrade them without magic," Isis said. "There is another one, but I don''t have ess to it. Only powerful mages with absolute control of mana can make it." "A material that only mages can make?" Ryan frowned. "That is right, the name is mithril," Isis said. "Although I said the name, you shouldn''t try to find it. You will lose your time. Like I said, only mages that have absolute control over mana can make them." "What about the others?" Ryan asked. "Like I said, I have ess to them, but I can''t give that information for free," Isis replied. "I was already expecting that," Ryan said. "I assume you want me to do something for you in exchange for the information and the means to find the materials. While I am in no position to ask for that, I don''t have much free time, and I am in a hurry." "Understandable, Poseidon is about to appear, and you humans are pretty much screwed once he returns," Isis said. As expected, Isis was aware of the situation in the oceans. While Ryan had no idea how the rtionship between Greek and Egyptian elder gods was, Ryan could imagine that having one of them arrive much sooner than the other wasn''t a good idea for the bnce of power. Now that Ryan thought about that, he felt pretty pissed. In the end, most dungeon masters were treating humans like weak pieces in a massive chess game that they were ying by themselves. In any case, at least by helping Isis first, he wouldn''t owe her anythingter¡­ "I have a dungeon in Egypt that is facing some trouble," Isis said. "I want you to deal with that trouble." "Humans?" Ryan asked. "I told you before, I won''t ask you to hurt your kin in my ce," Isis said. "The truth is, some humans already joined my side, but they are being overwhelmed due to some troublesome enemies. So I want you to help them with that." Now Ryan started to have mixed feelings about the situation, he couldn''t forgive humans for joining the dungeon master''s side, but now he was more or less on peaceful terms with one. So, he didn''t have any other choice but to review his thoughts and actions. Putting that aside for the time being, while Ryan could reach Egypt rtively fast with Teleport, who knows how long he will have to stay there to save a problem that Isis'' followers couldn''t solve. Indeed, she gave them a bunch of powers to be her allies¡­ "Can you tell me more about the situation there?" Ryan asked. "Certainly, before that, let me give you some details since you appear to be wrong about my way of doing things," Isis said. "While I rule justly over those who agree to follow me, I don''t promise them power or other things to entice their mundane desires. Those who agreed to work with me will receive proper support from my troops and me. The same can be said about their families. Just like I told you, I don''t force anyone to do immoral things for me." "What about those that decided not to follow you?" Ryan asked. "They were free to look for other masters. You have my word that those who didn''t touch my people or my army didn''t suffer a scratch," Isis said. The more Ryan talked with Isis, the more he was forced to review his actions and thoughts. If what Isis was saying were true, how should he act? Should he despite those that joined her for protection? That was a tough question, another one¡­ If Ryan hadn''t lost his parents and they lived somewhere, and he had to consider joining the side of one of the dungeon masters, would he had epted the invitation for the sake of his parents? ording to Yahiko, a lot of humans joined the side of the dungeon masters, guardians, and even the fallen in the region around India. Knowing that, and given that Ryan had no idea about the situation in those countries, should Ryan have his own set of values and experiences to judge those people? "You seem conflicted about something¡­" Isis said. "Don''t mind me," Ryan said. "You can continue with your exnation." "As I was saying, my people there are having a hard time due to the army of another dungeon master," Isis said. "You will understand the situation better if you talk with them and see for yourself." "If I solve this situation, what am I going to receive in exchange?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know other dungeon masters who have ess to these resources, so I will give you ess to a world in my control that has the materials that you want," Isis replied. "Of course, you will have the chance to mine the materials as much as you want as well." Chapter 569 - Support After hearing Isis''s offer, Ryan readily epted, but before heading to Egypt, he returned to his domain to talk with Femradiel. One of the familiars certainly wille in handy in that mission, and since she said that she was bored due to the fact that the fights were too easy, she certainly would agree toe. However, after hearing Ryan''s exnation, Femradiel was more interested in something else. "You really went and asked for help, huh," Femradiel said. "I could swear that you would give up at thest moment." "The image you have of me is that bad¡­ anyway. Are youing or not?" Ryan asked. "Yep, I can help you," Femradiel said. "My Wyrm and Drake form is powerful enough to guard two of those dungeons each, so the Ice Phoenix will offer you some support." While Ryan couldn''t imagine how that familiarity at that level would be useful, Ryan knew that Femradiel could show a power beyond the limits of status and skills. Time was of the essence, so Ryan headed toward his destination. Fortunately, Isis put his dungeon near Egypt''s capital, the city of Cairo. So, finding it would be easy. Even if that weren''t the case, Femradiel''s tracking skills woulde in handy. Since Ryan went in a straight line, he had the chance to see almost the entire northern part of Africa''s coast. While he didn''t see a single survivor''s camp, near the ocean, he saw countless monsters facing each other on the beaches. Monsters wereing from the sea-facing the monstersing from the mand. The strongest monster he found there was the Magma Golem. Magma Golem ¨C Lv 650 Health: 63.000/63.000 Mana: 51.000/51.000 Stamina: 33.000/33.000 Strength: 4500 (+ 400) Dexterity: 2000 (+ 100) Speed: 800 Intelligence: 4500 (+ 400) Endurance: 3500 (+ 300) Control: 900 Mentality: 5000 (+ 600) Luck: 500 Recovery: 35.000 (+ 4000) Willpower: 5000 (+ 600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Magma Explosion Lv 560, Self Destruction Lv 300 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 350, Focus Lv 350, Steel Skin Lv 300, Improved Intelligence Lv 300 Spells: Magma Spear Lv 450, Magma Storm Lv 350, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 750, Fire Resistance Lv 750, Earth Immunity Lv 250, Fire Immunity Lv 250 "Damn, this ce is hot¡­" Femradiel said. "You should have warned me of this weather." "You can use magic to refresh yourself, so stopining," Ryan said. "That being said, being this close to the Equator line surely is tough¡­" "I don''t know where you are looking. The heat ising from the continent," Femradiel said. "For some reason, I feel many presence of fire creatures in that direction. Even the dungeons emit that kind of energy." It looked like Ryan had some things to investigate in the African continent. It was a pity that he didn''t have that much free time. One hour before sunset, Ryan arrived in Egypt. It was hard to be sure if the image he had of that country based on some movies was urate or if the monsters'' arrival also changed the county''s environment. Still, Ryan couldn''t see anything in the distance aside from a massive desert. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "Well, it looks like the monsters'' arrival certainly made things hotter in here," Ryan frowned. "Femradiel, can you tell me how many tier three dungeons are in that direction." "Two, I assume that is where we are going, huh," Femradiel said, and then shended on Ryan''s head since the weather really got her. While it was a bit annoying to let Femradiel stay there, at least her ws weren''t that sharp, and her body temperature was perfect. For the time being, Femradiel would work just fine as a portable AC. Although Ryan wanted to see with more detail the situation in the country, he decided to move to his destination as fast as possible with Teleport, instead of using Fly. Isis alerted her followers about Ryan''s arrival, but he wouldn''t be that easily identifiable at night. After a couple of minutes, Ryan and Femradiel found Egypt''s capital, alongside two armies of monsters that were fighting against each other. Aside from that, Ryan could also see the tier three dungeon inside the city, and the enemies'' army was just a couple of kilometers away from it. Due to that, using an illusory barrier was probably useless since the fights would make things too obvious. In any case, maybe it was a coincidence, but the dungeon inside the city was located inside a massive building that had the shape of a pyramid. From the left side of the battlefield, Ryan saw the cat-like monsters again. Isis sure likes them. In any case, their level was around 650¡­ it looked like that was the ce Isis was using to make her return. As for the right side, Ryan saw some weird-looking crocodiles covered in armor and armed with cusses. They kind of reminded Ryan of the Reptilians, but they looked much more fearsome. Another surprising thing about them was the fact that they used two swords. Brute Feralligator ¨C Lv 690 Health: 78.000/78.000 Mana: 22.000/22.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 4500 (+ 400) Dexterity: 1500 (+ 300) Speed: 1100 Intelligence: 1500 (+ 200) Endurance: 6500 (+ 2900) Control: 1200 Mentality: 5300 (+ 700) Luck: 500 Recovery: 25.000 (+ 5000) Willpower: 5300 (+ 700) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Throw Lv 590, Concentrated Strike Lv 500 Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 550, Bronze Skin Lv 200, Steel Skin Lv 100 Spells: Heal Lv 200, Regeneration Lv 100 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 550, Fire Resistance Lv 550, Cold Resistance Lv 350, Electric Resistance Lv 250 When Ryan used Appraisal, he understood why Isis''s minions were losing that war. Even Ryan kind of hated enemies that were focused on endurance and survivability since they took too long to kill. Regardless, at the same time, he would have a long time to level up his sses. Chapter 570 - Go On "Go on, Ryan," Femradiel said. "Do it! Do it!" "Do what?" Ryan frowned. "Join the fight while making a hero-like appearance. The first impression is the key," Femradiel said. Ryan wanted more and more to find some way to make Femradiel behave. She was getting too smart as ofte. Unlike the first conversations they had, she turned into a joker for some reason, and that was starting to get on Ryan''s nerves. After studying the battlefield for a couple of more seconds, Ryan saw some humans on the backline of Isis''s army. It looked like she was really giving them good treatment since she wasn''t treating them like cannon fodder. Regardless, the cat-like monsters were being pushed back since they were mostly melee fighters. Still, they didn''t have the necessary skills to defeat foes with that much endurance. "What is the n?" Femradiel asked. "You will slow them down, and I will decrease their endurance," Ryan said. "By doing so, Isis''s side will recognize us as allies, and we will change the tide of the battle. We don''t have much time since it is getting dark, and who knows what might happen." Despite the hot climate in that region, Femradiel easily and quickly made some snow clouds appear above the battlefield. Once that happened, the temperature began to decrease, and strong winds started to blow the entire area. Once Ryan noticed that the monsters were losing speed and suffering damage, he attacked dozens of them while Vital Hunter was active. While it was a pity, Ryan focused on decreasing their endurance instead of killing them, even when that started to cost him some powerful mana potions. Isis''s army was caught off-guard at first since they didn''t think a third party would suddenly appear and help them. Still, some of the leaders in the area noticed that Ryan was the ally that Isis had sent and began to attack the army of armoured crocodiles. Unfortunately, that was a golden chance they won''t have any time soon, so they needed to eliminate as many monsters as possible. When the crocodiles noticed that the enemy was far beyond their reach, they decided to retreat. Still, Femradiel acted fast and changed the position to where the winds were blowing. Thanks to that, she created an invisible barrier that prevented them from escaping. Congrattions! The ss William Tell''s Apprentice has reached level five. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by twelve points. In addition, your health, mana, speed, and control have been raised by six points. Much to Ryan''s surprise, even though that wasn''t his focus, the skills he obtainedtely have been working a lot. Thanks to all that extra damage, he managed to kill several of those monsters and thus progress even more. In the end, from an army of more or less two thousand armored crocodiles, only five hundred or so managed to escape alive and return to the dungeon. "Only two thousand¡­ I guess that their advantage isn''t that impressive," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I feel numerous presences like those creatures down South," Femradiel said. "It looks like they are trying to dominate other areas along with this one." That seemed a bit greedy on the dungeon master''s part, but in the end, the only conflict would make their dungeon level up. So, from a rational point of view, it was wise to dive one''s forces in several areas. Regardless, it was time to check the loot, but even Isis''s army wasn''t doing that since they looked toward Ryan. At least the few hundred humans under her protection were. Ryan teleported to the ground and then approached the group. He obviously couldn''t talk Egyptian, but he had imagined that Isis had considered such a thing in advance. "Hello, my name is Ryan," Ryan said and then crossed his arms. "Isis sent me to help. Did she notify any of you about it?" After making his question, Ryan saw several frowns. Maybe few people there could understand English, but he felt like something was off¡­ but he couldn''t say what. Based on the people Ryan was seeing, they didn''t seem under any illusory spell, and they don''t look weird as if they had been brainwashed either. "Do you mean Lady Isis?" A tanned man armed with a red cuss stepped forward and asked. "Aren''t you one of her servants?" "Do I look like someone else''s servant?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Again, with those weird titles¡­ but now that Ryan thought about that. Isis was indeed an Egyptian goddess, so addressing her with that much respect was obviously necessary from their point of view. "¡­ I am working for Lady Isis for the time being," Ryan said after much hesitation. "Anyway, did she mention my arrival or not?" "You can really do you try, huh, Ryan," Femradiel said while she was chuckling. "I mean¡­ being respectful and all that." "Shut up," Ryan said impatiently. "Yes, she did mention that someone woulde to help, someone from far away," The tanned man nodded. "But we thought it would take a while, and we didn''t think it would be a human-looking creature like you." "I am not a human-looking creature. I am a human¡­" Ryan said. "Anyway, I am a busy person, so let''s solve this situation once and for all." The man frowned at Ryan''s words, but given that he changed by himself the tide of the battle, he recognized that Ryan was weird but powerful. Someone who Isis herself had recognized his abilities. However, before talking with Ryan, the man gave the order to his followers to help the cat-like monsters that worked for Isis and also deal with the loot and the crocodiles'' corpses. "Follow me," The man said. "To where?" Ryan asked. "Shouldn''t we talk here? We will only waste time if the armored crocodiles return." "That is not a problem," The man said. "Now that you appeared, they won''t attack today. Besides, the night is cold in this region, too cold for them. We can talk until morning while I exin this situation to you without any problem." Chapter 571 - Chimeras Like most cities in the world, Cairo had beenpletely destroyed by the attack of dragons. However, almost the entire city had been recovered after four months since many humans joined Isis''s camp. While her dungeon was a pyramid located in the center of the city and was the most impressive building, the other ces weren''t half bad. Houses, restaurants, shops specialized in dismantling monsters and things like that could easily be found in the city. Not only most of the city that had been recovered but it was also protected by some crazy walls that were fifty meters tall and twenty meters thick. While they were crossing the city gates, Ryan saw the tanned man taking off his helmet, and Ryan saw a bearded man that was probably in his thirties. His face had some scars due to the battles of thest seven months, but somehow Ryan could feel a youthful feelinging from him. On the other hand, the beard was probably making him look older, and Ryan couldn''t help but wonder how someone could keep such a thick beard in that hellish weather. "My name is Mohammed," The tanned, bearded man said. "You already know my name, and this noisy chicken here is Femradiel," Ryan said. "¡­ You called me what?" Femradiel asked, and she looked pretty angry for a change of pace. Ryan ignored Femradiel and waited for Mohammed to keep talking, but the man just looked at him as if he was waiting for something as well. Things stayed silent for quite a while since Ryan was used to silence. "Are you really human?" Mohammed asked. "What makes you think that I am not human?" Ryan frowned. "All foreigners that I talked to until now always mention how my name is somon¡­" Mohammed replied. "Well, I am pretty sure the people you talked with before came to your country as tourists who wanted to have a fun time," Ryan said. "Like I said before, I don''t have much free time, and I havee to help, not to make fun of anyone''s name." "All right then," Mohammed said. "I believe that to help you understand the situation we are in, you should listen to the things we experienced since the dungeons appeared." "As long as that tale doesn''t take too much time, I don''t mind," Ryan said while he looked at some shops selling potions. "When the monsters arrived, we had to see our very civilization being destroyed alongside most of the people that we knew," Mohammed said. "Those who managed to hide soon had to deal with other problems when the dragons leftck of water, food, and the arrival of weaker monsters. However, Lady Isis''s servants protected us. They then guided us to her dungeon, and there she taught us about the system and how we could protect ourselves." "And she didn''t ask anything in exchange," Ryan said. "She said that the Egyptians'' children were her children, so that much was the least she could do to her people," Mohammed said. "While she indeed offered us the alternative to rebuilding our society under her rule, she didn''t force us to do anything. If that is what you are thinking." "Whatever you say, mate," Ryan shrugged. "After pledging loyalty to her, we managed to increase in numbers after we rescued others, survivors," Mohammed said. "However, some of our bases were attacked and taken by some species of monsters. At first, there were only the Brute Feralligators. Still, then the weather began to worsen, and then the Magma Golems appeared and joined them. We managed to withstand even those two groups, but then when another army of monsters joined their side, we began to lose this war." "What is the third type of monster?" Ryan asked. "The Chimeras¡­" Mohammed replied. "They are troublesome enough by themselves to the point where I can''t help but think that only that group will be able to wipe us out now that their forces surpassed the level of Lady Isis''s forces." Chimeras¡­ Ryan could imagine them but couldn''t imagine why he only saw the armored alligators that day. That was weird, given that Mohammed said three species of monsters were fighting against them. In any case, solving that problem might be a bit moreplicated than Ryan thought¡­ decimating the three armies wouldn''t solve the problem¡­ only defeating the three dungeon masters. "¡­ Why aren''t the monsters working together?" Ryan asked while he massaged his eyebrows. "We don''t know the exact reason. We assumed that they could attack us many times in a single day in order to wear down our troops," Mohammed exined. "However, we don''t see them working together in order areas as well." While the dungeon masters certainly were working together to defeat Isis, who was a tougher foe, they weren''t that friendly toward each other. Maybe Ryan could exploit that¡­ "So, you are having a hard time being attacked on three fronts?" Ryan asked. "Well, you should just focus on defense. I will do something about defense." "Things aren''t that simple," Mohammed said. "Now and then, some troublesome individuals appear, and the fights be even more chaotic, and our losses increase significantly." "Who are they?'' Ryan frowned. "Human Chimeras¡­ humans who joined the other side in exchange for power," Mohammed said. "When they appear, our morale drops significantly to the point where most of us freeze in fear." "Why?" Ryan asked. "You will see when you find one of them," Mohammed said. Ryan didn''t like all that drama and mystery, but in the end, he decided to rely on his eye to judge that. Regardless¡­ to think that even humans could be chimeras¡­ while Ryan didn''t have much respect for some dungeon masters, he at least hoped that some of them had a code of honor like Isis. Still, it looked like that had been only his na?ve thinking making him see some of his enemies as semi-reasonable individuals. In any case, before the next battle, Ryan had a ce where he had to go: Isis''s dungeon. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 22 (+ 07 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 13 (+ 03 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 05 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 44th Health: 6085/6085 (12,62/s) Mana: 8005/8005 (12,62/s) Stamina: 8340/8340 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+668) (+130) Dexterity: 6015 (+4955) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2480) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2044) (+33) Endurance: 1158 (+509) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2510) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+703) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+75) Recovery: 3800 (+3250) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+739) (+40) Coins: 25.685.111 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Evading Shot Lv 35 (+ 07 UP), Vital Hunter Lv 27 (+ 05 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Archer''s Faith Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Perfect Shot Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Secret Arrow Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Sacrifice Lv 01, True Shield Lv 01, Defensive Aura Lv 01, Adrenaline Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Harden Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 59 (+ 17 UP), Ice Breath Lv 41 (+ 15 UP), Magic Bow Lv 54 (+ 05 UP), Teleport Lv 57 (+ 08 UP), Summon Fire Golem Lv 98 (+ 15 UP) Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 44 (+ 04 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 61 (+ 04 UP), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 84 (+ 05 UP), Summoner Lv 97 (+ 06 UP), Weapons Master Lv 99 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 21 (+ 06 UP), Hexde Lv 57 (+ 09 UP), Magic Archer Lv 25 (+ 13 UP), Royal Archer Lv 17 (+ 07 UP), Guardian Lv 01, Demolisher Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 62 (+ 04 UP), Alchemist Lv 69 (+ 05 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 572 - Flame Swordsman "So, you havee," Isis said once Ryan entered the dungeon. "Do you want to clear this dungeon?" "That is right, is there a problem with that?" Ryan asked. "Not at all. I just want to know your solution for this problem is before you clear it," Isis said. "After all, this dungeon just broke a few days ago." "Defeating the three dungeon masters is the only way to solve the problem once and for all," Ryan said. "I will do exactly that." "I thought you would try some convoluting way to solve the problem," Isis said, and she sounded amused as usual. "I need to change my evaluation of you. Regardless, I will be counting on you to prevent the fall of this base and my followers." After hearing that, Ryan had the chance to defeat another oversized boss without having to deal with any resistance. While that was weird, Ryan didn''t waste time pondering too much about it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: me Swordsman, Sentinel, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one me Swordsman! You obtained the following skills: Sr Strike, Fire Immunity, and Explosive Strike. Your health and strength will increase by six points. Your stamina, mana, intelligence, and endurance will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sr Strike. Effect: A powerful horizontal attack that causes critical physical and magical damage at the same time. Cost: 100 mana and 100 stamina You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Immunity. Effect: It decreases the power of all fire-based abilities by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Explosive Strike. Effect: By swinging a melee weapon and hitting the ground with it, you can create and spread massive mes that will burn all the enemies around. Cost: 50 mana and 50 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. "Fire Immunity, huh¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully after checking his new skills. "Maybe that exins why Mohammed can withstand this heat with that beard." "While that certainly doesn''t help, I do like my beard," Mohammed said. "You get used to this weather after a while." "I don''t intend to stay here for long, so I don''t n to get used to it," Ryan said. Ryan had forgotten that Mohammed was right behind him. Fortunately, he didn''t take offense in Ryan''s words. Putting that aside, Mohammed decided to guide Ryan to the ce where he would be able to spend the night, but Ryan was severe when he said that he doesn''t intend to stay for long. "I am going to check those three dungeons and see what I can do for the time being," Ryan said. "Don''t wait for me. I might return only at sunrise." "Are you going to scout? I can prepare some guards to keep you safe," Mohammed said. "Don''t bother. Do you really think Isis would send someone who would need guards?" Ryan frowned. "Anyway, if you want to help, you just need to tell me when the monsters usuallye to attack the city." From Mohammed''s perspective, Ryan seemed too cocky for his own good, but in the end, he realized that his words matched with the trust Isis had in him¡­ to some extent. Regardless, Ryan confirmed that the monsters never attacked at night. There were two reasons for that, because of the cold and because they wanted to build their numbers before the next attacks. While the enemies were spawning more monsters than they were losing, at least they were cautious to a certain point. In the end, Mohammed confirmed that Ryan wouldn''t need any guard when he used Teleport. He had fair confidence in his tracking skills, but Ryan left Mohammed''s range after using Teleport a single time. "So, we are going to face three dungeon masters, huh," Femradiel said. "I wish that I hade with another body. Anyway, finally, the weather became nice and cool. Let''s try to finish this mission before sunrise." It was hard to know if Femradiel was worried or not. At least she didn''t sound that nervous the same way when she mentioned Poseidon. Regardless, Femradiel guided Ryan to the nearest of the enemies'' camp. The Magma Golem''s dungeon was fifty kilometers South of Cairo and Ryan not only saw a massive army of ordinary Magma Golems, but he also found fifteen hundred bosses guarding the dungeon. "I guess I should leave this ce to you, Femradiel," Ryan said. "You have the elemental advantage, after all." "While I am thankful for your trust and confidence, I think I am going to pass," Femradiel said. "These numbers are too much for me, even with the elemental advantage." "How disappointing¡­ Where are your adventurous spirits?" Ryan asked. While Femradiel refused that offer, Ryan wasn''t that worried about the ce. Golems couldn''t fly, so he could attack them from a safe ce as much as he wanted. Of course, the real problem was to defeat the dungeon master. Regardless, the enemy on the other side of the crystal shouldn''t be at Poseidon or Isis''s level since that dungeon was only a tier two dungeon. That being said, Ryan couldn''t underestimate them. The other two dungeons were respectively in the West and East of Cairo, sixty kilometers away from the capital. While Ryan saw some Chimeras, he didn''t see the humans who had be Chimeras¡­ Regardless, both dungeons were being guarded in the same manner as the first. Defeating the armored crocodiles wouldn''t be that difficult either. It would only take some time. However, things would be different with the Chimeras¡­ Chapter 573 - Trump Card Chimera ¨C Lv 700 Health: 85.000/85.000 Mana: 85.000/85.000 Stamina: 85.000/85.000 Strength: 4000 (+1100) Dexterity: 4000 (+1100) Speed: 4000 (+1100) Intelligence: 4000 (+1100) Endurance: 4000 (+1100) Control: 4000 (+1100) Mentality: 4000 (+1100) Luck: 4000 (+1100) Recovery: 4000 (+1100) Willpower: 4000 (+1100) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Paralyzing Whip Lv 400, Body m Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 400, Enhanced Speed Lv 400, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 400 Spells: Poison Spear Lv 400, Thunder Spear Lv 400, Fire Breath Lv 400, Acid Breath Lv 400 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 400, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Earth Resistance Lv 400 Maybe it was due to their bodies, but it was quite weird to see monsters so bnced. Their bodies were more or less like Ryan had imagined. They had a snake as a tail, a lower half, and the face of a lion and eagle''s wings. At least, that was how Ryan would describe it. The monster''s parts were much more beastly ifpared to the animals from Earth. "The human chimeras aren''t here," Femradiel said. "They must be their trump cards," Ryan said. "Unless they lost the ability to obtain sses, a chimera that has a human as a basis would be pretty fearsome." In any case, the monster could fly, so Ryan had to expect an aerial battle. Against dozens of thousands of chimeras, he could easily be surrounded by all angles. So while he could use Teleport to escape, it would be better to keep that skill hidden from the dungeon masters. While they were the most troublesome enemies, Ryan wanted to decrease their numbers first, even though the others probably will have to hide in their dungeons to escape his attacks. From an archer''s point of view, it would be more logical to decrease the annoyances as much as possible. However, Ryan had an advantage that he could only use at night, that was Lunar Arrow. In order to prevent himself from being discovered, Ryan would have to attack from a certain distance. While his eyes were good enough for him to see things ten kilometers away as long as there were no obstructions, Ryan doubled that distance and decided to use irvoyance. While Ryan will have to use the skill several times to kill a single chimera boss, that much was fine. Why? Because he was one hundred percent certain that their dungeon wasn''t big enough to protect so many monsters. "Mohammed said that they have other groups trying to defeat other monsters near other dungeons, so I need to be fast before those groupse to the rescue," Ryan said. "Aren''t you going to use some of them to create a magic crossbow?" Femradiel asked. "While they don''t have space inside the dungeon to protect all the monsters, they certainly can protect the bosses." Thanks to Femradiel''s words, Ryan hesitated. Using the monsterster to create and upgrade a new magic weapon will be too much work. Still, if he does that now, he will save himself from a pain in the ass but will lose the chance to eliminate a few dozen bosses. If Ryan decides to capture some monsters, he will have to do that and then beat the crap out of them as fast as possible before the dungeon master can see what happened. However, doing that against a new type of enemy that Ryan had no experience dealing with was a bit too much. As usual, Draconic Transformation would save Ryan a lot of time, but he decided to take his chances by using something else, and that was the Petrification Crossbow. Ryan decided to do some image training first in order to make things go as smoothly as possible. After that, he found on the left side of the army his targets. Ryan chose that ce because even the monsters couldn''t help but feel sleepy in the middle of that cold night. While his chances of being noticed would decrease if Ryan waits a bit longer, he didn''t want that. He wanted to have as much time as possible to attack the monsters after getting his newest weapon. In the end, everything went as smoothly as possible, just ording to the n. Ryan used Teleport to appear in the middle of the ten Chimera bosses. In the blink of an eye, Femradiel covered them in ice. Before the monsters nearby that group could see or even feel the cold, Ryan teleported back to his old position. "Nice one," Ryan said and then summoned magic copies of his Petrification Crossbow. The ice slowed down the reaction speed of the monsters, so before any of them could do anything, Ryan already had hit their wings and limbs. The petrification began to ur, but the monsters had some resistance to that effect for some reason. However, before Ryan could think of any way to prevent the monsters from freeing themselves and seeing Ryan, Femradiel froze their heads. "¡­ I guess you don''t have a bird''s brain, huh?" Ryan frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?" Femradiel asked. The Chimeras couldn''t do anything against the ice that Femradiel put in their heads, so Ryan had the chance to petrify and decrease their health until he felt necessary. After that, he just went to his usual process of magic weapon creation. Chimeric Crossbows (+ 11) Effect: At the cost of 150 points of mana, you can fire three bolts every single time with this weapon. Each bolt has a different property, they can paralyze, poison, and corrode the target. Dexterity + 240, Intelligence 120 Durability: 150/150 "Not bad, huh," Ryan smirked. "With this weapon alone, I will be able to multiply my attacking speed by three." "And also decreases the amount of time you can fight without using mana potions by the same amount," Femradiel said. "A small, but necessary problem," Ryan shrugged. "As long as I can defeat my foes as fast as possible, I don''t see any problem in using all my mana." Chapter 574 - Changes As much as his newest weapon seemed awesome in his eyes, Ryan wouldn''t be able to use them on his current targets. In any case, before doing anything, Ryan used irvoyance to confirm that the army didn''t change even a little bit¡­ if the monsters noticed the disappearance of those Chimeras, they were too tired to do anything, or that was much of a hassle for them. "This is kind of odd¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What do you think of this, Femradiel?" "I am not sure, maybe the dungeon master iszy, and that trait was passed down to their troops," Femradiel replied. "If I were them, I would use that many troops for hunting other monsters and leaving only the bosses behind to guard the dungeon." That was what Ryan would do as well¡­ if he didn''t have ten created a frozen slimes'' dungeon in a world that didn''t have sapient beings. As for his summons, he couldn''t make them cross the country hunting monsters because they had to keep the ten or so dungeons inside his domain in check. In any case, while that weird situation bothered Ryan, it didn''t stop him from attacking the monsters. However, before anything, he readied his potions to use. Hundreds of mana potions were aligned in front of him to Femradiel pour them on him, and dozens of DEX and INT potions were about to be used by Ryan himself. After Ryan exponentially increased his dexterity and intelligence with his potions, he activated irvoyance again. He began to fire Lunar Arrows toward the Chimera bosses. One, two, three¡­ six. After getting hit by six Lunar Arrows, the first target fell dead. They were even tougher than Ryan expected. You obtained 35.000 coins. Before the smell of death could permeate the area around the dungeon, Ryan selected two other targets and made more Lunar Arrows fall from the sky. When those two fell dead, finally, the monsters around noticed that something was off. They were being attacked¡­ the message quickly spread among them, and they began to look for the enemies. Still, they would have a hard time finding Ryan, who was twenty kilometers away from them. Ryan had the chance to kill fifteen more chimeras before the monsters finally noticed that someone was attacking them from a ce they couldn''t see. In the end, the bosses began to retreat to the dungeon. Still, Ryan concentrated his Lunar Arrows at the dungeon entrance to make them pay dearly for it. However, the minions reacted in a different way than Ryan had predicted. Instead of just waiting to be attacked, the monsters spread around in all directions. Small groups that had one hundred or so chimeras scattered around the desert, and Ryan knew that wasn''t good. "Great¡­" Ryan muttered. "Hunting them will be a pain after this." In order not to lose a precious chance, Ryan focused on the bosses. Thanks to it, he managed to y fifty bosses while the enemies'' side still had more than fourteen hundred. Nevertheless, he still was more or less satisfied with the result of his first strike. "I feel that something weird is happening in the other two dungeons," Femradiel suddenly said. "Something simr to what just happened here." Ryan used irvoyance to check what Femradiel said and confirmed that the bosses of the other areas also escaped to the safety of the interior of their dungeons while the ordinary mobs spread around in all directions. As if that wasn''t bad enough, the vast majority of them were moving away from Cairo. "This confirms the fact that the dungeon masters are working together and canmunicate with each other," Ryan said. "Regardless, to think that the monsters would respond to my preemptive attack so fast¡­ I was wrong about them being sleepy." "Maybe not. Perhaps they wanted to lure anyone to attack them," Femradiel said. "While I think this was a bait to fool the people of Cairo since the monsters were too rxed." By the look of the things, Ryan will have to dy his ns in getting other sses. While forcing his way inside the dungeon wasn''t impossible, it would take too long without Lunar Arrow. In the end, Ryan decided to keep an eye on the dungeons while he hunted the group of monsters that escaped. "The Chimeras will be too hard to track, so I will hunt the other monsters," Ryan decided. "This n is very weird, don''t you think?" Femradiel asked. "Escaping to decrease their losses seems like the wisest thing to do, but I don''t think any dungeon master would focus only on that." Ryan nodded after hearing that. It wasn''t surprising that dungeon masters would think several steps ahead, but in the end, it doesn''t change the fact that Ryan would have to hunt down the monsters. In the end, even attacking monsters that couldn''t fly turned out to be a pain in the ass. The armored crocodiles and the magma golems didn''t even try to attack Ryan. They only focused on defense. Thanks to that, theysted for quite a while, and Ryan only managed to kill a few thousand of them. Considering the number of monsters they had by considering the three armies surpassed the two hundred thousand, Ryan felt like he didn''t do much. "Shit¡­ that is why I hate endurance-based monsters," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. When the sun started to rise, Ryan decided to retreat for the time being and clear his head, but much to his annoyance, Femradiel gave him some bad news. "It looks like all the monsters in the area are changing their direction," Femradiel said. "You won''t like to know where they are going now¡­" "Oh, shit¡­ how unlucky can a single person be?" Ryan massaged his eyebrows. "Well, don''t me yourself too much," Femradiel said. "The dungeon masters probably recognized that you are someone troublesome to deal with and decided to work together before you can decrease their forces even more." Femradiel''s words didn''t improve Ryan''s mood all that much. The monsters were moving to Cairo for onest attack. They wouldn''t stop until the city ispletely destroyed. If that happens, that would be Ryan''s fault. Chapter 575 - Slaughter In the end, while he was returning to Cairo, Ryan made sure to keep his eyes on the three dungeons with irvoyance. First of all, he had to warn Mohammed about the problem that was heading to his city, but he couldn''t lose the chance to decrease the number of bosses. However, after one hour, Ryan confirmed that the bosses would only leave the dungeons once the minions get close enough. "Remind me to make the dungeon masters pay a very high annoyance fee for this," Ryan said. When Ryan and Femradiel returned to Cairo, most of the city was already wide and awake. It looked like they knew that something weird had happened. While Femradiel decided toy some traps around the city, Ryan looked for Mohammed. Fortunately, Ryan had Search, so that ended quickly. In a couple of sentences, Ryan exined the situation, but he only left Mohammed speechless. Maybe it was due to the severity of the situation, or perhaps it was thanks to the fact that Ryan looked as calm as ever. "You have some sort of n to solve this, right?" Mohammed asked. "I don''t know what your definition of a n is," Ryan said. "I know what I am going to do, but I can''t guarantee that it will work." "Oh, please save us, Lady Isis," Mohammed said and then facepalmed. It looked like the people of Cairo began to worship Isis again, or maybe it was just a figure of speech. Either way, Mohammed quickly recovered from the surprise and began to organize his troops. Everyone in the city was summoned to work. At the same time, only thirty percent of them were strong enough to face an armored crocodile, a magma golem, and a chimera. The other seventy percent could help by doing certain things outside the battle. While everyone looked pale despite their tanned skin, they didn''tin or give in to despair. "I suppose I can''t hold back in this situation¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Isis didn''t say if I would fail or not if her followers ended up dying in this situation, and I don''t have the nerve to ask her while bringing that possibility." Even Femradiel was moving around in the hot desert creating ice traps, so Ryan felt even morepelled to end that fight without losing a single soul inside the city''s walls. While that was the case, Ryan couldn''t just show everything he could do all at once. So, while he was making some potions, Ryan decided his n of action. After two hours, the monsters that had escaped from their territory finally got close enough to offer some sense of security to the bosses. Thanks to it, all of them left the dungeons at the same time. While that was a bit troublesome, it was also good from Ryan''s point of view. "I am going to cause some ruckus in the enemies'' line," Ryan said. "I will be back soon." When he heard that, Mohammed couldn''t help but consider the idea of stopping Ryan. Thest time he left alone, he caused that situation to begin with. Still, he couldn''t imagine how Ryan could worsen it, so he decided to stay quiet. In the end, Ryan left Femradiel behind since her traps would definitelye in handy. Even with what he was about to do, he didn''t have the confidence to stop the three armies of monsters. When Ryan appeared several kilometers above from the Chimeras army, he checked all of the monsters. Still, he didn''t find the human chimeras yet¡­ which was a pity since he was nning to get rid of them before they could decrease the people''s morale in Cairo. Regardless, that didn''t make Ryan waste any time. After summoning his gigantic titanium spear, Ryan made the weapon spin. However, since he wasn''t using Draconic Transformation, not only was he using more mana than before, but the spinning speed wasn''t that awesome either¡­ despite that, Ryan felt more than confident to fire in the middle of the Chimeras'' army. It looked like Ryan went too far despite everything, since, before firing, he used Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. When his weaponnded on his target, everything in fifty meters radius was wiped out from existence. His attack had been so powerful that even from ten kilometers away from it, the shockwave made him feel a powerful breeze. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan created a massive hole in the desert. The chimeras'' formation had been broken thanks to the impact. Ryan''s mana was back to full again since he killed eighty or so bosses. You obtained 35.000 coins. You obtained 35.000 coins. You obtained 35.000 coins. ¡­ "¡­ That is weird," Ryan frowned since he caused much more damage than he had expected. "I knew this weapon was crazy powerful due to its size and other things, but¡­" It looked like Ryan underestimated his growth when he fought the Hydras. While it didn''tst long, he certainly became strong enough to defeat them faster¡­ but he didn''t imagine the same growth would be much more evidence against other types of monsters. Regardless, before the monsters could try to understand what had happened, Ryan recovered his weapon and made it spin while it was attacking all the chimeras around and finishing them off. Although Ryan focused on the bosses, he had a hard time killing them since they could fly pretty fast, and he was quite far away. "Screw it," Ryan said. "It is time to take some risks." Ryan used Teleport to approach, and his control over the massive spear increased tenfold. Still, at the same time, the Chimeras found him. As it turned out, that worked well in Ryan''s favor. When the monsters began to move toward him, they charged so recklessly that the spear crushed them to bits. That whole scene repeated itself several times. The Chimeras only understood that they wouldn''t be able to damage Ryan no matter what as long as he has that spear after they lost three hundred of the bosses and several thousands of their minions. Chapter 576 - Support While Ryan was massacring the Chimeras, he never let the situation get carried away, and his eyes were always focused at the entrance of the dungeon. However, even one hour after the start of the fight, he didn''t see the Chimera humans showing themselves. As much as that situation was favorable for Ryan, he was forced to retreat since the army of magma golems, and armored crocodiles were only ten kilometers away from Cairo. In the blink of an eye, Ryan returned to Cairo thanks to Teleport, and Mohammed stared at him, waiting for the bad news. He sure was pessimistic, or he just had too little faith in Ryan. "It is time toe back, Femradiel," Ryan said. "You aren''t going to fight up-close." "We still have some time," Femradiel protested. "It is okay, you can attack from here," Ryan said. "Mohammed, can you make some of your people use mana potions, on Femradiel?" "Sure¡­ for how long exactly?" Mohammed asked. "As long as the fightsts," Ryan said. "They are ten kilometers away from here, so you should hurry up." While Mohammed was telling someone to solve that issue, Ryan brought hundreds of mana potions from his spatial storage. Then he gave the order to Femradiel to attack the Magma Golems in the east while he would take care of the armored crocodiles in the west. However, Ryan was forced toe to a halt when he saw dozens of blue stones appearing in the sky and then falling in the army of magma golems that were approaching. While they looked like stones in the distance, when they fell and hit the monsters, several of them died with every single attack. You obtained 1200 coins. You obtained 1200 coins. You obtained 1200 coins. ¡­ The ice meteors were at least five meters long and wide, so it was only natural that they would cause so much damage upon falling at high speeds. As if that wasn''t enough, their magic properties slowed down dozens of golems that were close to the targets. "Pretty cool, huh?" Femradiel asked with a smug smile on her face. "I think my bolts and their numerous properties are cooler," Ryan said. "I didn''t think this was apetition," Femradiel said. When Ryan assumed his position on the west side of the wall, he noticed that the armored crocodiles were closer than the golems. That was a pain, but he created several magic copies of his newest crossbow and then began to attack. While he didn''t have the elemental advantage, Ryan was more efficient. With every single attack, hended some bolts in the face of the armored crocodiles, poisoning, paralyzing, and making them scream in agony with the property of his bolts. "I guess I won''t need to use Vital Hunter¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows while he watched the monsters suffering more damage than usual. "While I knew a weapon created by using the spirits of the Chimeras would be powerful, this far surpassed my expectations." Ryan also recalled that those monsters also belonged to a tier-two dungeon. So, it was only natural that his attacks would be that effective. Regardless, this time Ryan focused on attacking the ordinary monsters instead of the bosses since he would recover more mana and thus slow down the whole army with the corpses. While Ryan was killing the armored crocodiles, Mohammed was a few meters behind, watching everything. He could barely see the monsters from that distance, and yet Ryan was killing the monsters with ten weapons made of mana and with his arms crossed. "Just what the¡­" Mohammed muttered in shock. Mohammed saw some humans doing as much as Ryan could do. Still, they quite couldn''t be considered humans anymore¡­ they were the humans who joined the Chimeras'' side¡­ in any case, he couldn''t help butpare Ryan with monsters since only those beasts could hold back such an army by themselves. In the end, Ryan''s n worked for quite a while, but at some point, the armored crocodiles began to protect their faces with their weapons. While they couldn''t block one hundred percent of Ryan''s power with that alone, at least they could weaken the bolts and stop their effects fromsting longer. After all, those effects could only take ce as long as the bolts touch their wounds. Once the bolts are taken, they be essentially useless. When both armies were five kilometers away from the walls, Mohammed prepared to give the order for his troops to leave the walls and face the monsters in the field. No matter what happens, they can''t let the monsters touch the walls. Jumping over them was easy with their powerful bodies. The walls themselves probably couldn''tst the power of a Dragon''s Breath for more than a few seconds. However, Ryan stopped him. "Focus on long-ranged attacks for the time being," Ryan said. "I want to have free vision to attack them for a while longer. Femradiel also can''t worry about your troops, if you send some soldiers now, she will be unable to attack the first line of monsters." "But they are too close," Mohammed said. "If we wait any longer, we won''t have the chance to send all of our troops." "Like I said, focus on long-ranged attacks," Ryan said. "Even if you only have a few warriors'' experience in fighting at that distance, it doesn''t matter." Mohammed only understood that it wasn''t a good idea to send his troops now when Ryan made his massive titanium spear appear. This time instead of making it spin vertically, he made the weapon spin horizontally. Thus, decreasing the power and speed of the weapon but increasing its range. While his weapon wasn''t killing many enemies with its big movements, Ryan certainly was slowing them down. The monsters were trying to attack the spear, but even with their massive numbers, the best they could do was scratch it. "This is pretty amazing¡­ maybe I should have be a mage instead of an archer," Ryan smiled. "Just kidding." Chapter 577 - Go For The Legs While Ryan was having a lot of fun slowing down the armored crocodiles, Femradiel was having a hard time slowing down the magma golems, even though the people who Mohammed asked to help her used some potions to increase her intelligence. Despite the fact that hundreds of Demi-Felines were helping Femradiel as well, their attacks were losing a lot of power due to the distance. As if things weren''tplicated enough, Ryan could see a dark clouding from the South. The Chimeras finally were about to join the fight, and unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t stop Mohammed''s soldiers¡­ unless he finds a way to draw the attention of all armies. Fortunately, Ryan had the perfect way to do that and the perfect excuse as well. "Come over here, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Heh, so you really are going to do it, huh," Femradiel said, and for some reason, she looked pretty excited. "It can''t be helped, I need those materials and I can''t afford to let Isis use the death of her followers as an excuse to go back on her world," Ryan shrugged. "While I don''t feel the need to speak, I observe everything that happens in this base," Isis suddenly said. "I didn''t intend to demand anything unreasonable for you, but I suppose if you manage to prevent a single death within the walls, I will offer you an extra reward." Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he heard that. It was only natural that Isis would watch everything. Regardless, Ryan gave Femradiel control over his massive spear, and then he jumped from the wall. Before he could start to fall, he used Draconic Transformation. Suddenly, the whole battlefield went silent. The three armies stopped their march, and the Demi-Felines and humans within the walls stopped their attack as well. "I am not going to fight alone, so you guys shouldn''t stop," Ryan said, and then he teleported to where the Chimeras were. Before the monsters could react, Ryan used Ice Breath and turned into ice statues of the monsters near him. Those who survived the first strike were killed by the magic bows that Ryan summoned. Hundreds of them were killed in the blink of an eye, but some managed to react in time and use their own spells to hit Ryan. Poison Spears, Electric Spears¡­ those didn''t even touch Ryan. The power of his Ice Breath added with Draconic Transformation countered all those attacks despite the difference in levels. When the monsters noticed that a direct fight wasn''t the worst thing they could have, the monsters decided to spread around in the area. After all, Ryan could only freeze things with his Ice Breath that were in front of him. However, such a trick wouldn''t work twice on Ryan. The monsters didn''t notice until now, but he had been using the Petrification Crossbow. Slowly, but surely, a massive number of Chimeras were turning to stone. When the monsters noticed that they were bing too heavy and losing their mobility, they also lost the ability to fly. Thanks to that, they became even an easier target for Ryan''s Ice Breath. All he had to do was fly in circles and attack with his magic bows any monster that might try to leave the perimeter. "How is the situation where you are, Femradiel?" Ryan asked since he couldn''t use irvoyance to see other areas because that would disrupt his focus. "For the time being, thanks to you, things are going rtively well to our side," Femradiel replied. "Your big dramatic entrance surprised the monsters, and thanks to the fact that you are killing many of them at a fearsome pace, I can drop Ice Meteors and control the spear just fine without worrying about mana. Just keep doing that and things will end well for us." "You had to raise a death g¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Despite Ryan''s worries, things kept going just fine while he focused on repelling the monster''s attacks and killing dozens of monsters every second with his Ice Breath. Little by little, the frozen corpses began to form a wall of ice around the Chimeras, and that helped Ryan damage the monsters even more. He didn''t notice that before, but Ice Breath and Petrification Crossbow were a fearsomebination. Ryan could see himself destroying the whole chimeras army in an hour or two of things proceeding like that, but in the end, something happened, and Ryan was forced to change his n. Instead of heading to Cairo, the magma golems began to move toward the chimeras'' direction. "How unexpected¡­" Ryan frowned. "I thought they wouldn''t help each other even in a situation like this¡­ I guess the other dungeon masters can see that if one of them has their forces wiped out, the other will without a doubt suffer the same fate." From outside the circle, Ryan was flying around. The magma golems began to fire their magma spears. Even while focused on the chimeras, Ryan avoided most of the projectiles, but some of them hit him and caused considerable damage. As if his body was melting ice, he began to sweat bullets. "Son of a¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "What the hell is Femradiel doing?" Ryan took a quick nce and finally noticed that only half of the Golems moved toward his battlefield. The others still were trying to reach Cairo. At that point in time, the people in the city couldn''t keep waiting any longer, but Ryan wasn''t that worried since against those numbers, and with Femradiel''s help, they should be fine. Right now, Ryan had to find a way to deal with that annoyance by himself. In the end, Ryan didn''t have any decent idea aside from increasing his flying speed and thus making it harder for the golems to hit him. Besides, thanks to Draconic Transformation, his health, mentality, and willpower increased exponentially. Thanks to that, the spears weren''t causing that much damage. Besides¡­ Congrattions! The skill Fire Immunity has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Earth Resistance has leveled up. Chapter 578 - Hidden Keep calm and write something While Ryan was using that rare chance to train his resistances while suffering a lot less than he should do, he noticed that things changed a little in where armored crocodiles were. Even though she approached the monsters, that form of Femradiel wasn''t strong enough to use the massive titanium spear with Telekinesis to attack and prevent the monsters from escaping. "Sorry, Ryan¡­ I failed here," Femradiel said. "It can''t be helped since you are attacking two ces at the same time," Ryan said. "Just focus on preventing losses on the survivors inside the city." Ryan found it weird that the armored crocodiles decided to retreat when the magma golems decided to help the chimeras. He also noticed that the monsters got angrier, so that certainly hadn''t been a strategic retreat. After a while, when both Chimeras and Magma Golems lost half of their forces, they tried to retreat as if that was the most obvious thing to do. However, at that point in time, it was toote. All of the chimeras had lost some or all of their mobility thanks to the Petrification Crossbow. Meanwhile, in order to make up for the previous failure, Femradiel made sure to use Ice Meteor like a machine gun in order to explode any golem that tried to run away. "Why are they trying to run when the human chimeras haven''t shown up yet?" Ryan asked himself. The more the fightsted, the easier it became. Thanks to that, Ryan had the leisure to ponder about things like that, but he didn''t find a proper answer. In the end, it took a bit more than Ryan had expected, but after two hours, he managed to defeat all the chimeras. When thest one froze, Ryan finally saw the result of his hard work. A prettyrge ice tower¡­ he couldn''t help but wonder if he hadn''t gone ahead of himself by worrying about the people of Cairo. That fight was a bit troublesome, but it was much easier than he had imagined. In any case, Ryan was one hundred percent sure that he could take half of the loot that the armored crocodiles and magma golems had left. As for the chimeras'' loot, everything was his, but instead of looking at a massive pile of equipment, Ryan was more worried about why the human chimeras didn''t show up. "If you don''t mind, I am going to organize the loot," Femradiel said. "Time is of the essence, but you are lost in thought." "I just need to think a little before going to the dungeons¡­ anyway, tell me if you find anything interesting," Ryan said. "I doubt that I will, after all, you can upgrade magic items," Femradiel said. In any case, those hundred pieces of equipment will help Ryan level up other skills with Deconstruct. He could even use them to increase his mana recovery with Mana-Eater. In any case, it was a good problem. Suddenly Mohammed approached Ryan, and then he began to stare at the ice tower as well. He knew that the potential that humans have was pretty big, but he never imagined that one''s potential was limitless. Although a good part of Ryan''s merites from Draconic Transformation, Mohammed couldn''t help but be amazed at the result of Ryan''s power. Now he finally could understand why his master called a single human to help¡­ "You should send some parties to guard the Chimeras and Magma Golems'' dungeons," Ryan said. "I am going to hunt and kill the armored crocodiles that escaped earlier before they can regroup and create another army." "¡­ I suppose I should select a pretty big group of the strongest and divide them," Mohammed said. "Do you need our assistance when facing the dungeon masters as well?" "Nah, it is fine," Ryan said. "I want to take all the credits if this mission is aplished. While¡­ your master said that the condition wasn''t to lose a single survivor within the walls, the task of solving this problem on the other hand is mine alone. I would feel bad if any of you died due to my greed. Just guard the dungeons since the monsters keep spawning even after someone has used the purple crystal." Mohammed nodded, and in fact, he was thankful for that since he didn''t want to increase his chances of finding the humans who became chimeras, even less so their dungeon masters. After Femradiel managed to gather all the loot and store it inside Ryan''s spatial storage, she helped him track down the armored crocodiles, and as expected, they were heading back to their dungeon. Without wasting time, Femradiel made Ice Meteors fall in front of the army. Some monsters instantly died, but the others were forced to stop. Ryan used that chance to fall on the ground and expose himself to the enemies a little. By doing so, he would forcefully make the enemies attack him instead of run away. "Are you fine with that?" Femradiel asked. "It is fine, just make sure not to let them escape," Ryan replied. "Feel free to use as much mana as you want." Ryan, more or less, was fooled by the feeling of power that Draconic Transformation gave him. However, now that he was in human form again, his attacks didn''t cause that much extra damage. The monsters still suffered a lot due to the effect of the bolts of the Chimeric Crossbow, but since they were endurance-based monsters, the armored crocodiles could still attack. The monsters dashed and jumped toward Ryan, but he evaded them all with Evading Shot. He also made sure to hit the faces of those who got too close with the three projectiles. Thanks to it, Ryan put a stop to their reckless charge once and for all. However, Ryan didn''t lower his guard since some bosses were hidden within that army, and they were obviously waiting for the chance to attack Ryan and kill him as shiftless as possible. Ryan also had a surprise in store for them¡­ .. Chapter 579 - Mood Ryan relentlessly massacred the armored crocodiles for quite a while, but the bosses only showed up when the heat of the desert was starting to get him. Covered in sweat and dirt, Ryan certainly looked exhausted. When fifty of them suddenly charged toward him with lightning speed, Ryan didn''t even bother using his magic crossbows. He only summoned his massive spear and stopped them. At the same time, Ryan made the weapon spin horizontally, thus hitting many more monsters and acting as a shield. Suddenly, Ryan had an idea¡­ "Mmm¡­ maybe I can try this¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. While his spear was hitting the monsters and making them fly for dozens of meters, Ryan decided to use some INT potions. His control over the weapon increased a lot until a point where his weapon created a vortex in the desert that was forcefully attracting the monsters to their doom. "Femradiel, how about you try to make things cooler here?" Ryan asked. "Your puns are as boring as they can be¡­" Femradiel said. Femradiel opened her mouth and then used Ice Breath. It didn''t take long for the sand tornado created by the spear to be an ice tornado that froze anything that got slightly close to it. While that skill on that body wasn''t that strong, Femradiel makes up for it with the massive amounts of mana Ryan was receiving every second. After all, even without hitting many monsters with the tip, the spear was massive and could break the bones of most things with a single strike. The armored crocodiles tried to fight at the beginning, but once again, they tried to run away, they saw their allies turning into ice statues. However, this time they failed since Ryan''s spear and Femradiel''s Ice Breath followed them. In the end, they only seeded in making thousands of frozen corpses, making a weird ice trail in the middle of the hot desert. "These guys never learn," Femradiel said. "Or perhaps their dungeon master never learns." "Don''t get carried away, Femradiel," Ryan said. "They still have a trick up their sleeves and we can''t afford to fail at this mission." "Yeah, I know," Femradiel said and thennded on Ryan''s head. "You have got to try to stop Poseidon once more. Let''s hope this n won''t make him hate you more than any of the other dungeon masters that you already pissed at." After storing the loot again, Ryan headed, and Femradiel teleported to the armored crocodile''s dungeon. Since the monsters weren''t cooperating anymore, then Ryan should start clearing the dungeons. However, that raised a question. Which dungeon master should he try to defeat first? The tier of the dungeon and the type of monster which could spawn had a certain rtion with the level of power of their masters but certainly wasn''t a defining factor. "Well, at least I know I should leave the Chimeras'' dungeon forst," Ryan shrugged. Since there wasn''t a mountain in the area, the armored crocodiles'' dungeon was underground, but now that he could see it up-close, he noticed that the entrance made him recall some sort of old temple. On both sides of the entrance, he also found two massive statues of armored crocodiles'' bosses. "This guy certainly knows how to create the mood for a fight," Ryan said. Despite that, Ryan didn''t have any real fight inside the dungeon. There wasn''t a single boss waiting for him outside, and the monsters that had been spawned were no threat by themselves. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Knight, Archer, and Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Knight! You obtained the following skills: Holy Shield, Holy Blessing, and Heart of Steel. Your strength and health will increase by four points, your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Holy Shield. Effect: It casts a shield that protects you against attacks from undead and demons, decreasing the damage per level. Cost: 10 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Holy Blessing. Effect: It casts a spell that enchants your attacks against undead and demons, increasing the damage per level. Cost: 10 mana per second. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hearth of Steel. Effect: It passively increases your willpower and mentality by five points per level. You obtained 01 status points. "Is some sort of supernatural force telling me to be sturdier?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Lately, I have only been getting melee sses." "That is the price you have to pay for always choosing the most obvious option several times in a row," Femradiel said. "That being said, I do believe your luck kind of sucks." In any case, even though Ryan wasn''t facing many demons or undead monsters as ofte, those skills will certainlye in handy once he has to fight the demon generals again. After making a mental note to train that and the sses specialized in hunting undead and demons in the banshees'' dungeon, Ryan left the ce and then used irvoyance to check where the team who was going to guard that dungeon was. Although they were running toward the ce, they were twenty kilometers away. "Ten people, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess Mohammed doesn''t have many people that can guard dungeons like these for long periods of time. Anyway, I am going to teleport them here." "They will be so disappointed once they learn that you cleared the dungeon alone," Femradiel said. "They can wait for a day to get the new sses, I can''t," Ryan said. "I have to solve this situation, get the materials from Isis and then forge a bow or a crossbow suited to stop Poseidon''s ns, and I only have four or three weeks for that." Chapter 580 - Samurai "Well, I guess it is only natural that you would have to deal with so many problems given that you tend to push the fate of the on your shoulders," Femradiel said. "Just try not to bite more than you can chew. You have a promise with me that you cannot fail to keep it." "Believe me, I am not trying to be that heroic. I just want to do whatever I can," Ryan said. "However, since I have been doing this from the very beginning, the system has been rewarding me quite well. Thus, increasing my options pretty often. Anyway, let''s stop wasting time." In the end, Ryan went as far as approaching the group of soldiers that wereing toward the dungeon and then teleported them to the dungeon without giving a single exnation. While Ryan was teleporting to the magma golems'' dungeon, he finally noticed that he obtained a lot of coins in thest few hours¡­ forty million to be more exact. Thanks to that, now he had broken his previous record. "It has been a while since thest time I bought a tome using the Dungeon Shop," Ryan said. "Do you have any rmendations, Femradiel?" "I have no idea which skill would help you improve your archer fighting style," Femradiel replied. "I have some ideas for when you use Draconic Transformation, though." "I already feel too powerful when that is active. I certainly don''t need any more motives to keep that skill active at all times," Ryan said. "¡­. That is just like you," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "Since that is the case, perhaps you should those skills that decrease the status of the enemies. You like them so much that I can''t help but wonder why you don''t try to learn the whole set. You also should learn the long-ranged version of Bloodthirsty. The specters had those, right? Health Steal, Mana Steal, and Stamina Steal. While you already have crossbows with that grant you those abilities, you should learn the skills themselves in order to maximize their effects and obtain extra status points." For someone who didn''t have any idea, Femradiel certainly made Ryan recall an important point. While Ryan didn''t find the tomes that would teach him Health Steal and the simr skills, probably because they were like thest tier of those types of abilities, Ryan found Vampirism, Magic Vampirism, Stamina Vampirism¡­ each one of them cost fifty thousand million coins. "As usual, I can''t have everything I want," Ryan shrugged. After reading the description of the skills, Ryan learned that they will be useful pretty soon since all of them consumed only ten points of mana per attack. They restored Ryan''s energy based on the level of the skill. For example, at level ten, magic Vampirism would recover ten of Ryan''s mana points per attack and steal ten points of Ryan''s enemies per attack as well. It would be pretty easy to level up that skill, given how fast Ryan could attack. As if that wasn''t enough, that effect was added to all types of attacks, even melee, long-ranged, and magic. Without wasting any time, Ryan bought and learned Magic Vampirism. "Maybe I could have saved a lot of coins I had found Vampire''s blood, but I am pretty sure that type of bloodline would decrease my power during the day¡­ while increases my strength at night," Ryan muttered. "Anyway, now we will obtain a lot more mana, Femradiel. Your tyrant familiar is approaching by the minute." "You really are looking forward to that, aren''t you?" Femradiel frowned. "How can I not?" Ryan shrugged. "While most people probably fear gigantic monsters, one cannot deny how cool they are." "I think unsightly is the most appropriate term," Femradiel said. "Tyrants are sturdy as they can be, but they are very low. Still, I can see that you need such a monster since they can be a fearsome defensive wall." When Ryan and Femradiel arrived at the magma golems'' dungeon, the team that Mohammed had sent there was pretty close, so Ryan decided to wait for them. If ten or so people could obtain a new ss if he just waits a few minutes, then even Ryan wouldn''t have the nerve to deny them of that. Regardless, while the people there were obviously wary of Ryan since he almost singlehandedly won the previous battle, Ryan and Femradiel didn''t feel any ill intentionsing from them. The only problem was thenguage. Not a single person of that could speak English. So, Ryan wasted a few minutes exining to them that they could enter the dungeon with him to obtain a new ss. In any case, once again, Ryan found another dungeon without a boss¡­ it looked like he will have to wait for a while before he can properly train Magic Vampirism. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Crusader, Samurai, and Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Samurai! You obtained the following skills: Feint, Evasion Mastery, and Mastery Spirit. Your health and strength will increase by four points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Feint. Effect: It grants you a chance to fool your enemy by making them react to an illusory movement made by you. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Evasion Mastery. Effect: While fighting in close quarters, it increases your chance to notice and evade melee attacks by temporarily increasing your speed by ten points per level only at the moment you are about to be attacked. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mastery Spirit. Effect: It passively increases your health, mana, and stamina by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ For a tier two-ss, this certainly granted me some interesting skills." Ryan frowned after he obtained his newest ss. "Yahiko probably will like to get this one." Chapter 581 - A Rare Disease For a change, Ryan didn''t pick the second of the options, and Femradiel questioned him the reason why he did it. In the end, he exined that despite the bonuses in status, he didn''t intend to fight in a boat¡­ Mariner certainly was a ss that would help one fight in boats, and Ryan hated them with passion. "You dislike boats?" Femradiel asked. "How weird¡­ to think that you would have seasickness." "I don''t dislike boats, and I don''t suffer from seasickness," Ryan said. "I just have a special condition that makes me unable to stay in boats." "Let me guess, you get dizzy, light-hearted, and feels like throwing up," Femradiel said. "That is the primary sign of someone who suffers from seasickness." "As I told you, it isn''t seasickness. It is a rare disease that is much worse than seasickness," Ryan insisted. "Those symptoms can''t bepared to what someone like me can feel in a boat." "I am one hundred percent sure that you are just overdramatic," Femradiel shrugged. While the survivors that Mohammed sent were seeing Ryan and Femradiel arguing in anguage they couldn''t understand, they preparing their camp inside the dungeon. They knew that fighting the magma golems outside the dungeon would be too much of a pain, even though the dungeon''s interior had some smallva pits. Ryan and Femradiel suddenly left the dungeon by using Teleport. Then they decided to check the situation in the third dungeon. Much to their surprise, Mohammed himself had gone to guard the ce, but his group was being attacked by some weird creatures. Ryan immediately recognized them as the humans that had be Chimeras. They were even more disgusting than Ryan had imagined. Calling them humans was a mistake, so Ryan decided to refer to them as Chimeras and only that. Although their faces remained humans, Ryan could see horns in their heads, horns that made him recall the demons he faced before finding Baal. The Chimeras also had imnted long and pointy green ears¡­ those belonged to a species of creature that Ryan had never seen before. Despite the horns, the monsters had angel-like rings on their backs¡­ and they seemed pretty used to the high speed the wings granted them. The limbs of the chimeras were pretty buffy. They obviously had been imnted to grant the monsters super-human strength and endurance. However, the most disgusting thing those creatures had was a big mouth in their stomach. It resembled a mouth of¡­ Ryan didn''t have a single idea of what could bepared with that. It was just a blood-like mouth that had few dark teeth that could be seen even while the mouth was closed. "Woah¡­ humans surprised me once again," Femradiel frowned when she saw the same thing Ryan did. "This time in a bad way." Even Ryan couldn''t help but feel disappointed. He had never imagined that humans would fall that low for power. While Ryan couldn''tin all that much since he used Draconic Transformation a few times, at least that didn''t turn him into an abominable and disgusting creature. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "Great¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Upon finding that Appraisal doesn''t work on those creatures, Ryan used Teleport. After a few moments, he appeared where Mohammed and his were being attacked. Unfortunately, it looked like Ryan''s time had been too good for a change. Not a single one of them had been killed. Instead, they probably focused on the defense. Despite that, Ryan could see a man without both arms bleeding on the ground. Ryan activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim, and in an instant, he summoned five magic copies of his Immobilizing Crossbow. When he began to fire, the five Chimeras finally noticed Ryan''s presence, but before they could do anything, the bolts made the monsters fall on the ground. "Freeze them, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Everything below their necks." "Understood," Femradiel said. Femradiel tried to immobilize the targets before they could try to fight back, but much to her surprise, her ice wasn''t strong enough. The very moment a thinyer of ice appeared above the bodies, it melted for some odd reason. Although Ryan never stopped attacking the monsters from above, they still managed to get up and look at him. Even when Ryan duplicated the number of magic bows, the monsters didn''t fell down. Ryan noticed that not only they had a fearsome cold and ice resistance, but their bodies were also healing at a crazy speed. While it wasn''t unexpected that a monster like that could several high-level traits, Ryan was one hundred percent that they were like that due to the several non-human parts on their bodies. Still, there was no point in wondering about that because the Chimeras began to fly toward him. Judging by how furious the Chimeras were, Ryan assumed they would charge at him without thinking about anything. Still, much to his surprise, they spread around as if that would make Ryan unable to hit all of them at the same time. "¡­ I really hate this type of strategy," Ryan clicked his tongue and then said. "Even though you can''t be stopped with such a simple strategy?" Femradiel asked. "Even though I can''t be stopped with such a simple strategy," Ryan replied. The monsters frowned when they saw the bird sitting at the top of Ryan''s head talking, but it looked like they could do at least that much since they were using both of their hands to protect their faces from Ryan''s bolts. In any case, despite the fact that that area of their bodies didn''t have much skin, Ryan''s attacks were barely making any blood flow. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 26 (+ 04 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 19 (+ 06 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 11 (+ 06 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 44th Health: 6220/6220 (12,62/s) Mana: 8245/8245 (12,62/s) Stamina: 8555/8555 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+708) (+130) Dexterity: 6295 (+5105) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2670) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2144) (+33) Endurance: 1288 (+509) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2630) (+10) Mentality: 1208 (+773) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+75) Recovery: 3800 (+3350) (+845) Willpower: 1230 (+799) (+40) Coins: 22.523.851 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 60 (+ 05 UP), Hawkeye Lv 87 (+ 04 UP), Holy Shield Lv 01, Holy Blessing Lv 01, Feint Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 109 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 109 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 109 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 109 (+ 04 UP), Stealth Lv 109 (+ 04 UP), Heart of Steel Lv 01, Evasion Mastery Lv 01, Samurai Spirit Lv 01 Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 67 (+ 08 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 08 (+ 07 UP) Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 32 (+ 18 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 25 (+ 07), sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 91 (+ 05 UP), Summoner Lv Max (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv Max (+ 01 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 31 (+ 10 UP), Hexde Lv 63 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 33 (+ 08 UP), Royal Archer Lv 26 (+ 09 UP), Demolisher Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), me Swordsman Lv 01, Knight Lv 01, Samurai Lv 01 Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 66 (+ 04 UP), Whitesmith Lv 34 (+ 06 UP), Alchemist Lv 72 (+ 02 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 582 - Prediction Slowly but surely, the Chimeras were approaching Ryan at the same time. By the look of things, they knew that Ryan could use Teleport, so long-ranged attacks wouldn''t work, even if theye from his blind spots. That being said, Ryan couldn''t understand how they came to the conclusion that they would have a better chance with melee attacks. To prevent the monsters'' approach, Femradiel decided to help by firing Ice Spears since Ice Meteors were out ofmission because Mohammed and the others might get killed by it. However, even such attacks didn''t faze the Chimeras all that much. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan''s mana was paying a hard price. When all the Chimeras were thirty meters away from Ryan, they decided to charge as fast as possible and all at once. Ryan used sh to quickly move to a safe position. Still, the impact caused when the fists of the Chimeras collided making the air of the area vibrate, and Ryan felt dizzy for a few precious moments. However, the same thing happened to the Chimeras, so he was safe. The monsters looked at each other annoyed, but they didn''t do much aside from that. That was odd. Ryan assumed that those who sold their humanity for power would be much more egocentric than that. Imagining that something simr would happen again, the Chimeras changed their strategy. Pointing their hands toward Ryan, they began to fire a barrage of Shadow Spears. Ryan opened his eyes widely in surprise when his bolts passed by the attacks. Ryan managed to avoid the barrage by teleporting to several hundred meters above the monsters. Still, some of them hit him, and he didn''t like the result. All of your statuses have decreased by one hundred points for thirty seconds. All of your statuses have decreased by one hundred points for thirty seconds. All of your statuses have decreased by one hundred points for thirty seconds. Congrattions! The skill Darkness Resistance has leveled up. Darkness Resistance Lv 1 ? Lv 8 Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of dark-rted attacks by one percent per level. You obtained 07 status points. "The heck¡­ just because three of them hit me, all my status has to decrease this much?" Ryan frowned in shock. While Ryan was thankful for the extra status points, it wasn''t the right time to level up his Darkness Resistance. He prepared himself for the next barrage of Shadow Spears, but they never came. Instead of that, the monsters dashed at him again, and Ryan didn''t notice if their speed had decreased or not. "It looks like they have some skills to counter that negative effect," Femradiel said. "Don''t lose your focus. I will help you with mana potions. They probably aren''t that prepared for a long fight, so we can win this." Ryan nodded after hearing that and then teleported too high in the sky. While the monsters quickly followed him, that didn''t bother Ryan since he had some precious moments to recover his mana and attack the monsters even more. That scene where Ryan attacked the monsters and escaped upward when they got close enough repeated itself many times. Still, then when he noticed that he was too high and breathing was getting hard, he saw that the chimeras stopped moving and pointed their hands at him. No attack came, but Ryan saw his control over his own body decreasing¡­ The monsters were using Telekinesis. Ryan resisted and managed to move a little bit. Still, then when the five beasts'' focus was totally on him, Ryan lost the ability to move a single inch. He tried to Teleport, but that didn''t work¡­ that was weird since he still could continue attacking with his magic bows. In any case, Ryan was already too high, and the chimeras were trying to move him up even more¡­ "Femradiel¡­" Ryan said. "Sorry, but I can''t move either," Femradiel said. "Draconic Transformation can solve this whole situation easily, though." "I can''t use it¡­ the requirements haven''t been met," Ryan said. "You are such a pain in the ass¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. Instead of relying on Draconic Transformation, Ryan decided to bring the big guns, literally. Ryan summoned a magic copy of Hydra''s Bow, and the monsters frowned when they saw that massive weapon, but even that didn''t stop them. However, when Ryan fired, and the first projectile hit one of the chimeras, Ryan felt his body bing lighter again. Still, when the chimera recovered from the impact, he lost the ability to move again. "Speed up in the use of mana, Femradiel," Ryan said. "I am going as fast as I can," Femradiel said. Ryan fired again and again with his massive bow, to the point where the monsters that got hit by him were being pushed several meters downward. Thanks to that, the monsters'' n to make Ryan enter into orbit came to a halt. Only three of them weren''t strong enough to do that. Upon noticing that their n failed, the chimeras instantly moved to the next one. They pointed their stomachs toward Ryan, and then the mouth opened. Maybe it was because he felt creeped out by it, or it was because his instincts warned him of something, but Ryan instantly teleported back to the ground. After a couple of seconds, Ryan saw five beams of energying from the sky toward him. He used Teleport again, but the beam followed him. "Shit, they can use Perfect Aim too," Ryan muttered in surprise. Ryan tried to escape too far away, but the speed of the attacks was as impressive as his Teleport. Escaping wasn''t an option¡­ "Now your life is truly on the line," Femradiel said. "If you don''t want to die, then you should use Draconic Transformation." "I can''t do it until I am hundred percent sure that my life is on the line," Ryan said. In the end, Ryan summoned his shield and activated several defensive spells. However, his shield was instantly destroyed, and the projectiles didn''t lose power. But before Ryan could get hit, Femradiel jumped and blocked the beams of light. Chapter 583 - Shock Ryan opened his eyes in surprise when he saw Femradiel being wounded by the energy beams. Despite that, he didn''t move a single inch due to the shock. In the end, Femradiel''s body turned into a lifeless statue of ice, but she achieved her goal. Shepletely nullified the attack. Ryan''s mind went to that day where he received the message of the death of his parents. That day he imagined the ident in several ways. Although he didn''t see it, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if his parents suffered a lot or not. The doctors said that it had been an instant death. Still, Ryan knew that lying was probablymon from their party to decrease the family''s sadness. "Good grief, five attacks, so I lost five lives, huh," Femradiel suddenly said and then returned to Ryan''s head. "Hopefully, you won''t make me lose the other ones." Femradiel''s voice made Ryan wake up from his stupor. That is right¡­ she was an ice Phoenix that could revive a few times. Besides, Femradiel''s spirit was inside him. She couldn''t die, she would only lose that body, and yet¡­ the idea of losing arade made Ryan''s blood run cold. "...Don''t do that kind of stupid action again, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Okay¡­ just remember, if you fall, I will fall two," Femradiel said after she hesitated due to Ryan''s cold tone. When the chimeras approached, they were weed by Ryan''s massive spear. The weapon hit all the monsters, but all that blunt trauma had only been a distraction. Ryan suddenly appeared behind them in his Draconic form and then grabbed the monsters with both hands. The monsters struggled to free themselves from Ryan''s draconic hands, but they failed in doing that. Even though they were fighting together, they didn''t manage to defeat Ryan in terms of brute strength for some reason. The chimeras also tried to use numerous spells to damage Ryan, but he stopped them by using Silence while staring at them with ice-cold eyes. Also, restraining them wasn''t the only thing Ryan was doing, slowly. Still, certainly, he was crushing their bodies against each other. The chimeras only noticed the severity of the situation when one of them began to bleed from their ears and nose, and its face was purple. It didn''t take long before the weakest of them didn''t resist Ryan''s brute strength and simply was crushed to bits. The others tried to resist amidst their despair, but things only got easier for Ryan after the first death¡­ You obtained 356.521 coins. You obtained 253.845 coins. You obtained 546.632 coins. After the first, two others quickly fell dead since they didn''t endure the pressure. That made Ryan even more eager to crush the two remaining monsters to bits, but in the end, Femradiel stopped him. "Aren''t you going to interrogate at least one of them?" Femradiel asked. Ryan''s head cooled down a little bit, and he took a deep breath. After separating the two remaining chimeras in each of his hands, Ryan made magic bolts rain down over one of them. Unfortunately, this time the monster didn''t have the chance to block the attacks with its hands, so the beast suffered critical damage after critical damage in its head until it finally died. You obtained 485.362 coins. "That surprised me. How did you manage to overpower five of them at the same time?" Femradiel asked. "Even while using Draconic Transformation, that shouldn''t be possible." "I used Bloodthirst, Stamina Drain, and Magic Vampirism, as it turns out, those skills work whenever I cause damage on my foes, so I managed to recover a lot while I was trying to crush them, thus making my grip stronger," Ryan replied. Ryan forgot, but that had been a good opportunity to see what would happen if he seals a human spirit in a weapon. While those creatures were monsters that had different body parts, their spirits were still of a human. In any case, Ryan still had one of them to use. After he gets some answers. While still in his draconic form, Ryan returned to where Mohammed and the others were. The wounded had been treated, but those who had heavy wounds would need the attention of someone who has Full-Heal. Fortunately, Ryan had that, so he solved the issue. "What are you going to do with that?" Mohammed asked while facing thest chimera. "Interrogate and then kill. Do you have anything against that?" Ryan asked since Mohammed seemed too angry while looking at the monster. "It appears you know who this thing was before bing a monster." "You are right¡­ but I don''t have anything against it," Mohammed said. "Alright then¡­ if you don''t mind, you should ask the questions," Ryan said. "Since this thing knows you, it will be easy for it to think exactly what we need. Femradiel will read its mind." "That seems like a n, but I think we have a problem," Femradiel said. "As you already know, the Chimeras can block skills like Appraisal. But, unfortunately, that also blocks skills like Mind Reading, so we need to drain all of the chimera''s mana first. However, I can sense now that we are this close, that the monsters had a mana stone inside it that works as its core, if all its mana is drained¡­" "¡­ This fucking thing will die," Ryan said after taking a deep breath. Maybe that was a coincidence, but Ryan doubted that was the case. The dungeon master that created the chimeras certainly transformed them like that in order to prevent any type of information from leaking about them. In any case, Ryan won''t be able to obtain a single piece of information about the chimeras'' master. In the end, Ryan had a hard time not crushing thest monster to bits again. Still, he managed to ovee his anger in order to obtain another weapon, and that had been worth the hassle. Heroic Chimeric Crossbow Effect: At the cost of 350 points of mana, you can fire five bolts every single time with this weapon. Each bolt has a different property, they can paralyze, poison, decrease the status, numb, and corrode the target. Dexterity + 200, Intelligence 200, Strength + 200, Endurance + 200, Speed + 200, Recovery + 200 Durability: 150/150 Chapter 584 - Rider After the fight, Ryan cooled down his head even more after he returned to his human form. That fight affected him too much, and Ryan couldn''t let his enemies get the better of him. Otherwise, they might exploit those traits of himter on. "Hehe, to think that you would get angry just because I lost a few lives," Femradiel said, and she was showing a happy and smug expression on her face. "Should I feel ttered?" "Just shut up¡­" Ryan said and then facepalmed. To prevent any more waste of time, Ryan teleported everyone to the dungeon. Things would finally proceed forward, and Ryan won''t have to worry about possible unpleasant surprises like those five chimeras. Still, Ryan wanted to make sure¡­ "How many chimeras like those you guys find over thest months?" Ryan asked. "Those five were the only ones we had to fight," Mohammed replied. "Do you think there are more of them?" "I was hoping that you would confirm that isn''t the case," Ryan said. "In any case, I don''t n on underestimating the dungeon masters, so I will wait for at least that much." While Ryan and the others didn''t find anything aside from ordinary chimeras inside the dungeon, he didn''t drop his guard. Still, even when he found thest part of the dungeon, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about what would happen once he moved to face the first dungeon master. Mohammed and the others will guard the dungeon, and if any of them die in their duty¡­ Ryan probably won''t receive the extra reward that Isis promised, and truth to be told, he was looking forward to it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Rider, Archer, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Rider! You obtained the following skills: Cavalry Mastery, Rider''s Spirit, and Expertise. Your health and strength will increase by four points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cavalry Mastery. Effect: It passively increases your physical attacks by one percent per level while using monsters and animals as mounts. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Rider''s Spirit. Effect: It passively increases the movement speed of your mount by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Expertise. Effect: It increases by ten points the total damage caused by your attacks while mounted and spear-like weapons. You obtained 01 status points. In the end, Ryan had to choose a ss that he never saw before¡­ despite the looks, it certainly was abat ss, but since it was a very situational ss, Ryan didn''t feel that excited by it. Even though he gained three passive skills from it. "What an unusual ss¡­" Ryan frowned. "You can always train it once Furball finishes his training," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded at that. He wished that he could do that sooner, but the stakes were getting too high, and the enemies were bing more troublesome as well. So, leaving Furball fighting in that dungeon alone was a necessity. Regardless, Ryan waited for the others to obtain their sses since he needed to at least coordinate some actions with Mohammed in case something unexpected happens. "What are we going to do now?" Mohammed asked. "You guys should guard this dungeon, while this is a roundabout way to solve things, I would rather leave the most troublesome enemy forter," Ryan said. "So, I am going to defeat the other two first." Mohammed couldn''t help but be impressed since Ryan dered that as a matter of fact, but in the end, he had the skills to back his actions. Ryan thought Mohammed would ask some more things, but he didn''t. Before anything, Ryan used some INT potions. While Femradiel and Mohammed couldn''t understand why, they more or less knew that Ryan wouldn''t do something like that without a reason. Mohammed didn''t see why Ryan did that, but Femradiel did when they suddenly appeared already inside the Magma Golems'' dungeon. "Ah, so you don''t want to let the dungeon masters know where you are," Femradiel said. "Well, you will have to be quicker since they can see inside the dungeons." Ryan already knew that, and that was exactly why he instantly teleported to where the purple crystal was and then touched it. While the dungeon master noticed when someone entered their domain, Ryan couldn''t imagine how they wouldmunicate with the others. Regardless, Ryan saw himself standing at the top of a volcano. He had no idea if the ce he was teleported was random. Still, if someone or something puts the portal in such a crazy ce, Ryan would love to talk with them while pointing his crossbow toward their ass. In front of Ryan, there was a cliff and the pathway down to a lifeless and red-brown world. There were countless volcanoes in the distance, to the point where it was only obvious that only someone crazy or someone who loves volcanoes would choose to be their base. Behind Ryan, there was a huge river of magma that also was the interior of the volcano. Just staring at it made Ryan feel dizzy. The heat was also barely bearable. It looked like Femradiel would hate that ce¡­ "Not again¡­" Femradiel said, visibly dispirited. "You should return, this ce will decrease the effectiveness of your attacks, so there is no sense in trying too hard," Ryan said. "While I agree with that, this is a problem that I need to face," Femradiel said. "Sooner orter, I will have to increase my Heat Resistance and Fire Resistance and I think now is the time for that, before I find an even worse environment for me." Chapter 585 - Weirdness In the end, even Ryan didn''t feel like insisting on that matter. As far as he was concerned, he would Femradiel''s help to find the dungeon master. Besides, even though his eyesight was better than ever, a new pair of eyes was always wee. "It is a bit toote for that, but shouldn''t you have waited for a while longer before looking for a dungeon master?" Femradiel asked. "I know that we are in a race against time, but I think you need a break. You used Draconic Transformation for quite a while and your body isn''t used to that yet." "We can''t give too much time for the dungeon masters to prepare for our arrival," Ryan shook his head. "While it is a pain, we need to hurry. Besides, I will have as much time as I want to rest once I get my hands on those ores that I need. Anyway, where is the dungeon master?" "I am sorry, but¡­ all these volcanoes are emitting a lot of mana," Femradiel said. "My detection range decreased quite a bit, so we will have to move for a while to find them." In the end, Femradiel at least managed to find the direction in which the concentration of mana was more intense. It was up North, so Ryan decided to teleport to the volcanoes in that direction and waited for Femradiel to detect something. Ryan didn''t find anything on the second volcano¡­ anything aside from a magma demon. Magma Demon Lv 750 Health: 125.000 /125.000 Mana: 75.000/7.500 Stamina: 90.000/90.000 Strength: 7500 (+1800) Dexterity: 2000 (+500) Speed: 4500 (+1200) Intelligence: 2500 (1200) Endurance: 6000 (+1500) Control: 2500 (+800) Mentality: 4500 (+800) Luck: 2500 (+300) Recovery: 15.000 (+2000) Willpower: 4500 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 350, Burning Hands Lv 450 Passive Physical Skills: Fiery Aura Lv 550, Augmented Recovery Lv 200, Augmented Strength Lv 200 Spells: Magma Sphere Lv 650, Magma Charge Lv 500, Explosive Impact Lv 480, Volcanic Explosion Lv 350 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 550, Shock Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Earth Resistance Lv 300, Fire Immunity Lv 150 When the creature emerged from the river of magma, Ryan couldn''t help but frown. Why would a single one of those appear right now? Why not an army? Either way, it certainly wasn''t the time to ponder about that. The Magma Demon charged toward Ryan, but it came to a stop when he hit it with a massive arrow fired by his Hydra''s Bow. Much to Ryan''s surprise, the arrow only flew for fifty meters. Naturally, it was due to the demon''s power that stopped its momentum. "What a dumbass¡­" Ryan said and made several magic copies of his Petrification Crossbow appear. In an instant, the monster was bombarded by dozens of bolts. Still, the petrification effect wasn''t as powerful as Ryan had imagined. The points hit by the bolts only had a small petrified portion that barely could be seen from far away. However, Ryan didn''t stop there. Before the monster could do anything, he kept bombarding the creature until all of its limbs had been petrified, and the beast couldn''t fly anymore. "In the end, this fucker is that resilient¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan prevented the monster from falling into the sea of magma by using Telekinesis. Still, he didn''t do it because he was merciful. Ryan did it because he wanted a new weapon. In the end, he was thankful for the result. His collection of weapons certainly was reaching new heights. Magma Crossbow Effect: At the cost of 100 points of mana, you can fire bolts that will add the ''burn'' status on your targets. This effect will cause damage over time and decrease the target''s endurance by ten points per five seconds. Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 100 Durability: 150/150 "My bad, I didn''t notice this thing''s presence," Femradiel said. "It can''t be helped, you said these volcanoes are emitting a lot of mana, so that obviously would hide them," Ryan said. "Anyway, if only there were a way to absorb this much mana¡­" Ryan assumed that the world looked like a destroyed world due to some Ambiental incident, but maybe that wasn''t the only reason. After moving to the next volcano, Ryan and Femradiel found another Magma Demon. Just like it before, Ryan put the creature down with a massive stream of bolts, and while the beast was being defeated, he wondered as to why he was facing such a lone creature once again. The same thing happened several times, and Ryan made sure to watch his back every single moment. It wouldn''t be weird if suddenly an army of Magma Golems were teleported behind him. There was also the chance that some other type of monster could be teleported, since Ryan doubted that dungeon masters would only ally themselves with some experienced individuals. "Nothing yet?" Ryan asked. "Nothing yet," Femradiel replied. Time was of the essence, so Ryan decided to keep teleporting and evading the fights. However, much to his annoyance, the Magma Demons began to follow him. After putting them down, Ryan decided not to get too close to the volcanoes. Still, even so¡­ the monsters somehow noticed his presence and attacked him. "This has to be some sort of joke¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I detected something ahead¡­ I believe it is a vast concentration of monsters," Femradiel said. Ryan''s annoyance decreased a little, but in the end, his anger expression gave way to a frown when he used irvoyance. Fifty kilometers ahead of them, Ryan saw a massive army of magma golems moving toward the opposite direction, and from above, they found several magma demons guiding the creatures. "¡­ I detected a single presence a few kilometers ahead from that army¡­" Femradiel hesitated. Ryan noticed Femradiel''s hesitation, but he didn''t see anything aside from a big and pointy volcano when he looked in that direction. However, when Ryan used irvoyance once again, he confirmed that the volcano was actually one heck of a massive magma golem, and dozens of magma golems were being absorbed by that creature. Chapter 586 - Expectation "Oh, crap¡­" Ryan said and then facepalmed. "I guess the opponent this time is one of those that can absorb their minions for power." ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? When Ryan used Appraisal, he confirmed his theory. He didn''t find a single magma golem that could block his Appraisal. At the same time, hundreds of magma demons were flying around the golem¡­ that certainly was the dungeon master. "Wow¡­ that certainly is the tallest monster I have ever seen," Femradiel said. "It can''t even bepared to dragons¡­ in fact, dragons would look like insects in front of that." Maybe Ryan''s estimations were off, but that thing was at least five miles high¡­ if that was the correct way to say the monster''s height. In any case, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder how that thing could withstand its massive height and weight, but then he noticed that the monster was levitating. "Magic is so conveniently annoying at times like these¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Well, once that thing falls, it will probably sink on the ground for quite a while." "Are you going to face that without using Draconic Transformation?" Femradiel said. "The golden rule of that skill is not to rely on it too much," Ryan said. "Besides, I am pretty sure this dungeon master will be a breeze to defeat." "I can''t even begin to understand how you reached that conclusion¡­" Femradiel said. "I really hope that you will manage to show me something amazing, so I won''t ask for your battle n." The truth of the matter was that Ryan didn''t have a real battle n. He just wanted to use that giant magma golem didn''t have. After looking at the sky, Ryan only found dark clouds filled with electricity. Despite that, he teleported to them and then flew through the clouds, only to find a red sky in the ce of the usual blue¡­ it looked like even the atmosphere of that had been altered by the heat that who knows how many volcanoes could emit. After looking in all directions, Ryan didn''t even find a sun or two¡­ now. That was weird. In any case, Ryan didn''t find a moon either. So, he discovered that he couldn''t use Lunar Arrow without one¡­ "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan said and then shrugged. "I guess I can''t cheat here¡­ let''s fight fair and square. Look on the bright side, Ryan. You are going to fight a monster that is bigger than any giant robot ever imagined, it will be even more awesome to defeat such a monster without using your strongest technique." "Well, aren''t you a positive man?" Femradiel frowned. "Knowing you, I thought you wouldin nonstop until the very start of the fight." "I guess this shows that you don''t know me well enough," Ryan said. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t see a single point where the dark clouds couldn''t be seen. He thought of using them to his advantage. Still, even from such a height, Ryan didn''t feel his body crossing any barriers, so the range of the dungeon master''s domain probably even reached the limits of that''s atmosphere¡­ as unreasonable as that sounded. "I am about to give up on using cheap tricks to win this fight¡­ I don''t have time to waste here, after all." Ryan and then furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, I still can¡­" Before he could waste any more time, Ryan teleported to where the big golem was. From up close, he could see that a huge part of the monster''s body was hidden in the clouds, asionally being hit by lightning bolts. However, the thick skin of the beast prevented it from suffering any real damage. Ryan summoned his massive titanium spear and made it spin as fast as possible. Still, thanks to that, the monster finally reacted and looked in his direction. At that moment, the beast only raised a single finger. Then a massive pir of magma emerged from the ground and moved toward Ryan, who was five kilometers above ground level. Despite the distance, the attack had been instantaneous, but Ryan used sh and moved to the side, escaping the attack. The dungeon master didn''t stop there and tried to hit Ryan several times with those magma pirs. However, that hadn''t been the only troublesome thing in that situation. The magma demons also began to fly toward him. "I guess I will deal with the flying enemies," Femradiel said and then bombarded the beasts with Ice meteors. Fortunately, the momentum of her attacks protected Ryan and even made the magma demons being knocked down on the ground. Thanks to it, he had the chance to make the spear reach the speed he wanted. In thest moment, before firing, Ryan activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The giant monster tried to block the attack, but as expected, the beast was too slow¡­ still, much to Ryan''s surprise, his spear barely pierced the monster''s body. The wound was only a few meters deep, and any movement would make it fall. "I guess I judged the speed of that thing right, but not the endurance," Ryan said. By using Telekinesis, Ryan made the spear pierce the monster''s body little by little. Still, even that would take too long to show any result. In the end, Ryan decided to help with Vital Hunter, but the dungeon master''s actions also changed. Suddenly, the monster grew bigger¡­ no, the creature used Fire Charge and tried to crush Ryan with its massive body. Still, Ryan dodged the attack since Femradiel noticed and used Teleport in his ce. "So, you can even do that, huh," Ryan said. "When did I give you so much freedom?" "You have a weird way to say thanks," Femradiel said. The monster was behind Ryan, so he used that chance to attack the monster''s exposed back, but even so, Ryan didn''t notice his arrows causing any real damage. He couldn''t confirm if Vital hunter was actually working... Chapter 587 - Plan B Congrattions! The skill Magic Vampirism has reached level 15. While Ryan didn''t know if the monster''s endurance was decreasing, at least he was confirming that he was recovering some of his mana. Since that seemed like a fight that wouldst long, Ryan also made sure to summon his Spiritualists Crossbow. As if it was a very clumsy robot, the dungeon master turned around and faced Ryan once again. However, this time instead of a charge or Magma Pirs, the monster tried a more personal, but weird approach. The creature moved its right arm as if it was preparing a punch¡­ and punched the air. This time Ryan reacted in time to dodge the massive and powerful gust of wind, but even from dozens of meters away, Ryan felt the heat caused the body and the monster''s movement. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, the creature repeated the motion with both arms. "What an annoying bastard¡­" Ryan said. "That is some interesting way to conserve mana," Femradiel said visibly impressed by the enemy''s skill. It looked like the monster was also waiting for a long fight since it was already trying to conserve its mana, but that seemed weird¡­ Ryan was at a disadvantage, so it was natural that he would y his hands carefully, but that didn''t make any sense from the dungeon master perspective that had the advantage. "Maybe to control that body, it needs arge amount of energy¡­" Ryan thought. "That would make sense," Femradiel said. Much to Ryan''s, he felt the approach of somethinging from the sky. He immediately used Teleport, and he managed to escape¡­ from being hit by a meteor. "... My bad," Femradiel said. "These Magma Demons are starting to get annoying, so my focus waved." Before Ryan could reply, a lightning bolt fell from the sky and hit the monster''s body. That took longer than expected, but the creature at least was paralyzed for a single moment. Ryan''s strategy could work¡­ if only the monster hadn''t grabbed the spear and took it away from its body¡­ "That was your n A, right?" Femradiel asked. "What about your n B?" "Try to kill all the Magma Demons as soon as you can," Ryan said. "After that, drop some Ice Meteors on that thing''s head." Femradiel couldn''t see how much of that strategy that was, but she decided to follow those instructions. Before the monster could try to throw the spear at Ryan, he used Teleport and then moved to the monster''s back. That would grant Ryan a few seconds, but that would be enough for the time being. In the end, the monster really nned to do that, but once Ryan escaped its sight for the third time, it got sick of it and bent the spear until it got the shape of a boomerang. "Ah, my ten hours of hard work¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. In the end, the monster went as far as approaching a volcano and throwing the broken spear inside of it¡­ now the weapon was truly beyond salvation. Fortunately, Ryan used all that time to decrease the monster''s endurance with Vital Hunter. However, he still couldn''t see much difference in the piercing power of his attacks. "Is it just me or the heat emitted by the monster is decreasing the speed of your projectiles?" Femradiel asked. Ryan was so focused on attacking and dodging the attacks that he overlooked that, but in the end, he confirmed it. Even at a certain distance, the high endurance of the monster could be applied due to the heat emitted. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance, but he soon discovered that non-physical projectiles were immune to the heat. Like Mana Arrow. "This isn''t going as well as you had nned, right?" Femradiel asked. As much as it was annoying to admit, Ryan could only nod at Femradiel''s words. Still, he had many skills, and Ryan was confident that he could solve that mess of a situation with something in his skill list. His eyes stopped at Draconic Transformation for a second, but he soon discarded the idea. At the same speed, Ryan was losing his patience. The monster was getting annoyed. When Femradiel finally finished off all the Magma Demons in the area, the dungeon master began to kick the Magma Golems that were on the ground toward their direction. Naturally, the monsters exploded in pieces due to the massive power of the kick. However, their pieces still flew in Ryan''s direction at a fearsome speed. Ryan blocked the projectiles with his own bolts. Still, when his concentration was focused below him, the dungeon master made several meteors rain over him. The first one to reach had been Femradiel, she used her Ice Spears to block the attacks, but she was forced to use Teleport in Ryan''s ce despite her reaction speed. "Shit¡­" Ryan muttered. "Well, look on the bright side," Femradiel said. "This monster is also getting impatient and despite its size, the dungeon master can''t use all that mana thousands of Magma Golems gave him." Femradiel began to make Ice Meteors fall on the monster''s head, just as Ryan had asked her, but even before the attacksnded, a good part of the projectiles melted. In the end, that long fight was only working to increase the level of Magic Vampirism. Still, even so, the skills weren''t leveling up that fast¡­ then Ryan understood why. It was because the dungeon master wasn''t a single powerful entity. The skill was only working on the pieces of Magma Golems protecting his main body inside of that. "¡­ Femradiel, don''t use Ice Meteor," Ryan said. "Just use Earth Creation and make regr blocks of earth fall on the monster''s head." "I don''t think that will cause much damage," Femradiel said. "It is all right, we don''t need to cause damage to defeat that thing," Ryan said. "I will focus on defending and dodging the monster''s attacks, you focus on attacking with magic since your intelligence is higher." Chapter 588 - Common Occurrence Femradiel had no idea what Ryan was nning, but eventually, she understood everything. While that was quite the roundabout strategy and certainly didn''t fit Ryan''s style that overpowers his enemies with rains of arrows and bolts, the n was working pretty well. The blocks of earth that Femradiel created, didn''t evaporate when it got closer or touched the giant''s body. It only melted until it turned intova and became a part of the monster''s body. However, after a while, the monster''s head became so big and heavy that the creature could barely turn it to the sides. Not only that, Ryan and Femradiel could see some cracks in it. "Oh, I see¡­ even though the dungeon master obtained the power of thousands of Magma Golems, they also had to ept the mass of thousands of Magma Golems," Femradiel said. "In the end, that kind of creature can only exist due to its core and the mana inside their bodies, but since they are too heavy, their bodies can easily fall apart from indirect means like that." "Is that so?" Ryan frowned. "I just wanted to make that thing''s body heavier and make it spend more energy. By doing that, I would forcefully speed up the end of this fight. Even without using brute strength or Draconic Transformation." Femradiel seemed pretty amused after hearing that. She had thought that Ryan grew up a little and was taking baby steps to be a decent strategy, but perhaps that was just her imagination. Since the monster couldn''t move its head up, it couldn''t see the meteorsing and hitting its head. That creature apparently sucked at tracking skills. Despite that, they knew what would happen if they let that situation keep repeating itself. So, the dungeon master decided to take their chances as well. Suddenly, the massive beast charged toward Ryan, but he dodged the Fire Charge by using Teleport just like before. However, the massive monster also used Teleport. It appeared in front of him and used Fire Charge as well. "And here I thought I wasn''t going to face another enemy that can use Teleport any time soon," Ryan said. After dodging the second attack, Ryan began to think of a way to get rid of that problem. In the end, he teleported to above the clouds since he was pretty sure the monster would need to spendrger amounts of mana to stay flying that high. However, instead of juggernaut, Ryan had to deal with magma meteors. When he dodged those, Ryan saw the dark clouds being dissipated by the shockwaves created by the punches of the monster. After using Teleport again, Ryan escaped one of the shockwaves. Still, the beast predicted his trajectory and managed tond an attack. The shockwave full of hot air made Ryan fly for several kilometers upward. He was forced to breathe some of it, and that burned not only his external parts of his body but also his throat and lungs. Femradiel activated Ice Armor for him. Thanks to that, Ryan managed to recover his ability to think and used Teleport. Congrattions! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. "You are saving my skin pretty oftentely, huh," Ryan said. "It can''t be helped, by doing so, I also save my skin," Femradiel shrugged. While Femradiel was trying not to feel too embarrassed, Ryan recovered his focus. It wasn''t time to waste talking when a massive monster wanted to crush and fry him alive. When Ryan left the clouds, he saw the dungeon master floating¡­ while lying in the air. That was how the monster managed to find Ryan¡­ even though the clouds were blocking the monster''s eyesight. Attacking the monster directly wasn''t possible anymore, so Femradiel made sure to create some blocks of earth and then tossed them away to the distance, but those same still hit the monster''s head thanks to Perfect Aim. The dungeon master grew even more impatient since the creature couldn''t block that type of skill. In the end, it decided to do something even crazier than before. The beast raised both of its arms, and then several eruptions happened at the same time in the nearby volcanoes. As if that wasn''t enough, all the ground below and around the monster also exploded, and that gave space to several eruptions. A lot of magma was suddenly showing up, but none of those got even close to Ryan. It only surrounded the beast. Still, Ryan didn''t like what he was seeing. Congrattions! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. The temperature was starting to rise again, but Ryan suddenly felt some coldforting from above. Femradiel''s body was starting to melt since it was essentially ice. A feeling of guilt filled Ryan''s chest. Femradiel was probably suffering a lot just because Ryan refused to use his trump card every single time. Ryan summoned his Hydra''s bow. Even though he didn''t transform into a dragon, he created an arrow and pulled the string with Telekinesis. The monster noticed that the air around Ryan changed, so the beast made all the magma in the area form a massive shield around it. When Ryan saw the magma shield covering the whole body of the monster, he realized that the dungeon master was up to no good, but that didn''t stop him from doing anything. In fact, Ryan was thankful that the monster would give him time to prepare an attack¡­ he was itching to see which special attack would win in thatpetition. It has been a while, but Ryan activated Power Shot. At the same time, he filled the arrow with massive amounts of mana and the ice element. Cryomancy yed a pivotal role in that since Ryan managed to spend much more mana than stamina. In the end, when the heat of the environment hadpletely disappeared, and Ryan could sense his balls freezing due to his mana, he decided to attack. Chapter 589 - Celestial "I kind of liked the atmosphere that you created here," Femradiel said just before he decided to fire. When Ryan fired, he saw the massive magma shield protecting the dungeon master concentrated in front of the monster. One very thick magma wall tried to stop Ryan''s arrow, but much to everyone''s surprise, the arrow pierced all that magma and hit the monster''s chest. This time the projectile pierced the monster''s body pretty deep, but the attack wasn''t over yet. All the mana Ryan had concentrated in the attack exploded, and the whole torso of the monster froze. That was the power of Cryomancy and Water Creation, but to essentially freeze the equivalent of a small mountain¡­ Ryan was quite shocked with the result since he didn''t use a single potion to power up his attributes. Ryan didn''t lose that chance. While the monster lost the ability to move due to the ice, he teleported to approach and then began to attack the frozen area with his Spiritualist''s Crossbows. Just as Ryan had expected, his projectiles easily pierced the monster''s bodies. All that extra endurance the boss had due to the heat waspletely destroyed due to the ice. "Something ising," Femradiel said while she was frowning and noticed something amiss. Ryan frowned when he heard. He just had started digging the monster''s body, and yet he didn''t notice anything. Still, then the area inside the frozen body of the beast exploded, and a red lizard suddenly appeared. It kind of made Ryan recall the Reptilians, but that one seemed more like a smander who could walk on two legs. The creature had red scales covering all of its body, and their eyes were green, quite the contrast and more importantly than that¡­ ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? While Ryan prepared himself for the final confrontation, the creature suddenly disappeared from his sight. The massive, monstrous body began to fall apart when the being that put everything together decided to flee. "What the heck¡­" Ryan frowned. Suddenly, Ryan''s vision changed since Femradiel forcefully made him use Teleport. Then he saw the red lizard flying in the distance. The dungeon master didn''t even try to fight onest time¡­ that certainly was a disappointment. Still, that showed Ryan one thing, the dungeon master wasn''t confident in thest fight¡­ or he was luring Ryan into a trap. The flying speed of the monster was too fearsome. Even when Ryan used Teleport to block the lizard''s path, the beast could notice and react in a millisecond that Ryan would appear at a certain point. Then the monster would change its direction. Femradiel tried to knock down the monster with Ice Meteors and Perfect Aim. Still, the beast was even faster than a falling meteor. While Ryan was pursuing the dungeon master, he decided to change his strategy. After using several INT potions, he used Telekinesis to slow down the monster''s speed. At the same time, he seeded, which had been barely noticeable. "Don''t stop, keep using it, I can feel that creature''s mana being drained at a fearsome speed," Femradiel said. "You can do it." Ryan listened to Femradiel''s words, and after a couple of minutes, he noticed the dungeon master''s speed decreasing. As expected, the creature didn''t make any preparations aside from using their giant magma golem to crush Ryan. Upon noticing that fighting was inevitable, the beast stopped and suddenly made several Magma Spears appear around itself. That was quite cool. Ryan wished that he could be that good at magic. "Can you read his mind, Femradiel?" Ryan asked while he was equipping a Frozen Crossbow in one hand and the Spiritualist Crossbow in the other. "Not yet¡­" Femradiel said. "It looks like the dungeon master, it is just like the Chimeras¡­ it is impossible for us to obtain any information from him." Ryan sighed after hearing that. In the end, those guys were like soldiers who were forced to choose death instead of revealing information about their allies. Ryan could respect that muchpanionship, but since he was losing the chance to obtain some valuable information, he couldn''t help but feel pissed. In any case, Ryan used his crossbows, and the monster fired its Magma Spear as well. When those collided against each other, a pretty wide steam curtain appeared. Thanks to Radar, Ryan noticed that the monster used it as a chance to escape again. Ryan sighed, but then he changed his strategy. Before his INT potions could run out of effect, he used hundreds of CON potions at the same time and then used Telekinesis again. This time the dungeon master was stopped entirely. "Go on, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Roger that," Femradiel said and then made dozens of Ice Meteors fall one after the other over the dungeon master''s head. Much sooner than Ryan expected, the dungeon master fell unconscious on the ground. Blood wasing out from the monster''s ears and nose, so Ryan imagined that Femradiel had broken the monster''s skull and damaged the brain. "I thought this guy was a mage, but I guess he has the physical traits of the Reptilians," Ryan said. "Should I finish him off?" Femradiel asked. "Let me see what will happen if I use the spirit of a dungeon master to create a magic weapon," Ryan said. "While I think that if I create magic staff, I will obtain a weapon that will enhance my summoning skills. It is kind of weird to move around while using a magic wand or magic staff." "You sure can worry about the weirdest things," Femradiel said. Celestial Summoner''s Crossbow Effect: At the cost of 5000 points of mana, you can fire a special bolt that will cause normal damage, but upon impact, it will summon a level 50 Magma Golem Dexterity + 400, Intelligence 400, Strength. Durability: 250/250 You obtained 15.362.365 coins Chapter 590 - Magic Sword Tome "¡­ This is some weird crossbow," Ryan said. "As expected, I should choose with more care the type of weapon I will make. I can''t create magic crossbows if my opponents were in warriors or ordinary summoners." "You took quite a while to understand that," Femradiel said. While the weapon was weird, Ryan was more than satisfied with the coins he received. Now he just had to look for the crystal and then be the dungeon master of that world. Selecting a creature to guard the crystal will be troublesome, but that was something Ryan had to deal with in the first ce. "Femradiel, can you guide me to where the crystal is?" Ryan asked. "Sure, now that the dungeon master died, the level of mana returned to normal on this, the barrier has been lifted, after all," Femradiel said. "I would like to ask you to stop," Isis suddenly said. "If you be the dungeon master of this world, the dungeon level of the Magma Golems will reset. That will cause some issues for my people in Cairo." "That wasn''t part of the deal," Ryan said. "I solved the problem, at least a part of it. Do you really expect me to leave three dungeon master''s crystals behind after defeating the dungeon masters?" "We can negotiate about that," Isis said. "Yeah, sure we can, but I wonder if your offer will satisfy me," Ryan said. "Come to think of it, you didn''t consider this until now? I can''t help but wonder¡­ could it be that you didn''t think I would seed?" While Ryan''s suspicions were well-founded, it didn''t seem like a good time to question Isis. In any case, he couldn''t just let that kind of thing slide so easily. Although he looked for Isis and asked for help, he did his part of the ordpletely. Anything aside from that could be done at his own description. "First of all, I owe you something for protecting all my followers in the previous fight," Isis said and then made a tome appear in front of Ryan, and that made him wonder howe she could teleport things from a world to another. Magic Sword Tome Effect: it grants you the power to summon magic swords that can help you in meleebat and can be used as projectiles as well. For each skill level, you can summon one extra magic sword to stay at your side until necessary. For every ten levels, you can summon a new type of elemental magic sword. Cost: 500 mana. "I heard what you said earlier, now you can do the same thing as the dungeon master did," Isis said. "You just have to level up the skill for a while and you will be even more powerful with that skill." Another woman who had the bad habit of spying on others¡­ While Ryan was thankful for the reward since it woulde in handy, he wasn''t sure if it was worth it to prevent so many deaths¡­ no, he was sure that it was too cheap for such a difficult task. "You seem unsatisfied¡­" Isis said. "I guess giving you something that you wanted wasn''t the right call. Well, truth to be told, aside from the things I was going to trade with you for this world, I don''t have anything that will be useful for someone like you. But before you defeat the next dungeon master, I will have some decent rewards." Anti-Telekinesis Tome Effect: It decreases the power of the enemies'' telekinesis by ten points per level. Gravity Immunity Tome Effect: it decreases the power of gravity-rted attacks by ten points per level. "Do you want those in exchange for this dungeon?" Isis asked. Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. If he didn''t learn the first skill when the chimeras used Telekinesis on his body, that it was certain that it wasn''t a skill that could be learned by using normal means. If that was the case, that certainly was an expensive tome. As for Gravity Immunity, Ryan didn''t even find an enemy until now that had such a skill, so perhaps that was a fair trade. "All right, I will ept it," Ryan said. In the end, it would be a pain to be the dungeon master of dungeons that were so far away from his domain. However, Ryan epted the offer in order to start the negotiation in a good term. If the next offers don''t satisfy him, Ryan will refuse it since the number of coins he could earn by bing the dungeon masters of two other domains would be astronomical. "I am grateful for this," Isis said. "No matter what happens, I need to prevent my troops from falling behind in this race." Ryan didn''t say anything after hearing that. It wasn''t his problem, but in the end, until he gets what he wants, he will have to y it nicely. The next dungeon to be cleared was the armored crocodiles, and Ryan was expecting to face a dungeon master as annoying as the first. Still, he decided to hurry and try to finish that one as well that day. "If you are done, can we leave this ce already?" Femradiel asked. "The weather improved a little bit, but this heat is getting on my nerves." In the end, Ryan left the world as soon as possible, even without checking if there was something that the dungeon master left behind. In any case, now that he had cooled his head, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder as to why he found a single red lizard. It was hard to believe that he was the only of his species in that world, and yet, Ryan and Femradiel only found Magma Demons and Magma Golems with him. "Why do you think the dungeon master was alone, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Who knows, maybe he became too strong whenpared to others of his race," Femradiel said. "Or perhaps those red lizards once lived in this world and he is thest survivor." Both possibilities were usible, and yet, Ryan couldn''t help but frown by considering them. Either way, it looked like the dungeon master had quite the¡­ fearsome life. Chapter 591 - Too Good After returning to Earth, Ryan and Femradiel saw Mohammed and the others finishing off a magma golem. Despite the presence of the monster, Ryan couldn''t feel that much heat. After using irvoyance, Ryan confirmed that the sun had already set, and that exined the cold ambient. "Did you seed?" Mohammed asked. "I wouldn''t be here if that weren''t the case, "Ryan replied. "Anyway, why are you here? Shouldn''t you be guarding the Chimeras'' dungeon?" "I wanted to confirm personally if you would return or not," Mohammed said. "Regardless, I also forgot to thank you for your help until now." "Thanks are unnecessary, I am being paid for this work," Ryan said. "Anyway, onto the next dungeon." Mohammed tried to offer an alternative since Ryan and Femradiel looked pretty beat up. Still, before he could say anything, they disappeared. Ryan and Femradiel suddenly appeared in the cold desert of the night, but then Ryan stopped. "You can rest here, for a while," Ryan said. "I should be able to defeat the next dungeon master alone." "There is nothing to do here, besides, I don''t think we will find another hellish environment," Femradiel said. "You wouldn''t know," Ryan shrugged. "Well, don''tinter." "Why are you confident this time?" Femradiel asked. "If I remember correctly, you also sounded pretty confident before the previous fight. I wouldn''t lose for nothing in the world the chance to see you getting annoyed after saying something like that." Ryan sighed. Femradiel only talked with Alissa a few times, but it looked like she copied some of her traits. The worst ones at that. In any case, despite the fact that Ryan''s tiredness was building up, he teleported to the next dungeon. He then touched the purple crystal before anyone could see him. In the end, Ryan and Femradiel appeared in a ce just like he had imagined: a very dense forest. However, he didn''t have time to check the environment properly because Ryan felt several presences. He also felt the danger to his life. Ryan immediately used Teleport and appeared hundreds of meters above. At the ce he had been a moment ago, several spears pierced the ground. It looked like that was the way of the locals to say wee. Before Ryan could attack the creatures, they were teleported to another location. "Great¡­ another fucker that keeps attacking with their troops like that," Ryan sighed and then said. "This might take a while." "I don''t think so," Femradiel said. "The level of mana in this world is quite stable, so I can sense where the crystal is." "That seems too good to be true¡­" Ryan said. "At this point in time, all dungeon masters should know a few tricks to hide their treasure. That being said, the crystal can''t be used until the dungeon master is defeated." "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Let''s move toward the crystal in a calm manner, there is no need to rush and fall into an obvious trap." Although he still was in a hurry, by being cautious now, Ryan probably will save a lot of timeter. Thest time he hurried without thinking, he ended up locked in a magic barrier that prevented him from using active skills and spells, after all. While that forest didn''t have massive trees like the ones he found in the goblins'' world, those were pretty tall as well, but the grass wasn''t tall enough to cover an adult human male. Still, Ryan felt pretty ufortable since the forest was too quiet. Aside from the sound of the wind, Ryan couldn''t hear animals, or even insects. That was odd. Such a green forest was supposed to be full of life. Then again, that was an alien, so Ryan couldn''t use hiscking knowledge of biology to ponder about such a thing. Based on what he knew, Ryan assumed he would be safe flying high since the armored crocodiles certainly were the favorite species of that dungeon master. From above the forest, Ryan confirmed that the ce had no signs of battles. It was hard to know if that was good or bad for Ryan. In the end, Ryan truly didn''t suffer any ambush, and after flying for half an hour, he managed to see the first and perhaps the only building in that world. It was a fortress, a prettyrge fortress that was even higher than the fifty-meter tall trees. While the building was covered in vines, Ryan could see that the ce was in perfect condition, even from a distance. Aside from that, he also could see some heads trying to check the surroundings through the windows of the building. Feralligator Ranger ¨C Lv 650 Health: 15.000/15.000 Mana: 20.000/20.000 Stamina: 25.000/25.000 Strength: 3500 (+ 200) Dexterity: 6000 (+ 1200) Speed: 2500 (+ 400) Intelligence: 4000 (+ 400) Endurance: 2000 (+ 200) Control: 2700 (+ 300) Mentality: 3000 (+ 500) Luck: 1500 (+ 300) Recovery: 5000 (+ 1500) Willpower: 3000 (+ 500) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 200, Arrow Shower Lv 170 Passive Physical Skills: Concentration Lv 160, Eagle Eyes Lv 160, uracy Lv 160 Spells: Mana Arrow Lv 140, me Arrow Lv 120, Frost Arrow Lv 100 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Cold Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 90, Electric Resistance Lv 80 "I guess those are the ones who usually stay behind to guard the fortress," Ryan said. "There is no doubt, the dungeon master here is using copies of his people to fight. The bosses probably are the strongest soldiers here." "While they are also archers, it seems their eyes aren''t as good as yours," Femradiel said. "They obviously didn''t notice you yet." "It doesn''t matter, the dungeon master will warn them once I am close enough," Ryan said. "Not that I need to get closer than this." Ryan''s range was equal to the distance he could see with his eyes, so he could attack the fortress. However, his goal was to defeat the dungeon master and their minions. The enemy could easily save their troops by teleporting them around or, even worse, scattering them around to make Ryan''s life harder. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 29 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 25 (+ 06 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 15 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 42th Health: 6410/6410 (12,62/s) Mana: 8415/8415 (12,62/s) Stamina: 8725/8725 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+738) (+130) Dexterity: 6625 (+5305) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2770) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2224) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+509) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2730) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+813) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+75) Recovery: 3800 (+3500) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+849) (+40) Coins: 37.523.109 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Holy Shield Lv 01, Holy Blessing Lv 01, Feint Lv 01, Magic Sword Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 102 (+ 02 UP), Heart of Steel Lv 01, Evasion Mastery Lv 01, Samurai Spirit Lv 01, Cavalry Mastery Lv 01, Rider''s Spirit Lv 01, Expertise Lv 01 Spells: Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 31 (+ 08 UP), Ice Breath Lv 63 (+ 12 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 19 (+ 10 UP), Anti-Telekinesis Field Lv 01 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 39 (+ 07 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 32 (+ 07 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 01 sses: Combat: Demon Hunter Lv 31 (+ 10 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 36 (+ 05 UP), Temr Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Hexde Lv 69 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 41 (+ 08 UP), Royal Archer Lv 33 (+ 07 UP), Knight Lv 01, Samurai Lv 01, Rider Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 69 (+ 03 UP), Whitesmith Lv 39 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 592 - Pain In The Ass In the end, in order to prevent some future headaches, Ryan was forced to approach the fortress. It would be a pain to attack the monsters if they scatter around, but things will be rtively easier if they have the chance to attack Ryan. "This dungeon master probably doesn''t know many of my skills, so I should take it slow for the time being," Ryan said. "What should I do?" Femradiel asked. "Keep your focus on the dungeon master''s presence," Ryan replied. "If they move or if you feel anything strange, just report it to me as fast as possible." "Support role again, huh," Femradiel said and then sighed. "I suppose it can''t be helped." Since that dungeon master probably was aware that Ryan already defeated one of its allies, he would have to y it safe for the time being. Ryan''s strategy was simple, try to look like someone who was struggling and then make the dungeon master show itself. As expected, when Ryan had shown himself, from the windows of the fortress, the rangers began to fire arrows at him. There were hundreds of them, so Ryan had to fly backward and down a little bit since the speed and their power were more impressive than he had imagined. The second volley soon came before Ryan could equip his weapons, so he was forced to create an ice wall to protect himself that quickly shattered. When that happened, Ryan''s crossbows were already in hand, so he managed to knock down the arrows with his bolts. While Ryan was trying to hold back, he could do at least that much. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have defeated the monster''s army that morning. In the blink of an eye, Ryan fired at the enemies inside the building and killed ten of them with headshots. Upon noticing that staying indoors wouldn''t help them, an army of armored crocodiles left the fortress. From other entrances of the massive building, Ryan also felt the presence of some archers leaving to join the fight. "I guess I should fight at ground level¡­ it will be easier to repel long-ranged attacks that way and I will conserve some mana," Ryan said. "Also, the armored crocodiles will feel morepelled to charge at me." Ryan decreased his altitude until he reached the ground. At the same time, the armored crocodiles got close enough to fire some magic projectiles at him, but those were so weak that Ryanpletely obliterated them with his bolts. His attacks also had enough power to hit some of the monsters and knock them down, but not nearly enough to stop an entire army. When the monsters got close enough, and the archers that left the fortress also found him and fired their arrows, Ryan activated and used Evading Shot. His arrows pierced the heads of some monsters, killing them, but also changed his position. In the end, hepletely dodged the arrows and the charge at the same time. The monsters frowned since Ryan moved while dodging the attacks extremely fast and at a pretty absurd distance, but since he returned to using basic attacks, they resumed their actions quickly. "Ah, this is a pain," Ryan thought. "Holding back is just too annoying and goes against everything I believe." "If that is the case, why don''t you fight in close quarters?" Femradiel asked. "You certainly aren''t a specialist in that style, so you certainly will struggle for real. Not only that, those creatures have a lot of endurance, so despite your status, not even your best melee weapon will kill them in a single attack. Not that you have many decent melee weapons now." While that was the case, Ryan didn''t need any decent melee weapon. All the monsters in front of him had one, after all. So, he just had to borrow them for a while and then pick another once they became worthless. After storing away his crossbows, Ryan used Telekinesis to pick two cusses from two corpses in the ground. While he didn''t use a weapon like that before, Ryan quickly got used to its bnce. Steel Cuss Effect: It makes the target bleed and loses twenty points of health per five seconds. This effect can be stacked. Strength + 100, Speed + 50 Durability: 100/100 "Not bad for a monster''s weapon," Ryan thought. "Now that I think about it, I can make a killing in this world since their weapons won''t disappear." That was a good chance to level up his melee sses, so when the monsters got close enough again, Ryan activated his buffs that increased strength and speed. At the same time, he dashed toward the monsters and pierced his newest weapons in two of the armored crocodiles'' throats. You obtained 900 coins. You obtained 900 coins. Ryan frowned when he received those messages, maybe he underestimated the power of his buffs, or perhaps the throat was really the weak point of those beasts. Either way, Ryan didn''t stop there. Before the monsters could understand what was happening, he cut the throat of four other monsters. However, his two swords broke after that. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. "Don''t lose your focus," Femradiel said and then used Telekinesis to grab the weapons of the fallen monsters. "You are causing critical hits one after the other, so it is only natural that the monsters would die after you pierced their throats. Besides, those weapons aren''t suited for your base level of strength." Congrattions! The skill Sting has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Concentrated Strike has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Strong Arms has leveled up. Ryan also noticed that his stamina and mana were being depleted at an insanely fast pace, so unless he keeps that rhythm, he will run out of steam. Unfortunately, the monsters surrounded him pretty quickly. It was a pity for the armored crocodiles, but Ryan''s mobility was just too much for them. After using sh a single time, Ryan left that dire situation behind. However, much to his surprise, a massive rain of arrows began to fall on the battlefield, and this time Ryan was caught off-guard since he didn''t imagine the armored crocodiles would be sacrificed that quickly¡­ Chapter 593 - Surprising Ryan somehow managed to avoid having his head pierced by an arrow, but his shoulders weren''t so lucky. In the end, Ryan created an ice wall above him to stop the hundreds of magic arrows created by dozens of Arrow Showers, and then he took out the projectiles from his shoulders and then used Heal. He did that while he watched the armored crocodiles being killed by the droves by that attack. "It looks like the dungeon master here doesn''t deserve any mercy either," Ryan said. "It surprises me that you considered offering some mercy given that they were trying to invade your," Femradiel said. "We are at war, so it can''t be helped," Ryan said. "Still, some things can''t be forgiven, no matter what." For someone like Ryan, who only had a few trustworthy allies, the idea of sacrificing minions to take down a tougher foe was beyond disgusting and annoying. While he used his golems like that before since they could self-destruct, some might think that he didn''t have any reason to feel angry, but there was a subtle difference. Golems are inorganic creatures, and even when they are about to fall, they don''t look even a little bit in pain. So, they were more like weapons than proper living beings. The same thing couldn''t be said about the armored crocodiles. While they were his enemies, even on the battlefield, some things can''t be done to the enemy. This time Ryan didn''t hold back, so his Ice Wallsted for quite a while. Upon noticing that they were sacrificing their allies in vain, the archers stooped. Ryan could sense two groups of archers in the east and west. Their numbers were close to one thousand each. So, he assumed that would be easy. He grabbed his Celestial Summoner''s Crossbow and fired once at the enemies on the east side. While his bolt didn''t kill the archer, when the Magma Golem appeared, it crushed the creature thanks to its massive weight. When the armored crocodiles resumed their attacks, as if nothing had happened, Ryan already had his cuss in his hands, and just like before, he cut their throats before they could even scratch him. However, even with his speed, Ryan couldn''t ovee a horde of monsters with two weapons alone. Five enemies approached from behind and swung their weapons at him. Once again, Ryan protected himself with an ice wall. "Well, let''s see that in action," Ryan muttered. Before more enemies from other directions could try to attack Ryan as well, he summoned a Magic Sword. Much to his surprise, a me sword that was as big as him and emitted a powerful heat appeared. It couldn''t be wielded even by Ryan''s hands¡­ Regardless, when some armored crocodiles entered its range, the weapon automatically attacked them with a single insanely fast swing. That didn''t seem like the power of a level one skill¡­ The monsters that got by the mes suffered some serious burns and were forced to back down, but that came with a price. Ryan noticed that the weapon decreased in size. "That is a pretty neat skill," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded at that and immediately used all his mana to summon three other magic swords. Ryan''s defense increases exponentially, and even though he wasn''t moving a single finger, the monsters were unable to get close enough to attack. However, the other group of archers began to fire once again. The first one still was busy with the Magma Golem. It was time to see how good that spell was as a throwable projectile. While Ryan was using some mana potions, he made one of the me swords fly toward the second group of archers, and when the projectile hit one of them, the weapon exploded, burning everything in a ten-meter radius down to a crisp. The range was rather limited, but the power was pretty good. "Well, then¡­ let''s make this skill as efficient as possible," Ryan grinned from ear to ear. Ryan approached the army of him while using INT potions, and just as expected, his magic swords began to cause a lot more damage. It was kind of weird to defeat so many foes without attacking them directly, even though using Magic Bows was no different than that. Around the time the second army of archers managed to recover from Ryan''s attack, the first army also defeated the Magma Golem. Before they could try anything, Ryan used sh several times and appeared in the center of the first army. As expected, his Magic Swords defeated several of them effortlessly. The archers tried to split up since the second group prepared another stream of Arrow Showers. However, Ryan wiped out dozens of them and wounded several others heavily due to the explosion. When the rain of arrows fell, most of the archers were unable to escape, but Ryan was already preparing himself to wipe out the second group. Then, suddenly, Femradiel warned Ryan. "A powerful presence just left the fortress," Femradiel said. "It is heading in the opposite direction¡­ it looks like your n to lure the dungeon master failed." "Shit¡­ so much for holding back," Ryan said after clicking his tongue and then using Teleport to chase the dungeon master. "Why the hell did they give up so soon? I barely defeated a few thousand monsters." "I have no idea¡­" Femradiel said. "It is kind of surprising that such beings would dare to fight Isis''s army when they are this coward. I guess they don''t know the enemy all that much and just selected the closest target." That seemed too good to be true¡­ if that were really the case, then Ryan''s job would be a lot less annoying than he had expected. In any case, Ryan found the dungeon master much faster than he had expected. The creature was flying, but for some reason, it was extremely slow. It was another crocodile-like being, but that one had yellowish skin. Almost golden, in fact¡­ while that wasn''t much important, Ryan couldn''t help but notice since the other armored crocodiles weren''t different from each other, not even the rangers. Chapter 594 - Popular ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "Mind Armor sure is a popr skill¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "It is amazing that almost every single dungeon master can use it." When Ryan was about to attack the dungeon master, suddenly, the creature slowed down for a second. Then an army of armored crocodiles appeared in front of him. Ryan ignored them and used Teleport to decrease the distance, but the same thing happened again. Still, the creature used his archers to attack Ryan. While hitting him was close to impossible due to Teleport, they were buying enough time for their master since Ryan couldn''t attack and use Teleport at the same time. "I will focus on defense," Femradiel said. "Just do what you can to catch him." After saying that, Femradiel created some Ice Walls around Ryan and then blocked the rain of arrows. As expected, her ice was much more powerful than Ryan''s, and none of them could hear the sound of the ice cracking. Ryan sped up to catch up with the dungeon master since the beast was trying to use the environment in his favor. Turning to the sides when a big tree appeared or going down and flying close to the ground when the grass was taller than usual. In any case, the creature certainly wouldn''t escape from him since Ryan was also following the creature with irvoyance and making sure that the dungeon master wouldn''t leave any surprises behind. Thanks to the massive number of trees, Ryan couldn''t use his bows or crossbows since those obstacles would get in the way and slow down the projectiles. So, he decided to use a more roundabout way to stop his foe. Ryan equipped the Chimeric Crossbow in his left hand and began to fire. As expected, the dungeon master hit behind the trees whenever he heard the trigger being pulled, but that didn''t protect him when a massive sphere of ice fell from the sky and smashed the dungeon master in the ground. While the dungeon master was paying attention to Ryan''s crossbow, Ryan created a sphere of ice and then activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Shot. At the same time, they threw up the sphere high in the sky. Before Ryan could catch up with the creature, he noticed the dungeon master getting up. Still, Ryan used his Chimeric Crossbow and hit the creature''s legs. The beast grunted in pain and then lost the chance to escape. Upon noticing that escaping wasn''t possible, the dungeon master summoned two swords and equipped them. Without wasting time, it dashed toward Ryan, but the creature was stopped when Ryan used the Chimeric Crossbow two times. "What is this¡­" Ryan frowned. "Is this guy trying to fool me? Why is he so weak?" The dungeon master didn''t look weaker than the other armored crocodiles, but it certainly wasn''t much stronger¡­ which was weird. Howe a dungeon master could control a massive army of monsters when the dungeon master himself wasn''t leagues above their minions? "I think I understand what is going on here¡­" Femradiel said. "As you can see, the armored crocodiles aren''t that smart. After all, they decided to be a species that relies on endurance to fight. While that can be annoying to most enemies, you can''t win a fight with endurance alone. With a brain of that level, it looks like they choose the creature who stood out most from their species to be the leader¡­ his skin has a golden-like tone and that is why he is their king." "That sounds so stupid¡­" Ryan frowned. "Well, it is not like you can''t understand their way of thinking. I am pretty sure some of you humans choose your leaders based on their appearance and charisma instead ofpetence." Ryan wanted to deny that, but he couldn''t. In some ces, people are so tired of politicians that they selected their leaders as a form of protest. Most of the time, those leaders can''t even be taken seriously. In any case, that sure was a letdown, but a universe is a vast ce, so something like that was bound to happen. Although Ryan didn''t drop his guard, he killed the dungeon master without hesitation. That creature wouldn''t even make a decent magic weapon. You obtained 5.632.841 coins. "I guess this guy here spent a lot of coins to build that fortress," Ryan said and then sighed. "He indeed did it," Isis said. "I am sorry for interrupting your conversation, but it seems you already defeated the second dungeon master." "Impable timing, just like before," Ryan said. "This time I decided to check on things now and then since I confirmed earlier that this dungeon master wouldn''t be much of a problem," Isis said. "Earlier? Come to think of it, you can use Telepathy and talk with us, but you couldn''t check the dungeon masters before?" Ryan asked. "Telepathy and irvoyance have some limits, as you already know," Isis replied. "Unless someone I know is in a certain ce, I can''t see how things are in the said ce that I had never been before. I only noticed that this dungeon master wouldn''t pose much of a threat when you came to this world." While that seemed a bit weird, it was also logical from Ryan''s perspective. That means that Isis will only find anything about thest dungeon master the very moment Ryan uses thest purple crystal. Until the very end, Isis had no intention of helping Ryan with his work. While that was reasonable, Ryan was also expecting some reasonable rewards. Otherwise, he would im the title of dungeon master of that world. As far as he knew, those armored crocodiles would work pretty well. He was in a dire need of minions that had a high endurance and they could fit in their role more than most tyor of monster he had seen. Chapter 595 - Cold Immunity "Although you finished this part of the mission rather fast, I believe I obtained suitable rewards," Isis said. "Considering that you are going to face Poseidon eventually, these skills will help you more than a little bit." Cold Immunity Tome Effect: It decreases the damage caused to you by ice-rted attacks by ten points per level. Freezing Aura Tome Effect: It decreases the damage caused on you by an ice-rted attack by ten points per level. It increases all of your ice-rted attack damage by three percent per level. "What do you think?" Isis asked. "What I think, you ask¡­" Ryan frowned. To be honest, Ryan had no idea if those rewards were suitable enough. Again, he never found an enemy that had Cold Immunity¡­ probably. While both skills seemed like some good cards to have against the god of the seas, Ryan still couldn''t say if they were enough¡­ even though the job had been rtively easy. "You should take it," Femradiel said. "Both skills cost one hundred million coins in the monster''s system. It shouldn''t be any cheaper in the dungeon shops." Although Femradiel said that, until both skills reach a level where they could be useful against Poseidon, Ryan will have to train pretty hard. Even though Femradiel could help him with that. Regardless, Ryan decided to follow her advice. Still, he made a mental note to only ept something truly amazing once he defeats thest dungeon master. Something that will leave his mouth hanging open. "Thank you for epting those," Isis said. "As for the remaining monsters in this world, you can leave it to my followers. They will prevent the other creatures from taking the ce of the previous dungeon master." Two-thirds of the job had beenpleted, so Ryan decided to take a break after returning to Earth. There was no mistake that thest dungeon master would be hard to deal with, so the rest was not deserved but necessary. Once again, Ryan and Femradiel found Mohammed waiting for them outside the dungeon¡­ he certainly was a hard worker. "Congrattions, it looks like you seeded again," Mohammed said. "If you don''t mind, I would like to borrow a room in your city," Ryan said. "I need a break to fresh my mind. I don''t know what to expect from thest target, so I need to be at my peak once I use thest purple crystal." Mohammed nodded, and before he could say anything, Ryan touched his shoulder, and then they appeared in the middle of the desert. After using some potions, Ryan used Teleport again and then appeared at the entrance of Cairo. While Mohammed was saying something about Teleport, he guided Ryan toward a ce they had built for guests to use. That was rather unexpected given that so many people died all over the world, but that was probably a custom of the people of the region. Mohammed also asked if Ryan wanted to drink or eat anything, but in the end, he only wanted a bed to sleep. Once heid down on the bed, Ryan slept like a rock. Although he thought of taking a nap until sunrise, Ryan ended up only waking up at noon. Much to his surprise, the coolness of the ce was much better than expected, so the heat of the desert was unable to prate the walls of most buildings in the city. "You snored quite a lot," Femradiel said while she was standing above a table in front of the room as if she were a statue. "Did you notice any changes outside?" Ryan asked. "No, why do you ask?" Femradiel asked. "I wondered if thest dungeon master would try anything while I was sleeping," Ryan replied. "I guess I was just overthinking things." Time was of the essence, so Ryan headed toward thest dungeon even before looking for Mohammed. In the end, they touched the crystal without making many preparations as well since, once again, they knew nothing of the target. What Ryan and Femradiel found in the other world was beyond anything that they had imagined. Instead of a forest, desert, or a world in mes, they found a massive, grey city. All the sky was being hidden due to an endless sea of clouds above. As for things down below, the world was grey due to a lot of ashes. It didn''t take for Ryan to feel his nostrils burning¡­ It looked like the atmosphere of that ce was quite dirty. "This ce is¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan couldn''t see the proper and natural ground, but he was standing above something simr to concrete. Adding that to the numerous buildings around, he concluded that he was teleported to a fairly modern world. One that probably ended due to pollution or was about to end. The buildings were pretty uniform, all in a rectangr shape, but there wasn''t anything like skyscrapers for some odd reason. "Do you feel any presence nearby, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "Not a single one," Femradiel said. "It looks like my tracking skills won''t be reliable again¡­ for some odd reason these ashes are filled with mana and it doesn''t look like this ashes rain is going to stop anytime soon." It has been quite a while since the humans who became Chimeras had been in this world, so the chances of them finding any traces were quite small. In any case, both of them were bound to find something if they continued searching around. Ryan teleported to the top of one of the highest buildings in the area. Still, thanks to the ashes, the visibility was as bad as it could be. After looking at all distances, Ryan only shrugged. It doesn''t matter which direction he might look. Everything was basically the same. Almost as if he was in a world that was basically abyrinth. "Well, a journey of one thousand steps start with one," Ryan shrugged. "Femradiel warned me of you notice anything strange." Chapter 596 - Depressing Place It didn''t take long for Ryan and Femradiel to find something, but not only did they not find what they were looking for, but they also found something rather depressing. It was essentially a massive hole¡­ that had many types of bones inside. Bones of human-looking creatures and those that obviously belonged to monsters. "This ce is making me depressed quite fast¡­" Ryan said. "I guess with this we can assume that whoever created the Chimeras, didn''t do it by using magic and in a clean manner," Femradiel said. That thought alone was something that Ryan wanted to forget as soon as possible¡­ it was obvious at this point in time. Still, after seeing the pool of bones that were in that hole, it was evident that the dungeon master was something like a mad scientist who experimented with several monsters and creatures. Trying to create a super being or something like that. Those five guys Ryan killed before probably were rather despaired to ept such an offer from a dungeon master insane like that. "I guess we can expect a freak that probably collected the bodies and parts of many creatures to strengthen themselves," Ryan said. "Still, I can''t help but wonder how such a creature managed to achieve sess at something this insane." "Normal people wouldn''t wonder about that kind of thing," Femradiel said. "I guess I am not normal then," Ryan shrugged. "I am a man of science." "Really? I find that hard to believe," Femradiel said. Before that topic could continue for quite a while, Ryan decided to shut up. Since he found one of the trash cans of the dungeon master, he had assumed that they were close to the monster''s base. However, despite that assumption, they didn''t find anything out of ce in the area. "Do you feel that you are being watched?" Ryan asked. "No, and you?" Femradiel asked. "Me neither," Ryan replied. "It looks like the dungeon master is paying no mind to us, even though we defeated all of their minions." Being looked down on by his enemies after doing even that much was a normal urrence in Ryan''s life, but that was the first time he entered someone else''s domain. The dungeon master waspletely uninterested in him. Either the creature had better things to do, or maybe they didn''t care about their domain. However, if that were the case, Isis would say something at that moment. Given that she was a dungeon master for quite a while, she probably knew a few things more than Ryan and Femradiel. Regardless, since taking their time was being a pain in the ass, Ryan decided to use Teleport pretty much whenever possible. After appearing at a location, he only gave a few seconds for Femradiel to scan the area, and then he moved. They only stopped when Ryan noticed that the city where he appeared was prettyrge¡­ like one hundred kilometersrge. "I guess we appeared at the center of one hell of a metropolis of this world," Ryan said. "I can sense the smell of something in the air," Femradiel said. "I think we are close to the ocean of this world." That was some progress, but Ryan didn''t feel like exploring the ocean anytime soon. The most obvious thing to do was to check thend. However, after a while, Ryan feltpelled to check the ocean of that world¡­ maybe that would help him in his search somehow. After all, until now, they only found destruction and the most depressing city that he had ever seen. Femradiel guided Ryan to the ocean, and as expected, even the water of that seemed dead. Maybe it was due to some special type of mineral in that world, but Ryan was pretty sure the water of that world couldn''t be drunk since it was also gray. As far as he knew, it was probably impossible that even if all the volcanoes of a world went active together and began to spill ashes, it wouldn''t be enough to dirt all the water of the world. "It is kind of hard to see where the ocean ends and the sky begins horizon," Ryan said. "Anyway, nothing yet, Femradiel?" "No, but I think we should explore the ocean," Femradiel said. "This dungeon master is someone smart enough to create chimeras using several types of bodies, but until now we didn''t find a single trail of them or their minions innd. I believe that is because they aren''t onnd." While Ryan assumed that made a lot of sense since it was much better to have a base that could change ces, finding anyndmarks on the ocean will be close to impossible. "The level of mana in the open sea is lower than onnd, so I think tracking the dungeon master will be easier," Femradiel added. "You say tracking, but we are going to get lost in there," Ryan said. "I can''t see us seeding." "You can rest assured, I have a great sense of direction," Femradiel said. "We won''t get lost, but if at some point you feel that has happened, we can teleport back to the starting point after using some potions. It is your call." Since Ryan didn''t have a better idea, he decided to follow Femradiel''s lead. As it turned out, they found something pretty soon. After crossing over a few dozen kilometers, they found an ind¡­ a moving ind. At first, Ryan felt that something was off since the ind was quite round, too round in fact, but then they noticed that it was an artificial ind. One couldn''t find trees or even sand in that ce. It was almost like a big piece of the city Ryan found before had broken apart and began to float. The only difference was that Ryan couldn''t see a single building at the top of it and that from a distance, it would be hard to notice it. "There are some presences in there," Femradiel said. Chapter 597 - Hidden "What? How?" Ryan asked. "That isn''t possible, unless¡­" "The creatures I am feeling are hidden underground," Femradiel said. "They aren''t powerful, in fact, their presences are quite weak." Underground¡­ until now, all the things that Ryan experienced were quite fantasy-like, but now he imagined an underground facility created by the mad scientist that made the chimeras. That was more like a sci-fi setting. In any case, based on what Femradiel said, some test subjects were probably being held in those fake inds. "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Our goal here is to find the dungeon master, but maybe we can find some clues in there." "Let''s check it," Ryan said. "Unless the dungeon master has some technology under his control that grants him the chance to monitor such an ind at a distance, he shouldn''t be able to monitor it with magic. While a floating ind still is a ce, I would bet that some skills wouldn''t help in confirming its location." In the end, when theynded on the ind, they soon confirmed what Femradiel said earlier. It was barely noticeable, but someone with eyes as good as Ryan would have it noticed. There were some lines on the surface of the fake ind, lines that showed them what seemed to be a hidden door. "Do you feel any presence right below us?" Ryan asked. "No," Femradiel replied. After hearing that, Ryan kicked the ground, and then it cracked. He kicked again, and this time a hole opened in the ground. While Ryan held back a little bit, he still was quite surprised at the resilience of the ground. He imagined it would be weaker; it was light enough to float. In any case, the hole revealed what seemed to be an underground prison. However, instead of cages, Ryan saw several beds with several types of monsters sleeping in there. They were probably sleeping because a tube of a certain machine was connected to the veins in their right arms¡­ they had been sedated. "Well, at least they didn''t disappoint me," Ryan said. "Still, I was hoping to see things a little bit more¡­ dreadful." Ryan has dozens of monsters in that underground¡­ warehouse. That was probably what that ce truly was, a ce where the dungeon master of that world kept their test subjects. That being said, Ryan didn''t find manymon creatures in the beds. Most of them were creatures that belonged to tier three dungeons. "Weak body parts will only provide weak skills and statuses," Femradiel said. "So, since our foes are insane and greedy, they won''t waste their time ying with weak monsters." Ryan and Femradiel found Minotaurs, ice foxes, and even some grey treants, but they didn''t find the creatures that gave angel wings to the humans or the demonic horns. Those creatures in that warehouse werepletely fine. At least for the time being. In the end, Ryan finished them off with a single arrow in their hearts. Monsters they may be, but even they deserved some sort of relief from that situation. Death was probably the ultimate thing that they wanted after their freedom had been stolen, just like the ability to stay awake. You obtained 120 coins. You obtained 110 coins. You obtained 150 coins. ¡­ While Ryan received some coins for that, he didn''t feel anything due to it. Instead of celebrating for ending the purpose of that warehouse, he began to look around in search of some clues. However, they only found some machines whose sole purpose was to keep the monsters barely alive. Moreover, they were using electricity to work, so there was no chance of Femradiel finding any traces of mana of the dungeon master. "I am starting to get tired of this," Ryan said. "Well, if we keep looking for the dungeon master and bumping into ces like this, we are bound to find them," Femradiel said. "As long as a week destroying it." Ryan teleported back to outside, and then alongside Femradiel, they used Ice Breath to freeze the whole ind. After turning the whole ce into an iceberg, Ryan noticed that the electronic devices stopped working. That should make the dungeon master feel a little bit of Ryan''s annoyance. After Femradiel discovered that there were some monsters locked inside those inds, finding others became rtively easy. They found several inds in just a few hours, and they froze them after investigating the interior. However, they didn''t notice any changes in that world¡­ the dungeon master still was ignoring them. However, things changed when they found a pretty big ind. Not only was the ce massive in terms of wideness, but it was also pretty tall for some reason. The dungeon master created some hills on that ind¡­ and neither Ryan nor Femradiel could understand why, so they just approached the ce to check the interior. "Stop," Ryan and Femradiel suddenly heard an angry male voice. "If you stop now, I will forgive you for your offenses." Ryan and Femradiel looked in all directions, but they didn''t find or feel anything. The dungeon master was looking at them, but he certainly wasn''t using irvoyance. His timing was just too good for him to be using the dungeon master''s system to locate them. In any case, that ce was important for the dungeon master, so the way to lure him out of his basement had been discovered. Ryan teleported to the ind and, without wasting any time, proceeded to kick the ground. Still, much to his surprise, that ind was sturdier than the others¡­ It looked like the chimeras'' master decided to pay more attention to whatever was caged in there. Still, a sturdy floor wasn''t something that would stop Ryan. After he summoned several Magic Bows, he proceeded to attack the ce. "I said... stop!" The dungeon master''s roar echoed through the area, but that didn''t stop Ryan. Ryan only felt more motivated to attack, and then when the first cracks began to appear, the whole ind began to tremble. It looked like he finally made the dungeon master y his hand¡­ Chapter 598 - Tyrant "I think you should move away from this ce," Femradiel said. "Something very powerful ising... thergest presence I have felt until now since I arrived on your." Ryan didn''t have to hear that warning twice. After all, even he began to feel a presence below them. That was odd, they didn''t feel a single presence before, and then something massive appeared. After teleporting away from the ind, Ryan saw from above the whole ce shattering into pieces. Then a mysterious but massive figure appeared in front of them. It wasn''t like the previous mountain-sized golem, but that one had at least double of the size of an ordinary dragon. The creature managed to stay still even above water thanks to Water-Walking. Thanks to it, Ryan and Femradiel managed to see the whole creature, but it was kind of hard to believe in what they were seeing. "It is a fucking Godzi," Ryan said. "No¡­ that is a Crystal Tyrant Dragon," Femradiel said. While the creature resembled quite a bit the monster from the cinemas, Ryan noticed that the monster had many features that felt out of ce. The beast''s scales were transparent like ss. That was why Femradiel said that thing was a Crystal something. Even its eyes were entirely white. Aside from that, the overall form of the body made Ryan resemble a Godzi. That was probably why Femradiel said that thing was a Tyrant Dragon. It would be pretty awesome if Femradiel could build a body like that, she would be unstoppable. However, the monster also had certain features that looked really out of ce. One of them was the massive dark horn at the top of its forehead and the three pairs of angel-like wings on the creature''s back. The dungeon master certainly liked to add demon and angel features in the things he modified. "I can''t say that I had even seen a Crystal dragon before," Ryan said. "They are extremely rare since they are a mutation," Femradiel said. "I am pretty sure that the Tyrant species of dragons weren''t supposed to give birth to a creature like that. Crystal dragons are supposed to be pretty fast at flying, but one that has such a body is¡­" "How do you know that?" Ryan asked. "Weren''t you supposed to have amnesia?" "I am using my instincts to confirm those things," Femradiel replied. While that was weird, it wasn''t time for Ryan to think about that. In any case, that Crystal Tyrant Dragon whatever certainly was a chimera. No wonder the dungeon master finally did something, that was a rare species of monster¡­ and that made Ryan wonder, where did he find such massive horns and wings? "Why did youe to my world, human?" The crystal dragon opened his mouth, and Ryan frowned when he heard the creature speaking proper English. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "I swear it¡­ I fucking hate Mind Armor," Ryan said after he clicked his tongue. "I am a tax collector and I came because you need to pay for your services on Earth." After saying that, Ryan summoned a magic copy of Hydra''s Bow and then fired. However, despite the fearsome speed of the projectile, the dungeon master grabbed the magic projectile with a single hand. That thing certainly had the speed of the crystal dragons Femradiel mentioned¡­ It looked like that foe would be a pain to deal with¡­ not only the dungeon master could create Chimeras, but he also could assume the bodies of the same Chimeras¡­ while both skills probably had a limit, Ryan didn''t know if he wouldst long in a battle of endurance, he sucked at that, after all. "We are at war, we are single pieces in a bigger board game," The dungeon master said. "And you havee to fight me because I made use of my turn? Truly, you humans truly are a primitive species. You can''t even understand what you are doing and why, and yet, youe to waste your time and my time." After saying that, the dungeon master opened its mouth and then fired a light beam toward Ryan. He used Teleport to escape the attack, but Ryan saw the air vibrating through space where theser passed. As if that wasn''t crazy enough, Ryan could see a massive hole in the sky¡­ the clouds that got hit by theser vanished without a trace. As for the true color of the sky, it was gray as well¡­ but at that point in time, Ryan had already imagined that was the case. Ryan had teleported to behind the monster and prepared to use the Immobilizing Crossbow alongside with Vital Hunter. Still, then suddenly, his body began to get heavier. It didn''t take long for Ryan to see what had happened. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Immunity has leveled up. "The good old gravity magic," Ryan muttered while he was having a hard time keeping himself flying. "Annoying bastard¡­" The range of that spell was massive. Even though Ryan was five hundred meters away from the dungeon master, he could tell that everything between himself and the monster had been caught in a massive and powerful gravity field. Ryan teleported away in order to decrease the effectiveness of the spell. Still, much to his surprise, the distance between himself and the monster didn''t decrease¡­ that was odd. Ryan confirmed that his mana decreased, so he certainly used Teleport. "It looks like he has some trick up his sleeve that prevents you from getting away from him," Femradiel said. "It doesn''t matter what you try to do, you will have to deal with him in this range." Ryan hoped to hear a solutioning from Femradiel''s mouth, not a problem. In any case, he quickly epted that fact and just began his preparations to fight like that. Chapter 599 - Creation Ryan began to fire with several magic copies of his Immobilizing Crossbow while Vital Hunter was active. However, after just a couple of boltsnded, the massive monster flew toward his direction and, in a single instant, was right in front of Ryan and ready to smash him with its right arm as if Ryan was a fly. Even before the impact, Ryan felt his bones cracking since the effectiveness of the gravity field increased tenfold when the monster was that close. However, Ryan teleported to behind the monster and began to attack the monster''s neck. While the crystal-like scales seemed pretty fragile, Ryan''s bolts didn''t leave a single scratch. "How can a monster that was supposed to be a specialist at flying be this sturdy, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "It is tyrant, didn''t you want one of these because of their sturdiness?" Femradiel asked. "It seems that you also forgot that this dungeon master likes to mix traits of several creatures to create all-rounder creatures." Instead of masters of none, all the Chimeras faced so far were truly a pain in the ass in all aspects. So, he should have expected something like that from the dungeon master''s ultimate weapon. The massive monster suddenly turned around, and then Ryan was pushed back several meters away just by the movement of the wind. The creature tried to fry Ryan alive with the energy beam that flew from its mouth again. Still, the very moment the beast opened its mouth, Ryan used sh and appeared at the top of the monster''s head. While he was trying to attack a single point and notice any difference in Vital Hunter''s efficiency, Ryan also equipped his Pestilence Crossbow + 10 and fired several times in a row. However, the monster''s flesh wasn''t poisoned since even in the parts where one couldn''t find scales, Ryan found a thin crystal-likeyer of defense. "This just keeps getting better and better," Ryan muttered and then used Teleport to escape when he saw a massive w moving towards him. The air vibrated when the dungeon master hit its head when it tried to crush Ryan. Even a single p probably has enough power to kill Ryan¡­ despite that, he wasn''t that nervous. How many times had he fought enemies that could just kill him with their weight alone? Too many to count. "Try to use the Thunderlord Crossbow," Femradiel said. If the poison wasn''t working and his first strategy probably would take too long to work, Ryan might as well follow Femradiel''s advice. Although Ryan wasn''t expecting much, when his first boltnded, he noticed that the dungeon master flinched, for a millisecond, to be precise. Perhaps that had been Ryan''s imagination, but then when he created several magic copies of his crossbow and used them, Ryan clearly noticed that the dungeon master stopped for a fraction of a second whenever his electric bolts hit. "Annoying worm," the dungeon master. "Says the guy who doesn''t have the courage to show himself," Ryan said. "I am pretty sure even flies have more courage than someone like you who decided to defile the bodies of other creatures and then use them like someone wearing armor. You make me sick. Crushing you with my feet will be extremely satisfying." It was quite rare for Ryan to go to the point where he would say things like that. In fact, Femradiel couldn''t remember a single time where he debated with his foe. In the past, it was evident that Ryan didn''t see his enemies like real adversaries. Still, just like an obstacle, he had to surpass. When Ryan tried to attack with his electric bolts again, the dungeon master sent a gust of wind through the palm of its hands to repel the projectiles. Much to Ryan''s annoyance, it worked pretty well. "Don''t feel too bad about it," Femradiel said. "At least he obviously used much more mana than you." Femradiel certainly isn''t good atforting others since it was evident that the mana pool of that dungeon master was bigger than anything Ryan could have ever imagined. However, at least her words gave Ryan some insight, her previous words. When the monster opened its mouth again, Ryan repeated his previous strategy and then used sh toward the monster''s head. From that up close, no gust of wind would stop his bolts, but the dungeon master''s natural armor would also be a pain. However, before the beast could try to crush Ryan with its ws again, he heard a crack at the top of his head. "Wow¡­ it worked," Femradiel muttered in surprise. Ryan attacked several times in the same spot, with his Frozen Crossbow and Fire Master Crossbow. After freezing and heating the same sport over and over again, Ryan''s attacks finally caused a crack at the top of the monster''s head. "What did you do, worm?" the dungeon master asked. "You should see for yourself," Ryan replied. Before the dungeon master could try anything, Ryan equipped his Pestilence Crossbow and finally managed to poison the beast when the real skin of the creature was scratched by the bolt. As expected, even the creature''s skin was challenging but wasn''t at the same level as the crystalyer. Suddenly, the monster felt a little sharp pain at the top of its head and then decided to act before Ryan could cause even more damage. Still, the dungeon master regretted his choice since it failed at crushing Ryan and hit the Spiritualist''s Spear Ryan had put in there. The weapon pierced the monster''s head and caused massive damage¡­ even though the weapon was also destroyed thanks to it. "Oh, well¡­ I have thirty of those, so it is fine," Ryan shrugged. "It is very weird to see you being positive about something," Femradiel said. Although Ryan wanted to give a proper reply to Femradiel, he gave up on it since he felt earth-shattering angering from the eyes of the dungeon master. As expected, he was quite pissed since he fell for an obvious trick. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t care less about it. Chapter 600 - Crystal Sword Despite their anger, the dungeon master changed his fighting style in an unexpected way. Instead of firing beams of light, the creature fired Mana Arrows toward Ryan. While he managed to evade those, the stream of arrows was so constant that Ryan was forced to use sh pretty much at every single moment. "He isn''t foolish enough to let his anger control his actions," Femradiel said. "As expected, this enemy will be hard to kill." As much as Ryan wanted to deny that, he couldn''t. However, Ryan had the resilience of a cockroach so that things wouldn''t end that easily. Besides, Ryan already found a way to deal some damage over time on the beast, so he just had to repeat that. However, when his eyes started to glint with that n, the dungeon master put his left hand above its head. He somehow managed to read what Ryan would do¡­ even without using any Mind Reading technique¡­ "Are you going to fight like that?" Ryan asked. "That certainly is a weird fighting posture." Ryan''s taunt didn''t work as he had expected, the dungeon master furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, but the creature didn''t do anything aside from that. At least for a while¡­ Ryan suddenly saw the left hand of the beast glowing, and he noticed that the beast was doing something. In the end, he didn''t even have to see what had happened. The creature moved his left hand away as if the wound wasn''t there, to begin with. He repaired the crystalyer that Ryan had destroyed. "What an idiot¡­" Ryan said. Ryan made two magic copies of the Hydra''s Bow and then enchanted them with his fire and ice enchantment. Before the monster could notice what he had done, he fired. In the end, the crystal of the monster''s hands cracked, and a lot of shards began to fall. The beast tried to block both attacks, but that had been the result. After a couple of moments, the monster looked at his wounded hand for quite a while. "What''s wrong?" Ryan asked. "Did you really believe that your monster is a perfect creature or something?" Ryan bombarded the dungeon master with his enchanted arrows, the monster tried once again to grab both projectiles at the same time, but upon doing so, both arrows exploded, freezing and burning the area around their hands. Although that didn''t end with the same result, Ryan and the monster still found some cracks in the monster''s crystal-like armor. While Ryan was getting carried away with his taunts, the dungeon master visibly got more pissed. The creature repaired itself several times, but for some reason, the dungeon master couldn''t do that and attack at the same time, probably because he was using a body that wasn''t his. He had draconic powers, but at the same time, he didn''t have. Ryan considered the idea of pouring even more gasoline into the creature''s anger by showing him the true power of a draconic transformation. Still, in the end, he decided not to do it. No one could imagine what might happen if a mad scientist in the body of a rare species of dragon might do if he gets really angry. That situation continued like that for quite a while. Ryan attacked and shattered the crystal around the monster''s body, and then the beast assumed a defensive position while it was repairing the damaged areas. Ryan used those moments to cause even more damage, so things were at a stalemate. Instead of repairing the crystalyer, after a while and every suddenly, the beast charged toward Ryan, and the gravity field increased in power. A massive wave was formed due to that movement, but Ryan managed to dodge the attack by using Teleport. He appeared behind the creature, but before he could attack, several scales of the monster''s body flew toward him at lightning speed. This time Ryan failed at reacting in time, but Femradiel didn''t. Several times in a few precious moments, she created several Ice Walls. Dozens of them were shattered to pieces due to the speed and sharpness of the scales, but thest one managed to withstand the attack. In the end, even though he failed at preventing that, Ryan had the nerve to grab the scales and store them in his spatial storage. They might be handyter. For some reason, the monster didn''t try the same attack again, even though its speed was fearsome. Ryan also noticed that the beast didn''t try to repair the lost scales¡­ at least the now unprotected parts. That was suspicious. Either the monster couldn''t repair something that big, or it required some time and concentration to do it. Ryan pointed his bows at the ces that weren''t protected by scales anymore, but the dungeon master put his left hand to protect those ces. At the same time, the monster attacked Ryan once again with a rain of Mana Arrows. "Suddenly his actions look all out of ce," Ryan muttered. "He might be trying to fool you into thinking that he is nning something dangerous," Femradiel said. "That way, he will make you hesitate." Once again, Ryan decided to listen to Femradiel, and while he didn''t stop his guard, he didn''t stop attacking. That game of one side attacking and the other defending began to repair itself again, but not for long. Suddenly, Ryan and Femradiel noticed that the dungeon master''s presence began to change. While that body didn''t grow, the creature suddenly seemed more powerful. Ryan knew that feeling. It was the same when he activated several buffs on himself. The creature decided to go all out. They confirmed that when a massive crystal sword appeared in the monster''s right hand. "Oh, shit¡­ a weapon like that looks so cool," Ryan said. "I want one." "I don''t think that it is time for you to be amazed," Femradiel said. Ryan only noticed that when he fired another pair of arrows and the monster blocked them without much trouble. The weapon didn''t tremble either. Chapter 601 - Team Work It was only obvious due to its size, but the crystal was much sturdier than theyer, and these scales were made of crystal around the monster''s body. Ryan''s ice and fire Arrow didn''t leave a single scratch after heating and cooling its surface. He tried the opposite order, but nothing changed. Before Ryan could think of some n to deal with that weapon, the dungeon master dashed toward him, already swinging his sword downward. Ryan dodged by using sh, but even before the monster could finish the swing, it already changed the direction of the attack and moved toward Ryan. That happened so fast that Ryan only managed to escape since he used Evading Shot since that skill was engraved in his being, and he used it countless times when he was about to be attacked by something. Still, despite that, the gust of wind caused by the sword''s swing made Ryan''s skin being pierced in several parts. His torso escaped thanks to his armor, but his face and arms started to bleed. "It looks like two big swings are his limits," Ryan said while he used Heal to stop the bleeding. "At least when ites to continuous attack." "I am not much of a sword fighter, but I can see that his movements are just fast but not skilled," Femradiel said. That was only natural since the mind behind the monster was a mad scientist-like being who creates chimeras. In any case, having a powerful weapon and a powerful body sometimes was more than enough in most situations. After recovering from the first attack, the dungeon master prepared the next one, but this time the creature just dashed toward Ryan without swinging the sword. Ryan moved to the side to dodge the massive body, only to find the weapon being swung toward him¡­ the monster waited for thest moment to attack. Ryan could escape by using Teleport, but he had a bad feeling about that¡­ in the end, Ryan teleported away from the monster. Still, the creature also repeated Ryan''s action, so in the end, nothing changed. In the end, Ryan was hit by the sword and waspletely shattered into pieces¡­ but the dungeon master frowned when he saw that Ryan had be an ice mirror. "So, he can use Teleport as well," Ryan said while watching the dungeon master from several hundred meters above the creature. "What a pain¡­" "Can I join the fight? If we divide his attention, our chances will improve considerably," Femradiel said. "What are you talking about?" Ryan asked. "You are already fighting and doing something even more important: using mana potions for me." "You know what I am talking about¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "We will waste too much time in here if things keep going like this, unless you use Draconic Transformation, the chances of you dying in a single strike is pretty high. A single mistake and it is game over." "That only makes things more interesting, right?" Ryan shrugged. "Besides, why do you think that he had the advantage in a longer fight?" Femradiel considered Ryan''s words¡­ now that she thought about it, the dungeon master only assumed control over that body when they found it. The creature certainly didn''t want to fight. It even asked for them to leave¡­ most likely, that body wasn''t ready for real fights yet. That was why the creature changed its strategies so many times, even though Ryan onlynded a single critical hit. "Well, if you want to help even more and all that much, I suppose you can," Ryan said. In the end, Femradiel didn''t even try to exin to Ryan what she intended to do. She used Teleport and then appeared right in the back of the monsters and then attached herself to the monster''s body as if she were a cicada. "So much for teamwork," Ryan frowned. After a few moments, the boss noticed Femradiel''s presence when she began to emit a cold aura through her body. It didn''t take long for a thinyer of ice began to spread behind the monster''s body. The dungeon master tried to shake her away, but the creature only looked silly, trying to scratch its back and moving from one side to the other. Hoping that the weight and pressure of his movements would make her fall. "I see¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. At the same time, he selected a frozen area several meters below the point where Femradiel was. Without a hint of hesitation, he fired several fire arrows with his Hydra''s Bow. The dungeon master was too busy, thanks to Femradiel, so he didn''t notice the projectilesing. In the end, the arrowsnded and caused massive explosions that finally made the massive body tremble for real for the first time in that fight. At the same time, a considerable part of the crystalyer protecting the monster''s body cracked and fell¡­ Ryan and Femradiel didn''t lose that opportunity and attacked while the beast was in shock. Massive fire arrows and Ice Meteors fell on the monster''s back, and then the creature finally began to bleed¡­ that was some progress. "The heck is that?" Ryan frowned. The monster''s blood was¡­ blue. It was the exact same thing Ryan saw leaving Seth''s body when he wounded him. The blood was actually mana in its liquid form¡­ was that a coincidence? While Ryan was busy thinking about why the monster''s blood was blue, Femradiel created a container of ice and then put the liquid inside of it. That certainly required some study, or Femradiel just wanted to make Ryan use that since she teleported the object toward him. "My work¡­ how dare you damage my masterpiece?" The dungeon master asked. "It looks like this guy see himself like some sort of artist," Ryan frowned and then stored the container in his spatial dimension. "What a joke." ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 33 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 29 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 21 (+ 06 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 42th Health: 6710/6710 (12,62/s) Mana: 8615/8615 (12,62/s) Stamina: 8910/8910 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+788) (+130) Dexterity: 6900 (+5555) (+350) Speed: 1120 (+2850) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2294) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+559) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2850) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+853) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+3600) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+899) (+40) Coins: 43.523.109 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Evading Shot Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Vital Hunter Lv 37 (+ 10 UP), Magic Sword Lv 12 (+ 11 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Concentration Lv 54 (+ 04 UP), Heroic Archery Lv 74 (+ 10 UP), Dual Wield Lv 55 (+ 07 UP), Critical Focus Lv 11, Crossbow Expert Lv 60 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 60 (+ 05 UP), Health Boost Lv 20 (+ 05 UP), True Sniping Lv 33(+ 04 UP) Spells: Stamina Restoration Lv 37 (+ 09 UP), Ranger''s Awakening Lv 46 (+ 04 UP), Mana Reinforcement Lv 15 (+ 05 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 19 (+ 10 UP), Anti-Telekinesis Field Lv 01, Freezing Aura Lv 01 Support Skills: Gravity Immunity Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 01 sses: Combat: Sorcerer Lv 66 (+ 06 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 42 (+ 05 UP), Hexde Lv 76 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 49 (+ 08 UP), Royal Archer Lv 40 (+ 07 UP) Non-Combatant: Navigator Lv 17 (+ 04 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 602 - Faster? The dungeon master tried to prevent the bleeding, but normal healing wasn''t working for some reason. Since he also needed some time to repair the damaged crystalyer, things weren''t working since Femradiel was damaging other areas. "This thing can''t be healed by healing spells because it is an empty shell," Femradiel said. "I can sense it; Chimeras are a single creature made by parts of dead monsters. While some have a healing factor and can be healed by some spells, this one is different since the dungeon master created it in order to be a spare body." "Or his main body," Ryan added.] Those were quite some good news¡­ perhaps it was for that reason the dungeon master wanted to protect that chimera so much. Not only had the best aspects of several species of monsters, but it also had a way to counter the downside of his perfect example of chimera. In any case, the monster kept doing the usual for a while, but when Femradiel and Ryan made the left side of the monster''s back lose its crystalyer and bleed, he decided to go all out. The dungeon master started to tremble, and its presence increased even more. Something bad was going to happen. It was obvious. Ryan and Femradiel began to attack relentlessly, but they failed at causing damage even on the wounded areas¡­ the monster''s mana level spiked once again. "Get back here, Femradiel!" Ryan shouted. Femradiel teleported to safety, but if she had been half a second slower, things could have been pretty bad. Twoyers of energy began to cover the monster''s body at a fearsome speed. One of them was dark, and the other had a silver tone. Ryan assumed that the beast decided to use some massive spell thatbined the strength of angels and demons. That problem was one of the highest tier of defensive buffs. After all, the energy was so strong and intense that it could be seen with eyes alone. That was bad¡­ but it was also good. It was bad because the power of the monster spiked, but at the same time, it showed how much annoyed and in a hurry the dungeon master was. While trying to gain some time to see how he should proceed against that type of skill, Ryan decided to move away from the monster, but much to his surprise, his body was moving toward the creature. The maic field changed, and the beast was attracting all things around him. The ocean, the clouds¡­ everything that touched that dark and silver armor made of energy disappeared without a trace. Ryan tried to teleport and use sh, but even the efficacy of those spells decreased. "Oh, crap¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance. "Ryan¡­" Femradiel said. "Not now, Femradiel," Ryan said. As if being pulled back toward something that would most likely destroy his body at a molecr level wasn''t enough, Ryan saw several Light Spears and Shadow Spears forming at the surface of the monster''s body. They obviously would be thrown toward Ryan¡­ "Focus on using mana and DEX potions," Ryan said and then summoned twelve magic copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. While Femradiel was following what she was told to do, Ryan activated Magic Vampirism and began to bombard the monster''s body. Before the spears could be thrown at him, Ryan attacked them, and as expected, due to the effect of his weapons and of the skill, they were destroyed before they could be used. Itsted for only a moment, but Ryan saw the monster''s head tilting slightly. The creature apparently couldn''t move while using that skill and had to maintain a crazy level of focus, but even despite that, the monster looked at Ryan, annoyed. When his firing damage began to increase thanks to the DEX potions, Ryan began to attack the left chest of the monster since he noticed that he was being pulled to that point. For some reason, that was the area with the highest level of mana, and while it took a while, his bolts managed to decrease the power of the Maic Field. Still, despite that, at every single second, despite his struggles, he was being pulled one meter after the other toward the monster. Ryan''s heartbeat increased as he approached the creature and began to feel the heat emanated by the dark and silver energy armor. The gravity field was getting weaker, but not enough at a necessary pace¡­ this time, Ryan really could see the reaper with its scythe on his neck. "Femradiel! Faster!" Ryan shouted. "Faster? My ass!" Femradiel howled. "Stop being a fucking pussy and use Draconic Transformation already!" "¡­ There was no need to use such vulgar words," Ryan said. Despite that, Ryan still didn''t want to use that skill¡­ at least until the veryst moment. However, thanks to those words, Ryan had an idea. He summoned from his vault all of his Spiritualist''s Spears and then put all of them together by covering them in ice, thus creating a single massive spear. "Let''s hope this will work¡­" Ryan said. Ryan''s new spear was close enough to hit the dungeon master''s chest, and much to Ryan''s surprise, he could feel his mana being restored at a fearsome pace. Somehow, at such a difficult time, he discovered a way to cheat with his weapons. While that seemed like a cheap tactic, it was better than relying on Draconic Transformation every single time. After getting relieved for a few moments, Ryan noticed that his spear was being destroyed by the energy armor as well¡­ in the end, he only brought a few extra seconds. "You can never catch a break, huh," Femradiel shook her head. Femradiel took the words from Ryan''s mouth, but in the end, a few seconds and all that extra mana was more than what Ryan needed. His spears managed to create a small crack in the monster''s energy armor¡­ it was all thanks to the mana being drained. So, Ryan attacked that single point with all his might. Chapter 603 - After You After finding a breach in the monster''s defenses, Ryan broke the crystal of the area with two massive fire and ice arrows. Only after that Ryan bombarded the area with his bolts that were capable of draining mana. The energy armor tried to cover the unprotected area. Still, whenever Ryan''s boltsnded, the hole in the armor only increased in size¡­ eventually, the bolts pierced so deeply that the monster began to bleed from that area as well¡­ the mana liquid touched the energy armor, but that didn''t help the creature. In fact, the energy armor destroyed the liquid that probably fueled that massive body. "See? I didn''t need Draconic Transformation," Ryan said. "Maybe my eyes are wrong, but the dungeon master is still standing and your spear is being destroyed faster than before," Femradiel said. Although Femradiel was quick toin, she revested the spear with her ice magic, and thus the destruction of the spear slowed down considerably. Suddenly, the dungeon master''s body began to tremble. While that happened a while ago, Ryan knew that his bolts weren''t supposed to cause such a thing. Still, considering the mana liquid that the creature was losing, he assumed that he was starting to cause critical damage after critical damage. That was only natural since the left chest of the beast was exposed and had be a destroyed mass of flesh since a while ago. "Die, worms! Die!" The dungeon master suddenly said. "After you," Ryan said. Ryan thought the dungeon master wouldn''t surprise him again, but much to his annoyance, the monster still had a trick up his sleeve. Upon noticing that hisst strategy wouldn''t work as well, the beast decided to use hisst resort. That became obvious when the monster''s energy armor began to glow. "Ryan¡­ I think we should leave," Femradiel said. "I want to¡­ but as you know, we are trapped in a gravity field," Ryan said. Ryan and Femradiel began to sweat bullets. The monster would self-destruct, and at that distance, they wouldn''t have more than a few milliseconds to escape once the explosion starts. It was hard to believe that such a dungeon master would go that far and destroy the body of such a rare species, but in the end, even a mad scientist was smart enough to understand that his life was more important than a single body. Femradiel began to pour several INT and SPE potions on Ryan''s body since he would need them when the explosion happened. At the end, when Ryan was only twenty meters away, thest glow of the energy armor increased exponentially. At the same time, Ryan saw a glimpse of a bluestone inside the monster''s left chest. That was probably what the dungeon master used to control that massive body, but before Ryan could think of any of that, the monster exploded. Ryan saw his life pass through his eyes while he waited for the gravity field to dissipate. That only happened when that massive amount of energy already started to eat away the flesh of his body, but in the end, despite the shocking pain, he used Teleport and escaped at thest moment. Ryan and Femradiel suddenly saw themselves in the first ce they found of that world. Thanks to the INT potions, Ryan managed to return up to that point and even had some mana to heal his wounds. However, it looked like the situation wasn''t over yet. The entire world began to tremble as if a massive meteor had hit it. "Hey, hey¡­. Seriously?" Ryan muttered in shock. Although Ryan prepared to escape, he soon stopped because he didn''t receive any notification that he had gained coins¡­ in the end. The trembling also stopped before anything more absurd could happen. The dungeon master somehow managed to fool Ryan and Femradiel, but not for long. After recovering from his wounds, Ryan returned to the ce where he fought the massive crystal tyrant dragon, and there, he found nothing, only a massive craterof hundreds of meters below him. Even the ocean and the clouds had been dissipated thanks to the massive attack. "What a pity¡­ I kind of wanted to guard that body and then study it," Ryan said. "It looks like the dungeon master influenced you quite a bit," Femradiel said. "You shouldn''t follow his example. While he managed to create a chimera in which he could control manually, such a method to obtain strength has too many demerits." Ryan could only nod at that, but in the end, he didn''t want to change his fighting style, only improved it by studying others. Regardless, now he had to find the dungeon master, and he didn''t have a single clue as to where to go. "Hey, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Did you notice if the mana of the monster was moving too much in a single direction or something? The dungeon master used a mana crystal in the heart of the monster to control it, I assume that he emitted his mana from some direction to control it." "¡­ Now that you mentioned," Femradiel said. "I felt a slight movement of manaing from your three o''clock when the ind began to tremble. I guess the dungeon master sent his mana from that direction." Ryan and Femradiel hurried in that direction since, most likely, the dungeon master was hidden in another ind or something simr. That being said, the explosion caused so many tsunamis that they found another continent instead of finding another ind after following that direction. "There is something below us," Femradiel said. "Yeah, another abandoned city," Ryan said. "No¡­ I can feel a magic presence below us," Femradiel said. "It is the dungeon master''s presence¡­ but it is a bit odderpared to before." First fake inds and now an underground hideout¡­ the dungeon master sure likes to use shy strategies. In any case, Ryan didn''t have time to look for an entrance to the underground hideout, so he just dug using magic and his weapons. Chapter 604 - Absolute Appraisal Ryan had to dig for quite a while, but eventually, he found a hidden building that was located two hundred meters below ground level. The ce was simr to the facilities he found in the sake inds. Many machines were used to keep creatures sleeping, but he didn''t find a single monster. "I am sensing some manaing from those monitors," Femradiel said. Ryan frowned when he heard that and frowned even more when he didn''t see anything on the monitor. It was on, but at the same time, it wasn''t showing anything. Ryan looked for some cables to unplug and turn off those machines, but he didn''t find any. In the end, he decided to freeze the entire ce, only to hear a voiceing from the monitor. "Please, stop," The dungeon master said. "If you do this, I am going to die." "What the hell¡­" Ryan said. "You have defeated me, I ept my defeat," The dungeon master said. "I swear that I won''t touch your again." "¡­ It looks like he transferred his spirit to those machines," Femradiel said. "His interest for Chimeras probably came from that since a machine can''t grow stronger." "Well, it doesn''t matter," Ryan said. "We havee to defeat the dungeon master and we can''t stop now. I can''t say I am sorry, though. How many humans did you kill to create those five chimeras? I am pretty certain even someone like you wouldn''t be able to upgrade a human body that much on your first try." "¡­ I told them the risks and they epted it," The dungeon master said. "Regardless, I am begging you. I will give to you all my knowledge and all the coins I am obtaining right now as the dungeon master of six dungeons." "No can do," Ryan shrugged. "Don''t you remember? You called me a worm and tried to fry me alive with energy beams several times. I won''t say that I am in the right here since I invaded your, but you did it first¡­ as childish as this argument sounds." At least the dungeon master didn''t try to plead for his life again by telling Ryan about his past tragic life or as to how that world ended, and he wanted to restore it to its former glory. He asked twice to be spared, but not three times¡­ in the end. Ryan felt some respect toward him thanks to that, but not enough to spare his life. In a few instances, Ryan froze the entire facility with his Ice Breath, and in the end, not only all the machines stopped working, but Ryan also received a notification that confirmed that the job had beenpleted. You obtained 23.362.852 coins. "I thought you would spare him," Femradiel said. "I havee too far to start forgiving those that tried to fry me alive now¡­" Ryan said. "I can''t say what I would have done if he had invaded my body at thest minute." "I guess I should consider myself lucky," Femradiel shrugged. Ryan took a deep breath. The job was finally over, and he finally could focus his attention on Poseidon again. Now he just had to receive his rewards and hope that forging a new weapon with the materials that Isis mentioned wouldn''t be that hard. "Well done," Isis suddenly said. "Youpleted your task much faster than I had imagined. Do you want to trade the ownership of this dungeon as well?" "It will depend on what you are going to offer," Ryan said. "Naturally, I intended to give you another skill that would help you fight Poseidon, but I changed my mind since I noticed that youined about Mind Armor," Isis said. "Thus, I decided to give you a tome that will teach you a skill that will let you see the status of all enemies. Even that skill can be countered by another, but if your skill level is higher, then it will always work." Absolute Appraisal Tome Effect: It grants you the ability to see all the skills and status of a determined target. It can''t be countered by low-level defensive mental skills. Cost: 1000 mana. Ryan waited to see what Femradiel had to say about that, but the expression of shock had been more than enough. That certainly was enough. It wouldn''t be weird if that tome costs half-billion or even one billion coins. "I ept it," Ryan said. "Well then," Isis said. "I once again thank you for epting my offer. I told you before that I would grant you the chance toe to my world and mine for the material you want yourself, but I can give you the stock that I have since you are in a hurry." "You really want to see me fighting Poseidon, huh," Ryan said. "I can''t say that isn''t the case," Isis said. "I don''t want Poseidon doing whatever he wants until other dungeon masters return to Earth. The bnce of power will crumble if that happens. Besides, my followers and all the others who decided to follow other dungeon masters will also be in danger." Considering what she said, Isis wasn''t that much worried about those who weren''t her followers. In the end, Ryan could only feel grateful for her sincerity. Besides, he would feel suspicious if she suddenly says that she is worried about the fate of all humans. "If you have enough materials for me to use them for a while, I will ept it," Ryan said. "But if you don''t mind, I would like a steady supply as well." "That can be done. However, my troops also make use of those materials pretty often," Isis said. "So, you won''t be able to receive the amount I am about to give you every week. Return to Cairo, Mohammed will give you the materials." In the end, that was something that couldn''t be helped. If anything, Ryan felt grateful that someone working for Isis would refine the ores for him. Chapter 605 - Oridecon And Elunium When Ryan returned to Egypt, it was dark again. Despite that, he found Mohammed waiting for him at the entrance of the city. When one works for a dungeon master, they must be prepared to be called at any given moment¡­ "Sorry about this," Ryan said. "It is fine," Mohammed said. "I am more than willing to help someone who helped us this much. Thanks to you, we won''t have to worry about slowing down on our progress. Crossing the desert for even longer distances in search of dungeons is quite tiresome, after all." "I can imagine," Ryan said. Mohammed guided Ryan to one of the special warehouses of the city. Fortunately, since most of the survivors were sleeping, they quickly arrived at their destination. In the end, Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he saw the materials that he would carry back home with him. Oridecon Bar A magic metal that is perfect in the creation of magic weapons. It can be used to upgrade all kinds of weapons, even without monsters'' spirits. Elunium Sphere A magic petal that can make fearsome defensive equipment. It can also be used to upgrade all types of defensive gear without the use of monsters'' spirits. "This is¡­" Ryan said. "A metal that ismon in games and certain books," Mohammed said. "I was as surprised as you the first time I saw them." Ryan didn''t know that such metals had been mentioned in some stories, but that wasn''t surprising. Regardless, Elunium had been refined into spheres that were as big as Ryan''s head. He tried to pick one of them and noticed that it was really heavy. As for the Oridecon, they had been refined into bars, and even though they apparently had the same mass, Oridecon was visibly lighter, and yet, Ryan could tell just by touching that the material would make any weapon look amazing. "How many do you have here?" Ryan asked. "This is what we managed to produce in thest two weeks," Mohammed replied. "It is more than enough to forge two hundred weapons that need to be wielded with two hands and one hundred sets of armor. You can make one hundred breasttes, helmets, gloves and boots." "While that is the case, I would advise you to select a weapon and pieces or armor and upgrade them with those materials," Isis suddenly joined the conversation. "I can see that you already have a vast collection of weapons, so it would be more efficient to do that. As for defensive gear, you are seriously out-leveled ifpared with the attack power of the enemies you have faced until now." Ryan was fully aware of that, but since he focused on dodging and stealth attacks, that couldn''t be helped. Besides, he didn''t want to use another armor aside from his ck Steel Armor. He couldn''t forget his failure with Lucia and her friends, after all. "How can I upgrade weapons and armor with those? What is the limit?" Ryan asked. "It is the same as you enchant a weapon with a monster''s spirit," Isis replied. "You just need to have one bar or sphere in hand and it will work. However, you will need to sacrifice a lot of mana. After all, spirits have mana and only their essence is used to enchant a weapon." "How much mana per upgrade?" Ryan asked. "You multiply the level of the upgrade by five hundred," Mohammed replied. "While that is quite a lot of mana, you only need one piece of Oridecon or Elunium per upgrade." While that was convenient, the cost of mana was just too high. In the end, even with those metals, Ryan will only upgrade his items up to a certain point¡­ unless he begins to focus on increasing his mana once again or finds a way to cheat his way out of that dilemma. Although Ryan only spent three days in Egypt, he was in a hurry to return. There were many things to do and too little time, after all. So, he quickly stored the metals inside his spatial storage. "I wille now and then to obtain more of those metals, if I take my time, or something happens, please separate mine from the others," Ryan said. "All right," Mohammed said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ryan." "If you need help with something again, you know where you can talk to me," ISIS said. "I will make sure not to bother neither of you too often," Ryan said. After saying that, Ryan used Teleport and left Cairo in the middle of the night. While Ryan was returning to his domain, he wondered what he should do now that he had the metals that he wanted. Isis said that upgrading an equipment to its limits would be the best option, but Ryan didn''t have a bow or crossbow that would be partially good against Poseidon. "Maybe I am getting ahead of myself," Ryan said. "First, we need to deal with the Hydras and only after that can we worry about Poseidon." "You say that you want a proper weapon to face Poseidon, but I don''t think you will find one," Femradiel said. "He might be the Greek god of the oceans, but I highly doubt he will have only one way to attack. Instead of aiming for a single weapon to miraculously do all the work, you should prepare a n." That seemed reasonable, but Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he actually couldn''t forge such a weapon. He certainly wouldn''t find a McGuffin hidden somewhere that will increase his chances exponentially against his foe. After thinking for a while, Ryan decided to select his main weapons that woulde in handy against the Hydras and focus on upgrading only them. While he did have a lot of Oridecon and Elunium, something unexpected might happen, or Ryan might find or have a new idea for a weapon to upgrade. Having a supply of useful things certainly wasn''t a bad idea. Chapter 606 - Warrior Although Femradiel used her other bodies to keep things checked in the domain, Ryan only rxed when he arrived and confirmed that everything was all right. "I am going to meditate," Femradiel said. "I need to increase my intelligence and then gather some mana as well, since I feel I didn''t help all that much in thest fight." Before Ryan could say anything, Femradiel left. In the end, he decided to stay quiet since it was good for Femradiel to work and build her next body as soon as possible. "I guess I will clear a dungeon that I didn''t clear and get a new ss before upgrading the weapons that I will need to hunt the Hydras," Ryan said. "Come to think of it¡­ I probably can cheat the downside that Mohammed mentioned by equipping items that increase my mana. Let''s look for a new dungeon while I find the best type of item that increases mana." Although Ryan couldn''t equip many of them, he discovered that earrings were the best essory to grant mana. However, Ryan also managed to find a new dungeon that spawned monsters that increased the mana of items when they were used to enchant items. They were the Giant Crabs. Aquatic Ring Effect: None Mana + 300 Durability: 40/40 Aquatic Shield Effect: None Endurance: + 50 Durability: 100/100 "My guess was correct," Ryan said. "When crafting items and enchanting them, the highest attributes of the monsters y a major role." Ryan noticed that thanks to the previous mission. Regardless, that made his job of clearing a new dungeon tost longer, but at least Ryan obtained a set of rings that increased his mana by six hundred points each. That was the limit of his Magic Upgrade, and while he could solve that with Elunium, it would be a waste to use them on something so cheap. "... Come to think of it, my mana increases exponentially when I use Draconic Transformation," Ryan said and then facepalmed. "That skill could easily solve the problem of the upgrades." Ryan felt as if he could die of embarrassment, but in the end, that was something only he knew. Even Femradielpletely forgot about it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Warrior, Bard, and Fire Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Warrior! You obtained the following skills: Hot Blood, Defiance, and Inner Release. Your health and strength will increase by four points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hot Blood. Effect: It increases your strength by five points per level at the cost of your stamina. Cost: 50 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Defiance. Effect: At the cost of your stamina, it grants you the power to decrease the effectiveness of negative effects based on the skill level. Cost: 200 stamina You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Inner Release. Effect: It increases all of your physical rted status at the cost of your health. The amount increased will be to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 100 health per second. You obtained 01 status points. "All right, now I need to upgrade some of my crossbows," Ryan nodded to himself after getting another ss. "My Hydra still is around, but it doesn''t mean the number of others has decreased." After checking all his weapons, Ryan concluded that four crossbows woulde in handy when fighting against the Hydras. He had already used two of them before. Still, the other two would also be useful since, this time, he was going solo for a while. They were the Amphibian Crossbow that doesn''t let the bolts lose speed underwater, the Aquatic Crossbow that increases his intelligence per shot for a set amount of time, Immobilizing Crossbow that decreases the enemies'' speed, and the Revenge Crossbow that causes extra damage when he is wounded. Suppose Ryan decides to fight while Draconic Transformation is active. In that case, the Amphibian Crossbow will be useless since, with his increased dexterity, even Hydras can''t dodge his projectiles. That was a tougher question. While he already used that skill to face those creatures, he did it to help others, but since things would be riskier now, not using it would be stupid. "I guess I don''t have a choice here," Ryan said. "I can only upgrade my weapons so many times with the materials that I have and the more weapons I try to use, the fewer times I will be able to upgrade them. Come to think of it, upgrading the Spiritualist''s Crossbow would help a lot since with each level of upgrade, that weapon will drain more mana from my foes." Ryan considered that and then decided to take out the Amphibian Crossbow and then add the Spiritualist''s Crossbow. While Magic Vampirism would make such a weapon eventually be useless, it certainly wasn''t something that would happen anytime soon. "I guess I will give that crossbow to Zoe once the timees," Ryan said. "Those guys said that she is a pretty good archer and since she needs mana, this will be a perfect weapon for her." Spiritualist''s Crossbow (+ 30) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty points of mana that will drain 150 points of your foes mana and recover yours. Dexterity + 400, Intelligence + 160 Durability: 250/250 Immobilizing Crossbow (+30) Effect: at the cost of fifty points of mana, it grants you the power to fire crossbows that put your enemies under the slow status for thirty seconds when they are hit by the bolts. Each projectile will decrease their speed by twenty points. Dexterity + 300, Intelligence + 300 Durability: 200/200 Chapter 607 - Upgrade The result of Ryan''s first upgrades was pretty impressive. However, he could have upgraded each weapon at least until level sixty. Still, Ryan didn''t do it for the previous reason he mentioned¡­ for in case he finds or thinks of a better weapon and needs to improve it. Aquatic Crossbow (+ 30) Effect: At the cost of one hundred points of mana, it temporarily increases your intelligence after using this weapon for ten seconds. The bonus in intelligence will be fifteen points per shot and can stack. Dexterity + 300, Intelligence + 300 Durability: 220/220 Revenge Crossbow (+40) Effect: at the cost of one hundred points of mana, it grants the user the power to fire bolts that cause extra damage based on your lost life. The extra damage caused will be equal to the percentage of your lost health and can reach a max of twenty-five percent. Dexterity + 500, Intelligence + 250. Durability: 300/300 "All right¡­" Ryan said with a frown of surprise on his face. "I guess I am ready to cause some damage to those fuckers¡­ Still, didn''t I be quite strong with those four weapons? No¡­ this isn''t my strength. This is an extension of my strength, something that I obtained when I didn''t focus on improving my skills and tried to look for outside options to deal with Poseidon¡­ I can''t get carried away after looking for something like this." It was time to do some serious hunting, and Ryan was determined to bring the Hydra''s back to extinction. While that was probably impossible since magical powers were spawning them, Ryan had to at least show that much determination. In any case, Ryan decided to ask Femradiel if she was nning to go with him, so he returned to his domain. Still, he found Alissa there, so he quickly assumed his hunt would be dyed for a few hours, at least. "You have a lot of time in your hands, Alissa¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I heard that you went to do some interesting things and you didn''t even call me, so I havee to give you myints," Alissa said. "Anyway, Femradiel told me that you are dead set in dying Poseidon''s return. Despite that, you didn''t even try to ask for help." At least she didn''t waste too much timeining. Regardless, Alissa came alone this time, so Ryan assumed that she didn''t intend to stay for long. Ryan''s guesses weren''t too off the mark, and she quickly got in the business. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "No, things are as good as they can be in the base. Arthur and Zoe are as good as they can be, thank you very much," Alissa said. "I havee to talk about someone else. It is about Daniel." "You took interest in someone unexpected this time," Ryan said. "Well, to be honest, he has be quite interesting as ofte," Alissa said. "His team and him are dead set in bing as strong as they can be and it looks like they got in their hands some interesting special sses. I could read his status before, but now that is impossible since he learned about Mind Armor. Despite that, I can tell that they became insanely strong. He even had the nerve of asking to spar with me." "You are not much better, since you also asked to spar with me," Ryan said. "Anyway, while I didn''t think that I underestimated his strength, he somehow managed to cause much more damage than expected," Alissa said. "Orgar exined to me that he probably used some dragon ying skills." "Interesting¡­ I can''t say that I have seen many dragons these days, so I am not sure if those skills are of any use right now." "You sure areid back, while there aren''t many dragons out there, there are still us, people who can use their powers," Alissa said. "Considering your talent at getting on other people''s nerves, I assumed that you might be Daniel''s target pretty soon. Whenever you are mentioned and he hears it, he bes quite pissed, after all." "If you really want that, then you should tell him toe and visit me anytime," Ryan smiled. "I am crazy to have a single reason to kick his ass. A spar will be the perfect excuse and if he attacks my first without warning, it will be even better." "Did you hit your head somewhere?" Alissa frowned. "Anyway, if that fight happens, don''t underestimate him. You aren''t exactly sturdy, so you might be split in half on the first strike." "Don''t worry, unlike I don''t feel the need to let the enemiesnd any attack on me," Ryan shrugged. "I am smarter than that." "Let''s hope that your brain is bigger than your ego," Alissa said. "Anyway, I am leaving since I only came to warn you about that, I am a busy person after all." Alissa quickly vanished after using sh several times. While Ryan wasn''t so sure of that, he was pretty sure that Alissa woulde and waste a few hours of her time to warn about something useless. "¡­ I forgot to use Absolute Appraisal on her," Ryan said. "It is kind of amazing that you can worry about that in a situation like this," Femradiel said. "Anyway, I am going to hunt some Hydras, do you want toe?" Ryan asked. "Do you think that is the right time?" Femradiel asked. "Things are changing around these parts and you are not paying attention to your country." "I am trying to look in the big picture, someone like Daniel and his friends are thest of my worries," Ryan replied. "If there are no enemies behind, we can and should proceed onward and face the real enemies before they be too troublesome." That also seemed logical from Femradiel''s perspective. Still, she couldn''t help but worry that Ryan was focusing too much on the big mountain ahead and not paying attention to the asional holes and stones on his path. Chapter 608 - Marksman While only a few days had passed since the seventh dungeon break, Ryan noticed that the number of Hydras in the North of the Antic Ocean increased. However, that wasn''t the only thing that increased. Some underwater dungeons appeared as well. Ryan only didn''t notice that because the monsters didn''t have much time to spawn before going to Egypt. However, instead of the new dungeons, an older one caught his interest. Kraken - Lv 700 Health: 65.000/65.000 Mana: 55.000/55.000 Stamina: 50.000/50.000 Strength: 3500 (+ 200) Dexterity: 3500 (+ 800) Speed: 2.000 (+ 500) Intelligence: 5600 (+ 800) Endurance: 4500 (+ 900) Control: 2500 (+ 600) Mentality: 4500 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 20.000 (+ 5.000) Willpower: 4500 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Cold Entanglement Lv 600, Blind Shot Lv 600¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Speed Lv 400, Enhanced Recovery Lv 300, Swim Lv Max¡­ Spells: Water Tornado Lv 400, Whirlwind Lv 400, Frost Nova Lv 400¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 600, Water Breathing Lv 900, Hydromancy Lv 500, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Shock Resistance Lv 350, Cryomancy Lv 300¡­ Before anything, Ryan felt shivers while looking at those tentacles. However, he rxed a little since the monster wasn''t that strong¡­ He had faced a lot of more formidable enemies, and his strength increased thanks to that. After the uneasy feeling of disgust, Ryan opened his eyes widely in surprise when he used Absolute Appraisal. Even at level one, Ryan could see all the skills the monster had. That was beyond surprising¡­ but in the end, they focused only on the first ones since they were the most high-leveled skills the beast had. "Why every single time you think of a Kraken, you tremble like a leaf?" Femradiel asked via Telepathy since they were underwater. "You trembled, even more, when you saw one for the first time." "You don''t feel anything while looking at those tentacles?" Ryan asked. "You are pretty weird." "You are the weird one with suspicious instincts," Femradiel said. "Anyway, while they weren''t as troublesome as the Hydras, you can''t leave them alone either. The Hydras are about to reach the level nine hundred, but if they are left alone, even those creatures will make their dungeon reach the max level in less than two months." Ryan didn''t have to hear that twice. In the end, he truly believed that a good tentacle monster was a dead tentacle monster. After he summoned twelve copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow, Ryan bombarded the monster with bolts. Much to his surprise, the beast didn''tst even two seconds and barely could react to the surprise attack. "¡­ As expected, my firepower increased a lot thanks to the upgraded weapon," Ryan said in amazement. "Maybe I can even defeat a Hydra''s Boss without using Draconic Transformation without giving the monster the chance to wound me." After the first Kraken had been killed, several others came and tried to attack Ryan. They probably felt the blood of one of their skin being spilled. Despite that, the number of monsters that Ryan had to face had been pretty low. It looked like the Hydra made sure to keep the Kraken''s poption as low as possible. Since the ordinary krakens were twenty meters long, their dungeon was supposed to be pretty big and spacious, so it was deep underwater¡­ deeper than Ryan could reach with his human body. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan used Draconic Transformation since it would be a waste to leave a most likely tier-three dungeon behind. Besides, Ryan''s goal was to dy Poseidon''s return as much as possible, so he had to put his pride aside in order to achieve his goal and give even more time for the humans to prepare for the unavoidable fight. After heading down to the dungeon that was five hundred meters below sea level, Ryan entered the dungeon that was big enough even for him to swim across. In the end, Ryan found an even bigger Kraken guarding the purple crystal¡­ "I guess that is the reason why I managed to enter this dungeon in this form," Ryan thought. The dungeon boss tried to grab Ryan''s arms with its tentacles, but magic bolts repelled those. In the end, since the tentacles creeped out Ryan so much that he didn''t hold back and he stuck the monster in the dungeon walls. It looked like Ryan had stuck the monster there with nails, but that couldn''t be further from the truth. You obtained 90.000 coins. "What the hell¡­ already?" Ryan frowned. "Sometimes, your naivety baffles me," Femradiel said. "Why are you so surprised? Did you forget that you defeated dozens of Hydra''s bosses? The beings who are keeping those creatures in check?" "¡­ Lately, you are too aggressive in yourments, Femradiel," Ryan frowned. "Maybe I should forbid you from meeting Alissa for a while. She is clearly a bad influence on you." "Whatever you say, Dad," Femradiel said. "I can''t believe you are trying to treat me like a kind in a rebellious phase." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Royal Knight, Marksman, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Marksman! You obtained the following skills: Ballistic Shot, Impulse Shot, and Hookshot. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ballistic Shot. Effect: It increases the damage caused by your next attack the closer you are to your foe. Cost: 50 stamina You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Impulse Shot. Effect: It increases the power of your next attack, and when in midair, it will increase your altitude by five meters per level You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hookshot. Effect: it grants you a ten percent bonus in damage per level of the skill and also pulls the target toward you. The distance pulled will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five meters. Cost: 50 mana You obtained 01 status points. Before that conversation could be even weirder, Ryan proceeded to open the treasure chest. Fortunately, he finally found once again an archery-rted ss that he hadn''t seen before. Even better, the skills he obtained were awesome. "Hehe, this certainly will increase the number of things I can do to my enemies," Ryan said. "Regardless, onto the next dungeon." Femradiel could sense many underwater dungeons up North and East. However, the number of Hydras that they would find in there would be too low. So, instead of going there, they headed toward the South. For quite a while, Ryan only passed by the dungeons he had already found. However, around the time he passed by Cuba and consequently, thest dungeon that he had cleared, he found a new dungeon with numerous enemies¡­ A mermaid''s dungeon. Chapter 609 - Sea Nymph Unlike the Subus, the Mermaids weren''t using illusions to look more beautiful. That was probably why Ryan saw hundreds of Triton bosses guarding their dungeon and the underwater city they had created in the area. "That is odd¡­ why are they protecting other species that certainly don''t look like warrior species?" Ryan frowned. "They must be a species of creatures that work for Poseidon," Femradiel said. "They aren''t warriors, but Poseidon considers them his own people and thus made them create a base in these parts." Sea Nymph - Lv 800 Health: 25.000/25.000 Mana: 153.000/ 153.000 Stamina: 22.000/22.000 Strength: 1500 (+ 200) Dexterity: 3500 (+ 800) Speed: 1500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 9800 (+ 1800) Endurance: 1500 (+ 200) Control: 5500 (+ 1600) Mentality: 4500 (+ 1100) Luck: 2000 (+ 400) Recovery: 25.000 (+ 5.000) Willpower: 4500 (+ 1100) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Frozen Touch Lv 400¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Intelligence Lv 400, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 300, Swim Lv Max¡­ Spells: Crystal Creation Lv 400, Crystal Maniption Lv 300, Ice Spear Lv 800¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 900, Water Breathing Lv 800, Hydromancy Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 200, Shock Resistance Lv 250, Cryomancy Lv 500¡­ "Nymph? Aren''t they mermaids?" Ryan frowned. "I can sense some active mana in their legs¡­ maybe they used some transformation technique to increase their movement underwater," Femradiel said. Ryan watched a movie in the past where Hercules had a son with a Nymph, and that was why he knew some things about them. Though he didn''t know if that knowledge was actually true. The nymphs were usually associated with fertile, growing things, such as trees or with water. They were not immortal but were extremely long-lived and were on the whole kindly disposed toward men. They were distinguished ording to the sphere of nature with which they were connected. "ording to Greek mythology, many of their gods had offspring with Nymphs, but¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I didn''t think they were that many." A few hundred meters ahead of them, Ryan and Femradiel could see an underwater city made of crystal. It was astonishingly beautiful since pretty much everything was so transparent. In any case, none of that actually mattered. Ryan couldn''t let such a base that obviously belonged to Poseidon so close to his country. However, not only thanks to the Tritons, Ryan noticed that he had to beware of, but he found some of Hydra''s bosses in the area, making sure that no enemy would approach that city. "It looks like Poseidon values this ce quite a bit," Ryan said while grinning. "Maybe I should try to hit him where it hurts." "What Alissa said is really true¡­ you have a talent at getting on other people''s nerves," Femradiel said. "In any case, you should prepare yourself if you really n to destroy this ce. " Weirdly enough, Femradiel didn''t try to stop Ryan¡­ probably because he was in his Draconic form. His weapons suffered a severe upgrade in thest few days. In any case, usually, Ryan would try to get rid of the small fries first since he would have to deal with a massive barrage of attacks, but in that situation, getting rid of the big guns would be wiser. "Femradiel, can you track the positions of all Hydras in a fifty kilometers radius?" Ryan asked. "Yes, but the very moment I notice them, they will probably notice me as well," Femradiel replied. "That is fine," Ryan said. "Just focus on finding them one after the other. After that, we will kill all of them as fast as possible." That seemed like a pretty bold strategy, but Femradiel realized that probably was the best one. After dealing with the Hydras, nothing a single creature in the area would bother Ryan once he attacks the underwater city. The perimeter that the Hydras created to keep the Nymphs said from external attacks would be used against them. Ryan gave Femradiel the task of finding the Hydras and using Teleport to face them before they try to alert the city''s inhabitants. Their first target showed a look of surprise when Ryan, in his draconic form, suddenly appeared in front of itself, and that gave Ryan a chance he had been looking for. Ryan bombarded the creature with magic copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. While the beast resisted for a while, in the end, it failed at charging at Ryan and at using any spell since the monster''s mana had been drainedpletely. "Next," Ryan said. "Shouldn''t we get rid of the body first?" Femradiel asked. "If there isn''t anyone to notice, no one will notice," Ryan replied. "If we get rid of all enemies in the area before they find anything weird, it doesn''t matter if they get rid of the bodies or not." "I guess that does make sense," Femradiel said. "I feel embarrassed knowing that you realized that and I didn''t." "What is that supposed to mean?" Ryan frowned. Instead of replying, Femradiel used Teleport and reached the next target. This time Ryan used Absolute Appraisal and confirmed what he more or less knew¡­ that he was running out of time. Hydra Lv 903 Health: 415.000/415.000 Mana: 272.000/272.000 Stamina: 261.000/261.000 Strength: 13.900 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 9100 (+ 1800) Speed: 10.400 (+ 1500) Intelligence: 7900 (+ 1800) Endurance: 8100 (+ 900) Control: 4900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 7900 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 128.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 7900 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Devour Lv 760, Paralyzing Bite Lv 680 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 470, Enhanced Recovery Lv 370, Swim Lv Max Spells: Haste Lv 460, Tsunami Lv 450, Sea Storm Lv 490 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 900, Water Breathing Lv 950, Hydromancy Lv 690, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420 "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I''d better pick up the pace." After saying that, Ryan made his bolts rain over the Hydra''s face that was swimming toward him. Chapter 610 - Druid Although one of those bosses almost ate Ryan alive a few months ago, now he was strong enough to kill one of them without suffering a single scratch in less than a minute. "Yep, I am cheating," Ryan nodded to himself after he killed twenty of those bosses. "Combining Spiritualist''s Crossbow, Immobilizing Crossbow and Vital Hunter aren''t fair. Still, I have no intention of stopping using these." "This was thest one," Femradiel said. Ryan and Femradiel noticed that the monsters began to head toward the underwater city when a nearby Hydra was killed. Still, since their senses weren''t that good, they didn''t warn the inhabitants of that ce. They didn''t have the chance. "Suddenly, I feel like I am about to do something bad," Ryan said. "Is it toote to give any attention to my conscience?" "Why are you asking me? I am not your conscience," Femradiel said. "If you are feeling that bad about it, you just have to follow your morals, and at least you will be able to sleep peacefully at night." Until now, Ryan didn''t have the time to consider such a thing, but since he was about to start a massacre, perhaps he should. Even in a war, some things shouldn''t be done. While Ryan didn''t know what was considered a war crime and what wasn''t. He at least decided not to attack unarmed monsters or those who were running away. "I guess this should be enough," Ryan said and then sighed. "In the end, all I need is to clear the dungeon and destroy this base. Poseidon will be pissed anyway. There is no need to annoy him even more by killing those that don''t want to fight." "Fair enough," Femradiel said. Ryan suddenly teleported to above the center of the underwater city where the dungeon was located. Without wasting time, he attacked the Tritons guarding the dungeon. In an instant, dozens of those were killed. Those who managed to react in time to protect themselves only ended with minor injuries. After the first attack, everyone in the city finally noticed Ryan. He could tell by the look of disbelief on their faces howe they didn''t see such a dragon approaching. In any case, just as Ryan had expected, some Sea Nymphs fired Ice Spears toward him, and others fired lightning bolts through their hands. Still, Ryan not only stopped their attacks with his bolts but also killed those who had attacked him. Dozens of them died in a second moment, and that had been more than enough for the others to lose their fighting spirit. "As I had expected, they don''t belong to a warrior race," Ryan said as he watched thousands of Nymphs spreading around in the ocean. "Just what the hell is Poseidon thinking by creating a dungeon to bring those creatures to Earth? Is he seriously thinking that taking over will be a cinch?" "Maybe, but it isn''t time for you to worry about that," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded after clicking his tongue since the Tritons were swimming toward him¡­ typical brain-dead warriors. Why would charge so vigorously against someone who could have easily crushed them silently? Before the monsters could get close enough to do anything, Ryan massacred the monsters with a barrage of magic bolts. While fighting without worrying about mana was quite refreshing, Ryan was feeling more annoyed than satisfied with that fact. The more he tried to get on Poseidon''s path, the more pissed he felt. To the point where Ryan began to wonder if he shouldn''t chase those Nymphs and kill them anyway. "¡­ Let''s try not to forget the honor code that I created just a few hours ago," Ryan said after taking a deep breath. Before entering the dungeon, Ryan attacked and destroyed the whole crystal city. Although that was unnecessary, Ryan did so in his draconic form in order to save some time. In the end, Ryan destroyed a city that was the size of Shreveport by himself in just a few minutes¡­ The entrance of the dungeon wasn''t that deep, and since the ce was also quite small, Ryan returned to his human form to explore the ce. While inside the dungeon, Ryan found some Nymphs that spawned and tried to attack him since he didn''t look as powerful as in his draconic form, but they made a mistake by judging a book by its cover. In any case, Ryan didn''t forget to use some of them to create and upgrade a new crossbow. cial Crossbow (+ 05) Effect: At the cost of one hundred points of mana, it grants you a small chance to put an enemy automatically under the Freeze status for two seconds when causing critical damage. Dexterity + 225, Intelligence + 180 Durability: 200/200 "Not bad, I guess," Ryan said. Although Ryan found some Nymphs spawning, he didn''t find a single one guarding the treasure chest. Even the bosses had so little will to fight that they escaped with the others¡­ After letting out a long sigh, Ryan opened the chest and chose his next ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Sentinel, and Druid. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Druid! You obtained the following skills: Hibernate, Heat Wave, and Poisonous Roots. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your health, stamina, mentality, and recovery will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hibernate. Effect: It grants you the power to enter deep slumber and increase the power of your recovery by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heat Wave. Effect: It increases the temperature in a certain area around your targets that can burn them as a whole. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poisonous Roots. Effect: It grants you the power to snare your foes and poison them by using underworld roots. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 611 - Focus On The Mission While Ryan achieved his goal¡­ more or less, he left the area feeling like he had wasted his time. While the Druid ss was useful, at the moment, he was more worried about how to use his time meaningfully to slow down Poseidon. "I have wanted to ask this for a while¡­" Femradiel said. "When are you nning to use the coins that you have?" "When I find something interesting to buy in the dungeon shop," Ryan replied. Ryan didn''t forget the coins he earned after defeating three dungeon masters. While skills like Vampirism and Stamina Vampirism certainly will help him a lot, Ryan didn''t feel the need to buy them for the time being. However, considering how fearsome they will be after reaching a certain level, he was having a hard time keeping that kind of thought. Unless he finds an exciting tome to buy in the next few days, he probably will spend those coins on one of those options. In any case, while he left the area to look for another dungeon to clear and Hydras to kill, Ryan found a group of Hydras heading toward the crystal city''s direction. Naturally, he got on their way, but Ryan was caught off guard when he failed at stopping the charge of six ordinary Hydras even though he had twelve magic bows. The monsters got close enough to try to bite Ryan, but he escaped by using Evading Shot. After that, they suffered too much damage to have that chance again. "Oh, right¡­ mt power decreased since I deactivated Draconic Transformation," Ryan shook his head after a long sigh. "That was why I calcted wrong." "While fighting with the weapons you have and without worrying about how mana you use is good, maybe you should think of a good way to use all the extra mana and increase how much damage you can cause per second," Femradiel said. "Using the mana to train some skills is fine as well." Ryan had just thought about that. While in his Draconic form, several copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow will be enough to stop a Hydra boss, but not in his human form. Ryan will have to find another way to achieve that. Since the Hydra''s dungeon is about to reach the max level and Poseidon will probably appear in less than a month, Ryan assumed that he would find many traces of ces like the crystal city. Still, much to his surprise, he didn''t. "I suppose even Poseidon wouldn''t have many chances to build that type of underwater city¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "While that dungeon was near Cuba, it didn''t have many neighboring dungeons¡­ it was the perfect ce to build a base for non-warrior species." "Should I focus on searching for ces like that?" Femradiel asked. "Nah, I don''t need to deal with any more situations where I have to think if I should kill or not the monsters in the area," Ryan replied. "While letting Poseidon build these types of ces kind of annoys me, we will gain a lot more by decreasing his armies." Since that was truly their goal, Ryan and Femradiel skipped along the way several tiers, two dungeons since they were spawning monsters that were being hunted by Hydras. Still, since they were quite far from the Hydra''s dungeon, their numbers were too low. "Should we really skip the tier two dungeons?" Femradiel asked. "Focus on the mission, Femradiel," Ryan said. "We will lose too much time if we stop in every single dungeon." Although he said that, Ryan was telling himself whenever possible to focus on the mission as well. Despite the fact that he was thirsty for new sses. Around the time Ryan was passing the nearby Dominican Republic, he and Femradiel finally found another tier three dungeon that apparently belonged to Poseidon, in a sense. They found several Hydra''s guarding the ce. While they weren''t bosses, their numbers were surprisingly high¡­ "What are they doing here?" Ryan frowned. Ryan soon got his answer. A Megalodon left the dungeon only to be bitten all over its body by the Hydras¡­ it looked like they wanted more protein in their diet. The Megalodons were big enough to provide nutrients for dozens of Hydras. "Is it a coincidence that we found another tier-three dungeon near a country on this side of the ocean?" Ryan asked. "It is hard to say," Femradiel replied. "If there were another underwater city nearby, I would say yes, but I can''t see any strategic point in guarding this dungeon with so many monsters. They certainly can''t clear the dungeon, and with those numbers, they certainly can''t suppress all the monsters that wille out during a dungeon break." "Yet, here they are, and we didn''t see an army of Megalodons in thest few days," Ryan said. From Ryan''s perspective, it seemed like a waste to allocate so many monsters in a single area when each one of them was obviously stronger than a Megalodon. Then again, Poseidon wasn''t controlling them directly or didn''t give them the order to stay in that area. In any case, Ryan decided to act since he couldn''t wait to understand the actions of monsters or beings that lived for thousands of years. Since Ryan wanted to potentialize his attack pattern with the extra mana that he had, he decided to summon six Spiritualist''s Crossbows and six Titanium Storm Bows. When the monsters felt his presence, Ryan bombarded them with his projectiles, and this time hepletely put the creatures at bay, even in his human form. The monster''s died without barely having the chance to move. "The efficacy of the Titanium Storm Bow increased¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Your piercing power increased, so it is only natural that their effects will be more powerful," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded after hearing that since it made sense¡­ there was no point in having a weapon that could stun or petrify an enemy if the said weapon can''t pierce a monster''s hide. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 36 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 33 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 24 (+ 03 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 41th Health: 6920/6920 (12,62/s) Mana: 8825/8825 (12,62/s) Stamina: 9130/9130 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+828) (+130) Dexterity: 7150 (+5755) (+550) Speed: 1120 (+2960) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2414) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+599) (+160) Control: 1326 (+2960) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+893) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+3900) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+929) (+40) Coins: 67.523.109 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Sting Lv 65 (+ 05 UP), Hawkeye Lv 102 (+ 05 UP), Ballistic Shot Lv 01, Impulse Shot Lv 01, Hookshot Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 112 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 112 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 112 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 112 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 112 (+ 03 UP), Firing Posture Lv 102 (+ 03 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 65 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 65 (+ 05 UP), Archer''s Faith Lv 20 (+ 04 UP), Perfect Shot Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Secret Arrow Lv 10 (+ 03 UP), Spells: Ranger''s Awakening Lv 52 (+ 05 UP), Lunar Arrow Lv 28 (+ 07 UP), irvoyance Lv 38 (+ 05 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 25 (+ 06 UP), Freezing Aura Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Absolute Appraisal Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Hibernate Lv 01, Heat Wave Lv 01, Poisonous Roots Lv 01 Support Skills: Cold Immunity Lv 08 (+ 07 UP) sses: Combat: Beastmaster Lv 92 (+ 03 UP), Summoner Lv Max (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv Max (+ 01 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Silent Killer Lv 31 (+ 06 UP), Hexde Lv 82 (+ 06 UP), Magic Archer Lv 57 (+ 08 UP), Royal Archer Lv 47 (+ 07 UP), Demolisher Lv 13 (+ 06 UP), Marksman Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Druid Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 72 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 78 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 612 - Holy Knight While Ryan was crossing the dungeon and asionally killing a megalodon that would get on his way, he checked his status, skills, and sses list. Somewhere during the previous mission, he managed to reach the max level with the Summoner and Weapons Master ss. While they didn''t have anything to do with each other, Ryan will have to sacrifice them in the near future. The Beastmaster ss was already at level ny-two, so it probably would be a good idea to sacrifice those three. "I guess I won''t obtain a spectacr ss by sacrificing a magic and two-hybrid sses," Ryan thought. "Still, it can''t be helped." sses like Hexde quickly approached the max level since Ryan was constantly using crossbows, so he would have to tame a few beasts before that happens. Regardless, that was a problem forter. Right now, Ryan had to defeat a Megalodon boss. Ryan quickly found the beast, but in the end, a species that got their ass kicked by the Hydras wouldn''t prove to be much of a challenge to Ryan. He quickly defeated the monster by using the same tactic he used to deal with the previous Hydras. Since Ryan didn''t have to focus on several targets, the bosssted only for a couple of minutes. You obtained 75.000 coins. "Alright¡­ this is just too weird," Ryan said. "It doesn''t make any sense that someone who almost got killed by slimes several times seven months ago can do this so easily?" "You are the weird one here¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "You are preparing to face Poseidon, and you find this weird?" "I knew it¡­ I should have used Draconic Transformation," Ryan said. "Now you are ming me, huh," Femradiel said. "You seem to forget that you are a boring guy who didn''t do anything aside from hunting monsters in thest seven months. You are a battle freak. I just epted that, Ryan. This is the result of you pursuing power single-mindedly for so long." "I don''t think seven months is that long, but¡­ whatever," Ryan shrugged. "Let''s not get ahead of ourselves. I will only feel satisfied once I put some arrows up Baal, Lilith, Mephisto, Beelzebub, Poseidon''s asses." Femradiel couldn''t even bring herself to say anything after hearing that. Even dragons weren''t supposed to be that greedy and foolish. Regardless, she just stared silently at Ryan when he opened the treasure chest. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Holy Knight, Ranger, and High Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Holy Knight! You obtained the following skills: Judgement de, Holy Sword, and Holy Aura. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Judgement de. Effect: Summons a magic sword from the skies that causes massive damage to the target and paralyzes undead and demon monsters for two seconds. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Holy Sword. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a magic sword enchanted with holy magic that can be fired as a projectile. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Holy Aura. Effect: It boosts the holy power of your allies against undead and demons by five percent per level of the skill. Range: skill level multiplied by ten meters. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "No, luck this time, huh," Ryan shrugged. "Well, I suppose it can''t be helped." Ryan already had plenty of skills that were supposed to be highly effective against demons and undead monsters. Still, the chance to use them was quite rare. Although he could face the banshees for that, Ryan wasn''t the type to wait in a single dungeon. In any case, Ryan and Femradiel were getting closer to the area that Ryan had previously explored alongside Gustavo and his friends, so he began to wonder if he shouldn''t just use Teleport and get as close as possible to the Hydra''s dungeon. However, Femradiel stopped him. "It looks like something is happening in your domain¡­" Femradiel said. "What now¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I can sense an army of monsters heading in a straight line to our base," Femradiel said. "They are quite strong¡­ almost at the level of the Hydras." Ryan immediately used Draconis Transformation and then used Teleport. There was no time to hesitate¡­ suppose an army of monsters at the level of the Hydras attacked his domain. In that case, the result will be catastrophic, even though Femradiel was making sure to keep a lot of resources in the defense measures of the domain. After a couple of minutes, Ryan returned to his domain. Still, the army of monsters Femradiel mentioned was yet to arrive. Fortunately, she recognized the threat in time for Ryan to assume a defensive instance. "How weird¡­ they areing from the East, and they are¡­" Femradiel hesitated. Before Femradiel could finish her sentence, Ryan used irvoyance to check everything in that direction. For quite a while, he didn''t find anything. Still, he eventually found a weird army of dark dogs seventy kilometers away from his domain. For a moment, Ryan barely saw the creatures in the army. Their numbers were so massive, and they were so clustered together that they seemed a single being made of shadows. In the distance, Ryan saw that just by passing by above a ce, their presences were enough to destroy everything. Their shadows turned even the greenestnd into a dead wastnd. At first, Ryan assumed that they were some monstrous version of wolves covered in shadows and with red eyes, but that wasn''t the case¡­ they were hellhounds. Chapter 613 - Unpleasant Surprise Hellhound Lv 820 Health: 75.000/75.000 Mana: 55.000/55.000 Stamina: 43.000/43.000 Strength: 7500 (+ 1200) Dexterity: 3500 (+ 800) Speed: 4400 (+ 500) Intelligence: 7900 (+ 1000) Endurance: 5500 (+ 900) Control: 300 (+ 600) Mentality: 5000 (+ 1000) Luck: 1000 (+ 300) Recovery: 25.000 (+ 10.000) Willpower: 5000 (+ 1000) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dead Aura Lv 690, Voracity Lv 680¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 5200, Enhanced Recovery Lv 470, Steel Skin Lv 400¡­ Spells: Shadow Armor Lv 350, Shadow Spear Lv 450, Summon Zombie Lv 150¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 400, Electric Resistance Lv 400, Shock Resistance Lv 330, Fire Resistance Lv 540¡­ "What the heck¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. "I didn''t know we had this type of monster around these parts." "They are a new species¡­" Femradiel said. "If they were here before, I would have noticed. The smell of death they emit is almost unbearable. There is no way I would have missed that." "There is no way that a new species would reach level 820 that quickly," Ryan said. "¡­ If there isn''t a dungeon where they spawn in this country, where did theye from?" Thanks to Draconic Transformation, Ryan had enough mana to keep using irvoyance and follow the trail the monsters left. Still, in the end, he didn''t find anything. The first mark that those creatures left was on the country''s East Coast, specifically on a California beach. "They didn''te from underwater, so¡­ how?" Ryan frowned. "This doesn''t make any sense." Their first answer had been Teleport, but if someone or something teleported that army of monsters, why stop at the beach? Why not summon them near Ryan''s domain since that was obviously their target? Those answers could be answeredter¡­ Before anything, Ryan had to face those fuckers. "Femradiel, try to read their minds and see if you can find anything about this sudden attack," Ryan said. "An attack at such a time is too weird considering that I spent three days in Egypt." "I will try, but I won''t promise anything. Those hellhounds are a different species of monsters," Femradiel said. "It is hard to exin, but it is like they are spectral monsters, but still possess a physical form." In any case, while it was challenging to know the enemy who prepared that attack, Ryan still decided to fight in his human form. Some enemies knew about his draconic powers, but their numbers weren''t that high. Besides, those who knew wouldn''t share such valuable information with theirpetitors. In the end, Ryan left his domain to face the monsters¡­ in a manner of speaking. Instead of approaching, he just began to fly above his domain. From such a ce, he would be able to fire without having to worry about obstacles. However, much to his surprise, the monsters were taking their time to show up. "It looks like their speed decreased a little, probably because they noticed our arrival," Femradiel said. "Shouldn''t they hurry up now that the dungeon master is here?" Ryan asked. "Normally, that would be the case, but¡­" Femradiel said. Even Femradiel couldn''t exin the oddness of the situation. There were too many inexplicable things about the attack¡­ as usual. They concluded that those weird factors were part of someone else''s n to fool or make them hesitate. Ryan considered facing the monsters somewhere away from his domain, but there was a chance that there was a trap waiting for him ahead. Something like that happened before, after all. In the end, the Hellhounds reached a point where they began to move at a marching speed¡­ Ryan bit his lips in annoyance until they started to bleed. "Rx, someone is obviously trying to get the better of you," Femradiel said. "You think I don''t know that?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "For someone who likes to piss others, you certainly are easy to taunt," Femradiel said. After he was forced to wait for four hours, Ryan had it. Something snapped inside of him when for no reason at all, the Hellhounds stopped advancing and just stood still in a ce twenty kilometers away from Ryan''s domain. There was no mistake. Someone who knew Ryan rtively well had nned all that to make him waste time. It was obvious since the monsters stopped just outside his range and behind a mountain that was blocking the path of Ryan''s projectiles. "All right, this is it," Ryan said. "They made me lose half of a day waiting in here for nothing. I will make sure to make them pay for it." "At leaste up with some sort of n to surprise them instead of just rushing ahead and attacking them with your archery skills," Femradiel said. "Try to annoy them the exact same way they annoyed you." "¡­ I like that," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You are pretty shrewd, Femradiel." "That certainly isn''t apliment," Femradiel said. Ryan crossed his arms and then began to think, what would be the best way to eliminate those fuckers and then make them feel as much annoyed as him? He had an idea, but it didn''t seem good enough, so Ryan decided to think about it for a while longer. However, all the ideas he had would only make him waste more time and mana than necessary. To save some mana, Ryan used only four skills, they were Draconic Transformation, Earth Creation, Teleport, and Deadly Aim. He was so pissed at those creatures that he decided to keep Draconic Transformation active¡­ even though that wasn''t something he would usually do. Regardless, thanks to that, he managed to make something pretty unexpected happen¡­ he replicated a meteor rain. Since the hellhounds were so close to each other, that worked pretty well in making Ryan''s attacks be as deadly as they could. In just a matter of seconds, dozens of massive rocks fell from the sky and hit the enemies'' camp. You obtained 800 coins. You obtained 800 coins. You obtained 800 coins. Chapter 614 - Invisibility "I hope you like that¡­ damn group of dirty dogs," Ryan said. While magic wasn''t his specialty, Ryan still managed to take down thousands of those creatures. Still, thanks to that, he noticed that he didn''t kill a single boss¡­ someone send an army of minions just to make him waste time. That became evident when the hellhounds scattered around the area, but not to escape from Ryan''s range, but to increase his work. "That is obvious now¡­ someone doesn''t want you to try to slow down Poseidon''s return," Femradiel said. That became obvious a while ago, and Ryan couldn''t help but curse his own carelessness. Why he didn''t consider that other dungeon masters would cover for Poseidon? It was only natural that something like that would happen since he was a Greek god¡­ most likely other Greek gods were helping him since he will probably do the same for them. Not to mention, Ryan has been a pain in so many dungeons masters'' side that it was evident that certain groups would know of him ande up with ns to at least stop him. After all, he survived battle against many dungeon masters that were considered to be at the same level as the Elder gods. "I had imagined that we would have a hard time striking at the enemies while we had to guard this ce, but at some point, I forgot about it," Ryan said. "In any case, whoever sends those creatures, probably will need some time to organize another army of this size, so we need to kill them as fast as possible." "Let''s split up. We will deal with them faster that way," Femradiel said. "Do you have the strength to deal with a smaller group of hellhounds?" Ryan frowned. "Your status shows me that certainly isn''t the case." "If the result of fights were decided by status alone, humans would have gone extinct by now," Femradiel said, and then she began to fly. "If you maintain your draconic form, I will be able to use my power more freely, thus defeating them will be easier as well. Don''t think about canceling the skill, Ryan. Just think that this is an extension of the real fight against Poseidon." After saying that, Femradiel used Teleport and disappeared. It didn''t take long for Ryan to receive the notifications of the coins he was receiving. As expected, Femradiel could show power beyond the limit of her status. "I suppose I can''t hold back either¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "It is time to go all out." Ryan used Teleport and then appeared above a group of one hundred Hellhounds. The monsters immediately tried to open their mouths and attack him. Still, they failed at doing so since Ryan impaled them through their mouths with his Hydra''s bow. For a short while, the magic arrows made the monsters get stuck on the ground, at least the ones that survived. However, soon after, Ryan dealt the killing blow. In less than five seconds, Ryan killed the whole group. "Next," Ryan said and then used Teleport. Even from a distance, and even though he actually couldn''t be seen, the Hellhounds felt Ryan''s presence and tried to move away from him. As expected, when they didn''t have any other choice, they would fight, but when they had, they didn''t even try to ambush him. They really hade to make him waste time... "These guys¡­ they can''t stop pissing me off," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Still, while their n is annoying, the level of the enemies is actually good for me." Congrattions! The skill Draconic Transformation has leveled up. Ryan''s status in his draconic form was increasing non-stop, so whoever made this n, it certainly wasn''t a tactical genius. Regardless, Ryan and Femradiel moved from one ce to another and hunted down all the fifty thousand hellhounds. While that took a good part of their day, it didn''t look like it was over. "I am sensing another army of monsters approaching¡­" Femradiel suddenly appeared and then said. "They areing from the West." "At this rate, we will stay here until Poseidon returns to Earth," Ryan said. Although he said that while he maintained a neutral expression, Ryan''s first was clenching. As expected, it pained Ryan to admit that, but he needed more allies. He couldn''t show his true power by reacting to those kinds of attacks. "Femradiel, it looks like we have been overlooking some assholes," Ryan said. "It is time to find them. I don''t know for how long this willst, but I am starting to think this will help in the long run." "What do you have in mind?" Femradiel asked. "While I protect the domain, with your skills, you will try to find out the dungeons those monsters came from," Ryan replied. "After that, we will clear the dungeons of Poseidon''s friends." "I suppose that is the only way, but unlike you, I am not good at stealth, so I will need some help," Femradiel said. "I suppose it can''t be helped," Ryan said and then opened the dungeon shop. Invisibility tome Effect: by using the light element, it grants you the power to absorb all sources of light and make you invisible. Cost: 30 mana per second Price: 10.000.000 coins. It was surprising that Femradiel didn''t have that skill, but in the end, it kind of made sense. Dragons were proud of their strength, so they wouldn''t use that kind of skill for hunting. Ryan had plenty of coins, so he didn''t hesitate to buy them. While the cost was pretty high, Ryan didn''t a problem when he uses Draconic Transformation. "You know, there is always the option of asking for help," Femradiel said. "While they aren''t many, there are some people who would help you if you ask them." "I would rather not lose a good chance to level up my skills," Ryan said. "While it seems like I am wasting my time, it is not like I am the only one trying to stop Poseidon. You can think that my presence in the ocean will only slow down the inevitable for a day or two." Chapter 615 - Cyclops Without wasting any more time, Femradiel and Ryan activated the skill and began to move. Ryan headed West while Femradiel went to East. It didn''t take long for Ryan to find his targets, the reason being the fact that they were huge¡­ those creatures were taller than the giants. Still, they also looked less humanoid ifpared to them. Their skin was gray andpletely devoid of any hair. In some aspects, they looked like trolls since they had clubs in each hand. However, the most distinguished feature in their bodies was the fact that they only possessed a single eye. Cyclops Lv 750 Health: 135.000/135.000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 73.000/73.000 Strength: 8000 (+ 1500) Dexterity: 1500 (+ 300) Speed: 2200(+ 400) Intelligence: 1000 (+ 100) Endurance: 6500 (+ 900) Control: 400 (+ 200) Mentality: 5000 (+ 1000) Luck: 1000 (+ 500) Recovery: 40.000 (+ 10.000) Willpower: 5000 (+ 1000) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 650, Rage Lv 600¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 520, Enhanced Endurance Lv 510, Steel Skin Lv 300¡­ Spells: Scream Lv 150, Earthquake Lv 110¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 600, Electric Resistance Lv 600, Shock Resistance Lv 450, Fire Resistance Lv 500¡­ "That is some level of endurance¡­" Ryan said when he found the enemies. "It looks like they didn''t feel me, but I don''t know if a surprise attack will be that useful against enemies so tough." The real troublesome thing about the cyclops was that they weren''t bosses. Just their minions had much health, endurance, and recovery. That was just insane¡­ following their traces, Ryan also ended up seeing a beach on the other side of the country. It looked like those guys had been teleported too. After thinking for a while, Ryan decided to use the same strategy he used in Egypt to destroy that army of monsters. Fly high in the sky beyond the enemies'' reach and then bombard them with bolts. Even though he was invisible, the very moment he used Draconic Transformation was the moment the cyclops felt his presence. "I see now¡­ they were tracking me only when I used Draconic Transformation," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Who could have thought that this convenient skill would cause that kind of problem." The very moment Ryan summoned his magic crossbows, he bombarded the cyclops. The monsters tried to throw their weapons at him, but the difference in speed was too big, and they never hit him. When they noticed that killing Ryan was impossible, the monsters assumed defensive stances. First, they used their weapons to block Ryan''s bolts, but that only worked for so long. After all, each of Ryan''s attacks was powerful enough to create a crater on the ground. Whoever had the idea to make Ryan waste time probably didn''t know that he had upgraded dozens of times certain crossbows. Thanks to it, even though they were monsters in which their strength was their ability to endure attacks, the Cyclops failed at their job of making Ryan waste any time. Every second, dozens of them died due to the rain of bolts, and those that tried to run away were turned into ice status thanks to Ice Breath. They also became an obstacle that prevented others from escaping. "While I am obtaining coins like crazy, this still is a waste of time¡­" Ryan said. "I guess I need to buy some other skills that might help me solve this kind of problem." Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t find a solution to that problem. As expected, it wouldn''t be easy. Ryan only finished off thest remaining cyclops after several hours. At that point in time, he couldn''t help but ponder as to why Femradiel hadn''t called him yet. Considering her skills, it shouldn''t be impossible for her to locate which direction the hellhounds came from, even if they hade by using Teleport. Ryan checked the loot that the cyclops left behind, but he didn''t find anything worthwhile. That was only natural, given that his best weapons had been upgraded so many times. Fortunately, when he finished that task, Femradiel finally contacted him. "Sorry, I took my time here," Femradiel said. "It looks like the hellhounds came from another continent, the traces of mana left by Teleport were faint, but they can''t be tracked underwater. Considering the direction and the traces of mana, I would say that somewhere in Europe, we can find the hellhounds'' dungeon." Ryan sighed when he heard that. That was the worst oue possible¡­ not only he couldn''t give Gustavo and his friends a hand because his base would be constantly attacked, but he also couldn''t attack those who were bothering him since their bases were too far away. "¡­ Let''s return to our base," Ryan said. Femradiel also didn''t have any idea how to solve that issue, so she just returned to the domain as well and then watched Ryan work. Before doing anything else, Ryan created a massive hammer of earth and then proceeded to smash all the Hydra''s bones he had in his domain. Since Ryan did it in his draconic form, he finished turning the bones into fragments almost as small as dust. "Femradiel, do you know how to create ice that is impossible to melt?" Ryan asked. "¡­ No, unless you want to move to areas where the cold is truly intense," Femradiel replied. "The colder the ambient is, the more durable the ice in the ambient also is. So, in a country like this, it is probably impossible to create that type of ice." "So, in the end, if we were to create a weapon made of ice, we will have to constantly repair it, right?" Ryan asked. "Yeah, but why don''t you make something out of the earth as usual?" Femradiel asked. "You just need to use Earth Transformation and turn the material into whatever you want." "I was nning to do that. I have been studying Oridecon and Elunium for that reason. Still, it looks like a high level in Earth Transformation is necessary for that. Even in my draconic form, I can''t make a single grain of Oridecon and Elunium." Chapter 616 - Double Edge Mutant Spear Femradiel frowned since she was pretty sure that a living being couldn''t create those types of magic ores. Still, that probably had been Ryan''s n all along. "So, do you think with ice you will be able to create more powerful weapons than with other metals?" Femradiel asked. "You said it, didn''t you?" Ryan asked. "The colder the ice, the more durable it bes. We can use several skills that increase the durability of ice, so you can imagine how well a de made of sturdy ice will cut." "I can, but¡­ it won''t be that simple," Femradiel said. "I don''t know which ones, but you will need several skills to make a weapon that can be properly used like that." "For the time being, it is fine, even a weaker version of the one I imagined," Ryan replied. "I was thinking about buying new tomes, so if you have any idea which ones I should buy, then I am all ears." "¡­ If you are nning to use Hydra''s bones to make the weapon, perhaps you should learn Blood Maniption as well," Femradiel said. "If youbine those with your ice skills, then you can create a weapon that willst for a while without being repaired." Ryan had seen that skill on the dungeon shop, but he didn''t think that would be much more powerful than any other. Not to mention, Ryan would have to use his own blood or touch the enemies'' blood to manipte it¡­ it wasn''t a feasible tool of fighting. The cost was also pretty high¡­ thirty million coins. After thinking for a while, Ryan understood that the price was high for a reason. The skill had more potential than he had imagined. "Why use blood, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "All creatures have mana now, and their blood will also have mana," Femradiel replied. "So, the blood of a powerful creature will be a good addition to the construction of any weapon, just like the Hydras'' bones." "What about using mana liquid instead of blood?" Ryan asked. "Some of our enemies had that for their blood, and that makes their vessels incredibly powerful." "They just didn''t use regr mana liquid. They probably mixed with the blood of those bodies, not to mention, it is probably a high-quality mana liquid," Femradiel exined. "Come to think of it, I stored some of the blood of that giant, but I forgot to study it," Ryan said and then took out the container Femradiel previously made. First of all, Ryan tried to feel the smell. Hepared it with the regr potions and noticed that mana potions almost had the same scent as citric fruits like lemons. Ryan wasn''t crazy enough to drink the liquid that came from a monster''s body, so he skipped that part. As for thest test, Ryan confirmed that his mana could be recovered when he touched the liquid. "Maybe you should this mana liquid¡­" Femradiel said. "Nah, it is not enough," Ryan replied. "I want to make a big ass spear that will decimate hundreds of small fries at the same time and use it on my draconic form," Ryan replied. "Then mix your blood and that liquid," Femradiel said. "I forgot to mention, but the bodies of living beings aren''t the only thing that can absorb mana. The mana liquid will work as a battery inside of a weapon. It is more or less the same procedure when you use a spirit to create a magic weapon." "That is kind ofplicated¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Anyway, I guess that means that I will need to find a way to power up my mana potionster on. Still, let''s go with your first advice." While that had been the first time he did something as crazy as that, Ryan used Draconic Transformation and then opened a wound on his right arm. By using Telekinesis, Ryan mixed the fragment of the Hydras'' bones. Once he made the base of the spear that was one hundred meters long, he expanded it by creating ice within. It didn''t take long for Ryan to frown while looking at his new weapon taking shape. It wasn''t a semi-transparent blue-like weapon¡­ the ice was turning red thanks to Ryan''s blood. "Well, it is turning more ominous than I imagined¡­" Femradiel said. "I am starting to wonder howe I can lose so much blood, and where does that bloode from and goes once I use and deactivate Draconic Transformation?" Ryan asked. Not even Femradiel could exin that, after all, Draconic Transformation didn''t have a cost. Regardless, despite the weapon''s size, Ryan managed to finish it before his health could reach dangerous levels. Double Edge Mutant Spear Strength + 750, + 500 Speed. Durability: 1500/1500 "Woah¡­ that is a lot of durability," Ryan frowned. "That is the effect of adding your blood to the weapon," Femradiel said. "Your blood will prevent your weapon from melting. Let''s see¡­ the weapon will be lost on the point of durability per minute. You can repair by using ice magic or the skill Repair. However, a weapon this big will also lose a lot of durability while in action." "Well, this is just a minor detail," Ryan said while he watched the des on both sides of the spear. "This is sharp enough with what I have in mind." Ryan immediately disappeared with Teleport, and then he began to hunt the Hydras'' again. However, just as he had expected, Femradiel warned him of the arrival of a new army of monsters. Ryan didn''t return this time while showing an annoyed expression, but with a grim on his face. He didn''t even return to his domain. Instead, Ryan headed in a straight line toward the new army that appeared on California''s coast. It was another army of hellhounds, but those beasts didn''tst long. The very moment Ryan teleported his weapon and made it spin in the enemies'' camp, thousands of them were cut into thousands of pieces. Chapter 617 - Swordmaster That situation repeated itself for two other days. Still, once the enemies realized that Ryan was unstoppable with his new spear, they gave up on it. "That is disappointing. I imagined that they would try to send the big guns," Ryan frowned. "Well, let''s return to our real job." "Ryan, are you busy?" Gustavo suddenly used the telepathic link. "¡­ I just finished a certain job," Ryan replied. "I was going to give you guys a hand." "Well, it looks like that won''t be necessary anymore¡­" Gustavo said. "In thest two days, the levels of the Hydras'' skyrocketed for some reason. They are at level 990." "What? How?" Ryan asked, visibly astonished. "It is hard to say since we can''t check it with our own eyes," Gustavo replied. "But our guess is that they finished Poseidon''s castle, and now they are killing each other to level up the species as a whole." Ryan already knew that Poseidon doesn''t do things by half, and considering Femradiel''s impression of him, it was very likely that the Greek god of the seas would go as far as that. Regardless, it wasn''t time to be exasperated. "Are you guys nning to do something?" Ryan asked. "I was trying to help for the next four days, but my domain had been attacked several times by armies of monsters whose sole goal was to make me waste my time. My guess is that some Greek god is covering for him." "Is that so¡­ I can understand that some points of our coast had also been attacked by armies of monsters that appeared out of nowhere," Gustavo said. "That was why we didn''t have the chance to check anything. Still, truth to be told, I don''t know anything that we can do in this type of situation. That is why, right now, we are evacuating Rio de Janeiro. We can''t fight without knowing the power of the enemy. It is too dangerous not only for us but for our people as well." Ryan couldn''t help but nod at that. Even he wasn''t feeling that confident in trying to do anything at such a moment. He had expected that he would use Seal on some Hydras and make his spear into a weapon specialized in hunting aquatic monsters. Still, it looked like he wouldn''t have time, even for that. "I will try to keep in contact and inform you if something happens," Gustavo said. "If I were you, I would alert your friends. But, unfortuenately, the only thing we can do right now is preparing for the unavoidable." After that, Gustavo cancelled the telepathic link. While his reasoning was sound, Ryan still saw himself hesitating amidst that mess. His usual self would try to fight, but as expected, that was a waste of time since the monsters'' levels increased dozens of times in just a few days. Most likely, the human race has only ten hours before the first dungeon master puts his feet on Earth. After making up his mind, Ryan used the telepathic channel to contact Alissa. "I already know, Ryan," Alissa said. "You don''t have to tell me. I am going to stay near the kids and see how things will y out." "I am d to see that you are getting smarter," Ryan said. "Did you already inform the others?" "Yep, they didn''t believe me, though," Alissa said. "That is why I brought them to the ocean to fight against a Hydra. They almost wet themselves, not with the ocean''s water." "All right then," Ryan said. "Keep me informed if something happens." Daniel''s group wasn''t near the base by the look of things, so Alissa made some random survivors confirm things with her. Regardless, that was only a small detail. Ryan also had to prepare for the arrival, but he didn''t know what he could do¡­ aside from strengthening himself. Instead of thinking about it while he was standing still, he decided to clear some underground dungeons and make sure that Poseidon will have a hard time rebuilding the army he was destroying right at that moment. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordmaster, Sentinel, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Swordmaster! You obtained the following skills: Deflect, Discipline, and de Dance. Your health and strength will increase by six points. Your stamina, mana, intelligence and endurance will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Deflect. Effect: it grants you the chance to fire back projectiles throw at you. Cost: 100 stamina You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Discipline. Effect: It passively increases your strength and speed by five points per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: de Dance. Effect: A storm of sword strikes that causes critical damage even when the attacks are blocked. Cost: 250 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. "Not the best options or skills considering my fighting style, but I guess it is better than nothing," Ryan shrugged. When Ryan decided to look for another dungeon, all the ocean began to tremble. Ryan thought he would have ten or so hours, but only two had passed¡­ his luck was really terrible¡­ Femradiel warned him to stay away from the ocean for the time being, and Ryan followed her advice. After teleporting toward the nearest beach, Ryan and Femradiel decided to see with their own eyes if things would change that much and sooner than they expected, things began to change. The ocean waves turned more violent, and little by little, they began to invade thends¡­ Ryan thought that something big woulde that would destroy the remaining of human civilization. Still, instead of that, something steady but equally intense came¡­ the ocean level began to grow, and all the beaches in the distance began to disappear. Chapter 618 - Flood "You can''t be serious¡­ not that," Ryan said. "Poseidon is even more serious than I imagined¡­" Femradiel said. "More than two-thirds of this''s surface is covered in water, but it looks like he isn''t satisfied with that." It was kind of hard to believe that the would have to deal with a global-size scale flood, it was even weirder that it was raining, but Poseidon apparently could do that without relying on rain. Regardless, Gustavo and his friends did the right thing¡­ even Poseidon probably won''t have the power to submerge all the continents. Still, he certainly will decrease their size, and the cities near the coasts will be the first ones to disappear. "Can you imagine how many monsters he will kill just like that?" Ryan asked. "All the dungeons near the coasts will be trees that day will give him coins a day in and day out." "It certainly is an interesting method to power up himself and decrease the number of ces humans can obtain power," Femradiel said. "Regardless, what is the n now?" "I have no idea what I have to do," Ryan shook his head. "I guess we will have to learn how to live with even lessnd than usual." Ryan and Femradiel apanied the waters, expanding and invading thend at a fearsome pace, but the more the waters advanced, the less speed and power they had. After advancing for fifty kilometers or so, the waters began to return to their rightful ce, and that left Ryan puzzled. "I see now¡­ let''s return to our domain," Femradiel said. "I think I understand what happened here." Upon returning, Femradiel asked Ryan to make her unable to enter the domain. After that, she created a water tornado and attacked the barrier. As expected, the barrier repelled the attack and made the water disappear, and Ryan understood why Poseidon waters returned. "The barrier of the domains is a natural counter for that kind of tactic, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess there are many dungeon masters that are humans on our, more than I had imagined." Ryan thought that many humans had lost their domains to monsters, but that prediction was a bit off. Countries like China and India had a vast poption, so probably a good number of the strongest humans were there. That was good. It means that Poseidon won''t be able to drown the entire¡­ at least for the time being. "I think we should seal the dungeons that are close to the coasts," Femradiel said. "If we fill them with Ice Golems, we can make a thickyer of ice that will withstand the pressure of the ocean waters, at least for a while." "Yeah¡­ good idea, not to mention, golems don''t need to earth," Ryan said while he furrowed his eyebrows. Ryan teleported back to the coast, he will have to work a lot to seal those dungeons, but it couldn''t be helped. Besides, that would help him keep his mind busy. That was what Ryan needed since his blood was boiling when he things that Poseidon was destroying the few things that managed to withstand thest eight months of the never-ending conflict between humans and monsters. Ryan and Femradiel imagined that Poseidon would try to flood the world several times in a single day, but he didn''t. That was weird¡­ However, after thinking for a while, Ryan understood why he didn''t. Poseidon was the god of the seas. Considering what Femradiel told before, he probably thinks too highly of himself. The human race, from his perspective, wasn''t worthy of the hassle, so he won''t leave his castle. At the same time, he wasn''t foolish enough to use all his power several times a day. After all, many other dungeon masters wanted toe to Earth, and they had powerful minions to do their binding. In the middle of all that headache, something good finally happened. While it wasn''t much, Ryan would dly ept any chance to obtain power¡­ Congrattions! The ss: Beastmaster has reached the max level. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Beastmaster, Summoner, and Weapons Master? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Storm Caster. You learned the skills: Magma Storm, Snow Storm, and Thunder Storm. Your intelligence and mana have increased and will increase by eight points whenever this ss level up. Your health, stamina, mentality, and recovery have increased and will increase by four points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magma Storm. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a powerful storm that burns everything in a massive area around the caster, causing damage equal to your intelligence and applying for the burn status. Cost: 500 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Snow Storm. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a powerful storm that freezes everything in a massive area around the caster, causing damage equal to your intelligence and applying the freeze status. Cost: 500 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Thunder Storm. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a powerful storm that shocks everything in a massive area around the caster, causing damage equal to your intelligence and applying the shock status. Cost: 500 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. "¡­ As expected, since those sses have close to no rtion to one another, the special ss actually isn''t anything special, and the result is random," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Well, at least those skills will help when I fight against arge number of enemies." Ryan knew that hard times were approaching, so he truly needed all the power he could get. It has been a while since he yed defensively, but now it was time for that, while the human race tries to see what changes Poseidon will bring. Chapter 619 - Mariner Even while he was fighting indirectly against Poseidon, Ryan couldn''t pull his punches, so he flew around the country in his draconic form since he would have ess to more mana and recovery. Thus, he would be able to summon more golems and faster. Considering how effective they had been until now, there was no point in wondering if they would surpass the level cap of Ryan''s human form. Thanks to that, Ryan also began to imagine if he shouldn''t wall the entire continent with those golems. If he gives them the order to emit a cold breeze, they will be able to freeze everything around, even the ocean. However, that kind of strategy was wed. The first reason was that it would take too long. The second reason was that Ryan would essentially give fuel for Poseidon to increase his powers even more. Every time his golems are defeated, Poseidon will grow stronger. They will be defeated since the monsters in the oceans will undoubtedly try to destroy the said wall. "While I was the one who said you should do this, I believe this is only a temporary solution," Femradiel said. "Other dungeons around the world will be submerged, and Poseidon will gain more power, and his army will be the same." "I know that," Ryan said. "Every day, he will be able to flood even morend, so the scope of his actions will increase." That was the afternoon of the second day since Poseidon''s dungeon reached the max level, and on that morning, Poseidon tried to drown the world again, and this time his waster invaded thend for one hundred and twenty kilometers before they were forced to go back. It was hard to believe that Poseidon grew twenty percent stronger in a single day, but other methods could be stronger. Ryan only found a couple of dungeons that he hadn''t cleared yet, and all of them gave him sses that he already had. Still, fortunately, he got lucky in one¡­ to some extent. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Knight, Mariner, and Wizard. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Mariner! You obtained the following skills: Sea Wolf, Sea Expert, and Mariner Specialization. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sea Wolf. Effect: It grants you a bonus in all status while fighting over tforms in the ocean. The bonus in attributes will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sea Expert. Effect: While fighting in the ocean, it grants you extra resistance against negative effects. The negative effects decrease by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mariner Specialization. Effect: It restores your health, mana, and stamina whenever a sea creature is defeated. The amount restored will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five. You obtained 01 status points. "It looks like fate itself is telling you that you should fight in boats¡­" Femradiel said. "You can''t deny that, considering this skill and the fact that Poseidon is the first dungeon master to arrive." "I really can''t hear the voice of fate¡­" Ryan shrugged. "You can deny that as much as you want, but I guess it is a fact," Femradiel said. "Anyway, look at the bright side, you just gained three passive skills, and you like them a lot." Before Ryan could try to argue with Femradiel even more, he received a call from Gustavo. He certainly took his time, considering that his base was the one who suffered the most since the previous day. Still, it looks like things went well with them since he didn''t forcefully open the channel¡­ "Sorry, Ryan¡­ we messed up," Gustavo said after a long sigh. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. Gustavo sounded pretty down, and that was weird. Not to mention, Ryan couldn''t imagine reason as to why Gustavo would have to say sorry for him. Still, Ryan had more or less an idea as to why he was apologizing. "We lost our domain," Gustavo said. "While two of us still have another domain stone, we lost our first to the monsters. While they will obtain full control over it once I die, things are as bad as they could be." Ryan took some time to absorb that piece of information. Domains were the only ace on humanity''s side. Without them, they couldn''t attack or defend properly. Now that Poseidon was trying to submerge the continents, Gustavo and his friends could only run away from their previous home. "It was unavoidable," Ryan said while he was massaging his forehead. "Just make sure not to give too many chances for the enemy to kill you. As long as you stay alive, we can always recover the domainter." "All right¡­ how are things on your end?" Gustavo asked. "For the time being, we didn''t lose much since we don''t have any camps near the coasts," Ryan replied. "Femradiel and I are trying to seal some dungeons and prevent that this flood gives Poseidon even more power and coins. You guys should do the same. Summon Ice Golem will do the trick." "Yeah, thest thing we need is to let Poseidon keep doing whatever he wants," Gustavo said. "I will talk to youter. Good luck, Ryan." After saying that, Gustavo ended the call. As for Ryan, he let out a long sigh. The reason being was that he could only think of a single method to stop Poseidon now¡­ defeating him was probably impossible, but tiring him out would make him unable to cause the flood. Chapter 620 - Rhodos "Hey, Femradiel," Ryan said. "I don''t like to give you orders as to how you should increase your powers, but you should power up your intelligence and Telekinesis. Right now, using the spear will be the only way for you to cause as much damage as me on my draconic form." "With that spear, I am almost at your level already," Femradiel said. "So, you don''t have to worry about it." "Why? How can that be?" Ryan frowned. "A good part of the weapon is made of ice; thus, Ice Maniption and Telekinesis can work well together," Femradiel replied. "Didn''t you notice that you used too easily a weapon that is twice a big as the previous one?" "Not really¡­ I just assumed the continuous level-ups of Draconic Transformation did that," Ryan replied. "Anyway, if that is the case, then¡­ we can face Poseidon''s army." "As usual¡­ you rush ahead without thinking¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" "No, but I can''t think of any other way to stop him from flooding the world," Ryan replied. "While he is the god of the seas, his power is probably limited out of it." "Even while limited, you still probably are out of his league," Femradiel said. "Even considering Draconic Transformation." "If you have a better idea, I am all ears," Ryan said. Femradiel just stayed silent while she shrugged. While Ryan also wasn''t confident in his n, he knew that just letting Poseidon do as he pleases won''t make things any easier for him. So, Ryan decided to bet that he would be a thorn on his side and annoy him so much and force Poseidon to make a mistake somewhere. While that wasn''t a direct strategy like the ones he uses usually, again¡­ it was the best one he came up with. "Since you are such a worrywart, let''s start while being careful," Ryan said. "Focus on learning more about his actions and patterns." "Let''s hope we will time to do that," Femradiel said. "Holy Freya¡­ why are you pessimistic today?" Ryan frowned. "I just have a feeling that things won''t go as you nned," Femradiel said. "Since you barely nned anything, after all." "Again, if you have a better idea, I am all ears," Ryan said. Ryan teleported to the ocean and then noticed that several things changed. The poption of monsters skyrocketed, and it looked like the big guns weren''t hunting the small fries anymore. Femradiel quickly wiped them out by making the Double Mutant Spear spin. While underwater, a lot more mana was required to do that. The small fries quickly were chopped into pieces. "Their levels increased¡­ it looks like Poseidon doesn''t want to hunt the ocean monsters," Ryan said. "My guess is that he wants to make other aquatic dungeon masterse to Earth and subjugate them," Femradiel said. "By doing so, he will obtain control over the domains as well." That seemed like a pretty crazy n, but Poseidon had confidence that he could pull it off. Regardless, it wasn''t time to wonder about such things. Ryan and Femradiel coulde up with their conclusions once they investigate more. Ryan and Femradiel thought they would see a lot of Hydras. After all, there was no reason to make such monsters stay in a single ce when they served their purposes. However, after a couple of minutes, their opinions changed. They didn''t find a single Hydra, but they found several Krakens and Megalodons. Those were killing each other to increase their power and then try to rechallenge the Hydras. "I feel like I am going to lose a lot of brain cells trying to understand him¡­" Ryan said. "Maybe that is his goal from the very beginning," Femradiel shrugged. Although she looked serious, Ryan decided to keep his guard up. He valued Femradiel''s experience, even though she mostly relied on instincts actually since she lost her memories. Still, even though he couldn''t confirm that, Ryan felt that every single one of Poseidon''s actions had a goal. For several hours, Ryan didn''t find anything that could confirm what he was thinking, but Ryan''s instincts didn''t fool him in the end. However, the same could be said about Femradiel''s¡­ after they moved away quite a bit from the coast, Femradiel noticed that some presence suddenly appeared around them. "We are surrounded," Femradiel said. "And those guys are¡­ pretty powerful." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. "Watch my back while using the spear, Femradiel. If Poseidon sends some minions, then it is a good time to decrease his forces." Instead of waiting to be attacked, Femradiel teleported both of them to the nearest enemy. It would be better to get rid of them one at a time, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t help but lose some precious moments when he saw the creature in front of him. Rhodos Lv Max Health: 209.000/209.000 Mana: 300.000/312.000 Stamina: 250.000/250.000 Strength: 8700 (+ 1500) Dexterity: 6300 (+ 1100) Speed: 4500 (+ 400) Intelligence: 5500 (+ 100) Endurance: 6800 (+ 900) Control: 3200 (+ 600) Mentality: 7600 (+ 1000) Luck: 1000 (+ 500) Recovery: 60.000 (+ 30.000) Willpower: 7600 (+ 1000) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 750, Rage Lv 650¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 690, Enhanced Endurance Lv 680, Steel Skin Lv 450¡­ Spells: Water Maniption Lv Max, Water Transformation Lv Max, Water Creation Lv Max, Hydromancy Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Cold Immunity Lv Max, Cold Absorption Lv 700, Electric Resistance Lv 600, Shock Resistance Lv 450, Fire Resistance Lv 300¡­ "What the hell¡­" Ryan muttered. Those status and skills were at a crazy level. However, what surprised Ryan was the appearance of the creature¡­ it was exactly like a human. The only real difference was the blue tone of his eyes. There were so clear that from a certain angle, it kind of looked like ss. That was the only thing that made Ryan understand that his first target was no ordinary foe¡­ Chapter 621 - Farewell Ryan summoned several magic bows and bombard the creature in front of him. However, for some odd reason, the projectiles stopped a few meters away from the target. "I can feel the enemy concentrating a lot of mana in front of himself to control the waters," Femradiel said. "¡­ It looks like your attacks aren''t heavy enough to surpass that defensive barrier." There was no barrier, but Ryan agreed with Femradiel. That creature in front of him used the water around to decrease the speed of the projectiles and thus stop them at some point. However, what was really worrying was the fact that the target didn''t look even a little bit flustered or target. Meaning that he stopped Ryan''s attacks with ease. That was shocking since Ryan was in his draconic form. While that wasn''t his forte, Ryan decided to go for a closed-ranged fight. He could use several tactics to catch the enemy by surprise, but before he could do that. The other enemies finally appeared. They had teleported as well, and Ryan clicked his tongue. Still, once again, he was ovee by surprise. Those individuals were pretty different from one another, but their eyes were basically the same. "What do you think of this, Femradiel?" Ryan asked while he was turning around and checking the enemies. "It looks like a certain family of not entirely human beings is working for Poseidon directly," Femradiel replied. "Or¡­ those guys are his children. I can feel a certain type of energying from them, and it feels quite like¡­ god-like." Ryan didn''t want to admit that that was the cause, but he couldn''t help but agree. Dungeon masters aren''t like normal people. They are beings; they reached a crazy level of strength, so it wouldn''t be weird if they could pass certain traits to their kids. Even in mythology, that was something that happened. The fact that one of them easily stopped Ryan''s attack was good enough evidence. Although Ryan didn''t have time to think about that, the enemies were surprisingly quiet. They were just looking at him with their nonchnt expressions as if they weren''t bored or enthusiastic for that fight¡­ and gave Ryan the creeps. "Let''s go, Femradiel," Ryan said. Ryan teleported to behind his first target, the man-like creature called Rhodos. Ryan tried to punch him from behind, but he felt something powerful holding him back. It was the waters around¡­ Despite that, Ryan overcame that and punched his foe, but his attack barely made the enemy flinch. Rhodos just turned around as if nothing had happened. The other enemies teleported again, but only to assume a circr formation around Ryan. Aside from that, they didn''t do anything. Femradiel made the spear spin and attacked Rhodos, but he just moved his hand slightly, and the weapon loses all that speed and momentum. It looked like his ability to manipte ice was also at a high level. "Ryan, I do not like this," Femradiel said. "You don''t say!" Ryan said and then attacked Rhodos with both his arms from above. This time, Rhodos raised his right hand to stop Ryan, and thanks to it, he stopped. However, Ryan didn''t stop there. He made several magic bows appear around the enemy and then bombarded him. This time the bolts approached Rhodos more than before, the reason being that Ryan fired at point-nk range and because he used the Spiritualist''s Crossbows. In the end, Rhodos punched Ryan''s arms away when he felt his mana being drained by the attack. Obviously, the enemies were creatures that focused on fighting by using magic, so Ryan wouldn''t lose a golden opportunity to drain their mana. However, that punch made Ryan question that¡­ "I told you that it wasn''t a good idea toe to the ocean right now¡­" Femradiel said. "I hate when people say ''I told you¡­" Ryan said. There was no point in insisting on what was useless, so Ryan teleported too high in the sky in order to escape the enemies'' favorite field of battle. However, much to his surprise, the ten creatures followed him without hesitating for even a second. "Well, this is unexpected¡­" Ryan said. Ryan charged toward Rhodos again, and this time the enemy had to use both hands to stop him. The air vibrated thanks to Ryan''s attack, and Rhodo''s calm expression finally disappeared. Soon after, Ryan bombarded the enemy with bolts from all angles. Still, even though they touched the enemies'' skin, they didn''t leave a single scratch. Femradiel attacked the creature from behind by using the double-edged spear. Still, Rhodos stopped the attack once again, this time after creating ayer of ice with his right knee and by hitting the weapon. Ryan began to like the fight, but he knew that he had to hurry since the others probably won''t keep watching for long if Rhodos began to lose the fight. However, it looked like Ryan misjudged their actions¡­ the atmosphere around them changed for some reason, and soon after, all of the enemies pointed their hands toward Ryan. "Ryan¡­ this isn''t good," Femradiel said. "This magic is¡­" "What magic?" Ryan asked. Ryan asked, but he didn''t hear an answer. Femradiel suddenly grew silent, and that was weird¡­ He only understood that something was off when he noticed his status decreasing and his big body growing heavy. Ryan tried to teleport since he had no idea what the enemies were doing. However, Teleport didn''t work. Ryan tried to run away by flying, but he ended up hitting an invisible barrier. "Damn, another fucking barrier¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance. Ryan tried toe up with an answer for that predicament, but in the end, the only thing he could do was to attack the casters. He grabbed his spear that was falling in the blink of an eye since Femradiel was off and then dashed toward the other nine targets, but Rhodos stopped him. This time, with a single hand¡­ since Ryan''s status was decreasing at a fearsome pace. Rhodos kicked Ryan''s stomach, and he was sent flying toward the barrier. When his body hit it, he spat blood as he felt his ribs cracking. Suddenly, Ryan felt his body growing hot as if some supernatural force was warning him of something, and then he heard Femradiel moaning in pain as his mana decreased. "¡­ My bad, Ryan," Femradiel said. "There is no other choice." Before Ryan could understand those words, he saw his spear glowing. The enemies noticed that, and for some reason, they started to panic. Suddenly, the weapon exploded into millions of small pieces, and a massive wave of mana enveloped the area. Still, Before Ryan could get caught by it, Femradiel teleported him. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 39 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 37 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 29 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 41th Health: 7100/7100 (12,62/s) Mana: 9075/9075 (12,62/s) Stamina: 9380/9380 (12,62/s) Strength: 831 (+858) (+130) Dexterity: 7300 (+5955) (+550) Speed: 1120 (+3060) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2514) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+669) (+160) Control: 1326 (+3090) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+953) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+4100) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+989) (+40) Coins: 52.523.109 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Hawkeye Lv 107 (+ 05 UP), Deflect Lv 01, de Dance Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 115 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 115 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 115 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 115 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 115 (+ 03 UP), Stamina Boost Lv 33 (+ 08 UP), Discipline Lv 01, Sea Wolf Lv 01, Sea Expert Lv 01, Mariner Specialization Lv 01, Spells: Magic Bow Lv 60 (+ 05 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 31 (+ 06 UP), Invisibility Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Blood Maniption Lv 01 (+ 06 UP), Magma Storm Lv 01, Snow Storm Lv 01, Thunder Storm Lv 01, Support Skills: Cold Immunity Lv 15 (+ 07 UP) sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 01, Dark yer Lv 27 (+ 07 UP), Hexde Lv 88 (+ 06 UP), Champion Lv 19 (+ 09 UP), Magic Archer Lv 65 (+ 08 UP), Royal Archer Lv 54 (+ 07 UP), Swordmaster Lv 01 Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 78 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 81 (+ 03 UP), Mariner Lv 01 Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 622 - Defeat Ryan woke up while feeling his face being licked by something, and when he opened his arms, he saw Furball near him covered in blood. While his eyes weren''t showing any violence or hunger, he sure looked ominous. "Hey there, buddy," Ryan said. "I hope that you aren''t trying to make my meat tender by licking me all that much." When Ryan got up, he noticed that his clothes were almost gone. Thanks to it, he recalled thest events¡­ he even recalled Femradiel using Teleport. Still, it looked like he didn''t escape unscathed. "It looks like you saved our asses, Femradiel," Ryan said. "¡­ It is hard to admit, but I messed up this time. To think that Poseidon would have minions powerful as that¡­" Ryan expected to receive a scolding, but he didn''t hear anything. The silent treatment was something¡­ However, Ryan soon realized that something was off. "Come to think of it, buddy, why are you outside of the dungeon?" Ryan asked as he turned around and saw hundreds of corpses of monsters. Furball was covered in blood because of those monsters. It looked like he protected Ryan while he was unconscious. As expected of his loyal squire¡­ such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he saw the corpses of Banshees nearby. Femradiel didn''t reply, the banshees managed to move quite a bit away from their dungeon, andstly, Ryan recalled that he was losing power in his draconic form when those weird guys erected a magic barrier. Ryan checked his status, and he still had Draconic Transformation and the other things he received when he made a pact with Femradiel. Still, for some reason, only Draconic Transformation couldn''t be used. He tried to summon Femradiel''s familiars, but Ryan failed. He couldn''t even feel their presence, not even Femradiel''s. "Shit¡­ don''t tell me," Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. "Their n was to capture Femradiel and make me lose my powers? No, their ultimate goal was to kill me by weakening me, but¡­ Shit! Shit!" Ryan not only lost a reliable ally but also a massive boost in his powers. His first thought was to invade Poseidon''s domain and then kick his ass. Still, since he failed at defeating a single one of his minions, that was impossible. "Shit, why¡­ didn''t I lose those skills?" Ryan suddenly frowned. "The pact hasn''t been severed when they managed to take away Femradiel?" If the skills were there, then it means that Femradiel still was alive. That was weird¡­ why those guys didn''t kill her? Ryan recalled that she didn''t have a physical body, so that was probably the reason. She couldn''t be killed because she wasn''t exactly alive. Regardless¡­ those guys made sure to take away her spirit since Ryan couldn''t talk to her. "Fuck¡­ such a mistake from my part," Ryan said and then kicked the ground. "It is okay, buddy. I will bring back our friend, but for the time being, you will be the one to guard this ce¡­ it seems you are already strong enough to do that." Furball Health: 45.852/45.852 Mana: 25.632/25.632 Stamina: 33.523/33.523 Strength: 4523 Dexterity: 5522 Speed: 5486 Intelligence: 3512 Endurance: 4451 Control: 4632 Mentality: 2563 Luck: 7536 Recovery: 7562 Willpower: 2452 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 123, Body m Lv 99¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 88, Improved Speed Lv 81, Improved Recovery Lv 73¡­ Spells: Fire Bullet Lv 118, Electric Bullet Lv 103 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 145, Cold Resistance Lv 92, Electric Resistance Lv 75¡­ "You grew a lot since thest time I saw you, and you will grow even more," Ryan said. "You can eat those fuckers as much as you want. Now, I just have to make sure that you have an environment good enough for you." It has been a while since Ryan checked the dungeon master''s system, so he had a lot of coins and mana to use. That being said, he even left the level up of his dungeon behind and focused only on increasing the size of his army and the level of the barrier. Area Lv 27: 75 square miles Level UP cost: 690.000 coins or 6.900.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 10 Level UP cost: 5.500 coins or 55.000 mana Barrier Lv 29 Level UP cost: 89.000 coins or 890.000 mana Army Lv 41 Level UP cost: 750.000 coins or 7.500.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 85 (71%) Level UP cost:104.000 coins or 1.040.000 mana Coins stored: 333 Mana stored: 541 At some point, the price to level up his army and barrier skyrocketed. Still, Ryan didn''t mind that since it was within his expectations. Besides, he gained a lot from it. Now he could register more than twenty thousand creatures in his domain. "That is all very well and good, but first, I have to summon enough creatures for that," Ryan said. "With all that many monsters, the barrier should obtain enough mana to withstand the attack of even massive armies for a few hours." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan messed up once, so he couldn''t mess up again. While Furball was probably strong enough to deal with all the monsters Femradiel''s familiars were fighting, the bosses were another matter. Not to mention, Ryan''s most powerful skill was sealed, so he will to make up for it with strategy since brute strength wasn''t in his favor against Poseidon. While Ryan was summoning golems, he recalled the events before his defeat. Mostly, he focused on the actions of those ten weird humans. Despite everything, they gave Ryan plenty of time to act, so it wasn''t like they were that good at tracking. Also, despite everything, their strength wasn''t absolute, not even underwater. "In the end, things happened just as expected," Ryan shook his head and then sighed. "I overused that skill and then ended up ignoring my real strength thates from my stealthy attacks¡­ I won''t make that mistake again and it looks like I will have to rely on that kind of strength to solve this issue." Chapter 623 - Realization Before doing anything, Ryan decided to swallow his pride and ask Alissa a few questions. While he decided to keep her away from the real problem that was the issue of Femradiel''s¡­ kidnapping? In the end, Ryan looked really suspicious. "Alissa, I want to ask you if you know any dungeons that can grant me the necromancer ss aside from that one in Mexico," Ryan said. "If you have the location of any other tier three dungeon, it will help me. I can pay you if you want as well." "Did something happen? Or do you think the world is ending now that Poseidon returned and he is ying with the oceans?" Alissa asked. "Anyway, I can''t help but feel creeped out when you ask me a favor with such a serious tone." "¡­ Just answer the question, Alissa," Ryan said after a long sigh. "All right, all right," Alissa said. "Geez, how can you be so boring all the time?" In the end, Ryan discovered the location of four other tier-three dungeons, and the fifth one would grant him the necromancer ss. He was one hundred percent certain that such a ss would be a trump against Poseidon''s troops. Regardless, four of them were in Canada, and the other was in ska. "You have my thanks; how much do you want to for this information?" Ryan asked. "It is okay, this will be just another one you will owe me," Alissa said. "I am kind of busy with the training of my soldiers, so I will end the call here. See ya." In the end, increase his tab didn''t make Ryan all that bothered. It was for a good reason, after all. Without wasting any more time, Ryan activated Invisibility and then used Teleport. The first dungeon was naturally the ce where Ryan would obtain the Necromancer ss. Although it was a tier-three dungeon and the monsters being spawned Trolls that could regenerate at fearsome speed and had steel-like skin, Ryan still easily cleared the ce. The number of monsters nearby was low since Alissa and her allies cleaned the ce, so Ryan couldn''t help but frown a little. Since he always had a hard time clearing those levels of dungeons. "I remember I ignored this dungeon before¡­ Still, how can my luck be so bad?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "I would have an easier time until if I had cleared this ce before." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Royal Knight, Demon Hunter, and Necromancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Necromancer! You obtained the following skills: Summon Skeleton Knight, Summon Skeleton Archer, and Summon Skeleton Wizard. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your health, stamina, recovery, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Skeleton Knight. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a skeleton specialized in meleebat. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Skeleton Archer. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a skeleton specialized in rangedbat. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Skeleton Wizard. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a skeleton specialized in magic attacks. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Ryan immediately summoned the skeletons, one of each type. They were basically the same as he remembers at that time. He cleared that other skeletons'' dungeon. Archers were more dexterity and speed-oriented; knights were more strength and endurance-oriented, and mages were intelligence and willpower oriented. Truth to be told, Ryan was disappointed, primarily because of the cost of the skill since that more or less determined their potential. "¡­ Let''s see if this can work," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully after he had a certain idea. Ryan took one crossbow out of his storage space and gave it to the skeleton archer. The monster not only received but is also used the weapon as soon as Ryan gave the order. As expected, the cost was a bit too high for a level one monster, but the potential was there. "This is much better than relying on bone weapons that are just there for show," Ryan smirked. "Let''s hope these bad boys will actually be useful underwater." Since that worked for the archers, it also worked for the skeleton knights and skeleton wizards. However, while giving real weapons to them was an excellent way to power them up, it wasn''t that achievable of a goal. Ryan couldn''t produce so many weapons, the only way for him to arm an entire arm of skeletons was to keep clearing massive dungeons non-stop. Not to mention, he couldn''t just summon the skeletons away. So, mobility was also a problem. "Well, whatever," Ryan shrugged. "It will take a while to level up those guys. Besides, I can always summon another skeleton once one falls. As long as the weapon isn''t destroyed, it can always be reused." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. It would be great if the skeletons actually could work alongside Magic Vampirism. Still, after just a couple of minutes, Ryan realized that wasn''t possible. It would be way too convenient¡­ While Ryan was heading toward the next dungeon, he couldn''t but realize that Furball really was the perfect ally. While he could be killed, he could be resummonedter. Ryan wanted more skills like that, but as expected, find them would be hard. Discovering if they exist or not would be already an aplishment in itself. "¡­ Things are too quiet," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I don''t remember disliking silence¡­ oh, boy¡­" Chapter 624 - Brute While Ryan was clearing the next dungeon, he came up with a way to level up his skeletons as fast as possible. It was simple¡­ he just had to use his golems and even Furball for that. A real fight was always the best answer for a sudden power-up, but a fake also could help. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Brute, Ranger, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Brute! You obtained the following skills: Chaotic Punch, Dragon Rising, and Prideful Roar. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your stamina, mana, mentality, and willpower will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Chaotic Punch. Effect: A powerful attack that can cause damage to several enemies in the area. Cost: 100 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dragon Rising. Effect: A powerful vertical strike that paralyzes the enemy hit while you still move upward. Cost: 100 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Prideful Roar. Effect: A roar that increases the strength of your allies in an area and decreases the endurance of the enemies in the same area. Range: 30 meters per level. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. "Well, this one will be useful for the Skeleton Knights," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "The question is: how can I use the Prideful Roar underwater?" That was a question Ryan probably won''t be able to find an easy answer to. Regardless, as usual, he will have some time to think while he levels up his skellies. Although Ryan could clear those tier three dungeons with rtive ease without his draconic powers, he could feel that his growth had slowed down more than a little bit. While Ryan was looking for the third dungeon, he also noticed the changes that Poseidon''s arrival brought to the northernnds of the continent. He thought the cold would freeze the ocean waters and thus create a natural barrier, but in fact, Ryan''s guesses werepletely off the mark. Poseidon''s power made the ice actually melt. Coast cities in that region that were covered snow now werepletely free of the ice, thanks to the rise of the ocean levels. "I guess this is due to the fact that Poseidon is using mana to raise the oceans'' level," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "It should be harder to freeze water created by mana, than ordinary water. Don''t you think¡­ Shit." It looked like Ryan developed some questionable habits. Thinking aloud was one of them since Femradiel had been nearby for quite a while toment about his actions and thoughts. Still, it looked like he didn''t value her enough since he ignored her opinion about the previous job and her instincts as well. In the end, both of them lost a lot thanks to Ryan''s actions. Still, Femradiel lost much more¡­ Hopefully, Ryan will be able to solve that. Still, he had no idea if Femradiel was fine or if he would fast enough. "Keep your mind on the game, Ryan," Ryan shook his head. "Wondering what might happen won''t help you prevent any sort of trouble." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. As soon as Ryan reached the third dungeon, he felt that something was off. It was that odd feeling that he was being watched by something¡­ Still, that was weird since he was using invisibility. "My apologies for bothering you," Isis suddenly said. "I couldn''t help but notice that you are alone now, so I havee to talk about it." "You don''t need to beat around the bush," Ryan said. "If you have anything to say, just say it." "You failed¡­ despite everything," Isis said. "I can''t say that is unexpected, given the current circumstances. Still, it looks like you lost a lot more than I expected. What happened to your partner?" "I can''t give such valuable information for free," Ryan said. "Well, I can guess what had happened, I just didn''t want to talk as if I were underestimating you now that she isn''t helping you," Isis said. "Regardless, I decided to contact you and say that Poseidon is doing more than I imagined, he is going as far as sacrificing his troops to level certain dungeons." "I imagine the dungeon masters are other Greek gods," Ryan said. "You guess is correct," Isis said. "I am trying to prevent that as much as possible since that will make things as bad as they can be, but there is only so much I can do. I believe we can work together to dy the others." "I failed once. Why do you believe I will seed this time?" Ryan asked. "Not to mention, I can''t waste time with that. I have another goal in mind." "Rescuing your friends, isn''t it?" Isis asked. "Well, you should know that the other Greek gods won''t just watch you attack one of their own. Even less so a team yer like Poseidon." Ryan let out a long sigh. Since he was trying to be rational this time and careful, he couldn''t help but think that ignoring them would be unwise. Not to mention that in such a situation, Ryan couldn''t really ignore a chance to level up his sses. He needed all the power he could get. "¡­ Even if we were to try anything, it would take too long to find the dungeons under their control," Ryan said. "That is not a problem. I have a coborator on their side that gave me the location of all their dungeons," Isis said. "I was nning to make you two meet each other, but they don''t believe in humans all that much. Chapter 625 - Contribuitor Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ Considering Isis''s words, it looked like one of the Greek gods wanted to see their own brothers and sisters failing to be the new rulers of the world. That didn''t make any sense¡­ So, Ryan couldn''t help but think that Isis was trying to mess with his head. "I can understand why you look so doubtful," Isis said. "However, there are dungeon masters and dungeon masters. Not all of them care about supremacy or standing above the others. If there exist humans like you who don''t care about using your power to be the leader or the king of your race, then it is perfectly natural that there are elder gods that think differently of the others. You can think of them like people, people who have much more intense feelings because they have been living for quite a while." In Ryan''s head, the more someone lives, the less intense they be. Humans were more or less like that since they settle down after a certain age and tend to pursue a calmer life. "So, which is it?" Isis asked. "Are you going to participate or not? Since that was, I have a task that many others will benefit from, just like me, I do intend to reward you. I think maybe I should pay you beforehand, since your friends aren''t with you." "Before that, answer me one question," Ryan said. "Poseidon''s underlings managed to extract Femradiel from my body, but I still have the skills that I obtained thanks to her. So, she is alive, but for how long? Can you kill a spirit or at least maintain it locked for a while?" "There are many types of elder gods, so their abilities aren''t exactly the same," Isis said. "That being said, for a warrior type like Poseidon, he probably can damage a spirit, but since he didn''t do until now, it means that your friend is fighting back, so it will take a while¡­ probably." In the end, Ryan could only sigh. He tried to look forfort in the wrong ce. Isis was just an ex-target that wasn''t attacking humans because she was at war against another dungeon master. "Since you are that worried, I ask my contributor if they can find something about Femradiel," Isis said. "This might take a while though. A few days at least, that should be more than enough time to attack the dungeons I mentioned." "So, you are trying to motivate me by offering something that isn''t certain?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Besides, why don''t you reveal who this contributor is? "It can''t be helped, they can''t raise suspicion," Isis said. "I apologize, but I can''t reveal it, most of the Greek elder gods are pretty close to each other, so if I reveal who I am working with, it might cause some problems." "They will discover anyway, if we don''t attack the dungeons that don''t belong to them," Ryan said. "I already considered that, and I will attack all the dungeons," Isis said. "I won''t leave any traces behind." "¡­ Very well," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Try to find more about Femradiel''s situation. Also, if you don''t mind, I would like to attack the bases of the assholes who have been bothering me in thest few days." "I was nning to do that from the beginning, since it would make me less suspicious," Isis said. "We will attack several dungeons at the same time tomorrow at noon, that way, the dungeon masters won''t have much time to react and help each other. The issue here is time and speed, so we will deal another attack on the same day at midnight. Don''t pull your punches and you should achieve the goal without any problem." Even with Femradiel, Ryan had a hard time defeating thousands of enemies in just a few hours, but this wasn''t a question if it was possible. He just has to do it. Regardless, after hearing a few more details, Isis told Ryan where his targets were. The first one was at Niger; it was a dungeon that spawned Fire Harpies, and the second was in Turkey. That dungeon was spawning Duhan''s¡­ It was quite the oddbination. "What happened to the Hellhounds and Cyclops?" Ryan asked. "I believe you will have a hard time dealing with the bosses of those species, but you don''t have to worry, the dungeon masters are the same that sent those armies," Isis said. "Regardless, I have preparations to make, you should hurry up and do the same." After that, Isis canceled Telepathy, and basically, at the same time, Ryan charged toward the next dungeon to clear. Once again, he had a hard time since Alissa cleaned up the ce probably a few days ago. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Berserker, Demon Hunter, and Battlemage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Berserker! You obtained the following skills: Tenacity, Mocking Shout, and Diehard. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tenacity. Effect: It passively increases your mentality and willpower by five points per level up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mocking Shout. Effect: A powerful shout that decreases the enemies'' endurance, strength, and speed by five points per level of this skill. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Diehard. Effect: When your health decreases to one point, this skill will be activated, granting you a semi-immortality for a determined amount of time. The time will be equal to the level of the skill in seconds. You obtained 01 status points. "Another melee ss, huh, how convenient¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I am nning to punch a lot of the faces of those annoying guys, after all. Chapter 626 - Shaman While his n of training skeletons will have to be customized a little bit, Ryan was quite satisfied with the sses he was getting. The ones he will probably get given that it was evident that they were tier-three dungeons. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Holy Knight, Ranger, and Shaman. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Shaman! You obtained the following skills: Fire Totem, Ice Totem, and Electric Totem. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Totem. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a fire totem that attracts the power of fire spirits, increasing the power of fire-rted attacks by two percent per level. The range of the effectiveness of the totem will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten meters. All allied creatures within the range will benefit from the bonuses. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Totem. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an ice totem that attracts the power of ice spirits, increasing the power of ice-rted attacks by two percent per level. The range of the effectiveness of the totem will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten meters. All allied creatures within the range will benefit from the bonuses. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Totem. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an electric totem that attracts the power of electric spirits, increasing the power of electric-rted attacks by two percent per level. The range of the effectiveness of the totem will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten meters. All allied creatures within the range will benefit from the bonuses. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. The only issue was the sses he was getting¡­ it was strange thattely, he only had one real option to pick. Regardless, their skills were selective in their uses, but they had a lot of potential. Although Ryan hurried, in the end, he decided to clear the other dungeons Alissa mentionedter. Without Femradiel''s draconic powers, he would need to try a little harder to defeat armies of monsters in just a few hours. So, preparation was the key. That being said, Ryan''s preparations only resumed to his creation of potions. "Things would be easier if I still had that spear¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Unfortunately, Femradiel had to make it explode in order to scare those fuckers and then make them deactivate the magic barrier." Ryan began his preparations while he moved back to his domain. Fortunately, he found a secure and peaceful ce there to do that kind of job. That being said, Furball was working quite a lot to defeat all the monsters. Even with the help of twenty thousand golems, things still were pretty intense for him. Ryan summoned hundreds of skeleton wizards to help, but in the end, it will take a while before those be a decent force. "I suppose I should also summon skeleton knights and archers¡­ while this mission won''t take long, all the time I can obtain by training them is wee," Ryan nodded to himself. While that also took some of his time and mana, Ryan also used his shaman skills and created fire totems. Those would help the fire golems since they couldn''t level up anymore. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. On the morning of the next day, Ryan began to fly while invisible toward his first target. While he still had many essences to use to craft potions, he decided to do that while he flies to that ce. It would be a pain if something happens and he bes unable to take a look at his target before the attack. When Ryan approached Africa and headed toward a straight line toward his target, he immediately noticed things were even worse than on the coast. He crossed the northern coast of the continent when he was going to Egypt. The temperature was so high that even though Ryan leveled up his Fire Resistance and Heat Resistance against many enemies, he still felt pretty ufortable. The heat itself continued to rise up in the sky for hundreds of meters, to the point where Ryan barely could keep his eyes open for long. As if moving while flying and keeping invisibility active didn''t cost enough mana, Ryan also had to use Water Creation and Cryomancy to cool down things a little bit. While Ryan knew that a good part of Africa was made by deserts, the monsters'' arrival made things even worse. Ryan couldn''t see a single nt, river, or oasis in hundreds of kilometers. That was truly a paradise for fire-based monsters. As for Ryan, it was a hellish environment, even more so when he grew used to seeing Femradiel using ice magic left and right. Ryan made a mistake¡­ he assumed that things couldn''t get any worse. When Ryan found his target, he saw a mountain literally covered with monsters. As if that wasn''t enough, there were dozens of thousands of fire harpies flying around the mountain¡­ that was probably the highest concentration of monsters he had seen so far, to the point where he questioned if Isis hadn''t sent him to the hardest ce, instead of the easiest one. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. "¡­ Keep your head cool, Ryan," Ryan said after a long sigh. "There is no point in thinking about such possibilities. Just think this is a necessary step to rescue Femradiel." Chapter 627 - Bad News Fire Harpy Lv 850 Health: 35.000 /35.000 Mana: 65.000/65.000 Stamina: 40.000/40.000 Strength: 2500 (+1800) Dexterity: 2000 (+500) Speed: 4500 (+1200) Intelligence: 6500 (1200) Endurance: 2000 (+1500) Control: 2500 (+800) Mentality: 4500 (+800) Luck: 2500 (+300) Recovery: 15.000 (+2000) Willpower: 4500 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 350, Burning ws Lv 450¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Fiery Aura Lv 550, Augmented Recovery Lv 200, Augmented Speed Lv 250¡­ Spells: Magma Sphere Lv 650, Magma Charge Lv 500, Explosive Impact Lv 480, Volcanic Rain Lv 350¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 650, Shock Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Earth Resistance Lv 400, Fire Immunity Lv 250 "I wonder how my predictions were so off the mark¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Why did the level of the monsters skyrocketed after they reached the seven hundred mark?" Ryan recalled that Femradiel mentioned something called: the''s mana level. Maybe now that the world was recovering, the energy to withstand the energy to support the return of the elder gods helped with that¡­ Regardless, Ryan was more worried about the number of Fire Harpies instead of their level. Fire Harpies weren''t much different from the ordinary ones. The only real differences were their blood-like eyes and their wings that were on fire. Their numbers easily reached the one hundred thousand mark, but Ryan couldn''t see many bosses. "I guess the dungeon master tried to expand their territory, failed and decided to change their strategy¡­ speaking of which, I should have asked Isis who are the dungeon masters of the ces I am going to raid," Ryan thought while he was moving away from the dungeon. It was time to return to his basics. That was why Ryan moved away from the army of harpies. He still had three hours before the time of the attack, so he will use that free time to increase his chances of sess. Golems were too big and made a lot of noise, so even though they were stronger than his skeletons, they weren''t the best option for Ryan at the moment. So, he will use his skeletons as a diversion. Fortunately, the skeleton wizards could cast Fire Arrow, so the massive difference in power will decrease quite a bit thanks to it. Ryan had to use mana potions like there was no tomorrow to create an army big enough to draw the attention of so many harpies for a few minutes. Still, he was fully aware that it was a good investment since he will get a lot of items from them. Unfortunately, selling them wasn''t an option now that Ryan couldn''t use Draconic Transformation, so he will have to use Mana-Eater. "I can''t keep Invisibility active while I attack, so I will need to be fast and precise," Ryan muttered to himself. At the same time, he looked at his five thousand skeletons. "You guys will focus on defense and nothing else, you guys will focus on using attacks that will hit many enemies, and you guys will use Frozen Arrows like there is no tomorrow." After giving those orders to the skeleton knights, skeleton archers, and skeleton wizards, respectively, Ryan used Invisibility again and then used Teleport to appear a few hundred meters away from the monster''s base. "It looks like you are ready for the attack," Isis suddenly said. Ryan took a deep breath to calm down. He absolutely hated it when people suddenly used Telekinesis to talk to him. Not only was it bad for his heart to suddenly hear a voice on the back of his mind, but it was also nerve-wracking and annoying as hell. "Did you contact me just to check on that?" Ryan asked. "No, I have news from my contributor about Femradiel," Isis said. "Really¡­ that was fast, strangely fast," Ryan said. "You shouldn''t underestimate the power of the elder gods," Isis said. "Regardless, your friend is alive and rtively well. Spiritual magic isn''t Poseidon''s forte, so it will take a while before he can destroy her spirit. In the meanwhile, he is using her spirit as a battery." "¡­ How?" Ryan asked. "Since she is a dragon, she can recover a lot of energy in a short amount of time, even without a physical form," Isis exined. "It is hard to exin this in words that you can understand, but putting in simple terms, Poseidon is using a higher version of Magic Vampirism. With that kind of power, he will be able to erase her memories and turn her spirit into something that is unable to feel, or think about anything. That is one of many ways of dying in spiritual form." Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Defeating an enemy was something. In a battle where lives hang in the bnce, it was only natural that both sides would try to eliminate their foes and make sure that they won''t have a hard time in the hands of the same enemy¡­ still, erasing memories wasn''t something a true warrior should do. Not to mention, Femradiel already experienced that, and she decided to swallow her pride and work with Ryan to retrieve her old memories. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "You shouldn''t get too angry, though," Isis said. "As I said before, she is fighting back and that is easy because she only has less than a year''s worth of memories." That was easier said than done. Still, Ryan could understand where Isis wasing from. At the moment, they couldn''t afford to think of anything else, and they had to slow down the progress of the other elder gods from Greece. "If we all seed in this task, we will deal a great blow to their ns," Isis said. "We will slow down their progress in at least two weeks, so we will have some leeway for a while. As your reward for your cooperation, we might help you on a rescuing mission, but only if we seed in both attacks." That was what Ryan wanted to hear. Now he felt morepelled to eliminate the monsters¡­ even though he had no idea if Isis and her allies would be of any help. Chapter 628 - Vampirism When the time came, Ryan gave the order for his skeletons to march. Even amidst the desert, their steps quickly raised a curtain of dust that drew the attention of the Fire Harpies. Ryan saw all the monsters turning around to look at what was approaching their territory from a distance. The diversion easily achieved their first goal: make all the monsters show their exposed back to Ryan. Still, that wasn''t enough¡­ Ryan had to wait until the harpies began to attack. Even though they couldn''t see what was inside the dust cloud, the Fire Harpies still decided to attack, but their fire projectiles were blocked by a massive wall of skeletons. Meanwhile, Ryan began to attack. After using dozens of DEX potions, Ryan fired dozens of arrows with his magic bows. In a single moment, ten harpies were killed with bolts on their napes. But before they could fall and alert the others, they were pulled back by a strange force. That was the power of Hookshot. You obtained 450 coins. You obtained 450 coins. You obtained 450 coins. ¡­ "Not bad¡­" Ryan muttered. "I guess with this many coins I can afford to be a bit crazy." Congrattions! You have learned the skill Vampirism. Effect: It grants you the chance to recover one point of health when attacking per level. You obtained 01 status points. That was a golden time to train his skills, so Ryan spent fifty thousand million coins to learn Vampirism and didn''t hesitate even for a second. While Ryan didn''t need that skill, it would be useful against Poseidon for the time being. After all, his goal wasn''t only to rescue Femradiel. It was to bring down the god of the seas. Ryan noticed that his skeletons weresting more than he had imagined. When he used irvoyance to understand why he saw a rain of projectilesing from the ground stopping the non-concentrated wave of attacksing from the enemy side. While they were together, the teamwork of the harpies was seriouslycking. Meanwhile, the skeletons who only had to follow a few orders were doing an excellent job. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t stay hidden for long. After a while, several harpies began to notice that something was off, and they found a mountain of corpses behind them. Ryan made sure to focus on them, but thanks to it, his attack speed decreased exponentially. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Besides, it is not like I don''t have a countermeasure for this." Instead of focusing on uracy, Ryan decided to focus on speed. Dozens upon dozens of enemies were pulled back by his Hookshot. While the monsters didn''t get close enough, they still were pulled several meters and fell to the ground due to the power of Ryan''s bolts. Before they could do anything, other harpies fell right above them and prevented the creatures from recovering. "Ah, crap¡­ this heat¡­" Ryan muttered while he was having a hard time keeping his vision focused with the pile of burning corpses in front of him. That strategy worked for a while until the bosses finally showed up. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t attack them with his crossbows because that would eventually lead him to bepletely surrounded by a massive number of enemies. The harpies began to p their wings, and then massive magma spheres began to fall down toward Ryan''s direction. Upon noticing their range, Ryan didn''t have to hold back anymore. "Let''s see if you can fly with a single wing," Ryan smirked. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Suddenly, the wings of several of those bosses exploded. Flesh and blood moved in all directions, and the monsters had no idea of what Ryan did. It was simple: he used the Power of Money. After activating it several times in a few seconds, not even the bosses of that level could escape unscathed. "I will make sure that all the fuckers in the world will pay for making me use this again¡­" Ryan said while showing a vicious glint in his eyes. The monsters tried, but as expected, they failed at keeping themselves flying with a single wing. While Fly could have solved that issue, the monsters didn''t have it. Ryan found that weird, but he paid no mind to it. At that point in time, half of the monsters had already noticed that Ryan was behind them. For quite a while, they hesitated in attacking a single creature or thousands of skeletons. Ryan already knew what they would do, so he changed his ns once again. Suddenly dark clouds appeared above the battlefield, and that surprised the monsters since they didn''t see a single cloud since the very first day they were spawned, but the surprises didn''t end there. Lightning bolts began to fall from the sky and immediately hit and shocked hundreds of harpies. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. ¡­ The monsters didn''t die since the skill level was low, but that paralyzed them for quite a while and prevented them from making their minds too quickly from Ryan''s perspective. Hookshot became useless since the monsters were already aware of Ryan''s existence, so he stopped using the skill and activated Arrow Shower and Rapid Shot. The number of monsters being hit increased, and the number of corpses increased as well. Thanks to that, the monsters realized once and for all that Ryan alone was more dangerous than the army of skeletons, so they turned to face him. "It is time, huh¡­" Ryan frowned. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan used Teleport and disappeared from the Fire Harpies'' field of vision for several seconds. They just stayed there waiting for something to happen, but nothing happened. The skeleton archers and wizards used that chance to bombard the harpies, and then they turned around to face them. However, Ryan suddenly returned to ground level, and after a few moments, it started to rain¡­bat machines. Chapter 629 - Success Hundreds ofbat machines fell, and even before the harpies could notice them, the weapons attacked with a massive barrage of attack. In just a few moments, hundreds of harpies were killed. Although they were fearsome long-ranged fighters, their endurance was severelycking severally. A sudden attack from a third directionpletely confused the monsters, so Ryan couldn''t help but smile. Overpowering the enemies was fun, but defeating them like that was really satisfying. One-third of the monsters fell in just a couple of minutes thanks to Ryan''s ns, and even when they fell on the ground, the battle machines attacked thousands of harpies until they ran out of fuel. Many more harpies were wounded by those, and Ryan had an easy time finishing them off. However, that onlysted for so long. All the Fire Harpies turned around to faze Ryan once again and bombarded him with massive magma spheres. However, they only hit the ground since Ryan had disappeared once again. The harpies immediately waited for another attacking from above, but nothing came from there. Instead of that, the number of projectilesing from the skeletons'' army increased. It took a while, but the harpies found Ryan among them. When the harpies began to attack the skeletons, Ryan gave them the order to assume a tortoise formation. He stayed behind their defensive formation and continued to attack the monsters, but the skeletons began to suffer massive losses. Thanks to that, the skeleton archers and skeleton wizards started to decrease in number as well. Ryan bit his lips in annoyance since that had been until now the worst part of this n¡­ It was time to move to the next phase. Ryan teleported again. This time he reappeared behind the army and immediately opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. The harpies quickly lost their limbs when they turned into ice. Meanwhile, Ryan''s Magic Bows finished off the others. The monsters tried to turn around and face Ryan, but his flying speed was fearsome. The magic projectiles were fired toward him, but Ryan dodged them all. The few that almost hit Ryan were stopped by his Ice Breath. "I should have done this from the very beginning¡­" Ryan thought. "No, maybe the boss would have gotten on the way." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. While flying close to them, Ryan drew the attention of the monsterspletely. Thanks to that, the skeletons had the chance to attack freely, and the decimation of the Harpies proceeded favorably. Of course, Ryan suffered a few scratches here and there. Still, ultimately, he managed to destroy the whole army alongside his skeletons in half an hour. Congrattions! The ss: Hexde has reached the max level. Reach the max level with two other sses to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. Your dexterity and stamina have been increased by six points. In addition, your health, mana, speed, and control have been increased by three points. Congrattions! The ss: Sorcerer has reached the max level. Reach the max level with another ss to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. Your intelligence and mana have been increased by six points. In addition, your health, stamina, willpower, and mentality have been increased by three points. "Phew¡­ this ended faster than I thought," Ryan said after a long sigh. Although he said that, Ryan was thankful for it. He made a lot of progress as expected¡­ probably because he couldn''t use Draconic Transformation. Isis didn''t give him a time limit, but his job probably had been aplished. "That reminds me, I forgot to ask again who were the dungeon masters," Ryan said while he was collecting his loot. "Still, given that the dungeon master didn''t try to interfere until now, I don''t have to worry about such a dumbass." "If she were to hear you, you wouldn''t have a single minute of peace for the rest of your life," Isis suddenly said. "I decided to check on you, but who could have thought that you would finish before the other groups¡­ my apologies for underestimating you." "Who is the dungeon master of this dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love," Isis replied. "She was the one who sent the cyclops to attack you." "Fire Harpies and Cyclops¡­ I can''t see any noticeable simrity between them," Ryan said. "Still, the goddess of love, huh¡­ what an unexpected enemy. By the way, talking with me right now won''t make your presence more trackable?" "No, I use disruption magic on the surroundings whenever I talk with you, so no one will be able to see or hear about what we are talking," Isis replied. "Regardless, I need to watch over my troops while they are retreating from this attack. Anyway, if you want to obtain a ss, you should hurry up." "Wait, I want to know to whom the next dungeon I am going to attack belongs to," Ryan said. "The second dungeon master is¡­ Ares, the Greek god of courage and war," Isis replied. "He was the one who used the hellhounds to stop you." "I see¡­" Ryan said while he furrowed his eyebrows. It was hard to know howe Ares could be a problem. Still, maybe Ryan shouldn''t think too much about it since he would be an enemy of Aphrodite and Ares anyway, even without attacking their dungeons since his goal was to kill Poseidon. "We expect you to seed in the same manner tonight," Isis said. "I wish you good luck." Ryan nodded and then headed inside the dungeon while his skeletons picked the rest of the loot. Come to think of it, Ryan realized that he will have a hard time hiding his skeleton army. Even though half of them had been decimated¡­ Regardless, he couldn''t let them leave any traces¡­ Fortunately, Ryan quickly came up with a solution to that problem. Chapter 630 - Saint Knight As expected, Ryan only found a few enemies inside the dungeon and no bosses waiting for him. So, he quickly obtained his next ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Saint Knight, Royal Archer, and Shaman. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Saint Knight! You obtained the following skills: Sign of Protection, Conviction, and Doom Spear. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your stamina, mana, endurance, and willpower will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sign of Protection. Effect: It grants you the power to create a magic emblem. The emblems increase the status of your allies by ten points per level while you are near them. The skill will grant you the power to create a new emblem in a new ally every five levels. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Conviction. Effect: It grants you the chance to passively increase your health. If you suffer 100.000 points of damage in a single day, your health will increase by the same amount of the skill level. For every level up, the health requirement will increase. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Doom Spear. Effect: it grants you the power to summon a magic spear that causes holy damage in a wide area of effect. Cost: 300 mana. You obtained 01 status points. "Conviction¡­ what a weird skill," Ryan frowned. "It certainly doesn''t fit my style, but it looks like it wille in handy at some point." The other skills would alsoe in handy, but it was only natural that Ryan wouldn''t focus more on Conviction. As soon as Ryan left the dungeon, he created a thickyer of ice above the desert and made his skeletons climb on it. After that, he used Teleport and made himself and the skeletons move away from the dungeon. While Ryan didn''t manage to move away all that much from the dungeon, he just moved upward to escape the visual range. Ryan had to use a lot of potions to move the tform of ice by using Water Maniption and Cryomancy. Still, in the end, he solved that issue by using INT potions and CON potions. There weren''t many ces to hide in the desert, nor could Ryan move his skeleton army all that much without leaving some obvious traces. So, he just created an underground shelter. First, he created some walls made of dirt, and then he filled the interioryer with ice. After all, the heat was close to unbearable. "I guess this should be enough for the time being," Ryan said while he looked toward a hole in the ceiling in which some sand was passing through. The hole was made to let some air enter. Although Ryan was the only one there who needed oxygen, it was better to have such a thing and also let some sunlight enter. Ryan sighed as he put his back against the cold walls to rest. Since his defeat against those ten creatures, he had been working nonstop, so he deserved some rest. "¡­ This is a waste of time, I should prepare for the next battle," Ryan said to himself. Even before checking his target anding up with a decent battle n, Ryan already found a problem: the skeleton army was in front of him. Moving them to Turkey wasn''t a good idea. If Ryan leaves them alone, they won''t reach the ce even if they walk in a straight line towards it. Not to mention, Ryan had to surprise the target. The best way to achieve that was to create an army close to the target. "I guess you guys will have to stay behind," Ryan crossed his arms and then said. "Still, you guys can have some use for me yet." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. After sunset, Ryan began to move. He immediately gave the order for his skeletons to spread around in five directions. During the afternoon, he used irvoyance to find some dungeons nearby, and the function of the skeleton would be to head toward. Suppose the skeletons aren''t attacked before reaching their goals. In that case, they will just pass by them since Ryan''s goal wasn''t to alert other dungeon masters, but to create several fake traces. If anyone was looking for him, they would find five traces of five skeleton armies. Meanwhile, he used Teleport and headed to Turkey. Ryan tried to reach his destination even faster ifpared to Niger because his chance of sess would hinge once again on his preparation. Although he had to cross the Mediterranean Sea, which had been quite an ordeal at night, Ryan still reached his goal after 90 minutes, a coastal city called Antalya. While Ryan didn''t know many things about the country, he couldn''t help but open his eyes widely in amazement when he noticed several buildings that looked quite medieval were still standing¡­ Those probably wouldn''t work well to protect civilians, so the dragons that attacked the ce probably left them alone for that reason. Ryan also had a hard time finding the Duhan''s dungeon since they were creatures that apparently love the darkness, so one couldn''t find a single sign of light in dozens of kilometers, not even the stars or the moon offered some light¡­ and that was strangely weird. "Shadow type monsters, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "They are probably undead as well, so my skills that cause holy damage will be useful." In the end, Ryan could only hope that a few of his assumptions would be true. Isis didn''t pass him much intel about his targets aside from their location and the dungeon masters, probably because she was busy and no one needed the help of a guy who couldn''t collect intel by himself. Chapter 631 - Dullahan Duhan Lv 890 Health: 75.000 /75.000 Mana: 43.000/43.000 Stamina: 59.000/59.000 Strength: 5600 (+1800) Dexterity: 1900 (+500) Speed: 4500 (+1200) Intelligence: 2100 (500) Endurance: 5000 (+1500) Control: 1500 (+300) Mentality: 4500 (+800) Luck: 2500 (+300) Recovery: 33.000 (+12.000) Willpower: 4500 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Shadow de Lv 650, Concentrated Strike Lv 550¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Shadowy Aura Lv 550, Augmented Strength Lv 400, Steel Skin Lv 450¡­ Spells: Shadow Armor Lv 550, Curse Sphere Lv 300, Shadow Spear Lv 480, Acid Rain Lv 350¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 750, Shock Resistance Lv 580, Cold Resistance Lv 350, Earth Resistance Lv 400, Darkness Resistance Lv Max, Darkness Immunity Lv 350¡­ "Oh, shit¡­ you have got to be kidding me," Ryan bit his lips in exasperation. Duhan wasn''t quite like Ryan had imagined, at least the ordinary ones. As for the bosses, they were essentially armored and headless monsters. Their armor and massive sword had a single color: purple. They also had mounts, some purple knights that apparently were another type of monster summoned by them. Regardless, they were obviously tougher than the Fire Harpies. "I assumed this one would be easy since they couldn''t fly, but¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I was so dead wrong." While feeling a headache, Ryan began to prepare for the attack. He still had several hours before the time came, so maybe he could make some modifications to his ns. Ryan recalled in the middle of his preparations that he forgot to make a weapon out of the Fire Harpies; still, they probably wouldn''t create a new type of crossbow since those monsters were just regr fire monsters. Still, the thing was different with the Duhan. It has been quite a while since Ryan saw a monster capable of using dark-rted attacks. None of them were melee fighters, so his expectations were quite high for them. Although Ryan didn''t work physically all that much during his preparations, he was covered in sweat when midnight approached. The tension and his thoughts about failure worried him quite a bit. Still, in the end, he was quite confident in his battle n. Unlike the Fire Harpies, the Duhan monsters were conglomerated in a single ce. They were spread around the whole city since they were big and needed a decent amount of room to show their abilities. Although that wasn''t a good idea, Ryan decided to fight near the ocean since apparently, he wouldn''t have any ce to run. That would make the monsters feel even more eager to attack. When Ryan decided to attack, the earth suddenly trembled, and somewhere in the East side of that region, the sky suddenly began to glow¡­ that had been one heck of an explosion. When Ryan used irvoyance to check, he only found a sea of mes, and amidst it, thousands of monster bodies burning. Despite that, he didn''t find the caster of the attack. "It looks like another target was nearby¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Still, to think that Isis would have someone capable of using such a massive attack¡­" It was only natural that Ryan wouldn''t know everything about Isis. Still, it was weird that she didn''t use such a card when her base was being attacked¡­ possibly, the boss of the attack worked for Isis''s coborator. "¡­ Onto business," Ryan muttered when he saw the Duhan army moving toward that region. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan''s skeleton army began to march, but before they could reach the enemy army, he attacked them using one of his newest skill: Doom Spear. While the spell wasn''t that powerful, hundreds of monsters got hit when the magic spear exploded. The creatures trembled, and their armor began to crack¡­ as expected, that was Shadow Armor already active. Regardless, Ryan barely caused any damage. Less than ten percent of their health had decreased. Despite that, the monsters looked toward the direction the attack came from, only to find an army of skeletons moving toward them. The Duhan army began to run toward the skeletons. Still, before they could reach them, they suddenly were attacked by thousands of mana bullets. Ryan had hidden hundreds ofbat machines below some piles of rubble. The Duhan army tried to protect themselves, but hundreds of them quickly died. The monsters fired their Shadow Spears without any other choice, but that only slowed down their firing speed for a short while. That had been more than enough for the Duhan army to approach and attack the pile of rubble. However, they were attacked by another group ofbat machines hidden behind the pile of debris. Meanwhile, Ryan bombarded the Duhan army from above with twelve copies of his Holy Crossbow + 10. Ryan made sure to attack the monster''s nape just like he did with the Fire Harpies. Thanks to that, many of them fell without alerting the others. However, just like before, that onlysted for so long. In weird but precise synchrony, thousands of Duhan turned and looked toward Ryan. They pointed their swords toward him in the same manner, and the Shadow Spears flew toward him. Ryan teleported to high in the sky to dodge the attacks and continue on his own. However, the monsters didn''t give up after a single time. "What dumbasses¡­" Ryan said as he started to fly in circles. "Are they blind? How can they focus on me when my machines are doing much more damage?" Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Soon, Ryan came to know why they were acting like that¡­ the monsters knew that they could work for so long. After a few thousand Duhan died, the battle machines proceeded to recharge a few monsters and used that chance to destroy them. Before Ryan could move to the next phase of his n, he saw the Duhan moving in a weird manner. They divided themselves into pairs, and then one of them jumped and stood still at the non-cutting side of the weapons¡­ After that, they swung those and were tossed toward Ryan. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 42 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 41 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 33 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 41th Health: 7455/7455 (15,02/s) Mana: 9475/9475 (15,02/s) Stamina: 9720/9720 (15,02/s) Strength: 831 (+898) (+130) Dexterity: 7600 (+6255) (+550) Speed: 1120 (+3160) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2614) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+729) (+160) Control: 1326 (+3190) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+993) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+4250) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+1111) (+40) Coins: 32.333.785 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Dragon Rising Lv 01, Prideful Roar Lv 01, Mocking Shout Lv 01, Sign of Protection Lv 01, Doom Spear Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Dual Wield Lv 65 (+ 07 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 75 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 75 (+ 05 UP), Tenacity Lv 01, Diehard Lv 01, Conviction Lv 01, Spells: Thunder Storm Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Summon Skeleton Knight Lv 33 (+ 32 UP), Summon Skeleton Archer Lv 01 (+ 32 UP), Summon Skeleton Wizard Lv 01 (+ 32 UP), Fire Totem Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Ice Totem Lv 01, Electric Totem Lv 01, Vampirism Lv 01 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 47 (+ 07 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 39 (+ 07 UP), Fire Immunity Lv 09 (+ 08 UP) sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Sorcerer Lv Max (+ 34 UP), Dark yer Lv 37 (+ 07 UP), Wizard Lv 35 (+ 13 UP), Magic Archer Lv 78 (+ 13 UP), Royal Archer Lv 71 (+ 14 UP), Necromancer Lv 23 (+ 22 UP), Brawler Lv 01, Shaman Lv 01, Saint Knight Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 83 (+ 05 UP), Whitesmith Lv 44 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 88 (+ 07 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 632 - Almost There "Woah¡­ that was kind ofunexpected," Ryan said while he was using Teleport in quick session to escape the ''Duhan cannon.'' Much to Ryan''s surprise, the strength of the Duhan army was so big that they could throw their allies like that, and they would move faster than Ryan could fly. Not to mention, those who missed him, instead of silentlynding on the other side of the destroyed city, they would turn around in midair and fire Shadow Spears toward Ryan. "I have a time limit here, so I can''t waste any moment," Ryan said and then teleported to ground level. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan made the skeletons spread a little bit, and then the Duhan that were nearby dashed toward him. Ryan began to move backward as he used Evading Shot. The Duhan army dashed toward him, but they were suddenly attacked by a massive wave of Frozen Arrows. The monsters didn''t expect to be assaulted by spells from such directions since they only saw skeleton knights¡­ they didn''t notice that Ryan had hidden other skeletons nearby. The charge of the army decreased in speed, but they eventually would escape the skeletons'' range. Ryan sighed and clenched his teeth, and at the same time, he stopped moving backward and charged toward the enemies. While he attacked the monsters with his bolts, Ryan summoned several Magic Swords. The monsters swung their weapons toward him, but Ryan''s speed and the magic swords stopped them. Dozens of Duhan began to burn as they were touched by the fire elemental swords, but Ryan quickly had to summon others. Even though only half of the army was there, it was more than enough to surpass the capacity of his magic swords. Regardless, Ryan managed to cross the entire army of Duhan. Since he was within their range, they didn''t fight while using long-ranged attacks. Instead, Ryan moved away toward the opposite direction for quite a while in order to make the first group of Duhan enter the skeletons'' range. However, it looked like things wouldn''t be that simple. The second army was approaching. "Here we go again¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. At the same time, he pointed his Holy Crossbow toward the enemy and used Chaotic Shot. However, he didn''t stop there and used Arrow Shower as well. The constant wave of attacks stopped the second group, but Ryan wouldn''t be able to keep so many active attacks at the same time for long. Fortunately, Ryan used that time to use SPE potions. When his mana was empty, the monsters found Ryan holding a single hammer, and his hands were glowing. At the same time, four double-edged spears were floating around him. Ryan was using Mana-Eater to steal the mana of a magic weapon¡­ Before the monsters could react, Ryan suddenly disappeared from their sight and reappeared amidst the Duhan army. Suddenly, Ryan began to fly around the army, and dozens of monsters were cut into pieces. Before any of them could react, Ryan would away from a location and then decimate all the monsters nearby with the double-edged spears. Ryan''s reaction time increased exponentially thanks to the SPE potions, so the monsters never had the chance to attack him. While Ryan was causing havoc inside the monster''s army, his skeletons slowly decreased their numbers from a distance with magic attacks. Ryan''s new way of attack quickly decimated dozens of monsters every second. At that point in time, the Duhan realized that they won''t be able to defeat Ryan if they assume some risks. So, their swords began to emit a purple glow, and then they swung at him after jumping. Ryan''s reflexes warned him that he couldn''t let those attacks hit him, so he teleported to where Duhan jumped and attacked them. As for the Shadow des, theypletely decimated the ground below. Even with their Darkness Resistance at the max level, the monsters that got hit by those were cut like butter. The whole army used Shadow des to kill Ryan, but for the next five minutes, thanks to SPE potions that he used, they could not outspeed him. They had another chance when the effect of the potions ran out, but only for a few moments since Ryan was determined to repeat the strategy. Still, Ryan realized that the monsters had a trump card. "It is about time¡­" Ryan muttered. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. The Duhan bosses finally showed up, and Ryan knew that his old tricks wouldn''t work on them. They had studied him for quite a while, but they lost eighty percent of their forces while they waited for Ryan to use his most powerful skills and to tire out. The battalion of mounted Duhan began to march toward Ryan at the same time. Their speed was so insane that Ryan imagined that they would be able to fly for quite a while if they jumped. However, Ryan had no intention of running away. The ordinary monsters moved away to give the bosses room to move. As for Ryan, he obediently waited for them. When they were about to run over him, Ryan used Lunar Arrow and killed several of the dumbass bosses. At the same time, the remaining army passed by him without noting that their allies were killed. "That is the power of light magic for you, it is absolute deadly against demons and undead monsters," Ryan said while smirking. When the bosses turned around to face Ryan, they began to be hit by other Lunar Arrows, and they couldn''t help but freeze in astonishment. An attack of that level couldn''t be used continuously. It was impossible. That was normally the case, but not for Ryan, since his skeletons and the double-edged spears still were killing the ordinary monsters. Chapter 633 - Wolfs Greed In the end, the bosses'' strategy to wait for Ryan to get tired worked against them. However, they weren''t the only ones who coulde up with unorthodox ways to deal with a troublesome enemy. Regardless, Ryan won¡­ not as fast as the guy who destroyed the army in the nearest dungeon, but he won. "Oh? You really did it¡­" Isis suddenly said. "It looks like you had to work for a while longer, but you really did it¡­" "Why do you sound as if you were expecting me to fail?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows while he collected the loot. "My apologies for hiding a few things from you, but my contributor was the one who said you should deal with those two armies," Isis replied. "As I said before, they don''t expect much from humans, so you can consider this a test from them." Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan clenched his teeth and bit his lips. He didn''t have time for that bullshit¡­ he was working his ass off to obtain a way to rescue Femradiel, but at the same time, he was being tested by some kind of an asshole. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn''t do anything but contain his anger since he would need all the help he could get to rescue Femradiel. "I am truly sorry for it, and I am willing to listen to yourins," Isis said. "¡­ I don''t have time for this," Ryan said. "Is that so¡­ that is unexpected, I can''t help but frown while watching you anger boil, and that is quite a high-level anger for a human," Isis said. "Regardless, the n was sess thanks to our hard work. Now we just need to prepare to attack Poseidon''s castle. That will take a while since we will need a decent force, while I try to gather some people to help us, you should inform the humans who are interested and then increase your strength as much as possible." After saying that, Isis ended the telepathic call. What Ryan heard surprised him, but now that he thought about it, the operation to rescue Femradiel would have to be a pretty big one. Although Ryan didn''t want to involve others since he didn''t want to owe them anything, that wasn''t really an option. Again, he would need all the help he can get. Besides, defeating Poseidon or at least weakening his forces was something that interested the whole human race. After he gathered the loot, Ryan entered the dungeon and, without any trouble, picked his next ss. Also, as quickly as possible, he made the skeletons enter the ce. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Soldier, Ranger, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Soldier! You obtained the following skills: Sneak, Mission, and Augmented Willpower. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sneak. Effect: It grants you the power to pass nearby magic traps without activating them. Cost: 50 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mission. Effect: It grants you extra coins when clearing dungeons that possess massive numbers of monsters spawned. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Augmented Willpower. Effect: It passively increases your willpower by twenty points per level. You obtained 01 status points. "I guess this is what I will have for today," Ryan shrugged. When Ryan left the dungeon, he gave the order to his skeletons to attack any monster. There was no point in trying to move them with him. For a few moments, Ryan wondered what he should do. But before he coulde up with an answer, he received another notification. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 40 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 40th You obtained... "What¡­ why now?" Ryan asked while he frowned since that notification should have appeared when he obtained histest ss. You obtained¡­ You obtained¡­ You obtained¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but frown since that was the first time something so weird happened. He didn''t expect to find a bug in the system since it didn''t belong to aputer or something¡­ or maybe it did. It was impossible to know. Ryan had to wait for a few good minutes to see what was going to happen and when he was about to give up, he obtained his answer. You obtained the skill Wolf''s Greed. Effect: It grants you the chance to steal status points from your enemies. The number of status points stole will be determined by the level of the skill. You can''t use this skill more than once against an enemy. You can''t use any other skill while this skill is active. You can''t move while the skill is active. You can''t use this skill against weaker enemies. Cost: 100 health per second and per level of the skill. You obtained one status point. "What the hell¡­" Ryan opened his eyes widely in surprise. That was by far the weirdest and suspicious skill Ryan had seen so far. Not even the Banshee''s Envy Eye could bepared to this... While it seemed very useful, even more so when Ryan faced for quite a while only enemies stronger than himself. Regardless, the timing of that skill was just too suspiciously good. That was when Ryan wasn''t even considering the previous incident where the system apparently had an error or something like that. Chapter 634 - Expert Archer "What should I do about this?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It isn''t like this type of reward is something new, but all these circumstances are just¡­" In the end, Ryan decided to forget about that. Nothing good woulde from worrying too much about things he couldn''t understand. Besides, Ryan had already made up his mind to use all possible options. He would need all the help he could get. After shaking his head, Ryan used Teleport and appeared where the explosion happened half an hour ago. While appearing at such a time in such a ce was dangerous, it was no longer a problem for the mission. Besides the worst of Ryan''s fears, the fear of being trapped in a magic prison again wasn''t bothering him. Because to use such a spell, some time was necessary to prepare such arge-scale spell. Regardless, Ryan couldn''t help but frown since he didn''t find any sign of monsters'' corpses or even the loot. "It is kind of hard to believe that¡­ but I wonder if the explosion destroyed even the loot down to a molecr level," Ryan frowned. As expected, Ryan didn''t find many monsters around the dungeon, only those that had been spawned in thest couple of minutes. However, that would be enough for the time being. It was time to test Wolf''s Greed. The creatures guarding that dungeon were Ice Golems, and they were at level nine hundred, so Ryan assumed that they were stronger than him. At least they had more status points, and that probably was a good reference. However, Wolf''s Greed didn''t activate. "¡­ I guess the number of status points isn''t a major factor in determining who is stronger," Ryan said after a long sigh. In the end, the skills one possesses, the level of intelligence, and the experience probably were major factors instead of status. It was only natural¡­ Perhaps not even the boss of the Ice Golems would be considered stronger than Ryan, even though such a creature would be at least five times stronger than regr monster. The reason being that Ryan could bombard the creature from several angles and explode it in just a few moments. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Corrupt Knight, Expert Archer, and High Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Expert Archer! You obtained the following skills: Elven Mastery, Elf Arrow, and Storm Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Elven Mastery. Effect: It permanently increases your dexterity upon defeating dungeon bosses by one point per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Elven Arrow. Effect: A special arrow causes extra damage based on your intelligence and decreases the target''s willpower, mentality, and endurance by ten points per level. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Storm Arrow. Effect: it grants you the power to fire a single arrow that will split into dozens of magic arrows, causing devasting damage over arge area. Cost: 200 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "Oh? Finally, a pretty decent ss," Ryan smiled in satisfaction. "Despite everything, it looks like my luck is finally turning around. Elven Mastery was one hell of a skill. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if that skill would work so many times in dungeons that had broken. If a dungeon boss leaves the dungeon, could it still be considered a dungeon boss? That was a difficult question. Regardless, it was time to leave since Ryan had overexposed himself. He still needed to be careful until the operation to rescue Femradiel begins. Instead of looking for other dungeons in the region, Ryan decided to return to his base and check things with Furball. If nothing had happened, then he will just have to make some upgrades, and if something happened, he would have to make adjustments. Fortunately, nothing changed when Ryan returned to his domain. The reason being was the fact that most of Ryan''s enemies had been attacked during the day, and now they were counting their losses. The most dangerous ones, at the moment, were the creatures spawning inside his domain. "Hey there, buddy," Ryan said and scratched Furball''s neck. "It looks like things are going well for you too." Furball barked a little loudly. That was his famous bark of agreement. Although his partner wasn''t that old, Ryan felt pretty nostalgic. Still, it was time to be back on business. Now that Ryan knew that he wouldn''t attack alone Poseidon''s castle, perhaps he didn''t have to rely on his skeletons anymore. Instead of training them, perhaps Ryan should clear other dungeons. "Instead of doing just one thing, perhaps I can do it both¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "To receive a ss, I just have to defeat all the nearby bosses and the treasure chest will be avable. I can always leave a skeleton army behind to deal with the rest of the monsters." While Ryan will have to give up on training certain sses and skills, it was a necessary price to pay. He couldn''t have everything he wanted, after all. Ryan''s next targets were already decided: they were the dungeons Alissa mentioned to him. After upgrading his domain once again, Ryan left to the Northernnds of the continent. Area Lv 27: 75 square milesLevel UP cost: 690.000 coins or 6.900.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 10Level UP cost: 5.500 coins or 55.000 mana Barrier Lv 34 Level UP cost: 109.000 coins or 1.090.000 mana Army Lv 45 Level UP cost: 970.000 coins or 9.700.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 85 (71%)Level UP cost:104.000 coins or 1.040.000 mana Coins stored: 2.871Mana stored: 9.652 Chapter 635 - Spell Sword When Ryan was teleporting to the next dungeon, he suddenly stopped when he heard a voice in his head. It was Yahiko, and it has been a while since they talked. "Ryan, it has been a while," Yahiko said. "Can I borrow one minute of your time?" "You don''t have to make it sound so weird," Ryan said. "I am flying right now, so I can talk with you for a while. What is it?" "I noticed that oceans changed, it looks like a dungeon master of such zone finally reached their goal, do you know anything about it?" Yahiko asked. "Lately, we have been attacked by sea monsters for quite a while since my domain already reached the coast of my country." Ryan exined to the situation in detail to Yahiko. He deserved that much since he was the leader of many people. Ryan also realized that he should try to find a way to alert Natasha and her friends. Maybe he should go to Russia and do that, even though that will take a few hours of his time. Natasha deserved at least that much as well. "I see, one of them already appeared and others are about toe as well," Yahiko said. "We only have a few weeks¡­" "Are things fine on your end?" Ryan asked. "Rtively well, I guess," Yahiko said. "The number of battles is increasingtely; we barely have time to move away too much from out capital. Regardless, it is just my guess, but I imagine one or two dungeon masters already appeared in China and India. For the time being, their influence didn''t spread outside the limits of their countries, but eventually¡­" "Does any tier three dungeons appear in your country?" Ryan asked. "I am looking for others, if you are having a hard time dealing with those since they are far away, I can give you a hand." In the end, Ryan used that chance to obtain another reason to alert Natasha, and her friends and Yahiko helped him with that. Unfortunately, only three-tier three dungeons appeared in Japan since thest time he had been there. Yahiko also asked why Ryan suddenly wanted to leave his dungeon for a few hours. Still, he decided to keep quiet about it. Yahiko wasn''t untrustworthy, but Ryan couldn''t afford to spread that information to those who wouldn''t join the fight. He already informed Gustavo and his friends, and they didn''t think twice before epting. After the conversation, Ryan used Teleport several times to reach the next dungeon. When he reached the ce, he found a few bosses around the dungeon. They were Frozen Giant Bats, but when Ryan killed them, he didn''t receive any notification, nor did his dexterity increased. However, when he killed thest one in thest part of the dungeon¡­ Your dexterity has increased by one point. "As expected," Ryan said. "Well, it is better than nothing." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Spell Sword, Poison Archer, and Battle Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Spell Sword! You obtained the following skills: Magic Armor, Incinerate, and Magic Shield. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Armor. Effect: It grants you the power to summon magic armor that protects you from magical attacks, physique attacks, and status effects. The amount of mana consumed will be rted to the power of the enemies'' attacks. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Incinerate. Effect: It grants you the chance to cause extra magical damage when attacking with physical attacks. It also decreases the effect of healing spells based on the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Shield. Effect: It grants you the power to summon Magic Shields, they can move ording to your will, and they can be transferred to others. Cost: 100 mana. Health: 20 per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Two defensive spells for a mage ss, how unexpected¡­" Ryan muttered. While Ryan was heading toward the next dungeon, he began to wonder about the speed Elven Mastery would level up. It wasn''t like other skills, and the requirements to activate were quite difficult. So, it will take a while for that skill to begin to shine and show its true potential. "Ryan, I need to talk with Femradiel," Ryan suddenly heard Alissa''s voice. "It is urgent." "¡­ That can''t be done, she is busy right now," Ryan said after a long sigh. "What is it?" "It is about Orgar, he has been sleeping for three days and I don''t know what is going on," Alissa replied. "His presence is growing weaker and I don''t know what to do." Why now of all times¡­ that was Ryan was asking himself under his breath. It couldn''t be a worse time for that kind of issue to take ce¡­ as much as Ryan wanted to ignore other people''s problems, Ryan couldn''t do that for Alissa. She caused him a fair deal of trouble. She helped him more than a few times thatpensate for all the problems she caused by arge margin. "He is an old dragon, Alissa, so it can''t be helped," Ryan said. "Everyone we know will leave our lives in one moment or the other, or we will disappear from their minds. That is something natural." "¡­ What are you talking about?" Alissa asked, confused. "Orgar doesn''t have a body, so he can''t die of old age, you can just say that is the case¡­ Are you hiding something, Ryan?" Chapter 636 - Fight At that point in time, there was no need to keep hiding things from Alissa since she could read minds, and she definitely will ready Ryan''s mind once they see each other again. "Alissa¡­ the situation where you and Orgar became partners was rather¡­ problematic," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I don''t know the details, but it looks like he gave you his power without offering a pact. That had some consequences. The most drastic one was that Orgar''s spirit would be fused with yours and then his individuality will disappear." "What? How do you know that?" Alissa asked. "Why didn''t you tell me this before?" "It was Orgar''s decision, he told me about it and said that I should keep it as a secret," Ryan replied. "¡­ That is not possible, I don''t feel any different than before," Alissa said. "Maybe Orgar did something, he didn''t want to affect the rest of life by making you think like a dragon, so he probably found a way to deal with his memories," Ryan replied. "The reason why he seems asleep from your perspective was probably because he was working to let your spirit only obtain his power and not his personality." Alissa took some time to absorb what she just heard. While it was too much information for her and it didn''t make any sense, deep down, Alissa understood that Ryan wasn''t lying. He wasn''t the type of person to make jokes, even less so in serious situations like that. In the end, things proceeded the way Ryan expected¡­ Alissa didn''t ept things calmly. "Why did you hide that from me? Why you two did that?" Alissa asked after she raised her tone. "That was cruel¡­ this is just too cruel." "Calm down, Alissa," Ryan said. "Orgar wasn''t someone who like to live the rest of his lives while watching you feeling angsty about his own choices. You can''t condemn him for that, he lived his life the way he wanted, and you can''t criticize him for it." "Don''t tell me to calm down! Spare of your bullshit!" Alissa said. After hearing that, the telepathic link was canceled. As expected, Alissa''s mental state was unstable. Ryan had many things to do, and he had to prepare to attack Poseidon''s castle, but in the end, he decided to return to his country and check things with her. A couple of hourster, Ryan arrived at the military base, but then he was stopped by the barrier. Naturally, whoever had erected a domain didn''t grant Ryan a free pass toe. However, even amidst of the night, several soldiers were guarding the surroundings and the dungeons, and they noticed Ryan''s presence. "Bring Mark or whoever is the leader or the domain," Ryan said. "I need to talk about Alissa." Ryan noticed some angry staresing from the soldiers. Still, they looked at each other in confusion when Alissa was mentioned. She probably did something¡­ and they were wondering why Ryan knew about that. In the end, they didn''t make much of a fuss and proceeded to enter the military base. However, someone unexpected came¡­ He and Daniel looked pretty pissed. "What are you doing here?" Daniel raised his chin and asked. "You are not wee here." "Really? Like I give a shit," Ryan said. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan couldn''t help but frown after hearing that notification. His nerves calmed down when he received the Expert Archer ss, but it looked like Daniel alone had been more than enough to make his blood boil again. "Leave, now," Daniel said. "You are a threat to the people here." "I don''t want to waste my time with you, asshole," Ryan said. "Bring Mark, I need to talk to him." "He isn''t going to meet you," Daniel said. "I won''t say it again, leave now. Or I will make you do." "I want to see you try, asshole," Ryan said. Before Ryan could react, Daniel summoned a great dark sword out of nowhere and dashed toward him. In the end, Daniel was only looking for a reason to fight, and Ryan weed that. He was also looking for an excuse to fire some bolts up to his ass. Ryan escaped the sword by using Teleport and appearing hundreds of meters above the city. He immediately proceeded to summon two of his magic bows to attack. However, when he fired, Daniel blocked his arrows easily by putting his sword above him. As if that wasn''t enough, he began to fly toward Ryan at a fearsome speed. Daniel continued to pursue Ryan while flying, but Ryan escaped his range by continuously firing Evading Shot. However, Ryan knew that he was wasting time and mana. Not only he couldn''t cause any damage or activate the effects of his weapons, but his attacks also weren''t even leaving scratches on the weapons'' surface. Daniel Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... sses: Combat: ???, ???, ???... Non-Combatant: ???, ???, ???... "What the hell¡­ how can he counter Absolute Appraisal?" Ryan frowned. That didn''t make any sense¡­ while Ryan knew that Daniel had been moving around hunting monsters and training fiercely, it was hard to believe that he would find such skills just by doing that. Ryan tried to save his mana by using his Spiritualist''s Crossbow, but it wasn''t time to pull his punches. So, he summoned several copies of his Thunder Lord Crossbow. His projectiles suddenly didn''t be more powerful, but the electric effect in them hit Daniel''s sword and shocked his arms. Ryan could see the look of annoyance on his face, but it was hard to tell if the damage was actually building up. Ryan changed directions since they were getting too high in the sky and the atmosphere was thinning up. While Daniel was having a hard time following him, he insisted on just pursuing Ryan without doing anything fancy. Ryan knew that he was a dumbass, but not to that extent¡­ something smelled really fishy there. Chapter 637 - What Is Important After a while, Ryan confirmed that Daniel indeed was nning something and wasn''t just standing there receiving damage like a fool. His sword began to shine and vibrate the air around it, and Ryan decided to stop his attacks. Daniel clicked his tongue in annoyance, but that didn''t end his ns. Daniel suddenly disappeared from Ryan''s field of vision, but then he felt him appearing a few meters behind him. "What?" Ryan muttered. Daniel probably used sh, but the range of the skill was toorge than it should be¡­ Regardless, Ryan didn''t have time to ponder about such things. Ryan used Teleport to escape the attack, and then he reappeared several kilometers below. However, Ryan was still hit by an invisible attack and was thrown to the ground. The impact made Ryan break several of his ribs, and he spat blood while he was trying to get up as fast as possible. His whole body was vibrating for some reason¡­ Daniel probably used a counter-attack skill that can work overtime and even against long-ranged attacks. Before Ryan could truly grasp the nature of Daniel''s skill, he felt his approach. After using Full-Heal, Ryan considered using invisibility and rely on his stealth to attack. However, he decided not to do it. Ryan''s pride wouldn''t allow him to use stealth attacks against Daniel, not against him¡­ When Daniel entered his range, Ryan used Ice Breath, and he was forced to slow down since that kind of attack was troublesome against his skill. However, when he stepped back, Ryan appeared behind him and hit his back with his right elbow. The difference between Ryan''s strength and Daniel''s endurance was big. However, he still was knocked down and rolled several meters on the ground. Before Daniel could get up, Ryan bombarded him with six of his magic bows. Daniel tried to protect himself with his sword, but his position didn''t help him all that much. Several parts of his body got pierced by the bolts, but for some odd reason, that only made Ryan feel more alert. His instincts were telling him that something was off in that situation as well. As soon as Ryan noticed that, Daniel got up with lightning speed and then dashed toward Ryan. He escaped once again by using Teleport, but Daniel''s speed couldn''t bepared to before. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "Shit¡­ I am wasting my time here," Ryan bit his lips and then thought. Daniel not only got faster, but stronger as well. When Daniel finally managed tond a clean hit, Ryan prevented critical damage on his left shoulder by using Telekinesis. Still, a lot of his mana was being used. Ryan saw the blood in his body and the blood in Daniel''s body and then had an idea. He quickly enveloped his sword with his own blood, but he made sure to cover the edges with a thickyer and lose its cut. Daniel retreated and tried to get rid of the blood, but Ryan didn''t let him. This time Ryan teleported to Daniel''s right side, and then he attacked with a body m. Daniel resisted and was only pushed backward a few meters while he kept his defensive stance, but he couldn''t help but frown when he saw Ryan''s wounds closing. Congrattions! The ss Monk has reached level 55. Congrattions! The ss Brawler has reached level 26. Congrattions! The ss Iron Fists has reached level 28. "¡­ I am liking this," Ryan smirked. "Even dumbasses can be useful now and then, huh." "Use your draconic powers," Daniel said. "And I will show you who is the dumbass." "Don''t wanna," Ryan smiled viciously. "I don''t need that kind of power against a retard like you." Before Daniel could say anything, Ryan used Ice Breath again. Daniel got caught off guard amidst of his rage, but he paid the price for it. He imagined Ryan would teleport and attack him physically from other directions. Still, he didn''t imagine Ryan would actuallye from the front. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan''s punch hit Daniel''s chin and cracked it. Despite that, Daniel still swung his sword and almost split Ryan in half. The tip of his sword cut Ryan''s belly slightly. Ryan clicked his tongue, and amidst his rage, he summoned a copy of Hydra''s bow. Even Daniel couldn''t help but open his eyes widely in surprise. Ryan fired his arrow, and Daniel used his sword to block the projectile. Despite that, he still flew backward for hundreds of meters as the arrow pushed him. Despite the massive weight of the projectile, Daniel''s sword never showed a single crack, nor did he lose his blocking stance. While Ryan was watching that, he had an idea¡­ he activated Wolf''s Greed. You sacrificed one hundred points of health. Your dexterity has increased by one point. You sacrificed one hundred points of health. Your dexterity has increased by one point. ¡­ Despite the fact that Ryan''s power was increasing while he was going literally nothing, he couldn''t help but clench his fist in annoyance¡­ it looked like the system considered Daniel stronger than him. After a while, Daniel managed to change the direction of the arrow, and then it made fly toward a nearby mountain. The projectile made the region tremble as itnded, but Daniel had to pay the price. His hands were quite damaged, to the point where just holding his sword was painful. Not to mention, he received the notification when Ryan stole his dexterity¡­ just like Ryan. He couldn''t help but feel pissed. After all that fighting and training, he still couldn''t defeat him. Ryan decided to summon as many magic bows as he could. Still, before he could attack, he suddenly heard Isis''s voice. "Are you sure you can waste your time here?" Isis asked. "The preparations areplete. We will attack Poseidon''s castle at dawn." When Ryan heard that, he kicked the ground in absolute anger. To think that he would be forced to retreat now of all times¡­ even worse, against Daniel. But in the end, Ryan didn''t lose sight of what was important at that moment. Chapter 638 - Plan While Ryan was flying toward Rio de Janeiro, he couldn''t help but keep biting his lips in annoyance. Alissa would really be helpful in that kind of situation, even more so since she was pissed. The question was if she would be able to follow the n. "Your other friend left that base a few hours ago, so you wouldn''t be able to contact her by defeating that other human," Isis suddenly said. "As far as I could tell, she was far too unstable to be of any use to this n." "So, you keep monitoring all of us, huh," Ryan said. "I imagine you have your eyes on Gustavo''s group as well." "Naturally, while they aren''t a threat now, they could be at any moment," Isis replied. "People like you and them who obtained draconic powers are a cut above the others, but that doesn''t mean that you are invincible. Your bodies may be strong, but your minds are far too immature. Any dungeon master who has decent illusory powers might force many of you to join the dark side." While that seemed a bit exaggerated, Ryan could understand the meaning behind Isis''s words. One year ago, Ryan was just a college student who was about to graduate. Now he was hunting giant monsters and facing elder gods, creatures from the legends. He indeed got stronger and surpassed many ordeals, but his mind didn''t mature all that much. He still was angry at Daniel and almost killed him, and he still was extremely distrustful of others. "Where did Alissa go?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know, as soon as she left the base, she used skills that made me unable to track her," Isis said. "It looks like she has absolute control over the powers the dragon inside her had." That was good and bad, good because Ryan won''t have to worry about that, but bad because she left Arthur behind without thinking twice. She was so angry that apparently, she didn''t think twice about abandoning her soldiers and Arthur in the base. "¡­ Anyway, why are you still talking to me?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "I assume it is about the n." "You are correct," Isis replied. "It will be your job to keep things going smoothly with your friends in Brazil. I can''t talk to them since they don''t know me. The main goal of this mission is to rescue Femradiel, but we can''t do that by using normal means. So, we will mask the goal by trying to look like as if we are trying to deal a huge blow on Poseidon''s forces. On my end, we will send a massive army of monsters on the East side of his territory and try to drag the battle for as long as possible, and on your end, you people will invade the castle and deal with those royal guards. While those ten aren''t dungeon masters, they are Poseidon''s offspring, so they have the power of the elder gods inside them. Defeating them will be your group task." Ryan had suspected as much. Those ten creatures really looked out of ce. They resembled humans, but their demeanor and appearance were just too weird. Speaking objectively, even from Ryan''s perspective, they had an abnormal level of beauty in every single of their physical characteristics. That was probably because they were sons of an elder god, and his divinity passed down to them and made them look quite angelique-like. "What about Poseidon?" Ryan asked. "My contributor will use a trick to lure him out of his castle," Isis replied. "I can''t say anything more than that, since that was what they asked me." In the end, Ryan was too tired to get angry at all that secrecy. Besides, he couldn''t really me a dungeon master for being cautious when working with humans. Ryan himself was fully aware of how unstable he could be in certain circumstances. "Is there any reason why this bait of yours will work to lure Poseidon but not his kids?" Ryan asked. "As far as I know, their job is to guard the entrance to the other world, the previous where Poseidon base was," Isis replied. "Most likely, he left some precious things behind and will only bring those once the others Greek elder gods return. Perhaps he left wives and other kids there as well, and those ten won''t leave the dungeon unguarded while their father is away. To be honest, I was quite surprised that they left the pce and attacked you." Considering how crazy Poseidon was to create several dungeons and use them to strengthen his Hydras, Ryan didn''t think that such an attack was unexpected. After all, even Femradiel warned him, but after Isis brought up that hypothesis, perhaps it had been an unnatural move considering that his main dungeon already reached the max level. "Regardless, we only two more hours and I need to make some final adjustments," Isis said. "So, I am going now, but onest warning. If something unexpected happens, focus on your job and nothing else. We won''t be able to keep this n working for how long and something like this won''t work twice. So, this is your only chance." After saying those words, Isis''s presence disappeared. While Ryan was teleporting, he tried toe up with a way to make five humans who had draconic powers try to win a fight against those ten royal guards. However, not a single good idea came to mind. In terms of raw draconic powers, Gustavo and his group were probably two times stronger than Ryan. Still, they didn''t have many tricks up their sleeve like Ryan had. So, it was safe to assume that they more or less had the same power¡­ that was why the reason Ryan couldn''te up with a n. Since he had a hard time against one royal guard, even outside the ocean. "In the end, perhaps not killing the royal guards is the best option," Ryan muttered. "If we do, Poseidon might go crazy and attack us and I am fairly certain that not even all of six together will stand a chance." Chapter 639 - Frozen Spear Ryan had alerted Gustavo and the others about the attack the very moment Isis stopped his fight against Daniel. So, when he reached their new base, they were already up and ready. Their new headquarters was located four hundred kilometers away from Rio de Janeiro. It looked like they were ready to move again since Poseidon''s attempt to flood the world was growing stronger every day. On the previous day, the ocean waters advanced for two hundred kilometers before stopping. "I felt like you were hiding something in thest few days, but I never imagined it was rted to your draconic powers¡­" Gustavo said as soon as Ryan showed up. "Why did you stay silent, Ryan?" Gustavo seemed pretty pissed, and that was rare considering his usual carefree attitude. Regardless, he would need to train his angry expression a bit more if his goal was to scare Ryan. "Because it was none of your business," Ryan said. "If you lost your powers fighting against Poseidon''s underlings, then it was our business," Gustavo said. "You were trying to help us, right?" "Not at all, I am the type who likes to solve problems before they can escte," Ryan said. "That is why I was caught in their trap. Regardless, that won''t happen again. Anyway, we should move on. We need to stay close to Poseidon''s castle once the attack starts." "¡­ Now I can understand why Bianca gets mad when you are nearby," Gustavo said after a long sigh. "You really are a difficult guy." While they were heading toward the ocean, Ryan exined their role in the mission. Some people tried to join the fight, but considering that normal people fighting abilities were heavily decreased underwater, Gustavo and the others decided to leave them behind. In the end, not even if all the survivors working with them were to participate in the mission, they wouldn''t be able to do half of what those five could do. That was weird considering that Ryan just suffered quite a lot while facing Daniel¡­ but after thinking for a while, he understood the difference between them. It was the same difference that Ryan had ifpared to others¡­ he traveled around for months, trying to obtain more power. "So, Poseidon has ten sons that are as powerful as all of us in the draconic from," Bianca said. "¡­ This will be tough. Regardless, can we trust those individuals that prepared the attack." "Isis kept her word since the first time I met her, while she is hiding some things, I don''t believe she is nning to cause me trouble," Ryan said. "Her people have absolute faith in her, but they aren''t blind. She will lose a huge deal of her manpower if something were to happen to me. As for her contributor¡­ your guess is as good as mine. Also, don''t talk about this anywhere, Isis probably isn''t the only one who is using spies or other types of tricks to obtain information." In the end, they found Rio de Janeiro being overrun by thousands of monsters. It pained Gustavo and the others just to say nearby and watch everything they built in thest year being destroyed. Still, they couldn''t do anything else aside from watch. While they were making troubled expressions, Ryan was crafting a new double-edged spear. Unlike the previous, that one was human-sized. Even though Ryan only used spears alongside Telekinesis until now, it looked like he had other ns for the new one. Still, Gustavo and the others couldn''t help but frown when they saw him mixing titanium, ice, and blood to forge the spear. "¡­ That is an oddbination," Gustavo said. "Is that monster''s blood?" "It is my blood," Ryan replied. "¡­ Why are you using your own blood to forge weapons?" Bianca asked while frowning. "Because that will increase the power of my attacks with this weapon," Ryan exined. "I learned a few days ago that I can make my attacks heavier by using skills Earth Maniption, Water Maniption, and Blood Maniption." "I thought those only worked with long-ranged attacks," Bianca said. "Why did you learn Blood Maniption, though?" "You sure ask a lot¡­" Ryan said. "I assume the reason is that you can control your enemies'' blood as longas they touch you," Fernanda said. "Once you do that, you can make the blood return to their bodies and damage them from inside." Everyone looked at Fernanda with slightly worried eyes. Although she was a quiet woman, she wasn''t that pure and innocent. Ryan considered doing that, though. But he never had the chance to do it. While he considered doing that with Daniel, in the end, he changed his mind. Not only that was a cheap trick, and Ryan actually wanted to overpower Daniel through and through in order to make the dumbass agonize over his weakness. "¡­ The fact is that suchbination is possible and deadly," Ryan said. "Under the right circumstances." Ryan knew that he will have to find something else while he deals with the ren royal guards. Facing them without Draconic Transformation will be quite the ordeal, and that was why such strategy was necessary. Double Edged Frozen Spear Strength + 350, + 150 Speed. Durability: 500/500 "Not bad, I guess," Ryan said. "Now I just need to enchant it." As soon as Ryan finished his weapon. He suddenly heard Isis''s voice in his head, and he also felt the atmosphere changing on the other side of the ocean. "It has begun," Isis said. "Don''t teleport immediately to the castle, though. The monsters in the area will take a few minutes to head toward us. Meanwhile, fly toward the goal while using invisibility on your group." Ryan had already considered that, and that was why Gustavo and his team were in their human form. Invisibility was nearly useless in draconic form, after all. Regardless, even while they were flying invisible, Ryan saw many monsters looking at the sky in their direction, and the cause was him¡­ Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 640 - Steadily Ryan confirmed that the pce was nearly defenseless as they approached, thanks to irvoyance. In the end, Ryan didn''t know if it was due to Poseidon''s carelessness, Isis''s n, or due to the fact that Hydras had to fight each other in order to make the dungeon level up faster, either way, the storm that once worked as a defensive barrier for the dungeon was no longer there. "Now!" Ryan said and then teleported Gustavo''s group to underwater and right above Poseidon''s castle. While Ryan couldn''t go that deep in the ocean, the castle was within his range as a human. Regardless, after that, Gustavo and the others used Draconic Transformation and began to attack the massive walls around the castle. However, despite that, it looked like they were just a few ants scratching an elephant. While it wasn''t tall, the castle makes up for it with its lengthiness. "I can''t sense your dragon''s presence," Gustavo said via telepathic link. "Femradiel doesn''t have a body right now and she is probably in a prison that prevents her from using magic, so it will be a bit harder to find," Ryan said. "Still, we will know where she is once the royal guards appear." Speaking of the devils, suddenly, Ryan saw those ten figures from the center of the castle. They came from the tallest andrgest building that one could be found in the castle¡­ a pretty cliched ce to find someone who needed rescue. Ryan almost teleported directly to the ce, but then he stopped. He might not be that useful, but leaving his allies alone against those ten creatures wasn''t a wise idea. Even without his draconic powers, Ryan could offer some decent support. Besides, he had a certain idea¡­ "I will need a favor," Ryan said. "Try to hold them back for as long as you can without me." "That was the n anyway," Gustavo said. "Do that and then give you the chance to rescue Femradiel and then leave as fast as possible." "No, that won''t be enough," Ryan said. "Just trust me, all right." "¡­ I wish you could have warned us about possible changes in the n," Gustavo said with a long sigh. "Well, three of us are dragons focused on endurance, so we can deal with some punishment." As soon as Ryan found Rhodos, he activated Wolf''s Greed. He had no idea how much different the enemy would be without his dexterity, but some things would change. Your dexterity has increased by one point. Your dexterity has increased by one point. Congrattions! The skill Wolf''s Pride has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Your dexterity has increased by two points. Ryan''s health began to decrease at an insane speed, he had prepared some potions to deal with that, but Bianca solved that problem. She had no idea what Ryan was doing. Still, she could sense power leaving the strongest enemies'' body and moving to Ryan. Strangely enough, Rhodos didn''t try to stop Ryan. While Gustavo was between them, Rhodos could teleport. Still, he didn''t have the confidence that only that skill would be enough to surpass the five dragons in front of them. Rhodos and his brothers dashed toward Gustavo and the others, using water magic to increase their speed and power. However, the five dragons stopped them by bombarding them with magic. Lightning bolts were fired by the hundreds, even though only one of the dragons could cause extra damage by using that kind of attack. All of the others knew that they would be able to cause more damage with that type of attack instead of using their main elements underwater. Rhodos and his brothers tried to ignore their attacks, but they could only do so for so long against dragons that were using all the energy they can use. The dragons'' attacks caused so much damage that even Rhodos'' skin began to burn. He had nned to endure it until the enemies ran out of mana. Still, in the end, all of them teleported to several hundred meters backward. Gustavo and his friends stopped their attacks since even lightning bolts wouldn''t be that effective from so far away. While they cross the ocean, they lose a lot of power. The fight continued in front of Ryan, and for the first time, he didn''t join a fight that was happening right in front of him. "Who could have thought that this skill could be used this way¡­" Ryan thought as he watched his dexterity increasing by two points every second. "While this skill has a lot of restrictions, those can be easily ignored by fighting alongside some powerful allies. Letting others do all the work isn''t my style, but certainly is the best way to make use of this skill." Every ten seconds, Wolf''s Greed leveled up, and Ryan received more damage and also obtained more dexterity. While that speed wasn''t so bad since it looked like Ryan could make the skill reach level one hundred in less than fifteen minutes, Ryan couldn''t feel satisfied since Poseidon could return much sooner than expected. Despite that, Ryan wasn''t worried. The idea of facing Poseidon before rescuing Femradiel seemed strangely appealing for Ryan. That being said¡­ "Ryan!" Bianca shouted. "Care to do something now?" Gustavo and his friends were running out of mana. It wasn''t surprising to hold back enemies of that level. One couldn''t try to save mana. Ryan sighed and then deactivated Wolf''s Greed. Ryan summoned ten magic copies of his immobilizing crossbow and then activated Vital Hunter. He hired after activating Perfect Shot as well, and he did the same thing. The enemies lost some speed and endurance. The same thing happened several times while Ryan was using mana potions to recover his mana. Rhodos and his friends couldn''t do anything about it because they couldn''t focus on dodging Ryan''s bolts while facing the dragons'' attacks. Ryan wasn''t causing much damage since he was decreasing the status of ten enemies, but slowly and steadily was diminishing the difference in power between Poseidon''s sons and Gustavo''s party. Chapter 641 - Second Round While it took a while, Ryan managed to decrease the pressure that his allies were having to endure. Ryan felt that he wasted some time, time that he could have used to increase his dexterity. Still, thanks to that, he had time to help his friends, focus his head on thinking, and notice that he would spend much more time and tranquility to use Wolf''s Greed when his allies were defeating Poseidon''s sons. However, Ryan could have the chance to put that tactic to use¡­ Rhodos decided to act. Rhodos stepped back from the battlefield a few hundred meters. Then, in the blink of an eye, dozens of giant Ice Spears appeared around him were fired toward Gustavo and the others. Ryan pointed his magic bows to them and managed to stop the projectiles. Even underwater, he could do that, but for how long? Ryan''s mana was being used at an insane speed, and the best he could do was prevent his allies from being attacked by the projectiles. He had prepared thousands of mana potions from a battle of attrition, but in the end, it would onlyst for so long. That being said, the fact that Rhodos wasn''t attacking them alleviated the situation for Gustavo and the others exponentially. "Can I leave these guys to you?" Ryan asked. "Just be quick about it," Gustavo replied. "Just don''t forget what is our goal here." Ryan nodded. While he couldn''t understand howe Gustavo wanted him to defeat an enemy, he failed at defeating before, even with his draconic powers. That was another matter. Ryan used Teleport and then appeared right in front of Rhodos, and hended his right Elbow on his enemies'' faces. Before the enemy could reach, he kicked his stomach. Ryan nned to broke his chin with another punch, but then the waters moved, and he was immobilized. Rhodos obtained some time to breathe, but not for long. Fifteen magic bows appeared around him and bombarded him. He didn''t have time to control the water around and stop the projectiles, so he noticed his endurance, intelligence, and speed decreases. Ryan had used Vital Hunter, the effects of his Immobilizing Crossbow and Inquisitor''s Crossbow. Rhodos teleported away to escape the barrage of attacks, and thanks to that, his control over Ryan''s body decreased. Ryan prepared a punch, and then he used Teleport. Rhodos imagined what Ryan was nning, but he didn''t expect that Ryan would teleport to a little below him and then punch his balls. "Oh? It looks live you do have balls," Ryan smirked. "You are more human than you look, thanks for letting me realize that." While Rhodos was recovering from the attack, Ryan bombarded him with his magic bows. While his most troublesome weapon was probably his control over the water, Ryan couldn''t afford to only decrease his intelligence. Rhodos couldn''t understand how he was having a hard time facing Ryan in his human form when he barely had the chance to do anything in his draconic form. Trying to understand what was going on, Rhodos fired those massive Ice Spears again. Still, Ryan teleported and escaped the attack, reappearing right behind him. Ryan swung his right fist, but Rhodos turned around and grabbed his arm. "Are you sure of this?" Ryan asked and then also grabbed Rhodos'' arm. Ryan''s arms blocked Rhodos'' vision, and he didn''t notice when Ryan summoned his spear and used Telekinesis to split in half. In the end, Rhodos dodged the attack by kicking Ryan and thus freeing himself, but that came with a price: Ryan bombarded his back with his magic crossbows. Receiving damage from a surprise attack causes much more damage than when one knows that the attack ising. So, the shock paralyzed Rhodos. Suddenly, a massive arrow fell from the sky, engulfed in electricity, and hit him. Several others followed it, pushing him too deep into the ocean. Despite the pain and the shock, he noticed when Ryan used Telekinesis and Spatial Maniption to pour several potions on his back. Potions that increased his strength, speed and recovered his mana. "Crap¡­ he noticed it," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance since he had made another mistake. While that was a small mistake, Ryan had nned to stop doing even those. Thanks to a small mistake, now his enemy wasn''t confused anymore. Regardless, before Rhodos could return, Ryan moved toward the castle''s center as fast as possible. He could have teleported. Still, he wanted to make Rhodos feel the despair of seeing him moving toward Poseidon''s dungeon. Rhodos teleported and blocked his path, but in the end, he chose the wrong ce to appear¡­ he appeared between Ryan and the castle. Those three were connected by a diagonal line, so if Ryan were to attack, Rhodos would dodge. The castle would be damaged. Rhodos noticed that toote¡­ Ryan bombarded him like before with his bolts that decreased his status. Rhodos dodged them, and several ces in the castle were destroyed. Rhodos looked at the damaged parts and then at Ryan, only to see him smirking while he was using the Hydra''s Bow with Telekinesis. Ryan touched the weapon and activated Power Shot, and activated Charge Traps on the gigantic arrow¡­ dozens of them. Rhodos gulped when he felt so much energy being drained by the projectile. If something that big were to hit the castle while so much mana is in it¡­ "It is time to choose," Ryan said while he was smirking, but his eyes were almost lifeless and cold. "Take the attack head on, or let it fall. Naturally, you can always try to use water and stop it, but I wonder if you can prevent the energy from spreading and destroying everything around." ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 42 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 41 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 33 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 40th Health: 7755/7755 (15,02/s) Mana: 9775/9775 (15,02/s) Stamina: 10220/10220 (15,02/s) Strength: 831 (+898) (+130) Dexterity: 8453 (+6555) (+550) Speed: 1220 (+3260) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2814) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+729) (+160) Control: 1426 (+3290) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+993) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+4250) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+1111) (+40) Coins: 66.333.785 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Magic Sword Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Elf Arrow Lv 01, Storm Arrow Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Concentration Lv 68 (+ 04 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Stamina Boost Lv 41 (+ 08 UP), Wolf''s Greed Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Elven Mastery Lv 01 Spells: Magic Upgrade Lv 51 (+ 06 UP), Teleport Lv 75 (+ 09 UP), Summon Skeleton Knight Lv 33 (+ 32 UP), Summon Skeleton Archer Lv 33 (+ 32 UP), Summon Skeleton Wizard Lv 33 (+ 32 UP), Vampirism Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Magic Armor Lv 01, Incinerate Lv 01, Magic Shield Lv 01 Support Skills: Improved Creation Lv 29 (+ 04 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 15 (+ 07 UP) sses: Combat: Magic Archer Lv 85 (+ 07 UP), Royal Archer Lv 79 (+ 04 UP), Marksman Lv 32 (+ 06 UP), Expert Archer Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Spell Sword Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Whitesmith Lv 44 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 88 (+ 07 UP), Mariner Lv 01 Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 642 - Changes Rhodos didn''t want to believe that was happening. Howe he was put against the wall against a weaker enemy? Even before when he had draconic powers, the difference in strength was noticeable. Still, now¡­ the difference was even greater, and that feeble man was winning. "Stop it!" Rhodos said. "¡­ If you do it, I will release your friend." "Oh, you can talk?" Ryan frowned. "I could swear you didn''t have a voice." Rhodos was using Telepathy to speak, but the voice someone hears via Telepathy was the same when they use their own vocal cords¡­ as weird as that sounded. Ryan didn''t feel like stopping, but he wouldn''t lose anything by taking his sweet time to fire in the end. After all, he will have more time to charge his arrow with energy. "If you want to negotiate, then you need my terms as well," Ryan said. "Once I confirm that my friend is alive and well, I will let you guys go. Bring her to me now, you have five seconds." Rhodos hesitated in answering that. In the end, Ryan already knew what he was nning. He noticed that his brothers stopped fighting fiercely just a few seconds ago. Ryan fired his arrow, and then Rhodos moved his arms to stop it. In the next moment, his brothers also appeared to prevent all the damage the projectile will cause. Rhodos stopped the projectile, and then it exploded, but Ryan didn''t stay there to see what was going to happen. The massive explosion made the oceans tremble and the water moved in all directions. Despite that, the energy unleashed was far from over. Rhodos and his brothers tried to prevent the explosion from damaging Poseidon''s castle. Ryan decided to bet that they would seed, and then he appeared right in front of the biggest tower of the castle. Going downward had been rather easy since his attack made most of the water around the castle move away or evaporate. At the bottom of the tower, Ryan saw a massive cave and a throne right above it. Poseidon certainly had weird tastes¡­ Regardless, Ryan found an odd ss cage at the side of the throne, and inside of it, he found an odd light-blue sphere. It was probably Femradiel, but Ryan couldn''t feel her presence. Ryan touched the ss, and then he felt his mana being sucked. That was a troublesome cage. "You should hurry, Poseidon felt his attack and retreated," Isis suddenly said. "You don''t have more than a couple of seconds." "Well, we have a problem here," Ryan said. "This cage is¡­ what a troublesome fellow," Isis said after a sigh. "This cage is like a dominion that can absorb mana of those that try to attack it. Your only option here is to cause more damage than you can give more mana to it." It seemed like a veryplex cage to break, but Ryan quickly found a weakness. He created several hammers and hit them while using a Concentrated Strike. He was using more stamina than mana, so he quickly saw some results. However, he stopped for a while when he saw a powerful presence approaching at an insane speed¡­ it was Poseidon. He was much more powerful than anything Ryan has seen so far, more than Lilith, more than Mephisto¡­ Ryan hurried to free Femradiel, and in the end, the box broke. However, Ryan couldn''t hear anythinging from the transparent spear, nor could he feel anythinging from it. Ryan made the sphere enter his body, and it was quickly absorbed. He felt the power that he once lost returning, and Femradiel''s presence was finally back, but she didn''t say anything. "Are you alright?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Yeah, I am fine," Femradiel said, but she sounded weird. "¡­ Thanks foring for me." "You sound weird, did something happen?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Not really," Femradiel said. "You sound like a depressed kid, why the long pauses before answering my questions?" Ryan insisted. "Now is hardly the time to talk about it," Femradiel replied. While that was true, Ryan didn''t want to leave without hearing what Femradiel had to endure. Regardless, he had to escape before Poseidon returned¡­ at least help Gustavo and the others escape. If Femradiel doesn''t want to talk about it, Ryan will hear from Poseidon himself. It was a crazy idea, but now that he could feel Poseidon''s presence, his wish to fight him increased. Before Ryan could make his choice, he saw the bodies of Rhodo''s brothers falling on the ground, and the ocean waters were finally returning to where they should be. They were alive but heavily wounded. As for Rhodos, he still was unconscious but covered in blood. Ryan concentrated on the attack after using so many potions made them being caught off guard. "Ryan it is time to go," Gustavo said after suddenly appearing. "Shouldn''t we kill them while we have the chance?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ we achieved our goal and caused a lot of damage," Gustavo said. "They will think twice before trying to attack us again." "You have four seconds, Ryan," Femradiel said. Ryan let out a long sigh and then touched his allies before using Teleport. The mission didn''tst long. In fact, it ended much quicker than he had expected. However, even though Femradiel was back, Ryan''s anger didn''t grow weaker. Ryan imagined that Poseidon could use Teleport, but he didn''t use it while he was approaching, nor did he when they reached Rio de Janeiro again. Poseidon''s presence still could be felt, but he was near his dungeon and wasn''t moving. He returned to help his sons when he noticed that his lives were in danger but made no movement to attack those who almost killed them. "It looks like we seeded," Gustavo said. "This was way too easy," Bianca frowned. "Howe we invaded the castle of a Greek god and freed a prisoner so fast?" "Well, the n wasn''t that bad," Fernanda said. "Something smells fishy here," Paulo said. "We need to be careful and stay low and see what Poseidon is going to do next." Chapter 643 - Fooled Ryan tried to talk with Femradiel about what happened with her in thest few days, but she stayed silent the whole time. While Ryan was trying to hear things from her mouth, he stayed with Gustavo and the others. After all, they were the closest targets from Poseidon''s perspective. Gustavo and his friends were also on guard, but their leader was the first one to get tired of it. "I am bored," Gustavo said. "Let''s train, Ryan. You need to recover some of the lost time." "¡­ I guess it is fine," Ryan said. Truth to be told, despite the fact that Ryan never refused an opportunity to train with another that had draconic powers, he didn''t feel like training. Femradiel''s behavior and silence were bothering quite a lot, and that was weird since Ryan liked silence and peace quite a lot. Despite that, Ryan owed Gustavo and the others quite a lot since, thanks to them, he managed to free Femradiel. The least he could do was to give them a hand like that. After moving to a ce a few kilometers away from the base, Ryan found an ''arena'' that Gustavo and the others use to train in her draconic forms. One could see clearly the result of their training. There were supposed to be thousands of trees around. Still, one could only see hundreds of meters of the brown ground instead of any sign of vegetation. At first, Ryan tried to fight without using magic and then leveled up a few times in his melee sses. In thest few weeks, he obtained many of them, but the chances of leveling them up were rare. However, in closed ranges, Ryan was weak. He could tell that Gustavo was having an easy time. Fighting while using only punches didn''t suit him, so Ryan decided to use the same strategy he used against Rhodos¡­ he used a punch to decrease Gustavo''s sight. He then attacked him from an unexpected angle with Magic Bows. "That is a rather annoyingbination," Gustavo said. "But are not going all out yet, right Ryan?" "This is training, the goal is to level up our skills and sses, why do I have to go all out?" Ryan asked. "Experience is also as valuable as those numbers we see in the screens," Gustavo replied. "It is rare to find an opponent that is good at long-ranged attacks and can endure more than a few punches at the same time. If you try hard enough, I will be forced to try hard enough. We will gain experience, level up our sses and skills. Everyone wins." "¡­ All right then," Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan needed to punches a few things in order to clear his mind, after all. So, why not use Gustavo for that? When the second round of the spar started, Ryan made several Magic Bows appear around Gustavo. He tried to escape their range by dashing forward and attacking Ryan. Still, Ryan did that faster and prevented Gustavo from moving. The bolts fell on Gustavo''s body, and his endurance and speed decreased. He panicked. While he fought some enemies that could do that, he didn''t face anyone that could do it so fast. Congrattions! The ss Royal Archer has reached level 93. Your dexterity and stamina have increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased by three points. Ryan was pretty close from obtaining another special ss, so he kept using Vital Hunter like there was no tomorrow. Gustavo activated some buffs and made Ryan fly with a body m, but his magic bows still were hitting him. Without any other choice, he cast an Earth Armor around his body that protected him. Still, the arrows were quickly damaging the armor. Ryan couldn''t help but frown at such spells, while he could use the same, which was Ice Armor, he never used alongside Draconic Transformation. Regardless, he didn''t have time to think about that. Gustavo dashed toward him again, and Ryan was forced to use Teleport. Before Gustavo could stop the charge and look for him, Ryan appeared in front of him and punched his face with a powerful straight. Gustavo fell and rolled on the ground. Naturally, that rose a massive wave of dust. "For someone who wasn''t even trying at the beginning, you sure are using some tricks," Bianca said while Gustavo was getting up. "Anyway, isn''t your body different from thest time?" "Is it?" Ryan asked. "I can''t tell." "Your blue scales are darker than I remember, and as for the dark lines, they seem longer andrger as well," Bianca said. "How did you recover her spirit exactly?" "I just put her spirit inside me," Ryan replied. "Hey, Femradiel, do you know anything about this?" "¡­ No," Femradiel said. "I swear it¡­ if you keep doing those long pauses before answering me, I will¡­ I don''t even know what I am going to do," Ryan said and then facepalmed. "What is wrong with you? You sound like a kid going through puberty." "You are one to talk," Femradiel said. "You are always so edgy and quiet when other people are around, but you are weird enough to give a Warg such a weird name." Ryan wanted toment how bad Femradiel also was weird at the given name, but that conversation wouldst for quite a while if he gives her a chance. While arguing with her wasn''t so bad, Ryan knew that it wasn''t time for that. Femradiel needed some time, for some reason, and Ryan was training. "So, you debuffs onlyst for ten seconds, huh," Gustavo said while he was cleaning his nose dirt with blood. "Now this is better." "You got hit like that just to fall since I wouldn''t attack you there?" Ryan frowned as he asked. "Yep, I bet that you wouldn''t attack someone on the ground, not a sparring partner at least," Gustavo smiled. "You are not the only one who has some neat ideas on his own to deal with troublesome situations." Chapter 644 - Crystal Archer In the end, since they didn''t have anything better to do for the rest of the day, Ryan and the others sparred until sunset. Thanks to that, Ryan made a lot of progress. More than he had expected. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Hexde, Royal Archer, and Sorcerer? Y/N? Ryan obviously chose yes, and while he knew that he wouldn''t obtain sses like the ones he obtained after sacrificing only ranged sses, he still was expecting a lot. After all, two of those three were tier-three sses. As it turns out, he wasn''t disappointed. Congrattions! You received the ss Crystal Archer. You learned the skills: Ruby Arrow, Emerald Arrow, and Sapphire Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ruby Arrow. Effect: A special arrow made of ruby that causes a fixed amount of damage per level. The damage caused by them cannot be healed or recovered for thirty seconds. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by 100. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Emerald Arrow. Effect: A special arrow made of emerald that causes a fixed amount of damage to the target''s stamina per level. The damage caused by them cannot being healed or recovered for thirty seconds. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by 100. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sapphire Arrow. Effect: A special arrow made of sapphire that causes a fixed amount of damage to the target''s mana per level. The damage caused by them cannot be healed or recovered for thirty seconds. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by 100. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. "Crystal Archer¡­ what a weird ss," Ryan muttered. Everyone noticed that Ryan obtained a new special ss, so they asked him for details during dinner. In the end, Ryan exined to them and also decided to stay until the next day to see if Poseidon will do something. Unless he were a fool, he wouldn''t leave the seas, or unless he is one hundred percent sure that he can kill all his enemies even outside the ocean. Ryan wasn''t the only one, but he stayed on guard duty throughout the entire night. In such moments, Femradiel used to talk a lot, but she still was silent and never started any conversation. Fortunately, someone else decided to speak with Ryan and make his worries disappear. "You can rest easy," Isis suddenly said via Telepathy. "Poseidon won''t do anything, while you took your time to rescue your friend, Poseidon now knows that he has many enemies, he won''t leave the oceans and risk himself and his sons leaving his domain trying to hunt you." "Is that so¡­" Ryan said. "I don''t think my group was responsible for scaring Poseidon. Can you exin how you did it?" "I didn''t do anything, I just stayed on the support role, my contributor was the one who caused Poseidon some real problems," Isis said. "Naturally, I can''t tell what they did." All that secrecy still was bothering Ryan, but in the end, he couldn''tin. He owed Isis as much as he owed Gustavo and the others. While that was slightly bothersome, it wasn''t as much as before. Besides, Ryan needed a certain informationwork, and they could help him more than a little bit with that. "I owe you one for this operation," Ryan said. "If you need help with something, I will give you a hand." "I will remember that," Isis said. "Regardless, stay away from the oceans for a while. We will all do the same for the time being. Poseidon may not have lost not a single one of his sons, but he lost a lot of minions on our end. So, we will stay away from the oceans for the time being." "All right," Ryan said. It was going to be annoying to see Poseidon attacking and destroying all the rest of human civilizations, or what endured all the catastrophes until now, by increasing the ocean''s level. But in the end, Ryan couldn''t do anything about it. Ryan stayed with Gustavo and the others until noon of the next day, just as nned, but after that, he returned to his domain. During the way back, Femradiel didn''t mutter a single word as well. For a while, Ryan thought of using Femradiel''s previous tactic of using the uses in the contract to force her to talk, but he gave up on it. It wasn''t fair for him to do certain things with others when he himself hated when people tried to ask certain things of him. Ryan valued their friendship, but it looked like Femradiel didn''t have the same feelings. He recalled certain words that a wise man said in the past: "People work together when it suits them. They''re loyal when it suits them. They love each other when it suits them, and they kill each other when it suits them." Ryan didn''t imagine that Femradiel would be a friend when he made the pact with her, and he knew that they were only using each other to achieve their own goals. Perhaps it was time to return to that mindset¡­ After returning to his domain, Ryan noticed that the number of golems he had summoned to help Furball decreased a lot. As expected, things were getting harder there. Femradiel summoned her familiars, but Ryan had other ideas. "If you want to help him, you can do it," Ryan said. "However, keep them outside the dungeons. I will let those assholes cause some dungeon breaks inside my domain." Chapter 645 - Novice "¡­ Are you angry because I don''t want to talk about what happened?" Femradiel asked. "I am angry because of those fucking long pauses," Ryan replied. "If you want to stay silent, you will have plenty of time while working with Furball, golems, and the skeletons. Besides, I have new ns that I want to put into motion, so I will need those dungeon breaks." "If you say so," Femradiel said. Golems were sturdier than Skeleton Knights for the time being, and for his n to work, Ryan would need the Skeletons'' Archers. So, he summoned hundreds of them. After creating a massive army of long-ranged monsters that would help contain the poption of enemy monsters inside his domain, Ryan began to ponder about what he should do. It will take a while for him to be able to put the ideas he had in his head into motion, so he could focus on strengthening himself again and decrease the monsters'' poptions. At the same time, he makes sure that other dungeon masters won''te much sooner than expected. Or, he could look for Alissa. Thest thing she needed right now was to be left alone with possible dark thoughts. The question was: how could he look for her when Alissa escaped even Isis''s radar? "It almost looks like I am surrounded by troublesome kids¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "You are quite the troublesome kid yourself," Femradiel said. "Even though you are going through puberty, your sarcasm didn''t leave you, I see," Ryan said. "I am not going through puberty," Femradiel said. "Dragons aren''t like humans." "Whatever you say, kid," Ryan said. In the end, Femradiel didn''t fall for Ryan''s cheap provocations and proceeded to stay silent again. Ryan tried tomunicate with Alissa, but the telepathic link didn''t even activate. It almost looked like she wasn''t in the channel anymore. "She used some magic to cut her connection to the telepathic link," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If Alissa really wants to hide, I don''t think I will find her easily. After all, she had ess to the monsters'' and humans'' systems. There are plenty of skills in both to hide one''s presence." That being said, Alissa is bound to do something big and reckless, be it against humans or monsters. Once that happens, Ryan and Isis will probably notice. So, he could only wait for it. It was hard to imagine that Gustavo and Isis would cause problems like that to Ryan. Still, he made a mental note to stay away from other troublesome guys. As much as they could be useful and friendly at some points in time, Alissa and Femradiel were too unstable. While he could understand that one couldn''t stay the same as some things happen, one couldn''t let certain things change their behavior all that much. However, Ryan was one to talk about¡­ in the past, he was a pretty chill and happy-go-looking guy, but now he was a grumpy young man, too wary of others. It was too troublesome to think about his changes and the other people''s changes, so Ryan decided to have a change of pace by clearing some dungeons, but in the end, the first one he found was only spawning goblins. Level seven hundred goblins, but goblins nheless. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Swordsman, Thief, and Novice. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Novice! You obtained the following skills: Minor Heal, Light Shield, and Exorcism. Your mana and intelligence will increase by two points. Your recovery, stamina, mana, and health will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Minor Heal. Effect: The most basic skill for healers. The amount of health increased will be equal to the level of the skill. Cost: 05 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Light Shield. Effect: It casts a temporary shield that decreases the damage of the next attack suffered by you or your allies. The damage decreased will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by three. Cost: 10 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Exorcism. Effect: It grants you the power to paralyze demons and undead monsters if the target has a lower willpower level than your intelligence. Cost: 10 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "I suppose it is better than nothing," Ryan shrugged. Ryan immediately began to look for another dungeon. However, much to his surprise, Yahiko called him via Telepathy. "Sorry for bothering you again, Ryan," Yahiko said. "But I think someone you know is causing quite the ruckus in China. The silver-haired woman you mentioned before is there." "Alissa is in China?" Ryan frowned. Ryan had talked a little bit with Yahiko about some of his allies. While at the time Ryan was in Japan, his evaluation of her wasn''t that high. Ryan still mentioned Alissa, just as he had mentioned about Gustavo''s group. Naturally, he kept hidden the information that they could use draconic powers. While I had a good rtionship with all of them, nothing says that they would get along with each other. "I used irvoyance to make sure that our borders are safe and that is why I found her," Yahiko said. "She seemed a bit differentpared to what you told me. So, I decided to follow her by using irvoyance. At first, she caused some problems for the survivors there, but now it looks like she is their guest." The behavior changed, Ryan already knew why, but he couldn''t understand what Alissa was doing there. Until now, she didn''t show any interest in any other country, after all. So, what could be the rtion between Alissa''s current problems and China? Chapter 646 - Telepathic Translation "Thanks for informing me of that, Yahiko. I owe you one," Ryan said. "Not a problem," Yahiko said. "I assume that you are going to China and see this friend of yours. Well, let me give you a piece of advice, just like the Indians, the Chinese are too busy dealing with their own dungeons. There are people like me there who are fighting the fallen, so whatever you do, don''t break the bnce of power there. Your friend also needs to hear of that." "Do you think if something like that happens, things will change in China, making the survivors there focus on other parts of the world?" Ryan asked. "It is highly possible, as far as I can tell, the dungeon masters aren''t a problem in China," Yahiko said. "The people who hold most of the power are guardians like me. However, since their numbers are high, the poption is divided. They treat their allies well, but they don''t hesitate to kill each other''s minions. Even the normal survivors had that type of mindset because their families are alive thanks to the guardians. That is why they are busy dealing with each other and focusing on the affairs of their own countries." "I see¡­ I will make sure not to mess up," Ryan said. It was weird that a single country could have so many guardians while Ryan only heard about two of them. But in the end, China was massive, and the poption was also thergest in the world. Not to mention, they had thousands of years of history. So, it was no surprise that they had so many guardians. "Now that I think about it, the fact that my rank isn''t increasing that fast is probably thanks to them," Ryan nodded to himself while he was teleporting toward China. "If Yahiko is in the rank, the other guardians probably are as well." In terms of raw power, they are stronger than Ryan, but since he wasn''t going to pick a fight with them, he only had to worry about not annoying them. Another problem he will have to face is thenguage barrier. Ryan couldn''t wait to find someone who can speak English that easily. "There is a skill called Telepathic Trantion. It should help you with that," Femradiel said. "So, you don''t want to talk, but you want to read my thoughts," Ryan said. "That is not the case. You just think too loudly," Femradiel replied. Ryan decided to keep quiet about it, and then he began to search for the skill she mentioned. It was there, and it was rather cheap, probably because it was a skill that was a variation but also needed Telepathy to be used. Telepathic Trantion Tome. Effect: trante allnguages and cause others to hearnguage they understand and vice versa. It only works when using beings from your world or that have the same origin. Cost: 50 mana per second. Price: 10.000.000 coins. "I must be getting insane, thinking that ten million coins aren''t that a high value," Ryan frowned. Despite saying that, Ryan quickly bought the spell and used it. To make sure that the spell was working, Ryan looked for Natasha and used Telepathic Trantion. As expected, Natasha frowned when she heard Ryan speaking in Russian. "It has been a while, Natasha," Ryan said. "It looks like things are going pretty well on your end." When Ryan used irvoyance, Ryan saw her walking around her camp. Her ce got bigger in just a few months, not to mention, she looked rxed and so did the people around her. "Ryan? When did you learn Russian?" Natasha asked. "I didn''t. I am using another skill to trante thenguage," Ryan replied. "Regardless, I didn''te to talk to you about that. I just wanted to warn you and your friends about the dangers of the sea. Poseidon is the first of the Greek gods who returned to Earth, and we are facing some problems thanks to him. I also wanted to ask if you guys are having any problems at the border with China. Did you guys get attacked? A fight already broke out? How are things in China from your perspective?" "Woah, slow down," Natasha said. "One question at a time, please." In the end, Ryan heard the same things he heard from Yahiko. While he trusted his report, he needed to confirm it from someone else''s perspective. While Natasha noticed that something was odd in the sea, none of their camps were anywhere close to the coasts, so Poseidon wasn''t an immediate problem for them. Ryan quickly reached China, but while he could immediately teleport to the ce Yahiko mentioned, he avoided doing that. It would be too suspicious if he were to suddenly appear in the middle of the country. Fortunately, the ce Alissa had been seen wasn''t that far away from Japan. She was supposed to be in Shanghai. After reaching the Eastern coast, Ryan quickly found the city and couldn''t help but frown while looking at it. Ryan had heard that Shanghai was pretty advanced and certainly was one of the most impressive cities on that side of the world, technologically speaking. While Ryan found some buildings that had been built before the monsters appeared, most of them were made of wood. Not to mention, Shanghai was massive¡­ It was the biggest city built after the monsters'' arrival. Ryan approached while flying, and thanks to that, dozens of soldiers came flying from Shanghai to receive him. Naturally, they were heavily armed, and Ryan could also tell that they were powerful. Still, he made sure not to use any skill or even Appraisal on them. He couldn''t look suspicious if his only goal was to find a friend. "Hello, my name is Ryan, and I am looking for a woman who has silver hair," Ryan said. The soldiers frowned when they heard Ryan''s voice inside their heads. Still, in the end, they didn''t do anything aside from looking at him with dubious eyes since they probably know about Alissa. Chapter 647 - Night Ranger "Who are you, and what do you want with her?" One of the soldiers asked. "I am her friend, and I am worried about her since she lost someone important recently," Ryan replied. "I just need to confirm that she is alright." Ryan was trying to be as friendly as possible. Still, in the end, the Chinese soldiers didn''t rx even a little bit for some odd reason. It didn''t look like they had problems with foreigners, so they had no real reason to be so wary of him. Or maybe the fact that they didn''t have many visitors was the cause of that. While Ryan was expecting a positive answer, he noticed that Shanghai didn''t suffer from Poseidon''s flood. While the ground around was wet thanks to the seawater, the city itself waspletely fine¡­ probably because it was inside someone''s domain. While Ryan was thinking about that, someone suddenly appeared in front of the group of soldiers. It was a tall man who had long ck hair tied up in a ponytail. He had a red spear, a magic weapon that made Ryan feel shivers while looking at it. He was also wearing weird red armor that didn''t protect all his upper body, only his torso and left hand. "I heard about you, Ryan," The tall man said. "My name is Fang Shi, and I will need to ask you to leave this country." "Did I do something that offended you?" Ryan asked. "Not yet, but you did it to a friend, you lied to Alissa, and that is more than enough for me to decide that you are not wee here," Fang Shi replied. "She became a friend of yours rather quickly, didn''t she?" Ryan asked. "May I ask what she is doing here?" "She asked me to answer you this, but she also asked me not to let you get any closer to where she is," Fang Shi replied. "Swear to me that you will leave once I answer the question, and I will tell you." "¡­ I swear it," Ryan replied. "She wants to investigate another world by herself, and she said that she doesn''t want to be bothered," Fang Shi replied. "We have a dungeon that is spawning Earth Dragons, and she wants to learn more about them." "¡­ All right then," Ryan said and then turned around. "Thank you for answering my questions." Ryan left because even though Alissa probably decided that without thinking, it was her decision. If she doesn''t want to see him anymore, Ryan will respect her wishes. Regardless, she probably made some agreements with Fang Shit to obtainplete control over a dungeon that spawns dragons, and Ryan couldn''t help but frown while imagining them. "You gave up much sooner than expected, don''t you think?" Femradiel asked. "I was trying to help her out of consideration," Ryan replied. "But if she is willing to go that far in order to avoid me, I don''t feel like wasting any more time than I already did." "So, the old, cold, merciless, and grumpy Ryan is back?" Femradiel asked. "Back in full power and with improvements," Ryan replied and then used Teleport. Once again, Ryan reminded himself to stay away fromplicated individuals. He had too little time to waste with them, even though his weekly sleeping hours barely reached the two-digits mark. Regardless, before returning home, Ryan decided to clear the dungeons in Canada he left behind due to the attack that Isis had nned. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: me Swordsman, Night Ranger, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Night Ranger! You obtained the following skills: Night Shot, Archery Training, and Silence Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Night Shot. Effect: A special arrow that is nearly impossible to detect at night when the user fires it in stealth status. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Archery Training. Effect: It passively increases the speed of level up of your bow and crossbows-rted skills by a percentage based on this skill level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Silence Arrow. Effect: it grants you the power to fire a single arrow that might put the foe into silent status for a determined amount of time based on this skill level. Cost: 200 mana. You obtained 01 status points. "This time, my luck isn''t so bad, huh," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. It looked like with Archery Training, things proceed favorably for Ryan. While the passive skill probably didn''t work to make sses level up faster, Ryan had plenty of archer skills he wanted to level up, but he just didn''t have too much time. Ryan didn''t know that, but his training time was bound to decrease once again. The world began to tremble, and Ryan quickly realized what was going on, but he didn''t want to believe it¡­ it was a massive dungeon break. "I can feel the poption of monsters increasing," Femradiel said. "Weirdly enough, the dungeons that broke are the ones pretty close to the coasts." "Poseidon¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then said it." How did he cause dungeon breaks?" "No idea," Femradiel said as if that wasn''t her problem. After a long sigh, Ryan began to think how Poseidon did that. It didn''t take him long to imagine how Poseidon did that. Now that he could show his true power on Earth, he probably became a true ''citizen.'' His troops probably were no different. Before, they couldn''t enter other dungeons because they were invaders, but that is no longer the case. Chapter 648 - Hard To Kill "Poseidon probably used his flood to make some of his minions enter those dungeons, when the waters reached a level high enough to no one notice it," Ryan muttered to himself. "Regardless, he probably broke the dungeons that his allies have¡­ time to warn everyone again." Ryan used the telepathic link to warn Gustavo and the others while he was flying to look for the dungeons in his country that broke. Much to his surprise, there were dozens of them. "I guess Greek gods wouldn''t create dungeons and summon monsters that would reveal their identity," Ryan said. "Shit¡­ I guess not even the ice golems that I used to seal some dungeons were of much use if Poseidon''s sons attacked my armies." Ryan imagined that Isis would contact him soon, but she probably was caught off guard as well, so she must be busy dealing with the hordes of monsters. She probably knew that Ryan would focus on defending his country again, so she won''t ask for help. The first dungeon that had been broken that Ryan found was on the border between the United States and Canada. Fortunately, Ryan found a certain bunch fighting against the monsters¡­ they were Alissa''s soldiers. They probably left the base to look for her, but their mobility wasn''t that great since they always relied on Alissa for that. Ryan quickly found one of the dungeons he had sealed, and things were just as he had expected, his golems had been killed, and dozens of thousands of minotaurs could be found around the ce. Some of them were spreading their area of influence, but most of them were guarding the dungeon. They even created some defenses with Earth Maniption. That was proof enough that someone is controlling them. Minotaur ¨C Lv 825 Health: 83.000/83.000 Mana: 15.000/15.000 Stamina: 35.000/35.000 Strength: 7500 (+ 300) Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 2500 Intelligence: 2500 Endurance: 9000 (+1300) Control: 3000 Mentality: 2000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 20.000 Willpower: 5000 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 630¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 400, Herculean Strength Lv 400, Axemanship Lv 400¡­ Spells: Earth Maniption Lv 350 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 50, Cold Resistance Lv 50, Shock Resistance Lv 50¡­ "¡­ Fuck me," Ryan said after a long sigh. It would take too long for Ryan to take out so many study monsters, unless¡­ he uses an unorthodox strategy. Fortunately, Ryan soon came up with one, which would help him quite a lot in other aspects. First of all, Ryan moved to high in the sky at an altitude where his presence wouldn''t be noticed, even if he uses Draconic Transformation. After doing that, he activated several buffs that increased his strength and also started Concentrated Strike. The skill began to level up like crazy, even though he hadn''t hit anything with it. Things will be even more impressive when he attacks. When Ryan felt satisfied with the power behind his attack, he started a free fall toward minotaurs. Once he noticed that they noticed his presence, Ryan teleported to the right above them. Before they could react in any way, Ryan punched several minotaurs, smashing them to a pulp and then hitting the ground. The energy on his fist spread around the area, causing a massive amount of destruction and killing thousands of the monsters around him¡­ since Ryan wasn''t used to attacking like that, even his body suffered a lot of damage. Congrattions! The ss Monk has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Iron Fists has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Warrior has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan received so many notifications that he could barely see them one after the other. His melee sses leveled up like crazy, and he received millions of coins. While the enemy was causing so many problems, working like that didn''t seem so bad¡­ but then Ryan cooled his head because even if he kills all the monsters that were spawned thanks to the dungeon breaks caused by Poseidon, they will return on the next day or even after just a few hours. Most of the enemies suffered damage, but only half of them were killed by Ryan''s attack. Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and began to bombard them, but he didn''t stop at that. He used Ice Breath, even though it wasn''t his style to use that skill to defeat a massive number of enemies. At first, the minotaurs tried to attack Ryan, but only a few of them got close enough. They weren''t at the level where they could stop Ryan in his draconic form. After losing one-fourth more of their troops, the minotaurs'' behavior changed. They began to escape toward all directions¡­ that had been too fast for an improvised retreat. "The dungeon master gave them the order to escape¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "No matter¡­ I don''t have time to waste chasing the leftovers." Ryan deactivated Draconic Transformation and then used Invisibility to disappear. He immediately teleported to the next area, and after a while, he found another dungeon that broke. Still, he found Daniel''s group fighting the monsters there. While they only had six people on their side, they cut through the enemies'' line as if they were a hot knife and the monsters were butter. Speaking of the monsters, they were Orcs¡­ another species that was pretty sturdy. "Is it just a coincidence that most of these monsters are hard to kill?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Ryan finally found a dungeon that broke that day and that he hadn''t cleared yet. However, when he checked the level Brute Feralligators, Ryan noticed that their levels were pretty low. Thanks to that, he noticed that such a type of monster hasn''t been found in the country yet¡­ that was a dungeon that just appeared a few weeks prior. "I can''t understand what the Greek gods are nning with this, but I certainly can''t let their minions grow in number and strength in my country," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Ryan attacked the monsters, but this time he didn''t focus too much on them. While he was attacking with his magic bows, Ryan was trying toe with ways to prevent such situations. Chapter 649 - Avenger Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Avenger, Poisonous Archer, and Arch Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Avenger! You obtained the following skills: Counter, Avenger''s Spirit, and Vengeful Explosion. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Counter. Effect: It grants you the chance to attack simultaneously with the enemy despite the difference in speed. This skill grants you two percent more physical damage per level while active. Cost: 200 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Avenger''s Spirit. Effect: It temporarily increases all your attributes based on the skill level and per each fallen ally in the current battle. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Vengeful Explosion. Effect: A special skill that makes you unable to move or do anything for a determined amount of time based on the skill level. While the skill is active, all the damage received by the enemies will be returned to them in a single massive explosion. Each level grants you the chance to reflect the damage received during 0.1 seconds. Cost: 10.000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "Avenger? What a weird ss¡­" Ryan frowned after he cleared the Brute Feralligators dungeon. Ryan didn''t use the same strategy to kill the monsters since he needed some time to think, so he didn''t exterminate the monsters as fast as previously. But at least he came up with a way to prevent those forced dungeon breaks. Regardless, that was a question forter. Right now, Ryan was more interested in the Avenger ss. The skills certainly were something else that would prove to be quite useful in the hands of a melee fight, but Avenger''s Spirit could help Ryan quite a bit as well. He just needed to learn if the skill would work if his summoned monsters fall. "Well, the chance to confirm that will eventually show up," Ryan said and then turned to the side since it was almost time for Poseidon''s flood. The ocean''s level increased, and with it, Ryan felt the presence of several monsters approaching as well. He made sure to kill those, but in the end, he didn''t feel that satisfied. While the waters increased a lot and advanced through thend, in the end, only things that had ten meters of height or less were submerged temporarily. Meaning, small creatures were causing the dungeon breaks, and Ryan didn''t feel the presence of Poseidon''s son. As if that wasn''t enough, he finally noticed why only sturdy monsters showed up in the dungeon breaks¡­ It was because they were the only ones who could survive underwater for several minutes while the ocean waters crashed against them. "I will have to adapt my ns," Ryan said and then teleported to the coast. "Isis didn''t say to you to stay away from the ocean for the time being, didn''t she?" Femradiel asked. "I am not going to fight, and I will erase my presence," Ryan said. Then he used Animalistic Transference to make his Hydra approach his body. "Let''s find some allies for you." Ryan gave Hydra the order to look for other Hydras and attack. It didn''t take long for that to happen, and as expected, even though they reached the max level, the hydras still were growing powerful. So, his own Hydra wasn''t powerful enough to deal with them. Ryan had to intervene at thest moment to knock down the monster unconscious. Before anyone could feel his presence and react in any way, Ryan tamed the beast. "If they work together, they should be able to take down other Hydras, but¡­ maybe it is not enough," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Considering that Ryan was going to give the order to the Hydras to defeat any monster that approaches the coast and focuses that job when Poseidon raises the level of the oceans, sooner orter, his tamed monsters will be targets of Poseidon''s army. Fighting against other Hydras will make them level up faster, but even so, that wasn''t enough since they had more or less the same strengths and weaknesses. After checking the dungeon shop, Ryan found a skill that might help them with that. Thunder Beam Tome Effect: it grants you the power to fire a beam of energy that causes massive magic damage and paralyzes the target for its duration. Cost: 300 mana per second. Price: 10.000.000 "I guess this will do," Ryan nodded to himself and bought the tome, making the item fall on his newest pet. "It will take a while before this skill reaches a level where it can paralyze other Hydras," Femradiel said. "Your n is wed." "They will have twenty-four hours to train the skill. Besides, aquatic monsters are weaker against electric attacks," Ryan said. "So, it will be effective twice as fast than usual, even more so if I give the order for them to use only that skill. Besides, this is only one of the first steps for a muchrger n." "It looks like you are finally using your head again," Femradiel said. "Speaking of which, what is this skill Wolf''s Greed? Are you trying to look cool or something? When did you get this skill?" "I wasn''t the one who named it, and I got it while you were on¡­ Poseidon''s castle," Ryan replied. Ryan almost said, "while you were on vacation." Those were some harsh words since he only had a small idea of what Femradiel endured there. Saying such a thing would only make Femradiel even eager to keep quiet about it. Until now, Ryan didn''t notice anything weird, Femradiel, considering that Poseidon tried to kill her by destroying her memories. Still, it was hard to be sure, given that she was barely talking. Chapter 650 - Runecaster "This type of skill isn''t simr to anything I have seen so far," Femradiel said after reading Wolf''s Greed description. "Is it another type of thing only humans can have? Regardless, considering its effects and requirements. You will need the help of someone to make the skill work effectively." "You don''t need to worry about that. I can use the skill by myself just fine," Ryan said. "I will show you the next time I find someone of Rhodos'' level." "If you say so¡­" Femradiel said. "Since that is the case, I will focus on creating a new body." "Another? Can you even control four of them at the same time?" Ryan asked. "The next body will be different. It will increase my powers exponentially and so will my ability to control multiple bodies," Femradiel replied. "I can''t see how a tyrant dragon could help you with that," Ryan said. "I won''t create a tyrant body, but a human body," Femradiel said. "To seed on that, I will need your blood." Ryan blinked several times after hearing that¡­ Why the hell Femradiel would want a human body? While they could obtain sses and specific skills that monsters couldn''t, he couldn''t see how a human body was better than a Tyrant dragon. "Are you postponing the Tyrant body again?" Ryan asked. "I will make it after this one," Femradiel said. "With a body simr to those of humans, no one will be able to use that technique to suck my spirit out of a body. I won''t be a human like you, but the system will recognize that I am part human and will give me the chance to obtain sses as well." "Whatever, do as you see fit," Ryan said. "How much blood do you need?" "Just a few droplets will be fine," Femradiel replied. "You may not believe me, but you already have more power than me, thanks to all the bonus of the sses. If you had the skills, you would be able to control several bodies, but since you can''t create a new body and have no interest in doing that, you won''t do it." "You are correct. I have no interest in that," Ryan said. Maybe after building a human body, Femradiel won''t have to rely on Ryan for anything, and they can go follow their own paths. Ryan could help but long for the days where he could do whatever the hell he wanted, and no one would bother him. He didn''t have to worry about other people''s problems and opinions, and he couldn''t care less about what other people think about him or his actions. While Ryan knew that surrounding himself withpletely obedient monsters wasn''t good for his ego, it certainly was a lot less troublesome. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I will keep bothering you until the very end," Femradiel said. "After all, even dungeon masters and Greek gods have allies, so I won''t be able to defeat them alone." "I already said to stop reading my¡­ facial expression," Ryan said after a long sigh. "You never said that," Femradiel said. "¡­ People work together when it suits them," Ryan said. "Why did you say that so suddenly?" Femradiel asked. "Well, I guess that does make sense. You help me, and you will be able to keep using draconic powers." Ryan nodded after hearing that, but his expression darkened to the point where not even Femradiel could tell what he was thinking. Regardless, instead of wasting any more time talking about that, Ryan proceeded to look for another dungeon that broke. Once again, he found an army of enemies that he never saw in his country. They were the Magma Golems, and while they would suffer a lot underwater, Ryan couldn''t imagine inorganic creatures drowning. Since Ryan had the advantage elemental over them, the monsters didn''tst long, and the army was quickly decimated. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Runecaster, Ouw, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Runecaster! You obtained the following skills: Sharp Rune, Toughness Rune, and Support Rune. Your strength and intelligence will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, health, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sharpness Rune. Effect: It grants you the power to create a rune that can be used to increase the power of weapons. The extra damage will be based on the level of the skill. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Toughness Rune. Effect: It grants you the power to create a rune that can be used to increase the defensive power of items. The extra defense will be based on the level of the skill. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Support Rune. Effect: It grants you the power to create a rune that can be used to increase health, mana, and stamina of essories. The extra bonus will be based on the level of the skill. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. "Oh? As ofte, I am obtaining some really interesting sses," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. Ryan''s mood improved quite a bit after gaining that ss. It looked like he could improve his equipment even without relying on materials from another world. After doing experiments, Ryan learned that he could only put one rune in each piece of equipment. That wasn''t so bad because the most potent rune would always be the one active in an item. Even better, Ryan only needed mana to create runes. However, Ryan soon woulde to learn that things wouldn''t proceed favorably to him for long. Chapter 651 - Hard To Describe When Ryan was about to look for another dungeon that broke, Isis contacted him. That had been a lot sooner than he had imagined. But soon, he understood why Isis contacted him like that. "It looks like you have been busy dealing with the forced dungeon breaks," Isis said. "Do you know that Poseidon was the one who nned that?" "Yes," Ryan replied. "Good, that will save some time," Isis said. "Poseidon is nning to make the other Greek gods return as fast as possible, but he understood that staying on the defensive won''t help them all that much, so he devised another strategy to achieve that goal. He is defending his allies by making their dungeons break, but he is also attacking his enemies." "How exactly is he attacking his enemies?" Ryan asked. "You said that he wouldn''t leave the ocean any time soon." "He found a way to attack without leaving the oceans," Isis replied. "It is hard to describe what he did since I didn''t see it. All that I know is that one of my allies'' camps was decimated in a single moment. You need to warn your friends and make them watch the skies. I don''t know how, but Poseidon destroyed a ten kilometersrge survivors camp attacking from above." Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ it seemed weird that the god of the seas would attack from the sky, and no one would live to tell what happened. Regardless, everyone knew that Poseidon was resourceful enough to pull a crazy stunt like that. "Don''t you have any spy that is keeping an eye on Poseidon''s castle?" Ryan asked. "I have, but even though I canmunicate with them, they didn''t notice anything out of the ordinary there," Isis said. "That is why I decided to warn you. Most likely, he will attack those that participated in thest attack. My allies had a domain, but not even their barrier resisted. So, your own domain might be a target. That is all I came to say. I will keep investigating that ce." After that, Isis canceled Telepathy, and Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what had happened. How Poseidon, the god of the seas, managed to destroy a domain and everyone inside it with an attack from the sky? Ryan pondered about that while he headed toward his domain. After confirming that things were fine there, Ryan told Gustavo and the others what Isis told him. At the same time, he checked things in Daniel''s domain. He had no other choice since Arthur and Zoe were there. That being said, Daniel is quite powerful, so he probably will be able to prevent the destruction of his domain. He had a lot of human allies, and they were better to gather energy for the domain. "It is a bit too soon for that, but at this point in time, I will have to speed up things a little bit," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan used Earth Transformation and Earth Creation to make some iron towers around his domain. Above those, he put some tforms that would be used to garrison skeleton archers. While those monsters still were at a low level, their long-ranged attacks would give them the chance to attack most flying enemies even before they got too close. Ryan also created some ballistae. Since the skeletons'' mana would be used to charge them and several skeletons would use them, their firing speed would be pretty decent. It was a pity that Ryan couldn''t teach them skills, but he will make do with the things he has. After creating dozens of those towers, Ryan didn''t feel satisfied. So, he spent several hours hunting specters and turning them into Spiritualist''s Crossbows. Those weapons only be truly useful once they are upgraded ten or so times. Still, Ryan didn''t have time to create, much less upgrade so many weapons for thousands of skeletons. Since he could only create so many weapons using specters without causing a dungeon break, Ryan decided to use the other monsters that were spawning inside his domain. With the Giant Skulls, Ryan could forge weapons that could cause direct damage to a foe''s mana. Ryan armed five hundred skeletons with crossbows in a single day that could decrease and steal a foe''s mana. "I don''t feel satisfied yet, but I can only stay here for so long," Ryan muttered. "Poseidon probably used a long-ranged magic attack using some kind of tool. If my skeletons attack the tool''s mana pool, the attack won''t destroy my domain¡­ probably. At the very least, by using them, I will gain some time to use Teleport and return." Ryan would need to keep an eye on his domain at all times, but that was only natural. The tutorial was over now that some dungeon masters are finally able to show their true power on Earth. After making a mental note to arm at least two hundred of his skeletons every day to strengthen the defenses of his domain, Ryan departed to check which dungeons broke while he was working on his domain. While Ryan was checking for those, he found some low-level dungeons and decided to clear those just to check one thing. After cleaning two in a matter of minutes, he confirmed his suspicion. Your dexterity has increased by one point. Congrattions! The skill Elven Mastery has leveled up. Elven Mastery leveled up a single time after Ryan cleared ten dungeons. Just like Wolf''s Greed, that leveled up after he used the same skill for ten seconds. Regardless, that wasn''t really the question¡­ what really mattered was that he could level up the skill and increase his dexterity by clearing dungeons that he already cleared. That would help Ryan quite a bit in the long run¡­ ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 42 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 41 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 33 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 39th Health: 8025/8025 (15,02/s) Mana: 10075/10075 (15,02/s) Stamina: 10630/10630 (15,02/s) Strength: 831 (+958) (+130) Dexterity: 8653 (+6855) (+550) Speed: 1220 (+3460) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2894) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+829) (+160) Control: 1426 (+3490) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+1053) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+90) Recovery: 3950 (+4250) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+1151) (+40) Coins: 69.566.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 65 (+ 20 UP), Ruby Arrow Lv 01, Emerald Arrow Lv 01, Sapphire Arrow Lv 01, Night Shot Lv 01, Silence Arrow Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 118 (+ 03 UP), Concentration Lv 118 (+ 03 UP), Archery Lv 118 (+ 03 UP), uracy Lv 118 (+ 03 UP), Stealth Lv 118 (+ 03 UP), Wolf''s Greed Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Elven Mastery Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Archery Training Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Avenger''s Spirit Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 80 (+ 08 UP), Minor Heal Lv 01, Light Shield Lv 01, Exorcism Lv 01, Telepathic Trantion Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Counter Lv 01, Vengeful Explosion Lv 01, Sharp Rune Lv 01, Toughness Rune Lv 01, Support Rune Lv 01, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 11, Fear Resistance Lv 16 (+ 10 UP), Fire Resistance Lv 47 (+ 07 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 39 (+ 07 UP), Fast Conjuration Lv 25 (+ 06 UP) sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Champion Lv 27 (+ 09 UP), Magic Archer Lv 95 (+ 10 UP), Iron Fist Lv 34 (+ 09 UP), Necromancer Lv 39 (+ 14 UP), Brawler Lv 40 (+ 12 UP), Novice Lv 01, Night Ranger Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Avenger Lv 01, Runecaster Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Alchemist Lv 88 (+ 07 UP) Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 652 - War Priest Until the next day, Ryan cleared the nearby dungeons in order to use the effect of Elven Mastery and to make it level up as well. After that, Ryan checked the situation with his Hydras. As expected, they grew a bit stronger, but it looked like they didn''t seed in the task of preventing the dungeon breaks. After using irvoyance, Ryan checked that eight out of the ten dungeons that had forced dungeon breaks in the previous days had another forced dungeon break. "Either I need more Hydras, or the minions that Poseidon is using are too strong and can''t be taken out that quickly," Ryan nodded to himself. "Well, this was to be expected." While he did that once, Ryan wouldn''t spend ten million coins again to power up a Hydra or more than one. So, he had to look for another method. Ryan didn''t know much about the Greek gods, speaking of their personality. Still, he was pretty sure they wouldn''t run andin to Poseidon if his minions failed to make their dungeons'' levels increase. Most likely, all that had a single goal of increasing the monster poption and the mana level of the world. So, even if some dungeons in a single country don''t break, they won''t make much of a fuss. In the end, Ryan decided to let his Hydras try to hunt the troublemakers underwater. At the same time, he will hide his skeletons in the dungeons that they were targeting. The skeletons would make sure to kill the enemies from all sides. Although their levels were low and could only cause so much damage, a few hundred of them should be enough to prevent those forced dungeon breaks for a few days. When Ryan decided to put that n into motion, he noticed that he wouldn''t have to seal all the ten dungeons by himself. Alissa''s soldiers still were guarding the first dungeon near the border, and Daniel''s group split up and were guarding two dungeons. Another one was being protected by another group of survivors that came from the underground base. So, Ryan only had to seal six dungeons. Thanks to his massively powerfulbo that was using Concentrated Strike, some strength buffs, and Draconic Transformation, Ryan cleared five of those dungeons in a single day and filled them with skeletons. As for thest one, Ryan had to wait for Poseidon''s flood to disappear. Fortunately, not everything was bad news. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Soldier, Sentinel, and War Priest. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one War Priest! You obtained the following skills: Magic Fist, Spirit Bomb, and Steel Body. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your health, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Fists. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a magic fist that can be controlled directly by your mind. Every ten level-ups, you can summon an extra pair of fists. Cost: 50 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spirit Bomb. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a sphere of mana that explodes upon contact causing physical and magical damage. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Steel Body. Effect: It increases your speed and endurance by five points per level. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "I guess this will be a useful ss when I need to use my fists to fight," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Firing bolts and arrows are good and all, but they are too small, and their area of effect is equally small. I assume using Magic Fist while Draconic Transformation is active will summon some big ass fists." Ryan decided to check that, but then he stopped when he looked at his arms after transforming. The dark lines around his body had increased¡­ before, they could only be found around his chest and back, but now they reached their elbows and his neck. "Your friend was right¡­ your draconic transformation is changing," Femradiel said, which was weird since she rarely starts conversations as ofte. "I can feel some corruption in the mana that you emanate in that form¡­" "Corruption?" Ryan frowned. "Dark energy¡­ you didn''t face any liches until now, but you faced some undead trents," Femradiel said. "Do you know how a lich and an undead treant are born?" "No," Ryan replied. "They are filled with dark energy¡­ their dark thoughts consume their minds, and that affects their whole body," Femradiel exined. "In their case, the fear of death is what makes them turn. Thus, they be undead creatures and be an existence that can''t age." "I can''t say that I don''t fear death, but I don''t seek immortality," Ryan frowned. "I don''t feel like turning into an undead either." "I was just giving you an example," Femradiel said. "You heard about cursed dragons from Orgar, didn''t you? If you let your dark thoughts take over your mind, you will be one." While that was a problem, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. How could he not have dark thoughts when he has to deal with so many problems at the same time? All his anger and wish for power weren''t helping Ryan. It would be different if those dark marks made him stronger, but since that was the case, he had to cool down his head and forget about certain things that most likely were bothering him. The only way for Ryan to forget those problems was by doing things that he liked to do, and that was to hunt monsters without being bothered by anyone. Chapter 653 - Acid Archer In the end, Ryan confirmed his theory. The Magic Fists would be the size he was on the very moment the skill was active. It was only obvious that would be the case since when he summons the Magic Bows, they appear on the same size as their originals. "Now I just have to check things on the West coast¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I love my life¡­ I feel like a firefighter who doesn''t have days offs or goes on vacation." In the end, Ryan managed to finish things on the other side of the country after two days. He did it pretty fast, considering that there were no humans in that region that could help him. Regardless, he had the chance to use Elven Mastery and even obtained a pretty interesting ss as well. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Frozen Guard, Acid Archer, and Demon Summoner. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Acid Archer! You obtained the following skills: Acid Arrow, Acid Rain, and Acid Explosion. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Acid Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that causes instant damage and damage over time on the target. It also decreases the target''s endurance and mentality by one point per level for twenty seconds. Cost: 50 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Acid Rain. Effect: It grants you the power to cause a rain of Acid Arrows. The effects of Acid Arrows can also be applicable to the skill. Cost: 500 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Acid Explosion. Effect: it grants you the power to summon a powerful arrow that explodes and spreads a massive amount of acid in a vast area. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. "It is weird since this feels more like a mage ss, but oh well¡­" Ryan shrugged. "It will certainlye in handy." "My new body is ready," Femradiel said. "But I need to give you a few warnings before anything." "That was fast," Ryan frowned. "I used less mana this time because I assumed I would adapt faster by creating a normal body, one that has no powers whatsoever," Femradiel replied. "I will have the same level of strength a human had when the dungeons began to spawn here." "That sure sounds weird," Ryan frowned once again. "Aren''t you an experienced dragon? Your new bodies are always weaker than your previous, and you don''t need to adapt to them." "When I mentioned adapting, I was talking about the sses," Femradiel replied. "There is another reason for that, though. Once I am recognized by the system, our contract might break, and you will lose your draconic powers. By leaving most of my previous power and knowledge sealed inside of you, we will have other benefits as well. If this new body were to be destroyed, I could always reconstruct it, and I won''t have to start from scratch." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that. It wasn''t much different from before since Femradiel''s familiarity could always be recovered afterward, even after death. Still, it was weird given that she wanted a human body, and the same will have a pretty impressive level of immortality. Of course, a lot more mana will be needed to reconstruct her body as she grows stronger. Still, it didn''t change the fact that Ryan''s existence would give her manyyers of assurance. Ryan couldn''t help but ponder if Femradiel wasn''t nning something. The contract certainly won''t allow her to do anything that might prejudice Ryan, but still¡­ "Since I will need your help with the Teacher ss, I think you should return to the domain before anything," Femradiel said. "Fighting the powerful monsters that are there will also make me stronger faster." In the end, Ryan silently returned to his domain. If Femradiel were plotting something suspicious, he could easily solve the problem by retorting to the contract. Once they returned to the domain, Femradiel didn''t waste time and then summoned her new body. Ryan couldn''t help but frown for many reasons when he saw what Femradiel had created. With the exception of the long and glowing light-blue hair, the deep-blue crystal-like eyes, and the prettyrge boobs on her chest, most of the rest of her body seemed pretty normal. At least from Ryan''s perspective since he already saw Rhodos and his brothers. Just like them, Femradiel looked almost supernaturally beautiful. Also, she was naked. ss: -- / -- / -- Race: -- /-- /-- Rank: -- Health: 10/10 Mana: 10/10 Stamina: 10/10 Strength: 09 Dexterity: 09 Speed: 09 Intelligence: 09 Endurance: 09 Control: 09 Mentality: 09 Luck: 09 Recovery: 09 Willpower: 09 Coins: 00 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: sses: Combat: Non-Combatant: "It looks like you put a lot of thought in some aspects of your body and not a single one regarding others," Ryan said. "You didn''t interact much with other humans either, but it looks like you already understand us quite a bit. To the point where you already share most of our insecurities." "Are you talking about these?" Femradiel said, referring to her boobs. "They just came out naturally while I was trying to create a human body that is perfect forbat." "Yeah, I am sure those are perfect forbat," Ryan said. "Good luck preventing some back pain and stiff shoulders¡­ Whatever, I am going to find some clothes for you." "Is that it? Not a singlepliment?" Femradiel asked. "I thought you said you created a body forbat, not one to be praised," Ryan said. "I guess you are not a good liar, just like most of us as well." Chapter 654 - Question Although it has been a while since Ryan saw any woman naked, he didn''t feel or think anything when he saw Femradiel in her human body. Even though she probably tried to look as appealing as possible for some odd reason. From Ryan''s perspective, that kind of behavior didn''t fit the usual smart-ass attitude that Femradiel has. Fortunately, Ryan knew that he wasn''t sick or anything. It was a question of mindset since he asionally could notice the dragon yer standing randomly, as it should. "When was thest time I called it ''dragon yer?" Ryan thought and then facepalmed. "I guess I stopped after I started going out with Mia¡­ let''s erase both of those thoughts from my mind to avoid some misunderstandings." It didn''t take long for Ryan to find an abandoned clothes store in a nearby semi-destroyed city. So, he just took whatever women''s clothes he found. When he returned, he saw Femradiel at the same ce he had left her. "When are you nning to obtain some power? Are you expecting an invitation?" Ryan asked. "I can''t use the monster''s system in this form, nor the mana that you are obtaining as well," Femradiel said. "Therefore, I can''t do anything to strengthen this body. You will have to help me with that." Ryan facepalmed¡­ Femradiel still could use the monster''s system, but it looked like Ryan was the only one who could benefit from that. While he could teach her using the Teach ss the skills he might learn while she uses the monster''s system, that was another path Ryan didn''t want to follow. It was weird to keep that mindset considering that Ryan also didn''t want to use Draconic Transformation and now was using it all the time, though. "I have better things to do with my time, so don''t expect me to sit around and spend the rest of the year with you teaching skills non-stop," Ryan said. "You can rest assured that once I have a solid foundation, everything will go as smoothly as possible," Femradiel said after she chose some Gym clothes to wear. Ryan decided to look at Femradiel indirectly and directly as possible. From a direct perspective, gym clothes were probably the best types of clothes one could wear with armor since they were light and wouldn''t get in the way while moving. But from an indirect perspective, it looked like she still wanted to look appealing. That behavior still was odd since she sounded too emo in thest few days. "Wear this as well," Ryan said and then tossed to Femradiel some pieces of armor. "I don''t know what people will think when they see someone like you wearing that kind of clothing inside my domain." "Nice excuse. Why don''t you just say that you feel embarrassed while looking?" Femradiel asked. "It looks like human hormones are already making the wrong parts of your body think for you," Ryan shook his head. "And here I thought only men were able to do that. If you continue like this, you will learn the bitch''s lust much faster than I learned Wolf''s Greed." "Let''s not insult each other," Femradiel said as she equipped the pieces of armor. "I already knew that you were a boring guy, but it looks like your dullness increases by the day at lightning speed." After a while, Ryan added Femradiel to his list of students and then quickly made her learn several skills and spells. He had a lot of mana, so he could demonstrate several skills, and the ss did the rest. While Femradiel could learn many more skills and master most of them with a certain level of training, she still decided to focus on ice magic. Adding all that to her instincts and experience that she already had fought, she quickly cleared three dungeons and obtained her first sses. Ryan apanied her to avoid some surprises. After all, her presence didn''t change. It only grew weaker. She couldn''t be captured again, but all caution was necessary. "This should be enough for the time being," Femradiel said. "I am going to train a while inside the domain and help in the fight since your skeletons and golems are decreasing in numbers pretty fast." Even though it was Femradiel, Ryan doubted that she would be able to do much with that body. Regardless, Ryan said that he didn''t have all the time in the world to make her stronger, and he means it. It was time to put the n to bring down Poseidon in motion. While Ryan knew that he didn''t have the power to defeat him in a one-on-one fight, his n wasn''t something that would end in a few days. Skeleton Archer - Lv 75 Health: 970/970 Mana: 1.600/1.600 Stamina: 1.500/1.500 Strength: 260 Dexterity: 1300 Speed: 250 Intelligence: 330 Endurance: 150 Control: 500 Mentality: 550 Luck: 700 Recovery: 400 Willpower: 550 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 80 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 70, Art of Sniping Lv 70, Concentration Lv 80, uracy Lv 80 Spells: me Arrow Lv 65, Frozen Arrow Lv 65, Support Skills: Nocturnal Eyes Lv 70 "It is not enough, but since it will take time to put everything into motion, I will have to use them at this level," Ryan said after using Appraisal on his skeletons. After using the Dungeon Shop, Ryan began to look for some summoning skills. In the end, he actually found the right skill that he needed, but he couldn''t help but frown while looking at it. Summon Red Falcon Tome Effect: It grants you the power to summon a Red Falcon. Cost: 10.000 mana Price: 30.000.000 coins "I already knew that organic monsters could be summoned, but to think that summoning a creature this big andplex would cost only ten thousand points of mana," Ryan frowned. "Come to think of it, am I summoning it or creating this monster?" Either way, the answer would be weird. If it was summoning, why would creatures from another world, most likely, obey Ryan''s summoning. If it was created, howe can a single human create a living being thatplex out of nothing? Chapter 655 - Mana Manipulation Although a few days passed since the time Isis warned Ryan about the fact that Poseidon attacked and destroyed a domain, he didn''t notice anything weird happening. That was good since he had time to prepare for the fight, arm his skeletons and then help Femradiel as well. However, Ryan could recognize very well the calm before the storm. "Ryan, we need your help, now!" Gustavo suddenly said via Telepathy. Ryan, who still was preparing for an eventual battle, suddenly stopped his preparations and then left his domain without thinking twice. He felt the urgencying from Gustavo''s message, and he had a debt to pay. In case something happens, Ryan had thought of a way to move around as fast as possible without being noticed. The trick was simple. He only had to fly so high in the sky where the gravity was weak, and his body wouldn''t be seen, even if he used Draconic Transformation. Alongside with that, he would use Mana-Eater and Fast Conjuration to drain the mana of a magic item and then recover his mana as fast as possible. Thanks to that, he arrived at Gustavo''s camp in just five minutes¡­ just on time to see what seemed to be ake floating in the sky. Gustavo and the others were attacking the floatingke. "The heck is that?" Ryan frowned. In the distance, Ryan saw a group of humans running away from the fight. Then suddenly, Ryan saw what Poseidon was nning to do. Several Sea Storms were casting, and everything around was decimated by it. Gustavo and his allies formed a line to prevent the massive spell from advancing and heading toward their allies. While they seeded, it came with a price: the spell damaged their bodies to the point where even some of their scales were pulled, and they started to breed from noses and ears. Even so far away from the ocean, that spell was that powerful. Ryan approached the battlefield, and then he noticed dozens of Hydras bosses inside the floating sphere of water. No wonder the spell was so powerful. They werebining that strength. Some of them were controlling the water in order to create a fake domain where they had total advantage, and others attacked. Ryan used Ice Breath, and then he froze some of the Sea Storm, but the movement of the waters made the ice break and be liquid again. Without much of choice, Ryan summoned several copies of his gigantic Hydra Bow and then fired. Still, the projectiles stopped amidst the floating sphere of water before hitting any Hydra. "They are doing the same thing Rhodos did," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Ryan, we can''t let that thing reach our allies," Gustavo said. "I already know that. What is your n?" Ryan asked. "Resist until they give up," Gustavo replied. "We can''t get closer to the Hydras because they will be able to advance. We can''t attack, so we can only focus on defense." It looked like Gustavo and the others tried that before and failed miserably. That was what Ryan understood when he saw the massive area that had been destroyed. That is why they were only focusing on using their mana to heal themselves. Still, that wouldn''t solve anything. However, things could change now that Ryan was there. "Let''s retreat for a while and then use mana potions," Ryan said using the Telepathic channel. "I have an idea." "¡­ You are a guy who favors risky ns," Bianca frowned. "Are you sure this is a good idea? What are the chances of sess of this n?" "It will depend on how much mana you can use in a single instant," Ryan replied. "I will teleport all of us to the center of the sphere, and after that, we will unleash our best attacks and destroy their whole domain." Gustavo and the others looked at each other and then nodded. It seemed like a decent n. The sess rate will depend solely on themselves, after all. Besides, none of them had any better ideas. As they retreated, they began to use potions. However, the sphere of water chased them at an incredible speed. Ryan thought that such a thing wouldn''t move that fast, so they will have a lot less time than he had imagined. In the end, Ryan just teleported all of them when they recovered half of their mana; he had no other choice. The very moment they felt the pressure around them changing, Gustavo and his friends used their best elemental toward the Hydras. Breaking their spell was the goal there, but if they fail, decreasing the number of enemies will make things less deadly afterward. For some odd reason, all of them used lightning magic, even though they didn''t agree to it previously. As for Ryan, he used Ice Breath with all his might. Focusing all his mana on that spell, he seeded in increasing the scope and the power of the attack. That had been strangely easy considering that he never tried it before. Probably because he had Hydromancy and Cryomancy¡­ Regardless, in the blink of an eye, his Ice Breath froze a massive area in front of him, turning ten or so Hydras into ice statues. He got lucky. Even without all their mana, Gustavo and the others were also shocked to death by fifteen other enemies. The massive sphere of water began to fall. Congrattions! You learned the skill Mana Maniption! Effect: it increases the power of all of your magic attacks by three percent per level. It also grants you the power to increase the amount of mana used when using all types of skills to make them more powerful. You obtained 01 status points. Only one-third of the enemies were killed, but the other Hydras lost the ability to move freely when the sphere of water fell on the ground. As if that wasn''t enough, the huge chunk of ice that Ryan also created almost smashed them to death. Chapter 656 - Toxic Wizard The Hydras tried to recreate their domain and attack Ryan and the others at the same time, but in the end, creating the massive amount of water necessary wasn''t something they could do instantly. Before they could, Ryan and the others recovered their mana. They attacked the surviving Hydras, who looked more like oversized worms than mythological monsters that caused a lot of trouble a few weeks prior. "Phew¡­ we did it," Gustavo said. "Thanks for the help, Ryan. If you hadn''te so fast, I didn''t think we would have stopped those bastards." "No worries," Ryan said as he checked the loot. "Still, you guys could havee with the same idea and finished things earlier and without me, if just one of you could use Teleport." "I guess you are right," Bianca crossed her arms and then said. "We need that type of skill to prevent those types of surprise attacks and to surprise our targets as well. We should save coins in order for that." "In any case, this was easier than I expected," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows while he watched the destroyed area. "To think that only bosses would be involved in this type of attack is somewhat worrying." "You mean¡­ because there is a chance that there are other groups of Hydras doing the same?" Paulo asked after hesitating. "That is right," Ryan nodded. "If they can use their minions like this, the dungeon masters can cause a lot of trouble without exposing themselves. Anyway, I am preparing a few things to prevent those surprise attacks, relying on Teleport might be enough, but you should think of doing other things. Our first big enemy is a Greek god, who probably can think of some other ways to counter our tactics as well." That was only logical, but it looked like Gustavo''s group wasn''t good at thinking in countermeasures. Since they have been together for thest eight months, they solved all their problems by relying on teamwork and their draconic powers. It will take a while before they get used to doing that. "I doubt that they will approach your camps after this, but if you were to find another one nearby, contact me," Ryan said. "I want to be a pain in Poseidon''s ass, I need to taunt him as much as possible, otherwise, he will never leave the oceans." After saying that, Ryan decided to return to his domain, but before that, he also alerted Lucas about what happened. While he was the only one who could use Draconic Transformation in his camp, his allies weren''t half bad. They probably wille up with countermeasures to that kind of attack. Since he was there, Lucas showed him a tier-three dungeon that recently showed up nearby his domain. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Berserker, Sentinel, and Toxic Wizard. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Toxic Wizard! You obtained the following skills: Poison Cloud, Poison Spear, and Poison Fang. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Cloud. Effect: It grants you the power to create a poison cloud that will automatically pursue a target and cause damage based on your intelligence and skill level. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Spear. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a Poison Spear that explodes upon contact and causes continuous damage for ten seconds. Cost: 300 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Poison Fang. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a poisonous projectile that will paralyze the enemies for a few moments while causing damage over time. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. "I should have asked Gustavo if any tier three dungeon showed up in his territory," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What a waste." "If you are still closer to them than close to home, you can always return," Lucas said. "Anyway, do you think there is something weird with those tier three dungeons that showed up thiste in the game?" "I need to confirm a few things before to be sure, did this dungeon suffer a forced dungeon break recently?" Ryan asked. "Yes, soon after Poseidon began to increase the oceans level," Lucas replied. "I guess this confirms that hypothesis that he is trying to help his allies with those dungeon breaks." "We should be careful with those tier three dungeons that are close to the coast," Ryan said. "I doubt that they reach the level max before the first dungeons of their owners, but they can be used to keep an eye on people like us." Lucas nodded after hearing that. While people obtained superhuman strength, speed, and powers, information still was as important as it could have ever been. Sometimes, knowledge about the enemy could determine the result of a fight, even when their difference in power was too big. After that, Ryan returned to his domain, and without wasting time, he resumed his preparations. However, after a while, he had a few ideas and decided to confirm those with Femradiel. While she wasn''t causing much damage with her magic, she still was immobilizing the specters with her ice magic. When they tried to steal her mana, she created an Ice Wall to block the attack, and then their attacks destroyed the Ice Wall. She was nowhere to be found. At least from the enemies'' perspective, whenever things got dicey, she would hide behind Furball. "It will take me a lot of time to understand why she chose a human body¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Chapter 657 - Mana Barrier "Why are they focusing on immobilizing the monsters?" Ryan asked when he approached. "Because once I be strong enough, I can freeze or strangle any foe like this," Femradiel replied. "It looks like you left to help your friends, but you returned much faster than I imagined¡­ Did youe to talk about that?" "More or less, I came to ask if with Cold Resistance at this level, can I survive outer space?" Ryan asked. "Did you lose something there?" Femradiel frowned. "Without any protection, you can endure the effects of theck of heat there without suffering damage only if your Cold Resistance reaches level max and Cold immunity reaches level 170. With your current skills and status, you will lose five hundred points of health per second and freeze once your health drops to zero." "I imagined that you would know the answer, but I didn''t expect that you would have such exact numbers," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "You are not the only one who likes to do research, I learned a lot of things as soon as I came to this world and researched others that I couldn''t understand," Femradiel said. "Regardless, if you use certain skills, you don''t have to train Cold Resistance and Cold Immunity. By using Mana Barrier, you can create a space around yourself that will grant you the chance to move even in outer space. For as long as you have mana to keep the skill active." "Mana Barrier, huh¡­" Ryan said and then opened the Dungeon Shop to look for it. Mana Barrier Tome. Effect: It grants you the power to create a barrier of mana that envelops your body cutting all contact with external sources. When suffering damage, the barrier will drain your mana to instantly repair itself. Cost: 50 mana per second. Price: 10.000.000 coins. Femradiel was right. Considering the skill''s effect, Ryan probably could store some oxygen inside the barrier while he moves in outer space. However, while he won''t lose health, he will lose a considerable amount of mana since the barrier will protect him from the cold and damage he would receive otherwise. That was a problem, but it was necessary to reach his goals. Ryan quickly bought the tome and then learned it. Without thinking twice, he decided to test it. Inside the barrier, Ryan didn''t feel any changes in his body as he moved toward high in the sky, nor did he feel light or dizzy like he usually feels when he gets to certain heights. At some point, Ryan stopped flying, and then he noticed that he wasn''t falling¡­ that was kind of scary. Ryan looked around and felt a slight cold on his stomach as he saw the darkness of space, the atmosphere enveloping the, and his mana decreasing at a fearsome speed. Congrattions! The skill Mana Barrier has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mana Barrier has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mana Barrier has leveled up. ¡­ The more the skill leveled up, the less his mana was being spent. In that sense, Mana Barrier was pretty simr to Mana Shield. It bes more efficient with each level up. When Ryan turned around to see the from above, he couldn''t help but smirk¡­ he saw some weird objects flying around. He confirmed his assumption when he used irvoyance¡­ They were massive spheres of water that were transporting some Hydras. "Got you," Ryan muttered. It was a pity, but Ryan couldn''t attack now. He had to be patient and let Mana Barrier level up as much as possible. Once he decided to attack the Hydras, he had to make sure that all of their domains would be destroyed at the same time. Otherwise, Poseidon might notice what Ryan is nning and make them return to the ocean. "I will need to prepare a lot of INT potions for this," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This will be a chance to train my magical sses like no other, so I had to make good use of it. A magic staff might alsoe in handy right¡­ it is a pity I never tried to craft one of those, but I will have plenty of time to do it." "Well, I would rmend you to hurry up with your ns," Isis suddenly said. "I teleported the Oridecon bars and Elunium spheres to your domain, you might want to use them to do whatever you are nning." "How did you find me up here?" Ryan asked. "You should know that irvoyance can find any ce and living being, finding you was easy since you left a trail of mana by keeping Mana Barrier active," Isis replied. "Regardless, we don''t have time to think about that. The level of the dungeon of other dungeon masters are quickly increasing and we don''t have enough manpower to prevent Poseidon causing all the dungeon breaks. We are preparing another attack on Poseidon''s castle; we need to decimate his forces to gain more time¡­ again." "At this point in time, I can''t help but wonder if we aren''t wasting time by doing that," Ryan said. "I can understand this feeling, but we don''t have any other choice," Isis said. "My contributor and I don''t think that we can take down Poseidon without being able to manifest our bodies on Earth, so our only choice is to attack his army and also decrease the armies of other Greek gods." "Speaking of which, when will you and your contributor have the chance toe to Earth?" Ryan asked. "They wille in ten days, as for myself¡­ in three weeks my dungeon will reach the max level," Isis replied. "You shouldn''t expect good changes, though. Once the elder gods began to manifest themselves, the environment won''t be very good for humans. Poseidon doesn''t have the resources yet to drown all the continents, but he will have in the near future. At the same time, most of the elder gods have simr power levels. A battle between beings like that will turn the life of the humans into something hard to describe." Chapter 658 - Negotiations Ryan was hurrying to finish his preparations, but it looked like he would never reach the desirable level of preparation. He needed another source of power¡­ after thinking for a while. Upon finding the pile of materials that Isis brought him, Ryan decided to contact Yahiko. "Hello again, Ryan," Yahiko said once Ryan used Telepathy. "Did something happen?" "It looks like we only talk when something happens, huh," Ryan said. "Today, I decided to contact you to do business. I want to buy dragon hearts." "I imagined that this would happen eventually," Yahiko said. "Usually, I would offer you some since you helped us quite a lot, but it looks like you don''t want a small amount. Thanks to the Azure dragons, themerce in Japan changed quite a bit, so the value of dragon hearts is pretty high. I can give you a discount, but even considering that, I can''t sell them for less than two hundred thousand coins." "All right then," Ryan said. "Can you store one hundred of them every week for me?" "¡­ I can''t imagine someone being able to eat one hundred of every week, but¡­ well, I can," Yahiko said. "Just inform me the precise day you wille and then will be ready." "Roger that," Ryan said. "Speaking of which, do you want the dragon hearts will increase all of your status or only dexterity?" Yahiko asked. "¡­ Can you separate the ones that will increase only my dexterity?" Ryan asked after a few seconds of silence due to the surprise. "Yes, it is possible," Yahiko replied. That was a surprise, but in the end, it was only evident that sooner orter, humans would find a way to exploit even more the dragon hearts. Besides, sses and items that provided dexterity weren''t in high demand since they only increased range and the damage caused by long-ranged attacks. As for melee or magical sses, items and sses that increase strength and intelligence would be useful in other aspects aside from guarding and attacking. Technically speaking, buying all low-level skills and then train them in his draconic form would save Ryan some coins, but Ryan didn''t want to save coins. Instead, he wanted to save time. So while Ryan wouldn''t be able to increase his chances of seeding by using only one hundred dragon hearts, he will save himself of some future problems by eating them every week. Ryan quickly returned to his domain, and then he proceeded to create more potions. Those actually could change the tide of the next battle, so he needed as many as possible. By focusing solely on that, Ryan used all the essences he obtained in thest few days, and then he proceeded to craft a magic staff. One that could exponentially increase his magic elemental damage would be the best option. Still, in the end, it will take too much time for Ryan to find them exactly one that he wanted. "I guess I need to change my ns a little bit¡­ again," Ryan muttered. "If I go with my original n, I might cause some problems for other humans and I won''t be able to use my strengths." "What are you mumbling to yourself?" Femradiel asked. Ryan was too focused on his nning, so he didn''t hear those words. After having a clear n in his mind, Ryan talked with Yahiko once again, and then he went to Japan for the dragon hearts. Yahiko frowned when he appeared there in his draconic form. He frowned, even more when Ryan gave him twenty thousand million coins. He thought Ryan would bargain, but it looked like his image of Ryan was a little bit weird. "You seem in a hurry, are you nning something big?" Yahiko asked. "More or less," Ryan replied. "I can talk with you about it if you want it, but you and your people might get in trouble afterward." "Are you not confident in your n?" Yahiko asked. "We can always give you a hand to increase the chances of sess." "I am confident, but even if I achieve my goal, it doesn''t mean that nothing bad will happen afterward," Ryan replied. "If I seed, I will live for another day, but my number of enemies will increase exponentially. If I fail, I will die." "It seems very troublesome¡­ situation," Yahiko frowned once again. "What will happen if you don''t do anything?" "I might lose several things once again, but I would rather die than experience that kind of thing again," Ryan replied. It was difficult to understand what was hanging in the bnce when Ryan was giving any details. Still, in the end, Yahiko decided not to step forward. Unlike Ryan, he would dly lose several things. As long as he manages to protect his people, everything is bearable. While Yahiko knew that the difference in power between them didn''t decrease all that much, he knew that Ryan''s strength doesn''te from his status and skills alone. He could defeat and have defeated several enemies that were dozens of times stronger than him because his most powerful weapon was his spirit. The hardships he endured turned his spirit into a powerful arrow that was always flying toward a target. With that in mind, and also considering that Ryan wasn''t asking for help, he decided to assume a neutral position. "I wish you luck, Ryan," Yahiko said. Ryan nodded and then ate the dragon hearts in a single moment. After that, he disappeared using Teleport. But, instead of returning to his domain, Ryan returned to outer space. It was finally time to put his n into motion. While the preparations weren''t perfect, he had some ideas on how to achieve his goal. "I wish I could see his surprised face of surprise¡­" Ryan smirked, and then he began to create some massive Ice Arrows that were even bigger than him in his draconic form. It would be best if Ryan had coordinated his ns with Isis and others, but in the end, that would take too much time, and Ryan wouldn''t be able to receive all the profits. It looked like Wolf''s Greed changed his way of thinking much more than expected¡­ but Ryan was aware of that. Chapter 659 - Unexpected Upgrade Ryan created twenty of those two hundred meters arrows, eight to fire at Poseidon''s castle and twelve to destroy those floating spheres. Truth to be told, the arrows didn''t need to be that long, but in the end, he had no idea if the ice would endure the trip all the way to the ground. So, he made the projectiles as sturdy as they could be. However, there was one Ice Arrow that Ryan made sure to increase the size exponentially because that was the one that would cause the real damage. So, that one was three times bigger andrger¡­ that was the arrow that Ryan wanted to fire up Poseidon''s ass for all the troubles he and his minions had caused. Before firing any of those, Ryan began to use mana potions, INT potions, and DEX potions like there were no tomorrow. At the same time, he filled neen of the projectiles with as much mana as possible¡­ mana that had been converted into the skill: Ice Enchantment. While Ryan didn''t use that skill all that much, he made up for itsck of power by using Mana Maniption and the INT potions. When the five minutes of the potions were almost up, Ryan fired them after activating Perfect Shot. The projectiles needed some seconds to gain momentum due to the inertia and due to the fact that they were in outer space, but once that happened. The massive projectiles flew and hit the ground and the targets almost instantly. Ryan''s arrows hit the massive spheres of water, but instead of destroying those, the arrows passed through and froze them instantly. The Hydras also became ice statues. Unfortunately, things didn''t end there¡­ Ryan''s arrows hit the ground and then froze the entire area. In a fifty-kilometer radius, all the spots in Africa and South America that were hit by his arrows now resembled the South Pole. As for the arrows that Ryan used to hit Poseidon''s castle, they didn''t even cause tsunamis. The very moment they pierced the ocean, everything around them froze. Everything from the bottom of the ocean up to the surface and around Poseidon''s castle had be a single massive iceberg, and yet¡­ Ryan still had more. You received 256.689 coins. You received 456.259 coins. You received 688.777 coins. Congrattions! The skill Draconis Transformation has reached level 103. Ryan ignored the notifications as he filled thest and the biggest spear with mana. This time, he was using Electric Enchantment. His goal was to fry Poseidon with a powerful electric discharge¡­ or at least cause a lot of damage and piss him off. Hopefully, the ice will hold him back for a while¡­ "What did you do?" Ryan suddenly heard Femradiel''s voice. "Killing my enemies," Ryan replied. "I am kind of busy here, so don''t bother me." "You attacked Poseidon''s castle and didn''t tell me about it?" Femradiel raised her voice in shock. "Everyone has their own secrets," Ryan replied. "Besides, your current form wouldn''t be of much use in this fight." "I already know that, dumbass," Femradiel said. "But I could have helped you with some valuable information." "I thought you didn''t want to talk about him," Ryan said. "Valuable information about how to increase your power!" Femradiel raised her voice again. "If you weren''t so dumb, you could have increased the power of your attacks by two times. Still, it isn''t toote¡­ you received a lot of mana just now." Ryan had no idea what Femradiel was nning. Still, in the end, she used all the mana that his spiritual form obtained after Ryan''s previous attacks to make Ice Breath and Frost Armor level up. He had no idea why she was doing that, but he didn''t have time to ask about it. However, once both skills reached level one hundred¡­ Congrattions! The skills Draconic Transformation, Ice Breath, and Frost Armor have reached level one hundred. As such, you have earned the right to be promoted from Lesser Dragon to Dragon. The effects of those skills will increase by 100%. "¡­ Why didn''t you tell me that this could happen sooner?" Ryan asked. "Why didn''t you tell me that you were nning to kill yourself by fighting Poseidon?" Femradiel asked. Ryan sighed¡­ in the end, he didn''t have time to waste by arguing with Femradiel. Then, thanks to irvoyance, he could see the iceberg right above Poseidon''s castle cracking¡­ Ryan used tons of mana and potions to stop him, but he only bought thirst or so seconds in the end. In the end, Ryan decided to fire his arrow when Poseidon shows himself. Still, he changed his mind when he saw the Antic Ocean moving in a weird fashion. A stupid amount of water was moving upward, and so Ryan fired. Before the enemy could show up, the massive arrow hit the iceberg and destroyed itpletely. The electric discharge crossed the area and then raised massive steam as water and ice evaporated instantly. Despite that, Ryan could see the entire area thanks to irvoyance, and yet, no signs of Poseidon. He probably got directly by his arrow¡­ It seemed like a golden opportunity to use Wolf''s Greed, but Ryan didn''t approach. Despite the sess of his attacks, he was sweating cold. He could feel a cold murderous reing from Poseidon''s castle or what was left of it. Still, Ryan couldn''t stay in outer space for long. He was basically wasting mana keeping Mana Barrier active. So he returned to Earth, but at a height where Poseidon wouldn''t be able to attack him so freely with the ocean waters. Suddenly, a weird figure appeared in front of Ryan. At first, he didn''t recognize it since he was basically a shirtless guy who apparently wanted to show his six-pack, but then Ryan saw that light-blue trident. After that, the golden hair and the deep blue eyes¡­ It was Poseidon. Ryan couldn''t help but tremble a little while looking directly into the cold eyes of a Greek god. Still, he calmed down a little bit when he saw that Poseidon was bleeding from several parts of his body¡­ his attacks caused damage, and if he could cause damage, he could kill him. Chapter 660 - Poseidons Rage ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "I never learn¡­" Ryan muttered and then sighed. While he could use Absolute Appraisal, it was useless on dungeon masters who had certain defensive skills at a higher level than his skill. Nevertheless, Ryan didn''t have time to think about that. Poseidon pointed his trident toward Ryan, and in an instant, he was enveloped by a massive sphere of water. His body grew heavier¡­ it was the same thing that Rhodos used on him. Fortunately, Ryan didn''t grow that much impatient. Poseidon disappeared from Ryan''s sight, and then he used Teleport to move away. Thanks to that, Ryan saw the very moment the massive sphere of water became a spear just by the swing of Poseidon''s weapon that had teleported to his back. But, again, Ryan didn''t feel mana being used¡­ that was the power of his brute strength alone. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "Shut up¡­" Ryan muttered. It was too risky to deactivate Mana Barrier, but Ryan did that. Poseidon seemed like a warrior in his prime, and he definitely was stronger than anything Ryan had faced so far. Still, his true poweres from his caution. He only revealed himself now because it would be an embarrassment to leave the man who destroyed his castle and killed so many of his minions alone. When Ryan thought that, he realized that Rhodos and his brothers were nowhere to be seen¡­ Most likely, his attack killed everyone inside the castle, with the exception of Poseidon. Poseidon made his trident spear for a moment, and then the massive sphere of water turned into one heck of an Ice Spear. After that, it began to spin. Ryan immediately teleported back to outer space since it wouldn''t be weird if Poseidon could use Perfect Aim. The projectile was fired and lost some power as it left the atmosphere. Despite that, Ryan almost didn''t have time to see it. He bombarded the projectiles with magic bows and then tried to stop the spear with his hands. He seeded at first, but then he felt something kicking his back¡­ Ryan collided against the spear, but his body was stronger and made the weapon break¡­ as he was sent flying back to Earth. Before Ryan could even hit the ground, Poseidon teleported and punched him two other times. He just wasn''t insanely strong; he was insanely fast as well. Ryan didn''t know if Poseidon messed up or not, but he didn''t fall into the ocean in the end. Instead, his back collided against a mountain in the southern part of Argentina. He escaped the ocean, but the pain almost made him wish that he had fallen there, not that it would change anything given how much high he fell. Ryan thought the fall would kill him. He didn''t even have time to react since the shock from the first attack numbed his senses. But, no, it hadn''t been the attack alone¡­ Poseidon used some skills in order to prevent Ryan from moving. Finally, however, Ryan had time to use Full-Heal. Ryan saw Poseidon flying at supersonic speed and then pointing his trident toward his head. Still, Ryan stopped him by using Ice Breath. His attack became powerful enough to freeze even the water in the air, and the ice slowed down Poseidon. When Poseidon reached the mountain, Ryan was no longer there. Instead, he was several kilometers above. "He is too fast¡­ adding that to his strength, he can be deadly just by relying on momentum," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then muttered. "I have to decrease his speed." Hopefully, Ryan won''t waste time by doing that. There were some ways to counter debuffs like the ones that decrease status. Gustavo fooled Ryan once, so he had to make sure that the same thing won''t happen. Ryan summoned his magic bows again and fired after activating Perfect Shot at the very moment Poseidon looked at him. He used Teleport again and appeared behind Ryan, he sure liked to do that, but he had an unpleasant surprise¡­ Ryan''s spear was right there waiting for him. Thanks to his power-up, Ryan''s spear was spinning so fast that even when Poseidon hit the weapon with his trident, he only made it move away for a couple of meters. Before he could think of something to do with the weapon, Ryan''s bolts flew toward him. Poseidon realized that Ryan used Perfect Aim, so teleporting to far away would only increase their numbers, which would be a problemter. Poseidon pointed his left arm toward them, and the bolts simply disappeared. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. "He used Magic Disrupt," Femradiel said. "He made the projectiles disappear by using the same amount of mana they had." That sure was a troublesome skill, but Ryan already expected at least that much from a Greek god. Once he got rid of the bolts, Poseidon swung his trident widely and sent Ryan''s spear flying in the distance. After that, he pointed his trident upward, but Ryan didn''t see anything happened. However, after a while, he felt his body being bombarded by small spheres of ice. Poseidon created thousands of water droplets and then froze them, giving them a pointy shape and making them fall all over Ryan. Each one of them, despite their size, was damaging Ryan''s body while ignoring his scales. In the end, Ryan countered the attack but using Frost Armor. Femradiel used all the mana he had obtained in thest few days, so he might as well use the skill. As expected, Poseidon''s attack didn''t prate the armor¡­ all that much. Ryan''s mana was being sucked at a slow pace to recover the damaged Frost Armor, but it wasn''t a troublesome peace. Chapter 661 - Not Bad Poseidon stopped that attack, and while he was thinking of a way to kill Ryan once and for all, Ryan did the same thing Ice Breath did previously, but without relying on Ice Breath. Instead, he froze the air around Poseidon, and with all his might, he tried to envelop him in a thin but powerfulyer of ice. Just by moving his muscles, Poseidon managed to crack it, but Ryan used Mana Maniption and strengthened the ice prison. Before Poseidon could muster a little more strength to free himself, a massive storm of arrows began to fall over him. He didn''t have time to react since he didn''t see Ryan preparing another attack. In fact, Ryan didn''t prepare for another attack. Instead, he used all his might to keep Poseidon locked in a single ce. Poseidon tried to defend himself by creating a thickyer of water above him. Still, the rain over arrows was more intense than the water he could create without relying on his strength. As if that wasn''t enough, the arrows easily pierced the water and made their way to his body. Poseidon finally snapped when he saw his endurance decreasing. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Poseidon shouted. With his shout, Poseidon dissipated all the ice Ryan had created to immobilize him. Thanks to that, Poseidon confirmed that the arrows didn''te from Ryan''s attacks. Instead, it came from weird creatures that were flying a few kilometers above them¡­ they were Ryan''s Red Falcons and, on their backs, their dozens of Skeleton Archers. Poseidon tried to destroy the projectiles with Magic Disrupt, but he failed since those projectiles hadn''t been fired by Magic Bows. Poseidon swung his spear and easily deflected hundreds of bolts and arrows, but in the end, he barely could stop half of the attacks. Hundreds of Red Falcons flying above them, and each falcon had dozens of skeleton archers on their backs. Poseidon pointed his spear at them, but then he was forced to stop when he heard the sound of something big flying toward him. Ryan had just fired the Gigantic Hydra''s bow. So, naturally, he wouldn''t let him do whatever he wanted. Poseidon swung his trident and then destroyed the massive arrow. Then he immediately teleported to where the Red Falcons were. Firing dozens of Ice Spears, he killed the monsters. Only a few skeletons managed to survive, but those wouldn''t be able to do much while they fall. Another massive wave of bolts flew toward Poseidon, and he stopped them by creating a thick Ice Wall in front of him. He knew such a tactic wouldn''t stop Ryan for long, but Poseidon had confidence that he would kill all the flying monsters before that could happen. However, Poseidon stopped after a while when he noticed that something was off¡­ Ryan''s bolts weren''t damaging the Ice Wall as much as they should. Poseidon stopped attacking, and that gave the Red Falcons the chance to fly away from him. Meanwhile, Ryan was smirking while firing with his Magic Bows and was using some potions. "Go on, attack them," Ryan said. Poseidon didn''t like that situation; his instincts were telling him that Ryan was nning something troublesome. Still, his instincts were also telling him that he couldn''t approach carelessly. Attacking without knowing what was about to happen didn''t seem like a good idea either, so Poseidon began to spin his trident. Then, the Antic Ocean began to approach. Ryan couldn''t help but click his tongue at Poseidon''s caution and stupid control over water. Still, in the end, he decided to make a bet. Ryan kept firing with the magic copies of his Aquatic Crossbow. Still, he also created another arrow with pure wind magic. Poseidon couldn''t help but frown when the spear became an electric spear, and then its size surpassed Ryan''s in a matter of seconds¡­ Ryan shouldn''t have such control over magic. His intelligence wasn''t that high. At that moment, Poseidon used Appraisal on his magic bows and then saw what they could do¡­ they increased the user''s intelligence with each shot. Adding that with all the INT potions he had used, Ryan''s control over magic reached almost the same level as Poseidon. "Dirt worm¡­" Poseidon clenched his teeth and then said. "Oh, you can talk!" Ryan smirked. "Not bad for a fishman." Poseidon dashed toward Ryan since dodging the attack was impossible. He could only prevent its power even more. After all, the more power a magic projectile has, the faster it can be. Poseidon flew toward Ryan from one direction, trying to gain momentum and resist the power of the attack if he were to be hit. From another, Ryan could see a massive part of the Antic Ocean approaching. In the end, Ryan couldn''t move away from that spot. While he obtained a high control over magic for a few moments, he was using all his mind to not let the stupid amount of energy not to disperse. At thest minute, Poseidon increased his speed and pointed his trident at Ryan''s arrow. When that happened, Ryan fired it. He barely had time to see it, but he saw the very moment Poseidon threw his trident against the arrow, and the projectile lost considerable power. That happened once again when Poseidon pointed both of his hands toward the arrow¡­ he used Magic Disrupt, but he didn''t have time to cancel the whole attack. The arrow exploded, and then both Ryan and Poseidon were engulfed by a massive sphere of energy. Ryan''s own attack barely damaged him, ifpared to the amount of power he used. Despite that, he still was sent flying downward at a tremendous speed that made him lose consciousness. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 49 (+ 07 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 46 (+ 05 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 39 (+ 06 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 36th Health: 8655/8655 (16,95/s) Mana: 10675/10675 (16,95/s) Stamina: 11330/11330 (16,95/s) Strength: 831 (+998) (+130) Dexterity: 11500 (+7155) (+550) Speed: 1220 (+3660) (+48) Intelligence: 1181 (+2934) (+33) Endurance: 1348 (+939) (+160) Control: 1426 (+3690) (+10) Mentality: 1258 (+1093) (+70) Luck: 1030 (+120) Recovery: 4350 (+4550) (+845) Willpower: 1280 (+1191) (+40) Coins: 36.985.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Hawkeye Lv 112 (+ 05 UP), Vital Hunter Lv 71 (+ 10 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 128 (+ 10 UP), Concentration Lv 128 (+ 10 UP), Archery Lv 128 (+ 10 UP), uracy Lv 128 (+ 10 UP), Stealth Lv 128 (+ 10 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 49 (+ 12 UP), Spells: Charge Trap Lv 51 (+ 12 UP), Electric Enchantment Lv 39 (+ 15 UP), Draconic Transformation Lv 103 (+ 23 UP), Frost Armor Lv 100 (+ 75 UP), Ice Breath Lv 100 (+ 12 UP), Magic Bow Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 51 (+ 06 UP), Summon Skeleton Archer Lv 85 (+ 26 UP), Mana Barrier Lv 31 (+ 30), Support Skills: Fear Resistance Lv 26 (+ 10 UP), sses: Combat: Crystal Archer Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Enchanter Lv 25 (+ 12 UP), Combat Mechanic Lv 36 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Magic Archer Lv Max (+ 05 UP), Necromancer Lv 56 (+ 14 UP), Runecaster Lv 12 (+ 02 UP), Acid Archer Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Toxic Wizard Lv 01, Non-Combatant: cksmith Lv 93 (+ 05 UP), Teacher Lv 19 (+ 02 UP), Whitesmith Lv 54 (+ 05 UP), Alchemist Lv 98 (+ 07 UP) Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Chapter 662 - Pissed When Ryan opened his eyes again, he found himself deep in the ocean. No¡­ he was at the bottom of the sea, but there was no water nearby. His fall made all the nearby water spread around in all directions. It was no wonder, given that he lost consciousness while falling and when a body of that size¡­ Regardless, he escaped the pain that he was supposed to feel upon impact, but his body waspletely messed up. His limbs were broken and bent in the wrong directions. "You almost died," Femradiel said. "You can thank me for healing you while you were falling, and you can thank Frost Armor. Since I was the one who gave you Frost Armor, you should thank me twice." "I don''t feel healed at all," Ryan said and then looked upward. Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at the sky. He was pretty sure that five minutes ago, he was fighting in a cloudless area. Still, now he could see above him some dark clouds and tornadoes that were firing dozens of lightning bolts at every second. His power-up made him cause that¡­ no, his attack against Poseidon''s charge caused that. "It can''t be helped," Femradiel said. "You sustained a lot of damage while you were falling. I tried to counter it, but things only got worse when you hit this ce. Besides, I used all my mana to make Frost Armor and Ice Breath reach level one hundred." "Where is Poseidon?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know. I didn''t see him until now," Femradiel replied. "If my guess is right, he was sent flying in the opposite direction." Ryan wished that Poseidon was in outer space, freezing to death while being unable to stop his body from moving, but he knew that his luck wasn''t that good. After leaving the ocean since the waters were returning to their natural ces, Ryan proceeded to create potions as fast as he could. He obtained a lot of essences when he destroyed Poseidon''s castle, after all. While he was doing that, Ryan also looked for Poseidon by using irvoyance, but he didn''t find anything close to Earth. Besides, it was kind of hard to find anything, even more so a being who had the size of a human in the emptiness of space. "I don''t like this," Ryan said. "Me neither, even if he didn''t die from the attack, you were supposed to receive a notification if he died afterward," Femradiel said. "You sure look calm talking about Poseidon, even though you don''t want to talk about your captive days," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I am not the type who mops around after having a few bad days," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed after hearing that. It looked like maybe Femradiel had other reasons to keep quiet about it. In any case, it was time to focus on Poseidon. It would be easy to find him if Ryan could feel the traces of mana, but he wasn''t that good at sensing and controlling mana without some help. So, he couldn''t do anything aside from looking at him with his eyes and irvoyance. "Ah, shit¡­ it looks like you pissed him off quite a bit," Isis suddenly said. It was weird to hear Isis talking like that, but that made Ryan realize that his fears were correct. Poseidon was alive, and he was plotting something. Fortunately, Isis could find him. "Where is Poseidon?" Ryan asked. "Beyond the limits of your current Teleport, that is all I can say since it is difficult to say about someone else''s location in outer space," Isis replied. "He is a few thousands of kilometers away from the moon, preparing an attack that will probably decimate all human life on Earth." "What?" Ryan frowned. The words "a few thousand kilometers away from the moon" made Ryan frown, but what he heard after surprised him even more. As expected, elder gods could also prepare charged attacks, and they were probably better than Ryan at it. So, if Poseidon uses a technique like the one Ryan just used it. "Which direction is he exactly in?" Ryan asked. "Turn your head eleven degrees upward and six to the left side," Isis replied. "You won''t find him with your eyes alone, but you can do it with irvoyance." For some reason, Ryan seeded in following those instructions precisely. Then he found some traces of crystallized blood. After that, finding Poseidon had been easy¡­ not because of his presence but because he was creating a massive Ice Spear. His trident was nowhere to be seen, but Ryan was betting that the weapon was inside the Ice Spear. That would increase the power behind Poseidon''s attack even more¡­ currently, the spear was already ten kilometers long. "Hey¡­ I can''t stop something like that," Ryan said. "I will need a hand here." "Unfortunately, none of us can help you right now," Isis said. "I am going to warn my people and try to alert your friends to hide in other worlds. This will take a while, so I won''t return to help you in any way. I am sorry." Ryan couldn''t me Isis for deciding that. He was asking for help now. Still, when he attacked or when he was nning the attack, he didn''t think of asking for anyone''s cooperation. Without any other choice, Ryan activated Power of Money and damaged the spear. At such a point, worrying about his pride was the least of his concerns. Even from so far away, Ryan noticed that Power of Money was working thanks to irvoyance. Still, in the end, despite the usefulness of the skill, he couldn''t decrease the size of the weapon faster than Poseidon could increase it. Regardless, slowing down Poseidon wasn''t so bad. As long as he makes another projectile to stop the Ice Spear¡­ Ryan cut his arm a little bit and then controlled the blood to mix with the Ice Spear he was creating. At the same time, he also created and added titanium. It was a pity that he couldn''t add fire and wind to that projectile because he would need all the skills he could use to increase the speed of the creation of his attack. Chapter 663 - Where Is It? Upon noticing that Ryan wouldn''t let him increase the size of the spear any longer, Poseidon fired his Ice Spear. Ryan couldn''t help but feel shivers since he barely had time to create his own projectile. Fortunately, in outer space, even when one uses magic, increasing the speed of certain projectiles takes time. Even more so considering a spear of that size. Ryan kept using Power of Money to decrease the size of the spear. Still, Ryan wasn''t slowing the projectile, and considering its speed, Ryan''s actions won''t make any difference. Still, he didn''t give up and focused on the task ahead. As the spear grew closer to Earth, Ryan fired his own. It was ten times smaller but was what Ryan could do. After firing his projectile, Ryan activated all the buffs he could think of and then dashed toward the direction the projectiles were going to collide. When Poseidon''s attack began to cross the''s atmosphere, Ryan''s arrow hit it. However, the pieces of the arrow didn''t fly in all directions. They moved and glued on Poseidon''s spear. Before Ryan could try to stop the spear with his own body, he used all his elemental maniptions and Telekinesis to slow down the projectile. Still, at the end, when Ryan collided against the projectile, he barely noticed any difference. Still, in the end, his attack waspletely shattered. Ryan almost lost consciousness while he was being pushed back by the massive spear, but Femradiel used Full-Heal to help. Ryan also could see that she was using magic to help, but Ryan was fast pushed down to Earth in the end. Ryan failed at slowing down the spear, but he seeded at attacking its sides by using magic copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Some cracks appeared on the spear, but the spear still made Ryan collide his back against the ocean, and he still was pushed downward further. While his bones and scales were being destroyed, Ryan considered abandoning that task, but he didn''t stop, even though he was probably going to be crushed by the spear once he reached the bottom of the ocean. Once again, the fight between Ryan and Poseidon caused several tsunamis. It was no wonder, given the size of that spear. However, before Ryan could be crushed by the massive spear, the weapon broke into two pieces. The cracks caused by his bolts, Telekinesis, and the remaining of his arrow helped that. "Femradiel hid the trident with Spatial Maniption!" Ryan said. Soon after saying that, the broken spear of ice made Ryan''s back hit the bottom of the ocean. Ryan tried to resist as much as possible, even by using Full-Heal alongside Fast Conjuration. Still, in the end¡­ he fell unconscious once again¡­ Ryan woke up when he felt his head being crushed by something when he opened his eyes. He saw Poseidon punching his face¡­ that was weird. He should be stronger than that. "Where is my trident?" Poseidon asked. "Go to hell," Ryan said and then summoned his magic bows. Ryan attacked, even though he couldn''t feel a single part of his body and his head was killing him. However, Poseidon stopped the bolts without moving a single finger. He just used Telekinesis to stop dozens of those bolts fired at point-nk range¡­ that was some crazy level of Telekinesis. Poseidon proceeded to punch Ryan once again and thanks to it, Ryan heard and felt his skull slowly cracking. Poseidon was holding back because if Ryan dies, his trident will be gone forever, but it looked like Poseidon wasn''t thinking things through all that much. Ryan was about to die, after all. It was weird. Ryan was no longer at the bottom of the ocean, nor could he see the ice spear that almost took his life and destroyed Earth. It looked like while he was unconscious, Poseidon took him out from the ocean since he couldn''t drown there. Unfortunately, Femradiel couldn''t do anything to help. Ryan saw his health reaching some dangerous levels, and then he changed his strategy. Instead of using bolts that will weaken Poseidon, he used other ones. Poseidon got caught off-guard when Ryan summoned several copies of his Revenge Crossbow, and the bolts scratched his body¡­ he failed at stopping them. His Telekinesis wasn''t enough. Ryan used that brief moment of surprise and then used Blood Maniption to attack Poseidon. A dragon-size fist made of blood made Poseidon fly, and Ryan used that chance to heal himself. While his health quickly was full again, his body and bones were getting mended too slowly. That was a pain in the ass, but at least that pissed Ryan off to the point where he decided to go all out without caring if he would feel satisfied or not afterward. Using Power of Money, Ryan attacked Poseidon''s pretty face. The Greek god frowned when he noticed that he was being attacked by something that he couldn''t understand, but that had been a mistake. Countless Ruby Arrows appeared close to him and then hit his body, causing direct damage and sealing a good part of his health. When Poseidon noticed that things might be messy if he takes his time-fighting Ryan, he made up his mind to kill the human before him¡­ but Ryan was nowhere to be seen. Poseidon felt Ryan''s presence high in the sky and then began to chase after him. Ryan escaped whenever Poseidon got too close by using Teleport¡­ he needed to buy some time in order for his body to heal properly and for another reason. Soon Poseidon began to use Teleport to block Ryan''s path, but Ryan wasn''t caught off guard. Instead of flying in a straight line and teleporting to obvious ces, Ryan teleported to outer space and then smirked when he found it. "I am so dumb¡­" Ryan shrugged and then said. "Why didn''t I think of that before? Probably because the situation got the better of me." Poseidon teleported and blocked his path once again, but in the end, that worked pretty well for Ryan''s n. Before he could do anything, Poseidon was bombarded by arrows, and he didn''t even notice the attack. Chapter 664 - Death Knight Poseidon was shocked¡­ Howe Ryan managed to surprise him? Even Ryan was surprised. He caused too much damage, he only fired a few dozen Lunar Arrows, and now Poseidon''s back was covered in blood. "This is weird¡­ I was using DEX and INT potions while I was running away, but¡­" Ryan frowned. "Didn''t I just cause too much damage?" "Yes¡­ I don''t know if the closer you are to the moon, the more damage you can cause, but the fact that you can see the entire moon from outer space probably is ying a major role here," Femradiel replied. "Still, even if that were to increase the power of your attacks by ten times, you shouldn''t be able to cause so much damage to him. Unless¡­" "Unless?" Ryan asked. "Unless elder gods are weaker against the attacks of other elder gods," Femradiel replied. "Isis said that you had a fraction of the power of the elder gods, and she was talking about Lunar Arrow." That made sense, even more so when Ryan used Lunar Arrows again, and Poseidon teleported back to Earth¡­ for the first time. Poseidon was running away from the fight. Ryan felt likeughing, but he didn''t do it since he did that plenty of times. Regardless, by using Perfect Aim, Deadly Aim, and irvoyance, it was impossible for Poseidon to escape from his Lunar Arrows. So, Ryan kept firing it while Poseidon was teleporting back to his castle. Although they were supposed to be made of light, the Lunar Arrows needed two seconds to fly from the moon to Earth. They were supposed to be twice as fast, but Ryan didn''tin since Poseidon still got hit many times. "He is escaping. What are you going to do?" Femradiel asked. "He is going to a ce where I can''t hit him with Lunar Arrow, probably," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he was using some potions. "He is heading to his world. While it would be a pity to let things end here, I wonder if it is wise to follow him. There is no telling if I will find some of his allies there." Ryan tried to convince himself that having Poseidon''s trident was already good enough. It would be disastrous if Ryan were to chase him and find other Greek gods on the other side. Still, then again¡­ someone as cautious as Poseidon will never expose himself again. In the end, Ryan decided to finish what he had started. Thanks to the fact that Ryan came prepared, he reached Poseidon''s castle even before him. Probably because Poseidon was using all his mana to tend his wounds. Ryan bombarded him with Ruby Arrows, and weirdly enough. All of them hit Poseidon¡­ he was saving his mana to get close enough to the castle and then Teleport to the crystal¡­ Ryan only noticed that when it was already toote. "It is all or nothing¡­" Ryan said. Ryan proceeded to the Hydras'' dungeon and then confirmed that his preemptive strike killed everything in the area. Some new monsters appeared while he was fighting Poseidon, but they pose Ryan no threat to Ryan in the end. Naturally, Ryan obtained a new ss before using the purple crystal. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Death Knight, Poison Archer, and Caster. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Death Knight! You obtained the following skills: Sentence, Bloody Sword, and Spiritual Sword. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sentence. Effect: When killing a foe, you have a small chance of absorbing their spirit and increasing your attributes by one point. As the level of skill increases, the chances of that happening will increase as well. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bloody Sword. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a sword that will cause direct damage to your opponent''s health. The same amount of damage caused will be transferred to you as healing. The damage of the skill is fixed, fifty points per level. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spiritual Sword. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a sword that will cause direct damage to your opponent''s mana. The same amount of damage caused will be transferred to you as mana. The damage of the skill is fixed, fifty points per level. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. "This ss is much better than I thought¡­" Ryan muttered. "No wonder I didn''t find many chances to obtain it." Without wasting any more time, Ryan touched the crystal and then appeared in Poseidon''s world. The ce wasn''t much different from Earth. At least underwater, Ryan naturally appeared in an underwater ce. It was time to chase Poseidon again, and that would be a problem¡­ until Ryan recalled that he had the Search skill¡­ he could have used that to find Poseidon early. That was the price of having so many skills and only focusing on the ones who help him firing more arrows and bolts. Regardless, Ryan quickly found Poseidon in another castle. It was an identical copy of the one he found before. Some monsters appeared on his path to slow him down, but Ryan ignored them and quickly teleported to where Poseidon was. Inside a throne room made of ice, Ryan found Poseidon touching a blue crystal and steadily healing himself. Ryan bombarded him with copies of his immobilizing Crossbow. While Vital Hunter was active¡­ It was finally time for the final round of that battle, and for Ryan, it was do or die. Chapter 665 - Poseidons Trident Without worrying about Lunar Arrows, Poseidon didn''t have to fear Ryan, so he charged toward him like a madman. Ryan punched his foe while he was bombarding him with arrows, but he still could feel the effects of Vital Hunter. His punch broke when he hit Poseidon, but Vampirism healed since Ryan caused quite a lot of damage as well. While pushing Ryan''s body backward, Poseidon made his back hit and destroyed several of the ice walls of the castle. The damage was slowly pilling up, and it looked like Poseidon wanted to finish things before Ryan could have any other chance by relying on the debuffs that his attacks were causing. It was time for a change of ns. Fortunately, the recent events gave Ryan a good idea of what to do. Ryan began to fire dozens of Sapphire Arrows alongside Spiritual Swords and bolts fired by the Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Poseidon was focusing on attacking and didn''t have the chance to stop them, and that had been another mistake¡­ his mana began to decrease at a fearsome pace. Poseidon opened his eyes widely due to the shock. He probably had a mana pool muchrger than Ryan''s, but he didn''t have potions to use, so Ryan was going to win that attrition war. Instead of pushing backward, Poseidon mustered all his strength to kick Ryan in the distance. Before he could recover it, Ryan saw Poseidon returning to the blue crystal and healing himself again, as well as acquiring some potions. "Things might take forever at this rate," Femradiel said. "Thank you for always saying the obvious, Femradiel," Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan took a deep breath and then used all his mana to strengthen his already active buffs. Thanks to Femradiel, Ryan recovered some mana and then used Ice Breath. After that, he dashed toward Poseidon. Everything in front of him froze until a massive spear of ice was created and collided against Poseidon. The Greek god tried to attack the projectile, but he was pushed backward the same way he did to Ryan in the end. The arrow didn''tst for long, but Ryan was there to headbutt Poseidon when it broke. The impact of the attack made Poseidon spin uncontrobly underwater until he disappeared in the distance. Ryan took a few seconds to mend the parts of his skull that were just cracked, and then he followed Poseidon. Only to find him dozens of kilometers away and out of the sea. After hitting against a volcano, Poseidon stopped. Ryan''s attack made him break one leg and one arm, but that wasn''t enough to stop him. Ryan could tell by the glint inside Poseidon''s eyes. "You dirty worm! I will make you pay for all of this!" Poseidon shouted. "Those words don''t scare me in the least," Ryan said, and he flew toward Poseidon. "Come on, you can do better than that." Poseidon got even more enraged and flew toward Ryan as well. He flew so fast that he didn''t have time to dodge when Ryan used Teleport, and then dozens of Sapphire arrows hit him. They barely caused any damage, but Poseidon''s mana pool was decreasing by the minute. Once again, Poseidon tried to escape to his castle and to the blue crystal¡­ "This is getting old¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Ah¡­ I can use that to lure him." Poseidon''s Trident Effect: It grants you a bonus of five hundred percent when using all types of water-based skills. It decreases your mana consumption when using all types of water-based attacks by eighty percent. Intelligence + 5.000, Strength + 5.000, Speed + 5.000, Dexterity + 5.000 Willpower + 5.000, Recovery + 5.000 (Only the god of the seas can use this weapon to its utmost limits.) Durability: 10.000/ 10.000 Ryan couldn''t help but frown while looking at the weapon. The part in parenthesis was what surprised him the most, and that exined why he couldn''t feel more powerful while holding the weapon. Regardless, it would work to fool Poseidon. Ryan already could tell that he stopped moving when he felt his weapon''s presence. Ryan began to fly toward Poseidon again to gain momentum. Even without the status bonuses, Ryan could use the weapon''s durability to cause some damage. Poseidon couldn''t help but grim when he saw Ryan entering the ocean. Recovering his weapon there will be much easier, after all. So, Poseidon flew toward him again. He already could imagine for how long he would torture Ryan for that humiliation¡­ In the end, Ryan was foolish enough to attack using the trident as a weapon. Using both of his hands, Poseidon grabbed the weapon and stopped Ryan''s momentum. However, Poseidon didn''t feel his powering back, even though he was touching the weapon. In the end, the weapon broke, and Ryan disappeared¡­ It was an identical copy made of ice. The real trident was hidden inside Ryan''s closed hand. The surprise dumbfounded Poseidon since he couldn''t understand what happened. In the end, they got hit by the copies of Hydra''s bow that Ryan kept moving behind him. Somehow, Ryan used all his mana to enchant the arrows with electricity while he was flying toward Poseidon. The very moment Poseidon was hit by them, he was electrocuted by a massive amount of energy. He was so blind by the chance of recovering his weapon that he never noticed it. Fifteen arrows electrocuted Poseidon for quite a while, but not even that was enough to stop him. While the massive arrows were shocking Poseidon, Ryan summoned his Spiritualist''s Spear and then pierced them in Poseidon''s body. Ryan''s mana recovered at a fearsome speed and proceeded to summon his Hydra''s bow once again. It was quite weird to use Poseidon''s mana to fire even more massive arrows charged with electricity. At first, Poseidon was caught off-guard, but eventually, he got used to the effects and tried to heal himself. He tried¡­ but failed since Ryan stole all of his mana. Chapter 666 - Sea Lord Poseidon fell unconscious, but his vitality was so impressive that Ryan was having a hard time finishing him off, even in his draconic form. Femradiel was right, humans couldn''t cause much damage to the elder gods, but they could suffer a lot from attacks of others¡­ while Ryan was thinking of a way to kill him once and for all, Ryan wondered: why kill him? Ryan decided to use Poseidon''s spirit to create a magic weapon. Just like he refused to die, Poseidon resisted bing a weapon, but Ryan insisted, and eventually, he seeded. Vengeful Sea (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using this weapon, you can control all the water in the surroundings and turn them into bolts. When using the Crossbow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. Dexterity + 1000, Intelligence + 1000, Recovery + 1000 Durability: 500/500 "You worm¡­ how dare you! HOW DARE YOU!" Poseidon shouted. Ryan frowned and couldn''t help but show a surprised expression when he saw a talking crossbow. In any case, the effects were quite interesting. Extra damage against elder gods¡­ Ryan didn''t want to face another troublesome foe like Poseidon, but that wasn''t obviously an option. "You will regret this! I will free myself from this ce, and then I will torment you for all eternity!" Poseidon said. "Now, this is more like it," Ryan said. "You can be quite scary with words alone if you try hard enough. Regardless, I don''t need to hear more people talking inside my head." Ryan stored the Crossbow inside his spatial storage and after that. He received some crazy notifications. You obtained 156.365.688 coins. Congrattions! For killing Poseidon, you have be a Level one Sea Lord! You obtained the following skills: Aquatic Support, Aquatic Aura, and Cold Absorption. All of your status has increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Aquatic Support. Effect: It grants a bonus of recovery while fighting underwater. The bonus will be equal to ten percent multiplied by the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Aquatic Aura. Effect: It grants a bonus in attack when using water-based attacks and when suffering damage by water-based attacks. The bonus will be equal to ten percent multiplied by the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cold Absorption. Effect: It decreased the power of water-based attacks by one hundred points per level. When you seed in canceling the total damage of the attack, you will be able to absorb it and then restore your health, mana, and stamina. The amount absorbed will be a percentage equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You obtained and absorbed Triton''s blood. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Celestial Spearmanship. Effect: it increases your damage when using spears and simr weapons by ten percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cold Immunity. Since you already have this skill, the skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Underwater Breathing. Effect: It grants you the power to breathe underwater and freely move even in the deepest oceans. You obtained 01 status points. "What the¡­ a ss now?" Ryan frowned. "Why did I obtain a new type of monster blood and didn''t even have the chance to decide if I would use it or not?" "That is what are you worried about?" Femradiel asked. "You just turned an elder god into a weapon and then obtained 150 million coins. You should celebrate instead of asking such things!" "When did you be so carefree?" Ryan asked. "Anyway¡­ Sea Lord¡­ I defeated the god of the seas, so why not sea god? Is it because I didn''t kill Poseidon, per se? Regardless, now that he isn''t an enemy that we need to worry about, you can forget about your captivity days." "Those days don''t bother me in the slightest, but I ept the feelings," Femradiel said. "I apologize for interrupting you two, but¡­ my contributor mentioned that Poseidon''s presence disappeared, and I came to check," Isis suddenly said. "It looks like you defeated him¡­ to be honest, I am having a hard time believing in it." "You came at a good time. I want to ask some questions," Ryan said. "Is there any reason why my attacks caused so little damage, while Lunar Arrow caused a lot more?" "You noticed that, huh," Isis replied. "The reason is simple: it is because Poseidon has a divine factor in his body. To cause any real damage to him, you can''t rely on normal means. As for the Lunar Arrow, it is a skill that has a high level of divinity. I assume that you are impressed because many factors worked together when you used it, but that is the gist of things. Still, you can''t rx yet. You need to stay low for a while because now you are the number one enemy of Olympian gods." "Speaking of staying low, this ce is surprisingly quiet," Ryan said. "I thought Poseidon would have more allies or rtives in a ce like this." "Poseidon wasn''t someone stupid enough to connect Earth directly to his home," Isis exined. "You decimated some of his allies and minions, but you will have to cross a thick barrier created by the Greek gods to find those who are most precious to them." Ryan didn''t have any reason for that. He only mentioned it for curiosity''s sake. Regardless, now that he was rxing, he couldn''t help but wonder howe he won against Poseidon. He had a lot of luck, and Poseidon underestimated him more than a few times¡­ the others won''t make the same mistake. Chapter 667 - Weapon Assimilation In the end, Ryan returned to Earth without even trying to obtain control over Poseidon''s domain. It was too dangerous since other Greek gods knew where to find that world, and it was basically the fastest way to find the one who defeated Poseidon. "It will take a while for a while for the other Greek gods to find the one who defeated Poseidon. As long as I keep that crossbow hidden, I will be safe, but after that¡­" Ryan crossed his arms and then furrowed his eyebrows. Even after defeating Poseidon, the other Greek gods wille to Earth. The vast majority of them should arrive within the next month. Once that happens, and they find Ryan, his domain will prove to be a valuable asset, but at the same time, it will be a weakness since Ryan will have to guard it at all times. While he defeated one Greek god, defeating their high leveled army was another matter. He couldn''t decrease the difference in strength between his monsters and the enemies'' armies using the same tactics he used to strengthen himself. As if Ryan''s already had too many worries in his head, even though he just solved one of the problems, another one wasing at full throttle. The very moment he returned to his domain, Femradiel hugged him from behind. "You¡­ What is wrong with you?" Ryan asked. "This change of yours is just too sudden. You were calm and collected before, but then you turned into a super edgy dragon, and now¡­ I can''t even find words to describe your actions anymore." "Can''t I be happy that you won? If you forgot it, my existence still is attached to your own," Femradiel said. "If you die, I will die too." "That doesn''tpletely turn your behavior," Ryan said. "What happened while you were in Poseidon''s castle? Isis said that he was trying to kill you by destroying your memories. As far as I can tell, apparently, you didn''t forget anything." "You are right. I didn''t lose any important memories," Femradiel said. "Then?" Ryan asked. "Then, what?" Femradiel asked. Ryan facepalmed and then sighed. In the end, it would be much simpler to believe that human hormones were responsible for making Femradiel act suspiciously. But ording to Yahiko, dragons smell like the seven deadly sins. Lust was one of them, but Femradiel never acted like a lustful dragon. So, by ack of any more usible exnation, Ryan was certain that something happened at Poseidon''s castle, despite Femradiel''s words. "What is the n now that you defeated Poseidon?" Femradiel asked. "You are so quick to change the subject at the opportune times¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Anyway, Poseidon was just the first. Others wille and try to eliminate humans and create a kingdom for their own followers. I will just prepare for their arrival and act once I confirm the ones who want to eradicate humans from Earth." Area Lv 27: 75 square milesLevel UP cost: 690.000 coins or 6.900.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 10Level UP cost: 5.500 coins or 55.000 mana Barrier Lv 51 Level UP cost: 296.000 coins or 2.960.000 mana Army Lv 69Level UP cost: 3.698.000 coins or 36.980.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 125 (51%)Level UP cost:359.000 coins or 3.590.000 mana Coins stored: 15.333Mana stored: 99.523 The first of Ryan''s worries were about his domain. While it was growing steadily, he still didn''t think it was good enough. Attacking other dungeon masters seemed more and more like too long of a n, so Ryan focused on strengthening the domain once again. After dealing with that, Ryan registered a lot of Skeleton Archers and Red Falcons on his domain. The number of monsters that he was losing every day decreased, probably thanks to Femradiel. So, he didn''t have to summon a lot of them, at least not to fill the numbers that he lost. "Speaking of numbers, I have a lot of coins now," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he checked his status screen. "What shall I buy?" "You probably can buy a lot of new things after defeating Poseidon," Femradiel said. "If clearing a dungeon makes you able to buy new things, the Sea Lord ss probably unlocked some interesting things in the Dungeon Shop." Ryan checked that and confirmed that it was true. He could see a lot of things that he couldn''t see before¡­ things that didn''t look like magic, but more like sci-fi powers, even more special than Telekinesis. The first thing that Ryan saw that picked his interest was Cyberlingualism. It was a weird skill, since its effect was that it would grant the user to talk telepathically or by touching some types of technological objects¡­ "Let''s look for something simpler that even someone as stupid as me can use," Ryan said. After looking for quite a while, Ryan found a skill that seemed pretty handy. However, despite its crazy price, it had a fair number of limitations. Anti-Magic Eye Tome. Effect: it grants you the power to absorb the mana from a foe or from an attack. The amount of mana absorbed will depend on the level of the skill. You can''t use other skills while this skill is active. You can''t move while this skill is active. Suffering damage cancels this skill. The amount of mana drained is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Price: 150.000.000 "With my improved eyesight, I bet I can use a lot of enemies to recover my mana, even from the safety of my domain, but this price is ridiculous¡­ not to mention the restrictions," Ryan muttered. In the end, Ryan decided not to buy that tome. He had plenty of skills to recover his mana. At the same time, most of them couldn''t be used effectively during a one-on-one fight. Ryan had potions to solve that issue. After searching for a while, Ryan finally found a skill that seemed worthy of its cost: Weapon Assimtion. Chapter 668 - Aliens? Chapter 667 Weapon Assimtion Tome Effect: It grants you the power to assimte the power and effects of several types of weapons. The level of the skill determines the type of weapons that can be assimted. As the skills level up, moreplex weapons will be able to be assimted. Price: 180.000.000 Cost: 1000 mana. It didn''t take long for Ryan to imagine that skill to work, so he immediately bought it despite its price. ording to the skill description, the skill needs to level up to assimte moreplex weapons. In the end, Ryan couldn''t find a simpler weapon than the first bow he bought. So, he bought another one and used the skill. The weapon turned into dust once Ryan used Weapon Assimtion, and he felt some energy entering his body. Still, he didn''t feel stronger, nor did he receive any notification. After thinking for a while, Ryan summoned one of his Spiritualist''s Spears. Although it was a fairly powerful weapon and had some interesting effects, it was a simple weapon. Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "As expected, it really works like that," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, the knowledge assimted will increase ording to how advanced and powerful skill is. Ryan had plenty of magic weapons that could level up his skills and that he hasn''t been using for a while. Ryan just spent a stupid number of coins, but that skill will help him more than a little bit since he could obtain a massive number of magic weapons whenever he feels like it. He just has to look for a ce with a good number of monsters. "That isn''t fair," Femradiel said. "By using that skill, I will never catch up with you. I was growing strong so fast in thest few days¡­" "Not my problem," Ryan said. Ryan didn''t know if Femradiel was messing around or if she really wanted to be thatpetitive. What is the point of beingpetitive with your allies? Regardless, Ryan began to assimte a lot of weapons he had stored. He even tried to learn new spells by assimting his Electric Wand that granted him the power to fire Electric Arrow, but that didn''t happen. Instead of that, Ryan''s Electric Resistance and Shock Resistance increased. Maybe Ryan will learn other skills by using that skill, but he already had skills that would benefit him more. "Hehehe, it looks like I won''t have to worry," Femradiel smirked. Ryan frowned since it seemed Femradiel stopped training to watch him. Then he realized that she was using the Teacher ss to learn Weapon Assimtion¡­ Ryan spent so many coins, and Femradiel was learning the skill for free. That would help him eventually, but somehow, he couldn''t help but feel a bit pissed. "When do you think you are going to learn the skill?" Ryan asked. "Let''s see¡­ once you use two thousand of those Spiritualist''s Spear," Femradiel replied. It is going to take a while¡­ Regardless, Ryan had plenty of weapons since he decimated the whole poption of monsters that stayed inside Poseidon''s castle. Before returning to his domain, he collected hundreds of them. After a while, Ryan grew tired of doing only that, and he needed coins to buy the next loot of dragon hearts. He decided to hunt some monsters and clear some dungeons. Ryan also needed to confirm that some dungeons wouldn''t break now that Poseidon is gone. "I wonder what will happen if I use Weapon Assimtion on the Sea''s Vengeance crossbow¡­" Ryan frowned. "Will I finally be the sea god? Well, I don''t really care about the ss, but I want an amazing power-up." "What about the trident?" Femradiel asked. Before answering that, Ryan sighed. He was flying in his draconic form, and Femradiel was sitting above his head. Naturally, she wanted more sses, and the fastest way to obtain them is by going with Ryan. While he had plenty of room there while using Draconic Transformation, that was quite annoying. In the end, Ryan made a mental note to look for Anger Maniption or Anger Absorption. He would need such skills if he were not to lose his mind due to Femradiel''s behavior. After summoning Poseidon''s Trident, Ryan noticed a few differences. He still couldn''t feel himself much stronger while holding the weapon, but he felt a bit stronger¡­ before he didn''t feel anything. "I guess it is thanks to the Sea Lord ss¡­" Ryan muttered. "Anyway, it would be too much of a waste to assimte this weapon. Come to think of it, I don''t think that the skill will work since this weapon is pretty advanced." "It looks like it will take a while for you to be able to assimte the power and skills of alien weapons," Femradiel said. "¡­ Alien weapons?" Ryan frowned. "Like this trident?" "I don''t think it is correct to refer to the elder gods as aliens since they were here even before you humans," Femradiel replied. "I am talking about true alien weapons, like guns that firesers or sma. You know that there are alien civilizations out there, right?" "I already have too many worries in my head, and I don''t need anymore," Ryan replied. "Come to think of it¡­ most of the dungeon masters are probably aliens, while only a small fraction are the elder gods¡­ I can''t ignore them. If I were to find resources on theirs like Oridecon and Elunium, maybe my workload would decrease." "Good boy, you are finally using your head," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed once again. Femradiel changed and became really troublesome¡­ for the time being. Her changes weren''t a good thing. Still, hopefully, she was correct about the potential that a human body has. Ryan could only hope that her new behavior was just a small demeritpared to how helpful she could be once she obtains some sses. Chapter 669 - Support Archer It would be a pity to ignore so many dungeons when Femradiel could obtain sses from nearly all of them. So, Ryan hunted and cleared the dungeons that he already had cleared to strengthen her. While he wasn''t growing that much stronger while hunting small groups of enemies, thanks to Femradiel, Ryan noticed something important. "Your Alchemist and cksmith ss are almost the level max," Femradiel said. "Shouldn''t you work on them since you already have another at the max level?" Thanks to the fight and the preparations for the fight against Poseidon, Ryan leveled up those sses quite a bit, but he forgot about them after it. Still, was it a good idea to sacrifice the Magic Archer ss alongside cksmith and Alchemist ss? "Oh, well¡­ I can''t see any other sses that are close to reaching the max level, so I guess I will do it," Ryan shrugged. Leveling up the alchemist ss was easy. Ryan just had to use the essences that he obtained by defeating monsters and make potions. The cksmith ss caused some headaches for Ryan. Still, in the end, he seeded in making that ss reach the max level after creating another massive spear, using ice, titanium, and his own blood. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Alchemist, Magic Archer, and cksmith? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Support Archer. You learned the skills: Health Arrow, Support Mana Arrow, and Stamina Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by twelve points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by six points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Health Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that can recover the health of the target. The amount of health restored will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Support Mana Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that can recover the mana of the target. The amount of mana restored will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that can recover the stamina of the target. The amount of stamina restored will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. "Support Archer? What the fuck?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "Awesome, now you can help me train. I am starting to have problems with the amount of mana and stamina I can use, after all," Femradiel said. Despite her words, Femradiel was having a hard time preventing herself fromughing. It was evident that such a ss didn''t fit Ryan in any way. Instead of offering support, he would rather receive support from others, mainly from monsters that could form a shield to protect him. Regardless, Ryan didn''t gain any offensive skill, but the ss itself wasn''t so bad. It was a tier six ss, after all. After doing some tests by using Support Mana Arrow, Ryan confirmed that Femradiel could already clear a tier two dungeon by herself¡­ even though the monsters were at level eight hundred. "Ah¡­ this is it¡­ this is it! This feeling is awesome," Femradiel said. "Having a human body and the mana pool of a dragon is awesome." Femradiel looked pretty excited when Ryan decided to offer her some support¡­ perhaps too excited. After confirming his suspicions, Ryan decided to stop. Nothing good woulde by letting Femradiel get carried away. After making a mental note not to mix up several types of sses to be sacrificed again, Ryan looked for the next dungeon, already knowing that he probably would mess up again. He was that curious, and he couldn''t wait to have other sses to sacrifice. Waiting for the special sses was always thrilling, after all. While moving around the country, making use of Elven Mastery, and helping Femradiel to obtain more sses, Ryan confirmed that the ocean''s level didn''t increase, and not a single dungeon break happened. That made Ryan confirm that he will have a few weeks of peace¡­ However, the only peace he knew was the one where he had the chance to prepare for the next difficult fight. "Hello again, Ryan," Isis suddenly said. "I have some bad news and some good news." Even before Ryan could find a dungeon that he hadn''t cleared yet, someone decided to bother him. While Isis was more or less an ally, it didn''t change the fact that she was getting in the way of his preparations at such a moment. "I am used to hearing only bad news," Ryan said. "So, you don''t need to beat around the bush." "My contributors want to meet you, but to do so, you will have toe to my world, where no other elder god will be able to spy on our talk," Isis said. "Why? What am I going to gain by meeting them now of all times?" Ryan asked. "They looked down on me until now, but they changed their minds after I defeated Poseidon? Come to think of it, you never said that you had more than one contributor." "You are correct, the reason being is the fact that there are too few people who share my way of thinking. I only had one contributor until yesterday, but another one joined the group," Isis exined. "You are correct again; they changed their minds about you when you defeated Poseidon. As for what you might gain by meeting them¡­ I can''t say for sure. While they are not bad elder gods, they still are pretty proud of themselves. From their perspective, I assume that letting you meet them is already a reward in itself." "Oh, is that so?" Ryan asked. "Then, I am going to pass. I will grant them the honor of not meeting me. I have heard that I am not a good guest." Chapter 670 - Invitation "Come on, Ryan, don''t say that. It will be fun!" Femradiel said. "It is not every day that you have the chance to meet three elder gods in person." "How would you know that?" Ryan asked. "Rather, why are you talking as if you want to go with me?" "Because I want to go with you," Femradiel replied. "The only elder god we met in person was the ever so serious and extremely cautious Poseidon. He was rather dull, but it should be interesting to see others." Thest adjective Ryan would use to define Poseidon would be dull. He was a being who could survive in outer space without using any magic, and he created a massive spear that almost killed all humans on the, after all. In any case, meeting Isis in person might give Ryan some insight about how he should act regarding other elder gods in the future, but meeting the other two was a problem. Leaving the possibility of that being a trap aside, Ryan had no idea who the other two were, so everything could happen. "Although I can''t promise you anything, the newest contributor joined the group with you in mind. It seems he has a job for you," Isis said. "He already knows how we worked together in thest few months, so I am sure he won''t offer you any work with a suitable advanced payment." "Interesting¡­" Ryan said. "Come to think of it, the news about this meeting¡­ Was that the bad or the good news?" "The good news," Isis replied. "And the bad news?" Ryan asked. "The bad news is that my newest contribution tried to kill you once," Isis replied. That wasn''t that shocking. Isis wasn''t na?ve enough to work with some suspicious individuals, so her newest ally proved his worth. Ryan wasn''t surprised because many individuals tried to kill him. Unless they weren''t one of the demon generals. Ryan probably would ept working with other dungeon masters once he receives a suitable payment, of course. "Is your newest ally a demon?" Ryan asked. "No," Isis replied. "I see¡­ in that case, I guess I can meet you guys," Ryan said. "Inform this friend of yours not to disappoint me with his advanced payment." "We already are waiting for you in my world," Isis said. "I already informed Mohammed about your arrival, so you can head straight into the dungeon." Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ despite his first decision, it looked like Isis already assumed that Ryan would ept the meeting. That was suspicious¡­ but maybe her contributors and would have a meeting even if Ryan weren''t to show up. Without wasting any more time, Ryan flew to Egypt. Although he tried to arrive as fast as possible, he slowed down a little bit when he received a call from Gustavo. "Hey, Ryan," Gustavo said. "Did something happen? Poseidon''s flood didn''t happen today, and the monsters in the ocean left Rio de Janeiro. You fought Poseidon, didn''t you?" "That is right, he won''t bother us any longer," Ryan replied. "I knew that something was fighting him when I saw that massive explosion in the sky and when those tsunamis helped, but I didn''t think it was you," Gustavo said. "Those attacks were way out of our league, so we hid underground with our allies. How did you get powerful so fast?" "I didn''t, I got lucky, and I had a somewhat good strategy to face Poseidon," Ryan replied. In the end, Ryan decided to exin about how elder gods were highly resistant against human attacks, but they were weaker against divine attacks. Gustavo didn''t understand that at the beginning. Still, then he recalled that his domain suffered a lot more damage when the flood happened instead of when the Hydras'' attacked. "Divinity, huh¡­" Gustavo said. "It doesn''t look like something everyone can obtain. My special sses certainly didn''t grant me that kind of power." "Well, you already know which sses I sacrificed to receive Lunar Arrow and the Disciple of Artemis ss. It shouldn''t be difficult for you guys to gain it," Ryan said. "Anyway, I need a meeting to attend to. Talk with youter." After talking with Gustavo, Ryan hurried to Egypt. At the same time, he wondered if he should talk with his other acquaintances and reveal to them that Poseidon was no longer a problem. In the end, he decided not to. They wille to their own conclusions after a while. Ryan''s life won''t get any easier from that point onward, so once he reached Cairo, he directly teleported to the purple crystal inside the dungeon. Those who were inside the dungeon didn''t even have the chance to see him since he also used Invisibility. Once Ryan reached the other side, he found himself in what seemed to be a massive oasis. Weirdly enough, he couldn''t feel any monsters'' presence, but he found all kinds of animals there just by looking in all directions. "We are up here," Isis said. Ryan looked upward only to see what seemed to be a floating castle¡­ why the elder gods like those? They probably cost a ton of mana to stay floating¡­ Ryan began to fly and then noticed that despite its size, the oasis was in the center of a massive desert as well. It was hard to know, but Ryan assumed that was what Isis wanted Egypt to be: a perfect oasis in the middle of the desert. Ryan also assumed that the desert was just a metaphor for what the world was about to be¡­ a ce where nothing can grow, and many die lost in it. When Ryan arrived at the floating castle, he saw at the top of it what seemed to be a meeting room and some powerful presence in there. He only found the ce because he felt some eyes looking at him from there. After a few moments, Ryan found a weird guy with red hair and pale skin looking at him while grinning from ear to ear. Chapter 671 - Someone Troublesome When Ryan and Femradiel stepped into the open meeting room, both of them couldn''t help but look with a dubious eye at that man. He didn''t look like a warrior per se, but he was wearing some pieces of light armor here and there, and those were emanating a lot of mana. Aside from the armor, he had some pieces of fur covering his body¡­ it was quite a weirdbination considering that they were floating above a massive desertic area. What impressed Ryan even more, was the unnatural color in that guy''s eyes. One could almost ignore the glint of madness that he had in those green eyes since they almost looked transparent, like some sort of crystal¡­ that was probably a characteristic that all those who had high levels of divinity possess: strange-looking eyes. "Nice to meet you, my name is Loki," The redhead man said. "I am the father of the wolf that almost ripped you to shreds. I hope that we can leave that behind." Ryan heard that Fenrir was Loki''s son, but he never wondered howe a guy who looked like a human could be the father of a wolf. Regardless, Loki offered a handshake, but Ryan stepped backward. Despite his words, the glint in Loki''s eyes made Ryan feel that he could be stabbed at any moment. "Sure, why not?" Ryan asked. Ryan looked at the other side of the room, and then he saw two women sitting on some chairs. One of them was dark-skinned and was wearing a long skirt, and her upper half, Ryan also saw a golden breastte that protects her vitals. That was probably Isis, and she had short ck hair and ember eyes¡­ she also that weird transparent glow in her eyes. The other woman had light-brown long hair, but her eyes were blue, almost exactly like Poseidon''s. She also had a glint of seriousness and caution in her eyes¡­ she probably was an ever so serious person just like him. However, unlike Poseidon, who never used a single piece of armor, that one was wearing a full te golden armor. The only part that the armor wasn''t protecting was her face, and that was because her helmet was on the table in front of her. It was weird toe full-armored to a meeting. It was even weirder than a golden round shield, and a massive sword that was as big as her was resting behind her chair. As expected of goddesses¡­ their beauty was on a whole different level. Regardless, it looked like they waited for some sort of reactioning from Ryan, but he didn''t do anything. Still, they frowned when Femradiel covered his eyes. "Don''t stare too much," Femradiel said. "¡­ My name is Ryan," Ryan said. "So, for what reason I am here?" "Well, before that, I need to introduce you Athena," Isis said. "Greek goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare." "What''s up, Athena?" Ryan said. While Ryan wasn''t as crazy as Loki looked like, he also disliked that stiff atmosphere of introductions, so he said that. But in the end, her left eye twitched¡­ it seemed she disliked Ryan''s overly familiar greeting. "Please sit," Isis said. "This might take a while. You too, Loki." "Nah, I am fine here," Loki said and then sat on the border of the meeting room. As if she had imagined that Femradiel woulde, there were five chairs in the meeting room. After sitting down, Ryan crossed his arms and then waited for the start of the meeting. Still, Femradiel broke the serious atmosphere once more by moving her chair a bit closer to Ryan. At that point in time, he couldn''t help but wonder if someone took her ce after absorbing her memories. "I heard that you used Poseidon to craft a weapon," Athena suddenly said. "Can I see it?" "Why?" Ryan asked. "After his defeat, he needs to at least to know who was working behind the scenes to cause his downfall," Athena said. "He is my uncle, and even though I hate him, he deserves that." Ryan pondered if he should show her the weapon or not. Truth to be told, Ryan had not a single reason to trust Athena and Loki. Loki goes without saying since he is the Nordic god of trickery and mischief. Anyone who decides to trust a god of trickery and mischief wishes to be stabbed in the back. Regardless, if Ryan was going to be betrayed by them, it would be better to happen sooner thanter. So, he summoned the crossbow and put it on the table. "Athena¡­ I always knew that you would betray us sooner thanter," Poseidon said. "Hello, uncle," Athena said. "If you knew that, why didn''t you make some preparations to avoid it? No, you did it, didn''t you? But your preparations didn''t take ounts the humans, you never imagined that one of them would defeat you." "I will return one day¡­ and then murder all of you as brutally as possible," Poseidon said. "You can''t return¡­ he can''t return, right?" Ryan asked. "He can return," Isis replied. "If the weapon breaks and he has amassed enough energy to rebuild his body, he will be able to return with the same level of power as before. One of the reasons we called you here was to exin that. Keep that weapon well-hidden and don''t use it unless you really have to." Ryan sighed after hearing that, but in the end, it made sense. They were talking about the Greek god of the oceans. He had plenty of power and experience to do that, even inside a crossbow and where the limit of his actions was¡­ limited. "Can you tell us in detail the whole battle?" Loki asked. "I want to hear more about how not only a human defeated an elder god, but how he fooled him as well." "¡­ No," Ryan replied. The look in Loki''s eyes gave Ryan the creeps. He almost looked sexually aroused just by imagining Ryan and Poseidon fighting. Working with such a good couldn''t be avoided, but Ryan would rather avoid getting closer to him. After all, Loki looked like someone who might stab in the heart and thenugh maniacally in delight. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 55 (+ 06 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 51 (+ 05 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 44 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 31th Health: 8955/8955 (16,95/s) Mana: 11125/11125 (16,95/s) Stamina: 11730/11730 (16,95/s) Strength: 881 (+1066) (+130) Dexterity: 12250 (+7455) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+3760) (+48) Intelligence: 1231 (+3034) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+1019) (+160) Control: 1476 (+3790) (+10) Mentality: 1308 (+1193) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+120) Recovery: 4350 (+4650) (+845) Willpower: 1330 (+1291) (+40) Coins: 15.985.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 115 (+ 05 UP), Vital Hunter Lv 81 (+ 10 UP), Bloody Sword Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Spiritual Sword Lv 11 (+ 10 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 132 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 132 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 132 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 132 (+ 04 UP), Stealth Lv 132 (+ 04 UP), Elven Mastery Lv 04 (+ 02 UP), Archery Training Lv 19 (+ 08 UP), Sentence Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Aquatic Support Lv 01, Aquatic Aura Lv 01, Celestial Spearmanship Lv 01, Underwater Breathing Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 108 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 105 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 103 (+ 03 UP), Magic Bow Lv 80 (+ 05 UP), Weapon Assimtion Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Health Arrow Lv 01, Support Mana Arrow Lv 18 (+ 17 UP), Stamina Arrow Lv 01 Support Skills: Electric Resistance Lv 32 (+ 07 UP), Shock Resistance Lv 19 (+ 04 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 22 (+ 07 UP), Cold Absorption Lv 01 sses: Combat: Crystal Archer Lv 18 (+ 12 UP), Combat Mechanic Lv 36 (+ 03 UP), Poisonous Archer Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Marksman Lv 58 (+ 06 UP), Expert Archer Lv 34 (+ 10 UP), Runecaster Lv 12 (+ 02 UP), Death Knight Lv 09(+ 08 UP), Sea Lord Lv 04 (+ 03), Non-Combatant: Support Archer Lv 07 (+ 06 UP). Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 672 - Compensation "Back to the topic," Isis said. "I can''t speak for Loki''s true intentions, but Athena and I want to create an environment where humans will have the chance to prove their worth in the years toe. Prove their worth and strength, they will have the strength to survive in this new world. We can''t return to the days where things were rtively peaceful despite the massive difference in power." "Why do you think that I don''t want world peace as well?" Loki asked. "From what I heard about you, Loki, the thing you hate the most is peace," Isis said. "That being said, we decided to cooperate with you because the bnce of power between the Nordic gods is about to break." After hearing that, Ryan noticed that Loki didn''t join forces with Athena and Isis just to see Ryan. While he looked like someone would do everything imaginable to amuse himself, he wasn''t stupid. He was someone who could find pleasure even while he loses some battles, but not all of them. That is why he decided to cooperate with those two who wanted to give to the weak side a chance to struggle and survive. "Regardless, things in North Europe are about to break," Isis added. "Most of the Nordic elder gods with a few exceptions like Loki worked together to raise the level of their dungeons and also increase the size of their armies. Once theye, they advance through the rest of Europe and decimate anyone who stands on their way. The dungeon masters will offer an alternative aside from death, but I don''t think most people who survived until now will ept it." "What kind of offer?" Ryan asked. "Be a citizen of Asgard until the day of their deaths, they will also lose their freewill," Loki replied. "If they refuse any orders, they die on the spot. It is pretty much an old-fashioned ve contract. You can''t expect much from old relics like them." "¡­ Speaking of old-relics, you offered some contract to the survivors in Canada," Ryan said. "Are you saying that offer you gave them is better?" "Of course, what is the point of obtaining a dull sword?" Loki asked. "If you want a new weapon, you should make it sharper as much as possible. Those who work me can have everything they want. Those who work particrly hard enough are rewarded nicely, but who disappoint me doesn''t live long." "Or maybe you make them think that they are being rewarded, I heard you are good at making illusions," Ryan said. "Fooling the eyes of humans shouldn''t be too difficult for you." "You arepletely right, but I do have a reputation to maintain," Loki said. "While I do some mischiefs here and there, I always wait for the golden opportunity. You can''t imagine how delightful it is to see the fooled eyes of someone when they least expect to be tricked. To enjoy that kind of pleasure, you have to patient." "Enough, Loki," Isis said. "Instead of talking about useless things, you should tell him about your ns. We won''t be able to help neither of you directly since it might raise some suspicions after Poseidon''s fall. You do have some ns, right?" "I like to improvise as I go," Loki replied. "¡­ Exin your goals," Isis said and then sighed. "I want to make sure that Odin, Thor, and Baldr won''t grow too much strong when withes with their armies," Loki said. "The other Norse gods aren''t much of a problem since they aren''t that militaristic anymore." "Those three loves to wage war, so once they return to Earth, the entire Europe will be an endless battlefield," Isis said. "Naturally, the ones who will suffer the most are the humans that still live there." Ryan imagined that their followers also were some people that love to wage war. In any case, from the things he knew about the mythology, Ryan thought that it was weird that Odin would be a Nordic god that loved war. Regardless, perhaps Ryan should change his image about the elder gods. Loki''s behavior was probably the main reason for that. "While their numbers are a bit troublesome, and the fact that I am trying to fool three armies at the same time, usually, I wouldn''t have problems dealing with them," Loki said. "The only thing that is getting on my way is a human, a human who received some special powers. I heard that are other people like that man in other parts of the world, them call themselves guardians and fallen." It was actually surprising that Ryan never had any problems with them. Still, it looked like the time to face one of them finally arrived. "I don''t know his name, but he is getting famous with a certain nickname: Berserker," Loki said. "It is a pretty boring nickname, don''t you think? He is probably a brain-dead warrior that only knows how to single a sword around and is working for those three." "Probably?" Ryan asked. "I can''t find him by using any magic simr to irvoyance," Loki replied. "He is being protected by the magic of those three gods, other elder gods can''t find them anywhere. That is why I want you to find and get rid of him. The elder gods'' protection probably only works against other elder gods, but not against humans." For someone who talked as if he liked to fool his enemies and defeat them using weapons, Loki had too little information. In any case, while they weren''t a problem, for the time being, they eventually would be. Ryan had friends that eventually will have to deal with them. Mohammed and his people probably won''t suffer much since they live on the other side of Europe and Isis are with them, but Natasha didn''t have the help of an elder god. "So, defeat him is my job, huh?" Ryan asked. "Well then, I am sure you have heard about me from Isis, what will I gain by helping you?" Chapter 673 - Light Solidification "How about my friendship?" Loki smiled. "I can live perfectly fine without your friendship," Ryan replied. "Are you sure? My friends always say how valuable my friendship is to them," Loki added. "I am sure you have many friends already," Ryan shrugged. "It is a pity¡­" Loki said and then made two tomes appear on his right hand. "Those two will help you fight this BerserkerBerserker. Once you seed in defeating him and decreasing the size of the three armies under his control, I will give you this, I am sure it will help you a lot in the future." Pain Absorption tome. Effect: It decreases the power of physical attacks by one hundred points per level. When you seed in canceling the total damage of the attack, you will be able to absorb it and then restore your health, mana, and stamina. The amount absorbed will be a percentage equal to the level of the skill. Physical Reflection Tome. Effect: It grants you the chance to reflect physical damage directly to the attacker. The level of the skill determines how much damage it can be reflected on at a time. The more damage you reflect, the more mana you will need to use. Light Solidification Tome. Effect: It grants you the power to solidify light and use it as you see fit. The level of the skill determines how much light and how fast you can solidify. The level of the skill also determines the amount of mana used. The first two were given to Ryan, but the other one, which really picked his interest, was put away for him to receive once he finishes the job. It seemed the payment would suffice. Ryan would receive payment to deal with a problem that could make his allies suffer. He couldn''t find a better thing to do at the current time. "All right, then," Ryan said. "I ept the job. Where I can find those three dungeons and where you think I can find this BerserkerBerserker?" "All of Odin''s dungeons are in Norway, all of Thor''s dungeon are in Sweden, and all of Baldr''s dungeons are in Find," Loki replied. "As you can see, they have been nning this attack since even before we had the chance to create a path back to Earth. Some stupid dungeon masters tried to contest those territories, but they werepletely defeated by BerserkerBerserker, and that only gave those three the power to control other domains." Ryan couldn''t help but frown¡­ it looked like Norse elder gods were pretty serious about that. Perhaps even more serious than Poseidon. After all, he didn''t use any soldier to defeat the other dungeon masters that tried to obtain control over the oceans. "Well, I am going then," Ryan said. "It will be better if I strike them before they discover who defeated Poseidon." After saying that, Ryan used Teleport to leave alongside Femradiel. Meanwhile, Loki, Isis, and Athena just waited until they felt Ryan''s presence leaving that world. "Are you satisfied, Athena?" Isis asked. "No, he is too carefree," Athena replied. "He probably survived until now and defeated Poseidon due to a massive stroke of luck. He won''t survive for long¡­ instead of that, that woman with him picked my interest. She is a dragon that abandoned her former shell to start from a scratch. Her actions and choices are illogical." "I wonder if an elder god can be defeated by a stroke of luck alone¡­" Isis frowned. "As for Femradiel and the other dragons that survived until now, I don''t know what to think about them. Their powers were too small when they arrived and they were quickly overthrown by the humans who managed to survive for a few months. Their arrival changed the natural order of things, but until this day, I can''t understand why they came and who gave them the chance toe." "Why the serious faces?" Loki asked. "Their arrival changed things for the good, can''t you see how much they changed the whole setting of the game?" Isis and Athena red at Loki. In the end, he was as insane as someone could be without bing a threat. All of them knew about dragons and how they are supposed to be born, and that was why they couldn''t understand why they arrived on Earth so soon. "¡­ Anyway, you''d better get going, Loki," Isis said. "Ryan was talking seriously when he said he was going to look for BerserkerBerserker right now. You should at least offer him some support by getting on their way as usual. We don''t want risk losing one of the few humans who can affect this whole battlefield alone and still doesn''t think single-mindedly about pursuing power." "I wonder about that¡­ he is already on that path," Loki said. "You noticed it, didn''t you? That cursed power growing stronger inside him. Ahh, how I missed Earth. As expected, there are no other creatures as fun as humans." Isis felt like sighing, and Athena also felt like leaving the ce. Staying too close to Loki was bothersome to them in many ways, but in the end, they couldn''t refute his words. Loki was right, Ryan was changing, and a cursed power inside him was also getting stronger. He didn''t know that, but that cursed power was also one of the reasons why he managed to defeat Poseidon. For that reason, neither of those three mentioned to Ryan that after reaching a certain level of power, dungeon masters can''t suffer damage from most beings. Not because of the difference of power, but because theycked something that the dungeon masters had¡­ While thinking about that, Isis recalled Femradiel''s actions during the meeting. In the end, she didn''t do much aside from messing with Ryan at the beginning. She stayed throughout the whole meeting in silence, just staring at Loki, Isis, and Athena¡­ she didn''t look like a shy woman, so why? Considering who she was, she probably could tell the changes that Ryan was undergoing¡­ it has been a while since Isis felt like that. Pondering about difficult questions. "As expected, humans are too troublesome¡­" Isis said and then sighed. Chapter 674 - Siren Although Ryan said that he would solve the problem as fast as possible, in the end, he headed to his domain before anything. It would take a while for Femradiel to fly there, so he would have to do that. "Where are you going?" Femradiel asked. "I am going to help you with this job." "No, you won''t," Ryan said. "You are not strong enough and will only get in the way." "You can rx, I will only offer support," Femradiel said. "Besides, if I die, I can always return after a while, just like Furball. That was one of the main reasons I created this body." "That is a nice feature of your body, but if you are going to die and only to be brought backter, you can do it somewhere else, not while I am looking," Ryan said. "I don''t n on dying, I am just saying that it won''t be the end," Femradiel said. "But if you say that you don''t want to see me getting hurt, then I suppose that will be satisfying enough for me." After a long sigh, Ryan changed directions and then headed to North Europe. Perhaps getting hurt or even dying will fix Femradiel''s behavior. The only downside of that is that Ryan will have to see it and feel guilty about it. Although it has been a while since Ryan was in Europe, he didn''t stop at any single point. He couldn''t underestimate the elder gods'' informationwork. If he were to decimate an army of monsters, they would find out that someone troublesome was around and thus raise their guards. Fortunately, Ryan found some survivor camps around some dungeons, and he even had the chance to invade one of them while they were clearing the dungeon. While invisible, Ryan and Femradiel also received the chance to obtain a new ss. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Knight, Siren, and Sorcerer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Siren! You obtained the following skills: Ancient Song, Metallic Sound, and Restauration Song. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by four points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by two points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ancient Song. Effect: It grants your voice special effects. While the skill is active, the allies who hear your voice will receive a bonus in your intelligence, mentality, and willpower. The bonus will be equal to the level of the skill by ten points. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Metallic Sound. Effect: It grants your voice special effects. While the skill is active, the allies who hear your voice will receive a bonus in your strength, endurance, and recovery. The bonus will be equal to the level of the skill by ten points. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Restauration Song. Effect: It grants your voice special effects. While the skill is active, the allies who hear your voice will receive in recovery your health, mana, and stamina per second. The bonus will be equal to the level of the skill by ten points. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "Well, I suppose it is better than nothing," Ryan shrugged. "Now I can see why Athena and Isis decided to work with Loki so readily despite the fact that he is a troublesome fellow," Femradiel said. "I can feel Athena''s mana somewhere South of here. So, if the Nordic gods were to attack and head South, Athena and Isis will eventually be attacked by those three." Ryan also realized that Athena wasn''t the type who would ask for help from the other Greek gods, and Isis would only be able to help her so much. In the end, those two were bound to face some trouble if Odin, Thor, and Baldr''s armies were to grow even further. "How are your senses in this form?" Ryan asked. "The same as always, my tracking skills doesn''t rely on my status on the size of my body," Femradiel replied. "Still, I won''t feel this Berserker''sBerserker''s presence unless they are somewhat closer or fighting. While he might have the same type of power as Yahiko, a single human can''t emit the same amount of mana as a dungeon." It would be troublesome if he were to Teleport to a ce too close to a domain, so Ryan was only flying. He also learned, thanks to Poseidon, that invisibility couldn''t hide his presencepletely while Draconic Transformation was active. So, Ryan was flying in his human form. Since Femradiel couldn''t keep up with his speed, she was sitting on his back¡­ that was one of the reasons why he wanted to take her to the domain¡­ the feeling of being used as a vehicle was even more annoying in his human form. It took Ryan a few hours to reach his destination. Since it was the closest one, Ryan arrived in Sweden first. At first, since he was using irvoyance from afar, he couldn''t help but frown since he couldn''t see anything aside from a massive shadow near the coast. But after he approached, Ryan understood what was happening... hundreds of thousands of monsters were creating a shadow around the area and preventing Ryan from even seeing the ground. As if that wasn''t bad enough, he could see that most of them were almost reaching level nine hundred, and all of them were melee monsters that would take a while to take down. "As expected of the elder gods who love a good fight," Ryan muttered. "They created a monster army of creatures that can only use physical skills." Chapter 675 - Tired Of Waiting Even in that massive army, there were some types of monsters that Ryan had never ever seen. However, one of them stood out from the crowd. The creatures were even bigger than giants, and weirdly enough, despite the simr bodies and clothes, they had different skin tones and a number of horns on their heads. Ogre Lv 960 Health: 96.000/96.000 Mana: 27.000/27.000 Stamina: 87.000/87.000 Strength: 6.900 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 3100 (+ 800) Speed: 2400 (+ 1500) Intelligence: 1500 (+ 100) Endurance: 5100 (+ 900) Control: 1900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 4000 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 25.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 4000 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Smash Lv 760, Concentrated Strike Lv 680¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 470, Enhanced Recovery Lv 370, Stone Skin Lv Max¡­ Spells: Strong Arms Lv 460, Earthquake Lv 450, Earth Pir Lv 490¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 500, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 610¡­ The ogres could be blue and head, the blue ones had only a single horn on their foreheads, but the red ones had two on the sides of their heads. Aside from that, they had massive clubs as weapons that could be mistaken as trees, and they used clothes that made Ryan recall some cavemen. "They are even more resilient than ordinary Hydras¡­" Ryan muttered. "If that type of monster marches through this area unchecked, nothing will be left standing. Considering those numbers, I would bet that all the humans in this part of the world joined the Nordic gods'' side," Femradiel said. "What are you going to do, Ryan? Fighting them will probably lure out this berserker fellow, but you will end up warning Odin, Thor, and Poseidon. If any other elder god imagines that the one who defeated Poseidon is involved in this, you will be surrounded before you can do anything." Ryan was fully aware of that, but in the end, the ninth dungeon break is only a few days away. Once that happens, the ogres'' army will increase in size and strength. Not to mention, the elder gods wille. However, if Ryan ignores them. The entire North Europe will be destroyed afterward. He won''t have the time to attack and destroy the armies. By losing the surprise factor, Ryan''s chances of seeding will decrease exponentially. He had to choose between his mission and letting those monsters run wild for who knows how long¡­ even if he goes all out, he will be surrounded by the minions of other elder gods. "So many things to do¡­ so little time," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I can''t feel any presence that resembles Yahiko''s here," Femradiel said. "Either he is concealing his powers, or Loki was wrong about the fact that the Nordic gods are hiding him only from the humans'' eyes." "Did you check all the territories of those three countries?" Ryan asked. "Yes, I checked the positions of all dungeons in the area, and there isn''t anyone particrly power nearby them," Femradiel replied. It looked like, in fact, Femradiel''s tracking skills improved considering that she could check those three countries at the same time¡­ Regardless, even if Ryan''s assumptions were wrong, there was another possibility¡­ Maybe his target was in another world, waiting for his masters to give him the next orders. "We have six days until the next wave of dungeons breaks, more than enough time to wait and ambush the target," Ryan said. "I will wait for three days and see if this guy will show up or not. If he weren''t to show up, I will just take my chances and eliminate all these monsters." Although it was pretty close to Denmark and Sweden, Ryan decided to hide on a small ind called Store Tarn. It was a ce that once had a lighthouse¡­ the lighthouse was actually there,pletely intact but abandoned. It was a pretty neat ce to stay since the poption was small poption, and there were no dungeons nearby. It has been a while since Ryan had any time to rest. Still, instead of properly resting, he decided toe up with ways to exterminate the massive monster army as fast and efficiently as possible. Thinking about what to do had been pretty annoying since Femradiel quickly found a bed toy down and sleep. It was really troublesome since she snored so loudly. "The more I think about it, the more I am sure that leaving the monsters alone is a mistake," Ryan muttered. "Not only will they cause a lot of destruction while they grow stronger, but without defeating them, I won''t be able to clear their dungeons and obtain new sses. New sses and new skills are always wee, after all." Loki wants Ryan to defeat this berserker fellow and also cause a decent blow on the three armies. While Ryan was pretty sure that he coulde up with a way in three days to decimate the army, things will be a bit messy afterward because he will have to use a lot of resources and preparations to do it. Making enough preparations to decimate the army and to fight someone he didn''t know a single thing at the same time was too much to ask for. "I guess the only option is to focus on saving a lot of resources for the second moment," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. In the end, after three days, Ryan got tired of waiting. As expected, his target will only move once Odin, Thor, and Baldr arrive. They are probably nning to attack and defeat all his enemies in Europe in a single swoop. Fortunately, Ryan came up with a way to prevent that¡­ he will at least bring down this berserker fellow. On the night of the third day, Ryan and Femradiel teleported too high in the sky. While the moon wasn''t full, Ryan will have one in less than a week, his Lunar Arrows will have plenty of power as they are. Still, Ryan won''t use them on the ordinary mobs, he didn''t have that much mana, and the skill wasn''t made to decimate many enemies. Ryan would use something else¡­ Chapter 676 - Norse Hero Femradielined quite a lot when she heard what Ryan was nning because his ns didn''t involve her in any way. Even if she wanted to help anyway, she couldn''t do it due to the fact that she couldn''t survive outer space. In the end, he was forced to use more than mana expected to create a Magic Barrier, but in the end, that wasn''t much of a hassle. Ryan would need some time to charge his attacks, after all. "If you leave a hole inside the spears and then enchant the interior with Ice Enchantment, you will be able to store a lot more mana and while they are flying, the energy won''t disperse," Femradiel said. "Your goal is to freeze them to death, right? Not explode them to pieces with the spears?" "¡­ Right," Ryan replied. Truth to be told, Ryan was nning to use Charge Traps as well. The spears he was forging with ice magic were big enough to ept hundreds of marks of those, but thanks to Femradiel''s words, he changed his mind. He will probably destroy the rest of the countries by using Charge Traps, while by using ice, they will be covered in ice for a while, but it will eventually melt. Not to mention, by relying on that tactic, he will gain some time as well. His attacks will cause some destruction, but not enough to alert other monsters and survivors hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the battlefield. Even after considering all that, Ryan had to work for a full day and night. He knew the range and efficacy of his frozen spears very well, so he had to work for that long to make sure that all the enemies he could see would be ice statues. Ryan used stupid amounts of mana potions, and he even had to buy quite a lot from the Dungeon Shop as well. He could only hope that he would gain a lot more than he already used. Once the time came, Ryan fired the spears as fast as he could in order not to give the monsters the time to react. Even from so far away, and even though he couldn''t see the monsters with his eyes alone, Ryan saw the very moment the spears hit the ground. Then massive waves of ice froze everything. You obtained 589 coins. You obtained 856 coins. You obtained 365 coins. ¡­ Ryan received the notifications at speed he didn''t expect, but that didn''t stop him. He didn''t have time to get excited about defeating small fries. "He showed up¡­" Femradiel said. Barely twenty seconds had passed since Ryan''s attack, and the target finally appeared. Was it a coincidence that he showed up at such a convenient time? Ryan confirmed that wasn''t the case when he saw three of his massive ice arrows being stopped before they hit the ground. That was some fearsome speed and power¡­ Even though Ryan had fired ten in a single moment and lost three, he fired them at points pretty far away from each other. He probably could Teleport. Ryan used irvoyance, and then he finally saw the target or a shadow of it. He couldn''t see the man with magic because of some protective spell or item, but he noticed that he was approaching. ording to Loki, he was supposed to be a warrior that only fights without relying on magic, but it looks like Loki was wrong. Berserker only fought without using magic because he didn''t have to. "Keep firing the arrows, I will buy us sometime," Ryan said and then cast a Mana Barrier on Femradiel. "Hey, are you going to leave me here?" Femradiel raised her voice. "In outer space?" "You don''t have to worry about it, as long as I am alive, the Mana Barrier won''t disappear and it will obey your orders, but you already knew that¡­" Ryan frowned. "Focus on the mission. Don''t disappoint me, Femradiel." Ryan teleported to the right in front of the enemy and then finally saw him. His hair was a pretty long, light brown-haired man, and it was tied up like the Vikings of the past. He also had a long and pretty wild beard¡­ That made Ryan wonder if that man hadn''t inherited the spirit of an old Viking that was brought to life now that monsters were on Earth. The man also was wearing a ck chest te and a helmet that had two horns. He either like those or really wanted to look the part. However, from all things Ryan could see, the physique of that man was the most impressive. He was huge. If Ryan didn''t know that he was an Alfur, he would think that the man was Hercules reincarnation. Alfur ss: Nordic Hero Lv 95 / Immortal Lv 89 / Tainted Berserker Lv 84 Race: Asgardian Rank: 03rd Health: 177.982/177.982 Mana: 83.580/83.580 Stamina: 144.730/144.730 Strength: 22.320 Dexterity: 4560 Speed: 7820 Intelligence: 2566 Endurance: 25.630 Control: 3230 Mentality: 6600 Luck: 2560 Recovery: 45.695 Willpower: 7500 Coins: 75.523.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Herculean Strength Lv 950, Seismic m Lv 750, Cleave Lv 670¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv Max, Pain Immunity Lv Max, Pain Absorption Lv Max, Strong Arms Lv Max, Improved Strength Lv Max, Regeneration Lv Max, Enhanced Strength Lv 700, Augmented Strength Lv 540, Strength Thief Lv 355¡­ Spells: Teleport Lv 350, Fly Lv 240 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 770, Cold Resistance Lv 770, Electric Resistance Lv 770, Shock Resistance Lv 770¡­ After using a lottely in order to avoid not being able to see the status of the enemies, Absolute Appraisal worked. Or perhaps it was due to the fact that the man in front of him had no interest in defensive spells. That became evident after Ryan saw that the only spells he could use were the ones he used to stop Ryan''s spears. Regardless, Absolute Appraisal worked, but in the end, somewhere inside his head Ryan wished that it hadn''t. The man in front of him not only had some impressive sses and status, but he also had many skills at the max level, and he was the third strongest human on the. What were Ryan''s chances against him? Chapter 677 - Rush Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why that man didn''t attack him as soon as he appeared, but then he understood why when Femradiel fired some ice spears. The difference in power between Ryan and Femradiel was evident. Hence, the speed of the projectiles was also very different from one another. Thanks to that, for every ten spears she fired, that man destroyed six. The mana inside the spears exploded, and a smallyer of ice covered him before he could teleport. Still, Ryan barely noticed any difference in that man''s movements. Ryan charged a Concentrated Strike and then teleported to the right in front of the man and then punched him. Ryan''s fist in his draconic form was big enough to smash half of the foe''s body, but in the end, even though his attacknded perfectly, the mana didn''t move an inch. "No wonder he has three skills that decrease the effects of the pain¡­" Ryan thought in shock. Before Ryan could move away from the target, he grabbed his hand and then tried to spin him. However, Ryan bombarded the man with dozens of bolts. Trying to decrease his speed and endurance. Ryan noticed that his skills were working, but he got a taste of his own poison for the first time. Your strength has been stolen by 35 points per 10 seconds. Your strength has been stolen by 35 points per 10 seconds. Your strength has been stolen by 35 points per 10 seconds. ¡­ It was the Strength Thief skill in action¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but sweat cold. He tried to free himself, but the grip of the Berserker was strong enough to make even his bones crack. Without any other choice, Ryan changed his tactics. He summoned several copies of the Hydra''s bow and bombarded him from above with the massive arrows. Ryan saw his enemy''s body trembling with each hit but still wasn''t nearly enough to free himself. Ryan didn''t give up and tried to scare the enemy as well by using Stamina Drain, Vampirism, and Magic Vampirism. When Alfur noticed that fighting like that wouldn''t do him any good, he threw Ryan downward. Ryan had a hard time controlling his body since he was spinning, but in the end, by mustering all his strength, he stopped the movement. Soon after, he teleported to high in the sky since he noticed that the man was flying in Femradiel''s direction. He probably couldn''t see her, but finding her was easy. He just had to follow the direction the spears wereing from. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. While ring at the enemy, Ryan felt his blood growing hotter. That wasn''t good¡­ the possibility of Femradiel getting attacked was making him lose his cool. Still, that worked in his favor somewhat since the enemy couldn''t help but raise his guard. It looked like the enemy could only use Strength Thief when he was touching someone, so fighting using his body directly was no good for Ryan. He will have to rely on his long-ranged attacks and debuff skills, but it will take too long even if he obtains some results. Ryan only saw a single way out of that situation¡­ When that warrior charged toward Ryan again, he bombarded him with Ruby Arrows. The enemy couldn''t help but frown since he didn''t feel much pain but saw his health decreasing at a fearsome pace. Regardless, he punched Ryan''s stomach even before he could think of doing anything. Regardless, Ryan recovered himself pretty fast by using Bloody Sword. Once again, the enemy frowned since he didn''t feel pain, but he lost health directly. It was weird¡­ even though he had those three skills, he was worried about theck of feeling that he was having while his health decreased. Alfur attacked Ryan relentlessly while he tried to open a path toward Femradiel, who still attacked the monsters with the ice spears, but Ryan didn''t give up. Even though he was losing a lot more health than the enemy, Ryan was also recovering more. He was winning the war of attrition, but in the end, the target stepped back. He sure was quick to realize certain things for a mad warrior and decide to change his strategy. Instead of attacking, the foe began to focus on dodging while flying around and using Teleport to move in small distances¡­ which made Ryan frown as well, since he couldn''t see any meaning in letting that fight drag out, at least from the enemy perspective. "Ryan, we have a problem," Femradiel said. "What problem?" Ryan asked. "The monsters are fighting each other and leveling up," Femradiel replied. "My attacks aren''t causing much damage from this distance. Those who had less endurance are dying, but not in high enough numbers. The big guns are delivering the finishing blows in order to level up." Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. No wonder Berserker was acting so weirdly. He wanted to buy time in order to bring Odin, Thor, and Baldr to Earth. The perfect oue for them would be to fight using their whole army. Still, now that they found an enemy that could be a threat to their general, they decided to make some sacrifices. "Just focus on killing as many enemies as possible," Ryan said. "I will deal with the restter." Although he said that, the situation was really dire. A war of attrition was the only way he could think of defeating the man in front of him. It wasn''t the swiftest way to deal with him, but it was the best he could think of right at that moment. "It is time to stop pulling my punches¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan didn''t want to use that since it was evident that Berserker''s bosses were watching that fight, and that was one of the few weapons Ryan could use against them and cause a lot of damage. Ryan raised his right hand, and then in the next moment, dozens of Lunar Arrows flew toward the enemy. Chapter 678 - Toughness Alfur tried to escape the arrows by using Teleport, but Ryan imagined that he would do that, so he used Perfect Aim to prevent it. Alfur used Teleport to keep escaping the arrows, but he only did it for so long. In the end, he was hit by a barrage of Lunar Arrows. Ryan used that chance to use some potions, and then he saw the result of his attacks. The enemy''s body was covered in burn marks, and he was bleeding a little bit. Ryan''s attacks made him lose one-third of his health, and he just had to use half of his mana¡­ Ryan confirmed once again that Lunar Arrow was the cause of Poseidon''s fall due to the circumstances. In the end, Ryan decided to bombard the target with the same skill, even though it wasn''t that efficient. However, he suddenly disappeared. When Ryan used Search, he found him hidden between the monster''s army and were running back to their dungeons. "He is saving his mana to escape my attacks," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "He sure decided to retreat fast¡­" Ryan returned to where he left Femradiel and then decided to attack the monsters himself. Femradiel didn''t stop there and helped Ryan as well. Thanks to it, dozens of thousands of monsters were killed. However, at some point, the ice spears were blocked by a massive invisible barrier. "Son of a bitch¡­ he has a domain as well," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It looks like you are having a hard time," Loki said. "Who said that you could use me to talk with Ryan, Loki?" Isis asked. "Don''t mind the small stuff," Loki said. Ryan sighed. It looked like he was being monitored again. That wasn''t surprising, given that his sess or failure would affect Loki, Isis, and Athena. Still, being watched was annoying nevertheless. "First of all, howe you managed to invade my telepathic link?" Isis asked. "You need to use magic carefully," Loki said. "Just using spells like those without using severalyers of defense is no good." "I already do that," Isis said. "That is right, and I know your methods, that is why I seeded," Loki said. "Anyway, we don''t have time for that. What are you going to do, Ryan? From what I can see here, the high-leveled monsters are still killing the weaker ones. At this rate, Odin will show up in eleven hours, Thor is fourteen, and Baldr in sixteen." "¡­ I will destroy the domain, defeat that guy and then clear all the dungeons," Ryan said. That was easier said than done, but Ryan was fully aware that his spears would cause even more damage to the domain since the ice will cause damage over time. Femradiel focused on using the potions for Ryan while he fired the spears as fast as he could. In the blink of an eye, they saw the barrier around the domain bing simr to a dome of ice. Since he didn''t focus on saving his resources, Ryan finally destroyed the barrier a few moments before his spears were almost gone. In the end, Ryan glued all the remaining spears before the effects of his potions could end and then fired them. Femradiel felt the berserker warrior moving to intercept the projectile since he waspletely healed again. He punched and kicked the spears, but he barely made the projectiles lose speed and power, and, in the end, he used Teleport to escape the effects of the attack. When the spear hit the center of the ogres'' army, a massive ice tower emerged and killed thousands of them. That probably will give him a few more hours¡­ Still, in the end, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he will be able to finish his job properly. Congrattions! The ss: Enchanter has reached level 75. Congrattions! The ss: Wizard has reached level 86. Congrattions! The ss: Shaman has reached level 21. Ryan''s archery sses leveled up like crazy, but they couldn''t bepared to the magic sses. He had decided to focus on bing a raw archer at some point in the past, buttely, he was using a lot more of a magic archer fighting style. Ryan decided to return to Earth, but Femradiel glued on his head like a cicada this time. She didn''t want to be left behind again¡­ in the end, Ryan was too tired to argue with her. That job was already too much, and Ryan didn''t have time to waste with an argument right at that moment. When they returned to Earth, Ryan found the berserker warrior waiting for him. He seemed pretty pissed. Perhaps now he was going to show why he received that nickname. Ryan''s expectations were correct. That man suddenly disappeared, and in the next moment, Ryan was sent flying backward after getting kicked on his back. However, before he could hit the ground, the enemy hit him in a fast sequence and attacked Ryan in his draconic form as if he were a volleyball. Suddenly, the warrior''s attacks lost a lot of power and speed, and Ryan had the chance to recover and use Full-Heal. When he turned around, he saw the target trying to free himself from some blocks of ice on his shoulders and knees. "You can thank meter, now try to get rid of him as fast as possible," Femradiel said. It was hard to understand how Femradiel, with her current body, could influence the result of such a fight. It was even harder to imagine how she managed to stay at the top of Ryan''s head while he was being thrown around. Regardless, while Ryan wanted to win that fight fair and square, he didn''t have time to let his pride get in the way. Ryan summoned several magic copies of the Hydra''s bow and then charged while he fired them. The enemy tried to move away, but Ryan once again used Perfect Aim. In the end, he moved his arms to protect his head and front side from Ryan''s charge and arrows, and he actually seeded in doing that. Ryan''s body m only made his move a few meters in the air, while the arrows only caused small wounds. The endurance level of that guy was a problem, but his toughness didn''t help much when he got hit by several Lunar Arrows on his back. Chapter 679 - Thief The shock and surprise made him flinch, and Femradiel used that chance to increase theyer of ice on his body. Alfur tried to free himself, but before he could do it, Ryan suddenly appeared behind him and smashed his head with his two hands. This time, Ryan felt some feedback, and the enemy moved downward for hundreds of meters. Ryan fired more Lunar Arrows while he worked to use some mana potions. To cause massive damage, there was no better moment to attack than when the enemy was surprised, but in the end, it seemed that it didn''t work as much as he wanted. The enemy stopped falling, and then suddenly, he pointed his left hand toward Ryan. He didn''t see anything flying in his direction. Still, Ryan was hit by something, and several scales on his left chest were destroyed, and a big wound appeared there. Ryan was paralyzed due to the shock and the pain. Alfur used that chance to fly toward him at a fearsome speed. However, Femradiel''s magic slowed him down at thest moment, and Ryan was only hit by a punch that broke a few of his ribs. It caused a lot of damage, but it could have been worse¡­ "He used a counter technique, one that he can control where he can fire back the damage that he suffered in a single moment," Femradiel said. "To avoid that, you shouldn''t focus too many attacks at a single moment." That seemed logical, but it was a pain in the ass as well. After all, the best moments that Ryan could attack were far too few. "Just wait for a while longer¡­ it is almostplete," Femradiel said. Ryan had no idea what Femradiel was talking about, but he didn''t have time to ask either. Alfur dashed toward him again, and Ryan fired some Lunar Arrows to force him to slow down and assume a defensive stance. He protected his head using his arms and hit Ryan''s chest with a headbutt. Although the pain was annoying, it gave Ryan a certain idea¡­ it was weird that he could only have those while he was having his ass kicked. After firing some arrows that Ryan had never used before, Alfur stepped back and blocked them with his arms, but then they exploded, and he was covered in acid. In the end, due to the low level of the skill, it didn''t cause much damage, but the liquid blinded the target for a while, and Ryan couldn''t have asked for more. He fired at others that made Alfur assume aplete defensive stance, and he was pushed backward, even more, when some Lunar Arrows hit him from above. Retreating from Acid Explosion wasn''t a good idea, so Alfur dashed forward Ryan in order not to give him the chance to use it. Ryan fired a new type of arrow, but Alfur assumed that was another diversion and ignored it. Still, then when the arrow hit his arm, it exploded, and then it became a sphere of light that blinded him for a few moments. Alfur tried to escape by using Teleport, and he did it, but then he noticed that Ryan followed him since he grabbed his body with both hands. "Do it, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Whatever you are nning, just do it." "Your instincts are sharp, this close, I should be able to do it faster," Femradiel smiled. Femradiel pointed both of her hands to Alfur. While the warrior was strolling. He failed at moving all that much since Ryan focused on stopping all his movements. That was the price one has to pay for not having any offensive spell. Once their movements are sealed, they can''t do anything aside from struggle without causing any real damage. Alfur mustered all his strength to free himself. Still, even though he was also using Strength Thief, he failed at obtaining any result since Ryan was constantly draining his health, mana, and stamina. At some point, Alfur failed at even struggling. He lost the power to move his muscles and most parts of his body when Femradiel covered him in ice. That was weird¡­ Only ice shouldn''t be enough to do that, but then Ryan saw it. Alfur''s blood was turning into crystal¡­ Femradiel invaded his body with ice magic to freeze his blood. Naturally, his Cold Resistance could work even inside his body. Still, since Femradiel has been doing that since the start of the fight, she could freeze his blood at any moment. Her mana was inside him, after all. "How unexpected¡­" Ryan said, surprised. "To think that you could do that even though you are much weaker than us." "Don''t be so surprised, everything is a matter of skill," Femradiel said. "You should know that, after all, you defeated a fire dragon with the strength he obtained in just three weeks." There was a massive difference between a fire dragon and Alfur. Still, Ryan understood the message. It felt a bit weird to win against the third strongest human like that, but since he didn''t fight alone, Ryan decided not to think too much about it. "Can you stop him by yourself by using ice magic?" Ryan asked. "If you let me use some mana and INT potions, then I can," Femradiel replied. "What? Do you want to turn him into a weapon too?" "No," Ryan replied. Once Femradielpletely paralyzed Alfur, Ryan teleported them to ground level and then deactivated his Draconic Transformation. Alfur''s eyes were filled with anxiety and fear while imagining what Ryan was about to do. Even without him doing anything, he could see his health decreasing at an rming rate. Instead of causing any real damage, Ryan activated Wolf''s Greed. Your dexterity has increased by four points. You lost four hundred points of health. Your dexterity has increased by four points. You lost four hundred points of health. ¡­ Femradiel finally understood what Ryan was nning. It was something insane, but it was possible with her help¡­ in the end, Ryan stole all the dexterity that Alfur had. Chapter 680 - Electromancy You obtained 75.523.362 coins. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 30 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 26th You obtained: Electromancy tome. In the end, Ryan''s ranking increased¡­ While he could have taken the third position if he had fought and won alone, he couldn''t care less about it. He was only regretting a little bit because he could have obtained more powerful items or more useful spells. "Oh, you gained a tome, too?" Femradiel asked while she was holding a domain stone and a tome that Ryan identified and saw that it was a Magic Sword tome. Although it was a bit shocking, it wasn''t weird that Femradiel would be so fast a member of the one hundred strongest humans. After all, she was essential in Alfur''s defeat. Regardless, instead of worrying about that. Ryan proceeded to cremate Alfur''s body. It will be a pain if someone turns him into a zombie. Besides, he had to finish his job. Unfortunately, the monsters weren''t going to cooperate. They were spreading around the countries in order to make his job as much tricky as possible. "Oh? You did it," Loki suddenly said via Telepathy. "I didn''t think you would seed, but I am d that I was wrong." "It is a bit too soon to celebrate," Ryan said. "I am going to hunt the others, I still have a few more hours and now that this fellow died, I don''t have to worry about being surrounded." "Ah, you shouldn''t rx yet," Loki said. "I don''t know if those three are using other humans like him, but the chances aren''t that small. You should retreat while you can. Speaking of which, here is your reward." Ryan received the Light Solidification time, and while his job was over, he didn''t feel like leaving yet. He had dungeons to clear, and more important than that, he had to im ownership over the domain. "I guess our business is over, but I will stay here for a while, I need to set this domain and obtain new sses," Ryan said. "Perhaps, I will be able to lock those three elder gods inside the domain¡­ Come to think of it, I don''t know if it can be attacked from inside." "It can, that is why you shouldn''t waste time with that," Loki said. "You should leave it to me." "Why should I?" Ryan asked. "The job didn''t mention anything about the domain, so it is mine now that I defeated Alfur." "Don''t you want to stay on my good side? You should leave this domain to me¡­" Loki said with an ominous voice. "I don''t really care about that," Ryan shrugged and then teleported to the next dungeon. "Sheesh, you are hard to negotiate with," Loki said. "What do you want in exchange for this domain?" "I don''t know, why don''t you give me a fair offer?" Ryan asked. Truth to be told, Ryan wouldn''t gain much by obtaining control of a domain where Odin, Thor, and Baldr would soone to rule. In the end, that domain will only be a minor pain in their backs, and Ryan couldn''t use the coins and the mana gained inside it freely. Loki would be able to use it better, but Ryan wouldn''t give him that so easily. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guardian, Dark yer, and Royal Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Royal Mage! You obtained the following skills: Chain Lightning, Dispel, and me Guardian. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your health, stamina, mentality, and recovery will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Chain Lightning. Effect: It grants you the power to cast a lightning bolt that will cause half of the total damage on all enemies around the target. Cost: 1000 mana Range: 30 meters per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Dispel. Effect: It grants you the power to cancel or decrease the effects of a buff spell on the enemy based on your skill level. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: me Guardian. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a special fire monster that can''t move but can attack all the enemies within range. The me Guardian also decreases the effect of water-rted spells and increases the power of fire-rted spells based on the level of the skill. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. In the end, Loki stayed silent for a while, trying to look for something that would satisfy Ryan. Loki was a bit insane and unstable, but he was no fool, so he knew that Ryan wouldn''t ept something cheap in exchange for the domain. Meanwhile, Ryan decided to clear the dungeons that the monsters left behind. Only half of the ogres had been in, but it looked like Loki was satisfied with that. That was odd, or perhaps he had his own way to deal with them before his three enemies finally returned to Earth. "Maybe I will miss this, but who cares?" Loki suddenly said and then made a certain ring appear right in front of Ryan. "I already had my fair share of fun using it. Using the same trick over and over again isn''t fun." Chronos'' Ring. Effect: It grants you the power to stop the flow of time inside a certain area. Those inside the time field will have the chance to do whatever they want for one hour''s time. This ring needs to be fully charged to be used, and attacking those outside the field will cancel its effects. Mana: 0/10.000.000.000 Durability: ???/??? Chapter 681 - Mad Archer Ryan couldn''t help but blink several times after using Appraisal on the ring¡­ it was a relic that could control time, and while it had a stupid cost and some requirements to be used, it was a pretty impressive magic item. "Do you ept it in exchange for the domain?" Loki asked, and he didn''t sound very amused, probably because he didn''t seed in fooling Ryan. "Sure, why not?" Ryan said. "It is a pretty impressive ring, with the mana necessary to use it, I could make a new Tyrant''s body," Femradiel said. "Keep working on that task, and I will make the necessary arrangements to use the ring," Ryan said. "Anyway, which direction are the nearest tier-three dungeons?" Ryan had plenty of weapons and skills on his arsenal, buttely, he was having a hard time finding the ones who would be most useful against elder gods, guardians, and the fallen. So, obtaining a new ss was something that he couldn''t forget since they could help him with that. While some tier three sses that he obtained recently were helping him progress faster, like the Sentence skill from the Death Knight ss, they weren''t that definitive in a fight. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Sword Master, Mad Archer, and Necromancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Mad Archer! You obtained the following skills: Mad Hunt, Insolence, and Automatic Arrow. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mad Hunt. Effect: It passively increases your dexterity ording to your lost health. For each one hundred points of lost health, you will gain a bonus of one point of dexterity per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Insolence. Effect: It passively increases your dexterity by one point per level for every one enemy within a fifty meters range. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Automatic Arrow. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a special arrow that can explode upon contact when you decide you decide it. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity + intelligence + 10% per level. Cost: 300 mana You obtained 01 status points. "I guess this will do," Ryan nodded to himself. It has been a while since that happened. Still, Ryan found several dungeons that only granted sses that he already had¡­ which was really unnerving. Still, after a while, he finally obtained a ss that would help him with his current fighting style. Although he didn''t want to admit it, it was a ss with a pretty fitting name for Ryan. "This ss fits you pretty well, don''t you think?" Femradiel asked while smirking. "Shut up," Ryan said. In the end, Femradiel had to say that¡­ Regardless, after clearing all the tier three dungeons in the area, Ryan decided to return to his domain. While that job waspleted faster than he had imagined considering that he had to fight the third strongest human, still he was exhausted. When Ryan and Femradiel returned to the domain, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. He wanted some moments of peace, but it looked like that wouldn''t be possible. His summoned monsters managed to keep the monsters that were spawning inside those ten dungeons in check, but their levels were increasing too fast. Even though the dungeons appeared less than three months ago, their levels already were above five hundred. "Leave this to me," Femradiel said. Femradiel left, and then while flying, she froze all the monsters that were leaving the dungeons. She did that almost instantly and thus made the fights for the summoned monsters much easier. Thanks to that, Ryan had some time to take a nap, but when he suddenly woke up feeling slightlyfortable for some reason. When he opened his eyes, he saw Femradiel looking at him closely. That made him feel weird¡­ "If our positions were reversed, would you feel creeped out?" Ryan asked. "Tough question," Femradiel smiled. "People unrted would feel creeped out If our positions were reversed or not, but our level of friendship is above that, right?" "I wouldn''t know¡­" Ryan replied and then sighed. It looked like Ryan would have to go to outer space to have some really moments of peace, but he had rested enough for the time being. While Femradiel was hunting the monsters, Ryan restocked his potions and then decided to focus on charging Chronos'' ring. However, after a while, Ryan stopped when he noticed Femradiel staring at the horizon toward the Southside of the country. "What is wrong?" Ryan asked. "A certain dungeon just broke South of here," Femradiel said. "I can feel a lot of dark energy and corruptioning from there." Ryan checked that direction and then recalled what it was in that direction¡­ it was Baal''s dungeon. He couldn''t help but click his tongue in annoyance. Ryan focused too much on Poseidontely, and now he spent one-week fighting and defeating Alfur. After using irvoyance to check things in that direction, Ryan saw it¡­ a massive army of demons taking shape. While Ryan couldn''t sense or see Baal, it didn''t change the fact that Ryan will have to deal with some troublesome neighbors. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 59 (+ 06 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 55 (+ 05 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 49 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 26th Health: 9455/9455 (17,95/s) Mana: 11525/11525 (17,95/s) Stamina: 12230/12230 (17,95/s) Strength: 881 (+1186) (+130) Dexterity: 17230 (+7955) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+4060) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+3034) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+1219) (+160) Control: 1476 (+3990) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+1193) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+150) Recovery: 4650 (+4850) (+845) Willpower: 1452 (+1291) (+40) Coins: 125.985.362 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Vital Hunter Lv 91 (+ 10 UP), Bloody Sword Lv 17 (+ 08 UP), Spiritual Sword Lv 18 (+ 07 UP), Automatic Arrow Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 134 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 134 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 132 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 134 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 134 (+ 02 UP), Mad Hunt Lv 01, Insolence Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 115 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 110 (+ 05 UP), Magic Vampirism Lv 61 (+ 10 UP), Ancient Song Lv 01, Metallic Sound Lv 01, Restauration Song Lv 01, Light Solidification Lv 01, Chain Lightning Lv 01, Dispel Lv 01, me Guardian Lv 01 Support Skills: Electromancy Lv 01, sses: Combat: Crystal Archer Lv 26 (+ 08 UP), Enchanter Lv 75 (+ 50 UP), Marksman Lv 58 (+ 06 UP), Expert Archer Lv 44 (+ 10 UP), Death Knight Lv 14 (+ 05 UP), Sea Lord Lv 07 (+ 03 UP), Royal Mage Lv 01, Mad Archer Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Support Archer Lv 13 (+ 06 UP), Siren Lv 01 Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 682 - Troublesome Question Ryan nned on attacking the demons'' army from above, but then he gave up on that when he suddenly saw a domain being formed there. As expected, one of the humans that joined the demons'' side and reached the rank of the strongest humans. That was annoying since Ryan knew no humans corrupted by the demons'' magic could have done that. Only those that became their allies on their free will. Destroying the domain was something that Ryan could do, but not unless he had some time to prepare. Compared to what he saw before, when Baal and Alissa fought, Ryan was almost sure that he surpassed his level of power. But in the end, Baal didn''t sweat even a little bit during that fight. "I need to check the other dungeons¡­" Ryan said. Ryan checked Lilith''s dungeon and then saw that the monsters there were at level 990. Mephisto''s dungeon was in 986¡­ Ryan''s level of anger increased. Now that he thought about it, it was weird that the demons didn''t cause many problemstely. They probably understood that they needed to change their methods after seeing how quickly Poseidon returned. "There is another dungeon in Russia, and one of them inside my domain¡­" Ryan said. "Most likely, they belong to different demon generals, but there is one missing¡­ it is weird that I only found five dungeons. They are trying to gain resources by using other types of demons." "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Strengthen our defenses," Ryan replied. "If I were to attack one of the dungeons, the other would attack me from behind. Lilith''s dungeon probably can break in just a couple of hours once some of the subi begin to fight each other." "I think so too¡­ I guess I will focus on getting stronger for the time being," Femradiel said, and then she stretched her arms. "Right now, I am not good enough in a fight against numbers. We can fight against one army of demons, but against two in a defensive position, we will have a hard time." Ryan nodded after hearing that. While his dexterity increased thanks to Alfur exponentially, Ryan still wanted to use Wolf''s Greed to further increase it. Hopefully, he will be able to strengthen his domain to protect him once Baal and Lilith show up. "It looks like we overlooked another type of troublesome group," Isis suddenly said via Telepathy. "To think that the elder gods wouldg behind this type of creature¡­" "Are demons much different from elder gods? You know, most people treated all of you like creatures that doesn''t exist," Ryan asked. "From my perspective, you all are mythological beings." "Don''t say this to all elder gods. Many of us will feel really pissed ifpared to them," Isis said. "How can I exin this? Do you know that all demons are fallen, angels? In his rebellion against the Christian God, Lucifer convinced one-third of the angels to follow him. Once they rebelled against their creator, they became sinful creatures and corrupted creatures. That is why high-leveled demons can change the behavior of humans drastically just by touching them." "So, the difference between demons and elder gods is that they have high levels of corruption," Ryan said. "Anything else?" "They want to obtain the power to rebel against their God again," Isis replied. "To do so, they need to be stronger, and they don''t care about decimating all humans since Lucifer rebelled because he was jealous of your race. Since they have a high level of divinity, they feel more important than the elder gods, so they also hate us and want to decimate all of us." "Interesting¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, Lunar Arrow will be highly effective against them. That is good to know." "That is notpletely correct," Isis said. "Their high level of divinity isn''t the only thing they have in their favor¡­" "Ah¡­ the corruption level," Ryan said. "That is right, divinity and corruption are like two opposite forces, but both of them are highly deadly against humans," Isis added. "Thanks to that, they have a high tolerance against beings with a high level of divinity and corruption. That is why your friend didn''t even scratch Baal." "You know about that, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Don''t make that face," Isis said. "I didn''t read your mind. At that moment, some elder gods were monitoring the demons, so I heard it from them." Maybe Isis was lying, but Ryan doubted that was the case. After all, mind reading can only work when someone is thinking about things rted to certain subjects, and Ryan never thought about that fight after he met Isis. "The elder gods of Egypt will return alongside the Greek gods," Isis said. "So, we won''t be able to do anything against demons. Doing anything right now will be too difficult since they will have more time to organize. If they attack you, I won''t be able to help all that much. Neither will Athena or Loki, so I would like to suggest you to stay on the defensive for the time being." Ryan''s ns never involved counting on others, so Isis''s warning didn''t change anything. Besides, Ryan''s interaction with the elder gods, at least from his perspective, was only business-like. He received payment from them to help them, but he couldn''t, nor did he want to pay them for their help. After Isis canceled the telepathic link, Ryan resumed his actions and summoned skeleton archers, and created those iron towers. Most of the demons could fly, after all. While he was preparing, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. The new age of gods was finally starting in earnest. Things were getting out of hand, demons trying to decimate humans out of jealousy and in order to ultimately rebel against their creator. Elder gods are returning to Earth, and three of them will arrive at the same time on that day. Ryan got in the way of all of them, so he probably will be their target¡­ as if things weren''t enough, Alissa disappeared into a world of dragons¡­ Ryan''s life was getting tougher by the minute. Chapter 683 - Warlock Ryan decided to watch the demons'' movements for the time being. Thanks to that, he noticed that Daniel and his groupies were moving alongside other survivors to face Lilith and her underlings. As crazy as they were, they decided to trust that Ryan wouldn''t be able to stop Baal in case he decides to move North and decimate the rest of the country. However, they didn''t do such a thing. They only organized their armies and hunted the monsters of the nearby dungeons¡­ They were sharpening their fangs. "I can''t just watch them increase their strength and not do the same," Ryan muttered. Ryan had some skills and sses that would help him in the fight against demons, but he wanted more. So, he decided to look for the dungeons that he didn''t clear and for new types of those sses. Naturally, he couldn''t just leave and search. So, he used irvoyance, and after confirming and preparing that he would go and return as fast as possible by using potions, Ryan left for those ces. Unfortunately, his luck wasn''t good. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guardian, Sentinel, and Warlock. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Warlock! You obtained the following skills: Shadow Sphere, Fear, and Summon Imp. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Shadow Sphere. Effect: A sphere made of energy that increases the weight of your targets by one percent per level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fear. Effect: It grants you the power to induce a target into the fear status, decreasing their strength and speed by fifty points per level. Cost: 50 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Summon Imp. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an imp. A magical creature that is able to torment your foes. Cost: 2500 mana You obtained 01 status point. "You have got to be kidding me," Ryan facepalmed. "I want sses that help me fight demons, not summon them." Ryan soon returned to his domain since he didn''t have time to feel troubled outside his domain. After a long sigh, Ryan saw Femradiel fighting. It looked like she wasn''t the best watchdog since she didn''t notice his return. She was too focused on killing monsters. Thanks to that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder, did he also look like that when he is focused on fighting? Femradiel looked pretty cool from his perspective. "It is probably the gap¡­" Ryan said and then shrugged. "Ultimately, she is always doing stupid things, so the image of her training seriously looks impressive." After checking his domain and upgrading it, Ryan rechecked the demons'' base. Despite their crazy behavior, they still were patiently waiting for the right moment to attack, and Ryan had no idea when that would be. If he were in their position, he would wipe out all the humans and monsters in the country and use all the resources obtained to build a domain that would take the whole continent. While that was his ultimate goal as a human, Ryan knew that he would never reach that level since it would be a pain to keep all the dungeons inside in check. Still, he couldn''t understand why a crazy group like the demons weren''t doing that. At some point, Ryan grew tired of waiting. Perhaps he made a mistake trying to y it safe, considering that the demons just obtained a domain on their own. He should have attacked at the very first moment and then made sure to keep them in check at all times, even if it was a bit reckless. Still, attacking directly didn''t seem like a good idea. So, Ryan decided to use his usual method of harassment. When a group of demons left to their usual task of hunting and killing the monsters of a certain dungeon. Ryan made a tower of fire golems appear right in the middle of that, and then he instantly ordered for them to self-destruct. You obtained 785 coins. You obtained 785 coins. You obtained 785 coins. ¡­ The ss: Demon hunter has reached level 32. Ryan had to use fifty golems to kill only fifty demons, but he achieved his goal in the end. He decimated the entire group without leaving a single trace of their bodies. "This is boring¡­" Ryan said. Ryan didn''t want to overuse his draconic powers, but in the end, that feeling when he was in that form was hard to forget. Feeling that he could do almost everything¡­ even decimate a demons'' horde by himself. Besides, after staying on the offensive for so long, waiting for the start of a new fight didn''t suit him. "Ryan, I think I have a problem," Lucas suddenly said via Telepathic link. Truth to be told, Ryan was already expecting that call. Lucas''s camp in Colombia wasn''t that far away from the demons'' dungeon. It was only a matter of time before Mephisto, who almost killed Ryan, but killed some survivors that fought alongside him for quite a while, would do something. He seemed one of the craziest demon generals. "It is about the demons?" Ryan asked. "Yes¡­ but not only about that," Lucas said. "Their numbers are already impressive, but it looks like another army of monsters joined them. If my guess is right, the demon generals that you mentioned created other armies, aside from the ones that suit them most. They are leaving dozens of demons around certain dungeons to kill the monsters that don''t follow them and to make sure that my people won''t use them either." Chapter 684 - Tips That was one of the worst things that could happen. Lucas and his allies couldn''t fight since they didn''t have enough numbers, but they couldn''t strengthen themselves either. In the near future, the difference in strength will be so absurd that they will lose their domain in a matter of hours. "It seems you are a bit busy facing the same problem, am I right?" Lucas asked. "You are right, but I think I can help if they are on the offensive and outside a dungeon or domain," Ryan said. "Come to think of it, if you have the right skills, you can decimate them yourself." Ryan exined his modus operandi in thest few days to Lucas. Use Invisibility and then leave the and then attack from outer space. He could also use Draconic Transformation even better. Lucas has been using the Death Knight ss for longer, so he probably was strong enough to pull that off. Even without the Mana Barrier. Based on his experience, even elder gods or demons couldn''t feel the mana being gathered from outside the, so it was a pretty good ce to attack. "You are joking, right?" Lucas asked. "How can a human being pull that off?" "How can a human being transform into a dragon?" Ryan asked. "You should try to test new things, the elder gods areing to Earth, and if we want to survive a battle against them, we can''t use onlymon sense. Anyway, even if you don''t have coins to buy Mana Barrier, you should be able to survive outer space for a few seconds. If you don''t feel confident, I can give you a hand and show you how it is done." "Well¡­ if you think I can do it, then I will try," Lucas said. "Talk to youter." Although Ryan said that he could give a hand, in the end, he had to avoid that as much as possible. Even in his draconic form, he needed some time and a lot of mana to fire a projectile strong enough to decimate thousands of enemies. Since magic wasn''t his forte, it was more efficient to hunt monsters using crossbows and bows, even though it takes a while longer. "How can a human being transform into a dragon¡­" Ryan muttered. "Hey, Femradiel. Now that I think about it, isn''t it weird that human beings can be vessels of dragons and quickly show all their power?" "How so?" Femradiel asked. "First of all, it is weird that our body can grow like that and return to normal as if nothing had happened," Ryan said. "Aside from that, even considering the bonus in status that we gain, it is weird that we manage to show that much power so fast." "Really? I can''t see that way," Femradiel said. "Maybe human beings are so sinful that theirpatibility with draconic powers is that great." Ryan wasn''t a saint, but he wouldn''t say that he was sinful, so he couldn''t understand howe he never had trouble using Femradiel''s powers. Regardless, that maybe was a question he will find an answer toter in the game. Regardless, even though Ryan wasining that he will have to face new and more powerful opponents every day in his new life, now he was itching for a good fight. Or at least to find an enemy in which he could use Wolf''s Greed from the safety of his domain. That being said, it didn''t look like Baal would show up anytime soon. Again, for a battle-oriented demon, he sure was taking his time in building his forces. Did he really respect Ryan''s power all that much? He was the only threat on their path, after all. Daniel and the others might be a threat together, but if Baal joins the battlefield¡­ It was hard to imagine them winning. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: me Swordsman, Combat Mechanic, and Sky Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sky Mage! You obtained the following skills: Fly, Telekinesis, and Air Bomb. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fly. Since you already have this skill, the skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Telekinesis. Since you already have this skill, the skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Air Bomb. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a semi-invisible projectile that explodes, causing a small tornado and causing damage for three seconds. Cost: 300 mana You obtained 01 status points. In the end, before that day could end, Ryan managed to clear another dungeon, but it looked like fate was throwing at him one of those stupid jokes. Ryan could almost hear that trying to look for sses now was a waste of time. "This is getting old quickly," Ryan said and then sighed. "Maybe I should just attack those fuckers and then quickly retreat and not give them the chance to counter-attack. That should be possible now that Daniel and the other idiots will deal with Lilith." In the end, Ryan felt troubled for a while, wondering about his options. Still, then he had a certain idea that seemed pretty interesting. Still, he couldn''t help but wonder why he didn''t think of that before. Chapter 685 - Demon Slayer Crossbow It took Ryan a whole day for him to put his idea into action. He only worked with that in mind, he barely had time to train any skill, and despite that, he used dozens of millions of coins. However, he eventually seeded¡­ in charging Chronos Ring. Ryan teleported to the middle of the demons'' army when many of them were leaving to wipe out the monsters in the area. Just by thinking, the effects of the ring began to work. Still, the range of the ring was only one hundred meters around Ryan. He stopped hundreds of monsters from moving, but the vast majority around still could notice that something was happening. However, before they could do anything, Ryan and Femradiel eliminated the monsters inside the domain and then proceeded to attack the others. From the demons'' perspective, the two invaders used some sort of spell to paralyze the enemies around, and when they got too close, they were stuck in the time trap. Although they were being controlled by Baal, in the end, they were vicious demons. They couldn''t control their bloodthirst. The very moment a target showed up so close, they tried to eliminate it. "It looks like everything is fine as long as our attacks don''t leave the range of the ring," Ryan said while he was emanating a cold area in his human form that was powerful enough to freeze even the high-leveled demons in just a matter of moments. "You are really bad at using magic. With your status and skills, you should be able to turn them into ice statues instantly," Femradiel said. Ryan ignored Femradiel''s nagging because he was more worried about using Chronos Ring. Was it a good idea to use such an item against small fries? Maybe not, but Ryan had to test it inbat against high-leveled enemies. Besides, he also needed to test how much Baal could see his troops getting decimated. In the end, after killing ten thousand or so demons, Ryan retreated. Baal didn''t show, but the remaining demons managed to retreat to the domain. Fortunately, Ryan discovered that he could stop the Chronos Ring at any moment, so he didn''t have to charge totally every single time. "The trick of using this is by using sparingly¡­" Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Now about this¡­" Demon yer Crossbow (+ 14) Effect: It grants you a bonus of fourteen extra percent damage when attacking demons. Dexterity + 240, Intelligence + 240 Durability: 360/360 After storing away his new weapon, Ryan pondered about his first use of time magic¡­ it was beyond anything he had seen so far. So, if there is an elder god or dungeon master out there who can manipte time, does he have any chance against them? The answer was no. "ording to Greek mythology, Zeus rebelled against his father Chronos, god of time and king of the titans," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "After a lot of drama and weird events, Zeus overthrew his father, and then he created the Olympus after the great titan war¡­ the question is: is Chronos still alive?" Considering that Zeus won, the power of time isn''t absolute¡­ at least in a fight. Still, Ryan was really interested in that power. It was a pity he didn''t find a single skill in the dungeon shop that granted him the power to manipte time in any aspect. Like Lunar Arrow, that would be a pretty decent weapon against the elder gods. Still, if that were something to acquire, all the elder gods should have that power. If they do not, Ryan was getting pretty ahead of himself by thinking that he could do something that they never did in thousands of years. Regardless, if Ryan were to obtain that power, it wille to him eventually. Right now, he has to consider how he can defeat the demons by using the things he has. Improving the Chronos Ring was probably possible, and thus the effective range will decrease all the demerits of the relic. Still, he will have to find monsters that can control time. "Alright, that is discarded," Ryan said. "What else can I do right now to get in the way of my enemies?" Surprise attacks weren''t so bad, but they will work only on enemies that don''t have domains. While Ryan also thought they were boring, he couldn''t just not use them. He could make his army fight theirs, but the difference in power was so big that they wouldn''t be able to do anything unless he had five more monsters on his side. For moments like that, Ryan had decided to create a domain and attack the enemies'' bases. Still, that n had been discarded a long time ago. Suddenly, Ryan had a certain idea, it wasn''t the best n for attacking, but it was a pretty good one for defense. Since he couldn''t use irvoyance inside other people''s domain, his enemies couldn''t see what he would do as well, so that was perfect. Even though Ryan had almost all the skills to put that n into motion, that took quite a while. However, once everything was finished everything, he felt like leaving his domain and checking other dungeons to use Elven Mastery without thinking too much about it. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Femradiel asked. Femradiel asked because she was too absorbed in her training, so she didn''t see what Ryan had nned or did it. In the end, Ryan only shrugged at her. It was hard to know if she was underestimating his crazy ideas or if she trusts too much in Ryan since she was taking the guard duty less and less seriously. As far as Femradiel could tell, nothing had changed in the domain, so it was hard for her to imagine what Ryan did. Despite that, she decided to go with Ryan to clear some dungeons as well. In the end, just to make sure that Ryan hadn''t lost his mind, she decided to focus her senses on the domain in order to see when any other monster army approaches it. Chapter 686 - Elemental Knight Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Elemental Knight, Ranger, and Teacher. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Elemental Knight! You obtained the following skills: me sh, Frozen sh, and Electric sh. Your strength and intelligence will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, health, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: me sh. Effect: It grants you the power to fire an elemental wave of mes that can cause physical and magical damage equal to twenty percent of your strength and intelligence per level. Range: 20 meters per level Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Frozen sh. Effect: It grants you the power to fire an elemental wave of ice that can cause physical and magical damage equal to twenty percent of your strength and intelligence per level. Range: 20 meters per level Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric sh. Effect: It grants you the power to fire an elemental wave of electricity that can cause physical and magical damage equal to twenty percent of your strength and intelligence per level. Range: 20 meters per level Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status points. It took a while, but in the end, Ryan found a dungeon that he didn''t clear and thus obtained a new ss. He had a map of the country, and he was slowly marking the dungeons'' locations there, so, in the future, he won''t have to waste time clearing an old one thinking it was a new dungeon. In any case, Femradiel was getting impatient since Ryan was taking his sweet time to use magic to defeat the monsters. That takes considerably more time whenpared to when he uses bows and crossbows. Fortunately, she eventually found a good reason to stop that day. "An army of demons is marching toward the domain," Femradiel said. "Is there a particrly powerful demon among them?" Ryan asked. "No, but their numbers still are high," Femradiel replied. "Twenty thousand demons will arrive in our domain in less than ten minutes." "They are pretty close¡­ your senses are getting dull, Femradiel," Ryan said. "You canin once you can do it better," Femradiel crossed her arms and then said, visibly impatient. "I guess you are right," Ryan shrugged. In the end, Ryan didn''t rush to his domain because he was worried, but because he wanted to receive and see the results of his ns. When the demons got close enough to attack the barrier with long-ranged attacks, suddenly, the ground below them exploded, and they were attacked by a massive wave of mana. Hundreds of them died instantly. Even those that could fly failed at escaping the massive barrage of attacks. Femradiel frowned when she saw that since Ryan didn''t have that kind of attack, but eventually, she understood what had happened. Congrattions! Your ss: Whitesmith has reached level 87. Congrattions! Your ss: Whitesmith, has reached level 88. Congrattions! Your ss: Whitesmith, has reached level 89. ¡­ Ryan had hidden underground thousands of battle-machines. It has been a while since he used those. Still, he didn''t forget how useful they could be in the right circumstances. "Your skeletons would be more effective in this kind of surprise attack," Femradiel said. "Even demons wouldn''t notice their presence underground." "True, but I didn''t use battle machines without reason," Ryan said, and then he used Draconic Transformation. While the battle machines were killing hundreds of demons every second, their batteries won''tst forever. Ryan couldn''t give a chance to the demon''s escape, so he decided to finish the rest of the things by himself and thus achieve his next goal. In order to make sure that no demon was going to escape, Ryan summoned a Thunder Storm, and lightning bolts began to fall from the sky and fry up the flying demons in droves. Although the level of the skill was, Ryan''s status in his draconic form made up for it. Congrattions! Your ss: Wizard, has reached level 93. ¡­ Congrattions! Your ss: Wizard has reached level 94. "That is not fair," Femradiel said, and then she began to freeze some demons that were faster than others. "You have to warn me of this kind of n beforehand." "It is your fault for not paying attention to your surroundings," Ryan said. "Anyway¡­ my sses are leveling up faster than usual. Is it because of the number of demons or the difference in power between my skills and their skills? Either way, this is good." Ryan''s next short-term goal was to sacrifice some magic sses and see what he could get. The closest ones of reaching the max level were Sorcerer, Whitesmith, and Enchanter. Although Whitesmith also used ores to work, it definitely was a magical ss, so Ryan was expecting a good thinging out from thatbination. Still, even Ryan couldn''t help but worry about Baal''s actions at that point in time. He already lost thirty thousand demons in a few days, so why wasn''t he doing anything? "Femradiel, did you notice any weird movements in the monsters in the area?" Ryan asked. "Nope, do you think he is going to do the same as Mephisto and then use several armies of monsters to attack your domain?" Femradiel asked. "At this point in time, I have no idea what to think about his intentions," Ryan replied. After decimating the demons, Ryan decided to gather the loot and think about the possibilities. Still, in the end, he couldn''t find any logical thinking that could exin Baal''s actions. It would be weird if he was waiting for the other demon generals also to be able to manifest themselves on Earth. After all, they didn''t seem like a cooperative bunch. Chapter 687 - Transmuter After making some adjustments to his ''defense system,'' Ryan decided to check things back in Sweden. The dungeon she gave to Loki in exchange for the Chronos'' Ring was. At that point in time, Odin, Thor, and Baldr should already be able to manifest themselves on Earth, and since they are more straightforward warriors, Ryan imagined that they would use all their resources to get that domain back. However, not even them were attacking Loki''s domain. Their monsters had already organized themselves near the dungeons in which they were spawned, but there were no movements. "This is getting annoying," Ryan said with a fed-up expression. "For an archer, you really are bad at waiting for the perfect moment to attack," Femradiel said. "Anyway, the next time you n to attack an army of monsters, you should use Snow Storm instead of ThunderStorm." "Why? I already have Electromancy," Ryan said. "Use Poseidon''s Trident. That will boost your attacks even more," Femradiel said. "Another reason for doing that is that I can feel the power of the trident growing strong with your presence. The power always increases when the Sea Lord ss levels up." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and considered that¡­ Why would such a ss interfere with the effects of the trident? Ryan considered that possibility, but maybe that was also a special ss, and unlike others, it works differently. Since Ryan didn''t have any reason not to check that possibility, he decided to follow Femradiel''s advice. Before taking his next step, Ryan decided to check things from above, so he teleported to high in the sky and check if any weird movements wereing from the monsters. Once he left the atmosphere, he saw the signs of a huge battle somewhere nearby Lucas'' camp. After using irvoyance, he noticed that the demons'' army was retreating, so Lucas actually seeded in making them run. "I guess I can leave this continent for a few hours," Ryan nodded to himself. "Can''t you just level up your skills and sses here?" Femradiel asked. "You sure like to take some huge risks." "If I don''t go this far to taunt my enemies, they won''t be mad enough and make a mistake like Poseidon did," Ryan exined. "Besides, it is annoying to always be on the side that is looked down on." "Only a fool would look down on stronger opponents," Femradiel said. "A fool or someone insane. In any case, you should at least wait for the night to make these reckless actions. At least at night, you can use Lunar Arrow." Ryan wasn''t patient enough for that, but in the end, he decided to listen to Femradiel once again. He waited until nightfall to leave the continent and then attack some dungeons that he already attacked before¡­ the ones that belonged to the Greek gods. While he was doing that to level up his sses, it was always good to do so while decreasing the forces of his possible opponents. Ryan used the darkness of the night and the skills of the Silent Killer ss to attack several armies and blow them up nearly instantly. In the end, he didn''t have many clear dungeons since the number of enemies was surprisingly high, even though he defeated most of them a few weeks ago. "Isis and her allies sure are short-handed," Ryan said and then sighed. "If they can''t even put these ces in check, things will only get harder in the future." While that was only natural, given that only a few elder gods didn''t want to follow the path taken by the majority, that still was troublesome. Regardless, Ryan soon achieved his goal. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Whitesmith, Wizard, and Enchanter? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Transmuter. You learned the skills: Transform, Shapeshifting, and Energy Conversion. Your intelligence and mana have increased and will increase by twelve points whenever this ss level up. Your health, stamina, recovery, and willpower have increased and will increase by six points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Transform. Effect: It grants you the power to transform things. The moreplicated the transformation, the higher the level this skill will have to be. You can''t transform beings that are stronger than you. Cost: 100 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Shapeshifting. Effect: It grants you the power to change your body at will for a time. The moreplicated the change, the higher level this skill will have to be. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Energy Conversion. Effect: It grants you the power to convert most forms of energy into other types. The moreplicated a type of energy is, the higher level this skill will have to be for that to work. You obtained 01 status points. "This isn''t¡­ anything close to what I had imagined I would obtain," Ryan frowned. While Ryan was really interested in the Energy Conversion skill, the other two didn''t seem thatbat-oriented. That was weird, considering that all of the three sacrificed sses could be used inbat in some way or the other. In any case, Ryan could try Transform and Shapeshiftingter, but he tested Energy Conversion right away. It was a weird feeling, but when Ryan decided to absorb sunlight, he felt his body getting lighter. Probably because he didn''t decide on what he would convert energy for, but once he decided to transform into mana, he saw his mana being recovered a bit faster than usual¡­ with the skill at level one, he could absorb sunlight and convert into ten points of mana per second. It wasn''t half bad, but it looked like Ryan won''t have time to celebrate finding another source of energy. "Two enemies are attacking our domain!" Femradiel suddenly said, shocked. "How did they get so close without me noticing it?" "Are you serious?" Ryan frowned since that was a first. "Yes, I am serious, and they are extremely powerful," Femradiel said. Something was off¡­ Why would only two enemies attack the domain? Regardless, Ryan used everything in his possession to return to the domain as fast as possible. Then he froze in shock when he arrived and saw an archer and a mage attacking his domain. "Mom? Dad?" Ryan opened his eyes widely. Chapter 688 - Isaac And Martha It was weird that Ryan recognized them right away. They were carrying some pretty impressive dark weapons and were wearing sets of dark armor. Still, their faces were something that Ryan would never forget. His father, who had short light-brown hair that also had some hints of grey and despite his age, had a much more impressive physique than Ryan''s. His mother, who had long blond hair and despite being in her fifties, looked twenty years younger and also had a gentle expression on her face alongside her green eyes¡­ "Calm down, Ryan," Femradiel said. "No matter how you look at it, this is just a trap to fool you." Ryan was trembling from head to toe. That surprisepletely paralyzed him because even without using Absolute Appraisal, he was one hundred percent sure they were his parents. However, there was something weird with their eyes¡­ they were vacant as if they were looking at something that didn''t exist in the physical realm. Isaac ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Martha ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? In the end, Ryan''s predictions weren''t off the mark. He used Appraisal and confirmed that they were his parents. Their names were right¡­ although they didn''t have a rank, that was just a minor detail. The very moment they noticed Ryan''s presence, the two of them flew while attacking Ryan. He barely saw the projectiles moving, but Femradiel reacted on time and teleported them to escape the attacks. Isaac''s dark bow seemed the most powerful bow Ryan and Femradiel had seen so far. The arrows were so fast and powerful that they left the air vibrating when they passed a certain location. As for Martha, every time she pointed a magic staff toward Ryan, massive Fireballs and Ice Spears would fly toward him. "What is going on? What is going on?" Ryan raised his voice. "They are supposed to be dead! Both of them!" "I said to calm down! Dumbass!" Femradiel raised her voice as well. "Did you pick a fight with elder gods, demons, and fucking dungeon masters without expecting at least this much? Of course, they would use dirty tricks like to make you lose your cool." Ryan didn''t expect that all his fights would be clear, direct fights where both sides would do their best without using dirty tricks. Still, that was beyond what Ryan had expected. That was too low. Using his dead parents against him was the only thing Ryan couldn''t forgive. "For the time being, let''s return to the interior of our domain," Femradiel said. "Even if they are powerful, they are only two human beings. Besides, they can only cause so much damage without a decent source of mana." Ryan and Femradiel teleported to the domain''s interior, and then Isaac and Martha proceeded to bombard the barrier. For moments like these, Ryan kept a massive stock of mana and upgraded the barrier daily, but at that pace, his parents will destroy the barrier in a couple of hours. "Try to use Wolf''s Greed. That should slow down a little bit. Perhaps they will run away," Femradiel said. Ryan''s mind was in turmoil that he didn''t even consider. However, in the end, for some odd reason, Wolf''s Greed didn''t work in either of them. Not even Ryan''s arrows could be as fast as his father''s, so it was evident that he was stronger than him. Thanks to that, he couldn''t understand what was going on. "You will have to attack them. We need to discourage them from attacking this intensely," Femradiel said. "¡­ What?" Ryan asked. While Ryan could understand the logic behind Femradiel''s words, since their attacks were as powerful as meteors, his heart didn''t ept that. Attacking his parents? There is no way he would do that. "I can''t attack them¡­" Ryan said. "I won''t attack them." "No matter what you say, they clearly aren''t that fragile," Femradiel said. "Besides, what are the chances that they won''t try to block or dodge the attacks? We need to slow them down at the very least!" "I won''t attack them¡­" Ryan dered. Ryan''s attitude puzzled Femradiel. She knew from the very beginning that family was a difficult topic for Ryan. Still, she didn''t imagine something like that would happen. Ryan lost all his will to fight, and the idea of attacking his parents seemed like madness. Someone found Ryan''s switch and then decided to use it against him in the nastiest way. That surprised Ryan in some aspects, but not in the others. After all, he had done plenty of nasty stuff to his enemies. In the end, not even Femradiel could attack those two freely. So, she summoned some Ice Walls to block their attacks, but in the end, she could only do so much with that body. "If you can''t do anything else, then at least give me your mana," Femradiel said. Ryan hesitated since Femradiel was too keen on attacking his parents. Still, in the end, she wasn''t crazy enough to kill them. Ryan used Support Mana Arrow and recovered Femradiel''s mana at a fearsome speed. Thanks to that, she managed to obtain enough power to block those two attacks. Still, even Ryan''s mana had a limit, but as for those two, it looked like they wouldn''t run out of gas anytime soon. "Did you forget, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "Your parents are dead; you can tell by the look in their eyes that they weren''t revived. Someone transformed them into zombies, but you can bet their spirits are somewhere in there. You probably don''t know, but the spirit of a zombie will never find peace unless they are put down. If you want to help your parents, right now, you need to defeat them and make sure that no one will be able to torment them like this" Chapter 689 - Not Bad It took a while, but Femradiel''s words eventually echoed in Ryan''s mind and made him understand that she was right. His parents were dead, and someone brought them back as zombies to mess with his head. That was unforgivable, but before finding the bastard who did that, he had to deal with them. "¡­ They are zombies, right?" Ryan asked. "If I use Exorcism on them¡­" "Don''t expect that the skill of a tier-one ss will solve this," Femradiel said. "Someone powerful enough to summon two souls that have been dead for over a year and even to build new bodies for them brought them here, you won''t be able to stop their ns so easily." That was logical, but Ryan didn''t think of that because his mind was in a turmoil. It was almost all the experiences he obtained while fighting mythological monsters and elder gods had been forgotten, only because the two people he loved the most were part of the equation. "We have to freeze them," Ryan said. "That is unlikely," Femradiel said. "I can sense the same presence that came from Poseidon emanating from their weapons and armor." "The divinity of an elder god¡­" Ryan muttered. "It was obvious that one of them would be involved¡­" That was a problem, but at least Ryan recovered enough to put his mind to work a little bit. He fired several Ice Arrows toward them. Even though he didn''t aim directly at them, the projectiles were repelled by arrows. Ryan barely could see the movements in his father''s arms that grant them the speed to fire so many arrows in a single moment. Regardless, that made those focus their attention too much on Ryan''s direct actions. They didn''t notice when he turned the air around them into ice and then tried to imprison them by covering them in ice from the neck downward. However, Martha used a single spell, and that made the whole ice melt in a single instant. It was a perfect counter. "You will have to use your attacks that cause extra damage against undead," Femradiel said. "You should have plenty of them. Those will be unnaturally stronger against their arrows and magic since even their magic attacks have a high level of corruption." The idea of exorcising his parents was something that Ryan decided to do in order to give them some peace. However, the concept of damaging them still made him hesitate. Even though he didn''t have a single idea of what happens to the spirit of zombies that die once again. As he proceeded to analyze the situation, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what was the end goal of who turned his parents into zombies, turn his mind into a mess couldn''t be the only true objective. Regardless, Ryan summoned a random bow and then used Holy Enchantment. The damage would be only, but that much was fine since I still wanted to see the effects of his attacks before dealing with that problem once and for all. Even though the attacks were much weaker than the best shots Ryan could do, he noticed that his father and mother focusing more on the torrent of attacks fired toward them. Almost as if they could sense the holy magic and wanted to avoid it at all costs. Once Ryan confirmed that he summoned his Holy Crossbow and then attacked. Suddenly, his parents changed their tactics. They began to fly to the side. His father focused on attacking the barrier. His mother created some steel walls to block the attacks¡­ those were highly effective. As expected, things will take too long if Ryan stays inside his domain and pull his punches. "Someone wants to lure us out of this ce by using my parents¡­" Ryan finally concluded. "Do you sense any unusual presence nearby?" "No, I can''t sense a single presence in dozens of kilometers," Femradiel said. "Either someone nned this, on their presence scared every single monster and even demons." Ryan didn''t consider that demons would feel fear, but even if that were possible, it seemed too far-fetched. Still, for some reason, Ryan felt like that made sense¡­ even if the demons aren''t scared, their master decided to y it safely once he felt the presence of Ryan''s parents. "Femradiel, if I give you time, can you gather enough mana to freeze everything below their necks?" Ryan asked. "I can, but I can''t see how that will solve the problem," Femradiel replied. "It is fine. I just want to test a few things and then try a few others," Ryan said. "Get ready." Femradiel nodded, and then Ryan attacked his parents for a while, making them think that Ryan wasn''t nning anything other than usual. It was weird if he was really fighting them or someone controlling them, but soon Ryan will discover it. Ryan and Femradiel suddenly teleported to behind Isaac and Martha. Before they could react in any way, Ryan used Chronos Ring. For a while, those two froze in ce. The time magic was working, and Femradiel began to prepare, but they suddenly began to move again. Isaac and Martha tried to escape the time domain, but they collided against an ice barrier that Ryan created. In his draconic form, Ryan was pointing his arms to the side and focusing on using all his mana to envelop the area with ice magic. He used the same trick against the specters, and Ryan used it again because he knew that their master was the same who were controlling their parents somewhere in his mind. From all the elder gods, demon generals, and dungeon masters who Ryan talked about so far, only one of them promised Ryan that he would suffer terrible revenge¡­ Thanatos, the Greek god of death. "You are there, aren''t you, Thanatos?" Ryan asked while showing his eyes full of anger like never before. "Tell me where you are, so I can go and kick your ass right now." "Oh? You noticed that I was controlling them," A cold voiceing from behind Isaac and Martha echoed through the time domain. "Not bad, for a human." Chapter 690 - Incomplete "Where are you?" Ryan asked. "Why should I spoil the surprise? You can look for all the dungeons in the world to find me," Thanatos said. "Still, to think that you would have a fraction of Chronos'' power. Where did you get that ring?" "I found it in your ass! You damn coward!" Ryan shouted. "Mark my words, you dirty sewer rat: your death will be a very painful one." "Do you think the god of death can die? You are a very funny human," Thanatos said. "Maybe you can''t die¡­e to think of it, maybe death isn''t a mercy that I should grant you," Ryan showed a vicious glint in his eyes. "I won''t torment you for all eternity because I have better things to do, but I will make you suffer until I get tired of it." "Good luck with that," Thanatos said. "Why don''t we y a game? If you defeat me before I turn you back into a pile of dust, I will bring back your daddy and mommy? That sounds fair, right?" "Why don''t you do that now? Asshole!" Ryan shouted once again. "You, the god of death? Don''t make meugh. Why don''t you kill me now with a snap of your fingers? Show me your power, show me that you aren''t all talk!" "You do notmand me, worm," Thanatos said. "Struggle for as much as you can before I throw your useless pile of bones and meat aside to feed my dogs." Thanatos'' presence grew weaker, but despite that, Isaac and Martha pointed their weapons at Ryan. Then a lot of mana was gathered. Something was off¡­ if Thanatos controlled them, they had no reason to prepare a big attack when Ryan was so close to them. He wouldn''t give them the chance to finish anyrge attack, after all. "Femradiel!" Ryan shouted. "Leave it to me," Femradiel said. Ryan had no idea if Femradiel understood the message. Still, she understood that he couldn''t do anything while he was closing the time domain with ice magic. Fortunately, she used all the mana she had gathered to create a thick Ice Wall in front of them. When Isaac and Martha fired theirrgest attacks, a single dark arrow and a beam of light, both of them fell on the floor like masterless puppets. Their attacks easily pierced Femradiel''s Ice Wall, but they never destroyed itpletely. The ice wall decreased in size as it repaired the damaged parts, and Femradiel kept feeding her mana into it. In the end, she won the exchange because she had more time to concentrate on her magic. Ryan approached the bodies of his parents, and he barely could feel any mana in there for some reason. Thanatos couldn''t control them properly inside the time domain. Still, Ryan was fully aware that Thanatos retreated too easily, abandoning two trump cards behind. Ryan hesitated in doing that, but in the end, he sealed the little mana in their bodies into two crossbows. Iplete Hunter''s Heart (03%) Effect: It grants additional damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to three percent. Dexterity + 30, intelligence + 30. Durability: 15/15 Iplete Sorcerer''s Soul (03%) Effect: It grants additional magic damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to three percent. Dexterity + 30, intelligence + 30. Durability: 15/15 Once Ryan used Seal, the corpses, the weapons, and armor turned into dust. It was faint, but Ryan could feel it¡­ his parents'' spirits were there. He didn''t want to put their spirits into weapons because he didn''t want to threaten them as tools, but it was the only way to prevent them from being controlled by Thanatos. Still, to make sure that will never happen, Ryan will have to work harder. He noticed that once he saw the names of the weapons. "It looks like Thanatos split the spirits of your parents into many parts," Femradiel said. "Despite his words, he didn''t underestimate you and imagined that something like this would happen." "¡­ What happened?" Ryan asked. "Why his power suddenly grew weaker, and then he lost control over their bodies?" "My guess is that your level of corruption is so high that it is already affecting your skills," Femradiel rubbed her chin and then replied. "The ice barrier prevented the specters from escaping before probably because of that. Since it worked against spectral beings, it created a barrier that prevented outside forces from interfering with the events inside. Since Thanatos wasn''t materialized nearby, his control over them was limited." It made sense, but in the end, that was just a minor detail. Ryan already knew that the elder gods weren''t invincible, and that was all that he needed to know to hunt Thanatos. "Can you track Thanatos'' presence, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "If I get close enough to a dungeon under his control, I should be able to do it," Femradiel replied. "However, he won''t underestimate you. This fight will be different than the fight against Poseidon. Maybe you should ask Isis for help. I am sure that even Athena would want to put down someone who is willing to fight this dirty." "I will do it alone," Ryan said. "There won''t be any meaning unless I do it by myself." "Are you willing to put everything at risk just for this?" Femradiel asked. "I am," Ryan said while he trembled. "This is the only thing I can''t forgive no matter what. This is the only thing that I won''t be able to forget." "All right then, let''s look for him," Femradiel said. "Still, you should calm down a little. Otherwise, the corruption in your body will take over your mind, and you will lose your sense of judgment and ultimately turn into a cursed dragon." That was something nearly impossible for Ryan right now, but in the end, he had to calm down. Rushing ahead while his head was that hot wouldn''t do him any good against Thanatos. Hopefully, Ryan''s anger will settle down after that. Chapter 691 - Warmaster Ryan had no idea how long it would take to find Thanatos or if he will even return to his domain, but in the end, he had to make some preparations. If he were to fail, Femradiel would have to manage the domain. Furball will eventually reach a power level where even big bosses will have a hard time against him, but he will need some more time to reach that level. Since the same trick won''t work twice against the demons, Ryan prepared something else for them aside from the battle machines. He was one hundred percent sure that Baal will make his move once he realizes that Ryan left his domain, after all. As soon as the preparations were ready, Ryan and Femradiel left while invisible. That journey might take weeks since Thanatos wasn''t stupid enough to use Specters all over the world as monsters for his arm. While they were troublesome, they were far from being the perfect soldiers for his army. "Shouldn''t we at least ask Isis or Athena the locations of the dungeons under his control in order to choose the best to attack?" Femradiel asked. "If we do that, he will learn that some of the elder gods are cooperating with us," Ryan replied. "That is too risky. Besides, I know that fighting him directly isn''t a wise idea. So, I will piss him off before anything and then try to recover the fragments of my parents'' souls one after the other." First of all, Ryan began to look for high concentrations of monsters. Thanatos probably had a massive army at this point in time, or at the very least, he probably already can manifest himself on Earth. Ryan''s ultimate goal was to lure him out to Earth. If that takes time, so be it. Ryan will slowly destroy all the monsters under hismand. While it wasn''t a dungeon where Femradiel didn''t find any traces of Thanatos'' mana, Ryan still decided to clear a certain tier-three dungeon in Canada. It was thest one that Alissa told him before she disappeared to China. He did that because he needed to grow in strength, coin, and items. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Warmaster, Sentinel, and High Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Warmaster! You obtained the following skills: Last Stand, Aura Strike, and Lightning Attack. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Last Stand. Effect: It passively increases all of your statuses by one percent per level per hour while fighting. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Aura Strike. Effect: It grants you the chance tounch an indefensible attack that causes equal damage to all of your status points. Cost: 1000 health, 1000 mana, and 1000 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lightning Attack. Effect: It grants you the chance to use a near-instantaneous attack that ignores the endurance and resistance skills of the foe. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. "What an unexpected ss," Ryan frowned. "It is pretty useful for a tier-three ss." If Ryan could have enough time to level it up¡­ Still, he couldn''t take his time. While Ryan found some dungeons he hadn''t cleared before, he ignored them all in South America since they weren''t tier-three dungeons. After a while, when they were crossing the Mediterranean, Femradiel warned him. In the end, Ryan was correct¡­ many Greek gods would set their dungeons in that region of the world since it was near to Greece. "I feel many traces of powerful presences, while they aren''t nearby, it looks like many elder gods stepped on Earth for some reason," Femradiel said. "In that direction¡­ I can feel several presences that are simr to your parents¡­ eight of them." That was fast. Ryan and Femradiel barely had approached the Mediterranean¡­ in any case, Ryan knew that he would find Spain in that direction. It was pretty far away from Greece¡­ "Any powerful presence aside from those that belong to my parents?" Ryan asked. "Yes¡­ I can''t say who''s that presence belongs to, but there is an intense presence that resembles Thanatos quite a lot," Femradiel said. "A simr presence¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If I remember well, Thanatos has a twin brother. Hypnos, Greek god that was the personification of sleep." Ryan felt an urge to attack the dungeon, but considering that Thanatos'' split his parents'' spirits, all the remaining fragments weren''t there. So, Ryan didn''t have any reason to take so many risks right at that moment. Ryan decided to check other parts of Europe, but he didn''t find any dungeon that Femradiel sensed Thanatos'' presence. Clearing dungeons at that moment seemed like a bad idea since it would reveal his presence to his enemies, so Ryan ignored even the tier three dungeons that he found. It looked like they will have to investigate the Western side of Russia or the Middle Orient, but then suddenly¡­ "Wait¡­" Femradiel said and then looked in a certain direction and frowned. "What?" Ryan asked. "I felt a strange presence in that direction, only a for a moment, though," Femradiel said. "It resembled Thanatos, but¡­ it is weird, but it was a bit different as well." Ryan and Femradiel were flying above the ck Sea. Then he opened the map to see what was in that direction¡­ the first country he would find in Romania. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 65 (+ 05 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 59 (+ 04 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 55 (+ 06 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 26th Health: 10255/10255 (17,95/s) Mana: 12325/12325 (17,95/s) Stamina: 13230/13230 (17,95/s) Strength: 881 (+1386) (+130) Dexterity: 17650 (+8255) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+4260) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+3134) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+1519) (+160) Control: 1476 (+4210) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+1293) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+260) Recovery: 4950 (+4850) (+845) Willpower: 1452 (+1391) (+40) Coins: 156.362.988 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Hawkeye Lv 124 (+ 07 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 136 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 136 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 136 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 136 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 136 (+ 02 UP), Archery Training Lv 27 (+ 08 UP), Mad Hunt Lv 01, Insolence Lv 01, Energy Conversion Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Last Stand Lv 01, Spells: Ice Breath Lv 103 (+ 03 UP), Light Solidification Lv 22 (+ 21 UP), Shadow Sphere Lv 01, Fear Lv 01, Summon Imp Lv 01, Air Bomb Lv 01, Transform Lv 01, Shapeshifting Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Aura Strike Lv 01, Lightning Attack Lv 01, Support Skills: Cold Immunity Lv 22 (+ 07 UP), Cold Absorption Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Electromancy Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 17 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 32 (+ 08 UP), Mad Archer Lv 09 (+ 08), Sky Mage Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Elemental Knight Lv 01, Warmaster Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Support Archer Lv 18 (+ 06 UP), Transmuter Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 692 - Weird "Are you sure that you felt Thanatos'' presence there?" Ryan frowned. "We can''t afford to make a mistake now knowing what is hanging in the bnce." "Yeah, it was a really weird presence," Femradiel said. "It resembled Thanatos, but it was at the same time demonic-like and a bit simr to Yahiko''s." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that. How could a single presence be simr to a presence with divinity, corruption, and it also felt like a guardian? "What about my parents?" Ryan asked. "I don''t feel their presence," Femradiel said. Unless he was insane or stupid, Thanatos would use Ryan''s parents to defend his dungeons. Three months had passed since the day he said to Ryan that he found the perfect way to defeat him, so he spent a fair amount of time giving Ryan''s parents enough power to cause him trouble, so it would be a waste not to use them to certain things like in the defense of his dungeons. Someone suspicious was in Romania, but it wasn''t Ryan''s target. "I will investigate that countryter, focus on finding my parents'' presence," Ryan said. Ryan had a certain idea of what he would find in that country, and then he recalled that Loki gave him one thing that mighte in handy in that ce. Now that he thought about it, Loki also gave him the Chronos Ring. Thanks to it, Ryan discovered that his parents were being controlled by Thanatos¡­ he sure was being useful, too much useful. Suspiciously useful¡­ "He couldn''t have predicted this, could he?" Ryan muttered. "It is getting kind of hard to identify all those presences," Femradiel said. "There are too many elder gods nearby the Mediterranean." "Well, the first human civilizations were born around this area, so it is no surprise that they would use this ce again since they lived in this area a long time ago," Ryan exined. Since Russia was just toorge, Ryan decided to check the Middle Orient first. There were many smaller countries there, so it would be easier to find the dungeon. His guess was correct, but not entirely correct. Femradiel found some presences that resembled his parents but near India. "I guess it is then, I feel like sixteen of their presences in that direction, and they are fighting," Femradiel said. "Fighting¡­ then, it seems Thanatos has some enemies in that direction," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "ording to Yahiko, India has many fallen and guardians, and they were fighting for hegemony. Who are they fighting against?" That was a tricky question. Putting in simpler terms, guardians like Yahiko were fighting for humanity. Still, Ryan knew that some of them wouldn''t think twice about killing humans if they think that is better for the world. In the end, Ryan didn''t have much intel to conclude anything. So, he decided to check things with his own eyes. After flying for a few hours, making sure that his presence was well-hidden, Ryan finally saw a few things. He saw an army of zombies nearby a ce called Hyderabad in Pakistan, and they were marching toward the East. Ryan saw his parents leading the zombie army. There was no mistake. A dungeon that belonged to Thanatos was close by. "That asshole¡­ it looks like he loves to y with other people''s dignity," Ryan clenched his teeth in anger. "Still, something is off here¡­" Ryan and Femradiel passed by a prettyrge survivors'' camp before finding the zombies'' army. So, it was weird that instead of increasing their army, they were marching toward India. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? sses: Combat: Zombie Lv Max Non-Combatant: Lost Soul Lv Max "As expected," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Still, why could I see my parents'' names but not these guys?" "Probably because Thanatos worked a bit harder to strengthen your parents," Femradiel replied. Once again, Femradiel made sense, but Ryan still felt like something was amiss¡­ the reason for that was the fact that the zombies were fighting using weapons, just like his parents¡­ those dark weapons. They seemed rather powerful, but even Ryan could feel ominous energying from them. After thinking for a while, Ryan understood what was happening¡­ Thanatos revived those that survived after the monsters'' arrival and gained some decent amount of power. That was why they could use weapons and use them well, and that was why they had the Zombie and Lost Soul sses. Those thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he saw the army of zombies being attacked when they were about to climb a mountain. A group of flying archers, two women, and one man attacked the zombies. The copies of Ryan''s parents tried to attack them, but then another army approached and joined the battle¡­ a human army. Ryan failed at identifying those three, but even from far away, he could tell that they were simr to Yahiko. As if their presences weren''t enough, Ryan saw them wearing pieces of armor. Those were definitely Indian since they had even a small part that resembled chainmail protecting their head alongside the helmets. "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Watch," Ryan replied. "My goal here is to recover the fragments of my parents'' souls and then kill Thanatos, not make friends or new allies." Ryan was fully aware that once he shows up, Thanatos will make his zombie army retreat, and that wasn''t interesting for him. Ryan had to see their army grow weaker, and then he will attack, recover the fragments of his parents'' souls, and then decimate the rest of the zombie army before heading toward their dungeon to obtain another ss. "You sure like to give bad impressions," Femradiel said. "You will steal their victory and even im a lot of prizes¡­ I can''t imagine how thrilled they will be once they discover that you could have helped a lot sooner." Chapter 693 - Battlefield With the exception of the copies of his parents and the three Indian archers, Ryan didn''t see a single human flying. As for the battle that happened at the bottom of the mountain, Ryan didn''t watch all that much since all he could see were zombies being tossed around. It looked like they were a bit stronger thanks to the dark weapons. Still, even though their numbers were twenty times higher, the zombies couldn''t defeat the Indian survivors. They numbered a little more than one thousand, but they sure could fight in unison as they charged and destroyed the formation of the zombies'' army. Things weren''t much different in the sky. The copies of Ryan''s parents were making a rain of projectiles and magic fly over the three flying archers, but their speed was superb. Not a single projectile hit them. Ryan doubted that they could be even faster than him on his draconic form, but they were much more skillful with their movements while flying. "Hey, Ryan," Femradiel said. "What do you think will happen if you transform those zombies into weapons and then use Weapon Assimtion? I think there is a small chance that you might gain their levels in some sses. Perhaps even a ss that you don''t have." "¡­ I think that is unlikely," Ryan replied after thinking for a few moments. "Even if they bring the same strength and techniques they had in life, I don''t think that all that experience will be stored in a weapon. That would be way too weird. If they had that knowledge, they wouldn''t be so easily manipted by the caster of the spell" Ryan watched the fight for quite a while before he realized that it was time to intervene. Despite that, he had a hard time keeping his head cool. Seeing his parents being controlled was almost unbearable. However, the weirdness of the situation forced him to analyze things even further. As expected, their weapons were too strong, but Ryan couldn''t feel a powerful magic presenceing from them. Another thing that was weird was why Thanatos split his parents'' souls and created several vessels for them. He could have defeated Ryan and Femradiel if Thanatos had put all his focus on creating only one body for each and assimting all that power¡­ but it looked like for some reason, he couldn''t do it. Ryan decided to join the fight when eighty percent of the zombie''s army was defeated. He had considered that Thanatos would somehow revive them, but the Indian soldiers prevented that by using holy magic. Causing enough damage with that type of attack would make the zombies'' bodies unable to hold their souls inside. In the end, Ryan waited for the exact moment all the copies of his parents would try to retreat at the same time. He teleported to the right in front of them and then used the Chronos'' Ring. When Thanatos controlling them realized what was going on, it was already toote. By working together, Ryan and Femradiel created an ice barrier that cut all external contact and the zombies became free from Thanatos'' control. Femradiel was right about the corruption level in Ryan''s powers¡­ without Thanatos controlling them. The zombies were enveloped entirely by Chronos Ring''s effects, so Ryan had an easy time sealing them inside the crossbows. Deep down, Ryan imagined that he would hear his parents'' voices once he collected enough of their fragments, but while he could feel their presence, he couldn''t sense any will in there. Iplete Hunter''s Heart (27%) Effect: It grants additional damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to twenty-seven percent. Dexterity + 270, intelligence + 270. Durability: 135/135 Iplete Sorcerer''s Soul (27%) Effect: It grants additional magic damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to twenty-seven percent. Dexterity + 270, intelligence + 270. Durability: 135/135 Ryan sighed in relief when he noticed his sess and saw the bodies turned into dust. In the end, those bodies were fakes made by Thanatos to fool him and make them able to fight in many ces at the same time. "Thanatos divided the spirits of your parents into thirty or so parts," Femradiel said. "I can''t understand why, but eventually we will. Still, now his armies will be on high-alert." "It doesn''t matter," Ryan said. "I will restore their souls and then make Thanatos regret this, no matter what." Ryan and Femradiel noticed that the Indian soldiers stopped their fight because they didn''t know if that sphere of ice belonged to an enemy or an ally. If Ryan had time to do that, he would greet them since they were fighting for humanity, but he didn''t. So, he only teleported to Thanatos'' dungeon. When Ryan and Femradiel arrived at the nearest city, they found Thanatos'' dungeon. Naturally, zombies weren''t being spawned there. Those who were doing that were another type of undead creature: liches. Lich Lv 871 Health: 15.000/15.000 Mana: 72.000/72.000 Stamina: 21.000/21.000 Strength: 1900 (+ 200) Dexterity: 5100 (+ 800) Speed: 1400 (+ 100) Intelligence: 12.100 (+ 1800) Endurance: 2100 (+ 400) Control: 4900 (+ 600) Mentality: 7900 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 28.000 (+ 5000) Willpower: 7900 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 850, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 470, Augmented Intelligence Lv 220¡­ Spells: Cursed Ray Lv 860, Gravity Lv 650, Dark Sphere Lv 490¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 520, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 520, Cursed Resistance Lv 690¡­ Liches were essentially humans who had pointy ears but looked pretty unhealthy with their grey skin. For some reason, it looked like all of them were mages by nature since they were wearing a dark cloak and had some wands. Ryan''s blood began to boil while imagining that his parents'' soul had been tainted by those dirt monsters. Still, he couldn''t just dash ahead and kill them all since their numbers were close to twenty thousand¡­, or could he? Chapter 694 - Now And Then "I thought he would have a lot more gathering to control, I guess being close to a country that has many guardians caused Thanatos some troubles," Femradiel said. "What is the n, Ryan?" "Let''s annoy that asshole," Ryan replied. "I thought that was the n from the very beginning," Femradiel frowned. "I am asking how exactly we are going to do that. "Just do whatever you want, but make sure to freeze some of them without killing," Ryan replied. Femradiel sighed, he was Ryan letting the blood rush to his head again, but then she changed her mind when he teleported both of them to the right above the liches army. Ryan decided to go all out for a change and make Thanatos clench his teeth while he watches his troops being massacred. Ryan used Draconic Transformation and thennded, smashing dozens of liches. However, that was just the first part. Before the monsters could attack him, they frowned when they saw Ryan with three heads. He used Shapeshifting to obtain two more heads, and then he opened them and used Ice Breath. By focusing his attack on a single point, Ryan''s attack increased exponentially. It froze even those monsters that should have high magic resistance but the droves. They didn''t even have time to resist. Hundreds of them became ice statues in a matter of moments¡­ It was a pity that Ryan couldn''t create more heads with Shapeshifting. "You are hiding your ideas again!" Femradiel protested. "I should have known that you were plotting something when you used that skill to have an extra pair of arms." Ryan ignored Femradiel''s protest since it wasn''t his fault. She never asks why he does certain things after all. Still, Ryan couldn''t me her since she is busy with her own training. She was so focused that she had the same status that Ryan had when he faced the fake Mephisto. Speaking of which, it was at that level that Ryan defeated her Draconic form. The liches tried to attack Ryan, but he blocked their weird purple beams with his Frost Armor. Still, that only worked for so long. After a while, the Frost Armor began to grow weaker, and Ryan understood why when the first beams hit his body. All of your statuses have decreased by five points per ten seconds. Your Curse Resistance has leveled up. "Curses, huh," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "How annoying. Although that was the first time he did that, Ryan made his body spin, and his three heads began to cause damage in a wider area. While he didn''t kill the enemies as fast as before, it was more than enough to slow them down, prevent their escape, and even block some of their purple beams. Adding all that to Femradiel''s control over ice magic, both of them decimated the zombie''s army in a couple of minutes. "I am not going to stop here, Thanatos," Ryan said. "I know you are watching this, so mark my words: keep washing your neck because soon it will be your turn." The Indian soldiers might arrive at any moment, and since Ryan didn''t want to talk, he hurried to gather the loot and use Seal on the liches that Femradiel captured, and Ryan obtained a pleasant surprise. Zen Ring (+ 10) Effect: it increases your mana recovery by fifty points per second. Durability: 30/30 Ryan imagined that they would make good magic items, so that was why he used rings, but that far surpassed his expectations. Maybe Ryan should stay in that dungeon and grind for those rings¡­ in the end, he only made nine more of them, deciding to use Elunium Spheres to upgrade them. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Sentinel, and Cryomancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Cryomancer! You obtained the following skills: Cryomancy, Absolute Zero, and Niffelheim. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cryomancy. Since you already have this skill, the skill will level up five times. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Absolute Zero. Effect: It grants you the power to freeze an entire area instantly. Cost: 3000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Niffelheim. Effect: It grants the power to decrease the temperature around you exponentially. The temperature will decrease ording to the level of the skill. Cost: 300 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "... no luck this time, huh," Ryan said after a long sigh. "To think that humans would be able to learn Cryomancy just by obtaining this ss," Femradiel frowned. "This is way too weird." Before they could give Thanatos any chance toy a trap nearby, Ryan and Femradiel left. Attacking or finding another fragment of his parents'' souls won''t be easy, so Ryan decided to rest at his domain. He was tired since it was pretty weird to suddenly have and use three heads. Ryan decided to sleep until sunrise, and so he did it, but he woke up with a surprise in the end. Afterying down on the grass and sleeping soundly, Femradiel sneaked toward him and then began to use his right arm as a pillow. While that wasn''t a bad feeling, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh for a very peculiar reason. "You can''t fool me, I know that you are not sleeping," Ryan said. "I don''t need to sleep, but resting my mind now and then isn''t so bad," Femradiel smiled. Chapter 695 - Mana Concealment Ryan thought that by defeating Poseidon, the old Femradiel would return, but he was wrong. At that point in time, wishing for that was a waste of time, so Ryan decided to move on. As long as she doesn''t cause problems, he had no reason to change Femradiel. Ryan trusted that Femradiel''s familiars would warn her in case some enemies attack the domain. Still, in the end, that never happened, which was weird. Ryan''s new defensive strategy wasn''t used. Still, he felt like improving a little bit since he couldn''t understand why the dungeon masters were being so cautious. So, after doing that for the whole day, he left after sunset. This time, he headed to Japan to buy his dragon hearts from Yahiko. "We will start from this region today," Ryan said. "Alert me if you find any traces of my parent''s presence." "Got it," Femradiel said. Since they didn''t stop anywhere, both of them managed to search around many continents. Still, in the end, Femradiel didn''t find Isaac and Martha''s presence anywhere aside from Romania. "What is the meaning of this?" Ryan asked. "It seems¡­ that Thanatos isn''t using all the copies he made using the souls of your parents," Femradiel exined. "I didn''t mention it, but I also felt the presence of a domain in that direction. Most likely, he is nning to lure him to his world before tiring you out." "... Nah, he is trying to piss me off as well," Ryan said. "He knew that I woulde for my parents and that is why he used only a few of their fragments. I would bet that he already knows that I was the one who defeated Poseidon after I showed Chronos Ring. So, he must be aware that a domain and a guardian or a fallen won''t stop me." Femradiel wanted to provide a better alternative, but in the end, nothing came to mind. Ryan was going to dash into the enemy''s domain in Romania and then open a path to the next world. The world of the Greek god of death¡­ Femradiel couldn''t imagine anything gooding out of it. "At this point in time, it won''t be weird that we know all this by ourselves," Femradiel said. "So, if you ask for help from Isis and Athena, no one will suspect and you can at least learn a few things from Thanatos ande up with some sort of strategy to face him." Ryan considered that option, but in the end, his pride talked louder. He had to defeat Thanatos by himself through and through. He needed not only the experience of surviving the surprise that an elder god can throw at him, but he also needed the power to show that all those who want to stand on his path won''t have a quick death. "Why do you have to be stubborn like a bull?" Femradiel asked once she realized what Ryan was thinking. "Asking you toe up with some ns for countermeasures will be asking too much?" "No, but I already have a few countermeasures, even though I have no idea what I am going to face," Ryan replied. "Since that is the case, increase your number of countermeasures by three times," Femradiel said. "I will be able to keep some enemies in check, but ultimately, I am not at the level where I can defeat those who work directly under the elder gods." Since Femradiel was a worrywart, Ryan decided to follow her advice. She was absolutely correct, after all. While he couldn''t give up on his revenge, he at least had to make sure that he won''t die a dog''s death, and the only way to do that when the opponent was Thanatos was by having a solid n. Unfortunately, Ryan could only prepare the way he wanted on Earth, not on someone else''s. Ryan tried to find a way to make surprise attacks even on the enemy''s terrain. In the end, Ryan had a certain idea, but he decided to do something else, and once again, he checked the Dungeon Shop. Ryan looked for a tome that would help him directly at the fight, but in the end, he didn''t find any that could be useful even at level one. However, Ryan found one that would be useful once he arrives in Thanatos'' world. Mana Concealment Tome Effect: it grants you the power to hide your magic presence, making you untraceable to most types of tracking spells. Mana: 300 mana per second. Cost: 20.000.000 coins. "Until now, I managed to attack some enemies by surprise by leaving the, but now this should help me save some time," Ryan said. "I am out of ideas, do you have any tip of skills I should learn, Femradiel?" "Why are you asking now of all times?" Femradiel asked. "You alwayse up with weird tactics without informing me." "Well, if you don''t have any way to contribute, then I guess I will get going," Ryan said. "¡­ Buy the Electric Armor tome," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "You won''t gain much defense by using that skill, but at least you will be able to cause some extra damage and obtain some speed as well." Electric Armor Tome Effect: it grants you the chance to electrocute those that attack you physically by reflecting some of the damage received. The damage reflected will be equal to the level of the skill plus ten percent of your intelligence. Electric armor also increases your speed by one percent per level. Mana: 300 mana per second. Cost: 40.000.000 coins. It was weird that Femradiel was telling Ryan to learn a skill that wasn''t rted to ice magic, but in the end, it was pretty good advice. That skill was awesome since it increased his speed by a percentage. So, those who had higher speed would benefit even more from it. Ryan bought the two tomes without hesitating. Still, Ryan has a lot more coins to use but not a single idea of what to buy¡­ maybe he should spend some time between battles thinking about crazy powerful skills. Now that his enemies were at the level of the elder gods, he couldn''t follow hismon sense. His ns had to be even crazier than before. Chapter 696 - A Kingdom Full Of... After finishing his preparations, Ryan and Femradiel flew to Romania, and they couldn''t help but frown since they found a country that was almostpletely repaired. It was weird since that country wasn''t that small¡­ So howe the humans from there managed to survive with enough numbers to do that? "I know that a single human being can do a lot more with magic, but this is just insane¡­" Ryan said. There were plenty of medieval-ish buildings that had been repaired¡­ probably. Come to think of it, the humans from that country didn''t have to build the same buildings all over again. In any case, Ryan''s first impression was that the ce was a country full of historical value. Eventually, Ryan found the capital of Romania, but he couldn''t help but frown. While he found many cities on his path that had been restored, the capital was abandoned, and one could still see signs of the destruction caused by the dragons. At that very moment, Ryan confirmed that something was off. A few hourster, Ryan felt the presence of a domain, and weirdly enough, it covered the entire forested area of Transylvania and its surrounding regions. At that point in time, there was no mistake¡­ the owner of that domain. The weird presence Femradiel felt before probably belonged to d Tepes Drakul¡­ also known as count Drac. It fit what Ryan felt. He was an undead creature. Hence his presence was simr to Thanatos. He was also worldly famous, so he could have been brought back as a guardian or as a fallen. Even if he joined Thanatos'' side, it was hard to confirm which side of the coin he was supposed to be. Even though the domain was muchrger than his and Ryan couldn''t use irvoyance to see things inside. He still could fly above and check things with his own eyes. Thanks to that, he had the chance to see a massive city in the center of the domain and people inside walking around as if nothing was wrong. The weirdest thing was that he couldn''t find guards and that the city was too lively considering that it was long past midnight. It was strange. The barrier prevented Ryan from using irvoyance. Still, it didn''t prevent him from using Absolute Appraisal on the citizens there. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? sses: Combat: Vampire Lv Max Non-Combatant: Lost Soul Lv Max "I can''t believe it¡­" Ryan frowned. "All those people are vampires? How in the heck all of them have skills that are more high-level than Absolute Appraisal?" "I am more worried about their numbers," Femradiel said. "Even without seeing their status, it is easy to see how powerful they are. Zombies can''t even bepared to them since their presences are also simr to Yahiko''s." "All of them?" Ryan asked. "All of them," Femradiel replied. Something was off¡­ while Ryan knew that Romania was the ce where that legend was born, it was too weird that it would revive so many vampires. Based on what Ryan knew, those vampires were once humans. While vampires were, without a doubt, monsters, he didn''t find a single dungeon that spawned them as minions, only as bosses. Even if a single dungeon had the chance to spawn bosses every month for several years, it would be enough to bring to Earth dozens of thousands of vampires, and that was how many Ryan and Femradiel could see. "Is it time for a change of ns?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t doubt that you still can destroy the barrier, but facing so many zombies at the same time will be a pain." "Well, it looks like I have to show one of my trump cards a bit sooner than nned," Ryan said. To save some time, Ryan decided to go all out from the very beginning. This time he used all the physical buffs he could think of and then used Draconic Transformation, but he didn''t stop there. Ryan used Shapeshifting again to be an ice dragon that had six arms. Then he began to bombard the barrier with his punches. After confirming that Magic Vampirism was working even with his fake arms, Ryan summoned several copies of this Hydra''s Bow and then made those massive magic arrows to rain down on the barrier. When the vampires finally felt Ryan''s presence, he was already making the entire domain tremble with his attacks. The vampires eventually began to fly toward Ryan. Still, even they decided to attack him from the safety of the domain''s interior. They fired Blood Arrows and Blood Spears toward him, but Femradiel blocked them with her ice magic. It was the best thing she could do with her powers right now. Congrattions! The ss: Champion has reached level 45. Congrattions! The ss: Iron Fist has reached level 52. Congrattions! The ss: Monk has reached level 72. "Oh? Are you nning on obtaining a special melee ss now?" Femradiel asked. "Weirdly enough, this is a pretty interesting way to level them up." "That wasn''t my n, but I guess I will do it," Ryan said. "It is simple, but it is weird that you can level up the melee sses just by having additional arms." Ryan and Femradiel were talking as if they weren''t attacking a domain and hundreds of vampires were a few hundred meters below them. Although Femradiel said that they were powerful, it looked like they weren''t that experienced in fighting. If they were, they wouldn''t just watch a dragon damaging the only thing that could protect them. However, their behavior changed when a massive bat suddenly appeared in the distance. Some of them began to attack more fiercely while others left the domain to attack Ryan and Femradiel from other directions¡­ it looked like the master of the domain finally decided to show up. Chapter 697 - Vampire d Tepes ss: Vampire King Lv Max / Lord of the Night Lv Max / Death Subordinate Lv Max Race: Vampire Rank: 06th Health: 111.963/111.963 Mana: 155.580/155.580 Stamina: 27.730/27.730 Strength: 5.632 Dexterity: 4560 Speed: 8852 Intelligence: 12.360 Endurance: 15.630 Control: 6523 Mentality: 9800 Luck: 2560 Recovery: 56.632 Willpower: 9800 Coins: 175.236.985 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Health Drain Lv 650, Mana Drain Lv 650, Stamina Drain Lv 520, Vampire Blood Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv Max, Focus Lv Max, Improved Strength Lv 523, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 700, Augmented Recovery Lv 640, Spells: Darkness Maniption Lv Max, Fly Lv Max, Gravity Lv Max, Health Stealer Lv 825, Mana Stealer Lv 752, Stamina Stealer Lv 452 Support Skills: Curse Resistance Lv Max, Darkness Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 950, Electric Resistance Lv 660, Shock Resistance Lv 350¡­ Drac was even weirder than the ones Ryan saw in movies and games. The only resemnce was a dark cloak that he had and the unhealthy skin stone. As for the rest, he had messy ck hair and gray eyes. It was pretty weird given that the other vampires looked so neat while living in the vampires'' empire. For some reason, Absolute Appraisal worked on Drac. Ryan and Femradiel''s predictions were correct. The enemy really was the legendary vampire. He worked for Thanatos, and the system even allowed him in the ranks, even though he was also a vampire. Without wasting any time, Drac began to attack from a certain distance. While flying, he began to steal Ryan''s mana. In the end, Ryan returned to his human form and then stood still above the barrier. "Femradiel, protect me," Ryan said. "Here we go again with your insane ns," Femradiel said. Even without telling, Femradiel already knew what Ryan was nning. Drac was stealing Ryan''s mana, but in the end, he wasn''t decreasing the maximum amount of mana Ryan actually had. On the other hand¡­ Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. ¡­ Ryan activated Wolf''s Greed and began to stole Drac''s dexterity. At first, he thought Ryan was only using the same type of tactic, but soon he noticed that wasn''t the case. He imagined it was a bluff, but Ryan didn''t stop even when his mana had fallen to zero. Drac began to steal Ryan''s health since he noticed that Ryan was being damaged by his own skill, but Femradiel healed him. As if that wasn''t enough, she waspletely stopping the attacks of all other vampires. That should be impossible, given her status. Eventually, Drac concluded that taking his time would only make things more difficult in the long run. The enemy couldn''t be allowed to keep stealing his dexterity like that. Suddenly, Ryan and Femradiel felt their bodies getting heavier, and before they could fly to escape, they crossed the barrier. Ryan used Draconic Transformation again and then grabbed Femradiel to cross the barrier again, but he failed. The barrier became solid again. "It looks like someone wants to trap us here," Ryan said while smiling. "Focus on dealing with the small fries, Femradiel." "I always have to deal with the most boring work," Femradiel said and then sighed. Femradiel moved her arms, and then the temperature in the area decreased tremendously. In the end, Ryan also decided to give her a hand and used Niffelheim. With the sole exception of Drac, every vampire got slower, andyers of ice slowly began to form around their bodies. However, not even the dark cloak of the king of vampires was being covered with ice¡­ it was a magic item that protected him against negative effects¡­ Ryan dashed toward Drac, and the vampire did the same. That was a perfect chance to see if that cloak worked against physical attacks. Ryan punched the vampire with all his might. In thest moment, he even used Holy Enchantment on his fist, but Drac barely moved backward. Ryan didn''t feel much powering from his arms, but he felt his health decreasing at an insane speed. After using Shapeshifting and summoning four more arms, Ryan tried topensate by using Vampirism and Bloodthirsty. Still, he wasn''t recovering enough health by attacking with them, even with a rain of punches. After using sh to escape, Ryan stared at the king of the vampires. His ability to drain health was peerless. Trying to y that game was stupid. So, he summoned several copies of his Holy Crossbow and bombarded the king of the vampires. As expected, he used his cloak to block them, but the creature''s body began to emit some steam whenever the arrows hit it. "It seems his cloak is also good against physical attacks, but not against holy magic," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Ryan considered his options as he watched Femradiel freezing the vampires around into ice statues. While her speed wasn''t fearsome, her control was something else. Whenever the vampires got close, her powers would increase. Whenever they fired their blood projectiles, Femradiel easily froze them and fired them back. She wouldn''t need his help¡­ Ryan exchanged the four arms for three heads and then used Ice Breath. For some reason, probably because he would gain a lot of Ryan wastes his mana with useless attacks, Drac didn''t move and epted the entire attack head-on. However, the vampire king suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arms, and then he began to tremble. When he looked at his arms, he saw some weird arrows¡­ arrows that emitted a lot of heat¡­ they were arrows made of solidified sunlight. When Ryan saw the vampire trembling, he recognized the fact that his n worked somewhat. Sunlight wasn''t deadly for Drac, but at least it was even more effective than holy magic. "It paid off solidifying some projectiles made with sunlight and storing them in my storage space," Ryan muttered. "Still, this won''t be enough¡­" Ryan concluded that when he saw Drac destroying the arrows with a weird shadow that moved from his hands. Chapter 698 - Cold Sweat "Darkness Maniption, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "This might be bad." Ryan attacked at night because it was the only time he could use Lunar Arrow, but in the end, he wasn''t the only one who could use it in his favor. In any case, Ryan came ready to fight and expected at least that much trouble. It wasn''t a pity he didn''te with other items that could be useful against Drac, like garlic or crucifixes. Still, Ryan felt like he would be silly by using them as throwable projectiles. Even before Drac could recover from the damage caused by the sunlight arrows, he suddenly disappeared. Half a momentter, Ryan felt his presence behind him and was pretty close to Femradiel. However, before either of them could do anything, Femradiel used Teleport and made Ryan and herself move away from the king of the vampires. "When did you learn to use Teleport with that body?" Ryan asked, slightly relieved. "I am your student, remember?" Femradiel replied. "After using that skill so close to me so many times, it is only natural that I would learn it." That was the only natural thing. Still, Femradiel''s lightning reflexes impressed Ryan and even Drac. The vampire decided to capture her and let the other vampires join the fight, but he failed miserably. Instead of letting the failure bother him, Drac decided to try something else. He increased the gravity around Ryan''s body. His weight became so massive that flying became next to impossible, which even prevented Femradiel from blocking some blood projectiles. It would be a pain in the ass if Drac could use that spell alongside Health Stealer, but for some reason, he couldn''t. While Gravity was a pain in the ass, Ryan decided to make the most out of that situation and let Energy Conversion do its magic. It wasn''t much, but the effects of the spell decreased. You recovered sixty-five points of mana. You recovered sixty-five points of mana. You recovered sixty-five points of mana. ¡­ While Ryan and Femradiel were being forced downward by the gravity, he decided to give her a hand in stopping the attacks of the other vampires. Their numbers were increasing fast since the fight was dragging out, and that was a problem. He opened his spatial storage with lightning speed and then fired two arrows of solidified light toward some of them. The projectile easily pierced and killed several of them, but the projectile lost its shape after just killing a few. The Light Solidification skill wasn''t at a high level enough to withstand being used for long. "We can use them to get rid of the small fries," Femradiel said as she watched the vampires turning into dust. "We can''t. I don''t have that many of them," Ryan replied. "But that should be enough to keep them on their toes." Once Ryan and Femradiel reached ground level, the other vampires joined Drac to cast the Gravity that prevented those two from moving. That gave the king of the vampires the chance to do something else. Ryan and Femradiel tried to teleport nearby and prevent the attack. Still, when they did it, the spell became much more powerful, and they lost the chance of attacking. Ryan''s bones began to crack, and Femradiel, who was at the top of Ryan''s head, also was unable to lift even a single finger. Both of them fell downward, but they prevented from hitting the ground and suffering even more damage. Without any other choice, Ryan decided to summon the copies of his Holy Crossbow. Still, his bolts lost power even before reaching Drac¡­ the vampires weren''t using gravity on them. They were used from their location to where those two were. All in order to prevent their attacks and give Ryan enough time to prepare a big one. Ryan and Femradiel couldn''t help but sweat cold when they saw a sphere of dark energy growing bigger right above the king of the vampires. Unlike most elemental attacks, it was clear that anything made of darkness or light was much more powerful than any normal attack. "What is your brilliant n now, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "Sarcasm? Really? Now of all time?" Ryan asked. "Of course, you can always avoid answering my question," Femradiel said. Usually, Ryan would try to destroy the dark sphere with Lunar Arrow, but the barrier was standing in the way. His options were limited, and since increasing Darkness Resistance was a chance that Ryan had many times, he was considering taking the attack head-on. Still, his instincts were telling him that he wouldn''t survive that one, not even for a couple of moments. "Let''s win this by relying on the power of friendship, Femradiel," Ryan said. "¡­ What are you saying now of all times?" Femradiel asked, showing a dubious expression on her face. "Just create as much ice as possible to block the attack," Ryan replied. "If we work together, perhaps we can stop his attack. He can only use Mana Stealer when he is not using any other skill, so he can only rely on his mana pool, and his mana pool has a limit." Femradiel understood what Ryan was nning when he began to create a massive wall of ice and was using INT potions at the same time. That whole n will be a mess if Drac''s attack gets ready only after five minutes. Still, both of them doubted that was the case since a lot of his mana was being used at every single moment. In the blink of an eye, Femradiel and Ryan created a mountain of ice in front of them. Even Drac couldn''t help but frown at that. His attack was powerful, and it could destroy even his whole domain, but it wasn''t absolute. When the possibility that those two could block the attack entered his mind, Drac concluded that betting all his mana right now in a single attack didn''t seem like a good idea. So, he fired the dark sphere of energy when it was as big as Ryan in his draconic form. Chapter 699 - Last Attack Ryan clicked his tongue when he saw the motion that Drac made. He was getting confident in his n, but then that asshole made a mess out of everything. As the dark sphere flew, it made a sound that made Ryan sweat cold. It wasn''t loud or anything, but it emitted an acute sound, as if it devoured everything in its path, being it oxygen or anything else. Maybe thanks to that, the dark sphere hit the ice mountain that Ryan and Femradiel created instantly. Just as Ryan had imagined, the dark sphere consumed the ice as if it was a ck hole. However, it wasn''t that fast¡­ probably because of the vast concentration of mana that Ryan and Femradiel put in there. The ice on the sides waspletely ignored, so Ryan and Femradiel use Cryomancy together in order to make it surround the dark sphere. Both of them reached the same conclusion. The dark sphere was a concentration of energy that consumed everything, but it grew smaller every time it happened. In the end, their hard work paid off. They blocked the attack with just enough room to create a massive fifty-meter-long spear with the remaining ice. Ryan fired the spear after activating Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. Drac tried to fly away from the projectile, but he failed and, in the end, he had to stop the massive spear with both hands. A lot of blood fell from his hands, but ultimately, the spear decreased in size until it disappeared. He absorbed the mana in it¡­ "How annoying¡­" Ryan said. "It could be worse¡­ if the other vampires could also steal your mana from a distance," Femradiel said. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he would try to fight like that even when thousands of enemies would try to steal his mana and health. But it would be weird that even normal vampires would have that ability. Regardless, they will have to persevere for a while longer until the vampires run out of mana and they be unable to keep Ryan and Femradiel on ground level. They will have to conserve their forces and then try to kill Drac with a single attack, but to do that, they will need toe up with a n after watching a little more of his skills. Ryan imagined that Drac would attack with another super powerful skill. Still, instead of that, he was just floating in the sky and watching them. That was weird¡­ why not use the chance that his minions were giving him? "I guess this is only natural," Femradiel said. "It would be weird if someone like him had an even more powerful attack than that dark sphere of energy." "I see¡­ so he is trying toe up with a way to defeat us without relying on that since it is already obvious that we can counter it," Ryan nodded. "He is a hybrid fighter. He uses magic and physical attacks as well," Femradiel added. "So, the chances of himing up with anyplex strategy is quite low. That being said, we need to be careful." Instead of being careful, Ryan wanted to deal with him as soon as possible. The best moment to defeat someone is when they are hesitating or are confused. Drac doesn''t have a clear n on how to defeat Ryan, so he couldn''t find a more perfect moment. Besides, things will get messy if the fragments of Ryan''s parents that Femradiel felt a few days ago get involved in the battle. Ryan won''t be able to keep his head cool while fighting them, after all. If Ryan waits for two hours, the sun will help him, but he doubted that Drac and his minions will just keep fighting. So, time was against both sides. "I have an idea," Femradiel suddenly said. "If we seed, we will be able to surprise all of them and create the perfect moment to y him. However, this n will only work once, so you will have to attack with all of your might once the chance appears." Femradiel''s ns usually were pretty good, so Ryan decided to hear her. As expected, it was very simple, but Ryan could easily see that working. So, he decided to bet everything on that. When Drac recovered from the shock of the failure, he tried to drain Ryan''s mana as fast as he could and from a safe distance. Still, then he stopped when Femradiel suddenly disappeared. Drac and his minions felt her presence right above them and almost touching the barrier and right in front of her, a massive ice hammer being swung toward Drac. The vampires tried to stop her, but they weren''t fast enough. Even Drac failed at using Teleport on time, and in the end, he was hit by the hammer. Drac''s body only moved a few meters downward, but that had been just enough for Ryan to grab him with both hands by surprise. When the vampires tried to stop Femradiel with gravity, they let Ryan free to move. The vampires increased the gravity on him again, and Drac tried to free himself. At the same time, he drained his health, but in the end, he stopped when Ryan made several arrows made of sunlight appear right above Drac. The arrows hit the creature''s head, and then the monster began to burn, but not even that was enough to kill him. Ryan fired dozens of arrows, but the king of the vampires still was surviving. Even amidst the pain and agony, he still could steal Ryan''s health and recover himself. In the end, Ryan went as far as moving Drac''s head and then used thest arrows to damage him and then forcefully wound his mouth until he was forced to swallow one of them. Once that happened, Drac trembled like a leaf and stopped struggling and using all of his skills. Still, the fight wasn''t over. All of the vampires flew toward Ryan as if their lives depended on it. Chapter 700 - Vampire Killer Before the vampires could do anything, Ryan bombarded them with a massive rain of holy arrows. Magic Bows, Rapid Shot, Arrow Showed, Firing Stance, Holy Enchantment¡­ he used all of those skills to decimate hundreds of vampires and buy some time. While Drac wasn''t dead, he was almost there. Ryan just needed a few extra seconds¡­ who bought those seconds was Femradiel, who suddenly showed up and used Niffelheim. The temperature decreased, and the closer they got to them, the more frozen they got. Vampire Killer Crossbow (Heroic) Effect: it grants you an additional of one hundred percent extra damage when fighting vampires. Dexterity + 400, Intelligence + 200 Durability: 150/150 You received 166.098.788 coins. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 20 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 17th You obtained: Summon Zombie tome. Weirdly enough, when Ryan turned Drac into a crossbow, all the vampires around began to turn into dust. That was unexpected, as if that wasn''t enough. Ryan didn''t get a single coin, nor did they drop a single item. "Ah, my spoils of war¡­" Ryan said. "It is unbelievable that you are worried about spoils after such a difficult fight," Femradiel frowned. "It looks like Drac had some bond with the other vampires¡­ probably because he created them in the first ce." That seemed logical¡­ but that doesn''t exin theck of other monsters inside the domain. After checking his few rewards, Ryan decided to hurry and check the interior of the domain. Still, he didn''t find anyone or anything¡­ for a while. After a few minutes, several types of monsters began to show up. Still, they didn''t have any rtion with Thanatos or Drac. "What is going on here?" Ryan asked. "You could have asked Drac if he were an elder god," Femradiel said. Unlike Poseidon, who still existed inside the crossbow, Drac couldn''t talk, even though he was somewhat alive inside the crossbow. In any case, Ryan forgot to turn the Nordic warrior into a weapon, so it was hard to know if only elder gods could talk, even inside weapons. "Come to think of it, maybe I should have turned Drac into a whip," Ryan said with a hint of a smile on his face. "Why?" Femradiel asked. "You wouldn''t understand," Ryan replied. "True, your head works in weird ways most of the time," Femradiel nodded. Ryan didn''t have any argument to go against that, so he decided to focus on the task ahead. He found the crystal of the domain and obtained ownership over it. Once that happened, he noticed why things were so weird in that ce. Instead of ordinary monsters, Drac was summoning a creature called Bloody Parasite. Once the parasite enters anyone''s body, the said person can turn into a vampire. The method was way too different ifpared to mythology. ording to the description of the monster, it can also increase the power of its vessel exponentially by fighting and by drinking the blood of enemies. However, all thates with a price, unless the vessel is strong, most of them don''t resist the first few hours after the Transformation. As if that isn''t enough, the vampire is bound by the will and life of the creator of the parasite. "So, that''s why¡­" Ryan said. "What a crappy monster. "It seems Thanatos fooled us. I don''t know if Drac was working for him or if he made the fragments stop here¡­" Femradiel said. "Either way, he forced you to show some tricks that you had in store for him." "Son of a bitch¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance. "He is ying with me¡­" "Well, don''t feel too bad about it," Femradiel said and then whispered in Ryan''s ears. Ryan felt shivers when he heard Femradiel''s voice from so close, to the point that he even jumped a little bit. That scared him for some odd reason. "Did you¡­ did you just feel a shiver?" Femradiel frowned. "Sorry, you caught me off guard," Ryan said. "Even so, your reaction was way too weird," Femradiel insisted. "... Whatever, I guess I will summon some monsters to garrison this ce," Ryan said. "Don''t try to change the subject!" Femradiel protested. Since there were some dungeons in there, Ryan will have to stay in that domain for a while. In order to make things inside under control and to prevent trouble from outside. So, he might as well create another army of skeletons and golems. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Guardian, Fallen Archer, and Conjurer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Fallen Archer! You obtained the following skills: Corrupt Arrow, Vengeance, and Corruption Storm. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Corrupt Arrow. Effect: A special arrow that causes direct damage to the target''s mana and stamina. The amount of damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Vengeance. Effect: It passively increases your speed upon defeating targets that have killed your allies by one point while you keep fighting. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Corruption Storm. Effect: it grants you the power to cause a storm of arrows that will cause massive damage in an area while decreasing the mana and stamina of your foes. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan nodded in satisfaction when he cleared the first dungeon he found inside the domain. It looked like his luck wasing around¡­ meanwhile, Ryan felt Femradiel''s gaze piercing his back. Chapter 701 - Fallen Knight In the end, Ryan''s guesses were wrong. He found fifteen dungeons inside the domain, but almost all the others granted Ryan sses that he already had or sacrificed aside from the first one. Fortunately, thest dungeon that Ryan and Femradiel cleaned granted them a ss they never found before. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Fallen Knight, Sentinel, and Archmage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Fallen Knight! You obtained the following skills: Unholy Sword, Unholy Spear, and Cursed Armor. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Unholy Sword. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a sword that can only be used as a melee weapon that decreases the recovery of the opponents by one point per level and per hit for ten seconds. Cost: 500 mana. Duration: 300 seconds. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Unholy Spear. Effect: It grants you the power to summon and fire a spear of dark energy that causes damage in an area and decreases their recovery by ten points per level for ten seconds. Cost: 200 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Cursed Armor. Effect: It grants you the power to summon an armor that will protect you against curses and dark magic. It also grants you the power to reflect a certain amount of the physical damage received directed to the enemies. Cost: 1000 mana. Duration: 300 seconds. You obtained 01 status points. "How unexpected¡­ that I would find this type of ss here," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is it a coincidence?" If monsters could be weak against holy magic, it wouldn''t be weird that some others would be weak against dark or unholy magic. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if it was a coincidence that a dungeon granted those skills could be found there. Perhaps he was overthinking. After all, vampires couldn''t obtain other sses. "I guess now we just need to summon more monsters and then look for the next dungeon," Ryan said and then turned to face Femradiel. "Hey, Femradiel, can you¡­ what? Why are you looking at me like that?" "For no particr reason," Femradiel replied with a severe expression on her face. "Can you look for another dungeon where we might find the path toward Thanatos'' world?" Ryan asked. "No," Femradiel replied. "¡­ Why?" Ryan asked after a long sigh. "I wonder why¡­" Femradiel replied after she crossed her arms. It was definitive, human hormones were affecting Femradiel''s behavior. She was bing even moreplicated than ordinary female humans. At first, Ryan imagined that Femradiel''s change in behavior was just on a whim to amuse herself, but it looked like that wasn''t the case. Still, even though he didn''t know the reasons, Ryan was deeply troubled. "It seems you won''t understand unless I say it clearly, so I will say it," Femradiel said. "Ryan, I like you." "¡­ I don''t dislike you either," Ryan said and then raised a brofist. "We are bros, right?" "Oh, please¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed again. "Don''t you dare go off on the tangent." "What? We are friends, right?" Ryan smiled since that was a pretty funny thing to do. "You are my best friend. It would be weird to say at this point in time that Furball is my best friend." Ryan decided to stop joking around the very moment he saw that a vein was about to explode on Femradiel''s forehead. He tried not to take things seriously, but now that was starting to annoy her too much. "Let''s not turn our partnership into something weird, Femradiel," Ryan said. "I mean, this is hardly the time since I am itching all over to kill Thanatos. Besides, you are my sister now, right? Or should it be my daughter?" "¡­ What?" Femradiel asked with an astonished expression. "You have my blood, so that makes us blood rted, isn''t that obvious?" Ryan asked. "How in the hell would you conclude that?" Femradiel asked. "I only used your blood to obtain a human factor with this new body! There is not a single trace of your DNA on me!" "Is that so¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, not that it matters. Like I said, I can''t spare a single thought on everything else right now. I will only focus on killing Thanatos." "And after that?" Femradiel asked. "After that, we can talk about what happened at Poseidon''s castle and what made you change," Ryan replied. "Unless you give me a proper exnation of what happened there, I will only find your behavior suspicious. There you have it, if you want a proper answer about this issue, then you have to give me some as well." "This issue¡­ this issue!" Femradiel said angrily. Once again, Ryan confirmed that human hormones were affecting Femradiel too much. He could count with the fingers of a single hand the number of times she got mad, and from Ryan''s perspective, that was hardly one reason to get that pissed. It seemed like their roles changed, and now he was the absolute cold dragon. In any case, Femradiel realized that what Ryan said was right. First, they have to deal with Thanatos, and then she will have to exin what happened to Poseidon''s castle. Sincerity can onlye in both ways of a rtionship. Still, for some reason, Ryan was almost sure that Femradiel wouldn''t talk about it for quite a while¡­ ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 69 (+ 04 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 67 (+ 08 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 60 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 17th Health: 12155/12155 (19,25/s) Mana: 13525/13525 (19,25/s) Stamina: 14200/14200 (19,25/s) Strength: 881 (+1586) (+130) Dexterity: 20770 (+8555) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+4460) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+3334) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+1819) (+160) Control: 1476 (+4410) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+1493) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+260) Recovery: 5150 (+5250) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+1591) (+40) Coins: 290.362.988 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills:), Herculean Strength Lv 52 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 26 (+ 06 UP), me sh Lv 01, Frozen sh Lv 01, Electric sh Lv 01, Corrupt Arrow Lv 01, Corruption Storm Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 141 (+ 05 UP), Concentration Lv 141 (+ 05 UP), Archery Lv 141 (+ 05 UP), uracy Lv 141 (+ 05 UP), Stealth Lv 141 (+ 05 UP), Improved Concentration Lv 125 (+ 05 UP), Enhanced Concentration Lv 108 (+ 04 UP), Crossbow Expert Lv 90 (+ 05 UP), Sharpshooter Lv 90 (+ 05 UP), Vengeance Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 126 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 110 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 113 (+ 03 UP), Magic Bow Lv 90 (+ 05 UP), Electric Armor Lv 01, Summon Zombie Lv 01, Unholy Sword Lv 01, Unholy Spear Lv 01, Cursed Armor Lv 01, Support Skills: Gravity Resistance Lv 67 (+ 20 UP), Spiritual Resistance Lv 37 (+ 13 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 62 (+ 11 UP), Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 32 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 32 (+ 08 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 59 (+ 10 UP), Champion Lv 51 (+ 23 UP), Iron Fist Lv 62 (+ 19 UP), Monk Lv 82 (+ 16 UP), Warmaster Lv 01, Fallen Archer Lv 01, Fallen Knight Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Support Archer Lv 28 (+ 06 UP), Transmuter Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 702 - Word Creation After making sure that his new domain was well guarded, Ryan left it two days after defeating Drac. The new domain was big enough. Since it had even more dungeons than the other one, Ryan was confident that it would bring Ryan a decent amount of ie. Speaking of ie, Ryan was wondering what he should buy with the coins that he had. "Any ideas about what I should buy, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "How about a new brain?" Femradiel asked. "I didn''t think you would need a new one so soon," Ryan shrugged. "It is for you!" Femradiel shouted. After checking the dungeon shop for a while, Ryan found some pretty interesting skills. Putting aside their cost in coins, their costs in mana was just insane. Mind Creation Tome Effect: It grants you the power to create a new mind on yourself or on others that can be used to do other things while the main mind is upied. When this skill reaches higher levels, you can edit the new minds as you see fit. Cost: 100.000 mana Price: 250.000.000 coins. Life Magic Tome Effect: it grants you the power to give life to several types of things ording to the level of the skill. Cost: 50.000 mana Price: 250.000.000 It was weird that the shop showed Ryan tomes that he could use only on draconic form since his mana pool increased exponentially in that form. Regardless, those skills seemed useful, as they seemed dangerous. It took Ryan quite a while for him to think of some ways to use those skills, probably because he wasn''t that creative in the first ce. In any case, it was that type of crazy skill that he needed to defeat Thanatos. While those seemed pretty awesome, they would take a long time to be useful, and Ryan''s creativity was also a limitation for them. Fortunately, Ryan found a skill that even someone as dumb as him could use well at low levels. Word Creation Tome. Effect: it grants you the power to create things by using amanding voice. To createplex things, this skill will need to be at a higher level. The objects created also can onlyst for a while based on the level of the skill. The moreplex the object, the more mana will be used to make it. Price: 250.000.000 coins. "This one seems interesting," Ryan said. "Exin to me what type of thing you can create with this skill that you can''t create using the other elements," Femradiel said. "Let''s see¡­ how about this?" Ryan asked. "Steel grenade." Ryan didn''t hesitate in buying the tome and learning the skill. After that, he created one of those steel grenades that he used against the Reptilians. One that could explode after touching anything and then would fire dozens of needles in all directions. "Although this is something that I can create with the skills I already had, it takes too much time," Ryan added. "As for what I couldn''t create and now I can¡­ Crystal Arrow." In the end, a crystal arrow indeed appeared in front of Ryan. That certainly wasn''t one thing he could create before. However, since the skill worked, Ryan realized he could, but he didn''t find the right way to do it. Ryan noticed that the arrow was strangely sharp. Even against his skin, it pierced quickly¡­ almost as if it had no resistance. Maybe it was one of the effects of that type of material. The more challenging the target, the more damage it will cause. In any case, that consumed five hundred points of Ryan''s mana and onlysted for ten seconds. "Although it isn''t absolute, this type of skill almost reaches a god-like level, since it can create things so fast and so easily," Femradiel said. "It is a pity that I can''t be used to creating weapons." Ryan realized that it was only natural since Ryan''s creations couldn''tst forever. Even if he uses Seal, Ryan doubted that it was a problem that could be solved so easily. Regardless, after a couple of hours, Ryan and Femradiel arrived at their domain and confirmed that things were the same as always. At that point in time, it looked like all the elder gods, dungeon masters, and demon generals were ying it by ear. They didn''t want to expose themselves, even though they could show up on Earth, even though the vast majority of them will only be able to return in the following weeks. "Despite his caution, Poseidon was too prideful and that is why he was the first to fall," Ryan said. "If he had stayed on his, he wouldn''t have died¡­ probably. Still, he decided to help his allies by taking his chances." In any case, Ryan decided to resume research, but he had no idea where to go. Ryan and Femradiel had searched through most parts of the world, and unless Thanatos'' dungeon is in some ind in the middle of the ocean, the chances of his ce being found were close to none. In the end, Ryan could only use the Specters'' dungeon, even though it was dangerous¡­ since Thanatos would be waiting for Ryan to use that entrance to his world. Before doing anything hastily, Ryan decided to take a break ande up with new types of attacks. Thanks to Word Creation, his options increased quite a lot, but Ryan couldn''t wait that long in the end. Not when his parents'' souls were under Thanatos'' control. In the end, Ryan decided to prepare using all the crazy ideas he had in just a few hours. The n of killing the god of death from the Greek mythology was insane from the very beginning, so why not let the fight be even more chaotic by using those crazy ideas? In order to be able to respond and react based on the enemy and Ryan''s actions, Femradiel watched Ryan throughout those few hours of preparation. Although Ryan usually uses a lot more time to prepare, she still was confident in the ideas he had. Still, there was one problem: Ryan only focused on the offense. Chapter 703 - Confidence Or Madness? Before entering the dungeon, Ryan and Femradiel activated Mana Concealment. It wasn''t weird that Femradiel could use the skill since she saw Ryan using it for many hours in thest few days. As soon as they touched the crystal, they were already ready for a fight, but much to their surprise, no one attacked as soon as they appeared. "What is this ce¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. It didn''t look like they were teleported to another. Both of them looked around and only saw what seemed to be a massive different dimension created with magic. There were no mountains, but there were many rocks of different sizes and shapes. It would make the travel on foot on that ce incredibly challenging, physically speaking. It also would be hard to locate oneself in such a ce since there were no clearndmarks. The sky seemed like Earth''s, but no star or cloud could be seen. Thanks to that, it looked pretty ominous, like a sea of darkness that could swallow anyone that stares too much into it. "This is unexpected," Femradiel said. "I don''t feel the presence of a domain. I guess Thanatos didn''t imagine that anyone would invade his world to face him." If that was true, that was something pretty good for them. The first dungeon master that Ryan had defeated also didn''t have a barrier to protect its crystal. Still, the difference was that the enemy was a big slime. Either Thanatos was stupid like a slime, or he was pretty confident in his victory in that world. "There is no moon here¡­" Ryan muttered. "Bastard, he probably knows that I caused a lot of damage on Poseidon by using Lunar Arrow. That was fast, considering that made me move around for the past few days." "The opponent this time isn''t underestimating you," Femradiel said. "In any case, I already marked this ce, so we can leave without losing the only way out." Ryan wasn''t interested in leaving without Thanatos'' head, but Femradiel did the right thing in the end. They began to fly around, trying to be as quiet as they could be while looking for any sign of Thanatos. Knowing how much elder gods liked castles, it was the first thing they looked for. Still, even though Ryan could see things dozens of kilometers away from him, he didn''t find any sign of any type of buildings. After a few hours, Ryan got sick and tired of looking. They didn''t find a single thing aside from rocks and adding that atmosphere to the equation. It was no wonder that any sane person would feel pissed. It was like a world devoid of light and any warmth that slowly eats away the mind of those who arrive there. "Something is off¡­" Femradiel said. "Even if this world is ridiculously massive, we should have been able to find something aside from these rocks¡­ maybe we were caught under an illusion spell." "Why would Thanatos use an illusion to y with us when we are in his world?" Ryan asked. "Maybe he didn''t¡­ directly," Femradiel replied. "I am thinking that this ce automatically casts an illusion to fool people like us. It is like a trap to slowly kill those who came here alive." "That would make sense, since Thanatos was supposed to be the god of death, but I don''t see my Illusion Resistance leveling up," Ryan replied. "Your Gravity Resistance doesn''t level up just by staying on Earth," Femradiel replied. "It is the same thing¡­ Anyway, this is an illusion that messes with our senses, so if we cut our connection to this ambient, we should be able to cancel it." "Mana Barrier might do that, but we won''t be able to use Mana Concealment," Ryan replied. "We don''t have any other choice," Femradiel shrugged. As usual, Ryan wanted to use the surprise factor to have the chance to attack first, but never mind finding Thanatos, he won''t be able to find anything at that rate. In the end, both of them deactivated Mana Concealment by using Mana Barrier. It took a few moments. Still, they eventually saw the space around them changing. At some point, they left the rocky region and found themselves flying above an ocean. They only noticed that because of the sound of the waves, since everything around them waspletely dark. "What a weird ce¡­" Ryan said. "My senses are working again, and it looks like Thanatos finally found us as well," Femradiel said and then pointed to their two o''clock. "He is in that direction¡­ alongside a massive number of presences." "My parents are there?" Ryan asked. "It is hard to know, they might be within that massive number of presences," Femradiel replied. "I can only clearly feel Thanatos presence because it is crazy powerful and much more ominous than Poseidon. It seems a certain number of their soldiers are flying toward us¡­ he isn''t moving even a single bit." "Despite what you said earlier, he is underestimating us through and through," Ryan clenched his fist as he said that. "Let''s just take this chance and decrease his forces as he tries to amuse himself against us," Femradiel said. "At this point in time, he already knows that you are a blockhead that won''t retreat no matter what before freeing your parents'' souls. So, he won''t fight until the very end." Ryan nodded after taking a deep breath. Thankfully, Femradiel was there to be the voice of reason in his head. Otherwise, he would have dashed to make Thanatos fall from his high horse at that very moment. For the good or the worse, Ryan''s victory over Poseidon granted him a boost of confidence, and that was why he felt sopelled to fight Thanatos despite his title as the god of death. Confidence was one of the few things that Ryancked in thest year despite his actions, but everything in excess could be harmful. Even Ryan wasn''t stubborn enough to deny that. Chapter 704 - Iron Chains Once they found somend, Ryan and Femradiel also found the first enemies. They were zombies made out of humans'' souls again. While his parents weren''t in that group, Ryan felt that some of them seemed familiar¡­ "That son of a bitch¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in angel when he recognized a certain woman in that group. It was Lucia, the leader of a group of survivors that fought alongside Ryan to clear Mephisto''s dungeon. Her entire group was killed when Mephisto assumed the body of a magma demon and then used an attack that destroyed all life in a several kilometers range. Ryan escaped, but at that time, he lost both his legs. The zombies fired hundreds of magic projectiles toward Ryan and Femradiel, but none of them hit them. Femradiel blocked all of them with an ice wall. "Focus on attacking," Femradiel said. Femradiel didn''t have to say that twice. The very moment the ice wall appeared, Ryan had already summoned copies of his Holy Crossbow, and then he fired. Even in his human form, Ryan''s attacks decimated the zombies. If Thanatos imagined that Ryan would hesitate in defeating them, he was dead wrong. However, Ryan still felt an annoying feeling in his chest when Lucia turned into dust. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. "This is what he is aiming for," Femradiel said. "That you get pissed and charge at him like a mad bull. He must beughing at you right now." Ryan knew that, but knowing didn''t make things any easier. If anything, knowing that his enemy wanted to y dirty only made him even more annoyed. After defeating the first wave of enemies, Ryan and Femradiel moved toward the direction the zombies came from, but they eventually found another group. This time, Ryan didn''t find anyone that he had met, but his blood began to boil anyway because the zombies this time were all kids. "... I guess I can deal with them," Femradiel said after a long sigh. "Just focus on repelling the attacks." For someone like Ryan, who always nned to be a teacher, attacking kids was something he couldn''t do, even if they were zombies or his enemies. Thanatos really marked all the points of Ryan''s life that could be useful to him when he read his mind a few months ago. He used his parents against him, the people he failed to protect, and those that didn''t have the chance to protect themselves. In the end, Femradiel was more logical than Ryan, so she froze all the zombies and killed them instantly. However, it seemed that such a strategy was a waste of time. As soon as they began to move again, they felt something approaching them from behind¡­ It was Lucia and the first group. "To think that he can revive the zombies so easily and from so far away¡­" Femradiel said, visibly surprised. "He is really nning to wear us out while he ys with us." Defeating the zombies wasn''t enough. Ryan and Femradiel had to seal them or at least make sure that they would be unable to move. While they could ice magic, it was too risky. If Thanatos could revive them from so far away, naturally, he also could free them if he so wishes for it. In the end, the only solution was to seal all the souls¡­ and that will take a long while. "What are we going to do, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "We don''t have time for this." "We have, no matter how long this might take, I will defeat this asshole," Ryan said. "I will make sure that these people won''t be tormented by him again." Still, sealing all the souls will take a long while, even without considering the time he will need to forge new weapons. He had a few in-store, but it wasn''t nearly enough for the number of zombies. Fortunately, Ryan had a certain idea. "Focus on freezing them, Femradiel," Ryan said. As usual, Femradiel has no idea what might happen when Ryan decides to improvise. As usual, she decided to trust him absolutely. Even though they were all humans who didn''t have many chances to obtain sses, they still were pretty resistant to ice. So, Femradiel had a hard time freezing them. Just as Ryan expected, Thanatos watched all his fights and decided toe up with some countermeasures. Without ice, Femradiel''s power was extremely limited. However, before things could be messy. Ryan finished his preparations and knocked down dozens of zombies at the same time, and Femradiel couldn''t help but frown at the weapon in his hands¡­ It was an iron chain. Due to the fact that the massively thick iron chains had been enchanted with holy magic, the zombies became unable to move when touched, so Ryan had the chance to Seal them. Tormented Iron Chains Effect: special chains made with the souls of those who had been used by the god of death. The souls imbued in this weapon can only find peace once this weapon serves its purpose. When used against enemies that can use dark and death magic, this weapon will cause fifty percent more damage. Strength + 10, Dexterity +10 Durability: 30/30 The description was a bit weird, even though Ryan decided to use the weapon only for that. Perhaps the souls of those who had been tormented by Thanatos also wanted the same, which was why it had such effects. Still, while that impressive, the most fantastic thing on that weapon was that Ryan only enchanted a single link, and the more he enchants others, the more influential the weapon will be. "Let''s see if that asshole is crazy enough to keep sending zombies after us," Ryan said while smirking. The chain was massive since Ryan wanted to use it on his Draconic form. Still, since it was a weapon, he decided to create using numerous souls. The durability was terrible. Unless Ryan seals hundreds of zombies in there, he won''t achieve his goal. Chapter 705 - They Are Back "I get the feeling that swinging around a chain doesn''t suit you," Femradiel said. After seeding in sealing all the zombies that attacked them, Femradiel said that. In any case, the chain got pretty powerful after the souls of 123 humans were put there. Just as they expected, Thanatos stopped sending zombies after them once he realized what Ryan was nning. Since he arrived in that depressing world for the first time, Ryan felt like smiling while imagining Thanatos worried face. "Did the presence that you felt earlier decreased in size?" Ryan asked. "No," Femradiel replied. That was weird¡­ perhaps Thanatos wasn''t nning to use the zombies to annoy Ryan while he approaches. Still, using them in thest fight seemed a bit risky. It wasn''t like Ryan needed much time to seal several of them. Perhaps he was nning to break the chains before using them again. That was a pain in the ass, but Ryan decided to cover all the links with a thickyer of crystal. Each link was as big as him, so that cost him a few hours. During the whole time that Ryan was working, Femradiel was meditating. It was weird since she didn''t need mana. She doesn''t look like someone whoes up with crazy ns for that kind of fight as well. So, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what she was thinking. In the end, she stopped the very moment Ryan finished his preparations. After flying toward the right direction for a few more minutes, eventually, both of them finally found a single building standing in that depressing world. As expected, it was a castle. A castle not made of stone or anything simr¡­ but a castle made with the same dark crystal that the zombies'' weapons and armor had. It was a mysterious castle since the throne was located right in front of it. On the left side of the throne, Ryan saw a massive hole on the ground that Ryan felt shivers just by looking at it. Sitting on the throne, Ryan and Femradiel found a man wearing dark crystal armor that emanated a purple glow. The man itself looked like a figure who came out from a painting. His whole body and face looked unnaturally well-designed. His dark hair was also shining like his armor. The most impressive thing about his appearance was the dark eyes, eyes dark like the sky of that world, and yet, there was that strange glow that made them look almost transparent. ??? ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Although he was wearing armor and his presence was powerful enough to make even Ryan sweat cold, he didn''t have a weapon. As if that wasn''t weird enough, there wasn''t a single zombie around him. However, suddenly, all the remaining fragments of Ryan''s parent''s souls appeared. Then Thanatos smiled¡­ before snapping his fingers and then making all of them explode. Ryan''s made went nk. Never has he felt so angry before. He never felt the wish to brutally murder someone like that. Not even Poseidon that captured Femradiel. When Ryan calmed down, he noticed that Femradiel had stopped him with the chains he had made to defeat Thanatos. Thanks to her, he calmed down a little bit, but Ryan still felt like something inside his head might snap at any moment. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. ¡­ Suddenly, the fragments resumed their physical form as if nothing had happened, but then Thanatos repeated the same tactic all over again. Those weren''t the bodies of his parents. Still, just the idea that they might be suffering even a little bit by enduring that made Ryan''s heart race in an irregr rhythm. "It is a trap, dumbass," Femradiel said. "Don''t fall for it. Resist it and win the fight. This will be the best way to obtain your revenge. You are just enraged, but that doesn''t mean you lost your brain." "You think that you can win?" Thanatos suddenly said, his voice was filled with contempt. "The real question should be: where can we do it?" Femradiel asked. "You lured us out here because you feared that you couldn''t win a direct fight on Earth. Still, it is not like I can''t understand you. After all, this will be a two on one fight. Someone like you wouldn''t ask another elder god for help. For that same reason, you are trying so desperately to make him mad." "Your assumptions are interesting, dragon woman," Thanatos said. "I only did what I did for the fun of it. I didn''t fight you guys on Earth because neither of my dungeons reached the max level, and I am not in a hurry." "Say what you want, but you are going down today," Femradiel said. "Let''s enjoy this moment for a while longer. It is not every day that I find a human being worth of killing," Thanatos smiled. "It is rare nowadays to find a newbie that can have skills with a high level of divinity and even has an extremely high level of corruption as well. Let me see what will happen if your vessel turns into a Cursed Dragon." Even Femradiel couldn''t help but get annoyed at this point. Forget being taken seriously, Thanatos reached a level where he was trying to experiment with Ryan just for the fun of it. Make a human who has draconic powers be as angry as possible and see what happens¡­ Before any of them could say anything, suddenly, a dark-red dragon appeared between them and Thanatos. Even Femradiel got caught off guard since the zombie dragon also looked like a cursed one. The creature screamed in anger and agony, and amidst all that noise, Ryan recognized that dragon¡­ it was the first dragon that had a human partner that Ryan defeated. Chapter 706 - Duplicate Although it was a fire dragon that could use powerful long-ranged attacks, the creature dashed at Ryan and Femradiel with its arms wide open and pointing toward Ryan''s heart. Ryan recalled the words that Orgar told him once before¡­ cursed dragons want power above anything else. They will do anything to obtain it. Even hunting other dragons to obtain dragon hearts¡­ When the creature got close enough, Ryan used Draconic Transformation and then punched the creature. His attack merely stopped the charge of the monster, and that was odd. ording to his memories, the fire dragon was much weaker. ording to his memories¡­ It seemed like Thanatos yed with those two souls after reviving them. Ryan killed them after they became a cursed dragon, after all. The cursed dragon grabbed Ryan''s arms and then put his legs on Ryan''s chest in order to rip them apart. That was some crazy level of madness¡­ Still, before the creature could finish its attack, Ryan fired the bolts of his Holy Crossbow on the face of the beast. At first, the monster tried to resist the attacks. Still, the creature, since it was a zombie and also was a cursed dragon, holy magic caused more damage than acid sulfuric could cause directly to its face. The creature tried to run away, but now it was Ryan''s turn to grab the monster''s arm. He opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. This time, Ryan didn''t cause much damage, but he slowed down the creature who was trying to run away. The cursed dragon also opened his mouth, but instead of the usual mes, ck mes came out from its mouth. Both draconic breaths collided, and the air in the area began to change. Ryan was magically more powerful, but the cursed factor on the fire dragon made its attack stronger. Ryan began to lose the trade, even though he still was bombarding the face of the monster. In the end, Ryan let the creature go and then teleported to high into the sky. "This might take a while," Femradiel, who only watched the fight until now, said. "Still, you shouldn''t rush. Use this chance to level up some sses." "I already know that," Ryan said. Ryan couldn''t use the tactics he had prepared against Thanatos on the cursed dragon. Thanatos was making him fight against the cursed dragon to do precisely that, after all. In any case, it seemed that Femradiel didn''t want to help for some reason. Maybe it was because the enemy was another dragon, or perhaps it was due to some other reason. The cursed dragon suddenly charged toward Ryan again. Still, Ryan teleported and surprised the enemy by punching its face with six arms. This time, the enemy felt the attack since Ryan activated Concentrated Strike and also enchanted his arms with Holy Enchantment. Before the monster could recover from the shock, Ryan teleported again and then punched the beast from behind. For a while, he yed with the cursed dragon as if he was a volleyball. However, Ryan stopped when he felt an ominous presence behind him, and another cursed dragon showed up. "It seems one is not good enough for you, so I will duplicate your fun," Thanatos said. Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance. To think that Thanatos could revive cursed dragons that easily¡­ or maybe he just has a stock of them. If there were many cursed dragons, Ryan and Femradiel should have met some, and yet they didn''t. So, most likely, Thanatos took his time corrupting that one as well. Soon Ryan came to learn that teleporting around wouldn''t be useful against the second dragon because when he tried to attack the enemy from behind, he also moved away by teleporting. If he were to attack one of them carelessly, the other would use the chance to kill Ryan. Both dragons flew toward Ryan at the same time, one decided to attack the front, and the other decided to attack his back. However, Ryan slowed down both of them by activating Niffelheim. The cold began to damage their bodies as it slowed them down. Ryan hurried to finish them off since that skill cost him a massive amount of mana, but before he could attack any of them, they opened their mouths and spit the dark mes again. Ryan escaped by teleporting to above, but in the end, he also freed the enemies from the effects of Niflheim. As expected, fighting two cursed dragons won''t be easy if he relies only on ordinary attacks. Ryan''s impatience was growing since he wanted to fight Thanatos and deal with him once and for all. In the end, Ryan took a deep breath to calm down. Nothing good woulde by letting the blood rush to his head¡­ if his attacks, even in his draconic form, weren''t enough, he just had to improvise, and Ryan had a few ideas on how to do that already. After creating two massive Ice Spears, Ryan touched the projectiles and fired them at the cursed dragons. The creatures didn''t even try to dodge the attacks, they only used their breath to melt the projectiles, and they seeded. However, for some reason, they failed at making the ice turn into water and then steam. The water fell on them, and it began to burn their bodies. Before they could recover from the shock, Ryan teleported toward the first dragon, who was screaming in agony while being burned by the holy water. Ryan had enchanted his spears with holy magic, and that was why even their breaths failed at stopping the liquid. Ryan grabbed the mouth of the first dragon and then forcefully opened it. The creature tried to use the Dark Fire Breath. Still, Ryan prevented it by firing multiple Acid Arrows that exploded in the monster''s head, and then the creature was forced to swallow massive amounts of acid. When the second dragon recovered from the surprise attack, the first was about to fall. The creature teleported to attack Ryan, but then it was almost split in half when suddenly, a massive dark sword appeared on Ryan''s hands. Chapter 707 - Two Cursed Dragon yer Effect: It grants you a ten percent bonus in attack damage when facing other dragons. Strength + 650, Endurance + 420 Durability: 400/400 In the end, Ryan turned one of the cursed dragons into a massive dark sword. Still, he acted without thinking since he didn''t have time. He ended up creating a big sword made of steel by using Word Creation. Still, the result wasn''t so bad. The remaining dragon even hesitated a little while looking at the dark sword on Ryan''s hands, probably because he could tell that he was about to face the same destiny deep down. Instead of wasting any time, Ryan dashed at the cursed dragon, the beast retreated. Still, in the end, it exploded even before Ryan could kill it. Ryan frowned while looking at Thanatos. He was making a bored expression for some reason. In any case, it looked like he was trying to give Ryan even more reasons to be killed by him. "In the end, you can''t expect much from a mad dog," Thanatos said. "Still, you have my congrattions for making two cursed dragons look so stupid. Are you sure you don''t want to be one? I am sure you will be much more impressive than them." "Go to hell," Ryan said. "I have visited there once, it was a pretty boring ce, so I have no reason to return," Thanatos said. "From my perspective, the Greek underworld is much more interesting. Instead of putting all the damned souls in a single ce, we divide them into circles. For each type of sin, you humans have followed most. For foolish and greedy humans like you, the fourth circle is perfect. Being crushed by all eternity by your own greed." "You are wee to try to send me there," Ryan said. "Not yet," Thanatos said. "The fun has just begun. As I told you, it is hard to find a worthy human killing, and even though I like this ce, it is difficult to find entertainment. In any case, it is about time to make you face some others a bit smarter than you." Ryan and Femradiel couldn''t help but be paralyzed in shock when he saw two figures appearing in front of Thanatos. Ryan knew them very well since he faced them recently. Alfur ss: Nordic Hero Lv Max / Immortal Lv Max / Tainted Berserker Lv Max Race: Zombie Rank: -- Health: 237.982/237.982 Mana: 103.580/103.580 Stamina: 174.730/174.730 Strength: 22.320 Dexterity: 4560 Speed: 7820 Intelligence: 2566 Endurance: 25.630 Control: 3230 Mentality: 6600 Luck: 2560 Recovery: 45.695 Willpower: 7500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Herculean Strength Lv 950, Seismic m Lv 750, Cleave Lv 670¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv Max, Pain Immunity Lv Max, Pain Absorption Lv Max, Strong Arms Lv Max, Improved Strength Lv Max, Regeneration Lv Max, Enhanced Strength Lv 700, Augmented Strength Lv 540, Strength Thief Lv 355¡­ Spells: Teleport Lv 350, Fly Lv 240 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 770, Cold Resistance Lv 770, Electric Resistance Lv 770, Shock Resistance Lv 770¡­ d Tepes ss: Vampire King Lv Max / Lord of the Night Lv Max / Thanatos Subordinate Lv Max Race: Zombie Rank: -- Health: 131.963/131.963 Mana: 185.580/185.580 Stamina: 36.730/36.730 Strength: 5.632 Dexterity: 4560 Speed: 8852 Intelligence: 12.360 Endurance: 15.630 Control: 6523 Mentality: 9800 Luck: 2560 Recovery: 56.632 Willpower: 9800 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Health Drain Lv 650, Mana Drain Lv 650, Stamina Drain Lv 520, Vampire Blood Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv Max, Focus Lv Max, Improved Strength Lv 523, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 700, Augmented Recovery Lv 640, Spells: Darkness Maniption Lv Max, Fly Lv Max, Gravity Lv Max, Health Stealer Lv 825, Mana Stealer Lv 752, Stamina Stealer Lv 452 Support Skills: Curse Resistance Lv Max, Darkness Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 950, Electric Resistance Lv 660, Shock Resistance Lv 350¡­ When Ryan used Appraisal, he confirmed that the summoned guardians lost their status as humans and even obtained some extra power thanks to Thanatos. He couldn''t recall their attributes exactly. Still, he was one hundred percent sure that their health, mana, and stamina have increased at least by thirty percent. "This should make things more interesting; don''t you agree?" Thanatos asked while smiling. "It is rare to find such souls nowadays. The human race isn''t any more a species that creates such warriors." Ryan clenched his teeth while looking at those two. Not only they grew stronger, but Ryan also could tell by looking in their eyes that they weren''t ordinary zombies. Their eyes were filled with anger and grudge¡­ Most likely, Thanatos offered them a chance to revive and face Ryan once again. He didn''t brainwash them to turn into mindless creatures that follow every single of his orders without thinking. Still, in a way, that made them even more dangerous. Ryan and Femradiel defeated them once, but only one at a time. Their chances this time were¡­ rather small. "It looks like we did well in trying to fight Thanatos at this point in time," Femradiel said. "Later in the game, things could have be much messier if he had the opportunity to summon others like them." While that seemed logical, for some reason, Ryan felt that in the end, nothing would change all that much from Thanatos'' perspective. Since he was much more powerful than them, summoning more or fewer creatures like those two wouldn''t change things from him. At least ording to the face he was making. If Ryan and Femradiel were to have trouble dealing with them again, their chances of defeating Thanatos would be extremely low. Alfur began to fly toward Ryan while Drac began to steal his mana. As expected, they wouldn''t fight mindlessly. While taking his time seemed like a bad idea, Ryan decided to do exactly what they wanted for some odd reason. When Alfur attacked him, Ryan used Shapeshifting. He blocked his advance with two arms and then attacked him with four others. Unfortunately, he didn''t cause much damage, even though he had used Holy Enchantment. Chapter 708 - Hercules Descendant It didn''t take long for Ryan to feel worried about his mana. Since Drac was focused only on stealing it, his speed was insane. Still, attacking him while ignoring Alfur wasn''t a good idea. While Ryan was expecting an opening, he couldn''t help but wonder¡­ Howe Drac was summoned as a zombie, but Poseidon wasn''t? Although that seemed a bit crazy, it wouldn''t be weird if Thanatos could turn him into a zombie if he had the chance to do so. Both of their souls had been sealed in weapons, so that didn''t make any sense. Unless¡­ "Hey, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Howe Thanatos managed to summon Drac as a zombie?" "I have a few hypotheses, but¡­ all of them seemed a bit crazy," Femradiel replied. "The true Drac still is sealed inside that crossbow, but that one was brought back as a zombie anyway¡­ by using the memories of his vampires. A lot of them died, so it wouldn''t be weird if Thanatos used their souls to do that." Thanatos was the god of death, so it wouldn''t be weird if he had that kind of ability, but considering that, what were their chances of defeating someone who can make people join his zombie army like that? Regardless, even if Femradiel was right¡­ Why did Thanatos not do the same with Poseidon? Probably because even his powers have limits¡­ Eventually, Ryan''s pool reached the bottom, and he was unable to keep Shapeshifting active. His mana recovery was only enough to keep him flying, and even Drac couldn''t make him fall. Unless he uses his Gravity again¡­ Still, Ryan decided to fight on ground level. As soon as Ryannded, Alfurnded as well, and he used that chance to use the power of his legs to charge at him. Thanks to his physical strength, the difference of his charge while flying and while on the ground were leagues away from one another. Even in his draconic form, Ryan was pushed dozens of meters with a single body m, and the bones of his arms began to crack when he protected himself against them. Thanatos couldn''t help but frown at that behavior since he knew how resourceful Ryan was. Alfur decided to charge at Ryan again, and this time Drac decided to focus on stealing his health. Even though Ryan had a massive amount of health with his draconic form, he wouldn''t onlyst for a second or so if Drac tries his best. Still, Ryan didn''t show any concern. When Alfur attacked Ryan with another body m, he was greeted with a powerful punch. The Nordic warrior couldn''t help but smile as he heard Ryan''s bones cracking, but in the end, he didn''t see a single drop of blood falling, nor did he saw a single wound on Ryan''s right hand. All thanks to his Vampirism and Bloodthirsty. Thanks to his increased strength in draconic form, Ryan recovered a massive amount of health. This amount would take a while even for Drac to steal. "So, that is how it is¡­" Thanatos muttered under his breath. Alfur wouldn''t retreat and just wait for Drac to finish the job, and Drac wouldn''t get in Alfur''s way. Ryan knew that, and it was using it against them. Still, that would only let things stay at a stalemate. Unless Ryan decides to use one of his crazy ideas. Thanatos waited and waited for Ryan to show one of those tricks, but he didn''t do anything. He only attacked when Alfur attacked, and he didn''t hesitate even when the sound of his bones cracking echoed in the area. That was odd, but what was really bizarre was the fact that Femradiel wasn''t helping, and Ryan wasn''t using his arrows or any long-ranged attacks. Ryan did that for exactly five minutes, and then he smirked. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Champion, Iron, and Fist? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Hercules'' Descendant. You learned the skills: Nemean Rage, Semi-Divinity, and Hercules'' Valor. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Nemean Rage. Effect: It increases all of your physical attributes by one hundred points per level and per second when active. Cost: 500 health, 500 mana, and 500 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Semi-Divinity. Effect: It decreases the effect of attacks that possess a high level of divinity by a percentage and one thousand points of damage per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hercules'' Valor. Effect: Itpletely nullifies the negative effects of beings who don''t possess any divinity against you. Cost: 200 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. "Mmm, I guess this will do," Ryan said. Ryan''s presence changed, and Thanatos couldn''t help but frown when he felt that the human in front of him suddenly gained a decent amount of divinity. That wasn''t supposed to be possible¡­ Humans shouldn''t be able to gain that kind of power. While Thanatos could tell that Ryan had some skills that could cause damage to elder gods, he imagined that his level of divinity was for being close to a relic or something the like. "How is this possible?" Thanatos asked in shock. That level of power still wasughable, but if humans could gain that power just by fighting, then¡­ they were far greater of a threat than Thanatos had assumed. While Thanatos was in shock, Ryan activated Nemean Rage. While the bonus in his attributes was small, he made Alfur fly over dozens of meters with a single punch. That wasn''t something he should be able to do. Was it due to his newfound power or a change in his attitude? No one could tell. Chapter 709 - Berserkers Crossbow Thanatos decided that it was time to stop ying. However, when he got up from his throne, an ice meteor suddenly fell from the sky and hit him. He was so focused on Ryan that he didn''t notice Femradiel''s attack. Still, the attack barely caused any damage. It only made Thanatos being enveloped in a small prison for a single second. However, when he freed himself, Femradiel dropped another ice meteor on him. "It seems that he decided that he had enough," Femradiel said. "I am holding him back, but I won''t be able to do so for long." "All right, I will end things here quickly," Ryan said and then activated all his buffs. Without thinking twice, Ryan used Teleport and appeared behind Drac. Before the vampire could do anything, he grabbed him with both arms and covered his whole body. Ryan immediately noticed that his health and mana stopped from being stolen. While Drac could use the short distance version of that skill, he had to attack to work, and for the health and mana to be stolen at a distance, he had to look at the target. It was a pity that Ryan didn''t notice that in their first fight. Alfur dashed toward Ryan, but he was stopped by four arms. This time, even Alfur was almost crushed on the ground with a singlebination of Ryan''s four arms. Before the nordic warrior could react, Ryan bombarded him with punches enchanted with holy magic on the ground. The zombie didn''t have any chance to react, and much sooner than Ryan predicted, the creature was half dead. Berserker''s Crossbow Effect: it grants you the chance to steal five points of strength of the target per bolt for a short period of time. The effect canst ten seconds, and the countdown resets whenever you hit the same target. Dexterity + 350, Speed + 350 Durability: 200/200 The new weapon was much better than Ryan predicted, so he quickly stored it away in his spatial storage. Thest thing that he needed was to give Thanatos the chance to steal it. Soon after, Ryan opened his hands, and Drac finally had some chance to breathe. Still, in the end, he was bombarded by twenty magic copies of the vampire killer. The weapons easily defeated the creature, and Ryan also sealed that new soul in the weapon. Fake it or not, his crossbow suddenly grew two times stronger. When Ryan turned around, he saw Thanatos standing and watching him in silence. Even before he could put the asshole in his ce, the smile disappeared from his face, and now the god of death was serious. Ryan imagined that he would kill the fragments of his parent''s souls a few more times before he could get serious, but it looked like that wouldn''t happen. "How did you change the system?" Thanatos asked. "The hell are you talking about?" Ryan asked. "You just increase your level of divinity without doing anything or even absorbing the relic you used to kill Poseidon," Thanatos said. "The only exnation is that you found a way to cheat the system. Not even the elder gods can change their divinity level." Ryan frowned after hearing that Thanatos was assuming a lot of things. First of all, he didn''t use any relics to kill Poseidon. Most likely, since he saw that Ryan had Chronos'' Ring, he assumed someone gave him a relic to weaken some elder gods. In any case, maybe Ryan should use that opportunity to nt some doubts in Thanatos'' head. Ryan wanted to sweep the floor with his face, but he couldn''t let the blood rush to his head. Unfortunately, he had no idea how he could Thanatos either¡­ "You are saying that despite the system, humans have a limit," Ryan said. "You said that, but you sound like the elder gods didn''t have any participation in the creation of the system." "You are correct, we didn''t create it, but we had ess since the very beginning," Thanatos replied. "We tried to customize the system, but no one seeded. Few humans in the past had ess to it as well, but now with our return, it looks like all of them can use it. Despite some obvious limitations. Tell me what you did or who did it, and I will release your parents'' souls." That was really weird¡­ Why was Thanatos so interested in that subject? His power over death was nearly absolute, and he wanted even more? "One of the few things that the elder gods share is the objective to know how to custom the system. Once we obtain that power, we will be able to truly know about the creation of the universe and the one who created the system," Thanatos added. "Give us that information, and I will assure you that all of your crimes against the elder gods will be forgiven." In the end, not even the elder gods had all the answers. That was only obvious. If they had, Ryan wouldn''t be alive at such a moment. Poseidon would have defeated him. In any case, the current Earth sure was a weird ce¡­ while humans were struggling to survive and some of them were joining the elder god''s side, those individuals had their own agendas. Earth domination seemed more like a game to pass the time from Thanatos''s perspective. At least, that was what Ryan was thinking. Still, even that seemed a bit odd. If that were the case, Poseidon wouldn''t have yed so hard¡­ perhaps, they are thinking that they are going to find something on Earth on their return after so long. "I am not interested in helping an asshole like you," Ryan said. "I will free my parents with my own hands, and you will regret using their souls and many others just to piss me off." In the end, Thanatos just sighed. He looked pretty disappointed for some reason¡­ in any case, a dark-purple scythe suddenly appeared on his right hand, and then before he could notice anything, Ryan saw one of his arms falling. Chapter 710 - Death Sense Ryan couldn''t help but freeze in shock due to that lightning-speed attack. It was so fast that he only felt the pain once his arm fell on the ground. Even in his draconic form, it looked like he didn''t have any chances of protecting himself against Thanatos'' attacks. Regardless, Femradiel acted fast enough before Ryan could lose too much blood, grabbing the arm using ice magic and then healing it after attaching it back to its original ce. Before Ryan could even sigh in relief when the pain disappeared. Both of his arms began to fall once again. At that point in time, there was no denying it¡­ Thanatos was much more powerful than they had predicted. If they didn''t know any better, they would have said that his attack was instantaneous and he could damage anything that he could see. Before Femradiel could heal Ryan''s arms again. She felt shivers and then activated the Mana Barrier. Soon after, her barrier began to suffer damage, but then it stopped when she moved away a little bit and then was hidden behind Ryan''s head. "It looks like he can attack anything directly just by seeing the target," Femradiel said. "I guess it is a part of his god of death powers¡­ he can kill anything just by thinking." Femradiel was strangely calm despite the fact that Thanatos'' power was crazy stupid and almost didn''t make any sense. All in all, Thanatos could damage all things in his field of vision, perhaps his field of vision wasn''t the limit, and he could do that even by using irvoyance. That certainly was the most god-like ability Ryan had seen so far. Still, even Thanatos wasn''t all-powerful. He couldn''t damage Femradiel without seeing her, and skills like Mana Barrier could get in the way as well. Ryan activated Mana Barrier and then teleported to the right behind Thanatos before punching him. However, his mana suddenly decreased to a dangerous level even though Thanatos wasn''t looking at him directly. Ryan couldn''t even understand the reason for that, but if he had to guess, he would say that the closer he is to something, the faster Thanatos can kill it. Ryan used Teleport to move away from him and tried to keep his distance, and confirmed that Thanatos caused a lot less damage to his Mana Barrier. Even so, it looked like his power as a death god had a minimal amount of damage that he could cause. "It seems your n to recover your energy in a close fight won''t work," Femradiel said. "We will have to use the usual strategy of relying on potions." After sighing, Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and activated Vital Hunter. However, when he tried to bombard Thanatos, his projectiles were destroyed. Everything in Thanatos'' line of sight would be destroyed. Ryan summoned a Hydra''s Bow and then pointed upward and then fired. However, after a few seconds, the massive arrow still fell right above Thanatos¡­ but it was destroyed, and Thanatos didn''t even have to look at it. There was no mistaking it. Thanatos'' presence alone could cause damage to anything that approaches him. He just has to wish for it. Femradiel helped Ryan with mana and DEX potions. Still, even though his power increased, the projectiles didn''t get closer than fifty meters from Thanatos. Ryan decided to approach Thanatos again, but this time he flew while using Ice Breath. His attack almost hid his entire body from the god of death. Still, Thanatos'' powerpletely nullified the effects of Ice Breath. That tactic wasn''t going to work¡­ "Mmm?" Thanatos frowned. Thanatos finally realized that Ryan used the blood that he lost on the first attacks to surprise Thanatos. However, when the small pool of blood was ten meters behind him, he suddenly turned around. Then the pool of blood waspletely destroyed. "Shit¡­ it seems he has some skill that warns him of danger," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Still, at least that made Ryan notice something. Thanatos could only cause damage to things that he was aware of. If he doesn''t know that an attack ising, Thanatos can''t destroy it. Ryan bombarded Thanatos with his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Amidst it, Ryan used the Mirage Crossbow and his power to fire invisible bolts. However, not even those hit Thanatos. "Try to keep him busy for a while," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "I want to try something." It looked like it was time for Ryan to see Femradiel do something unexpected without knowing what it was. Usually, that was something he often does. Still, in the end, Ryan decided to give Femradiel the chance to do whatever he wants. He won''t feel satisfied unless he kills Thanatos himself, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t let his pride get in the way of his goal: free his parents'' souls. Ryan began to fly around Thanatos'' castle, hoping that it would decrease the damage on his mana pool, but that wasn''t working. In the end, he decided to use fire against fire. Still, upon noticing that it could cause problems for Femradiel''s ns, Ryan decided to hold it back for a while. Thanatos wasn''t feeling like taking Femradiel and Ryan seriously, so he didn''t move from his spot and only looked around to damage them. Suddenly, a massive ice spearing from the sky fell on Thanatos. The speed and attack of that projectile couldn''t bepared to the Ice Meteors. In the end, itpletely blocked Thanatos'' field of vision. In the thest moment, Ryan couldn''t help but frown when he saw Thanatos stopping the projectile with his spear. He wasn''t struggling, but it was the first time he used his weapon to do something in that fight. "We will need big attacks like that if we want to cause any real damage," Femradiel said. "Unfortunately, an attack like that once a minute is the best I can do." "Not a problem, we will manage," Ryan said. "Somehow¡­" The difficulty was increasing by the minute since, little by little, Ryan and Femradiel were discovering Thanatos'' true power. Chapter 711 - Death Thanatos looked pretty pissed when he was forced to use his scythe to block Femradiel''s attack, but he didn''t change his attack pattern in the end. He just waited patiently for Ryan to run out of potions, just to prove how much superior he was in all aspects. In any case, Ryan decided to use Thanatos'' ns against him, and he already had a few ideas on how to do that. Suddenly, Thanatos felt something touching his left eye. The difort suddenly increased, and the difort turned into pain. When he used his left hand to check what happened, Thanatos felt his hand suffering some damage. That wasn''t supposed to be possible. The enemy in front of him shouldn''t be able to use near-instantaneous attacks. Could it be that Ryan kept that skill hidden despite the difficult fights he had to endure in thest few days? Once again, Thanatos was forced to reevaluate the threats that humans could be. "Shit, this isn''t causing much damage," Ryan said upon noticing just a few scratches on Thanatos'' left hand. He wasn''t even bleeding even though Ryan used one hundred thousand coins in just a few seconds. It looked like Power of Money was simr to Thanatos'' attack. Still, the difference in quality between them was like heaven and Earth, not to mention, Thanatos could cause direct damage without using a single point of mana. "That attack doesn''t have any divinity level on it, so it won''t cause much damage," Femradiel said. "If only we could control that kind of energy¡­ it should be possible considering that he was worried about your sudden power up." "Any ideas on how to do it?" Ryan asked. "None," Femradiel replied. "Then, don''t bring up the possibility in the first ce¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. It was a bit risky, but Ryan decided to use his next n. Hended on the ground and then undid his transformation. Soon after, Ryan activated the skill: giarism. You sessfully copied the skill: Death Maniption Lv 19. Cost: 5000 mana per second Ryan didn''t waste time and activated the skill, and by doing so, he forced Thanatos'' to raise his hand and then block the wave of concentrated attack that Ryan fired at him. He used all his mana to do that since Ryan knew that he wouldn''t have any other chance like that, but in the end, Thanatos felt the danger for his life and then blocked it. However, not even Thanatos was immune to his own skill. His left hand began to bleed profoundly, and he stared at it for quite a while. That gave Ryan the chance to recover some of his mana and even reuse Draconic Transformation. Something in Thanatos'' eyes changed after that attack. It looked like he didn''t imagine Ryan would make him bleed at some point. Still, Ryan couldn''t feel angering from him. That made Ryan frown. Considering that Thanatos yed around for quite a lot until now, he imagined that any real damage caused would enrage him. "How?" Thanatos asked. "Exin to me how you managed to copy my technique." "I don''t feel like it," Ryan replied. That seemed like a waste of time. Why would Ryan exin the skill he obtained after clearing a tier two dungeon? It seemed that Thanatos wanted to mess with him in an odd way. Of course, he knew the skill that Ryan used. There was no real reason he wouldn''t know. Still, the look of confusion in Thanatos'' eyes made Ryan wonder if that was really an act. "Where did you obtain such power?" Thanatos asked. "Is this guy serious?" Ryan asked Femradiel. "Weirdly enough, I think he is¡­" Femradiel said. "He even stopped attacking you." Ryan already knew that the elder gods weren''t all-powerful. Still, it looked like their knowledge about the system was seriouslycking as well, even though they had been using it for thousands of years. Still, after considering that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ Do humans have ess to certain features that they don''t have? When one thinks about it, one can easily realize that the difference in power between elder gods and humans was massive. So, howe Ryan managed to defeat Poseidon, who had the opportunity to polish his skills for thousands of years? Lunar Arrow yed a major role in that, just like Draconic Transformation, but were those enough to make a human defeat an elder god? Perhaps Ryan''s ingenuity and persistence also yed a major role, but¡­ not even himself was one hundred percent sure of it. "No matter, once I kill you, I will turn into a zombie and then reess your memories," Thanatos said. "I will force you to give the answers I am looking for. Perhaps you don''t know anything that I want, but perhaps you know and don''t realize." The atmosphere changed after Thanatos dered that. He disappeared from Ryan''s field of vision and then appeared behind him. However, instead of attacking Ryan, he grabbed Femradiel by the neck. "Let''s get rid of this dirty worm first," Thanatos said. Thanatos'' proximity weakened Ryan and Femradiel''s Mana Barrier, but Ryan turned around to counterattack despite that. Unfortunately, he wasn''t fast enough, and Thanatos snapped her neck and threw her body aside like a ragtag doll. Something inside Ryan''s snapped, and then his vision was covered by darkness. Thanatos also noticed that Ryan''s presence changed, but Ryan''s fists bashed him downward before he could react. Thanatos was caught off guard by the sudden increase of power and speed, but he couldn''t have imagined that Ryan had just started and that he wasn''t going to stop any time soon... ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 73 (+ 04 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 75 (+ 08 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 64 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 17th Health: 12855/12855 (19,25/s) Mana: 13925/13925 (19,25/s) Stamina: 148600/14860 (19,25/s) Strength: 881 (+1986) (+130) Dexterity: 21023 (+8855) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+4760) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+3534) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+2419) (+160) Control: 1476 (+4710) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+1793) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+260) Recovery: 5150 (+5250) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+1891) (+40) Coins: 43.256.236 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv 52 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 46 (+ 06 UP), Nemean Rage Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 143 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 143 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 143 (+ 02 UP), uracy Lv 143 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 143 (+ 02 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 69 (+ 12 UP), Semi-Divinity Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 136 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 110 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 123 (+ 03 UP), Vampirism Lv 25 (+ 08 UP), Word Creation Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Hercules'' Valor Lv 01, Support Skills: Fear Resistance Lv 26 (+ 03 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 38 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 32 (+ 08 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Corsair Lv 36 (+ 04 UP), High Priest Lv 36, (+ 03 UP) Dark Knight Lv 39 (+ 05 UP), Cleric Lv 38 (+ 07 UP), Brawler Lv 60 (+ 12 UP), Death Knight Lv 24 (+ 05 UP) Non-Combatant: Trickster Lv 25 (+ 01 UP), Transmuter Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 712 - Cursed Dragon Thanatos hit the ground and then stayed there for a few moments. That caught him off guard, and the attack hurt quite a bit. That was surprising since the only thing was arms made of only bones. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan''s howl made the entire area tremble, and his bodypletely turned dark. He turned into a cursed dragon much faster than Thanatos had predicted. If he had known that killing Femradiel was the easiest way to make him lose his mind, he would have done it a long time ago. However, instead of being satisfied, Thanatos was confused. When Ryan''s arms approached his body, it took the full force of Thanatos'' Death Maniption, to the point where every single trace of life vanished, leaving only bones behind, but now¡­ after being enveloped by a dark aura, his arms were back to normal. "As expected, there is something different about himpared to the others¡­" Thanatos furrowed his eyebrows. Thanatos assumed an offensive stance the very moment Ryan flew toward him. Even his speed increased exponentially, thanks to it, faster than an eye could blink, Ryan attacked the ce Thanatos had been standing a moment before. Thanatos jumped backward and escaped the attack. Still, he was close enough to see his Death Maniption eat away the flesh on Ryan''s body. That happened, but only for a brief moment. The corruption around Ryan''s body began to emit a miasma that covered his whole body like an armor. His body was suffering damage, but Thanatos won''t be able to kill him with his presence alone. "Amidst his range, how can he control his corruption like that?" Thanatos asked. "¡­ Let''s see if that can stop him." Thanatos tried to use Summon Zombie on Femradiel''s body, but much to his surprise, the skill didn''t work. That was a first, and he finally realized that he couldn''t sense her soul anywhere. It was almost like she hadn''t died, but that should be impossible. Thanatos couldn''t feel any presenceing from her body. Thanatos reacted too slowly thanks to the surprise when Ryan dashed at him, he almost touched his body and ripped his flesh apart, but his spear stopped the attack. However, the next moment, the dark aura around Ryan''s body dashed forward as it had a will on its own to devour Thanatos as a whole. Thanatos'' sliced it with his scythe and easily split it in half. Still, then the dark aura attached itself again and enveloped his scythe. Before anything could happen with his weapon, Thanatos teleported away from Ryan. "Even my scythe that can show the true might of my powers wasn''t enough to kill that¡­ it isn''t a living being," Thanatos frowned. "It is just a mass of dark thoughts. Is he just an ordinary cursed dragon?" Ryan looked around and finally found Thanatos. He then opened his mouth and used his Dark Ice Breath. Thanatos furrowed his eyebrows once again when he felt that smell¡­ that was dangerous. Thanatos teleported to high in the sky to analyze the effects of the attack. In the end, he found a small mountain that was created by the breath¡­ a mountain of dark ice. The ice was so powerful that it didn''t emit any cold. It was just the absolute cold of outer space¡­ Ryan managed to fire an attack that emted the totalck of heat and made it even more powerful thanks to the corruption in his body. Thanatos knew someone who could do the exact thing, and that someone was Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. One of the few elder gods that Thanatos respected and considered a friend. In any case, Thanatos realized that he won''t go anywhere relying on his power as a god of death alone. When he tried to cause damage on Ryan, he immediately found him. He protected himself with the miasma while he flew toward Thanatos. Thanatos raised his scythe, and then the atmosphere changed on the dark hole that was one left side of his throne. Numerous purple shadows emerged and then flew toward Ryan. As if causing death wasn''t enough, he even used the souls of the dead to torment Ryan. They entered his body and tried to pull him down by screaming as they tried to touch his soul. Ryan''s speed decreased a little, but in the end, Thanatos and his souls weren''t fast enough. When Ryan tried to sh him apart with his ws again, Thanatos was forced to protect himself. He couldn''t do those things at the same time. Thanatos tried to buy some time by teleporting too far away. Still, Ryan immediately found him whenever a new soul entered his body. Despite his madness, his instincts and skills still were there. "He is by far the strongest cursed dragon I have ever fought," Thanatos muttered as he tried to escape Ryan just by flying. As if that wasn''t enough, even though Ryan was using the miasma and the corruption to protect himself, it didn''t seem like the energy was getting weaker. It looked almost like his rage was endless¡­ which gave Thanatos an idea. While he was flying around his castle, he pointed his scythe toward Ryan, and then a dark-red energy began to leave his body and gather at the point of his scythe. Thanatos was manipting Ryan''s anger with Anger Maniption. Perhaps by doing so, he will gather enough energy to put him down with a single strike. It didn''t take long for a massive sphere of red and dark energy flying above Thanatos'' Spear to form. Still, even Thanatos was having a hard time controlling all that energy since Ryan was directing all his fury toward him. In the end, Thanatos decided to use it instead of gathering more energy. He teleported to behind Ryan and then swung his spear toward him. Still, before he could finish the swing, his hands were suddenly enveloped by ice, and that stopped him. "I can''t let you do that," Femradiel said. Femradiel bought just enough time for Ryan to turn around and then st the sphere of hatred with his own Dark Ice Breath. The two attacks collided, causing an explosion that made the entire world tremble. Chapter 713 - Last Straw When the massive curtain of dust caused by the explosion disappeared, one could see a deeply wounded massive dragon trembling on the ground trying to stand up, and a few hundred meters away from Ryan, one could also see Thanatos standing. However, he also suffered severe damage. He had lost his right arm, thanks to that, and he was holding his scythe with his left hand. "I knew you were a dragon that originally made a pact with him, but I assumed that you were free from the pact when you assumed a human form," Thanatos said. "Most people would think that, right?" Femradiel asked. "That was one of the reasons why I chose a human body but didn''t end the pact. It is a bit different from you people, but I obtained my own immortality like this." "Pretty smart, but that won''t work twice," Thanatos said. Even Thanatos couldn''t heal a lost arm so quickly, at least not by using his mana alone. Rebuilding a human body and a god''s body was different, after all. Still, he easily solved the problem by raising his scythe. After doing that, numerous soulsing from that hole showed up and entered Thanatos'' body. Once that happened, his lost arm began to grow at an astonishingly fast pace. "This is bad¡­ he was damaged by that much corruption and still can heal himself like that," Femradiel said. "Hey, Ryan, it is time to wake up. You are too old to let your anger control you." Femradiel was inside Ryan since her body sustained critical damage, but she couldn''t talk to Ryan even there. In fact, she felt like she was inside an unfamiliar body. When she is usually inside Ryan, she can perceive things from his perspective, and she feels like she is on a cold ind. While it wasn''t that weing, she was used to deste environment since she was an ice dragon. However, now Femradiel couldn''t see anything inside Ryan. She was in a dark vortex of pure hatred. Despite saying that, Femradiel didn''t notice any response wasing from Ryan. Just like before, the corruption was spreading around his body and healing his wounds. While that was convenient, it wasn''t natural. Howe such a vast amount of dark energy that is supposed to destroy the minds and make their vessels go crazy could do that? It was obvious that it wasn''t healing Ryan by normal means. Another reason why Femradiel assumed that was that she couldn''t use much mana while she was there. "What a troublesome fellow," Thanatos said as he massaged his shoulders after healing himselfpletely. "Now, I will have to destroy his soul after obtaining the information that I want. I can''t let a human who manages to wound me at this point exist in any n of existence." Although he said that in a calm manner, Femradiel could tell that Thanatos wasn''t joking, nor was he calm. She needed to make Ryan wake up, but that didn''t seem like a good idea either. None of Ryan''s ns would be that useful against Thanatos. He only survived until now because the corruption made him much stronger. In the end, Ryan flew toward Thanatos again. Femradiel''s words weren''t reaching him. This time, Thanatos dashed toward Ryan as well and swung his scythe to stop his charge. He actually seeded but didn''t stop there. When Ryan opened his mouth to fire another breath, Thanatos suddenly hit his head by making a small meteor fall on Ryan''s head. Even his control over other elements was pretty good. Still, Ryan soon recovered from the attack. Thanatos sighed. That human was causing far too many problems for him. Using the tactic to steal his rage might calm him down and even undo the effects of corruption, but Thanatos would need some time, and perhaps thest thing will repeat itself again. That wasn''t good. Besides, Thanatos wanted to kill him and then bring him back as a zombie in that form. So, using Anger Maniption wouldn''t help this time. Thanatos suddenly made a few small meteors fall on Ryan''s head to stun him and then used that chance to move away. When Ryan recovered, Thanatos had already disappeared in that dark sky and then began his preparations. While holding his scythe with both hands, Thanatos began to focus all the power of his Death Maniption on the de. A single attack like that was the only thing he could use to kill Ryanpletely while making sure that the corruption won''t protect or heal him. Eventually, Thanatos gathered so much energy that his scythe began to emit a weird sound. Almost like a scream of thousands of souls screaming in agony. It has been a while since he fought seriously like that, but with that much power, he was one hundred percent sure he will split Ryan in half from head to toe. When Thanatos began to fly toward him, Ryan''s instincts alerted him of the danger, and he found the enemy. Just like before, Ryan charged at him like a mad dog, but this time Femradiel noticed that things would be different. Even without her body, she could feel shivers just by looking at the shadow around Thanatos'' scythe, forgetting about enduring the hit. She was sure that Ryan would be split in half in his Draconic form. "Wake up, Ryan!" Femradiel shouted. In the end, there was no response, not even when to steal his mana. Nothing changed. However, at that moment, she noticed that she had ess to Ryan''s mana pool again. She couldn''t understand the reason, but it was probably because Thanatos used Ryan''s anger against him. Either way, it didn''t matter. In thest moment, Femradiel essed Ryan''s spatial storage and then summoned Poseidon''s trident. Even Thanatos was caught off guard when he saw the weapon firing toward him alongside Ryan. Retreating now would make him lose momentum, and any attack that Ryan uses will make the energy in his scythe dissipate. Without any other choice, Thanatos decided to split both of them in half. Chapter 714 - Help In thest moment, Femradiel increased the firing speed of Poseidon''s trident by activating Ryan''s Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. As if that wasn''t enough, she also used all her mana to cover it with ice. Much to her surprise, when the trident hit Thanatos'' scythe, it wasn''t split in half. It actually made his scythe move backward and made him lose some of the momentum. Something inside Ryan changed at that moment. Instead of using his arms, he opened his mouth and then used the Dark Ice Breath. Another explosion urred, and once again, that entire world began to tremble. When Femradiel woke up, she saw a red sky above her. Somehow, the impact made her lose consciousness. Not, it was the massive explosion of mana¡­ regardless, the sky wasn''t only red. It was also making lightning bolts like raindrops. It was the same thing that happened when Ryan and Poseidon fought. "Ouch, ouch¡­ what the hell happened?" Ryan asked. Femradiel finally realized that she was inside Ryan in his human form. Although his body was a mess, full of fractures and covered in blood, he was alive andpletely sane. "Somehow, you finally woke up, huh," Femradiel said. "Did you sleep well, sleeping beauty?" "The hell are you talking about? We were fighting Thanatos. I wouldn''t have time to¡­" Ryan said, and then he felt a massive headache. "Ugh, my head is killing me¡­ anyway. Are we on the same? This looks more hellish than that depressing world." In the end, before Ryan and Femradiel could talk for a while longer, they suddenly felt Thanatos presence approaching. It was different from before, and this time they could feel his anger. Still, he sure was taking his time approaching. When they saw Thanatos, they couldn''t believe their eyes. Thanatos was holding his scythe and Poseidon''s trident. However, he looked as beat down as Ryan. One could see with their own eyes the wounds in his body healing, but it was too slow considering the level of power of Thanatos. As if that wasn''t enough, his wounds were emanating a weird miasma. "Now you have done it¡­" Thanatos said. "To think that a human would make me look like this¡­ I will use your words: you won''t have a peaceful death; I will deny you of that relief. You will be my stress relief toy for all eternity." "Free me from this, Thanatos," Poseidon suddenly said. "Grant me a temporary body, and I will help you." "Shut up," Thanatos said. "Who needs help to crush a single worm?" Femradiel began to use mana potions on Ryan''s body in order to build enough mana to repair her body and return. Even though he said that she didn''t want to give any chances for them to team up, that would be that worst-case scenario. In any case, it was really weird that Poseidon couldmunicate with the outside world using his trident. Ryan and Femradiel never felt his presence while the weapon was in their hands... "Hey, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Why does that asshole look so beat up? Who was the motherfucker who interfered in my fight?" "I will exinter, first focus on defeating him while you can," Femradiel replied. "His wounds aren''t healing fast enough for some reason, so this is the perfect chance to kill him." Ryan was confused and angry, but in the end, he ended up following Femradiel''s advice. He always does ittely. Regardless, after using Draconic Transformation, Ryan felt the anger inside him growing, and he became lightheaded. He also noticed that the blue scales became details on his body, and now he was mostly covered in dark scales. That seemed like trouble, but in the end, it was trouble forter. Ryan didn''t charge mindlessly like before. Instead of that, he fired with his magic bows. Thana easily deflected them as he swung his scythe and flew toward Ryan. That was odd. He wasn''t using his powers as the god of death for some reason. Still, despite his wounds, he was much faster than Ryan. When Thanatos got close enough to slice Ryan''s throat, he found a thick Ice Armor blocking his path. Ryan used all his mana to block that single attack, all in order for him to finally have the chance to use some of the things he prepared for the fight. At that distance, Ryan summoned from his spatial storage dozens of crystal arrows. Thanatos blocked them, but some arrows made of solidified sunlight still flew toward Thanatos after they broke. They hit him, and his body began to emit steam. It seemed he disliked sunlight as well¡­ The damage caused made Thanatos tremble, so Ryan and Femradiel used that chance to recover the trident. They covered Thanatos''s left side with ice with all their might and then pulled away from the weapon. Much to their surprise, Thanatos didn''t even resist. "Thanatos, you bastard¡­" Poseidon said. "Be thankful that I didn''t leave you behind," Thanatos said, lookingpletely calm. "Elder gods like you always looked down on elder gods like me who lived in ces like the underworld. Besides, I don''t want to defeat a handicapped human, and there wouldn''t be any meaning in doing that." It seemed that despite all that fight, Thanatos still didn''t want to leave his pride go. When Ryan stored Poseidon''s trident away, Thanatos swung his spear. Even though Ryan was so far away, he still felt the danger for his life. It was almost equal to the sensation he had when Thanatos used Death Maniption to cause damage instantly and from a safe distance. However, the attack was now much more concentrated. Ryan and Femradiel created a massive Ice Wall in front of him, and Ryan also put his arms in front of his pace. Still, the ice wall was easily destroyed, and the scales on his body were easily cut. Ryan began to bleed deeply from his arms. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, Thanatos was already preparing another swing. Chapter 715 - End Ryan teleported to behind Thanatos in order to make him miss the attack, but in the end, even before Ryan could punch him, his left shoulder was split wide open. Femradiel healed Ryan, but it will take a while longer and a few more tries to close the woundpletely. In the end, Thanatos didn''t even have to worry about aiming while using his Death Maniption. Healing himself will take too long. Preventing the attack was also impossible. So, Ryan decided to go all out while clenching his teeth. Ryan summoned his magic bows and fired them. For some reason, Thanatos jumped to the side to avoid them. Most likely, the wounds on his body were preventing him from using his powers like before. In any case, Ryan will have to ept some risks in order to win that fight. "Femradiel, focus on healing me and using STR potions," Ryan said. "All right," Femradiel said. Although Femradiel said that, she knew that her support wouldn''t be enough. Ryan teleported toward Thanatos and used his arms to punch him. At first, he ignored it since that was a risky attack and Ryan could lose both arms, but that didn''t stop Ryan. He punched Thanatos in the face, even when a massive wound on his right was opened from the hand to his shoulder. Fortunately, Ryan used Vampirism and Bloodthirsty to heal himself. While that didn''t solve all the problems, it made Ryan close his wound a little bit. Thanatos clicked his tongue since the attack caused more damage than expected. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan bombarded his enemy with magic copies of the Berserker''s Crossbow. This time, while he was flying, thanks to the punch, Thanatos got hit by them. Before he couldnd, Thanatos swung his scythe again while aiming at Ryan''s right arm. Ryan ignored it and sacrificed his main arm to punch Thanatos with all his might¡­ or so that was what he made him think. Ryan grabbed Thanatos'' body, and before he could react, he smashed his enemy against the ground with all his might. Thanatos didn''t have the chance to swing his scythe in that situation, but he managed to activate that aura where his Death Maniption could damage anything around him. Ryan''s left hand began to lose all of its flesh due to Death Maniption, but in the end, Ryan already had reached his goal: he touched his blood. Ryan moved away from Thanatos and then used Blood Maniption to prevent Thanatos from moving for a short amount of time. Thanatos used Death Maniption to destroy the blood he had lost, but he didn''t do it fast enough in the end. A massive arrow of solidified light fell on Thanatos, and for a brief moment, the sunlight bathed that whole world. Ryan and Femradiel used that brief moment to heal his wounds, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. Thanatos didn''t die, and while his body was covered in wounds, blood, and burn marks, he wasn''t going down with only that much. That was obvious after seeing the glint in his eyes. "I lost five arrows creating that arrow, damn it¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Although Ryan couldn''t recall the moments where he had gone mad, it didn''t mean that his body forgot the tiredness of those moments. He was exhausted, and while the idea of running away didn''t even cross his mind, his concentration still was wavering. "Try to use Ice Breath and then get a bit angry," Femradiel said. "What?" Ryan asked. "Rage doesn''t work while using magic attacks." "Just do it," Femradiel said. In the end, Ryan decided to follow Femradiel''s advice. Thanatos was taking his time, so why not? Ryan didn''t have any better idea, after all. Ryan faked a punch and then teleported, but in the end, he opened his mouth while recalling all the feelings he felt when he saw the fragments of his parents being killed by Thanatos. In the end, he got lightheaded again, but his Ice Breath froze everything in front of him, including Thanatos. Ryan became even more surprised when he saw that the ice was dark. It wasn''t because that worldcked light. Even his Ice Breath was emitting the same miasma that was leaving Thanatos'' body. "My eyes¡­" Ryan muttered as he sweated cold while he saw shadows covering his eyesight. "Just calm down a little bit and should be better," Femradiel said. "Hurry up and finish Thanatos. Even this ice won''t hold him back for long." Little by little, the ice created by the Dark Ice Breath was cracking. Even without being able to move, Thanatos could destroy it by using Death Maniption. Still, it was surprising from Ryan''s perspective that he could do that. It wasn''t the same thing, but Ryan also created some ordinary arrows with arrowheads made of sunlight, he made hundreds of them and then summoned them from his spatial storage. However, before he could fire them, Thanatos used thest trick up his sleeve. He summoned all fragments of Ryan''s parents'' souls and made them attack him at the same time. "I was wondering when this asshole was going to use them¡­" Ryan muttered while he was forced to move back from the prison made of dark ice. "I got this," Femradiel said. "I didn''t stay out of this battle for so long for nothing." After dering that, Femradiel dropped some Ice Spears on the fragments. Those were special projectiles, they didn''t cause any damage, but they froze the fragmentspletely. It seemed like she was learning from Ryan that having more than a few backup ns for each situation was pretty good. Eventually, Thanatos freed himself, but before he could try to protect himself or escape, he was bombarded by the arrowheads made of light. Thanatos was unable to resist in any way after the first attack hit him. It was weird that the god of death was that weak to sunlight, but in the end, it made sense since Ryan heard in the few lessons about Greek mythology that sunlight never reached the underworld. His presence grew weaker and weaker, but before it could disappearpletely. Ryan sealed Thanatos'' soul in a crossbow. Chapter 716 - Absolute Death Crossbow Absolute Death Crossbow (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using the crossbow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. At the cost of five hundred points of mana, it grants you the power to damage any enemy that you can see. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity, and other skills and equipment can''t affect the damage caused. This crossbow doesn''t fire projectiles, but certain skills can block the damage. Dexterity + 2400, Intelligence + 600, Speed + 600 Durability: 1200/1200 You obtained 296.475.777 coins. Congrattions! For defeating Thanatos, you have be a Level one Death Lord! You obtained the following skills: Death Sense, Soul Maniption, and Soul Armor. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Death Sense. Effect: It grants the power to sense when you are about to be attacked by an attack that most likely will you. For each level of this skill, you will be alerted of the danger 0.1 seconds before the attack. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Soul Maniption. Effect: It grants the power to control the souls of the creatures you killed and use them to heal yourself or curse your enemies. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Soul Armor. Effect: It grants you the power to use souls to create an armor that will protect you against all kinds of attacks, with the exception of divine or corrupt attacks. You obtained 01 status points. "To think that I would be defeated by a human¡­" Thanatos muttered. "I have brought shame to the name of the elder gods." "You weren''t the first," Ryan said. "Still, you weren''t defeated by a single human. You lost to a human and¡­ a troublesome female dragon." "While I am happy to receive my credits, your words still annoy me," Femradiel said. "Still, to think that I would receive a ss by defeating Thanatos as well," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "This system is starting to make me doubt many things¡­" "What? You obtained a ss just by defeating me?" Thanatos asked, visibly surprised. "I knew that something was off with you¡­" Ryan decided to ignore Thanatos since his surprise was anything but worrisome. It looked like that kind of thing was unexpected, even from an elder god''s perspective. Regardless, that was trouble for another time. Ryan still had to free the souls of his parents. Hunter''s Heart Effect: It grants an additional damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to one hundred percent. Dexterity + 1000, intelligence + 1000. Durability: 500/500 Sorcerer''s Soul (03%) Effect: It grants an additional magic damage of one percent per minute when fighting against the same opponent, up to one hundred percent. Dexterity + 1000, intelligence + 1000. Durability: 500/500 "I am sorry for taking it so long to free you both," Ryan closed his eyes and then smiled while he was holding both crossbows. "Once this all is over, and I am sure that no one will be able to torment you, I will free you both." Mission aplished, and Ryan finally felt that the fighting he has been doing over the course of the year finally had some meaning. After healing his wounds, Ryan helped Femradiel fix her body and then return. It was kind of weird to use a body that died a few hours ago, but in the end, neither of them was bound bymon sense. Thanatos'' Scythe Effect: it grants you the power to look for the souls of the fallen to bring them back to life and fight as your minions. Intelligence + 7.000, Strength + 7.000, Speed + 7.000, Dexterity + 7.000 Willpower + 7.000, Recovery + 7.000 (Only the god of death can use this weapon to its utmost limits.) Durability:10.000/ 10.000 In the end, everything happened all over again. Ryan gained one hell of a weapon that had some crazy restrictions. Still, storing it and trying to use itter was better than nothing. "Let''s leave this shit hole," Ryan said. While they were flying toward the portal, Femradiel told Ryan what happened. The things that happened while he was being controlled by anger and hatred. "So, in the end, Thanatos tried to use his anger against me, and that worked in my favor to decrease the effects of the corruption on my mind?" Ryan asked. "That is my theory anyway," Femradiel replied. "Still, you are not entirely free from the corruption. Your vision was getting blurred because the anger was taking your mind again, and that was why your Ice Breath changed and became strong enough to damage even Thanatos. You reached a level of corruption that even affected Thanatos'' body¡­ I guess that proves that not only divinity can cause damage to the elder gods. Anyway, to think that you would be that mad for me¡­ I knew that you wouldn''t resist my charms for so long." "Don''t tter yourself¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I would have be enraged if I had seen any of my friends being killed in front of me." "Not that you have many," Femradiel said. "Quality over quantity," Ryan said. "Try to say that while showing your collection of crossbows," Femradiel shrugged. It was hard to win an argument with Femradiel since she was much more intelligent than him. Regardless, at least that conversation made Ryan rx a little bit. He needed that since his head was filled with anger in thest few days. "So, what is the next goal?" Femradiel asked. "Rx as much as possible while gathering some intel," Ryan replied. "Intel about what?" Femradiel asked. "About why ording to Thanatos, humans have ess to certain features of the system that they don''t have," Ryan replied. "Well, maybe they have, but since they never killed each other, they didn''t know about it. I doubt that we will find some answers any time soon, but anything can be useful. At some point in time, we will have all the pieces of this puzzle." Chapter 717 - Same As Always When Ryan and Femradiel returned to their domain, they found things in the same way they left. It was surprising given that they spend more or less two days in Thanatos'' world. It was a pity that Ryan didn''t obtain control over his domain, but not everything was bad news. Now the specters dungeon could reach the max level, and Ryan didn''t have to worry about their leader invading his turf. "Whatever, I am tired of worrying about theirck of action," Ryan said. "It seems you returned from a pretty crazy adventure," Isis suddenly said. "Why can''t we have a single moment of peace alone?" Femradiel asked and then sighed. "My apologies, if I am getting in the way of something, I can talk with you twoter," Isis said. "I just wanted to confirm what you did in Thanatos'' world and inform you of a few things about theck of actionsing from the elder gods." "It is fine, we are listening," Ryan said. "The n was to look for intel while rxing and there is nothing more rxing than obtaining information for free." "Not quite, we will be exchanging information here," Isis said. "Your smell changed once again¡­ you have Thanatos'' scent into you¡­ as the scent of corruption. May I ask what happened and why you went to face Thanatos without asking for help?" "It was due to some personal matters," Ryan replied. Ryan decided to exin what happened in Thanatos'' world. He had no reason not to since Isis was going to answer one of the things that have been bothering him quite a lottely. Ryan also learned that he began to smell like them by defeating Poseidon and Thanatos, probably because of the sses and the weapons he obtained. That smell wasn''ting from his body but from his mana pool. "Some of us assumed that we could obtain the power of other elder gods by defeating them, but we didn''t imagine humans could as well," Isis said. "It is weaker inside you, but it seems it is growing steadily." "That means someday I will be as good as controlling the seas and death just like Poseidon and Thanatos?" Ryan asked. "It is possible, I guess," Isis replied. "I don''t know for sure what will happen once a human made of flesh bones obtains that much power. Still, you should be fine since you stink like corruption, but you still are sane." "Stink like corruption?" Ryan frowned. "It is another figure of speech¡­" Isis replied. "At this point in time, there is no point in denying since you used that to defeat Thanatos, but corruption is kind of poisonous to us and we can detect it pretty easily since we hate it. Anyway, only a few creatures managed to cause trouble to us by relying on corruption and not a single one of them managed to recover themselves from that state. I wonder if it is because of your level of divinity, or if it is because you have a small portion of Poseidon''s power." "We can talk about those possibilitiester, I want to know about the information you came to give me," Ryan said. "All right¡­ thanks to your friend, Alissa, the elder gods decided to focus their attention on a certain," Isis said. "She inherited many skills of the dragon she was working with, many skills and some valuable knowledge. After dealing with the dragons of a certain, she learned how to read their words. Her powers for some reason increased manifold once she learned that and then found a portal to another world that was being used by some elder gods. It is a world that had many dragons'' centuries ago, but the elder gods defeated them and now are using them to strengthen their soldiers and to mine a certain magical ore." "Another type of magical ore?" Ryan frowned. "That is right, it is called mithril, and it is two levels above Elunium and Oridecon," Isis replied. "It is a magic ore that only appears in worlds that have massive levels of mana, or many inhabitants that have that. I assume it is about to show up on Earth thanks to people like you, but finding it might take a while. Mithril can turn into absurd powerful weapons or pieces of armor since it is basically an ore that appears when concentrations of mana gather in a single ce. Even elder gods want as much as they do of that ore. Speaking of which, Thanatos'' Scythe and Poseidon Trident are made of mithril." "Really? It doesn''t look like that," Ryan said. "Since it is an item that enhances magic powers, that would exin why Poseidon managed tomunicate with Thanatos," Isis said. "After being used by them for thousands of years, those weapons absorbed so much of their mana, that they even absorbed their wills and copied a part of their souls." That was irrelevant, but the fact that mithril was the metal that created those god-like weapons was a valuable piece of information. After all, ording to Femradiel, those weapons withstood being in the center of massive explosions that made the entire world tremble. It was no wonder the elder gods wanted that ore¡­ perhaps the demon generals were also involved. "Who are the elder gods directly involved in that world?" Ryan asked. "Well, that is a difficult question," Isis replied. "Perhaps less than twenty elder gods have direct ess to that world, but the vast majority are standing by to help in case Alissa causes something that will break the bnce of power between those twenty. They are working together to obtain the mithril for themselves, but their real allies might help if a fight breaks out." "All of them?" Ryan frowned. "It is not surprising that mithril is that rare, but¡­ how manys are out there again? Considering that and how long-lived the elder gods are, I imagined they could have found more than a few since the age of gods." "We found, but we lost those worlds," Isis replied. "As I said, everyone is willing to fight to obtain mithril, and considering your experience fighting Poseidon and Thanatos, you can imagine what might happen to the when three or four elder gods decide to fight." Chapter 718 - The Lazy Demon Total annihtion¡­ It looks like the elder gods destroyed many worlds while they fought against themselves over mithril. Alissa probably isn''t interested in mithril, but it wouldn''t be weird if she decides to pick a fight with those elder gods to rescue the dragons of that world. Just like the elder gods, they are probably one of the more knowledgeable creatures in the cosmos, and they might have the answers that Alissa wants. "After hearing this, what is your n?" Isis asked. "I owe Alissa quite a bit, but I am not sure I can do anything or that she wants my help," Ryan replied. "First of all, the only way I know to follow her is by asking that friend of hers in China and he definitely won''t cooperate. Do you have any ess to that world?" "No, they set up a barrier to prevent elder gods from finding," Isis replied. "Seth is one of them, so the chances of me obtaining ess to travel there is close to none. Unfortunately, I don''t think you will find his real base by using that dungeon near mine in this country. He isn''t that careless." "What about Athena and Loki?" Ryan asked. "I don''t believe Loki has any interest in mining for mithril, instead of that, he would rather fool someone to obtain it," Isis replied. "As for Athena, she was the one who informed me of this situation, and since she didn''t mention anything about going to that¡­" "I guess this is it then, I can''t do anything for Alissa," Ryan shrugged. "Aren''t you giving up too soon?" Femradiel asked. "I am not giving up, I am just recognizing that I can''t do anything right now for her," Ryan said. "Anyway, is there any news about her bing a cursed dragon, if she is intending to help the dragons, I don''t think that she has be one, but her level of corruption¡­" "Yes, it is pretty high," Isis replied. "I have some agents infiltrating the first dragon world she visited and they confirmed that she left some high levels of corrupted mana wherever she went. I don''t know if you got lucky that you managed to recover yourself, but I don''t think that she will have the same luck." "I bet that she won''t need any luck and in some way or another will sort out her feelings after a while," Ryan said. "She was once weak mentally speaking due to the circumstances, but she isn''t anymore." "I also think that but I am worried nheless," Femradiel said. "We should try to find a way to go to that." "Elder gods have more resources than us and they failed at finding such a world for who knows how many years¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "How do you propose that we find this?" "Maybe by defeating a dungeon master that has ess to it," Femradiel replied. "Do you have anyone in mind?" Ryan asked. "I assume that looking for run-of-the-mill dungeon masters will only make us waste time." Femradiel didn''t have an answer for that, and that was weird. They stayed silent for a while, thinking about what they should do, but in the end, nothing came to mind. "Although I was the one who informed you this out of consideration, I also nned to stay out of this because after killing two Greek elder gods, things will be even moreplicated for you two," Isis said. "The very moment any of themy their eyes on you, they will notice what you did and you will be their single target. It won''t be weird if at some point the whole army of Olympuses to crush your domain. This has be a matter of pride for them." Femradiel wanted to help Alissa, but those words made her feelings waver. It was quite weird, given that they only met a few times. Regardless,ying low doesn''t fit Ryan''s style. So, he was really considering attacking several dungeon masters in order to find a path to that dragons'' world. "I can help," Loki''s voice suddenly echoed through the area. "I already told you, Loki," Isis said, and she sounded pretty pissed. "Don''t hijack mymunication magic." "Then you shouldn''t use such simple spells," Loki said. "Anyway, I have kept my eye on certain troops and in one of them, the quality of items of the small fries increased exponentially. I assumed that the reason is due to the fact that the big bosses are obtaining even better gear made of mithril." "Whose army are you talking about?" Ryan asked. "Belphegor''s, one of Lucifer''s generals," Loki replied. "Based on my intel, he doesn''t like to fight and he iszy. That is why he wastes his time gearing up his minions. Maybe it is thanks to that or for some other reason, his minions are incredibly powerful. His army is close to Italy and they are responsible to keep a certain dungeon and the creatures being spawned there in check." "Why do you always stop talking when some important piece of information is about to be revealed?" Ryan frowned. "To make things more interesting, of course," Loki replied. "While I know the locations of the six demons'' generals, I only know the location of four of their enemies: the angels. One of them is in Italy and another is in Israel. Gabriel is helping protect the dungeon a few kilometers away from the Vatican. Considering your aplishments, normally, he would treat you well, but since your corruption level increased astonishingly. I would devise not contacting him. He may attack you on sight since you smell like a dragon and they hate dragons almost as much as they hate demons." Ryan didn''t like what he heard. He never found them, and that is why he never got worried. Still, his Night Demon''s blood makes him almost automatically an enemy of the angels. Regardless¡­ it looked like things were bing even more shocking than before with those new yers involved. Chapter 719 - Four Angels "Wait¡­ you mentioned Gabriel, didn''t you?" Ryan asked. "You mean that Gabriel?" "Yes, there are found dungeons that are spawning angels, and they are being controlled by the four angels," Loki said. "They are: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel. Michal is in Israel, Raphael and Uriel are guarding two dungeons in the United Kingdom." "I can understand why they are in the Vatican and Israel, but what are those two doing in the United Kingdom?" Ryan asked. "Who knows?" Loki asked, and Ryan imagined him shrugging. "They set up a barrier around those inds, a pretty powerful one. I cannot even take a peek at what they are doing there." "I see¡­ Anyway, why do you want Belphegor out of the game?" Ryan asked. "Who said that I want that?" Loki asked. "You wouldn''t give me such a valuable piece of information, unless he is a problem to you," Ryan said. "Still, if you don''t want anything, that is fine with me. I won''t have to worry about anything else since it is obvious that you will benefit indirectly from it." "No, no, no. Let''s talk this through," Loki said. "I don''t care about Belphegor, but his domain interests me. So, I would like to have it if you seed in defeating him." "Why would I give you ess to a world where mithril can be found?" Ryan asked. "Don''t be so stingy," Loki said. "Why not help a friend by giving him a gift now and then? If you give me that domain, I swear, on my name as the god of mischief, that I will give you half of all the mithril that I find." "I am not interested," Ryan replied. "Still, if you want to buy some once, I will start to mine, I can''t see why I shouldn''t sell it." "¡­ Give me some time, I will prepare a better offer," Loki said. After hearing that, Ryan felt a bit more rxed. Loki''s eyes probably were no longer on him, and that is why his instincts told him to rx. Anyway, Ryan obtained the information that he wanted a lot sooner than expected, so it seemed that he won''t have much time to rx. "Are you going to depart soon?" Isis asked. "After preparing a few things," Ryan replied. "I don''t know a single thing about Belphegor, so preparation is the key in case anything happens. I also assume that he probably can appear on Earth and I don''t want to fight a being like that on this." "I don''t have much information regarding him, but Loki has, you could have asked him about it," Isis said. "I would rather reach my own conclusions after seeing the enemy with my own eyes," Ryan replied. "Come to think of it, Alissa and I fought two of the demon generals hoping to learn why the dragons don''t remember anything aftering to Earth and you never asked Isis about it, Femradiel. Did you assume that she wouldn''t know?" "That is right," Femradiel replied. "Why?" Ryan asked. "For no particr reason," Femradiel replied. That sure was weird, but everything regarding Femradiel was weirdtely. Since she was rescued, she has been keeping too many secrets¡­ Regardless, since Isis didn''t refute her, it seemed that her assumptions were correct, and Isis probably didn''t have the answers for many of Ryan''s questions. "It seems that every month, news be part of this system," Ryan said. "I assumed you created dungeons in many worlds, right?" "You are correct," Isis replied. "In how many of those worlds where you created a dungeon, dragons with amnesia showed up?" Ryan asked. "Not a single one," Isis replied. "I guess it is a good time to talk about this, as you already know, there are dungeons that spawn dragons, but they aren''t supposed to appear like that. Not to mention, they were far stronger than any other dragon that was being spawned by dungeons." "So, someone really summoned them to Earth and that someone also erased their memories," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I reached that conclusion as well," Isis said. "You don''t have any idea of who that might be, do you?" Ryan asked. "Or what their goal is." "You are correct," Isis said. As expected, it looked like some things changed when Earth became a part of this massive game. Considering all the pieces of the puzzle, everyone with half of a brain would notice that Earth was about to be the center of something troublesome that will change everything. Ryan couldn''t help but worry since all the big bosses were more worried about strengthening their armies and solidifying their strength instead of fighting one another. Things would be much easier for humans if the dungeon masters just killed each other, but things wouldn''t be that convenient. "It is time for me to go, my dungeon is about to reach the max level and I have many details to adjust," Isis said. "I wish you good luck." "Thanks for telling me about Alissa," Ryan said. After saying that, Ryan also felt that he wasn''t being watched by Isis, and he finally had some time to think about things. Perhaps trying to help Alissa would only cause more problems in the long run, but Ryan felt that he had to try at least once more. Even though that might make him being hunted by the demon generals as well. "You will get wrinkles even before you be thirty at this rate, you frown too much," Femradiel said. Ryan didn''t say anything, but perhaps that was for the best. Staying on the offense was better than staying on the defense, at least ording to Ryan''s preferences. Regardless, after finishing his preparations and checking the domain system, Ryan and Femradiel departed. Area Lv 27: 75 square milesLevel UP cost: 690.000 coins or 6.900.000 mana Monsters Book Lv 10Level UP cost: 5.500 coins or 55.000 mana Barrier Lv 51 Level UP cost: 296.000 coins or 2.960.000 mana Army Lv 69Level UP cost: 3.698.000 coins or 36.980.000 mana Dungeon T1 Lv 379 (23%)Level UP cost:4.698.000 coins or 46.980.000 mana Coins stored: 233 Mana stored: 15.633 Chapter 720 - Testing It didn''t take long for Ryan and Femradiel to reach Europe, and while finding Belphegor''s dungeon wouldn''t take more than a few minutes at that rate, Femradiel asked to stop. "I can sense a lot of tier three dungeons here and it would be a waste to ignore them," Femradiel said. "I suppose so," Ryan said. Ryan obtained some skillster that he didn''t have the chance to test and now seemed like the best times since the dungeons Femradiel found only spawned monsters that he already fought. Zombie Fire Harpy Health: 35.350 /35.350 Mana: 65.650/65.650 Stamina: 40.400/40.400 Strength: 2525 (+1800) Dexterity: 2020 (+500) Speed: 4545 (+1200) Intelligence: 6565 (1200) Endurance: 2020 (+1500) Control: 2525 (+800) Mentality: 4545 (+800) Luck: 2525 (+300) Recovery: 15.150 (+2000) Willpower: 4545 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 350, Burning ws Lv 450¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Fiery Aura Lv 550, Augmented Recovery Lv 200, Augmented Speed Lv 250¡­ Spells: Magma Sphere Lv 650, Magma Charge Lv 500, Explosive Impact Lv 480, Volcanic Rain Lv 350¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 650, Shock Resistance Lv 200, Cold Resistance Lv 150, Earth Resistance Lv 400, Fire Immunity Lv 250 "Interesting¡­ all the status of the zombie increased by one percent," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "But in exchange¡­" Ryan used Heal on the zombie, and the creature trembled as if it had been hit by a lightning bolt. It was weird since the monster had so much health, and the skill was supposed to heal less than one thousand points of health. After rechecking the status, Ryan confirmed that the monster lost twenty percent of its health. "What did you expect?" Femradiel asked. "It is obvious that undead monsters would be that weak against healing magic." Adding that to the cost of the skill, which was one thousand points of mana, it made Ryan wonder if it was worse the hassle of leveling up that skill. If the skill reaches level one hundred, he can make any creature two times stronger, but what would be the point if they can suffer so much damage from a simple healing spell? Regardless, Ryan will have to try to find a solution for that problem because Summon Zombie was weirdly appealing. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Cavalier, Poison Archer, and Battle Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Cavalier! You obtained the following skills: Heavy sh, de Aura, and Broken Strike. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heavy sh. Effect: A powerful strike that might stun the enemy the longer the attack is charged. Cost: 50 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: de Aura. Effect: It grants you the power to envelop your sword with mana and cause physical damage while damaging the mana pool of the foe. Cost: 50 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Broken Strike. Effect: It grants an extra effect to your attacks, decreasing the enemy''s endurance by one point per level and per strike. The effect willst for five seconds and is reset every time the skill is active. Health: 20 per level. You obtained 01 status points. While the new ss wasn''t that impressive, Ryan learned a lot as he killed the monsters. First of all, his Absolute Death Crossbow was as overpowered as he had imagined. Ryan could kill any beast in his line of sight even without aiming. The reason was simple, his incredibly high dexterity and the fact that he could hit any part of the enemy''s body. The only downside was that Ryan couldn''t use any skills alongside it. He couldn''t even make a magic copy using the Magic Bow skill. "You are a lot more useful than I expected, Thanatos," Ryan said. "I am the god of death, not even death itself can stop me," Thanatos said. "Don''t you think this mere crossbow will either." "Sure, sure," Ryan said. "In any case, this country sure seems abandoned. The poption of monsters is stupidly high." Ryan and Femradiel were in Portugal, very close to the capital, Lisbon. Still, neither of them could see any survivors'' camps or feel humans'' presence. While that country wasn''t that big, he imagined that things wouldn''t be that bad¡­ Still, considering that Belphegor and an army of demons were less than one thousand miles away, it wouldn''t be weird if all humans in the region had been wiped out. "¡­ If I were you, I would avoid using that Summon Zombie skill," Femradiel said while she was frowning. "The smell of corruption changed quite a bit and turned into something very¡­ it is hard to describe with words." "Why does everyone talk like I am smelly and it is not due to these weird powers?" Ryan facepalmed. "Well, don''t worry about it, it isn''t permanent," Femradiel replied. "The effect decreases overtime. Still, considering that we are going to attack a demon general, perhaps avoiding it will help us in catching him off guard." While Ryan was using irvoyance to make sure that the path ahead and around was clear, in the end, all caution was more than necessary. Things would be fine as long as they exterminate the monsters in the area as fast as possible. In any case, that was an excellent opportunity for Femradiel to level up sses as fast as possible and for Ryan to obtain a fair number of coins. Thanks to that, he recalled that Thanatos granted him a massive number of coins and that he forgot to use them¡­ Chapter 721 - Time Mage While Femradiel was freezing some T-Rexes to death, Ryan checked his skill list in order to find inspiration. He needed to spend those 340 million coins somehow, but Ryan had no idea how to do it. Thanks to that, he noticed that his Ice Breath leveled up quite a bit since thest time he checked. Against Thanatos, it seemed the skill leveled forty times. "I don''t remember using that much against Thanatos¡­" Ryan frowned. "It is probably because you used an enhanced version," Femradiel replied. "Instead of mana, the corruption and your rage fueled the attack. Thanks to that, it froze even Thanatos for a while." "Rage doesn''t make magic attacks stronger," Ryan said. "No, but it does strengthen the corruption on your body and that strengthens the Ice Breath," Femradiel added. "You saw, didn''t you? How much that attack changed. Instead of creating in ice, it created a dark one." Ryan checked and confirmed that Rage leveled up quite a lot as well. More than thirty times¡­ it was a bit embarrassing for Ryan since the cause of it was the fact that Thanatos killed Femradiel. He knew that as long as he lived, she would return, but that didn''t change the fact that he went mad like that. To the point where he couldn''t even remember a single thing about a massive part of the fight. Soul Armor Lv 04 Effect: It grants you the power to use souls to create an armor that will protect you against all kinds of attacks, with the exception of divine or corrupt attacks. Current Amount of Damage that can be nullified. 10.630 Ryan also recalled one of the skills he obtained when he defeated Thanatos. Soul Armor was weird. It could only work when he defeats an opponent. When Femradiel does it, it doesn''t work. The same thing can be applied to Soul Maniption. When Ryan defeats a monster, he can feel their souls, but when he doesn''t¡­ Regardless, each soul that bes part of the Soul Armor can nullify ten points of damage for each level. So, it has potential. "This is taking too long," Ryan said and then sighed since he didn''t get a single new ss after clearing five tier three dungeons. "Maybe we should just head to Belphegor''s dungeon once and for all." "Not fair, you areining just because I am finally catching up with the number of sses," Femradiel said. "Besides, it is not like you are not gaining anything by clearing these dungeons." Ryan could obtain extra dexterity and extra status points in every dungeon he clears, so Femradiel was correct, but he still couldn''t help butin. Fortunately, when they cleared a Pterodactyls'' dungeon in Madrid, capital of Spain, he finally obtained a new ss and a pretty good one, actually. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Death Knight, Mad Archer, and Time Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Time Mage! You obtained the following skills: Haste, Slow, and Compressed Time. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Haste. Effect: It passively increases the movement and reaction speed of anyone under the effects of this skill by three percent per level. Cost: 200 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Slow. Effect: It passively decreases the movement and reaction speed of anyone under the effects of this skill by three percent per level. Cost: 200 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Compressed Time. Effect: It grants the chance to recover a certain amount of health, mana, and stamina that could have been recovered naturally after a period of time. The amount of energy recovered will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by five seconds and your regeneration per second. Cost: 5000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. "Oh! It can''t bepared to the effects of Chronos'' Ring, but it is a pretty good start," Ryan smirked. "Maybe we should have skipped this dungeon, after all," Femradiel said with her left eyebrow raised. "All you do isin," Ryan shrugged. "You are the one whoins all the time!" Femradiel protested. "Anyway, let''s train Haste as much as possible," Ryan said. "This skill should help us a lot against tougher enemies. Although I don''t remember the entire fight against Thanatos, I remember that my speed was an issue." "How weird that we obtained these skills so easily¡­" Femradiel frowned. "I am pretty sure that even among dragons, few of them have skills that grant them the power to control time." "While those skills are impressive, I believe you are wrong about them," Ryan said. "Instead of controlling time, they speed up our bodies. It isn''t the same thing." Ryan was right, but even that much should be beyond the power of humans. One thing that confirmed that was that Femradiel never saw those skills being sold on her monster''s system. It was almost as if¡­ "I guess you don''t have enough mana and recovery to keep the skill on for long periods of time," Ryan said. "Too bad I can''t transform either, since that makes my presence easier to recognize. It looks like we will have to use a lot of potions. Wait¡­ I know how I can spend those coins." Ryan began to grin from ear to ear when he finally recalled a certain thing. He had that idea a few months ago, but he never found a solution, but perhaps with the coins he had now, perhaps¡­ ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 76 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 84 (+ 09 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 71 (+ 07 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 11th Health: 13755/13755 (21,05/s) Mana: 14825/14825 (21,05/s) Stamina: 16160/16160 (21,05/s) Strength: 881 (+2686) (+130) Dexterity: 21523 (+10055) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+5960) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+4234) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+3219) (+160) Control: 1476 (+5910) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+2493) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+1160) Recovery: 5150 (+6450) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+2591) (+40) Coins: 340.256.236 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv 62 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 56 (+ 06 UP), Nemean Rage Lv 36 (+ 12 UP), Heavy sh Lv 01, de Aura Lv 01, Broken Strike Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 149 (+ 06 UP), Concentration Lv 149 (+ 06 UP), Archery Lv 149 (+ 06 UP), uracy Lv 149 (+ 06 UP), Stealth Lv 149 (+ 06 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 79 (+ 12 UP), Semi-Divinity Lv 01, Death Sense Lv 01, Soul Maniption Lv 01, Soul Armor Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 146 (+ 10 UP), Frost Armor Lv 120 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 163 (+ 43 UP), Word Creation Lv 27 (+ 08 UP), Hercules'' Valor Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Haste Lv 01, Slow Lv 01, Compressed Time Lv 01 Support Skills: Darkness Resistance Lv 49 (+ 38 UP), Curse Resistance Lv 78 (+ 17 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 44 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 38 (+ 08 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 12 (+ 06 UP), Viking Lv 44 (+ 11 UP), Brawler Lv 80 (+ 12 UP), Death Knight Lv 34(+ 05 UP), Sea Lord Lv 15 (+ 08 UP), Death Lord Lv 04 (+ 03), Cavalier Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Support Archer Lv 28 (+ 06 UP), Transmuter Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Time Mage Lv 01, Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 722 - Battle Sage Soul Eater Effect: A special sword that can''t cause any physical damage, but it can cause spiritual damage to the target. At the same time, it steals the spiritual energy of the target, stores it inside, and returns to the weapon''s owner when they wished for it. The mana stolen will be equal to the damage caused, and the damage caused will be equal to the levels of the skills used in the attack. Mana: 00 Price: 300.000.000 "Hell yeah, now we are talking!" Ryan said, visibly excited. "This is a pretty useful magic sword," Femradiel said. "Still, since it can''t cause real damage, it will make us waste some while fighting." "It can''t be helped, you can''t have everything you want," Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, while you freeze the tougher monsters, pierce them with the sword. Try not to be too fast, though. I am pretty sure you won''t be able to steal their mana once they die." Femradiel already could kill most tier-three monsters pretty easily and near instantly. So, telling her to take her time was more annoying for her than anything. Still, after a while, she understood just like Ryan about how useful the sword was. When she controlled it with Telekinesis, the weapon could easily drain one hundred points of mana second, and after killing just a few monsters, the weapon had in store three times her mana pool. Once she held the sword, Femradiel''s hunting speed increased exponentially. "To make things more interesting, we will use the sword for twelve hours and pass it to each other. Since you are weaker, you can go first," Ryan said. "You should have said that because ofdies first," Femradiel frowned. "No, it is because you are weak," Ryan said. "Because you are weak." "You don''t have to repeat it," Femradiel said. "Youin that I changed, but recently, you have been a pain in the ass." In the end, Ryan couldn''t refute that. Regardless, even if he couldn''t use Soul Eater yet, he still had plenty of coins to use and buy potions. The ideal option would be to buy another of the same weapon. Still, Ryan didn''t want to bet that he will gain stupid amounts of coins whenever he defeats a foe on the level of the elder gods. "Leveling up Slow is also a good option, it will duplicate the effects of Haste," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, I have to touch the target for the skill to work and I probably have to stay within a range for the skill to work. Maybe Teleport can easily cancel it. Well, it is worth a try." Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Frozen Swordsman, Poison Archer, and Battle Sage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Battle Sage! You obtained the following skills: Mind Boost, Electric Touch, and Frozen Touch. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mind Boost. Effect: It passively increases your mana by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Touch. Effect: It enchants your hands with the power of electricity and shocks the enemies when attacking. Cost: 50 mana per attack You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Frozen Touch. Effect: It enchants your hands with the power of ice and freezes the enemies when attacking. Cost: 50 mana per attack You obtained 01 status points. Before leaving Spain, Ryan found another dungeon that granted him a new ss. While it wasn''t as good as Time Mage, it wasn''t so bad. Although they stopped to clear all the dungeons in their path and eliminated all the monsters they found, Ryan and Femradiel only have to move for two days to reach the border of France and Italy. The size of the army wasn''t impressive, but the surroundings made Ryan frown. It looked like the ce had been hit by hundreds of meteors, and where they couldn''t find craters, they found burned earth. Sloth Demon ¨C Lv Max Health: 95.350 /95.350 Mana: 95.600/95.600 Stamina: 4000/4000 Strength: 7500 Dexterity: 2500 Speed: 2500 Intelligence: 7500 Endurance: 7500 Control: 2500 Mentality: 2500 Luck: 2500 Recovery: 25.500 Willpower: 2500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Super Jump Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Endurance Lv Max, Augmented Intelligence Lv 740, Augmented Strength Lv 630¡­ Spells: Sloth Sacrifice Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Shock Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max, Fire Immunity Lv Max, Light Resistance Lv 540¡­ "The heck is that¡­" Ryan frowned. When Ryan found the first demons that were serving Belphegor, he was caught off guard by their appearance. They were very human-like, but they were taller andrger, and just like dolls, they had no genitals. They also moved pretty slowly, but they were extremely durable. Their skills also made Ryan worry. "They don''t look like a natural type of monster¡­ Maybe they were created by Belphegor to reach his goals," Femradiel said. "While that makes sense, I can''t help but wonder how the system recognized a creature made by him," Ryan said. "Anyway, let''s wait for a little bit, the smell of smoke still is strong, even though the army is fine. So, I assume they fight pretty often here." "If you want to see the demons and Angels fighting, you should go somewhere else," Femradiel said. "Mana Concealment won''tpletely hide your presence if someone at the level of the elder gods gets too close. If the angel that Loki mentionedes, he will find you, because you smell¡­ of corruption." "Why the long pause?" Ryan asked. Chapter 723 - Angels In the end, Ryan decided to keep an eye on the things on the other side of the border, and the very moment he saw an army of flying creatures, he teleported to the sky, and in the blink of an eye, Femradiel and he were in space. Angel ¨C Lv Max Health: 45.560 /45.560 Mana: 135.500/135.500 Stamina: 44.000/44.000 Strength: 6500 (+800) Dexterity: 4520 (+700) Speed: 5900 (+1100) Intelligence: 9800 (2200) Endurance: 7700 (+1500) Control: 6900 (+800) Mentality: 8600 (+800) Luck: 7500 (+1500) Recovery: 35.000 (+15.000) Willpower: 8600 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 750, Concentrated Strike Lv 690¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Recovery Lv 700, Augmented Strength Lv 690, Augmented Intelligence Lv 670¡­ Spells: Light Creation Lv Max, Light Arrow Lv Max, Light Sword Lv Max, Light Spear Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 850, Shock Resistance Lv 700, Cold Resistance Lv 750, Earth Resistance Lv 600, Darkness Resistance Lv Max¡­ The angels were a bit different than Ryan imagined. Aside from the fact that most of them only had swords, bows, or spears and that they were wearing a white robe. In any case, it was hard to tell if they were female or male. All of them were physically strong. Their hair styles and tones also varied quite a bit, but all of them had blue eyes. They also had a simr glow like Poseidon had, but it wasn''t quite there. It seemed that their level of divinity couldn''t bepared to the elder gods, but what about their leaders, the four angels? "If one day you have to fight an army of them, you will suffer a lot," Femradiel said. "Their attacks will be naturally stronger than you''re thanks to their divinity." "I don''t think that will happen since they are focusing on defending their domains," Ryan said. "Considering that I didn''t hear of them until now, I am pretty sure that I am right." "How surprisingly positive of you," Femradiel said. The fight finally started; the angels began to fire spells that resembled Lunar Arrow¡­ even though it was noon. As expected, they really could use Light Magic and fire at insane speeds. However, the Sloth Demons didn''t move all that much after getting hit by the rain of those projectiles. It seemed they developed one hell of a Resistance against it after fighting against them for so long. Either way, when the arrows hit the ground, they burned everything around and even made somerge holes appear. When the angels finally began to kill some of the demons, the demons got close enough to jump high in the sky and reach several of them in moments. At the same time, they were grabbed and couldn''t free themselves. The very moment they fell on the ground, both creatures exploded, and Ryan didn''t find any trace of them. "A suicidal attack¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Only an asshole would create an army of suicidal monsters." "They aren''t normal creatures, so it makes perfect sense that they are being used like that," Femradiel said. As it turns out, the craters were caused by the suicidal explosions. From above, Ryan could see that their numbers were insanely higher than he had expected. Maybe Ryan could survive that in his Draconic form, but in his human form¡­ "When are you nning to invade their dungeon?" Femradiel asked. "Once the fight is over," Ryan replied. "We will find many other monsters of that same kind on the other side, but I don''t want to face more than the necessary. Anyway, I will be counting on you to freeze as many of them as possible." "I will do my best, but I want a reward if I seed," Femradiel said. "Reward?" Ryan frowned. "How about a kiss? It can be on the cheek if you are that shy," Femradiel said. Ryan facepalmed after hearing that, here they were preparing to invade the world of a demon as famous as Belphegor, and Femradiel was talking nonsense. The human hormones really changed her¡­ in any case, Ryan was getting more and more troubled. He couldn''t see Femradiel like that. He had no intention of getting in another rtionship while the world was like that. Should he just say all that to her? That might solve the issue, but it might also create other problems. Considering everything, Femradiel wasn''t much different than any other woman, so she might get really angry or depressed. Ryan was having a hard time imagining that, though. Since Femradiel was much stronger than him mentally. After considering the situation, Ryan decided to do as Femradiel wanted. In the end, he didn''t hate her, and she was the only person who he could trustpletely to watch his back. While he wasn''t that interested in romance any longer, why not see where things might go by following Femradiel''s pace? It was time for Ryan to forget the useless parts of his past and do whatever he felt like it. As long as he doesn''t treat Femradiel unfairly, things shouldn''t end badly. "Sure, why not?" Ryan asked while shrugging. "I thought that you would resist more than that, now I can''t help but worry," Femradiel frowned. "Just keep your hormones in control and focus on the mission," Ryan said. "We are going to face another difficult enemy and if we mess up, we won''t find another chance to help Alissa." Femradiel nodded. It was time to take things seriously. They couldn''t afford to fail since Alissa''s life might as well hang in the bnce. Ryan felt that it was time to pay all his debts to her, and Femradiel thinks of her as a friend. For different reasons, they couldn''t afford to fail. In the end, they eventually noticed that it was time to invade the dungeon. A certain blonde angel that had a magic staff on his hands suddenly appeared on the battlefield and then decimated hundreds of the demons. Most likely, that was Gabriel¡­ Chapter 724 - Pyromancer Gabriel ¨C Lv ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Ryan barely had any time to check Gabriel''s status. After he decimated a good part of the demons'' army with a massive beam of light, he disappeared. Ryan didn''t have to use Search to confirm that Gabriel returned to his dungeon. In any case, that might be actually dangerous since the enemy had a skill that worked even Absolute Appraisal. What was left of the demons'' army began to retreat, and the angels did the same, even though they had the numerical advantage. That was weird, but Ryan decided not to think too much about it. He and Femradiel teleported toward the dungeon, which was located at the top of a certain mountain. Now that they were finally looking at it, they couldn''t help but frown since the dungeon was basically a very vertical stair. Before the demons could retreat to the interior of the dungeon, Ryan and Femradiel bombarded them with Ice Arrows. Both of them froze the creatures instantly, and then another arrow finished the job by shattering all the ice alongside the demons. You obtained 1150 coins. You obtained 1150 coins. You obtained 1150 coins. ¡­ "Mmm¡­ they are giving a lot of coins, considering that they are just regr monsters¡­" Ryan frowned. "This might be a pretty interesting ce to do some grinding. In the end, something else surprised Ryan as well. It was the fact that the dungeon didn''t have a boss guarding the crystal. Maybe it was a trap that the demons hadid for the angels, or maybe Belphegor didn''t feel like putting a watchdog when the angels always retreated in the end. Regardless, Ryan and Femradiel quickly opened the treasure chest. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Mad Archer, and Pyromancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Pyromancer! You obtained the following skills: Pyromancy, Inferno, and Fire Forest. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Pyromancy. Effect: it grants you the power to manipte fire freely. This skill also increases the power of all fire-rted skills by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Inferno. Effect: It grants you the power to burn everything in an area around you instantly. Cost: 3000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Forest. Effect: It grants the power to summon several fire tornadoes in an area around you for a determined amount of time. Cost: 300 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. After quickly checking the Pyromancer ss, Ryan and Femradiel touched the purple crystal. Soon after, both of them appeared in Belphegor''s world. Weirdly enough, considering that it was a world where demons inhabited, they didn''t find anything demon-like. At least, at first. Ryan and Femradiel found themselves inside a forest, a pretty dense one. It seemed full of life, and the smell of flowers was pretty good, but Ryan was experienced enough to know that everything he could see and feel probably was a trap. Both of them activated Mana Barrier and confirmed that something was off when they saw their mana decreasing faster than usual. "It looks like this smell of flowers is actually a natural magic attack," Femradiel said. "Considering the nature of the mana, I would say it is a spell made to put us to sleep, or to dull our senses." It seemed like a tactic someone like Lilith would actually use. Nevertheless, what was important was the fact that they reacted fast enough and didn''t fall for it. Still, keeping Mana Barrier active was dangerous since it might leave their traces behind, so Ryan and Femradiel teleported to high in the sky and then deactivated Mana Barrier. However, they soon activated it again. "What the¡­ the smell can even smell this high?" Ryan frowned. Ryan and Femradiel couldn''t see anything but a massive forest in all directions. Still, that was weird, considering that it resembled an ordinary forest. Maybe they could try to resist in order to focus on their stealth. Still, Ryan was worried that such a tactic employed by a demon didn''t make some of their defensive skills level up like crazy. "What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "It doesn''t seem like we are inside a small domain, still¡­ it wouldn''t be weird if Belphegor had already found you, you stink of corruption, after all," Femradiel said. That was starting to annoy Ryan, even though it didn''t seem like people were telling him that just to make him angry. Regardless, without any other option, Ryan decided to keep Mana Barrier active because even if the smell of the wasn''t making any of their skills level up, it might be a spell that takes time to take effect, and once it does¡­ who knows what might happen? "Do you feel his presence?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ this scent is created by mana, so it works like a massive barrier that makes me unable to feel anyone''s presence in a certain distance," Femradiel replied. "So, mana can also be used like that, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should expand my domain and then increase my skeletons'' army even more. By doing so, their presence will increase the level of mana in an area and no one will be able to tell when I will be inside the domain or not." Chapter 725 - Useless Finding Belphegor turned out to be a far more difficult task than Ryan expected. As if that wasn''t enough, Ryan and Femradiel didn''t find any demons either. As expected, those powerhouses acted differently than the small fries. If Ryan were targeting an ordinary dungeon master, they would try to block his path with an army of monsters. "All right¡­ if after six hours we don''t find him, I will burn down this entire forest," Ryan nodded to himself. "A few concentrated attacks from above should do the job. It is a pity that I can''t start a massive fire attack from space, but oh well¡­" "Maybe the corruption is affecting you more than we anticipated," Femradiel said. "Your patience has been getting a lot shortertely." Ryan was fully aware of that, but he couldn''t help it. While he didn''t want to be recognized by his enemies, being ignored was unnerving. There was a small possibility that Belphegor was preparing a trap for him. Still, considering what Ryan heard of the demon, that possibility wasn''t high. The chances of the other demon generals joining the fight were also pretty low. "Maybe he is just toozy to attack us," Femradiel said. "That would fit the intel we have about Belphegor." That wouldn''t even be funny if it were a joke. Still, Ryan had a bad feeling about all that¡­ In any case, after three hours, Ryan decided to burn down the entire forest, even though he said that he would only do it after six hours. Fortunately, it seemed that he wouldn''t have to waste time with that. "I can feel a powerful presence twenty kilometers away in that direction," Femradiel said. "Most likely, it is Belphegor." In the end, Ryan and Femradiel tried to check the terrain ahead by using irvoyance. Still, they found a massive area covered in mist. It was weird. They were exactly twenty kilometers away from the mist. So, Femradiel didn''t feel Belphegor''s presence but the mist. "It looks like you are getting rusty, Femradiel," Ryan said. "You canin once you can do better," Femradiel said. "Oh, well¡­ can you say if the mana in the mist and the mana of the smell that this forest is emanating are the same?" Ryan asked. "Yes¡­ now that you mentioned it," Femradiel frowned. "It''s basically the same, but the concentration is different." After that, it became obvious that the mist and the scent weren''t just natural phenomena in that world. Belphegor definitely created them. Still, it seemed like a pretty sloppy defense system. After all, Ryan could blow everything up by using an attack from above. Even if it was something created by magic, it needed certain conditions to keep working, and the forest and the tropical climate certainly were an important part of it. "All right, it is time to burn everything down," Ryan said. "In the end, it only looks like you want some stress relief," Femradiel shrugged. "That certainly doesn''t fit the style of someone who inherited the powers of an ice dragon." "Nah, I just want to test the powers of my newest ss and make it level up as much as possible," Ryan said. "Anyway, if you have any better ideas, I am all ears." Femradiel considered their options. In the end, the best n was to use Dark Ice Breath and catch Belphegor off guard. Since it worked against Thanatos, there was no reason that it couldn''t work against Belphegor. Still, there was no telling what might happen to Ryan, considering the level of corruption on his body. Femradiel realized that she should have asked him to use Draconic Transformation after defeating Thanatos. Ryan''s anger was one of the things that fueled his corruption, so the fact that he recovered his parents'' souls probably would have helped him calm down. Still, that could only be confirmed in his draconic form. "All right, let''s go with that arsonist n of yours," Femradiel said. "I don''t think things will be that smooth, though." When Ryan and Femradiel prepared to attack the misty area from above, they flew as high in the sky as they could, and they couldn''t help but frown when they reached the boundaries of that world''s atmosphere. That whole area was as big as a massive country. Unless they move away from the world a little bit, they won''t be able to see the entire area. Regardless, Belphegor was somewhere inside the mist, but that area was just too big. Instead of letting the headache get the better of him, Ryan began to create a massive fireball. Even though he wasn''t that good at using fire, Draconic Transformation solved that problem. Femradiel was helping him by using mana and INT potions, but she still had the chance to check the effects of the corruption on his body. His body wasn''t as dark as it had once been during the fight against Thanatos. However, more than eighty percent still waspletely dark, and here and there, Femradiel could see that same miasma. "Things aren''t as bad as they could be, but you shouldn''t get worked up during the battle," Femradiel said. "It looks like the corruption level inside you isn''t changing, but until we find a way to control your anger with magic, we should be more cautious." "I doubt that I will get angry in this fight, I don''t have any reason to," Ryan said, and then he clenched his teeth when the two kilometers wide fireball was starting to make him sweat. In the end, nothinging from the mist stopped Ryan, and then he fired. The projectile hit the ground after two seconds, but much to Ryan''s surprise, he felt like the attack had been weaker than it was supposed to. The fire made the humidity spread a curtain of steam in a vast area, but despite that, there were no changes in the mist itself. At the end, when the curtain of steam disappeared, Ryan noticed that his attack didn''t change anything. Chapter 726 - Trembled "It seems the mist also works like a natural barrier against magic attacks," Femradiel rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You don''t say," Ryan said. "I would never have guessed that myself. Anyway, ice magic won''t help here and since my fire spells are much weaker, it will be a waste of time trying to continue with this n." As it turned out, Femradiel''s instincts were right. The n to burn everything wouldn''t work. Regardless, despite everything, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why they haven''t been attacked yet. Even if the mist zone was massive, someone at the level of the demon generals would have noticed Ryan''s attack. "Let''s see¡­" Ryan said and then summoned a skeleton. "Try to find this guy''s presence once he enters the mist." "Sure¡­ if he survives the fall," Femradiel said. The skeleton was an ordinary one, so it was even weaker in terms of endurance ifpared to the skeleton archers and skeletons wizards. Regardless, the creature entered the mist, and Ryan confirmed that it was still¡­ alive? It was weird to say that a skeleton is alive. "Not good, even though the mist is only two hundred meters deep, I can''t feel the skeleton''s presence," Femradiel said. "Belphegor uses strange tactics, but they are highly effective." Ryan used Animalistic Link and confirmed that the mist was so dense that he couldn''t see anything five meters away from him. Fortunately, at least on the part, the skeleton fell, he didn''t find anything weird with the surroundings. It was just a part of the forest hidden in the mist. However, after a while, Ryan lost control over the skeleton. Something made the Animalistic Link break. Ryan tried to use it again, but it seemed the skeleton was long gone. "¡­ Maybe I should just destroy this world," Ryan said. "How big was the asteroid that made the dinosaurs go extinct again? Seven miles wide? I am pretty sure that I heard in a documentary that a sixty miles-wide rock can cause the extinction of most likely a of Earth''s size." "You don''t know if this is the same size as Earth," Femradiel said. "You also don''t know the speed such a projectile has to hit a to destroy. Anyway, Belphegor probably can survive, even if this explodes. Did you forget how much trouble you had on defeating Thanatos and Poseidon?" Ryan couldn''t forget it. Even to make Seal work, he had to try dozens of times. Whenever he attacked with any of his skills, their bodies reached a point that they refused to get more hurt. It was no wonder since they were beings who have been around for thousands of years¡­ that was a crazy level of immortality and regeneration. Ryan didn''t have the chance to check if they couldn''t die after getting hit by hundreds of Lunar Arrows in theiratose state. Still, it was hard to find such an opportunity to fight on the opponent''s turf. "We already wasted too much time here," Ryan said. "Let''s enter that damn mist and look for Belphegor, who knows what might happen if we take our time." In the end, not even the logical Femradiel could stop Ryan. She was that worried about Alissa since it wouldn''t be weird if two or three elder gods decide to fight her at the same time. She had the knowledge to find a portal connecting to the world where they mine for mithril, even without using a dungeon. So, she wasn''t an opponent they could look down on. At that point in time, trying to surprise Belphegor wouldn''t work. So Ryan descended to the mist area already in his Draconic form. As soon as they arrived, Ryan noticed that the mist began to focus around him. Thanks to it, the Mana Barrier began to suffer damage. "What is this¡­" Ryan frowned. "The mist is focusing around you¡­ it is reacting to your mana," Femradiel said. "It seems the more powerful someone is, the more the mist tries to affect them." It was probably the mist that destroyed Ryan''s skeleton. The smell probably has some unknown effect. Either way, they will be fine as long as they keep Mana Barrier active. Ryan began to fly low in order to check the area below the mist, but even his vision wasn''t much useful in that area. As if that wasn''t enough, his massive body didn''t make the mist move even a single centimeter. Fortunately, while the mist worked to protect magic presences from that outside, it didn''t work in the same way inside. So, Femradiel''s senses returned almost to normal. "My tracking skills are back to normal," Femradiel said. "There is no trace of Belphegor yet, though." "He is probably in the center of this mist," Ryan said. "Just inform me if you notice anything." Even though Ryan was flying pretty fast, he didn''t find anything different within the mist. He was running out of patience just after a few minutes, and Femradiel noticed that when she noticed that the amount of miasma being emitted by his body was increasing. "I already told you to calm down," Femradiel said. "At this point in time there is no denying¡­ even though you returned to normal after turning into a Cursed dragon, the Transformation affected you quite a lot. You have be too impatient." Ryan couldn''t even deny it since he received some notifications that Rage leveled up a few times since he left his domain. ording to Femradiel, Thanatos used a skill that stole Ryan''s anger and turned into a sphere of dark energy. That was the next technique that Ryan wanted. Hopefully, he will obtain it before something happens and he loses his mind again. When Ryan was thinking about that, a Sloth Demon suddenly appeared in front of him and then grabbed his face like a cicada. Before Ryan could move his hands to grab the creature and throw it away, the creature exploded, and the entire area trembled. Chapter 727 - Belphegor "Ouch¡­ that hurt," Ryan said while he was massaging his face. "That also scared the crap out of me, but...what exactly happened? In the end, Frost Armor saved Ryan''s face. It was weird that a sloth demon could appear inside the Mana Barrier. Still, considering that he was inside Belphegor''s domain, it wasn''t that unexpected. He could move his monsters inside it as he saw it. The only real troublesome thing about it was the fact why he didn''t do it sooner and only did it once. "It was a warning," Femradiel said. "Stay away¡­ that is what Belphegor is trying to say." "Whatever¡­ it seems we are finally getting close." Ryan resumed his flight, and then several other demons suddenly appeared and exploded near his face. Ryan was expecting that, so he punched all of them, but they exploded on his hand anyway. The power behind those explosions couldn''t even bepared to the ones caused by Ryan''s magma Golems. "Mmm¡­ Let''s check that," Ryan said. The next moment the demons appeared in front of him. Ryan used Niffelheim and froze them. Before they could die, he used Seal and created a new crossbow. Tiredness Crossbow (+05) Effect: at the cost of 200 points of mana, this weapon can fire special bolts that put the target under the tired status. Their speed, attack, and defense will decrease by five percent per thirty seconds. Dexterity + 550, Intelligence + 250. Durability: 350/350 "Tired status effect? This one is new¡­." Ryan frowned. It was even weirder, considering that Ryan didn''t feel tired or anything when the demons caused damage. Maybe it was because his willpower increased exponentially in his Draconic form. It wouldn''t be weird if Ryan could crush that type of monster with a single hand and with no arrows. So, it would make sense that such effects were useless to him. The more Ryan flew, the more the attacks increased. To the point where he began to stop to heal himself¡­ that was troublesome since Ryan couldn''t even use Teleport to move in that mist. Still, eventually, Ryan and Femradiel found their target. Right in the middle of that massive forest and hidden in the mist, they found ake. The mist wasn''t that thick, so they could find their enemy floating at the center of theke, right above what seemed to be a massive leaf of thergest tree Ryan had ever seen. Belphegor Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... Belphegor was a weird demon; he didn''t look ominous like most of the demons Ryan had seen until now. He was humanoid, but his body was covered in gray fur from head to toe. He was also naked, so that made Ryan wish to unseen the scene of a Male creature that was three times his size in all aspects naked. The creature''s most demon-like features were the two horns on the sides of the head and the absolute dark eyes, the same pattern that Ryan found on Lilith and Baal that probably showed the level of corruption of demons. Belphegor seemed pretty rxed there. He didn''t even take a look at Ryan and Femradiel. Regardless, despite the situation, they knew that the enemy this time would be difficult. "Why did youe?" Belphegor asked. "Can''t you when someone doesn''t want to be bothered?" Instead of being angry, Belphegor looked weirdly tired. His voice had no energy, and even though Ryan and Femradiel came to fight, he didn''t look that interested in defending his domain. "First, you invade my world, I forgave that, but then you tried to destroy my fence," Belphegor said. "I forgave that too, but then you felt the right to enter my home¡­ Humans sure are despicable. No wonder he wants to exterminate all of you." "Who would be he?" Ryan asked. "Lucifer, who else?" Belphegor frowned. "Anyway, he gave me the task of protecting this domain, so unless you want to be tormented by him, you should leave now." "Why don''t you inform him that we are here?" Ryan asked. "That is too troublesome," Belphegor shook his head. "I like this ce, so I don''t want to turn it into a battlefield. Go away now, I have better things to do." That certainly didn''t look like the case. In any case, Ryan couldn''t help but feel a bit troubled since he was facing an enemy that wasn''t that interested in fighting. Regardless, the very moment when Ryan used Wolf''s Greed to steal Belphegor''s dexterity, he looked at him, annoyed. Then the blue crystal that was the core of his domain appeared close to him. Belphegor touched the crystal, and in the next moment, dozens of sloth demons appeared around Ryan. They glued on his body like cicadas and then exploded. When the curtain smoke disappeared, Ryan appeared semi-unscathed. Frost Armor saved him again. With lightning-like speed, Ryan summoned several Magic Bows and then bombarded Belphegor. Still, before the bolts could hit him, the sloth demons appeared out of nowhere to serve as meat shields. "For azy demon, he sure is fast in using that crystal¡­" Ryan said. It was a smart tactic to save mana, but the problem was why Belphegor was saving mana when he never used it. While that might be dangerous, Ryan wanted to see Belphegor''s skills as soon as possible. That way, he will be able to devise a n to take him down. Ryan began to teleport around to escape the damage caused by the explosions, and Ryan seeded in evading most of the damage by moving randomly. Despite that, his bolts were yet tond on Belphegor. Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance since his bolts could easily pierce the demons, but the explosion caused by those repelled the attacks. In the end, it seemed that Ryan will have to take matters into his own hands, literally. Chapter 728 - Goner Ryan suddenly teleported to the right above Belphegor and tried to punch him. Still, the demon moved his arm to block his attack. Even in that position and without touching Ryan''s fist, Belphegor stopped Ryan''s punch. It was Telekinesis¡­ the skill was at a pretty high level, too, since Ryan''s punch in his draconic form could do almost the same amount of damage the sloth demons could when they explode. "So, despicable¡­" Belphegor said and then sighed. "You are always trying to take from others the things you want. Human race doesn''t even care if they have to start wars and kill hundreds of thousands if not millions to get what they want." After moving away from Belphegor, Ryan noticed some marks on his fist. Even without using his body, Belphegor''s Telekinesis had been powerful enough to almost crush his right fist. There was a possibility that if Ryan prepares an attack before teleporting, that he will manage to cause some direct damage. Still, in the end, Ryan had a hard time believing that it would seed. His instincts were telling him that. Before Ryan coulde up with any other n, Belphegor sat cross-legged. It looked like he was getting a bit more interested in the fight. However, that wasn''t something that helped Ryan. When the demon focused his eyes on Ryan, something happened¡­ Ryan''s body became more sluggish, and his body wasn''t responding as fast as usual. "What?" Ryan muttered. Almost one hundred demons suddenly appeared around Ryan. This time he won''t be saved by Frost Armor. In the next moment, all the demons exploded, and the entire area trembled. That chain explosion had been as powerful as Ryan''s fireball, and that was crazy since Ryan had to focus for a few minutes tounch that attack. Ryan sighed in relief a few hundred meters above, he escaped the attack, and his body was back to normal. Femradiel saved his ass. "Thanks, Femradiel," Ryan said. "For a minute, I thought I was a goner." "It seems he can use a higher-level version of Slow," Femradiel said. "He can use it even without touching the target, but the farther away the target is, the less effective the skill is." Ryan also assumed that the skill was simr to Thanatos'' Death Maniption. He could use it on anyone he looks at, and he probably can slow down exponentially anyone or anything that gets too close to him. Still, Ryan had to confirm that, but that would be difficult since Belphegor was using the demons to block the bolts. Aftering up with a n tond the first attack, Ryan put it into motion. Ryan created an Ice Spear and then threw it toward Belphegor, but before he could let the spear go, he used Perfect Aim, Deadly Aim, and Teleport. The projectile appeared half a meter away from the demon and almost pierced the back of his head. Ryan saw the projectile stopping in mid-air, but he also saw it moving in slow-motion. "I guess that confirms everything," Femradiel said. "This will be hard, perhaps even harder than the fight against Thanatos." The real problem was the fact that Ryan didn''t receive any skill to resist that effect. It possibly was a time-magic skill, but it didn''t look like Ryan could learn something like Time Resistance that easily. "If I stay hidden, I won''t have to deal with that skill of his," Femradiel said. "Since he is azy demon, he probably won''t use more than a few skills at the same time. So, I am safe from irvoyance. With that in mind, I will be able to help you by using Haste." "All right, let''s see how much we can resist his power bybining Haste," Ryan said. Femradiel also could use Mana Maniption, so they could increase the effects of Haste by using more mana than usual. Bybining their skills, Ryan felt his body and mind getting lighter and faster. It was weird, but it was an extremely refreshing feeling. "It seems increasing your reaction speed by one hundred percent is our current limit," Femradiel said. "It is more than enough for the time being," Ryan said and then teleported. Ryan appeared right above Belphegor again, and as expected, his body slowed down when he tried to punch the demon. However, his speed surprised Belphegor, and his punch ended upnding on his face. Still, before he could be submerged on theke, Belphegor used Teleport and appeared levitating above theke while massaging his face. Ryan''s attack only left a small bruise, but all progress is progress. "I thought I was mistaken when I felt Thanatos and Poseidon''s presenceing from you, but it seems I was wrong¡­" Belphegor said. "You are the human who killed them." Ryan decided to ignore those words. Nothing good woulde by listening to the enemy in the middle of a fight. So, he teleported again and tried to smash the demon''s head with both of his arms. That feeling of sluggishness came out in full, and Ryan immediately understood that his attack wouldn''tnd. So, he made several Hydra''s bows appear above and then fired all of them. Still, despite the size and speed of all those arrows, when they approached Belphegor, they lost all their speed and power. Belphegor approached Ryan with his right hand pointing toward his head. Even though his Femradiel''s Haste was active, his mind, for some reason, wasn''t moving fast enough. Ryan understood why¡­ it was because he was looking directly at the demon''s eye. Still, even that couldn''t bepared to what Belphegor was about to do. All of Ryan''s instincts were warning him of it. Fortunately, Femradiel saved his ass once again by using Teleport. "He was about to do something¡­ I felt arge concentration of mana on his right hand," Femradiel said. "¡­ I noticed it," Ryan said. "Still, it doesn''t look like he can use that freely, since he moved slowly toward me." Neither of them had any idea what Belphegor almost did, but they knew it was something dangerous. In the end, Ryan concluded that he couldn''t be trying to fight up close¡­ that wouldn''t do him any good. Chapter 729 - Speed Manipulation While the fight against Belphegor wasn''t as dangerous as Thanatos'', at least in some way, it was even more nerve-wracking since Belphegor basically never attacked first. In a sense, it only showed how big was the difference in power¡­ or how muchzy Belphegor was. "I want to try something, so focus on getting his attention," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded, even though he didn''t want to let Belphegor''s hands touch him due to his unknown powers. At that point in time, they needed to do anything and obtain more intel regarding his skills. After approaching the demon by flying, Ryan began to feel the effects of his powers when he was inside the mist. In the end, Belphegor couldn''t make use of his powers without a certain range and without his eyes. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but sweat cold as his speed dropped and his mind began to work slowly. However, Ryan knew that would happen, so before Belphegor could attack him in any way, Ryan used Ice Breath. Much to Ryan''s surprise, even a non-concentrated magic attack like that suffered under the effect of Belphegor''s power. Ice Breath became an ice pir since it didn''t approach his body. Suddenly, a massive Ice Spear fell on Belphegor. Femradiel acted faster than expected¡­ Still, the attack only scratched the top of his head before losing all momentum. "Despite being azy demon, he has good reflexes," Femradiel said after Ryan moved away from the creature. Instead of attacking, Belphegor checked the wound on his head after he threw away the Ice Spear. In the end, he only sighed, but then the look in his eyes changed. Before Ryan and Femradiel could do anything, they suddenly saw themselves surrounded by two hundred demons. They exploded even faster than Femradiel could react. The chain explosion made for the first time the mist tremble. It was made of mana, so it was natural that such massive amounts of mana would cause that. When the smoke in the area decreased, Belphegor saw Ryan standing and mostly intact. Still, the look in his eyes changed, and his body was emitting miasma. "Hey, Ryan," Femradiel said. "Calm down¡­ don''t get worked up yet." "I am not¡­ I am trying to calm down, but¡­ something inside me," Ryan muttered as he watched his vision slowly darkening. Weirdly enough, even Femradiel was unscathed. Even though she had better reflexes than Ryan, she almost missed when the miasma appeared and worked like a shield that protected Ryan''s whole body. Ryan''s anger controlled that and protected him and even Femradiel. Still, she couldn''t help but feel worried since all that anger apparently had a will on its own. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, neither Ryan nor Femradiel could understand how Belphegor summoned and allocated so many demons around him. Forcing all of them to explode like that soon after shouldn''t be something that can be done instantly either. Fortunately, Belphegor didn''t do anything while Ryan was trying to control his fury. In fact, he seemed more interested than usual while seeing Ryan struggling against the corruption. "What a messed-up human¡­" Belphegor said. "To think that his anger could be this powerful¡­ humans truly have fallen low." Before Ryan our Femradiel could see what had happened, both of them suddenly were spinning in the air. Ryan suddenly felt a sharp paining from his stomach, and then he spat blood. After rolling on the ground and moving away, who knows how many kilometers of theke, Ryan finally stopped, but his body was aching all over. A single impact on his stomach caused damage to his entire body, and he had no idea what hit him. "Shit¡­ what was that?" Ryan asked. "¡­ I don''t know, I didn''t see anything," Femradiel said. If even Femradiel''s eyes didn''t see what happened, then it truly was a crazy attack. Fortunately, Belphegor only used it once, and he waszy enough not to approach Ryan and finish the job. "I didn''t feel the mana in the surroundings changing in nature, so it probably wasn''t an elemental attack," Femradiel said. "Most likely, it was a physical attack¡­" Belphegor didn''t look like someone who was good at fighting with his body. It would be weird if that weren''t the case. How can azy demon be good at moving his body? Regardless, Ryan had to see that attack in order toe up with a way to counter it. However, the very moment Ryan approached theke, he was hit by something. Once again, he went flying and then rolled on the ground for many kilometers. "Fuck¡­ fuck!" Ryan said. The miasma, who had calmed down a little bit, returned with full force. Fighting up close was no good. Using his best long-ranged attacks wasn''t better either. It was not surprising that Ryan would get impatient. However, Femradiel stopped him from losing his head by hitting it with a massive ice hammer. "Ouch¡­ what was that for?" Ryan asked. "Calm down, dumbass," Femradiel said. "How many times do I have to tell you that?" "Easier said than done," Ryan said. "I have an idea," Femradiel said. "Give me Chronos'' Ring." "It didn''t work against Thanatos, why do you think it will work here?" Ryan asked. "Just shut up and give it to me already!" Femradiel said. "Why are you getting so bossy as ofte?" Ryan frowned. Ryan didn''t have the confidence that he could use the ring before he gets attacked, but perhaps Femradiel could. Still, it was hard to imagine changing anything. However, when they approached theke, Ryan saw Belphegor disappearing, and then in the next moment, he was fifty meters away from him, looking a bit confused. After blinking a few times, Ryan confirmed it¡­ Femradiel had used Chronos'' Ring. "This power¡­ how do you have it?" Belphegor asked. "I knew it, he just punched you Ryan," Femradiel said. "His demonic powers give him full control over the movement speed and reaction speed of those around him. He used his powers to slow us down our reaction speed and increase his own movement speed. That is why we didn''t see the other two attacks." Chapter 730 - Troublesome In the end, Ryan almost praised Femradiel''s analytical skills. Belphegor seemed impressed and confused, and that only showed that she was right. Still, to think that Belphegor really had that power¡­ it was a power really that really fits his demonic nature. He doesn''t feel like doing anything, and to prevent others from doing anything against him, he slows down their perception of time, and when he feels like doing anything, he speeds up his. "While his power is incredible, he won''t have the chance to use it fully while I use the ring, since your mana was the thing that fueled this and this ring has a certain level of divinity, then it won''t fail," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "You have one hour to defeat him." "I want to say it will be plenty, but I won''t get ahead of myself," Ryan said. Ryan flew toward Belphegor, and this time he didn''t feel the effects of his magic. His body was as light as it could be, and his punch was finally blocked by Belphegor''s left hand. The demon''s expression changed from one to surprise, for one to annoyance. "How bothersome¡­" Belphegor said. Ryan felt his hand getting heavy. It was the other power that Belphegor had, the power to make things get more tired. However, Ryan let him grab his hand. In exchange for that, he bombarded him with crystal arrows filled with sunlight. Thatbination easily caused some scratches on Belphegor''s body, and he began to bleed in several parts. "Tsk," Belphegor clicked his tongue in annoyance. After letting Ryan''s arm go, Belphegor jumped to move away from the effects of Chronos'' Ring. Still, Femradiel quickly caught up with him by using Teleport. Belphegor also used Teleport to move away, but she easily found him thanks to her skills. Moreover, Belphegor waszy, so he couldn''t use Teleport to move so far away from theke, nor did he want to leave his crystal behind. "So, bothersome¡­" Belphegor said, and then the mana in his body changed. Belphegor hated to move around, but in the end, he understood that letting Ryan always have the initiative would make the fight drag for too long. That is why his mana changed because he used buffs to increase his physical strength and endurance. After doing that, Belphegor dashed toward Ryan and tried to punch his face. Ryan blocked the attack, but not before feeling the bones in his hands cracking. Ryan used Ice Breath, but Belphegor easily moved to the side and escaped the attack with lightning speed. "Annoying demon¡­ for azy bastard, he sure is fast," Ryan said after clicking his tongue. "I will give you a hand," Femradiel said. Soon after, the blood that was flowing from Belphegor''s wounds turned into ice, but in the end, she failed at freezing the interior of his body like she did before. While his powers couldn''t be used that well inside the effects of Chronos'' Ring, it seemed that things were still different inside him. Although Femradiel''s ns failed, Ryan still was winning the melee fight since Belphegor rarelynded more than one punch at the same time. Still, the look in his eyes made Ryan understand that he didn''t give up on the fight yet. Afternding two consecutive hits on the demons'' faces, Ryan used that opportunity to fire some crystal arrows. The demon blocked them with his left hand, but they pierced it deeply, and the hand began to bleed quite a lot. In the end, Ryan resumed thebo, but Belphegor stopped Ryan''s right hand with his own and then grabbed it again. Before Ryan could try to retreat, Belphegor made the blood that was flowing from his head fall on Ryan''s face. Not even Frozen Armor prevented the blood from falling on his eyes. Ryan used Purification to get rid of that, but Belphegor used that chance to make his hand touch Ryan''s forehead. Femradiel tried to teleport away from him, but Belphegor was also teleported since their hands were touching each other. In the end, Belphegor touched Ryan''s forehead, and not even Femradiel''s ice wall was enough to stop him. At first, Femradiel didn''t notice what happened until he let Ryan go, and he began to fall. "Ryan?" Femradiel asked, confused. The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ At first, Femradiel didn''t know what happened until she checked Ryan''s mind and saw those notifications appearing one after another like a storm. Somehow, Belphegor used magic to make Ryan feel a terrible wave of exhaustion. When Femradiel looked into his eyes, he saw that they were white. From casting a spell-like that directly at Ryan''s brain, he made him enter into aatose state. In the end, Ryan fell on theke while Belphegor was massaging his shoulders and healing his wounds. It has been a while since he had to move like that, and as one would expect, he hated all forms of exercise. "To think that a human would obtain this much power in less than a year¡­" Belphegor furrowed his eyebrows. "Perhaps his hatred isn''t the only reason why he wants to exterminate all humans." Belphegor wasn''t good at offensive magic, but he needed to use something in order to finish Ryan off. However, before he could start casting or thinking about any spell, theke suddenly exploded, and Ryan appeared. Belphegor was caught off guard since it was impossible that someone could recover from such an attack so fast, but then he noticed that his presence changed. The scales of his body werepletely blue, all the signs of miasma had disappeared entirely, and the woman who had been standing on his head during the whole fight became a statue of ice. "What a troublesome guy Ryan is¡­" Femradiel said. Belphegor recognized that voice¡­ Thanks to hisziness, he didn''t pay much attention to her. Still, now he finally realized that Femradiel was a dragon that had a human form. It seems he messed up because Femradiel looked far more experienced when ites to fighting. Chapter 731 - Another Way "You¡­" Belphegor said while frowning. "Me what?" Femradiel asked. "Just give me a minute to adjust to this body, it has a certain part that I am not used to having." Femradiel was moving her shoulders, trying to get used to that body. It was more powerful than her old one, so such a thing was necessary. That was probably the first time she had full control over Ryan''s body, so she was kind of excited to fight and mess around. Still, despite that, Femradiel couldn''t help but frown since all the corruption disappeared once she obtained control over the body. It wasn''t like it had disappeared for good, Femradiel could see Ryan''s soul inside the body, and he was enveloped in a massive sphere of darkness. Weirdly enough, it was working like the shells of an egg, protecting Ryan''s soul from any outside harm. "Are you sure you can fight with a body that is exhausted?" Belphegor asked. "Don''t try to bullshit me," Femradiel said. "I know why you had to touch Ryan''s forehead to make the skill work. This power of yours only works when you can ess the enemy''s mind. Since you were so eager to touch his head, I imagine that it is a specialized illusion spell that made him experience all the exhaustion he experienced during a few days instantly." "Impressive analytical skills," Belphegor said and then sighed. "¡­ I suppose it can''t be helped." Weirdly enough, Belphegor touched his own forehead¡­ Femradiel frowned since she couldn''t imagine him using the skill. He used to knock down Ryan on himself and then just give up. However, just like Belphegor could change the speed on himself and on his enemies as he sees fit, he also could do the inverse with that illusion spell. Femradiel concluded that once he saw a massive aura of energy overflowing from Belphegor''s body¡­ thanks to that illusion spell, now he had a lot of energy avable to him. Belphegor dashed toward Femradiel, and even though Chronos'' Ring, she failed at reacting on time and blocking his attack. A single kick on her stomach made her fall and hit the forest downward, causing a small earthquake. In the end, Femradiel finally noticed that the fight wouldn''t end that easily. "Fighting trying to conserve mana won''t do me any good, even though I don''t know if he has any other tricks up his sleeve," Femradiel thought as she was getting up. "Still, he already knows more or less what this body is capable of. I will have to improvise¡­" Belphegor flew toward Femradiel, but he stopped when several arrows suddenly appeared in front of him and then exploded. The power behind the Automatic Arrows was small, but that worked to surprise the enemy. Still, that gave Femradiel enough time to think of something. When Belphegor confirmed that he was mostly unscathed, he tried to fly again, but then he was bombarded by water bolts. That caught him off guard since the damage was more impressive than expected, even though they were appearing so close to him and had no time to move. Belphegor moved away from the barrage of attacks, but the bolts still appeared very close to him. When he looked at Femradiel, he noticed that she didn''t move a single bit. However, she was holding a weird crossbow¡­ even though she couldn''t properly use it due to the difference in size. "... Let''s hope that Ryan wasn''t nning to keep this crossbow hidden for too long," Femradiel said while smiling nervously. "He never used this, after all." In the end, Femradiel was forced to open Ryan''s vault and grab a crossbow. She tried to use it alongside Magic Bow. Still, it didn''t work¡­ probably because it was impossible to copy a weapon that had the soul of an elder god. "Belphegor¡­" Poseidon suddenly muttered. "A pathetic demon losing to a pair of pathetic worms." "You lost to two pathetic worms, so what does that make you?" Femradiel asked. Poseidon didn''t have words to say. Still, it was weird that he didn''t ask Belphegor to free him. Elder gods and demons really had a bad rtionship¡­ Regardless, Femradiel was focused on attacking Belphegor. Still, even though her torrent of attacks was annoying, it definitely wouldn''t kill someone of that level. "I need a more definite way to cause real damage," Femradiel muttered. Before Femradiel coulde up with that way, Belphegor disappeared by using Teleport and then reappeared behind Femradiel. Another strike had been just enough for her to feel a massive wave of pain across the entire body, and she also heard the sound of her backbones cracking. However, this time, Belphegor didn''t stop there. Before she could stop rolling on the ground, Belphegor kicked her again, this time on her face. Without any other choice, since a third strike will definitely make her pass out, Femradiel used Light Solidification and fired small arrows of light on Belphegor''s face. Once again, the demon was caught off guard when the arrows hit his face and began to burn it after blinding him for a few moments. Femradiel used that opportunity to fire some bolts by using the Immobilizing Crossbow since Belphegor''s speed was annoying. Thanks to it, not only did his speed decrease, but he also suffered a lot of damage. Belphegor looked at her, annoyed since she wasn''t stopping since she activated Perfect Aim. Belphegor teleported to high in the sky since he was already tired of that fight, and making it drag out would only make things more annoying. "I can''t destroy this world, so I can only use half of the energy," Belphegor said. Belphegor pointed his hands toward the ner below him, and then he began to concentrate a massive amount of mana in the palm of his hands. Femradiel quickly found him, but before she could get close enough, she saw that the demon created a sphere of mana in a single second that was the size of a dragon. "... oh, crap¡­" Femradiel said. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 79 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 89 (+ 05 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 76 (+ 05 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 11th Health: 14955/14955 (22,05/s) Mana: 16025/16025 (22,05/s) Stamina: 17360/17360 (22,05/s) Strength: 881 (+2986) (+130) Dexterity: 21993 (+10755) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+7160) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+4634) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+3819) (+160) Control: 1476 (+7110) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+2993) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+1360) Recovery: 5150 (+7050) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+2991) (+40) Coins: 40.256.236 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv 72 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 66 (+ 06 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), Concentration Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), Archery Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), uracy Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), Stealth Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 91 (+ 12 UP), Hunter Specialization Lv 54 (+ 10 UP), Soul Armor Lv 06 (+ 05 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 155 (+ 06 UP), Frost Armor Lv 130 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 171 (+ 08 UP), Magic Bow Lv 100 (+ 05 UP), Haste Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Slow Lv 01, Compressed Time Lv 01, Electric Touch Lv 01, Frozen Touch Lv 01, Pyromancy Lv 25 (+ 24 UP), Inferno Lv 01, Fire Forest Lv 01 Support Skills: Mind Boost Lv 04 (+ 03 UP) sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 50 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 38 (+ 08 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 18 (+ 06 UP), High Priest Lv 36, (+ 03 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 69 (+ 10 UP), Conjurer Lv 54 (+ 03 UP), Cryomancer Lv 14 (+ 04 UP), Battle Sage Lv 01, Pyromancer Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Non-Combatant: Transmuter Lv 17 (+ 03 UP), Time Mage Lv 09 (+ 08 UP) Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 732 - One Month Worth Of Energy Femradiel tried to attack the sphere of mana to make Belphegor lose control over it, but in the end, it ate all the projectiles she fired at the sphere. Femradiel began to sweat cold because not even all the potions that she can use will save her from that situation. "All of the mana¡­ huh," Femradiel said, and then it smirked. She still was an option, it was kind of risky, but it was better than nothing. Before Belphegor could fire the massive sphere of mana, she Teleported to behind. He imagined that she could try a suicide attack, but in the end, the demon assumed that she would try to do something clever¡­ it was a pity that hadn''t been the case. Belphegor turned around and fired the sphere at her, and then the massive amount of mana engulfed both of them. All the clouds in the sky moved away from that area, but a massive dark typhoon painted the blue sky of that world. As if it was about to end, it slowly began to change colors, from blue to red, thanks to massive heating caused by the explosion. After a few seconds, Belphegor appeared, moving away from the epicenter of the explosion. While he wasn''t bleeding, his body was covered with burn marks. He used half of his energy to attack and the other to protect himself; still, it hadn''t been enough topletely nullify the damage. "How bothersome¡­" Belphegor said and then sighed. "If I knew that she would try that, I would have thought twice. In a single moment, I used one month''s worth of energy." In the end, it seemed that Belphegor''s illusion wasn''t that user-friendly. Despite having the body of a demon, his hands werepletely swollen. He used way more energy in a single attack than he was used to, as if that wasn''t enough. The origin of all that power came from an illusion and not from natural sources like recovery and potions. So, his body was making him pay for the tool for fooling it. However, it seemed that Belphegor made a mistake. He turned around because he still could feel Femradiel''s presence. When all the smoke disappeared, she was indeed there, still flying and while some shards of ice were falling from her body. "How did you¡­" Belphegor opened his eyes widely. Femradiel was alive butpletely unscathed. She tried to protect her face by using her left hand alone. Still, she lost it even despite the Frost Armor that was repaired almost instantly by the weapon on her right hand: the Soul Eater. "Did you like that?" Femradiel asked while smirking. Although she said that with a smile on her face, Femradiel was screaming inside her head. Even the mana umted inside the sword after killing close to one hundred thousand monsters hadn''t been enough to stop the attackpletely. Fortunately, Belphegor was in shock, and the idea of using the illusion again didn''t even cross his mind. Still, Belphegor confirmed that Alissa was in bad condition when she didn''t try to heal her arm instantly. She was waiting to have enough mana to do it. That was a good enough opportunity to attack, but Belphegor was too tired to make use of that opportunity. Femradiel assumed that Belphegor would attack, but since he didn''t do it, she used that opportunity to use some potions, increasing her speed and mana. Once he realized that, Belphegor had no choice but to charge toward her. In the end, Femradiel used her remaining hand to block Belphegor''s charge. While using only a single hand made her bones crack, at least that gave her the chance to notice Belphegor''s real condition. Belphegor tried to grab her arm, but in the end, he gave up on it when Femradiel used the immobilizing crossbow again.She was insisting too much on the strategy of equalizing that speed, and that made Belphegor realize that she had confidence that she could win once that happened. When Belphegor retreated, Femradiel advanced. Before she could reach him, a light enveloped her arm, and then it waspletely healed. Femradiel almost punched Belphegor, but then she disappeared when he almost blocked her punch. In the end, she appeared behind him and punched the middle of his back. Belphegor clicked his tongue in annoyance after he felt the taste of blood in his mouth. Belphegor teleported to theke without any other choice and then used the crystal to summon hundreds of demons. "It seems he is finally out of tricks¡­" Femradiel furrowed his eyebrow. The demons put themselves between Femradiel and Belphegor. In the end, he won''t make them explode that easily. He wanted to buy time to use potions, and that was exactly what he was doing. Femradiel couldn''t let that happen, but in the end, she saw an opportunity there. After summoning Soul Eater, Femradiel used the weapon via Telekinesis and sliced the demons apart. While the sword didn''t cause any damage, it collected vast amounts of mana since it passed through so many of them. Meanwhile, Femradiel also began to use INT potions. Belphegor clicked his tongue again; Soul Eater was the weapon that broke the bnce of the battle, and it was going to break it again. He stopped using potions and focused on summoning more demons and making them explode nearby Femradiel. Femradiel focused on stopping the demons with Ice Breath, but that only worked to slow her down a little bit. As if that wasn''t enough, the damage began to pile up, and the wounds on her body increased. Belphegor decided to go all out with his demons since Femradiel was focusing too much on using that chance to gather mana. In the end, Femradiel stopped when suddenly five hundred of those creatures glued on her body and caused a massive chain explosion. However, before Belphegor could confirm her death, Femradiel suddenly appeared above him. She tried to kick his ass, and Belphegor tried to block it, but in the end, she disappeared once again and, in her ce, a massive ice spear fell from the sky and hit the demon. Chapter 733 - Sloth Lord Femradiel sighed in relief when she saw her attack piercing the ground while Belphegor still was at the tip of the weapon. She used the Mirror to create a fake copy of herself when the demons began to explode, and she moved away a little bit from her previous position but still decided to protect the mirror in order to fool Belphegor. In any case, Femradiel used all the mana she gathered to hit Belphegor with a five hundred meters long spear. Despite that, Belphegor still was pretty much alive. While Belphegor was trying to get rid of the spear, Femradiel raised her hands to the sky. Using Light Solidification, she began to create another spear. This one certainly will cause a lot more damage since Femradiel still was using INT potions. Belphegor, for the first time, began to feel nervous. That was dangerous since he already suffered too much damage and was exhausted. "We have been fighting for so long¡­ where in the hell is the moon?" Femradiel asked. Femradiel wanted to wait until the moon appeared, but there was a chance that such a world doesn''t have one. Besides, they have been in that world for forty hours, so who knows when the night wille. Eventually, the ice spear broke, and Belphegor freed himself. Still, Femradiel was faster and hit him with the spear made of sunlight. When the projectile hit the target, the entire area was engulfed in light, and the temperature increased exponentially. However, Femradiel didn''t have the chance to check if she caused enough damage. When Femradiel had the chance to open her eyes. She noticed that all the mist was long gone, and she saw a massive area in the forest that had been burned by her attack. As if that wasn''t enough, even theke hadpletely melted. She knew that she used a lot of power thanks to the INT potions, but all that damage still surprised her. However, what really surprised Femradiel was that she actually seeded in knocking Belphegor down. The demon was unconscious in the center of once where theke had been. His body had been burnt to a crisp, but he still was healing. "Serves you right," Femradiel smirked. "Don''t mess with us, dumbasses. Don''t mess with us! Hahahahahaha!" Femradiel began tough maniacally and then began to kick the unconscious demon. While Ryan helped in the fight and made Belphegor show a lot of his cards, the one who ultimately defeated Belphegor was her. "What are you doing?" Ryan suddenly asked. Femradiel froze on the spot when she suddenly heard Ryan''s voice. She didn''t imagine that he would wake up so soon. ording to Belphegor, he obtained one month''s worth of energy, so she imagined that he also had to endure one month''s worth of exhaustion. "You were getting carried away, huh¡­" Ryan said since Femradiel didn''t know what to say. "Anyway, did I lose my head again? Howe you obtained control over my body?" In the end, Femradiel exined what happened after he lost consciousness. Thanks to their pact, Femradiel had the chance to control his body. In any case, not having the power to control his body felt weird. Not to mention, Ryan could see things from Femradiel''s perspective, but ultimately, it felt like he was in a weird room that was made of dark and blue lights. "I see¡­" Ryan said. "Anyway, since you are already at it, you can finish him off. I would feel bad by delivering thest hit." "It is fine, I will gain a new ss even if I don''t deliver the first hit," Femradiel said. "¡­ Will you?" Ryan frowned. "That means that you obtained Sea Lord and Death Lord sses?" "No, I obtained the Sea Lady and Death Lady sses," Femradiel said. "Fortunately, the system isn''t sexist. I would feel weird being called a lord by the system." "¡­ Well¡­ it doesn''t matter, just turn him into a weapon," Ryan said. "Since both of us will gain sses anyway, you can do it." In the end, Femradiel decided to do it. Her ego already received a big boom by defeating Belphegor. At the same time, Ryan was out cold, but finishing the job wasn''t that bad. Regardless, after dozens of attempts and while she still was damaging Belphegor to keep him unconscious, Seal finally worked. Deceleration Crossbow (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: At the cost of five hundred points of mana, it grants you the power to hit a target and decrease their movement and reaction speed by one hundred percent. This weapon causes ten percent more damage against demon generals. Dexterity + 2800, Intelligence + 1000, Speed + 1000 Durability: 1000/1000 You obtained 563.745.132 coins. Congrattions! For defeating Belphegor, you have be a Level one Sloth Lord! You obtained the following skills: Sloth Illusion, Sloth Aura, and eleration. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sloth Illusion. Effect: It grants the power to make the target of this skill recover or suffer from the effect of Sloth, making them feel the exhaustion of several hours in a single moment or the energy that they could recover in a single moment. You can make the target receive one hour''s worth of exhaustion or resting per level. Upon using the second effect of the skill, you or the target will suffer the first effect of the skill. Cost: 20.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sloth Aura. Effect: It passively decreases the movement and reaction speed of the enemies around you by three percent per level. The range of the skill is equal to five meters per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: eleration. Effect: It grants you the power to increase your or your target''s perception of time by twenty percent per level. Cost: 1000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 734 - Serves You Right "Not bad, huh," Femradiel said after she checked the skills she obtained. "I really did the right thing when I made a human body." If Ryan hadn''t lost consciousness in two of thest three big fights he had, he would say that defeating elder gods and dungeon masters was an excellent way to power up. In any case, he was pretty satisfied with the results, he just obtained some skills that were basically the improved versions of Slow and Haste, and while their cost was insane, it would be worth the hassle. "In the end, Belphegor never used a weapon, huh," Ryan said after looking around for a while. "Yep, he was probably toozy to master one," Femradiel said. "Most likely, he never trained in his life, he relied only on his natural talent." "This ce isn''t so bad¡­" Belphegor said. "Now I am finally free of Lucifer''s orders and I can rest as much as I want." Despite the defeat, Belphegor didn''t look even a bit sad or upset. He seemed thankful, in fact. He was one of the demon generals, but he didn''t like his job¡­ Now, he had the perfect excuse to ck off for the rest of eternity. Before Ryan could hear any more nonsense, he pulled the newest crossbow on his vault. "Let''s get going," Ryan said and then began to move to the crystal that appeared once Belphegor was defeated. "Wait, aren''t you forgetting something?" Femradiel asked. "Am I?" Ryan asked while he was looking around once again. "What I am forgetting? "My reward, I saved your ass many times today," Femradiel said. Ryan facepalmed and then sighed. While that was probably true, he couldn''t believe that Femradiel still said that soon after a fight, they almost were killed multiple times. In a sense, her mental fortitude probably was unrivaled. "I suppose it can''t be helped," Ryan said. "Don''tin, though.It has been a while since myst practice." Ryan closed his eyes and then approached Femradiel''s head. It seemed that he was joking since he was making an incredibly weird expression while moving his lips. It almost looked like he was trying to munch a few lemons at the same time. In the end, even Femradiel''s heart began to beat faster since that wasn''t going to be a cheek on her cheek, and then she closed her eyes expectantly. Much to her surprise and disappointment, Ryan only kissed her cheek. "Jesus Christ¡­ I can''t believe you are that desperate," Ryan said. "If I were in your position, I would have run away if someone approached me making that kind of expression." In the end, Ryan''s entire face got red with anger. As expected, since she wasn''t that young to let that embarrass her. While she waited for Femradiel to calm down, Ryan checked the blue crystal and confirmed that Belphegor had twenty dungeons under his control¡­ it seemed pretty high from Ryan''s perspective. Still, it was hard to be sure since Belphegor waszy and he had been alive for thousands of years. Congrattions! You have reached the rank of the 10 strongest humans! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to raise your rank, and you might receive some nice rewards! Current Rank: 8th You obtained: Skill Bestowal tome. Skill Bestowal Effect: It grants you the power to teach all your allies all of your skills. The skill level will determine the amount of mana used, and it will decrease by ten points per level. The skill learned will always be at level one. Cost: 10.000 mana "This seems like a pretty amazing skill," Femradiel said. "True, but it won''t help me even a single bit during fights," Ryan said. "The cost is insane, too." "Well, it might work on your skeletons and summons, so perhaps it will be worth the hassle," Femradiel added. It was weird that Ryan obtained such a notification sote. It seemed the system was having some dytely, or perhaps it didn''t know how to give gratification fast enough to the high-ranked. Regardless, at that point in time, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if the system is automated or if someone is controlling it. Considering all things, even if it was automated, someone programmed it to have such features¡­ Ryan recalled what Thanatos said. Someone managed to change the system, and that was why only humans had certain features. Was it the creator of the system or someone else? Considering that monsters have their own features in the system, the creator probably wasn''t giving special treatment to humans. How could they when billions of them died in less than a year? "Hey, which one of these is the world that you are using to mine mithril?" Ryan asked after he summoned the crossbow he just obtained. "¡­ I don''t want to fight anymore, but that doesn''t mean I intend to betray those that once were my allies," Belphegor said. "I will find out eventually, but if I waste time, the next time I find a demon general I might tell them that you didn''t even try to fight," Ryan said. "Do you want to be hunted by your previous allies and boss?" "How can you be low?" Belphegor asked. "Don''t you have any shame?" "Bitch, please," Ryan said. "You are the demon that represents Sloth, you are the apex of embarrassment. Even more so after being defeated by us." "¡­ It is the second world," Belphegor said after hesitating for a few moments. Dungeon 01 - Lv Max -: Mikiz. Mikiz: a world dominated by giant insects and bugs that never gave birth to any sapient species. It joined the mana system 2561 years ago when a meteor created by mana fell on it. Dungeon 02 - Lv Max -: Hairash. Hairash: a world inhabited by many species of dungeon masters that are trying to obtainplete control over it in order to have ess to the mithril that appears in a high frequency. The world belonged to the dragons for three thousand years, but they lost control over it when many dungeon masters began to invade it. It joined the mana system 3752 years ago when an unknown being corrupted some lizardmen and forced onto them the ability to wield mana, and then they turned into dragons. Chapter 735 - Idea "What?" Ryan frowned. "Lizards can be dragons after they reach a certain level of corruption?" "I don''t think that is the case¡­" Femradiel said. "Don''t you remember? Corruption is deeply rted to dark feelings. The key here is the words lizardmen, mana and corruption. Those three probably are necessary for a dragon to be born¡­ interesting." Finally, they obtained some information about the dragons'' origin. Still, after that news, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about that intel¡­ to think that other living beings could corrupt others¡­ Ryan thought that only demons could do that, but it seemed that things were different. The system didn''t mention any demons but an unknown being. Besides, the power of corruption of the demons couldn''t turn living beings into dragons but into mad creatures. Ryan felt some relief since he finally found the first piece of that puzzle, but things only got moreplicated. Imagine how powerful someone could be if they create an army of dragons that easily? Considering how calm Femradiel and Orgar were, it didn''t seem like they became dragons after suffering a transformation due to corruption, so they were probably the offspring of dragons. So, it seemed like whoever did that wasn''t doing it just to create an army of dragons. "Ah¡­ this is bad," Femradiel suddenly said. "What is it?" Ryan asked. "Our domain is being attacked by Baal''s minions," Femradiel said. "If I have to guess, he noticed that Belphegor was defeated and that we are the cause of it." "They are using this opportunity to attack, huh¡­" Ryan massaged his forehead. "What can you do with your familiars?" "I can make them disappear and return to inside you," Femradiel said. "It doesn''t look like we can return on time¡­ the problem is Furball." Furball could be revived after a few hours, but Ryan didn''t want to make him experience death once again. While he got stronger, Furball alone couldn''t stop a horde of demons, even more so if Baal decides to join the fight. In the end, Ryan gave up on his domain but used Animalistic Link to obtain control over Furball''s body for a second and use Teleport. Even with all his mana in draconic form, Ryan only managed to move him away to Isis'' dungeon in America. Fortunately, she quickly heard about that. "It seems you seeded again, but you are going to lose your domain¡­" Isis said via Telepathy. "Are you fine with that?" "There is no other way, the demon generals probably are trying to lure me away from this ce, I can''t fall for that trap," Ryan replied. "Anyway, can you look after Furball for a short while." "Sure, should I inform Loki that you defeated Belphegor?" Isis asked. "If he has something good enough to pay for a domain that has ess to twenty dungeons, then sure," Ryan said. "Still, wouldn''t it be bad for him considering that the demons already know what we did here?" "He doesn''t care about that," Isis said. "Regardless, I wish you luck once again, but this time, try to rescue your friend and don''t pick a fight with anyone on the other side. There are too many enemies and even if you three work together, the chances of winning are non-existent." "I will keep that in mind," Ryan said. Ryan was fully aware that talking with Alissa will be difficult. Perhaps he won''t have time to put some sense in her head before fights break out. In the worst-case scenario, Alissa will attack him, and then while he tries to resist, the other dungeon masters will involve themselves and try to kill all of them at the same time. The very moment Ryan assumed control over the domain, all the monsters under that crystal control automatically were reset to level one. Maybe it was due to that, that Ryan tried to check things outside the dungeon of that world, but he failed because not a single demon survived for more than a single second outside. "It seems the scouting missions will have to be done by ourselves," Femradiel said. "In just a few hours, word that the sloth demons became level one monsters will spread around the other dungeon masters. So, there is a chance that they might attack this world. We will have to leave some presents behind in case that were to happen." Find the crystal will be easy since when Belphegor was defeated, the mist dissipated, and for all intentions and purposes, using that world might be their only way back to Earth. Hence, they had to keep the path open. "Try to summon one of the sloth demons, I have an idea," Femradiel said. Sloth Demon ¨C Lv 01 Health: 9350 /9350 Mana: 9500/9500 Stamina: 400/400 Strength: 750 Dexterity: 250 Speed: 250 Intelligence: 750 Endurance: 750 Control: 250 Mentality: 250 Luck: 250 Recovery: 2500 Willpower: 250 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Super Jump Lv 50¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Endurance Lv 30, Augmented Intelligence Lv 24, Augmented Strength Lv 20¡­ Spells: Sloth Sacrifice Lv 100¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Shock Resistance Lv 80, Cold Resistance Lv 80, Earth Resistance Lv 70, Fire Immunity Lv 40, Light Resistance Lv 10¡­ Ryan could summon each of these by using one hundred coins. They were pretty strong considering that they lost ny percent of their statuses but still had so much health and mana. Still, in the end, Femradiel only used them to steal their mana with Soul Eater. "That is¡­ not a bad idea," Ryan said. "You can do better than that," Femradiel said. In the end, Femradiel and Ryan, by using that tactic, could use coins worth to buy only two mana potions and transform it into a way they could obtain almost one hundred times more mana. In the blink of an eye, they summoned thousands of Skeleton Archers and Ice Golems. Bybining them, they created a massive ice tower that protected the crystal. If something happens, they certainly will buy them enough time to return from Hairash. Chapter 736 - Memory Manipulation Much sooner than they predicted, Ryan and Femradiel finished their preparations and even filled Soul Eater with a decent amount of mana in case they needed to use it on Hairash. Still, Ryan was a bit troubled¡­ in thest month. He obtained a stupid number of coins after defeating three dungeon masters. Now he had even more options of skills and items he could buy, but he was hesitating. "You sure worry about the small things," Femradiel said. "Just use the coins already, I used mine to power up my skills." Now that Ryan thought about it, the system divided the coins that Belphegor had. So, Femradiel also obtained perhaps even more coins than him, and since she has initially been a monster, she could use the coins and mana to increase her skills and status. Unlike Femradiel, who has been strong since the very beginning, Ryan was starting to worry about all these crazy powers he was gainingtely. "One of us has to worry about that kind of thing since you are too busy letting your hormones control your head," Ryan said. "Anyway, let''s see what we got here." Ryan found many enemies that could use skills beyond the human understanding, time magic, death magic¡­. Still, he couldn''t buy anything simr to it in the system. Truth to be told, he wanted to get used to the ones he already had before anything. Still, it would be stupid not to use all those coins and risk give them to his enemies upon being defeated. "No Anger Maniption, huh," Ryan said. "Well, I guess this is expected, that kind of power probably works in a distance, so it is much more expensive than anything I can buy right now." Ryan also looked for some upgrade in his space magic since he didn''t have much time to traintely. Obtaining the power to create a space like his vault where he could train would be pretty nice. Still, just that power alone wouldn''t be enough. Ryan would need to manipte the time in such space, or at the very least, be able to send a copy of himself to such a ce. Naturally, he didn''t find either of those skills. "For someone who worries too much, you sure think high when ites to crazy powers," Femradiel said. "From my perspective, humans are getting stronger too fast, and you want to speed up that even more. No wonder you obtained a skill that was materialized thanks to your greed." "I don''t want power just for the sake of having it," Ryan said. "I want it because I need it. Imagine a fight where he would have to deal with Poseidon, Thanatos and Belphegor at the same time. That is what I have in my mind all the time. It is just a matter of time before elder gods, dungeon masters, and demons start doing that." "What a lively imagination you have," Femradiel shrugged. "Regardless, it would be weird if you could buy a skill that power using the system. Instead of buying it, you should try to learn it." Ryan considered that, but until now, aside from some basic skills, he didn''t learn a single spell by himself. Magic wasn''t his forte, so hoping that he would know how to bend space and manipte time was just ridiculous. "Hurry up, we need to check things with Alissa," Femradiel said. Memory Maniption Tome Effect: it gives you the power to manipte your memories or the memories of those touched by you. Granting you the power to forget or make certain things being forgotten by others or making them relive certain memories more than once. You can only alter and relive memories within a certain limit. At level one, you can manipte the memories the target experienced in thest hour, and each level increases the range of the skill by one hour. Cost: 1000 mana per second. Price: 600.000.000 coins In the end, Ryan found a certain skill that could actually help him. In theory, Memory Maniption would help him relive the same events a few times in a row, and that could make him level up some skills¡­ at least in theory. "Why did you buy a tome that will grant you such a dubious power?" Femradiel asked. "Don''t worry, I won''t do anything crazy with it," Ryan said. "I certainly won''t use it to alter the memories of others." "I will make sure of that," Femradiel said, visibly upset. Now that Ryan thought about it, someone messed up with the memories of all the dragons that came to Earth, so it wasn''t surprising that Femradiel would dislike such a skill. Regardless, Ryan used Frozen sh, a skill that he didn''t test a single time, and after that, he used Memory Maniption. In the end, the skill worked much easier than expected. Ryan just had to wish for it, and the skill worked. It was weird how real the memories were¡­ for a second, Ryan felt like he had gone to the past. The only issue there was that he couldn''t do anything, and his body was full auto. Congrattions! The skill Frozen sh has leveled up. Frozen sh Lv 1 ? Lv 2 "It works, huh," Femradiel said since she could sense such alterations on Ryan''s body. "Yeah, but it has some problems," Ryan said. "The cost of the skill is high, so unless I make the original memory as intense as possible, this training won''t be that efficient. I guess reliving certain fights will solve that issue and as long as I use Memory Maniption often, the memory will always be rewritten in a recent space in my head." "Do you think that you can control the skill and make those memories pass inside your head faster?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t think so¡­ at least not for the time being," Ryan replied. If he manages to do that, Ryan''s training process will speed up exponentially. However, it was evident that it will take a while before he reaches that level of proficiency. Chapter 737 - Moldsoul There was no more time to waste testing the new skills, so Ryan and Femradiel decided to touch the crystal and move to the next world. Once they arrived, both of them realized that it was a world that really fit the dragons. All they could see in all directions were some pretty high mountains. However, there was little to no sign of vegetation, and there were plenty of marks of battles. Most of the mountains had at least one massive crater on them. "Mmm¡­ I don''t feel at home here, not even a single bit nostalgic," Femradiel said. "I guess I am not from here. Well, not like I was expecting much anyway." Ryan nodded after hearing that. Still, he was slightly more interested in the fact that he felt strangely light in that world. While there wasn''t much vegetation, the air was pretty clean, and the sky was blue, just like Earth''s. Ryan also felt strangelyfortable there, probably because the level of mana in that world was high¡­ Before they could do or think about anything else, Ryan and Femradiel felt a tremor, and after a few seconds, a massive shock wave crossed the area and passed by them. Someone or something was fighting, and it seemed damn powerful. "Do you feel Alissa''s presence?" Ryan asked. "No," Femradiel replied. "Coming from that direction I only felt the presence of ordinary mana. There are no demons or elder gods fighting there." That made Ryan save time on using irvoyance, but in the end, he still felt interested in who was fighting. Most likely, it was two dungeon masters. Perhaps taking his time to finish both of them was a good idea, the fewer the enemies, the better. "This will be hard," Femradiel said. "I don''t feel Alissa''s presence and I should be able to find her pretty easily since I already know her." "I can use Search to look for her," Ryan said. "Let''s see¡­" Ryan activated Search, but weirdly enough, the skill stopped working after a while. It seemed the distance between them was that massive. That was unexpected. Even though Ryan used it in his human form, he had enough mana to find people on the other side of the world using that skill. Ryan could solve that problem by using Soul Eater, but he didn''t want to leave a strong trace of his mana behind. "Let''s get going while keeping Mana Concealment active," Ryan said. "We are in a world where everyone wants to obtain mithril and they won''t think twice about starting a fight. We are surrounded by them and fighting before finding Alissa is too risky." "All right," Femradiel said. Fortunately, Ryan was calm enough to think straight. Femradiel knew that once Ryan turns into a dragon, things will take a turn, and they will have to fight many more times in a row. After all, a Cursed dragon was no different than a ticking time bomb. Besides, if they had any decent source of Intel, they would know that Ryan has Poseidon''s trident and Thanatos'' scythe. Ryan and Femradiel decided to fight pretty high in the sky in order to decrease the chances of their spells being detected and also because tremors and shockwaves were prettymon in that world. In just an hour, they felt a couple of those. Thanks to it, Ryan couldn''t help but sweat cold, imagining the same thing happening on Earth: dungeon masters and elder gods fighting each other and destroying everything around in a dozen of kilometers radius. Even though he tried not to cause much damage to the, Ryan''s fight against Poseidon caused a lot of damage in the ocean and South America. Several hours passed, and there was no sign of Alissa. At that point in time, there was no denying that the world was massive. Perhaps even bigger than Belphegor''s since the mountains were always around. "I can feel a dungeon in our path, we need to change our course," Femradiel said. "Maybe we shouldn''t, maybe we should interrogate a dungeon master and ask for the dragons," Ryan said. "One less enemy to worry about and then we will save some time." "If you want to try that, then it is okay," Femradiel said. "But you can''t use Draconic Transformation no matter what. Now, much more than before, your presence can be easily tracked. Once you transform, every single troublesome foe in this world will try to hunt you, perhaps even more than Alissa." Ryan considered that possibility. Could he actually defeat a dungeon master that managed to stand their ground even against the sloth demons and without using Draconic Transformation? That seemed too risky¡­ In the end, Ryan decided to take a roundabout path. Still, soon enough, he understood that kind of tactic wouldn''t work forever. Suddenly, two massive creatures appeared ten kilometers ahead of Femradiel and Ryan. They were at the same size as that massive magma golem that Ryan faced before, so that was why he could see them even though some mountains were on the path. One of them was a very slow tree that had thousands of vines and was using them like whips to attack the other creature, which was basically a massive statue that fired beams of energy through its eyes. It was obvious that the first one was a mutant Trent, but the other was kind of hard to ssify. Moldsoul ¨C Lv Max Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... "Moldsoul? That is a weird name for a species¡­" Ryan frowned. Still, the fact that Ryan could see the name of the species and the level only made him worry because it confirmed that it wasn''t a dungeon master but one of their monsters. He was already expecting a difficult fight in that world, but he didn''t imagine that the dungeon masters would have pets like that. Chapter 738 - New Lich Ryan felt the urge to wait until both creatures were half-dead in order to turn them into weapons. Still, in the end, even though that probably would give him some awesome weapons, it was too dangerous. After all, the dungeon masters could see things from the perspective of their monsters. After taking another route to avoid the sh, Ryan and Femradiel managed to avoid surprises like that once again, probably because the sun of that began to set and the temperatures decreased exponentially. When the sun disappeared on the horizon, the temperature decreased so much that they couldn''t help but frown. For some reason, probably because the had no moon and they couldn''t find a single star in the sky, everything waspletely dark. "I guess it is understandable why they wouldn''t fight in such conditions," Femradiel said. "We should use this opportunity to cover as much ground as possible." It would be difficult for ordinary monsters to fight under such conditions. Still, since Ryan and Femradiel could see well in the darkness, there was no reason that the dungeon masters wouldn''t be able to do the same. They had to be careful because even though the dungeon masters are lying low, they might change their tactics at a moment''s notice. Ryan tried to fly as fast as possible without leaving traces. Meanwhile, Femradiel tried to focus on tracking all the presences she could. Still, in the end, after several hours, they didn''t find anyone or anything. Femradiel tried to use Search as well, but in the end, they confirmed that Alissa was using several spells to avoid that kind of detection skill. "I guess we will have to change our strategy," Femradiel said. "Instead of looking for Alissa, we will have to search for the remaining dragons of this world." "That seems logical," Ryan said. "I forgot that Alissa even managed to escape Isis'' eyes. This task was bound to be a difficult one." While Search granted the caster the opportunity to find any type of monster, neither of them could use it in that world. After all, they didn''t know what type of dragons were living in that world. After several hours, Ryan and Femradiel confirmed that the days and nights in that world were longer. They rushed to find anything at night, but even after twenty hours, they didn''t find anything, nor did the sun begin to rise. Fortunately, their luck began to turn around. "I feel a powerful presence at our two o''clock," Femradiel said. "It seems simr to mine." Even in his draconic form, Ryan knew that his presence didn''t resemble the real dragons, but Femradiel''s was another matter. Even in her human form, anyone with good skills could realize that she was one. Still, it was weird that she found only a single dragon, and that dragon wasn''t Alissa. "Since Alissa absorbed Orgar''s soul, it would make sense that her presence is simr to yours, are you sure it isn''t her that you found?" Ryan asked. "I am sure, the level of power ispletely different from thest time I saw Alissa, it is much weaker," Femradiel replied. "Besides, the dragon isn''t alone and it is moving toward a dungeon." That exined a few things and made others look weird. Ryan''s first impression was that someone captured a dragon and was trying to move it to another world. Still, it was weird that the kidnappers managed to pull that off unnoticed. "What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Don''t you want to help other dragons?" Ryan asked. "While they might not be from the same species, perhaps they are something simr to your cousins." "Are you fine helping dragons, even though they almost destroyed Earth?" Femradiel avoided the question by making another. "I am not crazy enough to me all dragons for that," Ryan said. "I believe that those who destroyed Earth were killed and suffered the fate that they deserved. Besides, we now know that someone summoned them to Earth, knowing what they would do, I would say that this individual is the one to me." "As for me, I am fine in doing anything, as long as it helps us find Alissa," Femradiel said. In the end, it was up to Ryan to decide what to do. Given the size of that, they certainly need the help of a native, but was the help worth the trouble of revealing themselves so early on? That was the most important question. "¡­ Let''s give a hand to this dragon," Ryan said. After using irvoyance, Ryan confirmed their suspicions. A dragon really was being transported by a group of weird creatures. Somehow, Femradiel felt the dragon''s presence, even though the creature waspletely sealed inside a magic barrier. The dragon species was pretty different from Femradiel, the body wasrger, and the wings were smaller. As for its elemental nature, it was hard to tell since it had a green skin, and that was the first dragon of that color that Ryan had seen. Trench Lich Lv Max Health: 20.000/20.000 Mana: 87.000/87.000 Stamina: 23.000/23.000 Strength: 1900 (+ 200) Dexterity: 5100 (+ 800) Speed: 1400 (+ 100) Intelligence: 12.900 (+ 1800) Endurance: 2100 (+ 400) Control: 4900 (+ 600) Mentality: 7900 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 28.000 (+ 5000) Willpower: 7900 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 850, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 470, Augmented Intelligence Lv 220¡­ Spells: Cursed Barrier Lv Max, Cursed Ray Lv 860, Gravity Lv 650, Dark Sphere Lv 490¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 520, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 520, Cursed Resistance Lv 690¡­ Ryan just found a new species of dragon, just they found a new species of a lich. It seemed those were pretty good at creating barriers that could knock down even dragons. That was obvious since the dragon inside it waspletely unscathed but wasn''t struggling even a single bit. Either way, they were pretty decent trackers as well. It didn''t take long for them to notice Ryan''s eyes. Chapter 739 - Pendragon Without wasting any time, Ryan and Femradiel teleported to where the liches were. The creatures frowned when they found two weird creatures appearing out of nowhere. Those fifteen or so liches tried to attack them, but Femradiel turned five of them into ice statues, and Ryan crushed ten others by bombarding them with bolts. You obtained 1210 coins. You obtained 1210 coins. You obtained 1210 coins. ¡­ After the liches were killed, the barrier disappeared, but the dragon inside of it still didn''t move all that much. The creature''s eyes were open, but Ryan and Femradiel couldn''t see much energy. Pendragon Health: 121.000/121.000 Mana: 76.000/76.000 Stamina: 95.000/95.000 Strength: 9900 (+ 1200) Dexterity: 6500 (+ 800) Speed: 9500 (+ 900) Intelligence: 7500 (+ 1800) Endurance: 7500 (+ 1400) Control: 4500 (+ 600) Mentality: 9000 (+ 1600) Luck: 2500 (+ 900) Recovery: 40.000 (+ 15.000) Willpower: 9000 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Roar Lv Max Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 850, Fire w Lv 760 Enhanced Strength Lv 470, Augmented Intelligence Lv 420¡­ Spells: Ice Breath Lv Max, Fire Breath Lv Max, Electric Breath Lv Max, ¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 700, Electric Resistance Lv 560, Shock Resistance Lv 520, Fire Resistance Lv 420, Cursed Resistance Lv 290¡­ As expected, the dragon waspletely fine. The liches did something to weaken their body. Probably curses since liches were good at that. Regardless, Ryan didn''t have time to waste there. "Femradiel, stay here and try to find away to erase this dragon''s presence," Ryan said and then used Teleport. "Wait, where did you¡­" Femradiel said. In the end, Femradiel didn''t have time to stop Ryan from approaching the dungeon. It wasn''t like she thought that fighting the dungeon master that captured the dragon was a bad idea, but she wanted to participate in the fight. In the end, Ryan quickly found someone inside the dungeon. A weird creature resembling the liches since its skin was grey and used a big robe covering its entire body. However, the beast quickly touched the purple crystal and then escaped. Before following the beast, Ryan checked and confirmed that there was no treasure chest in the room. In the end, it seemed that humans only could obtain sses on Earth. After touching the crystal, Ryan found himself inside a cave. At least it looked like one since Ryan couldn''t see the sky nor any sign of light. Despite the darkness of the ce, Ryan found the creature moving away. The dungeon master wasn''t that fast, so he quickly followed him by using Fly. When Ryan got close enough to fire his bolts, he noticed that the path on the cave would straighten ahead. Transforming into a dragon wasn''t an option¡­ Still, that wasn''t enough to stop him. Upon noticing that it couldn''t outspeed Ryan, the dungeon master turned around. He fired a massive purple beam of energy toward Ryan. It was impossible to dodge, and the creature felt relieved when the spell ended, and he couldn''t see the enemy. Suddenly, the dungeon master felt a sharping pain on his back, and then the creature fell to the ground of the cave. Before it could turn around and see what happened, some bolts fell on his limbs, piercing them and sticking the creature on the ground. Every time the dungeon master tried to move, the beast felt his body being pierced by the electric bolts. To make sure that the creature wouldn''t have a chance to move, Ryan pierced its spine with a spear enchanted with electricity. "This was easier than expected¡­" Ryan frowned and then looked around. "Am I missing something?" It was weird that Ryan managed to subdue so fast and without using Draconic Transformation. This dungeon master was fighting for mithril in that world. Regardless, that was a golden opportunity that he couldn''t let pass. After all, Wolf''s Greed worked against that creature. Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. Your dexterity has increased by twelve points. ¡­ The system recognized that the dungeon master was stronger than Ryan¡­ under the right circumstances. He probably was. Still, in the end, he lost the very moment Ryan and Femradiel seeded in their surprise attack. At some point, Wolf''s Creed stopped working, probably because the difference in power wasn''t that big to begin with, and Ryan used that chance to obtain a new domain. "Only three worlds, huh¡­" Ryan frowned. "I guess this guy discovered this one by mistake." Maybe Ryan should sell that one to Loki and keep Belphegor''s. Defending would be hard, but the coins he could obtain would be worth the hassle. Besides, knowing Belphegor, he probably chose the easiest worlds to invade. After a couple of minutes, Ryan returned to the previous world and then frowned when he didn''t find Femradiel and the pendragon. Still, then she suddenly appeared alongside the creature. Apparently, she had strengthened Mana Concealment in herself and the dragon. "You returned faster than I imagined," Femradiel frowned. "The dungeon master wasn''t anyone impressive, he probably found this by mistake," Ryan said. "Anyway, how is the dragons'' condition?" "It will take some time to recover," Femradiel said. "We should hide inside the dungeon for the time being." Although the dungeon spawned a different species of a lich, it was big enough even for a heavier andrger species of dragon-like that one to cross it. The only issue was how to move a semi-unconscious creature without leaving too many traces behind.Still, in the end, things worked out. Since the dungeon was pretty far away from any other dungeon or ce where dungeon masters fought or used their minions, no one noticed when Ryan used a lot of mana to transport the creature via telepathy. While he could have used Teleport, that skill would leave a bigger trace of mana behind, and that wouldst longer. After that, Ryan and Femradiel proceeded to use Purification on the dragon. Chapter 740 - No Thanks After a couple of minutes, Ryan and Femradiel noticed the light returning to the dragon''s eyes, and with it, some misunderstandings happened. The creature got tenser the very moment it felt the level of corruption on Ryan''s body. The dragon suddenly got up, but then Ryan stopped the dragon by showing him the Absolute Death Crossbow. After that, he used Telepathic Trantion. "Don''t do anything reckless," Ryan said. "We defeated instantly the guys who captured you and that means that you don''t stand a chance against us." "As always, yourmunication skills are peerless," Femradiel said. "We helped this guy to obtain information about Alissa and the first thing you do when you talk to him and threaten him." "You are wrong¡­ no, you are right, that is the first thing I did to start the conversation," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "But then I saved his life and healed him before doing that." "Not alone," Femradiel said. "Yeah¡­ not alone," Ryan said. "Anyway, do you understand me?" Ryan didn''t get an answer, so the dragon probably didn''t understand. Now that he thought about it, Telepathic Trantion only worked when talking with beings of the same world. "Just say what you want," Femradiel said. "Did you forget that dragons can talk with humans? We can understand your words easily." "I don''t know about that, this guy seems different from the ones I know," Ryan said. "Even the Azure Dragons can''t talk with humans." "¡­ I understand your words," The dragon suddenly said. "Good¡­" Ryan said. "Anyway, my name is Ryan and this is Femradiel. What is your name?" "Nelron," The dragon said. "It seems yourmunication skills aren''t that rusty, after all," Femradiel said. "Don''t stop this conversation just to say this type of nonsense¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Regardless, Nelron, we are not your enemies and we are looking for a friend in this world. Does the name Alissa ring any bells? Silver hair, kind of petite, short-tempered." "I don''t know anyone with that name," Nelron replied. "Why would people like youe to this world if you are not interested in ving my species?" "I am the one who asks the questions here¡­ I always wanted to say that," Ryan said. "As you can see, I am a man who can transform into a dragon and has a high level of corruption on my body. The woman I am looking for is the same, but perhaps her level of corruption is even higher. She is a bit sad since she lost an important friend." "¡­ I heard that a weird dungeon master appeared recently, and that dungeon master is a female," Nelron hesitated for a short while. "I heard she attacked other dungeon masters of nowhere and that she freed the dragons under their control." Ryan looked at Femradiel, and she nodded. It seemed like something Alissa would do; pick a fight with the enemies she didn''t know a single thing off without thinking twice. Regardless, it appeared that she didn''t make contact with all the dragons. "Since you guys are being hunted and you only heard rumors about her, does that mean that your species isn''t in a single ce?" Ryan asked. "Yes, we can''t escape the conflicts by staying in a single ce, so we have divided ourselves in tribes for the past hundred years," Nelron replied. "Despite that, we failed at avoiding ambushes and little bit little our numbers decreased. Those who survived the battles were captured and now are being used to breed other dragons." Ryan noticed when Femradiel''s eyebrows twitched. She was trying to stay calm, but eventually, she was bound to snap. Defeating someone or something in a fight for conquest was something that she could understand. The strong rules over the weak. It is thew of the jungle. Since she was originally a dragon, she epted that easily. However, capture them, turn them into ves in order to breed more dragons for the sake of farming dragon hearts. That was something she couldn''t ept. "Those rumors that you heard of, ording to them, where was thest pace this weird dungeon master was found?" Ryan asked. "I believe it was in the Deadly Swamp," Nelron said. "She fought against a certain dungeon master two weeks ago there and since the fight, the swamp has been decreasing in size." That means that Alissa defeated the dungeon master, and the effects of his world were disappearing because she restarted the level of the dungeons by assuming control over that domain. Still¡­ two weeks ago¡­ It was hard to imagine her staying still for two weeks. Most likely, Alissa moved somewhere else. "It might take a while, but I can guide you there," Nelron said. "To repay the favor of freeing me." "No, thanks," Ryan said. "We will find it ourselves in this swamp. Besides, why would you help us? Are you nning to drag us into your fight?" Nelron looked away because that was exactly what he was nning. After all, he saw Ryan defeating a dungeon master in a couple of minutes. While corruption was one of the things dragons feared the most, Ryan and Femradiel seemed like decent people ifpared to the dungeon masters. Now that Ryan thought about it, something was off. If corruption was one of the things that could create dragons, it didn''t make any sense that they would fear it. They should have some resistance against it¡­ as expected, there are still many pieces on that puzzle that were missing. "Ryan, at this point in time, it is useless to try to avoid this massive battle," Femradiel said. "While this is much bigger than Earth, it won''t take long before the dungeon masters decide to attack us. We might as well join the fight to decrease the chances of Alissa being targeted by all of them." Ryan considered Femradiel''s words. While it was risky, it would be better to help the dragon since that would make Alissa understand that they were allies and to split the focus of all dungeon masters. Not to mention, it was better than risking fighting some of them on Earth and destroying the world even further. Chapter 741 - That Bad "I guess it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan sighed and then scratched the back of his head. Ryan lost his domain and his army of monsters, so he will have to obtain a lot more to recover the ce. After all, he didn''t truly lose it. Only after someone kills him might they obtain ownership of the ce. Still, now that barrier was gone, ten or so dungeon masters were free to level up their monsters in America. Ryan has to return with more resources as fast as possible to wipe those creatures out of Earth. "Tell us what you know about the situation of this world," Femradiel said. "We will be able to help more once we have a good grasp of things here." "Certainly¡­ but if you don''t mind, can I ask you something?" Nelron asked. "Yes, I am a dragon," Femradiel said. "That is what you were about to ask, right? Anyway, I am not for your species¡­ probably." "I can understand that¡­ I can feel a soul much more powerful than the dragons of this on your body," Nelron said. "Still, you seem a bit different, not because of that. The fact that you didn''t know about us is weird as well." "Well, my life story is long, we don''t have enough time for that," Femradiel said. "Let''s focus on saving your friends." Nelron began to exin what he knew about the terrain in that world. Since he had been alive only for three hundred years. It seemed plenty of time from Ryan''s perspective, who lived only for twenty-three years. However, all his life, Nelron didn''t have the chance to truly be free. He and his tribe only moved from one ce to another in order to escape from the dungeon masters. Thanks to that, he never had the chance to see his world in its entirety, and it was rare for his species to live for long in the first ce due to the constant battles. Hence, not a single dragon in his tribe, not even those that lived two times more, knew all the terrain of the world. "To reach Deadly Swamp, we need to pass by the Giant Yellow Forest," Nelron said while he was drawing on the ground a map of the parts of the world he knew. "The swamp is seven days away from here, but the forest is only four. That is where the remaining members of my tribe are hidden." "One week away?" Ryan frowned. "How fast are you guys anyway?" "We can''t leave traces behind, so we can only fly by using our wings," Nelron said. "That is not our specially, so it takes two more times than by running or leaping." That was a weird exnation. Ryan could understand species that uses their running speed to measure distances but not leaping¡­ Regardless, they probably can solve that issue by using Teleport. Still, Ryan was more and more certain that bringing Alissa back to Earth might take weeks. "How you were captured?" Femradiel asked. "I am assuming that you were when you moved away from your base, am I right?" "Yes, there are three dungeon masters that fight nearby our territory, some of my friends were forced to fight them when their battle was getting closer to us," Nelron said. "However, I moved away from the group to defeat a group of goblin champions, I seeded but¡­ the liches appeared out of nowhere and put me to sleep. My friends probably think that I am dead." Ryan couldn''t help but frown. The dragons of that world were much calmer than he had imagined considering their origins. Considering his experience with dragons, Ryan assumed that they would try to eat him a few times in order to obtain his power before giving so much information for free. "Why are they so close to your base?" Ryan asked. "Because recently, they found a mining spot for mithril there," Nelron replied. "You guys'' luck are that bad, huh," Ryan said. "No¡­ that was bound to happen, whenever dragons stay in a ce for too long, mining spots for mithril always appear," Nelron said. "Only a few dungeon masters know this, so please, don''t spread this knowledge." Ryan and Femradiel had no reason to spread that knowledge, but in the end, Ryan couldn''t help but feel a bit interested in that mining spot. Perhaps mithril was the thing that he needed to power up and then recover his domain. Regardless, after that, Nelron showed the location of the dungeon masters and their locations. The one who Femradiel defeated was once in North, but the other three who are still kickingpletely surrounded their paths on the South, East, and West. All of them were, at best, four days away from their base. "How big are their armies and the kind of monsters they use?" Ryan asked. "The dungeon masters use many species, but they focus on a few that are a difficult match against us," Nelron replied. "They are the Goblin Champions, Metallic Knights, and Death Knights. They are small, fast and can use weapons made of mithril, so it is quite difficult for us to face them due to our size." Even the minions were using weapons made of mithril, which was worrisome in many ways. It means that their armies couldn''t be underestimated in power nor in resources. While Ryan faced some Goblin Champions, he never faced one at the max level or using high-level gear. As for the other two species of monsters, they seemed pretty troublesome. Still, there was no point in worrying about them. Ryan had to see with his own eyes and confirm how dangerous they actually were. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 79 / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 89 / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 76 (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 15555/15555 (23,05/s) Mana: 16525/16525 (23,05/s) Stamina: 17860/17860 (23,05/s) Strength: 881 (+3486) (+130) Dexterity: 26393 (+11255) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+7660) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+5134) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+4319) (+160) Control: 1476 (+7610) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+3493) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+2760) Recovery: 5150 (+7550) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+3491) (+40) Coins: 23.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 165 (+ 10 UP), Concentration Lv 165 (+ 10 UP), Archery Lv 165 (+ 10 UP), uracy Lv 165 (+ 10 UP), Stealth Lv 165 (+ 10 UP), Energy Conversion Lv 29 (+ 14 UP), Soul Maniption Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Soul Armor Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 175 (+ 21 UP), Frost Armor Lv 155 (+ 25 UP), Ice Breath Lv 179 (+ 08 UP), Sloth Illusion Lv 01, eleration Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Skill Bestowal 04 (+ 03 UP), Memory Maniption Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Support Skills: Sloth Aura Lv 01, sses: Combat: Sea Lord Lv 19 (+ 08 UP), Cryomancer Lv 18 (+ 04 UP) Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 01, Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 742 - Terrible Liar Once Nelron could move his bodypletely, those three left the dungeon and teleported in the direction he mentioned. He was surprised when such a skill easily worked on him. It seemed he didn''t see anyone using Teleport before. This was weird, given that dragons were supposed to be powerful creatures who obtained a lot of knowledge during their lives. Although using Teleport was the fastest way to move, it cost a lot of mana, even more so considering that Ryan had to use mana to teleport three people. While he could save some time by using Soul Eater, it was a bit soon for that. "So, this is the legendary spell¡­ Teleport," Nelron said. "You are a three hundred years old dragon and you never found someone who could use it?" Femradiel asked. "I found some enemies that could use it, but our species never had the chance to obtain it," Nelron replied. "At least not in thest three hundred years." That was weird, considering they have been fighting for thest centuries. Still, considering that the dungeon masters knew how to level up their dungeon as fast as possible and create armies as long as they had coins, it was obvious that any native species was bound to face extinction from an outsider''s perspective. "I guess just like humans, monsters need to have some aplishments in order to have ess to more advanced skills on the system," Femradiel said. "Since the only thing you guys did was protect your bases, it is only obvious that you didn''t defeat Many foes. That is why your skills are so basic. Maybe Skill Bestowal wille in handy here, Ryan." "I won''t give skills to anyone for free," Ryan said. "So stingy¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "Do you have anything of value with you?" "No, but we have some mithril in our camp," Nelron said. "It seems you have some weird powers and you are thinking of using them to help us, is that right?" "That will depend," Ryan said. "Anyway, just obtaining a mithril isn''t enough, I need to know how to forge weapons with it." Nelron looked at Ryan and Femradiel as if he was thinking about something. It was pretty obvious that he was considering what type of Intel he should share with them. But in the end, they obtained an unexpected answer. "While mithril is made of highly condensed mana, you can use it like most metals," Nelron said. "Just heat it with powerful fire magic and it will melt, after that, you can give it any shape. After a while, the mithril will recover its solid form, so you can skip the hardening part of the forge." "Interesting¡­ anything else?" Ryan asked. "This information is pretty simple, so there was no reason for you to hesitate in sharing it with us. You were thinking about sharing other types of information, right?" "... No," Nelron looked away. "You are a terrible liar," Ryan said. "Let''s focus on the task ahead and only after that, we can worry about such a thing, Ryan," Femradiel said. "If we follow this path, we are bound to find one of the three armies. What is the n?" "No point in letting the enemies know about us, let''s crush the one in our path in order to prevent troubleter on," Ryan said. "Besides, I think the more domains we have in this world, the better." "Do you want even more coins?" Femradiel asked. "I want the domains not for the coins, but to use them as hideouts," Ryan said. "If we have several of them, once the other dungeon masters begin to hunt us, they will have to waste some time looking. This is massive, so I doubt that they can find us before we can move on to other areas." Femradiel nodded. That was an actually decent idea for the usually hot-blooded Ryan. Perhaps they can even hide the dragons in such domains. Considering Nelron''s current power level, only hundreds of them would be useful in a fight against the dungeon masters. "Nelron and I will draw their attention, you will focus on detecting possible enemies nearby," Ryan said. "Eh, I want to fight too," Femradiel protested. "The big guns here are the elder gods, but we can''t forget that there are other dungeon masters lurking around waiting for a chance to capture the dragons," Ryan said. "Speaking of which¡­ why that lich captured you, it won''t be worth the hassle to transport you just for a single dragon heart. Maybe he wanted to discover the location of your tribe, but I feel like he wouldn''t be able to do anything since your tribe was once surrounded by four dungeon masters¡­" "Maybe he wanted to know about some ces to mine mithril," Femradiel said. Ryan wanted an answer from Nelron, but he acted as if Femradiel''s answer was the correct one. However, Ryan didn''t fall for that. Alissa learned a lot in the other dragon world, so most likely, the dragons in this world also had some valuable information regarding all kinds of things. The lich probably wanted that, and Nelron obviously was hesitating in sharing all the information he had. Before Ryan could try to squeeze any information out of the dragon, several hours passed, and Feramdiel finally warned him that the enemy was close ahead. They traveled in six hours, the distance that Nelron would usually travel in four days. As for the enemies ahead¡­ They were the goblin champions, but they were way stronger than Ryan recalled, and that was his impression even before he used Appraisal. The monsters looked like a proper army, and thousands of them had armor and weapons made of mithril. "I wonder how much mithril they mine every day¡­" Ryan frowned. "Those weapons aren''t made of mithril, they just covered their real weapons with a thinyer," Nelron exined. "Even so, that is more than enough to increase their power and durability." Chapter 743 - It Should Work Goblin Champion ¨C Lv Max Health: 77.000/77.000 Mana: 19.000/19.000 Stamina: 56.000/56.000 Strength: 8500 (+1600) Dexterity: 3200 Speed: 2500 Intelligence: 2500 (+500) Endurance: 5500 (+1300) Control: 2250 Mentality: 5500 (+1300) Luck: 500 Recovery: 20.000 (+4500) Willpower: 5500 (+1300) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Body m Lv 690¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 740, Improved Recovery Lv 650, Augmented Endurance Lv 590¡­ Spells: Regeneration Lv 850, Strong Arms Lv 730, sh Lv 350¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 760, Cold Resistance Lv 590, Shock Resistance Lv 690, Earth Resistance Lv 550¡­ The goblin champions weren''t as impressive as Ryan had imagined. Still, then he recalled that their strengthes from the numbers and from the fact that they were using armor and weapons covered with ayer of mithril. "Picking a fight with them and letting the fight drag out isn''t a good idea," Ryan said. "Well, that much was obvious considering that we also need to defeat the dungeon master before they can react in any way." "Their numbers are close to twenty thousand¡­ pretty high considering that they fought some dragons recently," Femradiel said. "Considering their gear, I don''t think you will be able to defeat the army fast enough without relying on Draconic Transformation. Still, it is up to you." Ryan could only nod. In the end, to defeat one of the three enemies ahead, he will have to expose himself. The chances of them finding him thanks to the corruption were pretty high, even if Ryan finishes off the army of goblins as fast as possible. Suppose Ryan decides to attack from above with arge area of effect attack. In that case, he won''t give the dungeon master the chance to react in any way, but the other two will raise their guard upon noticing so much mana being used. Unfortunately, it seemed that was the only option avable. No matter what happens, he will have to defeat the goblins'' dungeon master. "Stay low," Ryan said and then teleported too high in the sky. Just like that was massive, it took a while for Ryan to reach the extreme end of that world''s atmosphere. Fortunately, it didn''t seem like he will have to leave the to attack. He was more than six hundred miles above the ground level, so even if the enemies notice his attack, they won''t be able to react on time. "This should speed up things a little bit," Ryan said after he summoned Poseidon''s trident. Ryan''s control and power over water increased a little bit. Thanks to that, he created a special sphere of ice. His ability to manipte that kind of element increased so much that he could even gather mana around it and only make it take shape upon hitting the target. Right now, Ryan didn''t need to cause much damage, but he needed to freeze everything in the area. When the sphere was as big as himself, Ryan fired downward and to the core of the goblins'' army. After just a few seconds, his attack hit the army, and then a massive wave of ice spread around the area. Everything in a radius of thirty kilometers was covered in ice. Even though Ryan focused on the effect instead of causing damage, he still killed many of the goblins. His attack had been a sess bigger than he had ever imagined. Maybe he should focus on that kind of strategy more. You obtained 760 coins. You obtained 760 coins. You obtained 760 coins. ¡­ Without wasting time, Ryan teleported below and then moved to the dungeon that was right in the middle of one of the mountains that were now covered in ice. He arrived on time to also find something near the crystal inside the dungeon. Even though Ryan didn''t try to freeze anything in there, he froze the dungeon master for a short while. ??? ¨C ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... "Ah¡­ shit¡­" Ryan said. "Seriously, why again?" Much to Ryan''s surprise, the dungeon master was a buffy goblin. Still, despite that, the creature easily freed itself from the ice and then touched the blue crystal. Ryan sighed since the goblin was wearing full te armor made of mithril. Aside from the elder gods, Ryan didn''t find any warrior-type creature that had skills on par with Absolute Appraisal. Regardless, Ryan soon chased the creature to the other side. After touching the crystal, Ryan felt shivers when the first thing he saw was a massive sword being swung downward toward him. He tried to use Teleport, but for some reason, the skill didn''t work. Without any other choice, he blocked the attack with his arms. The massive sword made of unknown metal cut the firstyer of skin on Ryan''s arms. Still, ultimately, the power behind the attack wasn''t that high despite its size. Ryan finally had the chance to see that the goblin had turned into a five hundred meters tall one. He probably used Transform or Shapeshifting to increase his attack''s power and scare Ryan by swinging a weapon of that side. Upon noticing that it wouldn''t overpower Ryan, the dungeon master decreased the strength of his grip on the sword and then kicked Ryan. The attack didn''t catch Ryan off guard, but the sword''s size prevented Ryan from moving. In the end, he just clenched his teeth as the kick approached him. Ryan''s ribs broke due to that attack, but in the end, he also surprised the enemy by bombarding his face with magic copies of the Hydra''s bows. The attacks didn''t end, not even while Ryan was rolling on the ground in his draconic form. The giant goblin tried to block the attack. Still, at the end, not even his full te mithril armor protected his entire body, and due to its size, he wasn''t fast enough to dodge it. Chapter 744 - Mithril Sword Of The Suffering When Ryan recovered from the kick, the massive goblin was nowhere to be seen. However, he soon appeared on his normal size, swinging a mithril sword toward him. Instant movement spells weren''t working for some reason, so Ryan used Ice Breath to attack him. The attack slowed down the goblin, but only half for a second. Ryan used Evading Shot to move away from the sh, and that skill worked. However, he heard a weird sounding from the space that the swing cut¡­ almost as if it had turned into a vacuum. "That is dangerous¡­" Ryan frowned. The goblin didn''t give Ryan the chance to think and soon charged toward him again. Even though its size and power decreased a little bit, his speed increased exponentially, to the point where even Ryan. At the same time, Haste was active, and was having a hard time following him with his eyes. Since it worked once, Ryan used Evading Shot again to escape the enemy''s attacks. Ryan escaped all the shes, but eventually, he hit his back against an invisible barrier. As expected, the enemy had set a barrier to prevent certain skills. The goblin smiled upon noticing that Ryan had nowhere to run, and he dashed even faster than before. In the end, Ryan smirked while he opened his arm and epted the attack. In thest moment, for some reason, the goblins'' attack slowed down thanks to Sloth Aura. That decrease in speed had been just enough for Ryan to move his arms and then crush the goblins'' head from the sides. Despite their differences in size and weight, the goblin still recovered from the shock, but not before Ryan finished him by bombarding him with the Hydra''s bow. You obtained 75.352.741 coins. "Son of a bitch¡­ ouch," Ryan said upon taking the mithril sword that opened a big wound on his chest. "What the heck is wrong with this sword?" Mithril Sword of the Suffering. Effect: A special sword that causes extra damage based on the endurance of the target. It causes ten percent of extra damage based on the enemy''s endurance. Strength + 2400, Speed + 1200, Dexterity + 1200. Durability: 1800/1800 "Holy shit¡­" Ryan said. "What kind of monster did this guy use to obtain this kind of enchantment?" The mithril sword was simr to the big one the goblin used, but even though it looked like a toothpick whenpared. It was much more powerful. However, the goblin couldn''t use it on his giant form. Still, Ryan decided to store both in his vault. It was a pity that he killed the goblin before he could use Wolf''s Greed or turn him into a weapon, but that was only Ryan''s greed working on his head. "Let''s see¡­ this guy only had dungeons in four worlds, huh," Ryan frowned. "I guess Nelson''s tribe got lucky since they have been surrounded by small fries." Ryan almost obtained ownership of that domain, but he decided not to do it in the end. Even though the quality of the sword wasn''t that impressive, it was a powerful weapon. With that in mind, Ryan decided to use the domain to trade for mithril, and the dragons'' tribe probably had mountains of it. After returning to the dragons'' world, Ryan saw Femradiel finishing off some of the goblins. It seemed that the thinyer of mithril saved their lives. Fortunately, she also acted fast enough to gather their gear. Using them alongside Mana-Eater will grant them the chance to recover a lot of mana. "You took your time," Femradiel said. "As expected, you are helpless without me." "Anyway, it seems you guys got lucky," Ryan said. "So far, these dungeon masters can''t even bepared to the real enemies that you should worry about." "I know what you are saying, and we also know that we are lucky," Nelson said. "We abandoned a good part of the world because some mithril mines are in certain regions, and we decided to leave those areas, even though it is easier to find food and better ces to live. The real enemies are concentrated in those areas. Still, even so, we are having a hard time dealing even with the new enemies that appeared in thest one hundred or so years." "Regardless¡­ this domain is free, and I have no use for it," Ryan said. "How much do you can pay for a ce where your people will be rtively safe?" "Ryan¡­" Femradiel said. "This is hardly the time¡­ let''s find Alissa first, and then we can worry about business." "I want to find her, and that is why I want mithril," Ryan said. "I just tried to crush the head of a goblin with both of my arms, but I failed since he was using full te mithril armor. Look at this." Ryan summoned the armor that the goblin used, and Femradiel noticed that it waspletely unscathed. Mithril could turn even ordinary monsters into fearsome targets. The Hydra''s bow was one of the most powerful weapons Ryan created, and yet, it didn''t damage even a single bit of the mithril. "Well, you don''t have to answer me that. You are probably a recruit of your tribe, right?" Ryan said. "Let''s deal with the other enemies and then head to that forest." Although time was of the essence, they couldn''t just leave the corpses behind and their gear. ording to Femradiel, no one noticed the fight or their actions thanks to Ryan''s fast attacks, but it was only a matter of time. After the clean-up, they resumed their travel toward the giant forest. This time, things proceeded even faster than before because Ryan and Femradiel used the goblins equipment alongside Mana-Eater. Since their speed was excellent, Ryan and Femradiel decided to head toward the dungeon that was on the West of the forest and then get rid of the enemies there. However, they found something unexpected at such a ce¡­ an almostpletely empty dungeon. The monsters were nowhere to be seen. Chapter 745 - Feeling "Did I miss something?" Ryan asked. "The dungeon still is active, but where are the monsters?" "Maybe Nelron''s friends defeated them in battle and the dungeon master is recovering from the damage on their world," Femradiel said. "No¡­ that is impossible," Nelron said. "We don''t have enough power to even defeat a single army of goblin champions and the other two species are even stronger, so¡­" Even Nelron was confused since he never heard of any story where the entire army of monsters left their dungeon. Even when a big fight is about to happen, the dungeon masters always make sure to use only half of their minions. Something happened, and weirdly enough, those three reached the same conclusion at the exact same moment. That army found the giant forest and then decided to strike¡­ it was a rather risky move. Still, it was understandable, if the dungeon master knew that the other remaining enemy also found where the dragons were hiding. Upon realizing that, Nelron jumped with all his might. Although his body was pretty heavy, the strength of his legs made him look like he was flying. In just a few seconds, he disappeared in the distance. "Shouldn''t we go with him?" Femradiel asked. "We can arrive faster than him," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "First, we need to consider our options. Isn''t weird that they found this tribe at this point in time? I can''t believe that our luck can be this bad." "As always, you worry too much," Femradiel said. "It was only a matter of time before they could be found." That seemed logical, but Ryan couldn''t help but wonder about that timing¡­ it was just too weird. Lately, that kind of feeling has only been returning to him on a daily basis. Like everything that happened had some sort of trigger, and that would always cause a lot of trouble to him, but in the end, the result would be really beneficial to him if he seeds in solving the issue. After all, he would gain a lot by saving a tribe of dragons. They would feel indebted to him, and even more since he is considering selling a domain to them. Ryan wanted to think more about those weird coincidences, but that could be der. He used Teleport, and then they easily catch up to Nelron. While Ryan was busy using Teleport, Femradiel was busy restoring his mana with Sapphire Arrows and by using Mana-Eater to absorb the mana of the loot they just obtained. Thanks to the mithril, the items had a lot more mana than before, so Femradiel could use a single piece of armor for dozens of times. In order to make sure that they wouldn''t arrive toote, Ryan even used Draconic Transformation. It wasn''t time to worry about being tracked by the most powerful dungeon masters of that world. Thanks to that, they arrived on the Giant Yellow Forest in less than half an hour¡­ a trip that would take three days if they had relied on the legs of Nelron alone. Ryan''s limbs were asleep since he used too much mana in such a short amount of time, but he didn''t have time to rest because the forest was on fire and two armies were attacking from sides. They were the Metallic Knights and the Death Knights. Metallic Knight Lv Max Health: --/-- Mana: 175.000/175.000 Stamina: --/-- Strength: 12.900 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 3500 (+ 800) Speed: 5500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 1500 (+ 100) Endurance: 9800 (+ 900) Control: 1900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 8400 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 45.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 8400 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Body m Lv 760, Concentrated Strike Lv 680¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv Max, Enhanced Recovery Lv 840, Steel Skin Lv 690¡­ Spells: Repair Lv Max, Earth Maniption Lv 650, Earth Transformation Lv 550, Earth Creation 310¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 750¡­ Death Knight Lv Max Health: 116.000/116.000 Mana: 27.000/27.000 Stamina: 6.000/67.000 Strength: 6.900 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 3100 (+ 800) Speed: 2400 (+ 1500) Intelligence: 1500 (+ 100) Endurance: 5100 (+ 900) Control: 1900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 4000 (+ 1600) Luck: 2000 (+ 300) Recovery: 35.000 (+ 10.000) Willpower: 4000 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 470, Enhanced Recovery Lv 410, Pain Resistance Lv Max¡­ Spells: Bone Creation Lv Max, Bone Maniption Lv Max, Bone Armor Lv 490¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 950, Electric Resistance Lv 650, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 810¡­ No wonder Nelron said that those two species were stronger than the goblin champions. They probably covered their weapons and armor with mithril because without it. They would stand no chance against the Death Knights and Metallic Knights. Still, Ryan wished that he had asked more about those creatures because he couldn''t help but feel surprised at the fact that the Metallic Knights were essentially robots and that the Death Knights were like a massive pile of bones. The Death Knights had health and stamina because, in the end, bones were organic parts of a body, but the Metallic Knights didn''t have a single organic part. That was why they didn''t have health and stamina. "It is just me or it is weird that those creatures are made of a single type of thing?" Ryan asked. Instead of answering the question, Nelron flew toward the battlefield. The forest was massive from all angles, so it was clear that they were only seeing a small part of the entire conflict. While some of the monsters were fighting against each other on the Southern entrance of the forest, Ryan could see some dragons flying a few kilometers ahead in the North and being attacked by a massive number of both species. "What is the n?" Femradiel asked. "You should go and help Nelron," Ryan replied. "I will look for the dungeon masters, I have a feeling that they here somewhere¡­" Chapter 746 - Is That A Giant Robot? As it turned out, Ryan didn''t have to look for them. Out of nowhere, a giant semi-blue robot appeared near the dragons that were fighting in the North and with a single p, he made them fall on the ground. That probably was the dungeon master that controlled the Metallic Knights. Soon after, the giant robot fired a beam of energy in the forest, and Ryan saw dozens of Death Knights being burned to a crisp. "Holy shit¡­ is that a mecha?" Ryan asked. "That is fricking amazing." It didn''t have the visuals like the ones Ryan saw on TV that were made to impress kids, but it certainly had the size and the weapons. The same way the giant robot appeared, a creature that resembled a reaper suddenly fired a massive bone spear at the giant robot. Ryan imagined that the attack wouldn''t cause much damage, but in the end, the spear pierced the metal and made the giant robot tremble from head to toe. "We found them, but fighting them at the same time will be difficult," Femradiel said. "We should split up and deal with them separately." Femradiel has been gaining a lot of powertely. Still, Ryan didn''t imagine she could take one of those creatures along with her current powers. Still, in the end, he agreed with her n and passed to her the Vengeful Sea Crossbow. "Take care of the giant robot," Ryan said. "I will deal with the other one. Warn me if something happens, all right?"" Considering their difference in size, Ryan should fight the giant robot and then let Femradiel face the weird-looking creature that resembled a reaper. Still, he assumed that she would have an easier time against a monster that wasn''t that fast. ??? ¨C ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... Ryan and Femradiel teleported and tried to attack the creatures by surprise, but that didn''t work. The very moment they appeared, both of them stopped their fights and looked toward their direction. Naturally, Ryan stood out more since he was in his draconic form, and the corruption could be seen in his body. Under the cloak, Ryan couldn''t see that creature very well, but he was one hundred percent sure the Death Knight''s master was a mage-type that doesn''t rely on weapons to fight. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mind Armor has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan lost his momentum when his surprise attack didn''t work. Still, before the enemy could try to use any skill to see his status and skills, he teleported again and tried to punch the creature from above. However, a wall made of bones stopped his entire attack. His punch made some cracks, but it looked like one or two wouldn''t be enough to break it. "I didn''t want to show my real fighting style in this type of fight since it is bound that intel about us is about to spread, but¡­ oh, well¡­" Ryan thought. The cloaked figure turned around and then tried to bombard Ryan with bone arrows, but he was caught off guard when Ryan bombarded him with his own arrows. Despite that, the creature insisted, imagining that Ryan probably would run out of mana on his arrows wouldn''tst long enough due to their magical nature. For a short while, the arrows just canceled each other right. Still, eventually, Ryan won the exchange because he was using copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Those were especially good to weaken magic attacks, even if bones had physical strength and endurance. The cloaked figure was forced to back down without any other choice, but he just moved a few meters backward. It seemed that they had pride in being a mage that doesn''t need to move. After all, anyone with half of a brain would move away from a dragon whose body is almost taken by the corruption. Ryan insisted on bombarding him with the same bolts, but then he was forced to stop when several bone spears appeared around him, and they were dropping some weird liquid from the tip. The purple liquid made him feel shivers, even before they could move toward him. Ryan used Teleport, but weirdly enough, the spears followed him. That was a type of attack he didn''t see before¡­ and before he could understand it, it pierced his body¡­ to some extent. Frost Armor stopped the spears from piercing his flesh with all its power, but it had been just enough for the weird liquid to touch the wounds and make Ryan feel his body getting asleep. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ The wounds were small, they could even be called scratches, but Ryan''s body was getting asleep as if he had drunk the stuff. He panicked for a short while until he understood that his mind was working the same as usual. While he was starting to fall, he began to use Purification. Also, he attacked the cloaked creature with the Hydra''s bow from behind. Still, once again, another bone wall appeared and blocked the attack. "I guess this might take a while¡­" Ryan thought. Femradiel was fighting well against the giant robot. As for the dragons in the area, they were only there to prevent the monsters from attacking the weaker ones. The very moment the enemies changed their attention, they decided to escape. Nelron was helping them with the evacuation. It was amazing that they survived this far when they couldn''t even afford to give a hand to those that just came to help. Regardless, Ryan managed to slow down the effects of poison, but things will be all over if he is hit again. He had to change his tactics against that creature¡­ Chapter 747 - Mistake While Ryan had many options, he didn''t want to show his most useful skills right at that moment. So, he decided to use something he obtained recently, the big-ass sword that the goblin used when he transformed before. The two hundred meters sword appeared out of nowhere, and that made the cloaked figure flinch. Ryan made the sword spin and then flew toward the dungeon master. This time the creature was forced to fly back while the creature fired bone arrows toward it. However, that didn''t change anything. The sword repelled all the attacks and cut the air creating a massive tornado. Rocks, trees¡­ everything in the area was pulled towards it. The power surprised even Ryan since it has been a while since he used that tactic. Without any other choice, the dungeon master decided to move away from Ryan. Still, he also summoned those poisoned spears again. However, they didn''t pierce the Frost Armor. Ryan used more mana to strengthen it. The dungeon master tried to use the same tactic several times, but the Frost Armor protected him. Soon enough, the effects of the poison disappeared, and the creature noticed it. Ryan saw the enemy clenching his fists in frustration. Ryan wasn''t doing anything special, but he still found the best way to attack and protect himself against the enemy. Naturally, the dungeon master got frustrated since they couldn''t do anything against that n with their skills. In the end, the dungeon master used Teleport and disappeared. "Fucking asshole¡­" Ryan said and then checked the situation with Femradiel. Femradiel was flying in circles around the giant robot and using the crossbow to bombard the creature''s head with water bolts. For some reason, she was only attacking the forehead¡­ most likely, the real dungeon master was there. Since Femradiel was unscathed and the giant robot couldn''t even hit her with the beam of energy thates from its eyes, Ryan assumed that she would be fine and then began to pursue the other dungeon master. Ryan quickly found the dungeon master by using Search, and then it appeared in front of him by using Teleport. In the end, it seemed that his mana poop wasrger. However, suddenly a massive purple curtain of smoke came out from his body and then covered the entire area. When Ryan used Search again, he confirmed that the dungeon master used Teleport. "So fucking annoying¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Instead of getting too close, Ryan used irvoyance to find the dungeon master and then bombard the creature with Sapphire Arrows. The usual bone wall appeared to block them, but it onlysted for so long. The special arrows that nullify mana broke it. Before he could notice, the dungeon master saw its mana being sealed away. The creature tried to move zig-zagging, and thanks to it, it escaped the arrows, but then suddenly, a massive sword hit them from above and the creature was sent flying downward. You obtained 65.404.987 coins. "Ah¡­ I killed him," Ryan said, surprised. "Did that thing run out of mana already? Why another bone wall didn''t appear?" Ryan''s sword strike easily crumbled the already damaged bone wall, but he didn''t think that the dungeon master could only cast one. Perhaps that was the limit that the creature could do automatically. Regardless, Ryan tried to check the cloak the dungeon master used. Still, it waspletely destroyed. As if that wasn''t bad enough. The dungeon master didn''t have any item with it. "I guess that this is the first alien that I found that didn''t have boobs or a sword between its legs¡­" Ryan said once he took out the cloak. It seemed the dungeon master belonged to a species that didn''t have male and female gender. Still, they did have two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth. The dungeon master also had hair, but it waspletely silver. After he finished his checking, Ryan returned to where he left Femradiel as fast as possible, and he arrived just in time to see Femradiel freezing a brain that was inside the robot''s head and then destroying it. "You are back, huh," Femradiel said. "This was over much sooner than we expected. I can''t believe this species of dragons were having a hard time against these dungeon masters." Using the water bolts alone, Femradiel opened a hole in the robot''s head. It was kind of weird to see her nonchntly like since the scene of her freezing a brain inside a giant robot was also weird. Regardless, the fight was far from over. Both of them still had to face the Metallic Knights and the Death Knights. Those species of monsters couldn''t fly, but they still could cause a lot of destruction with their numbers. By working together, Femradiel and Ryan wiped out the monsters, but in the end, Nelron and his allies that could fight returned to help once they realized that the dungeon masters had been defeated. Naturally, they felt wary of Ryan, just like Nelron did. "Apologies for the dy," Nelron said. "We needed to make sure that the younger dragons would stay away from the battlefield." That was weird in many ways. It almost sounded like the words of a human. Nelron and his allies looked as fearsome as the dragons that destroyed a good part of Earth, but they were weak, just like humans in that situation. Was it because they were weak that they were worried about the younger members of their species, or was that a normal trait of them? Considering Femradiel and Orgar''s behavior, Ryan realized a long time ago that not all the monsters were bloodthirsty creatures that don''t listen to reason, but¡­ While Ryan was thinking about that, he noticed that some of the dragons were forming a circle in the middle of the forest. Instead of attacking all the monsters, they were making sure that they wanted to keep away anyone who might approach it¡­ they were trying to hide something. Chapter 748 - Chi Explosion "Hey, what are your friends trying to hide there?" Ryan asked. Nelron couldn''t help but sweat cold when he heard that question. Although he was supposed to be three hundred years old, he was na?ve, just like a teenager. Maybe dragons went through puberty around that age. "Well¡­ some relics and our mithril," Nelron replied. "Is that so¡­ do you think I am going to steal it?" Ryan asked. "Come to think of it, why do you guys need mithril? I didn''t see either of you using any weapon or piece of gear made with it." "We use it in the ce of food," Nelron replied. "There aren''t many creatures big enough that can feed even our small tribe around, so we make do by draining the mana from the mithril. When we are bored of it, we eat small pieces." Ryan knew that dragons needed mana more than anything else. His instincts were telling him that Nelron was hiding something. When Ryan used irvoyance, he only found a weird ce inside the forest that didn''t have any houses. Still, it had some pieces of wood and metal that could be used to protect their bodies from the rain and sun¡­ now that Ryan thought about it, it would be weird if dragons had houses like humans. At the center of their vige, Ryan found a big rock that seemed really out of ce. There weren''t many rocks around the forest¡­ so it probably had been created by magic and to hide something¡­ something that was probably below it. "Well, whatever," Ryan said. "Let''s take ownership over the domains, Femradiel." "Weren''t you nning to sell it to them?" Femradiel asked. "Yeah, but it seems they are hiding something down there and they probably can''t move it anytime soon," Ryan replied. "So, any negotiation will take too long. We can''t afford to stay here for more than a few hours." While they gained quite a lot of time by sacrificing a few magic items, Ryan wasn''t satisfied with that much. Since all that gear covered in a thinyer of mithril won''t be that useful, he might as well use it to speed up his movement speed. "Is that true?" Femradiel asked Nelron. "Actually¡­" Nelron said. "Don''t answer, Nelron," Another dragon suddenly approached and spoke. "We can''t reveal that kind of information to strangers." Pendragon Health: 189.000/189.000 Mana: 119.000/119.000 Stamina: 128.000/128.000 Strength: 12300 (+ 1.00) Dexterity: 8500 (+ 1100) Speed: 12500 (+ 1200) Intelligence: 8700 (+ 2100) Endurance: 9200 (+ 1700) Control: 6500 (+ 600) Mentality: 9900 (+ 1900) Luck: 3000 (+ 900) Recovery: 50.000 (+ 18.000) Willpower: 9000 (+ 1900) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Roar Lv Max Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 850, Fire w Lv 760 Enhanced Strength Lv 470, Augmented Intelligence Lv 420¡­ Spells: Ice Breath Lv Max, Fire Breath Lv Max, Electric Breath Lv Max, ¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 700, Electric Resistance Lv 560, Shock Resistance Lv 520, Fire Resistance Lv 420, Cursed Resistance Lv 290¡­ "But they helped me, father, and they didn''t ask anything in exchange," Nelron said. "They are looking for that dungeon master that fought in the deadly swamp." Ryan couldn''t see many differences between the pendragon dragons, but he noticed that Nelron''s father had a bit rougher voice. For some reason, Femradiel was staring at them. "I heard that you saved my son, but you shouldn''t pry into others'' business," the second dragon said. "My name is Nakine and as a representative of my tribe, we are willing to help, but only if you forget about what is down there." "Sure, why not?" Ryan shrugged. "As long as it isn''t something that won''t cause trouble to us, I don''t see why I should get interested in it. Swear that is the case and I will forget about it." "You have my word," Nakine said. After that talk, Ryan decided to check for the loot. Since Femradiel and he did most of the work, he didn''t think twice about getting everything he could find. While he didn''t find any equipment eye-catching, that was fine. Ryan was going to use those to gain some coins. The items covered in mithril didn''t be more expensive on the dungeon shop, so it would be wiser to use them alongside Mana-Eater. While Ryan didn''t find any decent gear, he found a pretty good tome. Chi Explosion tome Effect: it grants you the power to fire a sphere of energy from the palm of your hands that will cause magic and physical damage. The range of the skill will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by twenty meters. Cost: 300 mana and 300 stamina "So, I finally can use something like hadouken, huh," Ryan said. Ryan tested the skill, and while it wasn''t exactly like he imagined, it would be useful nheless. As if that wasn''t good enough, he didn''t need to use both hands to fire a single projectile¡­ training that will be interesting, and Ryan just needed to find out the best way to be used alongside with his fighting style. Once they finished the cleanup, the dragons returned to their camp. Maybe some of them would go hide inside the domains in other worlds, but it looked like the most powerful dragons would stay behind for the time being. Something important to them was below that rock¡­ But it was weird that they quickly abandoned it. No, maybe they did it so fast in order to fool the enemies. Leaving without hesitation would make their enemies think that they didn''t leave anything really important behind. "We have three domains that we could sell to you," Ryan said. "It will take a while, but if you help, perhaps you guys will be able to create a powerful army of monsters to fight in your ce." "I know how the system works," Nakine said. "Thest leader of our race was a dungeon master, but she lost her domain and her life after hundreds of years of battle. When that happened, we decided to split since many of us were captured." Ryan wasn''t that interested in their story, but he was interested in their knowledge. Perhaps hearing them would make him learn something. Regardless¡­ Ryan felt quite weird since he and Femradiel were sitting on the ground, and they were basically surrounded by those massive dragons that were ten meters wide and forty meters long. "Anyway, how many domains do you want and how much you can pay for them?" Ryan asked. "All of them, we will give you all of our reserves of mithril and we will also help you find your friend," Nakine said. "As long as you help us create an army with the domains'' power." Chapter 749 - Reward That offer was way too good to be true. Perhaps their reserves of mithril weren''t that impressive¡­ However, Ryan and Femradiel were asked to move away a little bit in order for them to gather their mithril, and when they returned, they found a small mountain of mithril that was the size of a full-sized pendragon. "I thought you guys would use this to feed yourselves¡­" Ryan frowned. "How can you easily give away all your mithril?" "I thought I told you that we couldn''t reveal certain things about ourselves," Nakine said. "Is this enough for the three domains?" "Sure," Ryan said. "We are in a hurry here, so we will Teleport those who are going to be the new dungeon masters and then we will help train your new army. Still, we will only do so for three days." "That is eptable," Nakine said. "After three days, we will have the current location of your friend." That was hard to believe, but in the end, Ryan didn''t ask how he was going to do that. It was probably rted to the secrets of their tribe. Ryan imagined that Femradiel wouldin since that seemed a roundabout way to do things. Still, in the end, she realized that at some point, they will need an army of monsters, and the domains will help with that. "So, we are going to split up?" Femradiel asked. "And do what else for the next three days?" "Just let the newly spawned monsters freely attack us," Ryan replied. "Usually, defeating monsters is the best way to grow stronger, but even fighting without winning and training can be effective. The level up speed will grow even faster the more monsters are spawned, so don''t kill any of them." "That seems like a pretty annoying job¡­" Femradiel frowned. "I guess I will use the familiar for that." Ryan considered that and also concluded that using some summons will help as well. Knowing those dragons, he doubted that they would use long-ranged creatures to build their army, so using other targets might be necessary. In the end, neither Nelron nor Nakine went with Ryan and Femradiel to the domains. Only three pendragons left the giant forest with them. While they were leagues above from Nelron, it didn''t seem like the tribe was betting their coins on them. It was hard to bet their coins on anything since the tribe didn''t have even fifty dragons. After leaving one of the three in the lich''s dungeon, Ryan and Femradiel headed toward the other two. Since both of them could use Teleport, there was no need to waste any time by going together. "Let''s make a bet Ryan," Femradiel said. "The one who makes the dungeon level increase more has the right to give one order to the other. The loser has to obey anything." "... Alright," Ryan facepalmed after a long sigh. "It is a promise." Whatever Femradiel might ask, she probably won''t go too far in the middle of that important mission. Still, she looked strangely excited when they split up. Once again, Ryan recalled how she was before, cold and collected like a true ice dragon, but now it was hard to picture her like a dragon, much less like an ice one. Feeling the presence of monsters inside a dungeon was nearly impossible. Still, in the end, Ryan couldn''t take his chances and risk the whole n of giving a chance to the pendragons to obtain an army. Since that would be the first step, it was particrly important to create a decent army. Still, Ryan solved the issue by using Shapeshifting and bing arge human. When the dragon finally obtained control over the domain and chose which type of monster he would control, Ryan couldn''t help but frown a little bit. That dungeon was the one that spawned metallic knights, so even though all the dungeons were back to level one, the monster book should have plenty of interesting monsters to summon, but the dragon chose the chimeras. From Ryan''s perspective, the chimeras were pretty bnced and could even fly, but the metallic knights seemed like the best option to them. "Why did you choose chimeras?" Ryan asked. "Because in case we need it, we can eat them. The poison in their bodies is something that many of them like to drink when munching their bodies." Ryan changed his mind again. When he saw Nelron and Nakine talking, he thought that dragons weren''t so different from humans, but that reminded him of the real truth. Regardless, Ryan returns to the dungeon, and the chimeras attack him as they see fit. At first, the level one chimeras barely could scratch his body. Still, after one hour, dozens of them alongside the boss finally reached level twenty, and their poison began to damage him. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. "That was fast¡­" Ryan thought. Maybe that was a good opportunity for Ryan to increase his defensive power. Regardless, Ryan began to use Purification and Heal. Still, in the end, it would take quite a while before he began to feel his mana pool decreasing at all. The boredom gave him the idea to use Ruby Arrows. While those could seal a good part of the health of the target, ultimately, they couldn''t cause mortal damage, so it was perfect. "Oh, yeah¡­. This is the perfect chance to train Memory Maniption," Ryan said. "Let''s see¡­ if I let the poison umte until it reaches critical levels and then repeat that moment in my head several times¡­" Ryan had no idea if that tactic could work with passive skills, but it was worth trying. He let the chimeras hit him with Poison Arrows until his whole body turned purple. Those only caused small scratches, but the damage was more than enough to give the poison the chance to prate his body. Still, that was just the first step. The poison began to circte around his body, and Ryan felt his body growing hot. At the same time, his blood paralyzed his limbs and ate away his health. Chapter 750 - Result Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. When Ryan''s health dropped to five percent, he used Full-Heal and Purification. Once his body returned to normal, he took deep breaths. While he was only fooling himself that he was going to endure that situation again, in the end, Ryan needed at least that much preparation. When Ryan activated Memory Maniption, his mind returned to the moment where the poison bothered him the most. In the end, he felt the same pain, the same difort, and the same shivers. He only let the skill active for a second and then confirmed if his natural body was fine. There was no damage¡­ aside from the one caused by the real attacks. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ "It works¡­ much better than I imagined," Ryan said after a long sigh. In the end, Ryan confirmed that it wasn''t that surprising that the skill would be that effective. After all, his body was sweating cold again¡­ even though he didn''t suffer the same amount of damage as before. Ryan activated the skill again, and he already noticed a difference¡­ the memory was less intense. It was weird, but since his Poison Resistance leveled up, the power of that memory decreased. Since that was the case, the skill also began to level up slower than before. Soon enough, the dungeon''s interior was already too packed for Ryan in his giant form and for the hundreds of chimeras. Still, there wasn''t much he could do. Letting the creatures leave the dungeon would make the other dungeon masters stay alert. After all, two dungeons couldn''t be in the same ce. The only way for a low-level type of monster to show up in a dungeon is to defeat the previous dungeon master and reset the level of the dungeon. After much thinking, Ryan realized that just killing the chimeras would be too much of a waste. The dragons would need the strength every single of one could give them, after all. So, he just created a massive underground shelter where he, in his draconic form, and thousands of chimeras could stay hidden. It was pretty deep underground, so Ryan was confident that no one will feel his presence. At the end of the first day, the chimeras reached level one hundred¡­ considering that Ryan''s frozen slimes only reached the same level after weeks. One could say that it was pretty good progress, but he wasn''t satisfied. Unfortunately, when he contacted the dragon that was managing that domain, he confirmed that he didn''t have coins to summon enough chimeras if Ryan were to cause a dungeon break. In fact, the possibility of using the chimeras as a good wasn''t the only thing he considered, but also the ratio of coins that he needed to use to summon a single chimera and the ie of the other dungeons granted him. Even with all their power, the chimeras were bound to run out of mana at some point, and that would decrease their leveling up speed. So, Ryan changed his tactics again. Instead of using Ruby Arrows, he used Support Mana Arrows to restore the mana of the chimeras. Thanks to that and the fact that he was in his draconic form, the chimeras reached level 230 at the end of the second day. "Well, this is some progress¡­" Ryan said. "Still, it can be improved." The fastest way to help the two thousand chimeras would be by using mana potions. Still, Ryan won''t use his precious stock of potions to help an army that wouldn''t obey him. Using coins was out of the question as well. Still, Ryan wanted to make the monsters reach at level four hundred before he leaves. In the end, Ryan had the idea of using Skill Bestowal. He didn''t have the chance to test it with his monsters or even the summoned ones since he had been too busy as ofte, but that seemed a good time to check that skill. After a while, Ryan confirmed a few things¡­ if he gives a skill to a single monster of that dungeon, all the other monsters will obtain the skill. Thanks to that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ was it really the monsters who were learning something? Or was the crystal that absorbed the knowledge gained by them? Regardless, Ryan gave the monsters some passive skills that increased their status, mainly recovery, because even in his draconic form, it was hard for Ryan to share his mana with more than two thousand monsters. At first, there wasn''t much difference, but their status increased quite a bit, and almost at the same time, the creatures leveled up. Things could have been even better than Ryan wanted if he had taught the Chimeras some special skills. Still, then again, he didn''t want to help all that much an army of monsters that wouldn''t obey him. Once the seventy-two hours passed, the chimeras reached level 405. If the other dungeon masters could have used that tactic on Earth¡­ just thinking about it made Ryan feel shivers. "I guess I have to pick Femradiel," Ryan said. "Knowing her, she will use every second avable to win thispetition." Although Ryan had to endure poison on his body for three days straight, he was pretty calm and feeling great. After all, his Poison Resistance reached a crazy level as well¡­ level two hundred. Weirdly enough, that was his highest-level skill. Without wasting any more time, Ryan proceeded to pick up Femradiel. Although he didn''t want to admit it, he hurried in order not to lose thepetition. That kind of thing was a pretty nice change of pace, considering that all thepetitions Ryan had in thest year put his life on the line. Regardless, when he finally found her, Ryan sighed and then looked to the sky¡­ he tried pretty hard to win, but it seemed that Femradiel tried harder. Chapter 751 - Defeat Chimera ¨C Lv 522 Health: 85.000/85.000 Mana: 85.000/85.000 Stamina: 85.000/85.000 Strength: 4000 (+1100) Dexterity: 4000 (+1100) Speed: 4000 (+1100) Intelligence: 4000 (+1100) Endurance: 4000 (+1100) Control: 4000 (+1100) Mentality: 4000 (+1100) Luck: 4000 (+1100) Recovery: 4000 (+1100) Willpower: 4000 (+1100) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Paralyzing Whip Lv 345, Body m Lv 345¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv 345, Enhanced Speed Lv 345, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 345¡­ Spells: Poison Spear Lv 345, Thunder Spear Lv 345, Fire Breath Lv 345, Acid Breath Lv 345¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 345, Cold Resistance Lv 345, Electric Resistance Lv 345, Earth Resistance Lv 345¡­ "By the look of surprise in your face, I would say that I won," Femradiel smirked. "How did you do it?" Ryan asked. "You made the monsters level up one hundred more times, but it doesn''t look like you caused a dungeon break or two." "That is a secret," Femradiel smiled proudly. Ryan knew that he wasn''t as smart as Femradiel, but even so, it didn''t take long for him to understand what she did. He lost by toorge of a margin, considering that they basically could use the same skills. There was only one thing she could have done that would break the bnce of thepetition¡­ "How many coins did you use?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Not many," Femradiel''s smile froze as she said that. "How many?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Three hundred million," Femradiel hesitated, but in the end, she spat out. Ryan facepalmed and stayed like that for quite a while¡­ that woman was crazy. That was enough to buy another Soul Eater, and she spends it to level up an army of monsters that wasn''t hers. Maybe that could be a good investmentter. Still, even an army of ten thousand of level five hundred chimeras could do more than them. "Well, whatever¡­ it was your coins anyway," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Let''s got get the mithril." "And here I was thinking that you wouldin for the next few days," Femradiel frowned. "Perhaps I should have made a more interesting bet and then used all my coins." After saying what he said, Ryan couldn''t evenin anymore. Regardless, at least Femradiel decided not to make her demands for the time being. They headed toward the Giant Yellow Forest and found their reward waiting for them without wasting any more time. "Hey, you are back," Nelron said. "It seems that you did a much better job than we expected." "Yeah? How so?" Ryan asked. "Ah, about that¡­" Nelron said nervously. "I used Telepathy to talk with those three that are controlling the domains and we heard about the progress," Nakine said after hitting the top of the head of his son. "That is why we know that you did more than we expected." It made sense that Nakine talked with his friends by using Telekinesis. Still, given Nelron''s actions, Ryan concluded that they obtained that information by using a different method¡­ one that those dragons had to keep quiet about. Keeping that secret would be difficult, as long as Nelron''s doesn''t shut up. Regardless, putting that aside, Ryan proceeded to store his mithril. He now had plenty of material to create as many weapons as he wanted. Still, he will need to practice for quite a while before he reaches a level where he can craft weapons as powerful as Poseidon''s trident and Thanatos'' scythe. "What about the second part of our deal?" Ryan asked. "We didn''t break our promise and we found your friend," Nakine said. "After defeating the dungeon master in the deadly swamp, she kept moving Eastward and apparently she defeated two other dungeon masters. However, yesterday, your friend was fighting against two of the most powerful of the dungeon masters¡­ they were a part of the group who captured us and used our allies to strengthen their armies." "Did she win?" Ryan asked. "No, in the ce she fought, one could only find a massive crater where no one can find the bottom," Nakine replied. "When their powers collided, that hole was the only thing left in the scene. However, we found the monsters that worked for the dungeon masters working in the area and looking for them and their levels hadn''t decreased." Ryan assumed that the three of them survived the massive st, but the dungeon masters probably retreated due to their wounds. As for Alissa, she was probably alive as well, but her condition was unknown. "Where did the battle happen?" Ryan asked. "Near the First Ice Mountains," Nakine replied. "If we use your speed while using Teleport, you can arrive there in four days." Ryan and Femradiel frowned. They assumed that Nakine was considering the speed they could move while using all their mana and keeping the focus necessary to eat the mana away from the mithril on the items like there was no tomorrow. Just how massive was that? Ryan and Femradiel were pretty sure that they could move two or three times around the with the mana they used to travel from the first domain they obtained to the Giant Yellow Forest, and it seemed that they will have to cover a distance that was sixteen times greater than that. "Do you know anything about the dungeon masters?" Ryan asked. "No," Nakine replied. "However, I do know that they have been waiting for your friend. That massive hole appeared soon after the battle started, so I can only think that they went all out against her. I knew that this friend of yours was powerful, but an attack of that level¡­ I never heard off." Great, now Ryan and Femradiel were looking for Alissa without knowing the enemies that almost killed her. It wasn''t a good idea to approach the domain of elder gods without knowing a single thing about their abilities and nature. Still, it seemed that they didn''t have any option right now. "Well¡­ we better get going," Ryan said. "Wait, we are going to help you," Nakine said. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 82 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 91 (+ 02 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 80 (+ 04 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 16332/16332 (24,05/s) Mana: 17125/17125 (24,05/s) Stamina: 18760/18760 (24,05/s) Strength: 881 (+3922) (+130) Dexterity: 27093 (+11755) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+8010) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+5621) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+4895) (+160) Control: 1476 (+7950) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+3895) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+2760) Recovery: 5450 (+7850) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+3493) (+40) Coins: 192.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Chi Explosion Lv 07 (+ 06 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 169 (+ 04 UP), Concentration Lv 169 (+ 04 UP), Archery Lv 169 (+ 04 UP), uracy Lv 169 (+ 04 UP), Stealth Lv 169 (+ 04 UP), Soul Maniption Lv 29 (+ 12 UP), Soul Armor Lv 13 (+ 04 UP), Spells: Purification Lv 41 (+ 15 UP), Regeneration Lv 36 (+ 11 UP), Full-Heal Lv 58 (+ 05 UP), Draconic Transformation Lv 185 (+ 10 UP), Frost Armor Lv 169 (+ 14 UP), Teleport Lv 167 (+ 12 UP). Skill Bestowal 09 (+ 05 UP), Memory Maniption Lv 07 (+ 04 UP), Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 69 (+ 04 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 65 (+ 04 UP), Poison Resistance Lv 203 (+ 159 UP), Paralysis Resistance Lv 61 (+ 41 UP) sses: Combat: Crystal Archer Lv 58 (+ 13 UP), Marksman Lv 68 (+ 06 UP), Acid Archer Lv 35 (+ 04 UP), Mad Archer Lv 29 (+ 08), Fallen Archer Lv 21 (+ 20 UP) Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 14 (+ 05 UP) Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 752 - Offer "No, thanks," Ryan said. "We are going to find our friend and get the hell out of this. We don''t have the luxury to get more involved in your war against the dungeon masters." It will take a few more days for the tribe to have a decent-sized army. Still, once they have one, they might be able to take one dungeon master at a time, but not enough before the enemies decide to join forces to wipe them out of the or capture them. So, tagging along with Ryan and Femradiel was the best thing they could do to buy time and decrease the number of enemies. Not to mention, they will have the chance to free their allies as well. "We can pay for your help," Nakine said. "We don''t need it," Ryan said. "Are you sure about that?" Femradiel asked. "At times like these, you have to back me up, Femradiel¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I am just saying, will things go that smoothly once we find Alissa?" Femradiel asked. "She was pretty angry at you, wasn''t she? Not to mention, she is probably trying to obtain knowledge from the dragons to find a way to bring Orgar back. She won''t give up until she finds a way or until she is sure that she can''t find her answers here." That made sense, but Ryan still didn''t want to get involved in that battle any further. His instincts were telling him that those two that faced Alissa were two elder gods and a battle against two of them was thest thing that he needed to face right now. "¡­ Let''s say that we are going to help you, how do you n to pay for our services?" Ryan asked. "I don''t need payment," Femradiel said. "Well, I do need and I will ask enough for both of us," Ryan said. "Give me your word that once I show a certain thing, you will work with us until all of our allies are free from the dungeon masters," Nakine said. "You two will receive a great power that will be more than enough of a reward for helping us." Ryan and Femradiel looked at each other. Neither of them is the type who goes back on their word, but it was hard to ept such an offer since they had no idea how long that might take. Still, all power was wee, and give that it came from a different species of dragons, Ryan assumed that it was different from anything they obtained so far. Even though the pendragons weren''t particrly strong. "It seems this offer is connected to some of your secrets, why did you change your mind about hiding information from us?" Ryan asked. "The first reason is due to the fact that you were nning to leave without asking more about it," Nakine replied. "The second reason is because you don''t have any reason to help us. Since you don''t have any reason, you ask for something in exchange. I believe we can trust in someone who clearly expresses what he wants instead of someone who would want to help for free. Femradiel is an exception of course, because she is a dragon." "I see¡­ well, I guess we give our word that we keep everything you tell or show us from now on as a secret," Ryan said. "However, you guys should work hard. I am not very patient, and if this fight drags for far too long, I will do everything necessary to end it as quickly as possible. I have a world to return to and I don''t feel secure in staying away from it for too long." "Naturally, we don''t n to let this war drag for too long either," Nakine said. "We are too tired of running away and it is time to take what is rightfully ours¡­ follow me." In the end, Nakine guided Femradiel and Ryan to exactly where the rock was located, and by moving his arms a little bit, the rock moved, revealing a hole and a weirdly shaped crystal inside of it. It wasn''t like the crystal inside the dungeons¡­ it seemed equally as powerful, though. Which was weird since Ryan didn''t find anything like it. "Many generations ago, this world was filled with cursed dragons that fought against each other and against dungeon masters that tried to obtain the mithril," Nakine said. "During that time there wasn''t a single day in which dozens of dragons weren''t killed. However, after many years, some dragons recovered their sanity and they tried to free others from the madness of corruption. In the end, the only way they found to free them was by killing the cursed dragons and so they did it. By doing so, seven dragons became absurdly power and managed to protect this world alone for hundreds of years against the dungeon masters. They waited patiently until their kids became strong enough to take their ces, but unfortunately, the difference in power was just too great. Those who were born protected under the wings of their parents couldn''t be as powerful as them before they could fall due to old age. So, the seven dragons decided to sacrifice their remaining life span in order to turn their hearts into crystals." Ryan didn''t expect to hear about the history of that world, but even though the tale was pretty impressive and a bit ridiculous, it didn''t go against the information he already had, so it was probably all true. Those seven dragons condensed all their energy and created some crystals with their hearts¡­ to give power to their children. Apparently, Nakine wanted Ryan and Femradiel to use that. "Even with the help of your ancestors, you didn''t obtain enough power to protect your species?" Ryan frowned. "It is said that we can only obtain the true power they left to us once we touch the seven crystals," Nakine said. "I have touched three of them and I doubt that there is another dragon who has outdone me in this regard. We couldn''t obtain the power we meant to have due to the circumstances, but with your help, we will obtain that power." Chapter 753 - Draconic Knight "This power can only be received by those who have draconic blood, so you two fit the criteria," Nakine said. Ryan wasn''t so sure of that¡­ but then he recalled that when he made the pact with Femradiel, he obtained the DNA of a lesser dragon, and when he was fighting Poseidon, that was upgraded. Perhaps Nakine was right, but Ryan still couldn''t help but hesitate. Obtaining power like that seemed too good to be true¡­ then again, it was very simr to the power that he gets after clearing dungeons. After thinking for a few more moments, Ryan and Femradiel touched the crystal at the same time. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Knight! You obtained the following skills: Xenolingualism, Draconic Sword, and Draconic Hunger. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Xenolingualism. Effect: It grants you the power to speak, write, understand andmunicate in aliennguages, including writing, with little or no training. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Sword. Effect: It grants the power to summon a special sword that is created by using your very soul that will cause damage ording to your spirit level. Cost: all your mana You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Hunger. Effect: It grants you the power to eat anything that has mana, assimting the energy stored in it alongside the knowledge of the effects. You obtained 1000 status points. Ryan couldn''t help but frown after seeing the notifications¡­ to think that he would obtain a ss at such a moment and a ss that was on par with the ones he received after defeating Thanatos, Poseidon, and Belphegor¡­ Still, considering the history of that world, that wasn''t supposed to be that shocking. "This is¡­" Ryan said. "Pretty neat, huh," Femradiel said. "Now we can talk with aliens without worrying about thenguage barrier and we can also eat weapons and armor like they are real food. I can''t wait to see how tasty certain magical weapons can be." It was hard to say if Femradiel was joking or not. Either way, Ryan was more interested in the fact that the skills came already at the max level. A few months ago, he discovered that one hundred wasn''t the max level. Still, he didn''t imagine it was actually one thousand. Why did humans have that kind of limit without draconic powers? "It seems both of you adapted well to the power," Nakine said. "I imagined that you would feel some headaches and dizziness just like the rest of us thanks to the boost in power, but it seemed that your blood is even stronger than ours." "Anyway, the trip is going to be long, so who is going with us?" Ryan asked. "Half of us will stay and the other half will go with you," Nakine replied. "We need some preparations to move the crystal, so it can''t be helped. Fortunately, we no longer have enemies in the area, so we can afford to send our strongest warriors with your group." Ryan wasn''t so sure of that. Even if there were no enemies nearby, any decent dungeon master could pass nearby the dungeons without being found out. If they had Soul Eater and Teleport, then it was visibly impossible to prevent surprise attacks. Regardless, it was Nakine''s choice, and whatever happens due to it, the responsibility will be his. Although Nelron would stay behind and Nakine would lead twenty or so pendragons to help Ryan and Femradiel, they couldn''t afford to go together. Ryan didn''t have enough mana to Teleport so many creatures at the same time. However, if he doesn''t try to do it, they will take too long to reach their destination. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I will teach you guys Teleport, but I will need some form of payment." That group didn''t have anything with them, but they had their Draconic powers and their own version of bestowal magic. A small sphere of energy left their bodies and then entered Ryan''s. He imagined something weird might happen, but he only felt lighter and full of energy in the end. Congrattions! The skill Draconic Transformation has leveled up. (x35) You obtained 35 status points. Congrattions! The skill Frost Armor has leveled up. (x35) You obtained 35 status points. Congrattions! The skill Ice Breath has leveled up. (x35) You obtained 35 status points. It looked like instead of giving Ryan any real power, the dragons made his Draconic skills stronger somehow. Regardless, he weed that. Thanks to it, Ryan dly gave them Teleport. Thanks to that, their movement speed increased exponentially. Still, it will take time for them to reach the same level as Ryan and Femradiel''s, even with their massive mana pool. "Normally, you would be against moving alongside such arge group," Femradiel said. "Why didn''t you try to make Nakine and his allies follow us from a safe distance?" "Right now, all the dungeon masters that heard about Alissa and the fight of yesterday, arepletely focused on her, so we can afford to assume some risks." Ryan replied. "Besides, if we leave them behind and find some opportunity before regrouping, I will try to capitalize it and that might mess up things here in this world. So, I want to hear their opinions whenever something happens." In the end, Ryan didn''t want to ept the fate of that entire world on his back. He didn''t want to even have that kind of trouble on Earth. While he was strong and could make a difference in both worlds, Ryan wanted to believe that when he fails, if he fails, not everything will be lost. In the end, that tripsted for an entire week. Ryan''s head started to hurt whenever he thought that he would need to make the inverse path in order to return to Earth¡­ hopefully, things won''t change all that much there during those few weeks. Chapter 754 - Mythological Zombie Warrior Although the trip was long, it wasn''t like Ryan and Femradiel didn''t do anything aside from teleporting from one ce to another. They also made some preparations for some situations and also began to use the mithril. Patience was the key in order to get better at forging weapons, so Ryan made sure to use the same amount of mithril several times. He made a bow without a string and then melted. Ryan repeated that process dozens of times since he didn''t have to worry about its durability. ording to Nakine, as long as a weapon made of mithril isn''t enchanted with a spirit, it could be reforged as many times as one might want. "Why are you trying to craft a bow?" Femradiel asked. "Bows grant more dexterity, so their raw power is better," Ryan replied. "I don''t know when we are going to obtain any mithril again, so we should exponentialize what we have." Ryan was thinking of making a bow which he could use on his Draconic form. At the same time, he also wanted a full set of armor to use while Draconic Transformation stays active. Still, it would take a while before he reaches that level. Suddenly, Ryan stopped when he used irvoyance to check the path ahead. For a second, he thought his eyes were fooling him because he could see the sky, but he couldn''t see the ground. After adjusting his vision, Ryan confirmed that he found the ce where Alissa fought. Still, things were much crazier than he had imagined¡­ The hole was like five kilometers wide and three deep. "Did you guys know where the nearest dungeons are?" Ryan asked. "Two days on our speed, West of here," Nakine replied. "In the same direction? Come to think of it, it is weird that two dungeon masters would work together¡­" Ryan said. "Unless¡­" "That is right, their dungeons are close to each other and they have been working together since their dungeons appeared," Nakine nodded. "Femradiel," Ryan said. "I can feel the dungeons and one single massive army in that direction," Femradiel said. "However, I don''t feel any presence nearby." That was only natural. They looked for Alissa for almost one week. They didn''t find anything, so they gave up without finding her body. In any case, it was time to move carefully since it wouldn''t be weird if the dungeon masters now and then check that massive hole. During that week, Ryan also taught the dragons Shapeshifting, so they quickly turned into Reptilians. It was the best they could do right now, and it was more than enough since their size decreased drastically. "I don''t feel any traces of Alissa''s mana," Femradiel said. "Most likely, the explosion made all traces in the area spread in all directions. We won''t be able to rely on traces of mana to find her." "I figured as much¡­ looking for her will be a waste of time," Ryan said. "Perhaps we should let her find us." "I wonder if she wille once she realizes that we are here," Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. "Considering her mind condition and the level of corruption she was supposed to have already, she probably tried to help the dragons here not because of a sense of duty." Ryan could understand that, but in the end, her ultimate goal was obvious, find a way to restore Orgar''s conscience. If Ryan bes an ally of the dragons in that world, she will eventually approach them¡­ hopefully sooner thanter. "Let''s check the enemies in the West," Ryan said. After heading in that direction for several hours, the group finally got close enough to find the dungeon with the help of irvoyance. Alongside with it, they found a massive army of humanoid creatures that seemed like humans armed with shields and spears and other species that also looked humanoid. Still, they had pickaxes instead of real weapons. Mythological Zombie Warrior Health: 144.000 /144.000 Mana: 86.000/86.000 Stamina: 97.000/97.000 Strength: 13.500 (+1800) Dexterity: 5500 (+500) Speed: 7500 (+1200) Intelligence: 4500 (800) Endurance: 7000 (+1500) Control: 7000 (+800) Mentality: 9900 (+800) Luck: 3500 (+300) Recovery: 35.000 (+20.000) Willpower: 9900 (+800) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Throw Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Augmented Lv Max, Augmented Recovery Lv Max, Augmented Speed Lv Max¡­ Spells: High Fire Enchantment Lv 720, High Water Enchantment Lv 720, High Electric Enchantment Lv 720, High Earth Enchantment Lv 720¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Shock Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max, Fire Immunity Lv 550¡­ Mythological Zombie Miner Health: 55.000 /55.000 Mana: 55.000/55.000 Stamina: 189.000/189.000 Strength: 5500 (+600) Dexterity: 5500 (+600) Speed: 5500 (+600) Intelligence: 5500 (+600) Endurance: 5500 (+600) Control:5500 (+600) Mentality: 5500 (+600) Luck: 5500 (+600) Recovery: 60.000 (+30.000) Willpower: 5500 (+600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Repair Lv Max, Magic Upgrade Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Improved Stamina Lv Max, Enhanced Stamina Lv Max, Augmented Stamina Lv 750¡­ Spells: Weapon Forging Lv Max, Armor Forging Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Shock Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max, cksmithing Lv Max After taking a good look at those monsters, Ryan concluded that the first group was the real main force, and the second was only there to offer support and to look for mithril. Around that area, there were countless holes and abandoned mines. A good look at them made Ryan realize that those creatures perhaps once had been humans, but now they were almost zombies who had only a single goal in mind. Regardless, what was really bothering Ryan was the question of who were the dungeon masters controlling those creatures. Ryan had a few ideas, but a single one stood out among the others, but it seemed too ridiculous from his perspective. "That doesn''t change anything¡­ we have to wipe out that army and then catch the dungeon masters off guard and when they are alone," Ryan concluded. Chapter 755 - New Species Ryan''s n was to divide and conquer. That was why he was nning to leave Femradiel and the dragons behind to wipe out the army. However, once the fight starts, things might be messed up for them. He will try to take one of the dungeon masters as soon as possible, but the other will face Femradiel and the others. That n was just too risky¡­ Still, Ryan made an agreement with Nakine, and those two dungeon masters captured some dragons. "When are your friends going to be ready to help us?" Ryan asked. "We are wasting precious time and we can''t afford to waste any." "Most armies of the dungeon masters have at least fifty thousand monsters, so we are nning to divide our forces in two groups: attack and defense," Nakine replied. "At this moment, considering the number of monsters spawned, we probably reached that mark, so they will start to move the armies. Still, only two of them reached a decent level." In the end, Ryan couldn''t count on the army¡­ unless the dragons had some other tricks up their sleeve. Regardless, Ryan didn''t want to wait for too long. Considering how strong those two species of monsters were, even a massive attacking from above won''t decimate all of them. Not to mention, it was hard to imagine that Ryan will have enough power to do so. "Get ready for battle, in the end, we can''t invade their domains," Ryan said. "So, you are nning to fight here?" Femradiel asked. "Yeah, we can''t split up and face the two dungeon masters at the same time, so it can''t be helped," Ryan said. "Well, I prefer things like that anyway," Femradiel said. "You sure sound rxed," Ryan said. "Oh, wait. Why I didn''t get used to this by now?" "That is because I am confident, I forgot to mention it, but I didn''t find any traces of divinity in this area," Femradiel said. "Most likely, we aren''t dealing with the elder gods here." "Why didn''t you inform me of that earlier¡­" Ryan facepalmed. "So, we made a mistake assuming that only the elder gods could cause Alissa some trouble¡­ I don''t know if this is a good thing or not. Anyway, get ready for a change of ns. If we attack the army and the dungeon masters don''t show up as fast as possible, we will have to split up and face them on their domains." "Roger that," Femradiel said. Ryan and Femradiel teleported to high in the sky, leaving the dragons behind because they didn''t have any long-ranged attack that could help them right now. Ryan created another sphere of highly concentrated mana that is about to turn into a sphere of ice. Meanwhile, Femradiel created a massive electric spear. While she wasn''t used to that kind of elemental attack, it was the only thing she could do at the moment. Unfortunately, before they could finish their attacks, Ryan and Femradiel felt two presences leaving the dungeons. Ryan didn''t have time to use irvoyance, so he fired the sphere, and Femradiel soon after did the same. Their attacks froze and shocked a good portion of the monsters, but not even one-third of the monsters were killed. You obtained 1150 coins. You obtained 1150 coins. You obtained 1150 coins. ¡­ "Damn¡­" Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That wasn''t something I expected¡­" "Let''s get going," Femradiel said. Their attacks stopped the dungeon masters, but even so, that wouldn''tst forever. After using Teleport, Ryan and Femradiel arrived right above the dungeons and in front of those two creatures. Ryan didn''t see that transparent glow in the enemies'' eyes, but he didn''t drop his guard. ??? ¨C ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... ??? ¨C ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... The two creatures looked pretty simr, so Ryan assumed that they came from the same. They didn''t have any hair on their bodies, but instead of it, they had some crystal-looking parts on the front of their bodies. The crystal of the first one was blue, and the other was red. As for their skin, it didn''t look quite like the humans. It was rough gray with traces of yellow that made it look like bones. Maybe that was some kind of full te armor. At least that was what Ryan assumed since they weren''t any clothes. Their eyes also had the same color of the crystal in front of their bodies, and they were filled with anger since Ryan and Femradiel decimated an excellent part of their army. Usually, Ryan and Femradiel would attack mercilessly to make things end as soon as possible. Still, first, they needed to have a good idea of what the enemies could do, in order to grant Nakine and his friends a good chance to face the remaining army of monsters. Before anyone could do anything, Femradiel suddenly used Teleport and then covered the blue dungeon master with ice and then teleported both of them to somewhere else. "I will take care of this one," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "¡­ Just don''t go too far away," Ryan said. "They might be nning some kind of trap, so keep your guard up." Despite the surprise attack, the red dungeon master didn''t even flinch. Either the creature didn''t care about their partner, or they did have extreme confidence in them. Either way, Ryan couldn''t afford to think about it. He had to move the battle to somewhere else, and then the pendragons would have the chance to face the zombies¡­ even though they were more or less than the same amount of health, mana, and stamina. "Let''s go somewhere else," The red dungeon master said. "I don''t want to use my monsters against you, nor do I want them to get caught in this fight." Chapter 756 - Explosive Ryan couldn''t help but frown after hearing that. That was too good to be true¡­ Most likely, the dungeon master didn''t find the pendragons yet. While Ryan was thinking if that was the case or not, he suddenly felt a shiver, and then he noticed the space distorting in front of him. Before he could react in any way, something exploded in front of him, and the impact made him fly backward. "What was that¡­" Ryan frowned. The explosion happened right in front of his right eye, but he suffered only a few scratches. However, several explosions happened in front of him, and the impact made him move backwards even more. The red dungeon master also followed him¡­ that creature was the cause of it. It was annoying to let the enemy decide where the battle will take ce, but Ryan decided to y along for the time being. After a couple of minutes, the explosions finally stopped, and Ryan found himself near a desert. The explosions didn''t cause much damage, but they sure made Ryan move far away from the dungeons. When Ryan finally stopped, he saw the enemy pointing his right index finger towards him, and before Ryan could do anything, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Ryan looked at his chest and saw a wound there, and he was bleeding quite a lot. Although he was in his human form, he couldn''t remember a fight where he suffered such a powerful attack, one that surpassed even the abilities of his eyes. The red dungeon master ''fired'' more of those weird attacks, and Ryan protected his body with his arms, but those weren''t nearly enough to decrease the damage. While he was protecting his vitals, Ryan tried to see the attacks, but he failed at doing so. It wasn''t an attack like Power of Money, he could feel the mana vibrating whenever it hit his body, but it wasn''t at the same level as Thanatos'' attacks either. After getting tired of getting bit by an attack he couldn''t understand, Ryan activated Frost Armor. Once again, he didn''t want to show too much of his skills since a massive battle happened in that area a few days ago, so some other dungeon masters might be watching the current fight. The enemy tried to hit the only part of Ryan''s body that wasn''t covered in the Frost Armor. However, the Frost Armor grew instantly and protected Ryan. Still, the amount of mana necessary to protect him wasn''t something tough at. Suddenly, Ryan used sh and then approached the dungeon master. Still, the very moment he appeared in front of the creature, another explosion happened that made his entire Frost Armor crack. Once again, Ryan was sent flying backward, but at least he didn''t suffer more than a few scratches. "Another pain in the ass¡­" Ryan sighed. Ryan summoned his Aquatic Crossbow, and the enemy couldn''t help but frown. Considering the mana the enemy could feel inside him, Ryan was obviously pulling his punches. He had to do it because those dungeon masters could cause an explosion that could destroy a massive area¡­ it wasn''t enough to destroy a of that size. Still, it was more than enough topletely decimate Ryan. The red dungeon master pointed both hands toward Ryan, and this time Ryan finally saw what happened and how the enemy attacked him. Still, before he could do anything, the explosion made him fly again. For a moment, Ryan lost consciousness, but then he healed himself before his back could hit against a mountain. Ryan''s entire body cracked, and he regretted his choice of fighting in his human form. "Shit¡­ the dungeon master is making the air vibrate," Ryan muttered while he waited for Full-Heal to mend his bones. "He is a really powerful wind mage since he can make all the air in a line vibrate causing an explosion almost instantly." Although the dungeon master was skillful and fast, their abilities had limits. The more powerful the explosion, the more time they will need to prepare and the more obvious the attack will be. By making the air in a single line that was thick as their finger, the dungeon master could cause an instantaneous explosion. Still, by creating one that was thick as their fist, it gave Ryan the chance to see them vibrating and taking the shape of a tube. Congrattions! The skill Death Sense has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. In the end, Ryan didn''t even have time to think of a countermeasure, his skill warned him of the danger, and he used Teleport to move away from the mountain. In the end, the ce he had been a moment ago trembled, and a crater appeared. Ryan finally pointed his crossbow at the dungeon master and began to fire. Still, the projectiles exploded before they could get even five meters away from the creature. The creature was skilled enough to make a barrier of vibrating air¡­ "I can use that, but¡­" Ryan thought. "I can''t show such trump cards yet." Ryan moved around by using sh since it seemed the dungeon master could only use that kind of attack in a straight line. At least the dungeon master only attacked like that so far, but then Ryan stopped and used Ice Breath. As expected, the constant explosions repelled the attack, but it didn''t exactly win trade. Thanks to it, Ryan found a way topletely nullify that kind of attack. While Ryan was using Ice Breath, he also used irvoyance to see the dungeon master from above. Soon after that, he activated Perfect Aim and pulled the trigger of his crossbow. Several bolts moved around the battlefield in a semi-circle until they moved toward the target. Still, in the end, even though the attack came from behind, the projectiles were repelled. "Whatever¡­ this guy must have a limit to its mana¡­" Ryan said. The real problem was the fact that Ryan had an even more limited mana pool in his human form. Thanks to it, he was considering the possibility of using Draconic Transformation. Still, he would need something to use alongside it. Chapter 757 - Failure Ryan needed an effective n to kill the red dungeon master before they had the chance to cause an explosion like that one they used against Alissa. Still, he couldn''t use his trump cards, at least not against regr dungeon masters. Hell, he didn''t even want to use Draconic Transformation¡­ It was a bit risky, but since that might give him some insight, Ryan used Power of Money. After canceling Ice Breath, Ryan used Power of Money, and he actually damaged the dungeon master. He aimed at the hands of the creature in order to prevent the explosion. Thanks to it, the red dungeon master couldn''t help but frown while looking at both of its hands being bombarded by an attack that they couldn''t see. Despite that, Ryan''s attacks were causing only minor scratches¡­ which was weird. Each of those attacks was supposed to cause more than two thousand points of damage¡­ the target sure didn''t look like a creature that had much more health than that. Upon realizing that Ryan''s attacks were only a minor nuisance, the dungeon master pointed their hands toward Ryan. However, the enemy was forced to stop when they saw Ryan creating what seemed to be a spear of light. That was one of Ryan''s trump cards¡­ Light Solidification! But since he already used that kind of skill against Thanatos and Belphegor, he didn''t feel the need to hide it. Instead of using the regr attacks, the creature actually summoned a Mana Barrier¡­ just as Ryan expected. Even though it was solidified, that kind of skill probably won''t repel the spear. Despite that, Ryan fired his spear anyway, and just as expected, an explosion of light enveloped the area. Before the light could dissipate, a massive sword fell down on the red dungeon master. The surprise attack caught the enemy off guard, but the Mana Barrier protected the creature from suffering direct damage. The Mana Barrier with the dungeon inside it moved downward and only stopped after hitting the ground. Unfortunately, in the few moments between the attack and the impact, the creature managed to slow the movement. Thanks to it, the red dungeon master didn''t suffer much damage. Since he wasn''t in his draconic form, he was spending a lot more energy trying to make the massive sword spin, and it wasn''t as fast as before either. Still, it was the best thing Ryan could do right now. The dungeon master canceled Mana Barrier and made the air vibrate toward Ryan, but the sword protected him. "Naturally, that thing can''t use that attack while Mana Barrier is active¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Maybe I shouldn''t have left the Vengeful Sea Crossbow with Femradiel." Ryan had an idea, but he would need that other crossbow to put it in action. Regardless, the sword gave him some time to cool his head and think of a new n. It was a bit risky, and it will be painful, but it might give him the chance to finish off the dungeon master before they can think of exploding everything. After suddenly making the sword disappear, the red dungeon master was caught off guard when Ryan approached after using Teleport. The barrier of vibrating air made Ryan''s skin explode hundreds of times in several ces, but he ignored the pain and then grabbed the creature by the neck. His powerful grip made the creature choke, but it hadn''t been enough to make the dungeon master pass out. Suddenly, all the air in the area began to vibrate, and Ryan knew that things wouldn''t end well¡­ Congrattions! The skill Death Sense has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Death Sense has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. ¡­ Suddenly, the dungeon master lost the power to control the particles of air around, and at the same time, things suddenly got very cold. When the dungeon master blinked, the creature finally noticed what had happened¡­ Ryan teleported both of them to outer space. "There is no air here," Ryan said via Telepathy. "Hence, you can''t explode anything." Although that was true, it was clear who had more health in the current situation¡­ and it wasn''t Ryan. However, he solved the issue by using Draconic Transformation. With the boost in size and power, the red dungeon master lost all the chance of escaping. Still¡­ not even with his current strength, Ryan managed to finish off the creature. Suddenly, Ryan felt an invisible barrier trying to pull him away from the dungeon master¡­ It was a wind barrier. One that was quickly dissipating since it was close to impossible to control air in outer space¡­ still, the dungeon master was almost seeding at it. The creature was trying to create an explosion¡­ in outer space. That was ridiculous¡­ but the dungeon master sure had enough mana to try to improvise. Out of nowhere, Ryan suddenly lost sight of everything. He still could sense that he was holding the dungeon master on his left hand, but something changed. It didn''t take long for Ryan to understand that the son of a bitch suddenly created a massive sphere of the earth around them and quickly filled the interior with air. "Fuck me¡­" Ryan said. The dungeon master made the interior of the sphere explode. In the end, Ryan could have escaped by using Teleport, but he would have saved the dungeon master as well. He could have let the creature go, but he wouldn''t let it escape right at that moment. Ryan''s skin and scales were pulled off by the explosion, and his health reached dangerous levels, but he never let the dungeon master go. "Finally¡­ annoying asshole," Ryan thought and then activated Mana Barrier to sigh and escape from the damage that he was receiving in outer space. The dungeon master finally stopped moving¡­ not because they were dead, but because Ryan was using Memory Maniption. Everything didn''t go exactly as nned, but Ryan won. Still, just to make sure the creature won''t notice anything weird, Ryan drained all its mana with the Soul Eater. Chapter 758 - Vibrating Crossbow While Ryan made the dungeon see the moment he caused that explosion several times, Soul Eater drained all of its mana. A dungeon master of that level would notice it was weird sooner orter. That is why Ryan made sure to make the creature experience those seconds, and then Ryan replicated the memory before deleting it. It was a pretty nasty way to defeat an enemy, but Ryan would do anything to reach his goals. "I wished that I had thought of this sooner¡­ by teleporting to far away, no one would be able to find us fast enough, thus I wouldn''t have to hold back anymore," Ryan said. "Oh, well¡­ liv and learn." Although Soul Eater was draining lots of mana every second, it took quite a while for the dungeon master to run out of juice. The reason being was the crystal-like parts on their bodies¡­ it served like a battery that could store more energy than their bodies could withstand. Regardless, Ryan used that same mana to fuel his n, and eventually, the dungeon master fell. You obtained 195.956.325 coins. Vibrating Crossbow Effect: it grants you the power to fire a beam of vibrating air at supersonic speeds. The damage will be equal to your dexterity plus your intelligence and a certain percentage based on the levels of all your elemental skills rted to wind. Cost: 1500 mana per second. Dexterity + 700, Intelligence + 500 Durability: 400/400 "I should have made a crossbow made of mithril sooner¡­" Ryan said. "Still, this weapon will be pretty useful." It was weird to have a crossbow that could fire a continuous beam of wind magic. Still, it sounded pretty cool¡­ Ryan suddenly recalled that Femradiel still was fighting, and then he returned to that area, only to find another massive crater and Femradiel covered in blood holding the blue dungeon master by the neck. "Are you fine?" Ryan asked. "Yeah¡­ just dropped my guard for a second," Femradiel said. "The Ice Phoenix saved me." It looked like Femradiel used her familiars to fight. Ryan tried to summon the Ice Phoenix. Still, he failed¡­ he will need a lot more mana to summon her since she lost all her lives protecting Femradiel. It was weird to refer to them as different entities, but Ryan couldn''t help but do so. "What about the other battlefield?" Femradiel asked. Ryan used irvoyance to check things with Nakine, and then he frowned¡­ he saw them overwhelming the army of zombies. While they could do a lot more since they could fly, something was off¡­ the number of pendragons had increased a lot. After healing their wounds, Ryan and Femradiel approached Nakine, and even though he was a serious dragon that had to endure his species being hunted down and humiliated by the dungeon masters, he weed them with a smile. He was in a good mood since his species won a battle against the dungeon masters for the first time in hundreds of years. "Who are these guys?" Ryan asked. "The members of another tribe, they came to help," Nakine said. "How would they know that we were going to attack the dungeon masters?" Ryan frowned, visibly irritated since he already knew the answer. "My apologies, I said that to them," Nakine said. "I asked for their help by informing them that we would attack the dungeon masters, but they didn''t think that we would actually win, so they never answered if they were going to help us or not." Ryan didn''t dislike rational people. When things changed on Earth, Ryan himself made many choices where he avoided unnecessary danger. Still, he never joined a fight after someone started, and that made his chances of winning and surviving increase. Still, he couldn''t evenin since he was being paid to help. "Whatever¡­ just select the dragons who will take the domains," Ryan said. "We won''t get the coins; the new dungeon masters should use them to make the new spawned monsters'' level up faster." A lot of the dragons didn''t like Ryan''s attitude and tone, but they didn''t have the nerve toin. They could understand the hesitation of their allies, but they also could understand the reason behind Ryan''s anger. After giving a hand in order to finish of the remaining zombies, Ryan and Femradiel decided to rest for a short while. They couldn''t stay still and let the new monsters hit them for three days straight again, but helping them level up at least for a single day was necessary. Not to mention, they needed to give Alissa the chance to find them if she still was in the area. Unfortunately, it looked like she wasn''t. While Ryan and Femradiel were helping the new dungeon masters, Nakine and his group spent the day freeing the dragons on the domains. Many of them weakened quite a bit during decades of confinement. Most of them had been drugged to stay unconscious and being unable to react in any way. It was insane that many of those resisted for decades, but those who had been captured more than one hundred years ago¡­ those didn''t survive. "I guess this is a warning for us," Ryan said. "What warning?" Femradiel asked. "These dungeon masters have been capturing dragons for the past centuries, in order to gain power, but they still lost to us," Ryan exined. "To obtain true power, I can''t afford to take any shortcuts." "Well, there is also the fact that we didn''t try to face both of them head-on at the same time," Femradiel said. "They underestimated us." That seemed to be the case, but Ryan assumed that something else was missing in the end. The dungeon masters were powerful, but even if they worked together, Ryan doubted that they would win a battle of two vs. two. If Ryan and Femradiel went all out from the very beginning, they would have won regardless. Ryan concluded that the dungeon masters used a lot of their resources and power to take down Femradiel and ultimately failed thanks to it. Once they heard that the dungeon masters didn''t have any mithril on their domains, that hypothesis was proved. Chapter 759 - Draconic Archer For the sake of appearances, Ryan decided to let Nakine call the shots. He would decide when to move and how to proceed. Two hundred pendragons were working with them now, and their morale could only be raised by one of them. "We are ready to go," Nakine said. "Finally," Ryan said. "My apologies, it took a while to convince the older dragons to let you two use the crystal of their tribe," Nakine exined. "While you helped us and it is thanks to you that we won this battle, it still is something that never happened before¡­ let creatures of other species use it." The battle happened on one side of the First Ice Mountains, and the second tribe was located on the other. They traveled for three hours, but they didn''t find any vige¡­ until the dragons led them to an underground route. Weirdly enough, the second tribe had an underground base. Thanks to that, they managed to stay in that location for two hundred years, but also, thanks to that, the dragons seemed weaker than Nelron, who was a young dragon ifpared to them. When Ryan and Femradiel approached the crystal, all the dragons formed a circle to confirm that there was a weird species that had their blood. It was surprising that they didn''t know about humans, even though they have been part of the mana system for so long. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Archer! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Eyes, Draconic Bow, and Draconic Dexterity. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Eyes. Effect: It grants you the power to see mana directly and even inside the body of others. You can also find traces of mana in the ambient. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Bow. Effect: It grants the power to summon a special bow that is created by using your very soul that will cause damage ording to your spirit level. Cost: all your mana You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Dexterity. Effect: It permanently increases your dexterity by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. "I am starting to get addicted to this," Ryan said. "At this pace, my dexterity will reach the fifth thousand mark in the blink of an eye." "Are you putting all the extra points in dexterity?" Femradiel frowned. "You are too focused on causing damage with long-ranged weapons, even though you always try to use cheap tricks instead of them." Only on special asions," Ryan said. "Anyway, when are we going to attack the next dungeon masters?" Nakine looked at his allies and wondered about it. Ryan knew that the second tribe wasn''t that strong and that the dragons that had been freed will need some time to recover their strength. However, they didn''t have time to wait. "The next dungeon masters are more powerful and cautious, while they don''t work together, they have been in this world for three centuries," Nakine said. "Defeating them won''t be easy, even more so because the situations of the captured dragons are a bit different." "How so?" Ryan asked. "The dragons have been put under a powerful illusory spell and now they have be a part of the enemy''s army," Nakine exined. "All of the next targets are good at using that kind of technique, that is why I wanted some time to prepare, the weaker we are, theter we will notice if we fall under their illusions and theter we notice, the harder it will be to free ourselves from it." Ryan had some experience with illusions. When he faced the subus, and when he met Thanatos for the first time, he used an illusion-like spell to read his mind. Still, it has been too long, and he never had to deal with that kind of power directly. Not to mention, the enemies this time were dungeon masters stronger than the previous ones, so not even Ryan knew what to expect. "What about the monsters under their control?" Ryan asked. "They are endurance type monsters that are pretty good at long-ranged attacks," Nakine exined. "They are Electric Golems, Iron Golems, and Ice Golems." That was weird¡­ the dungeon masters weren''t allies, but their skills were simr, and even the type of monsters they controlled was the same¡­ that was too much of a coincidence. "As if their powers and armies aren''t enough, they each have fifty dragons under their control," Nakine added. "We won''t be able to take the armies and our friends at the same time. Rather, we don''t want to kill them." "... Why are their skills, armies and number of dragons so even?" Femradiel frowned. "I don''t know, but whenever a big fight starts, they try to interfere and attack each other," Nakine replied. "Maybe it is some time ofpetition between dungeon masters, but thanks to it, some dragons managed to escape from their ambushes while they fought against each other." The next mission seemed a pretty difficult and weird one, but Ryan still didn''t want to wait for too long. Considering that they were mage-types and too big of an attack will be detected by them, so Ryan won''t be able to take their armies with the usually concentrated strike from above. "I guess our only option is to take the fight to their turf," Ryan said. "If we are fast enough, the other dungeon masters won''t notice and thus interfere. Let''s use the old stealth tactic." "I wonder if things will be that simple¡­" Femradiel said. Ryan didn''t like to hear that because Femradiel always is right in some way or the other. Not to mention, thest time she said something like that, Ryan picked the wrong fight, and Femradiel ended up captured. Ryan will have to use some countermeasures in order to prevent that kind of trouble. Chapter 760 - No Shit In the end, Nakine decided to use the same strategy. Ryan and Femradiel will deal with the dungeon masters, and his group will fight the minions and the dragons. Once the first dungeon master falls, the tide of the battle will change since they will gain fifty allies. "Since that is the strategy, we will just take with us anyone that can actually fight right now," Nakine said. "It would be better if some of them could gain the power of the crystal in our vige, but I suppose it can''t be helped." That annoyed Ryan a little. While it was true that things would be more convenient if he waited for the others, he didn''t want to stay away from Earth for an entire month. Ten days had already passed, and he didn''t have the chance to check things with Arthur and Zoe even a single time during this time. That kind of worry might cause ulcers in his stomach someday¡­ As soon as night fell, the group left the second vige and headed toward their destination. After a few hours, they found the ce where they could see all of the three dungeons with the help of irvoyance. Weirdly enough, the dungeons were in some inds that could be found in thergestke of that world, and it was called the Mythical Fountain since one of the seventh dragons that escaped from the ws of the corruption spent more of their time there. Electric Golem Lv Max Health: 77.000/77.000 Mana: 51.000/51.000 Stamina: 51.000/51.000 Strength: 9500 (+ 1300) Dexterity: 3500 Speed: 3300 Intelligence: 2500 Endurance: 15.000 (+ 1400) Control: 3300 Mentality: 6000 (+ 1500) Luck: 1500 Recovery: 12.000 (+ 4000) Willpower: 6000 (+ 1500) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Electric Touch Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Electric Layer Lv Max, Bronze Skin Lv Max¡­ Spells: Electric Punch Lv Max, Electric Arrow Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max¡­ Iron Golem Lv Max Health: 77.000/77.000 Mana: 51.000/51.000 Stamina: 51.000/51.000 Strength: 9500 (+ 1300) Dexterity: 3500 Speed: 3300 Intelligence: 2500 Endurance: 15.000 (+ 1400) Control: 3300 Mentality: 6000 (+ 1500) Luck: 1500 Recovery: 12.000 (+ 4000) Willpower: 6000 (+ 1500) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bullet Barrage Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Iron Layer Lv Max, Steel Skin Lv Max¡­ Spells: Iron Punch Lv Max, Iron Arrow Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max¡­ "Obviously, they are much more powerful than my Golems," Ryan thought. "Still, it seems they have more than a few tricks up their sleeves." Dragging too much that fight against the dungeon masters might cause some problems since the Golems had high endurance and long-ranged attacks. While that was his n anyway, perhaps Ryan will have to increase his pace even more than usual. "Maybe we should split up the work again, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Not happening," Femradiel said. "We will be faster if we work together, not to mention, I also have a bad feeling today¡­" "How ominous of you to say that soon before an important battle¡­" Ryan said. Despite his words, Ryan engraved Femradiel''s words in his heart. She was smart and had good instincts, so the chances of them finding something weird on the other side of the dungeon were pretty high. Ryan looked around, trying to find a moon in the sky, but he didn''t find one. It was a pity, but he had other options. After selecting the Electric Golems dungeon, he looked for the bosses'' location and, after memorizing them, decided to put his n into motion. "All right, we are going," Ryan said. "You can attack when you see fit, but if I were you, I would attack as soon as we enter the dungeon." "Understood," Nakine said. Ryan and Femradiel approached the dungeon, but they didn''t rush it since the dragons would have to follow them from behind. In the end, they only attacked when they were close enough to the dungeon to teleport to the entrance. Ryan summoned the Absolute Death Crossbow and pulled the trigger several times in an arrow, making the bosses'' head explode instantly. The creatures had no chance of defending against it, so it was only natural that they would fall without putting up much of a fight. You obtained 20.000 coins. You obtained 20.000 coins. You obtained 20.000 coins. ¡­ Ryan was holding Soul Eater in order not to run out of mana. Still, once he finished the bosses, Femradiel was the one who teleported them to the interior of the dungeon. Once they were there, they rushed to find thest part of the dungeon. Hopefully, they would find the dungeon master waiting for them there as well, but that didn''t happen. Ryan and Femradiel only found the purple crystal. When they touched the crystal, they felt the environment change drastically. If the dragon worlds were night, on the next one, it was a day. Things were as bright as they could be since Ryan and Femradiel appeared in the middle of a scorching desert. Before they could look for the enemy, the enemy found them¡­ but naturally, things wouldn''t be simple like that¡­ they saw themselves surrounded by a massive army of bald men wearing a weird set of armor that reflected a lot of the light¡­ no, it wasn''t an army of bald men¡­ it was several copies of a single man. "It seems the surprise attack failed," Femradiel said. "No shit, Sherlock," Ryan said. Ryan tried to use Appraisal on those creatures, but the skill didn''t work. Not even Absolute Appraisal worked, which showed that those weren''t real¡­ they were illusions. Regardless, it wasn''t time to wonder about that. Ryan used Draconic Transformation and began to fly toward the illusory copies while using Ice Breath. That certainly was the best way to destroy the copies and then find out the original. Still, as usual, it would take a while for Ryan to understand that things wouldn''t be that simple. Chapter 761 - Surprise Ryan''s Ice Breath made the copies disappear, but after a few moments, they would appear on the same spot as if nothing had happened. Ryan was fast¡­ but not fast enough to destroy all of those at the same time. After fiveps, Ryan grew tired of that and decided to change his ns. "Can you pinpoint the dungeon master''s position, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "No¡­ thisrger concentration of mana is messing with my senses," Femradiel said. Therge concentration of mana was due to the illusions, there were close to ten thousand copies, so it wasn''t surprising that they were messing with Femradiel senses. Those fuckers were being used to fool their eyes and other senses as well. For some reason, the dungeon master wasn''t attacking Ryan. In fact, it was kind of hard to say that the dungeon master was nearby. One mistake, and the creature might get hit by Ryan''s Ice Breath. Once that happens, Ryan can easily find the original. In the end, Ryan tried to move away from that spot in order to find the crystal of the domain. Once he does that, finding the dungeon master should be easier. However, the illusory copies followed him while maintaining their perfect circle. Ryan decided to ignore them, but as it turned out, they weren''t there just to make him waste his time. Ryan and Femradiel noticed that their eyesight was getting blurry, not because of the heat of the desert but because of the copies. Congrattions! Your Illusion Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! Your Illusion Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! Your Illusion Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ "It seems the mana they are emanating is affecting our bodies," Femradiel said. Ryan sighed. He was getting impatient again, but it was only natural since he couldn''t waste time in a ce like that. Without any other choice, Ryan summoned his magic bows and then used them alongside Arrow Shower. Much faster than before, the illusions were destroyed and took a while for those to reappear, but Ryan achieved his goal of stopping the mana from messing with their senses. It was a bit of a risky n since Ryan was using too much mana, but so was the dungeon master keeping the fuckers active. In the end, Ryan''s n of expanding his mana to make the dungeon spend even more mana worked. Very suddenly, Femradiel stopped watching the battle and then looked above them. "I sense something above us," Femradiel said. "Why so sudden?" Ryan asked. "Are you sure it isn''t a trap?" "I felt something like arge concentration of mithril¡­ most likely, the dungeon master is running out of batteries," Femradiel said. Ryan teleported to above, and then he saw the very moment a small point began to disappear. The dungeon master was really controlling the illusions from above¡­ Regardless, his n of running away again didn''t work because Ryan''s Absolute Appraisal and his eyes were very good. Tarragon Health: 51.000/51.000 Mana: 189.000/189.000 Stamina: 19.000/19.000 Strength: 4600 (+ 1100) Dexterity: 8500 (+ 900) Speed: 6600 Intelligence: 21.650 (+ 3600) Endurance: 5500 (+ 1400) Control: 11.100 Mentality: 9000 (+ 2500) Luck: 1500 Recovery: 26.000 (+ 9000) Willpower: 9000 (+ 2500) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 450¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv Max, Improved Intelligence Lv Max, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 740, Augmented Intelligence Lv 320¡­ Spells: Illusion Magic Lv Max, Charm Magic Lv Max, Summon Electric Golem Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max, Illusion Resistance Lv Max¡­ "What a dumbass¡­ he didn''t keep Mind Armor or any spell like that active," Ryan said. Before the enemy could, Ryan used Search and found the asshole''s location. Without wasting any time, Ryan and Femradiel bombarded the area with magic projectiles. Ryan would have finished the creature with the Absolute Death Crossbow if he could, but he needed to see the enemy for the projectiles to work. In the end, the attacks worked and forced the dungeon master to cancel the illusions by using Mana Barrier. That being said, the creature didn''t receive any damage. Tarragon was exactly like his copies, so Ryan didn''t take notice of his appearance. Instead of that, he kept firing arrows as he flew toward the dungeon master. The creature didn''t do anything aside from trying to escape in his semi-indestructible barrier of mana. "It seems he can''t use his illusions inside the Mana Barrier," Femradiel said. "Let''s not jump to conclusions," Ryan said. "Thest time I did that, I lost all the scales on this body." Femradiel wasn''t the type to underestimate her foes, but prudence was necessary more than ever. Still, Ryan could tell by looking at the dungeon master that she was probably right. The creature waspletely taken by fear¡­ given how many years the dungeon master has been capturing dragons, Ryan assumed that was insane. Unless¡­ he didn''t have much experience in situations like those, where he couldn''t use his best powers. Using the Absolute Death Crossbow seemed a bit too much for an enemy of that level. Still, Ryan didn''t hesitate in using the Vibrating Crossbow. The creature trembled from head to toe when the Mana Barrier began to shake. However, despite that, the dungeon master eventually stopped, and Ryan stopped as well, not because he didn''t need to chase the dungeon master any longer, but because he saw two others approaching, and they were pretty identical with the first one. Not only that, they were using the same pieces of armor. "What the hell is going on here?" Ryan frowned. "In the end, my instincts are always right¡­" Femradiel said. It didn''t take long for Ryan to connect the dots. The three dungeon masters didn''t have the same skills, preference for monsters. They werepeting with one another for no reason¡­ but because they were from the same species and lived in the same world. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 89 (+ 07 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 94 (+ 03 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 88 (+ 08 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 16932/16932 (25,25/s) Mana: 17725/17725 (25,25/s) Stamina: 19330/19330 (25,25/s) Strength: 881 (+4322) (+130) Dexterity: 35493 (+12255) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+8510) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+5921) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+5295) (+160) Control: 1476 (8450) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+4195) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+2760) Recovery: 5850 (+8250) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+4293) (+40) Coins: 390.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Arrow Shower Lv 92 (+ 15 UP), Chi Explosion Lv 13 (+ 06 UP), Draconic Sword Lv Max, Draconic Bow Lv Max Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 179 (+ 10 UP), Concentration Lv 179 (+ 10 UP), Archery Lv 179 (+ 10 UP), uracy Lv 179 (+ 10 UP), Stealth Lv 179 (+ 10 UP), Xenolingualism Lv Max, Draconic Hunger Lv Max, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 210 (+ 35 UP), Frost Armor Lv 204 (+ 35 UP), Ice Breath Lv 224 (+ 35 UP), Teleport Lv 182 (+ 12 UP) eleration Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Skill Bestowal 09 (+ 05 UP), Memory Maniption Lv 11 (+ 04 UP), Support Skills: Illusion Resistance Lv 41 (+ 30 UP), Sloth Aura Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), sses: Combat: Crystal Archer Lv 68 (+ 03 UP), Marksman Lv 78 (+ 06 UP), Mad Archer Lv 38 (+ 08), Fallen Archer Lv 32 (+ 07 UP), Draconic Knight Lv 01, Draconic Archer Lv 02 (+ 01 UP) Non-Combatant: Trickster Lv 37 (+ 04 UP) Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 762 - Necessity Even Femradiel couldn''t help but flinch while looking at the three dungeon masters. Fortunately, it didn''t look like they came to help each other. Tarragon was as much surprised as Ryan and Femradiel. "It seems that you are in a bad spot, Tarragon," One of the dungeon masters that just arrived said. "You are getting carelesstely, aren''t you?" The other dungeon master asked. "To think that you would let enemiese to our world so easily..." ??? ¨C ??? Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... Since the other dungeon masters weren''t stupid enough to join the battle without activating some defensive spells to hide their status, Ryan would never discover their names. Not like he was actually interested in it. Instead of asking, he decided to refer to them as dungeon masters one, two, and three. Although he could be disrespectful to that extent in his mind, Ryan couldn''t underestimate them in real battle. They might not be that good in a realbat, but their skills were the real deal. While the tension was rising thanks to the stares of the three dungeon masters, Ryan summoned the massive sword that he gained a few days ago. "I will control this, focus on using your usual attacks," Femradiel said. "All right," Ryan said. The three dungeon masters faced Ryan and Femradiel, but the massive sword hit them before they could do anything. Unfortunately, a Mana Barrier appeared and protected them. Ryan created magic copies of his Vibrating Crossbow and attacked all of them at the same time. While those attacks were costing a stupid amount of mana, he couldn''t afford to kill one of them at a time. That kind of attack worked pretty well. First, Ryan could even see the Mana Barrier growing weakly. Still, in the end, he also saw the dungeon masters making some pieces of mithril show up and then get absorbed by their hands. Once that happened, the power of the Mana Barrier worked. "Maybe you should have focused on taking one at a time, after all," Femradiel said. Perhaps Ryan could have seeded if he had focused his attacks on a single target, perhaps not. Either way, he just realized that things won''t be so simple anymore. Before Ryan could think of another tactic, he noticed the three dungeon masters disappearing like mirages. However, once Ryan used Absolute Zero and froze everything around, they appeared. They were forced to use Mana Barrier in order to save themselves. In order to prevent them from trying to escape again, Ryan summoned copies of the Spiritualist''s Crossbow and attacked all three at the same time while Perfect Aim was active. That should work for a while¡­ "Why don''t we use the Draconic Bow?" Femradiel asked. "It should be the best weapon in our arsenal right now. Besides, sooner orter, we should see what that is capable of." "It costs too much mana," Ryan replied. "Both of us can''t use it at the same time." Femradiel understood the meaning Behind Ryan''s words, but she waited patiently. The dungeon masters grew tired of staying on the defense and finally summoned some golems right above Ryan¡­ Although they were from the same species and were enemies, it seemed that their way of thinking was absurdly simr. Before the creatures could attack Ryan, he teleported to the right below them and then opened his mouth to swallow them. Hopefully, Ryan won''t regret that¡­ Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. You recovered five hundred points of mana. Congrattions! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up. You recovered five hundred points of mana. Congrattions! The skill Earth Transformation has leveled up. You recovered five hundred points of mana. Just like the dungeon masters, Ryan frowned when he saw those notifications. He expected that Draconic Hunger could work even against monsters, but not that well. Ryan decided to charge at them while they were surprised, but in the end, he had to select one since they were too far away from each other. "It is time, Femradiel," Ryan said. Femradiel nodded when Ryan said that, and then he teleported to right behind the first dungeon master. He tried to grab the creature, but the Mana Barrier got in the way. However, a massive ice bow appeared below them and fired an equally massive arrow toward the dungeon master. The shot alone made the entire area vibrate, but things only got crazier when the projectile hit the target. The Mana Barrier protected the dungeon master¡­ for a short time. Ryan saw the exact moment that the mana of the target ended one moment after the impact, and then the massive arrow exploded, making all of them in the area move backward. It wasn''t an elemental explosion. It was an explosion of pure mana¡­ thanks to that, Ryan knew that the resistances of the creature would be useless. Still, even before the dust cloud that the explosion caused could disappear, he already knew the result. You obtained 2.362.952 coins. "Only this much?" Ryan frowned. Although Ryanined, he knew the reason why he obtained so little coins. It was because Femradiel did all the work. At the end, when the dust cloud disappeared, they saw a massive hole in the desert. It was as big as the one the previous dungeon masters caused. That wasn''t surprising, given that Femradiel used all her energy to do that. "I suddenly feel like crap¡­" Femradiel said, visibly exhausted. "Remember me not to use this skill again unless it is absolutely necessary." Ryan wished that he could say that he would, but he didn''t have time for it in the end. The other two dungeon masters decided to run away, and they went in two opposite directions¡­ things have taken a troublesome turn. Ryan and Femradiel will have to split up again, but she won''t have time to recover, so he gave her Soul Eater. Chapter 763 - Illusory Crossbow Although Ryan had no idea how to find the dungeon master, Femradiel told him the direction in which she could feel the presence of another crystal domain. Naturally, he found it, alongside with a barrier protecting an army of ice golems inside. Apparently, the dungeon master decided to follow a roundabout path, but Ryan couldn''t care less about it. He bombarded the barrier. It didn''t take long for Ryan to see some golems suddenly dropping on his back, the dungeon master was nearby, and he didn''t want to face Ryan directly. Perhaps the creature didn''t even have the skills for a proper fight, and that idea only enticed Ryan to attack even more vehemently than before, even though the golems were damaging his back. "I can do this all day, bitch," Ryan muttered. "I have the power of an ice dragon." Ryan said that as loudly as he could because, in the end, he will have to kill the dungeon master in order to obtain the domain. The dungeon master didn''t show up, but the ice golems inside the barrier began to move and fire magic projectiles at Ryan. They were barely causing any damage, but even one hundred ant bites were bound to cause some. The rain of ice spears kept falling for quite a while. Still, then before Ryan could think of changing his strategy, he saw some dragons appearing inside the domain¡­ It looked like the dungeon master finally decided to use them. "Son of a bitch¡­" Ryan said and then clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, much to Ryan''s surprise, the dragons began to attack the ice golems still inside the barrier. Ryan frowned for a short while, and then he saw Nakine appearing as well. It seems that they won the battle on the other side. "Great¡­ now we just have to find that annoying bitch," Ryan said. Finding someone that was only good at three things, but one of those things was to hide, wouldn''t be easy, but Ryan didn''t have to waste time thinking about that. That massive desert was a pain in the ass. Finding anything human-sized would be difficult, but Ryan decided to use his best weapons for the task: his eyes. He was naturally good, thanks to his massive dexterity. Still, now with Draconic Eyes, he could even find traces of mana. After teleporting to above the domain, Ryan began to look around in order to find any traces of mana. The dungeon master didn''t have anywhere to run aside from his own domain since the others would be locked by a barrier. It didn''t take long for Ryan to find some traces of mana and then find a humanoid figure that had a lot of mana. Again, his eyes were that good. Fortunately, since he was so far away, the dungeon master didn''t notice what Ryan did. From his perspective, Ryan had only disappeared. Killing the enemy would be easy. Ryan just has to use Draconic Bow. Still, in the end, he was really interested in the illusory skills of the creature¡­ if they could brainwash dragons, those skills couldn''t be looked down upon. Or maybe they should, since Ryan and Femradiel never gave them the chance to fall under any decent spell. After thinking for a while, Ryan had an idea. The fool couldn''t use Mana Barrier while it uses his illusory powers to hide himself, so Ryan could easily snipe the dungeon master. Once he chops off his limbs, the pain will make the creature unable to chant any spell. It seemed like an overkill, but Ryan summoned his Absolute Death Crossbow, it wasn''t time to pull his punches, and he had to help Femradiel. Once Ryan made up his mind, he pulled the trigger four times, and the four limbs of the dungeon master exploded. The creature fell on the desert without noticing what happened. Only after a few seconds, the pain took over his entire mind. In the blink of an eye, Ryan teleported toward the dungeon master and then finished the job. You obtained 99.932.698 coins. Illusory Crossbow Effect: At the cost of three hundred points of mana, it grants the power to make your targets see illusory copies of yourself for three seconds. The effect can stack, but it can only work if the bolts fired cause some damage. Dexterity + 500, Intelligence + 500 Durability: 200/200 "Not bad, I guess," Ryan nodded to himself. Without wasting any time, Ryan turned around in order to search for Femradiel. Still, he stopped when he actually used Search and found her approaching¡­ once again. She finished the job faster than him. "Hi there, slowpoke," Femradiel said. "It is just me or am I finishing our targets faster than youtely?" "Careful not to fall from your high horse," Ryan said. "I can say the same thing about you, can''t I?" Femradiel asked. "Maybe?" Ryan shrugged. The mission was finished faster than Ryan thought, even though Femradiel imagined that things would getplicated. They actually did when the two dungeon masters showed up. Still, they were too dumb and decided not to fight together to defeat theirmon enemy. "It seems you two are alive and well," Nakine said when Ryan and Femradiel approached. "I didn''t imagine that we would aplish this so fast." "How did you exterminate the three armies outside?" Ryan asked. "Some allies from the nearest vige came and helped us," Nakine replied. "They are stronger than most of us, so their help quickly changed the tide of the battle. Not to mention, they showed up the very moment you defeated the first dungeon master, so in the blink of an eye, we got the help of two hundred new allies." It looked like even the dragons that were under the illusion spell helped them. In the end, that wasn''t unexpected. The dungeon masters kept them alive and well because they would be useless without their strength. In any case, things were going well, almost half of the job was almostplete, but Ryan couldn''t help but worry since Alissa didn''t show up until now. Chapter 764 - Draconic Warrior Once again, Ryan, Femradiel, and the others spent one day dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Although the momentum was on their side, they couldn''t afford to just look for the other fight. ording to Nakine, things will only get moreplicated, even though they had more powerful allies on their side, and the reason for that was the power of the next enemies. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Warrior! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Health, Draconic Strength, and Draconic Endurance. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Health. Effect: It permanently increases your health by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Strength. Effect: It permanently increases your Strength by one hundred points by each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Endurance. Effect: It permanently increases your endurance by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Fortunately, the new ss improved Ryan''s mood. He had been fighting with his fists a lottely, but he wasn''t obtaining the results that he wanted. Perhaps with this power-up, things will change a little bit. Otherwise, Ryan will have to give up on using the advantage of his size during some fights. That didn''t seem like a good idea. Ryan felt like he would gain more by scaring his opponents first, since dragons were scary, and then use his best long-ranged skills to finish off the bastards. While Ryan and Femradiel were helping the new dungeon masters to level up their monsters, Nakine suddenly stopped and then looked in the direction of the tribe that just joined their side. Ryan imagined that the dragons there were talking with him via Telepathy. In the end, it seemed that Nakine didn''t get some good news because as soon as he turned around, he faced Ryan and Femradiel. "It is about your friend," Nakine said looking a bit worried for some reason. "It seems that she decided to pick a fight with our next targets." "Who is she fighting with? How far is she now?" Ryan asked. "If she is fighting, I assume that she things that she can win." "We don''t know their names, but we know that one of them is a mad warrior and another is one who provides him with all sorts of weapons made of mithril," Nakine said. "The quality of their equipment is much better than anything we created over thousands of years. As for the distance between the battlefield and this ce¡­ at your top speed it should be six hours. We heard that the battle just started, can your friendst so long?" It seems that they finally found some elder gods. Still, Ryan couldn''t tell who they were based only on that little information. As for Nakine''s question, Ryan had no idea. Even the logical Femradiel wanted to believe in Alissa, but by fighting alone and when her mind has been so much unstabletely¡­ that fight might trigger her Transformation to a Cursed Dragon. "I see¡­ well, we are going ahead and do the clean-up of the terrain for you guys, so don''t take your time," Ryan said. "We can go with you, this fight won''t be like the others, we really should work together," Nakine said. "We can''t, we won''t risk missing Alissa this time," Ryan said. "We will go ahead alone since it will be faster. As you said, this fight won''t be like the others, so don''t worry, you will arrive on time." In the end, Nakine decided not to insist. He could tell by looking Ryan in the eye that he won''t break his promise, but he couldn''t risk failing with Alissa as well. Regardless, Ryan picked his Soul Eater and then used it after telling him which direction he should go. "Do you have any idea why Alissa picked a fight with two elder gods?" Ryan asked. "She was pretty good at finding monsters even when Orgar was around, so she should be even better than before. Unless she forgot her original goal, she should have felt arge concentration of dragons." "You know her for longer, I should be the one to ask that," Femradiel replied. "Well, my guess is that she already knows that the dragons here can''t give the answer that she wants and decides to ask the elder gods with her fists since she doesn''t want to look for another world and another species of dragons." That sounded like something even the Alissa of six months ago would do. Regardless, given the powers that Thanatos and Belphegor had, Ryan would bet that she was on the right track. Still, from another perspective, it was crazy just to pick a fight with random elder gods. She should look for the ones like those who have the power to revive the dead or control the mind of others as they see fit. "Now that I think about it, I can''t help but wonder if it is actually possible to recover Orgar''s mind," Ryan said. "He said that their pact would turn their minds into one, and even if she finds a way to rebuild her body, I can''t imagine that separating the pieces of a mind to create another one is a simple thing to do." "She probably has that power, since I have as well, Alissa just needs the mana to create a body, but¡­" Femradiel hesitated. "Dragons aren''t supposed to be that good at controlling kinds. The only way I can imagine her seeding is by copying her own mind and deleting her memories and then transnting to another vessel leaving only Orgar''s memories. But would that be the real way to revive Orgar?" Chapter 765 - Alissa Ryan was wondering that himself. Most likely, it was just a method to create a copy. But from another perspective, Orgar didn''t die, so he couldn''t be revived¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if Alissa had those questions in her mind. She probably thought of that, and that was why she was looking for the knowledge of dragons. The older they are, the more knowledge they have, after all. Nakine said that the trio wouldst for six hours, but since Ryan was using Soul Eater, it only took them one hour to reach the region where the battle had taken ce. There were some mountains here and there, but overall, the ce was basically a massive grasnd¡­ a massive grasnd that was trembling in hundreds of kilometers in all directions because some crazy individuals were fighting. Ryan and Femradiel approached a bit more slowly while trying to hide their presence since the battle seemed lively, so most likely, Alissa still was fine. After a while, they found Femradiel in her draconic form. In the end, she wasn''t much different from Ryan. The dark marks on her body were even more prominent and more considerable. The only difference was that the other parts weren''t blue but silver. Alissa Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... sses: Combat: ???, ???, ???... Non-Combatant: ???, ???, ???... Ryan tried to check her status, but he failed. In the end, he quickly forgot about that; when Alissa opened her mouth, a massive cannon of light flew to the distance. Ryan and Femradiel didn''t even have the chance to check the enemy, and they imagined they would never have the chance to do so because Alissa''s attack left a path of destruction. The beam of energy even melted the ground¡­ still, what surprised Ryan was the fact that her attack didn''t have any signs of corruption. In any case, after a few moments, a certain figure fell from the sky and thennded on the magma as if it was nothing. The figure was wearing a full set of mithril equipment and resembled a human quite a lot. The red hair and the red eyes that had a transparent glow. It was really an elder god, but that one was different from all the others. He was taller, and instead of special armor and weapons, he only had simple items made of mithril. They probably were possible, but they didn''t look more powerful than Thanatos'' scythe and Poseidon''s trident. The elder god had two short axes in his hands. He also had a horned helmet on his head. If it weren''t for the whole te armor that he was using, Ryan would think that he was some Norse elder god. Tyr Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... "Tyr? Isn''t that the Norse god of war?" Ryan frowned. "Oh, boy... things just keep getting better and better." Now the two axes started to make sense. Still, Ryan didn''t imagine that a Norse elder god would use full te armor. Regardless, even though the armor seemed pretty durable, Tyr decided to dodge the attack. Thanks to that, Alissa was hesitating. Even from far away, Ryan could hear her fist and teeth clenching. She looked angry as hell. If Ryan approaches suddenly, he might be the next target. "What is the n?" Femradiel asked. "This is going to be very difficult." "It doesn''t look like she needs our help right now, even though they have been fighting for over an hour, their bodies are almostpletely fine," Ryan said. "I am more worried about the fact that we can only see Tyr. Not to mention, his army of monsters isn''t around." After using irvoyance, Ryan found the dungeon a few kilometers away, and he found an army of winged creatures whose bodies were covered in fur. They didn''t seem that powerful, so Ryan decided to ignore them. Tyr suddenly charged toward Alissa, and instead of blocking the attack, she tried to slice in half with her ws, but in the end, her hands and the axes were the only things that collided. For some reason, Tyr looked a bit bigger, maybe it was the tension in the muscles he was exercising, or perhaps it was due to something else. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but frown at it since he was three meters tall. In the end, Alissa began to lose the contest of strength. Still, in the end, she clenched her teeth, and without activating any skill, she suddenly began to push Tyr backward. It was kind of shocking to see an elder god losing such a direct confrontation. Ryan didn''t imagine humans would be able to do that. He didn''t expect that any human would be crazy enough to fight them without some preparations. In any case, it was a pretty good chance for Alissa to use some spells right now. Even if her hands were busy, there were plenty of ways for her to attack an enemy that couldn''t move. She probably could use the Magic Bow, but for some reason, she never used it. After winning the contest for a while, Alissa decided to step back for a short while. She did so in order to gain some distance and prepare a big punch. Tyr was caught off guard, and even though he tried to block the attack with the axes, he was sent flying backward for several kilometers. "Something is off¡­" Femradiel said. "Alissa gained a buff in strength without using any spell, item or potion." "Maybe Rage helped her with that," Ryan said. "Do you really think she only began to use Rage now?" Femradiel asked. "Are you an idiot?" "Hey, there is no need to offend me," Zaos furrowed his eyebrows. "In any case, I guess I am an idiot." Chapter 766 - Lightning Speed That was a tough question, and Ryan nodded at it. There was only one exnation for that sudden power up¡­ Alissa probably obtained a skill simr to Wolf''s Greed. That might be what will help her win the battle, but it still is a risky n. Since Ryan didn''t know the skill''s cost, things might not be so bad. Suddenly, Tyr appeared after a huge jump. It was quite insane that he recovered so fast and was able to jump from such arge distance. Ryan took a good look at it and confirmed that Tyr waspletely fine, just like armor. As if that wasn''t enough, he also seemed a bit taller. "It seems that also Tyr has some tricks up his sleeve," Femradiel said. "His presence is a bit bigger and more powerful after that punch." "Well, that is a given, he is an elder god," Ryan said. Still, Ryan couldn''t remember facing an enemy that, whenever got hit, apparently, got stronger and bigger. Tyr dashed toward Alissa again, and this time, she was the one who was pushed backward. Ryan saw the scales around Alissa''s hands cracking due to the pressure. "Now what, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "This isn''t an ordinary foe, and I don''t think Alissa can win this alone." "With her current state of mind, we can''t afford to jump in the middle of the battle," Ryan said. "She will think that I will be trying to humiliate her. Despite her looks, Alissa is pretty prideful. Let''s wait and see for a while, when things are about to take a bad turn, we will jump in." Ryan wanted to get rid of the second dungeon master before jumping in that fight, but Tyr would notice that. Ryan doubted that he could beat that fast and silently while fighting Tyr''s partner. While Ryan and Femradiel were talking, the tide of the battle suddenly changed. Tyr''s attacks grew heavier, and with each one, it was visible that Alissa was receiving severe damage. It was quite insane to see someone like Alissa being pushed down so much by someone who wasn''t even using magic. Alissa opened her mouth again and fired the beam of energy, but Tyr didn''t feel the need to dodge the attack this time. He put the two axes in front of himself and stood his ground. When the attack ended, all of them saw the Norse god of war practically unscathed, but a lot of heat was emanating from his body. "Why are you pulling your punches?" Tyr asked while frowning. "This can be a very entertaining fight if you use all the skills at your disposal, so why are you trying to overpower me with strength and dragon breath alone?" Alissa didn''t answer the question and dashed toward Tyr, but the target blocked her attack with a single hand while looking a bit bored. That was quite something since Alissa''s attacks could make the entire air vibrate. As if that wasn''t enough, he barely could see her punches. Tyr stopped growing, but since Alissa didn''t grow any stronger, he didn''t have a hard time blocking her punches. After so many failed attempts, even Alissa was forced to realize that she was wasting time¡­ unless she was trying to level up her melee sses. That n was far too reckless. Even if she manages to gain a ss useful like Ryan did against Thanatos, the opponent this time was different. Suddenly, Alissa changed her posture and moved her right fist slightly backward. A lot of energy began to gather around her fists, she was trying something else for a change, but that was another risky attack since she wasn''t moving at all. Despite that, Tyr waited patiently for her. He had total confidence that he could survive an attack of that level¡­ "This isn''t good," Femradiel said. "The more that guy suffers damage, the stronger he gets. I have no idea for how long his powers can stay so high, but we might have some problems if we let this fight drag for too long." Ryan was fully aware of it, but even so, he couldn''t afford to step on Alissa''s pride and rage. At the end, when Alissa was about tounch her attack, Ryan noticed that something was off. For a brief moment, he felt a different type of energy being activated on her body, and once she did that. She dashed with lightning speed toward Tyr. Ryan also saw the very moment the smiles disappeared from his face. Still, he didn''t have time to react to the sudden movement. The entire area trembled for quite a while. Ryan and Femradiel felt Tyr''s presence growing weaker in the distance. He had been thrown so far away that Ryan couldn''t see him by relying on his eyes alone. Meanwhile, some sparks of lightning were appearing around Alissa, and Ryan could even see the water inside her body turning into steam¡­ she looked like a character of a fighting anime. Still, that special attack came with a cost. Alissa''s right hand was destroyed entirely. Her strength alone couldn''t defeat Tyr. Hence, she relied on momentum to gain extra power. Alissa''s hand began to heal itself since she was exhausted. Ryan had no idea what kind of skill she used, but it probably consumed all her energy. After all, on the path she ran in the blink of an eye, she damaged the earth the same way her light beam could. Almost everything behind her had turned into a line of magma. "Did you feel that?" Femradiel asked. "For a short moment, I felt some energy that resembled the Lunar Arrow around Alissa''s body. It was a skill like Teleport, but instead of manipting space, she just increased her speed." "It seems pretty useful forbat," Ryan nodded. "When ites to speed, a certain elder godes to mind¡­ I wonder if Alissa gained that kind of power." As soon as Ryan finished that sentence, Tyr showed up in the same way as before. He jumped and thennded on the same spot he had been a moment ago. This time, his entire armor was cracked, and he was bleeding from his nose and ears. Maybe Alissa won''t need their help, after all¡­ Chapter 767 - Anger Manipulation Although Ryan thought that, he noticed that Tyr was smiling. Even while his armor was falling into pieces on the ground, he was smiling as if he was having the time of his life. "See? You can do it if you try hard enough," Tyr said. "Asshole¡­" Alissa clenched her fists. "Armor," Tyr said after he threw away the remaining mithril covering his body. A new armor identical to the previous one suddenly appeared, and without wasting time, Tyr wore it. Alissa couldn''t help but feel annoyed by it since she couldn''t do anything against it. She didn''t have enough energy to heal her arm fast enough, and even if she had, it would take a while for the bones in her arm to mendpletely. Ryan didn''t want to interfere, but he didn''t want to see Alissa getting hit until she fell unconscious. She was pretty stubborn, so she won''t go down with half-assed attacks. Only attacks that might take her life will put her down, even so¡­ Even Ryan began to clench his fists in annoyance. Alissa caused him a fair deal of trouble, but he couldn''t care less about it right now. The only thing on Ryan''s mind was the wish to prevent her defeat. Ryan began to ponder about what he should do. Tyr was giving time for Femradiel to heal her hands, so he had some time to think. After all, not even Alissa was crazy enough to attack with a single hand. In the end, Ryan didn''te up with any n. Alissa wasn''t stupid, and she would notice if Ryan interferes in any way. When Alissa''s arm was back to normal, the fight resumed. Naturally, since Alissa was tired and Tyr was stronger than before, he was winning the battle. Still, it looked like the winner wasn''t decided yet. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. ¡­ The dark marks of Alissa''s body were getting bigger, and Ryan also noticed that her eyes were also getting wilder. Even without using that other skill of instantaneous movement, she dashed toward Tyr fast enough to escape Ryan''s eyes. Tyr blocked her attack, but his axes began to crack as well. It seems she obtained another power-up through rage¡­ Ryan confirmed that after what happened. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Alissa screamed from the depths of her soul; it wasn''t a scream of suffering. Ryan felt like he did something simr before, but he couldn''t quite remember when. Regardless, Alissa opened her mouth, and she fired a dark beam of energy. Everything around her and Tyr was enveloped in an explosion. Ryan and Femradiel had to cover their eyes because of the impact of everything around them being pushed into the distance. Even before the cloud of dust raised by Alissa''s attack could disappear, Ryan heard that she didn''t stop there. Using her fists, she punched the ground, and every time that happened, the whole region would tremble. As if that wasn''t enough, cracks began to appear in the entire region. It looked like Alissa was destroying the world as a whole with her fists alone. Amidst her madness, Alissa didn''t lose sight of her goal. Tyr was caught off guard thanks to the dark breath, but he survived the attack. That was why she was attacking the ground because he was there. Tyr''s second armor was already shattered thanks to it, his axes were nowhere to be seen, and he was covered in blood from head to toe. Alissa''s attack didn''t only wound Tyr externally. Her attack also caused a fair amount of internal damage¡­ his wounds were emitting that miasma and were slowing down his regeneration speed. However, now Tyr was six meters tall, and his presence was much more powerful than before. "Give me your hand, Ryan," Femradiel said. "What now?" Ryan asked. You obtained 515.693.325 coins. Femradiel passed to Ryan all the coins she had, and he quickly understood why. Alissa was getting lost in her anger, so they will have to pull her back somehow, and the idea was to use the same thing that Thanatos used. Tyr got up and then headbutted Alissa. He didn''t even waste time asking for new weapons from whoever was helping him. He knew it was a waste of time against Alissa. So, he decided to fight using his fists alone. Meanwhile, Ryan checked the dungeon shop in order to see the most expensive skills he could buy right now. He found a lot of neat things that he wanted to buy, but not the skill he actually needed at that moment. Fortunately, eventually, Ryan found the skill he was looking for. Anger Maniption tome. Effect: it grants you the power to manipte the anger inside you and others. When draining the anger of others or of yourself, you can''t just make it disappear, so it will be turned into mana that can be used to restore your own mana or be used offensively. When increasing the anger of others, you can''t do it without paying the price. You will have to turn your mana into anger. Cost: 100 mana per level. Price: 1.000.000.000 coins. Fortunately, it didn''t look like the skill had a range limit or any other type of restriction, so Ryan could even use it from a distance. Without wasting any time, Ryan began to drain Alissa''s anger, and he actually could feel his body getting hot when he sucked her anger even from a distance. However, since Ryan was focused on the task, he didn''t let that control him. "It is no good, this will take too much time," Femradiel said upon noticing that Alissa wasn''t growing weaker fast enough. "Well, at least the anger is making me able to use the skills without losing a single point of mana," Ryan said. "Besides, we can''t just make her angry by being subdued out of nowhere. Otherwise, Tyr will notice and win the fight." Since the corruption took over her entire body, Alissa was able to face Tyr. However, the Norse god was still growing stronger, so it was hard to know who will reach the limit first. Chapter 768 - Corruption Amidst her madness, Alissa attacked Tyr mercilessly. When he got close enough, she would smash his head with both her arms, but when he got slightly away, she would summon some Dark Magic Bows to bombard him from above. As expected, she could use that kind of skill, but Ryan didn''t imagine that she would only use it in such a state. It was weird. When she was conscious, she was so mad that she didn''t want to use anything that made her remember Ryan and his betrayal. Still, when madness took over her mind, her instincts forced her to do everything in order to win. Ryan understood what she was thinking while Alissa was fighting. Her anger wasn''t something that would disappear after talking for a while. Ryan knew that even Anger Maniption has limitations, so unless he makes her forget about Orgar, her anger will always return in spades. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t n on changing her memories to that extent. He didn''t have the right, nor did he want to make someone disappear from the memories of another. Regardless¡­ Ryan was using Mana Maniption to increase the effectiveness of Anger Maniption. Still, there wasn''t any sign of changes on Alissa. Maybe he should feel thankful for that because things were getting too heated in that fight, and a single mistake might break the bnce, and the chances of Alissa losing thanks to it were pretty high. At some point, Alissa and Tyr grew so much more powerful than when they exchanged blows directly. Lightning bolts flew from their arms and burned a piece of the ground in the area. For a second, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he made a mistake when he decided to use long-ranged weapons to fight. Using his fist like that seemed a lot cooler and fun. Eventually, even Tyr began to realize that things were getting dangerous, he was losing too much blood, and he wasn''t regenerating fast enough. While he was growing faster and stronger due to Alissa''s attacks, she was also bing more vital for some reason. "Alright¡­ I already had my fun," Tyr said. "It is time to end this." Instead of attacking like usual, Tyr jumped to the sky, and for a second, he looked more like a supersonic rocket than a human. Alissa quickly followed him, but before she could catch up, something changed on Tyr. The sky shone for a second, and then something flew straight into his heart¡­ it didn''t have to be an attack. Ryan confirmed that because instead of weaker, Tyr grew stronger. The energy inside his body grew so dense that his hair began to levitate. At the same time, the wounds on his body began to regenerate faster, even though the miasma was supposed to prevent that. "What was that?" Ryan asked. "Some sort of buff spell?" Femradiel frowned. "At least it looks that way¡­ it is weird though. Buff spells were supposed to work to increase the exterior strength or the interior magic power. That one just increased all his status exponentially in a single second." When Alissa finally caught up with Tyr, the enemy punched her face, and even from so far away, Ryan felt like he heard a cracking from Alissa''s neck. In the next moment, she fell down at a speed that made the entire region tremble upon the impact. For a second, Ryan began to sweat cold, imagining the worst. The power of the punch and the impact could bepared to Alissa''s Dark Breath, but it was much more dangerous since a punch was much more of a concentrated attack. However, much to his relief, Alissa got up. Her neck was really broken, though. However, soon the corruption healed her wounds and fixed her neck. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. ¡­ "This is like a never-ending cycle," Femradiel said. "The damage is only increasing her powers and that isn''t good. Her body can only heal itself so much in a short amount of time. Not to mention, these power ups are bound to destroy her body." Ryan knew what Femradiel was talking about. Whenever he overused his powers or obtained a power-up thanks to dragon hearts, he would feel his body falling asleep, or he would feel a huge deal of internal pain. If Ryan had topare with anything, it was like forcing a bottle to withstand more water than it could handle. After Alissa recovered from the previous attack, Tyr didn''t let her gain the upper hand with her madness. Whenever she flew at him, he would kick her on the face and make her fall on the ground just like before. He was strong and fast enough that Ryan couldn''t even see his moments. He could only see the results of his actions. Still, something was off, Tyr wasn''t smiling anymore, and he didn''t hurry to finish off Alissa while she was recovering from the damage. "I am tired of watching this, Ryan," Femradiel said. "Alissa is slowly breaking apart, if we let her continue fighting like that, she won''t recover." "Well, if you have any idea on how we can jump into that fight without risking bing the targets of those two, I am all ears," Ryan said. Even Femradiel knows that Alissa will forget her target and attack him if Ryan shows up right now. Not to mention, they still had to worry about Tyr''s partner, who hasn''t shown up yet. In the end, Femradiel stayed silent for quite a while because she wasn''t thinking logically at the moment. She only thought that she didn''t want to lose a friend. Still, there was no point in acting to help someone, only to put themselves at risk. However, Femradiel was as stubborn as Alissa, and she wouldn''t let things end like that. "I have an idea," Femradiel said. "It is a bit risky, but if we seed, we will save Alissa from her madness and make her join our side. Chapter 769 - Progress Ryan knew that Femradiel was smart, but that was just too good to be true. Still, he could at least listen to her idea. Her n was simple: she would use Teleport and then move Alissa away from the battle. As much as that was annoying, Femradiel already learned Anger Maniption since Ryan has been using it for the past hour alongside Mana Maniption. Her idea was that the effect should be more powerful if she touches her. While it would be dangerous since there was no telling for how long she would have to do that, Femradiel would stay on Alissa''s back, where she couldn''t be touched. "Why would Anger Maniption be more effective with you?" Ryan asked. "Even if what you said is right, the level is higher ei me." "That isn''t the issue, I am doing it because my presence won''t upset her all that much," Femradiel replied. "But now that you mentioned, even though the level of the skill is low with me, it should be more effective because my intelligence is higher and you focus only on dexterity. Anyway, don''t try to go all out, just buy us some time and then we wille to help." Femradiel was a bit too confident on that n. Weirdly confident¡­ Still, once again, Ryan decided to listen to her. Just to make sure that she would need all the help he could get, Ryan gave Femradiel a lot of INT potions and even Soul Eater. "Use it to protect yourself if things get dangerous," Ryan said. "I don''t need it," Femradiel said. "Alissa is a friend, she won''t hurt me." "That might be Alissa, but at the same time it isn''t her," Ryan said. "Don''t get careless and use it." "Whatever, but I am telling you, I won''t need it," Femradiel said. Alissa was reaching a level of exhaustion that Ryan began to think that Femradiel was right. ording to Nakine, cursed dragons might stay in that form for hundreds of years without problems. However, even if they had an extra powerpared to others, their bodies had the same physical limits, and fighting like mad dogs will only make them reach the limits much sooner. Regardless, after finishing their preparations, both of them put the n into motion. Just as nned, when Alissa flew to attack Tyr, Femradiel appeared on her back and then used Teleport. Tyr frowned when that happened since he didn''t feel the presence of others nearby. Before the dungeon master could think of doing anything, Ryan attacked him with the vibrating crossbow. Tyr saw his left chest being burned by the beam of wind and then blocked the attack barehanded. "Maybe I should have used Draconic Transformation¡­" Ryan muttered. That was what Ryan thought when he felt Tyr''s stare on him. The Norse god of war wasn''t angry, only puzzled. In any case, Ryan needed to buy time, so he couldn''t show everything he could do. The more the enemy underestimates him, the better. "Another Earthling?" Tyr frowned. "I didn''t think I would find one so soon after that girl¡­ still this presence that I feel. Are you the one who defeated Poseidon?" Ryan forgot that the elder gods could sense that he gained the powers of the foes he defeated. In the end, trying to buy time was useless in his human form. So, Ryan quickly used Draconic Transformation. "There is no need to be so tense, we are going to fight alright," Tyr said. "Still that doesn''t mean that we can talk before it." Ryan couldn''t help but feel that that was a trap. Until now, not a single one of the elder gods tried to talk with him. They only treated him like an insect, until they were forced to take him seriously. "Still, I can''t see how you defeated Poseidon, you don''t look strong enough," Tyr said. "Was he in a bad condition? Did he have a cold or something? Why did he lose?" "Because he picked a fight with the wrong person, because he tried to flood the world, and because he spent most of his time sitting on a throne," Ryan replied. "Are you satisfied with the answers?" "For someone who watched a friend getting beat up so much, you sure are hot blooded," Tyr said. "However, I can understand the logic behind your words. The second and third points seemed logical, but not the first. Do you know how many humans joined our side?" "No, and I don''t need to," Ryan said. "Until the veryst day of their lives, humans will do everything to survive. You can judge them by your standards, but I won''t, not anymore." Tyr stayed in silence after that. For a god of war, he sure was a bit different from what Ryan imagined, even more so considering that he was from Norse mythology. Perhaps Ryan was just too narrow-minded. Even if some might have the title of god of war, it doesn''t mean they will be bloodthirsty mad dogs. "I asked that girl what her goal was, but she ignored me," Tyr said. "What are your goals here? This isn''t Earth, we are on a far more durable, the elder gods won''t hold back against you. Did youe here because you defeated Poseidon? Or did youe here for the mithril?" "You sure ask a lot of questions, answering those will change anything?" Ryan asked. "No, but you want to buy time don''t you?" Tyr asked. "I don''t hold back against anyone, and I don''t underestimate anyone, so the only chances of you defeating me is by fighting alongside those two." Ryan was looked down many times, and many times as well, he got enraged by it. However, this time, he didn''t feel anything. Maybe he grew more resistant to that kind of thing, or maybe that was just the reality that he had epted since the very beginning. Either way, it didn''t matter. Ryan only smiled in response, and that finally made Tyr a bit angrier. Chapter 770 - Start Maybe it was due to Anger Maniption, but Ryan felt keener to sense that kind of behavior change. Thus, he noticed a full second before Tyr could move what was about to happen. He flew toward Ryan at a fearsome speed, but he didn''t escape Ryan''s eyes. For some reason, he wasn''t as fast as he had been when he fought Alissa in thest minutes. Ryan didn''t try to dodge the attack. Instead, he bombarded Tyr with his Immobilizing Crossbow while Vital Hunter was active. He couldn''t throw away the chance of decreasing the status of the enemy like that. Still, he only attacked for a few instants. Ryan tried to block the charge, but in the end, he was pushed backward easily, and even though he kept his guard up, Ryan felt his bones cracking. Suddenly, Tyr was forced to move backward when he felt something approaching. It was the massive sword that Ryan gained a few days ago. While it was a weapon too big to be used even in his Draconic form, Ryan could easily wield it alongside Telekinesis. Tyr looked at the weapon spinning vertically and couldn''t help but frown at the speed and the sound caused by it. He wasn''t the type who would measure the strength of his foes by using Appraisal. He would see them fight and judge their strength. Considering the speed and size of the weapon, it seemed that Ryan was more than he looked. Still, the sword didn''t make him flinch, not when it began to spin so close to Ryan. He dashed toward him, and when the weapon approached, he just punched it, making it move to the distance quite easily. Ryan knew that the weapon wouldn''t be useful against an opponent of that level, but that didn''t bother him. Because as soon as he got close enough, Ryan summoned several copies of the Vibrating Crossbow and attacked him from behind. Ryan was hit again, but he saw the face of annoyance on his foe''s face. Before he could put any more force on pushing Ryan backward, Tyr was forced to retreat and escape the range of the magic bows. "Helmet, and armor, " Tyr said. Ryan couldn''t help but clench his teeth as soon as he did that. A new horned helmet and armor appeared and tried to equip them. At the very least, he was taking things more seriously, but now Ryan won''t cause that much damage. Unless he uses his big guns. Ryan didn''t want to rely on them because they were noisy¡­ the crossbows he had created by defeating some big guns. Before Tyr could return to the attack, Ryan had an idea. He began to fly around in circles while bombarding Tyr with copies of his Spiritualists Crossbow. He focused the bolts on Tyr''s face, so whenever he got too close, Ryan increased the barrage. Tyr used his hands to protect his eyes, and then he lost sight of Ryan for a few precious moments, and then he would find him in the opposite direction and gaining even more distance. "This is boring¡­ this is nothing like the other fight," Tyr said. "Have you no shame? A girl has bigger balls than you." "I am pretty sure she won''t be happy by hearing this," Ryan said. "Anyway, I will make sure to pass the message." Tyr got annoyed after hearing that. After all, it sounded like Ryan was dering that he would win. He increased his speed again, but then suddenly, his helmet cracked. Ryan''s concentrated attack finally showed some result, and Tyr saw Ryan firing the Hydra''s bow. The target was his forehead. However, Tyr easily granted the Arrow with both hands¡­ much to his surprise, though, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Tyr had no idea what hit him, but he saw a hole in his armor and a deep wound in there as well. "What¡­" Tyr muttered in shock. Ryan imagined that Tyr would grow in size a little, but it looked like six meters was his limit. That was why he had used the other weird skill to increase his strength. Regardless, there wasn''t time to celebrate. While Tyr didn''t know what Ryan did, there was no telling if that strategy would work again. That is why he began to prepare the next strategy while Tyr was confused. "You are taking your time, Femradiel¡­" Ryan thought. Ryan wished that he could check things with her, but he couldn''t. In the end, despite the questions in his head, Tyr decided to charge toward Ryan again, but not before he could change his armor and helmet. Now that Ryan thought about it, Tyr''s partner should have been able to see what Ryan did and tell Tyr. So why Tyr still looked troubled? Tyr also had his weapons back, and he looked far more severe than before. It was time for Ryan to think, should he keep using the same strategy or use another before Tyr could understand howe Ryan caused so much damage so fast? In the end, Ryan had to act by instinct. Tyr tried to sh Ryan''s arms with his axes, but Ryan blocked them with his forearms. However, he didn''t spill a single drop of blood. Ryan covered them with a thickyer of ice. At the same time, Ryan used Ice Breath. Tyr''s body quickly began to be covered in ice, but the Norse god of war didn''t mind it. The ice covering Ryan''s arms quickly began to crack, and soon enough, Ryan''s arms suffered wounds and spit blood. Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance, but in the end, he smirked. Ryan''s blood quickly moved to Tyr''s face, and the enemy was forced to retreat. By doing so, Tyr fell into another trap. Several magic bows were right behind him, and they bombarded him. The magic caused by them was minimal, but Tyr still felt annoyed because his strength decreased every time they hit him. Ryan had used the Berserker''s Crossbow, which could steal the enemy''s strength for a short period of time. Chapter 771 - See? After gaining a boost in strength, Ryan teleported to the right above Tyr, and with all his might, he kicked him. Tyr was forced to move downward thanks to the impact. It was more than annoying to help the enemy by causing damage like that. Still, Tyr knew that this kind of effect could only work for so long, so he charged toward Ryan. By staying on the offense, he wouldn''t let Ryan make use of that extra boost of energy. Ryan showed an expression of surprise when Tyr approached, but ultimately, Tyr was the one confused in the end. Ryan didn''t try to block that attack and got hit in the face, and soon after that, an invisible force hit Tyr''s face, and he felt the taste of blood on his mouth. "A reflection skill¡­" Tyr said, annoyed. "Not quite," Ryan said and then pointed toward his mouth, which was also bleeding. "See? I still got damage." There was no point in exining to the enemy what he did, but it was obvious that Tyr would understand what Ryan did much sooner thanter. Tyr was a rather straightforward individual. As soon as he heard what Ryan said, he charged once again. It was a bit troublesome to face someone so direct like that, but it was better than to face a target that could use long-ranged attacks and annoying skills. Ryan repeated that same tactic of using Vengeful Explosion whenever possible to cause critical damage, but in the end, even though he could heal himself whenever he wanted, that n alone wouldn''t work forever. Ryan realized that after attacking Ryan''s chest, Tyr moved his arm and then protected his own chest and blocked the Vengeful Explosion. He had already found one weakness of that skill¡­ it could only reflect damage on the same ce the caster suffered the attack. "What a boring skill," Tyr said. "You think so?" Ryan asked. Tyr charged toward Ryan again, but then he used Teleport to escape. For some reason, he teleported to ground level and then used the skill again after a while to other ces. Tyr found that weird, but then he realized why Ryan did that¡­ he picked the mithril pieces of his armor and helmet that fell due to his attacks. As if that wasn''t enough, he saw Ryan swallowing some pieces of the mithril. "I hope that I won''t bore you with this," Ryan said. Ryan used all that extra mana to create a massive arrow of solidified light. Tyr dashed at Ryan before he could use all that extra mana to his attack, but in the end, he didn''t escape it since Ryan used Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. Tyrpletely ignored the attack since it didn''t be powerful enough to deal critical damage. However, the projectile of light still blinded him for a few seconds. Although he couldn''t see it, Tyr could feel that Ryan didn''t move an inch, and apparently, he wasn''t nning any attack either. When the light dissipated, Tyr saw Ryan massaging his shoulders. Soon afterward, Ryan disappeared, and then Tyr felt something hitting him from above. "What¡­" Tyr muttered. Ryan''s physical strength increased a lot in just a few seconds, and Tyr couldn''t understand what he did. In terms of raw power, he still wasn''t at Alissa''s level, but he far surpassed his previous strength. "What did you do?" Tyr asked when hended on the ground. "I used many boring tricks," Ryan said. Ryan teleported once again, but Tyr reacted on time to grab his fist that almost hit his back. Without any other choice, Tyr used Absolute Appraisal, and he saw his skills. Still, much to his surprise, he saw Ryan turning into his human-size, and then a mithril sword appeared on his hands. Tyr felt danger while looking at that sword, and then he jumped backward, but Ryan used Teleport and hit him in mid-air. Tyr used his forearm to block the attack, but then he used Teleport once he saw the sword cutting his arm like butter. "Oh? You can use Teleport as well," Ryan said. "I guess you don''t use it often because you would rather scare your enemies directly." Ryan stored the sword away since it was too risky to use it often and stay in his human form. Also, for the first time, Tyr used healing spells to fix his arm. Before Tyr could recover from the surprise, Ryan approached by using Teleport again. Instead of counter-attacking, Tyr used his axes to block Ryan''s punch. His eyes moved around, waiting to be attacked by that sword. It seemed it had been a while since he felt that tense. Ryan''s n was working. He used STR potions and even Anger Maniption to level up his Rage. However, he couldn''t get carried away. His n could be working right now, but Tyr was yet to show his true strength. Besides, Ryan wanted to buy time. He couldn''t risk losing before Femradiel could open Alissa''s eyes. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, and then Ryan heard it¡­ "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" It was Alissa''s voice¡­ something happened, and Ryan began to sweat cold. Femradiel was taking her time, to begin with, so it was evident that things didn''t go as nned. Ryan clenched his fist and bit his lips. He couldn''t afford to waste any more time with Tyr. He will have to defeat him himself. When Tyr looked at Ryan''s eyes, he couldn''t help but flinch. Things were going to change after that point, and Tyr couldn''t help but feel excited as well. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 96 (+ 07 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 95 (+ 01 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 95 (+ 07 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 20332/20332 (27,25/s) Mana: 19125/19125 (27,25/s) Stamina: 20530/20530 (27,25/s) Strength: 881 (+6922) (+130) Dexterity: 38993 (+12955) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+9510) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+6821) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+7995) (+160) Control: 1476 (9450) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+4995) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+2760) Recovery: 6450 (+8850) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+4993) (+40) Coins: 105.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv 92 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 76 (+ 06 UP), Draconic Sword Lv Max, Draconic Bow Lv Max Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 185 (+ 06 UP), Concentration Lv 185 (+ 06 UP), Archery Lv 185 (+ 06 UP), uracy Lv 185 (+ 06 UP), Stealth Lv 185 (+ 06 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 103 (+ 12 UP), Xenolingualism Lv Max, Draconic Hunger Lv Max, Draconic Health Lv Max, Draconic Strength Lv Max, Draconic Endurance Lv Max, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 215 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 209 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 229 (+ 05 UP), Memory Maniption Lv 11 (+ 04 UP), Anger Maniption Lv 29 (+ 28 UP), Support Skills: Mind Boost Lv 09 (+ 04 UP), Sloth Aura Lv 09 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 57 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 28 (+ 06 UP), Marksman Lv 88 (+ 06 UP), Death Lord Lv 05 (+ 01), Draconic Knight Lv 01, Draconic Archer Lv 03 (+ 01 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 19 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 03 (+ 02), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 772 - No Way Ryan didn''t have any weapon that he could use on his Draconic form, but that wasn''t a problem. He used Mana Maniption to increase the thickness of his Frost Armor around his arms and legs and then dashed toward Tyr. The foe did the same, and their arms collided. In the end, since he lost the hesitation, Tyr won the trade. While Ryan was being pushed backward, he made copies of the Vibrating Crossbow appear and attack him. Tyr zig-zagged with lightning speed to dodge the beams of wind. When Tyr got close enough to Ryan, Thanatos'' Scythe appeared, and the de almost touched his neck. Tyr bent his body to dodge the weapon because he instantly recognized the weapon. He actually managed to dodge, but Ryan smashed him with both of his arms on the ground. Tyr suffered some damage, but it was minimal. Without any weapons or using any skill like Lunar Arrow, he could only do so much. Tyr got up and tried to headbutt Ryan. Although that wasn''t the best option, it was the only thing Ryan could do: he thickened the Frost Armor around his head. Still, despite that, the armor cracked in that part, and Ryan saw the world spinning. "Mental note for the future¡­ do not use headbutts, dumbass¡­" Ryan muttered amidst the pain. Although he said that, Ryan realized that Tyr didn''t attack him soon afterward. When Ryan recovered from the shock, he saw a dizzy Tyr, bleeding from his forehead. Ryan decided to capitalize that chance and then grabbed Poseidon''s Trident like it was a fork and tried to pierce Tyr. Still, then he recovered just in time to jump backward. Ryan clicked his tongue and then stored away from the weapons. While he couldn''t use the power of those weapons fully, he could make up for it by using Telekinesis. At that point in time, there was no reason to hide his trump cards. For the first time in two weeks, Ryan wondered why he was doing that anyway. While he liked to use Stealth, he wasn''t the type to hold back in a fight. So, what do the dungeon masters see that he could do? He just has to make up for it. When Tyrnded on the ground, he was bombarded by invisible bolts that he couldn''t even feel them approaching. Ryan finally summoned the Absolute Death Crossbow and began to use it. Since he was causing direct damage and he could be hit anywhere, Tyr was forced to cover his eyes since his eyelids had been damaged. Tyr thought that he would solve the problem by doing that, but it didn''t, since the crossbow had been crafted by using Thanatos'' spirit. Besides, it could cause extra damage against elder gods. In order not to run out of mana, Ryan swallowed other pieces of mithril. Still, instead of attacking from a distance, he kept firing the crossbow as he approached Tyr. Ryan tried to recall that feeling, and without letting the anger take over his mind, he used Dark Ice Breath. When Tyr noticed that the attack would be different, it was toote. He had already beenpleted covered in a thickyer of dark ice. Congrattions! The skill Ice Breath has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Ice Breath has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Ice Breath has leveled up. ¡­ Before his vision could get clouded, Ryan deactivated Rage and used Anger Maniption to calm himself down. That actually worked, but Ryan wasted some precious seconds since he focused only on doing that. In the meantime, the dark ice began to crack. Before that could happen, Ryan began to collect a lot of light in the area and solidified, turning into a giant arrow of light. In the blink of an eye, he used all the mana he had obtained by eating the mithril. When the ice finally broke, Tyr was hit by that attack. The explosion of light burned everything in the surroundings of the battlefield, and as much as Ryan wanted to keep attacking, he couldn''t since he got so close to the explosion that the light blinded him for a few seconds. When Ryan could see things again, he saw Tyr standing a few meters away from him, covered in blood, and miasma was leaving his wounds. It was the same state Alissa left him before. Ryan decided to use another Ice Breath, but even before he could open his mouth, he saw his eyes getting clouded by the corruption. If he were to use that attack again, he would lose his mind. Without any other choice, Ryan decided to finish him off with the Absolute Death Crossbow. However, some mithril shields appeared around Tyr, and Ryan lost sight of him¡­ which was weird. Tyr didn''t say anything. "Don''t interfere," Tyr said. "Things were just getting interesting." It looked like Tyr was talking with his partner. As expected, whoever was working with him, watched the whole fight and decided to interfere once they realized that things might be messy for Tyr. In the end, Ryan lost his golden chance. The effects of the STR potions were finally over, and he had used all of the ones he had. He still had other options, but the chances of Tyr falling for them were pretty low. Even if he falls, Ryan was expecting that Tyr''s partner would interfere again. While Ryan was wondering about what he should do, he noticed that Tyr was frowning while looking behind Ryan''s back. Thanks to that, he noticed that someone was approaching, and that was Alissa in his draconic form. However, Femradiel was nowhere to be seen¡­ that being said, Alissa''s hands were covered in blood. "No way¡­" Ryan muttered. In the end, it looked like Femradiel failed, and she stayed silent about it since that was her n, to begin with. Still¡­ It was weird that she didn''t warn Ryan since it was obvious that Alissa woulde for him. What happened to her?" Chapter 773 - Hephaestus "Got you," Femradiel suddenly appeared from behind Alissa. Ryan frowned after he heard that. Now that he thought about it, Alissa''s eyes were focused, and Corruption Sense wasn''t alerting him of anything. After looking her in the eye for a while, Ryan saw Alissa looking away. If Femradiel seeded, then why were Alissa''s hands covered in blood? While Ryan was thinking about that as well, but then suddenly, he felt another presence behind him. Then Ryan saw a muscr, bald man nearby Tyr, and then Ryan saw his eyes. They were silver-like and had that same transparent glow. Hephaestus Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???... Spells: ???, ???, ???... Support Skills: ???, ???, ???... "It is time to retreat, you are too wounded and you can''t take them at the same time right now," Hephaestus said. "Are you mad? I won''t retreat right now when things just be interesting," Tyr said. "You have been doing what he wanted for the past six hours," Hephaestus said. "If you continue to fight, I won''t help you and I will deliver thest blow and then gain your domain and resources." Hephaestus had the body of one but certainly wasn''t a warrior of the level of Tyr. He was the Greek god of cksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. He was the god of many things from Ryan''s perspective¡­ In any case, his voice had a certain power of authority, and Tyr didn''t even think about talking back or insisting on doing otherwise. Come to think of It, Hephaestus probably had been offering him some support without asking for anything in exchange. Hence, Tyr had to do something for their partnership. "¡­ I will be waiting for you guys, on my domain," Tyr said. "Bring all your troops because this will be a true battle and we will use all of your resources. I will be waiting for you expectantly." After saying that, Tyr and Hephaestus disappeared. It was a pity to let them go when Ryan showed so many of his skills. Unfortunately, even though he wasn''t a real warrior, Ryan could tell that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Tyr and Hephaestus at the same time, even if Femradiel and Alissa help them. In the end, Ryan sighed and then calmed down his nerves. Once he turned around again, Ryan saw Alissa back on her human form. As expected, she looked exhausted and even thinner than the first time he saw her. "If I approach, are you going to bite me, Alissa?" Ryan asked. "I am not a dog," Alissa replied. "Can I approach?" Ryan asked. "Just don''t get too close, or I will be forced to kick your balls," Alissa said. "Speaking of balls, you left a big impression on Tyr," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "He said that you had bigger balls than mine." "Let''s stop talking about nonsensical things," Femradiel said. "Let''s sit down a little bit." "I am sorry, Alissa," Ryan said once they sat down on the ground and rxed. "I won''t forgive you for hiding that kind of thing from me," Alissa said, a bit angry. "But I realized now that I went overboard with my anger. You respected Orgar''s wishes and I should have respected his wishes as well." Alissa said that while checking her hands. After thinking for a while, Ryan came up with a hypothesis, perhaps in her rage, Alissa killed Alissa or at least one of her familiars, and the blood in her hands was what made her wake up. Still, there was no point in talking about that. Besides, Ryan concluded that was what Femradiel nned from the very beginning. "So, what are you going to do now?" Femradiel asked. "Our goal was to find Alissa and bring her back to Earth." "We stay and keep our agreement with the Pendragons," Ryan said. "I also don''t want to return before dealing with Tyr and Hephaestus. The question is, what Alissa is nning to do?" "I will stay here until I find the answers that I want, if I don''t, then I will go somewhere else," Alissa said. In the end, Alissa didn''t want to let Orgar go yet. It was only natural, and Ryan didn''t want to convince her otherwise. Besides, Alissa needed a goal to keep going. "What about Arthur?" Ryan asked. "I already made my mind, Arthur doesn''t need me with him," Alissa replied. "The people there are growing stronger, much more than any of us expected, so he is safe. Did you see Danieltely?" "Yeah, that dumbass wanted me to turn into a dragon in order to fight me," Ryan replied. "Naturally, I didn''t fall for such an obvious trap. The strongest mind won." "If I remember well, you couldn''t transform because I wasn''t with you," Femradiel said. "That is a small detail," Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, what is wrong with your new appearance, Femradiel?" Alissa asked. "I don''t see anything wrong with it," Femradiel replied. "I can see two big reasons right in front of me, big and very round reasons that confirms what I said," Alissa said. "Well, I just created a new body and things happened naturally," Femradiel replied. "I just created a body perfect forbat." "Yeah, right," Ryan and Alissa said in unison. Those threeughed for a while after that. It seems things were OK with them again. However, things were about to get tense again¡­ Ryan saw the dragons approaching in the distance. "Well, now¡­ what should I say to them?" Ryan frowned. "We have time to organize an attack now, I am sure that is what they want the most," Femradiel said. Ryan nodded. He owed them at least that much after making theme this far. Still, Ryan wanted to return to Earth as fast as possible now that Alissa was back. Perhaps Ryan will have to do certain things in order to speed up that reconquest. Chapter 774 - Explanations After exining what happened to Nakine and his friends, Ryan and the others talked with Alissa about her recent actions. After doing some research and defeating a dungeon master that could spawn dragons, she obtained a lot of knowledge. She even knew now how to create a link between worlds like the dungeons could create. "How can you do that?" Ryan asked.?? "Speaking frankly, I can''t do that perfectly," Alissa said. "I can only reactivate older links¡­ apparently, the connection between worlds disappear after a while when the dungeon masters disappear and no one takes their ce. Anyway, the process needs a lot of mana and the blood of high-leveled creatures. I will spare you the details." "By doing that, it will grant you the power to create domains?" Ryan asked. "No, for some reason, it only grants the user the chance to teleport," Alissa replied. "The ruins where I found that information couldn''t exin that either. My guess is that something else is needed to create a full-fledged domain." "I see¡­ Still, to think that you would defeat a dungeon master that could spawn dragons alone," Ryan said. "No wonder that guy took a liking to you." "That guy?" Alissa frowned. "Your Chinese friend, Fang Shi," Ryan said. "I tried to follow you by using the same dungeon, but he didn''t let me enter his domain, much less use his dungeon." "You have a good memory, only after two weeks of talking to him I finally memorized his name," Alissa said. "Well, his name does sound powerful," Ryan shrugged. "Regardless, it makes me wonder howe you could make friends so fast while you were so enraged." "What are you trying to imply?" Alissa frowned. "Nothing, absolutely nothing," Ryan shrugged. Ryan looked around then noticed some staresing from the dragons. Pretty much everyone aside from Nakine was looking at Ryan with irritated eyes. While Ryan was used to them, he wasn''t used to being stared at by such big creatures. "It seems that they didn''t like to hear that we let Tyr escape," Femradiel said. "We had the perfect chance to finish off one of the dungeon masters alone, but we let him go and now he is behind a massive army of monsters." "Tyr could have escaped at any moment, he could use Teleport, after all," Ryan said. "If anyone thinks I didn''t do enough, that anyone is wee to try and do better." Ryan couldn''t help but think that Nakine''s allies were relying too much on Ryan and Femradiel and now on Alissa. While they had an agreement, the agreement didn''t say that they had to solve all their problems alone. Regardless, at least Nakine was reasonable enough not to think aboutining. "What monsters are they using?" Ryan asked. "One of them, probably the cksmith you mentioned, is summoning elementals," Nakine replied. "As for the other, he is summoning Dark Knights." Those were two species of monsters Ryan never heard of before. Which was weird since he was pretty sure Tyr and Hephaestus had their own dungeons on Earth. Another thing that was weird was the fact that a Norse god and a Greek god were working together. "¡­ I imagine they are troublesome," Ryan said. "Anyway, how are we going to proceed now?" "If you don''t mind, now that you have recovered your friend, I would like to take things slowly," Nakine said. "The Dark Knights are troublesome just like you mentioned, so we will need an army of our own. Some chimeras are on their way, but we will need some more days in order for them to reach here." "What about the next vige?" Ryan asked. "We were considering the next power up to help us, it is a good time to reach the other vige since the dungeon masters are waiting for us," Nakine said. "While they don''t have much more dragons than the other viges, that power up will help this group already." "I guess we can only wait for the chimeras," Ryan said. "If you don''t mind, I would like to take Alissa to the other viges and make her obtain the power of the crystals." "Well¡­ she is already powerful I am sure, so if she gains more power, it will increase our chances of sess," Nakine hesitated for a few moments. "If you don''t mind hearing someints once you reach those viges, you can go." "No problem, I am good at ignoring others," Ryan said. "I would say that you are a professional at doing that," Femradiel said. "It seems I wasn''t the only one that gained power using unorthodox means," Alissa said. "At getting my ass kicked, I wouldn''t refuse the chance to gain more power, but¡­" Even Alissa was against the idea of gaining power without doing anything in exchange. Helping them finish on the task of helping the pendragons seemed quite a lot. However, while she changed her mind thanks to Femradiel, she still was focused on only finding a way to bring back Orgar. In the end, while they waited for the chimeras to join the fight, Ryan and Femradiel took Alissa to the other viges and made her gain those sses. Just as Nakine said, some dragonsined. After all, that was the power of dragons that freed the entire species from the madness, but in the end, they didn''t insist on that for long. Thanks to the mithril that they gained from the dragons and in thest battles, the trip didn''tst long. "Oh? Those are some interesting sses," Alissa said. While they were moving between the viges, they saw several armies of chimeras moving. After obtaining so many domains, it was no surprise that they would have so many monsters on their side. During the whole trip, Ryan saw at least two hundred thousand chimeras. While they weren''t the strongest of the monsters, they were pretty good to use since they had mobility and long-ranged attacks. Still, the most critical tasks still were on Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa''s hands because they couldn''t afford to lose the chimeras. After all, they had many more dragons to be freed. Chapter 775 - Draconic Lancer Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Lancer! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Skin, Draconic Lance, and Draconic Stamina.?? All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Skin. Effect: It grants you extra defense against physical attacks. This skill decreases the damage caused by physical attacks based on the level of the enemy. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Lance. Effect: It grants the power to summon a specialnce that is created by using your very soul that will cause damage ording to your spirit level. Cost: all your mana You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Stamina. Effect: It permanently increases your health by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. After getting to the next draconic ss and then rejoining the pendragons, Ryan and the others sat to rest for a short while. Thest few days had been pretty tiring, even though the only thing they did was teleport around. "You smell weird," Alissa said. "It seems you developed new hobbies since thest time I saw you," Ryan said. "Even for a far I can tell," Alissa said. "Apparently, you trained your hobby," Ryan shrugged. "She is talking about the corruption on your body, idiot," Femradiel said. "Your scent also changed when you obtained Wolf''s Greed and the powers of Poseidon, Thanatos, and Belphegor." "You defeated them?" Alissa frowned. "Not alone," Ryan said. "No wonder your presence feels so messy," Alissa said. "Still, are you sure it is a good idea for you to be here? If I were the allies of those you defeated, I would attack your domain." "They already did it," Ryan said. "Still, while they destroyed the barrier, they can''t obtain my domain without killing me." Ryan showed the skills he gained to Alissa, and she immediately understood how difficult it had been for them to defeat those enemies. After all, those same skills had been used against them. "Speaking of which, did you gain something when you defeated the dungeon master that could spawn dragons?" Ryan asked. "They probably weren''t an elder god, but they should be a fairly strong creature." "Indeed, I still¡­ think that you show and talk openly about your skills¡­" Alissa frowned while looking at Femradiel and, more specifically, at her boobs. "You changed a lot. I wonder why." "As always, you are quick to jump to conclusions," Ryan said. After a while, the armies of chimeras had beenpletely assembled in the region. All the dragons were already ready as well, so they only needed to hear Nakine''smand to march toward the dungeons. "The n is simple as usual," Nakine said. "Ryan, Femradiel, and our new ally, Alissa, will face Tyr and Hephaestus. While we will try to eradicate the Dark Knights, once we kill enough of them, we will join the fight and leave the remaining to the Chimeras." As expected, Nakine was trying to keep the Chimeras away from the dungeon for as long as possible. Traveling around between dungeons wasn''t something fast. Even though the chimeras could fly, they weren''t fast enough. Besides, the chimeras couldn''t move in small groups. Otherwise, other dungeon masters might attack them. Most likely, Nakine was nning to defeat all the other dungeon masters that captured dragons with that army alone. "Are you okay with that?" Nakine asked. "I am fully aware that these enemies are much stronger than the others." "No problem," Ryan said. "If we work together, we should be able to take down Tyr fast enough, the real problem is Hephaestus, we don''t know a single thing about him, aside from the fact that he is giving weapons made of mithril to Tyr." Nakine nodded, and the other dragons also felt a bit tense thanks to that. Tyr was already powerful enough to defeat the four hundred dragons they now had on their side. Still, more than fearing an enemy, they already knew what he could do. They feared an enemy that they didn''t know a single thing of. Without wasting any more time, they began to march toward the dungeon. Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa already had their own battle tactics ready to employ. Still, when they checked the region around the two dungeons, they quickly understood that things wouldn''t be so simple. Two hours ago, that wasn''t there, but now they could see a magic barrier at the level of the barrier of the domains in that region. Naturally, they also could see Tyr, Hephaestus, and an army of one hundred thousand Dark Knights. Dark Knight Lv Max Health: 125.000/125.000 Mana: 99.000/99.000 Stamina: 112.000/112.000 Strength: 15.700 (+ 3100) Dexterity: 8500 (+ 900) Speed: 9600 Intelligence: 11.650 (+ 3600) Endurance: 10.500 (+ 2500) Control: 7.100 Mentality: 9000 (+ 2500) Luck: 7500 Recovery: 50.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 9000 (+ 2500) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv Max, Sonic de Lv Max, Bash Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv Max, Improved Intelligence Lv Max, Enhanced Recovery Lv 740, Augmented Strength Lv Max¡­ Spells: Vampirism Lv Max, Dark Aura Lv Max, Dark Sword Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Fire Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max, Illusion Resistance Lv Max¡­ While the Dark Knights were humanoid creatures, their bodies were mostly made of shadows. The only physical parts that Ryan could see were the armor that was made of mithril. Considering their bodies and skills, Ryan and everyone else concluded that their army would be wiped out even though they had two times more Chimeras. "This is a problem," Ryan said. "They erected a barrier because they knew we would try to wipe out their army with a single attack, or at least a good part of it." "If we work together, I bet we can damage the barrier and a good part of the Dark Knights," Femradiel. "I don''t think so, Tyr doesn''t seem the type who would use that kind of strategy, but Hephaestus sure looks like someone who would," Ryan said. "Most likely, he also prepared for that kind of scenario." Chapter 776 - Divide They had a big problem on their hands and not a single solution. Even if they join their forces, alongside with the dragons, Ryan doubted that they would be able to concentrate a powerful attack that would be enough to put the barrier down and at least half of the Dark Knights. Unless¡­ "Have you guys used those weird skills against them before? Draconic Lance or Draconic Bow?" Ryan asked the pendragons that joined the army recently.?? "We use it pretty much every time when things get dicey." After hearing that, it became evident that Hephaestus erected the barrier thinking about those powerful skills. If the dragons use that technique at the same time, Tyr and Hephaestus won''t have time to react, so it was the best way to cause a lot of damage. However, they won''t have enough mana to fight for a while. "Did you guys have any mithril?" Ryan asked. "No, we only had a reserve because our opponents were rtively weak," Nakine replied. "The other tribes couldn''t afford to store it since they had to fight with their lives on the line. Do you want use to eat mithril to recover the mana? We can always recover the fragments that will be left once we kill the dark knights." "What if they are expecting this as well?" Ryan asked. "We can''t risk it¡­ Oh, well, I guess I will have to share mine with you guys." Ryan didn''t even have time to create a decent weapon made of mithril, and now he was forced to give them his payment for that kind of job. It was a pity, but if the n works, Ryan will be able to recover some of his investment¡­ probably. As soon as Ryan began to distribute the mithril, they noticed that things were changing inside the barrier. At least half of the Dark Knights were flying toward them. Tyr and Hephaestus noticed what Ryan was doing¡­ "Just share it among yourselves," Ryan said and then took out half of his mithril. "Let''s get going, we can''t let Tyr and Hephaestus attack the chimeras." Femradiel and Alissa nodded. They quickly flew to the sky and prepared to attack the Dark Knights, but then Tyr flew toward them, and at the same time, a rain of swords fell over their bodies¡­ that was probably Hephaestus''s action. At first, they ignored the swords, but then when the first one easily pierced their scales and wounded their bodies, they noticed that it wasn''t a good idea. "I can''t stop the swords, they are special and can cut flesh and ice like butter," Femradiel said after she tried to shield Ryan and Alissa with ice magic. Hephaestus stayed inside the barrier, and Tyr didn''t hesitate in closing up. Considering what they were doing, they wanted to make Ryan and the others worry about the swords falling on them while Tyr attacked them from below. Even by fighting alone, he would have some leeway against three enemies. Ryan tried to grab the swords and then store them in his spatial storage, but then he learned that it wasn''t possible. They disappeared after a while. Before they coulde up with a solution, Alissa and Tyr collided against each other. Since Tyr was on his normal size, their strengths were equal, but then Alissa lost her focus when some swords pierced her back. "Go offer her a hand, I will deal with the swords," Ryan said. "All right," Femradiel said, and they jumped from Ryan''s back to Alissa''s. In just a few minutes, Ryan tried several ways to stop the rain of swords, he tried to attack them with Power of Money and even Mana Arrows, but nothing worked. When he tried to create an iron shield, the swords easily pierced it. As expected of the Greek god of cksmithing, he sure knew how to forge some annoying weapons. Ryan blocked with his own body some swords that were about to fall on Alissa and Femradiel. Thanks to it, he noticed that each sword only pierced his body up to a certain extent. That was weird¡­ Hephaestus'' skills probably had some sort of trick. But before Ryan could figure it out, he heard some explosionsing from below. The Chimeras and the Dark Knights finally were fighting, and just as expected, the Dark Knights were easily winning the fight. However, Nakine and the others bombarded the enemies with Draconic Warriors. Each time a Draconic Arrow hit an enemy, it would explode, and at least fifty Dark Knights would disappear¡­ It was a pretty decent number, but not enough. If each of the five hundred dragons takes down fifty enemies like that, they will kill only twenty-five thousand of enemies. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Pain Immunity has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "I don''t have time to worry about them¡­" Ryan muttered in pain as the swords fell on his back. Femradiel and Alissa were trying to speed up the fight since they knew what Ryan was doing, but in the end, Tyr was getting stronger thanks to that. Once Ryan got used to the pain, his mind began to work again. It was the first time he had to face such a weird attack, but he understood before plenty of others that were equally hard to understand. He didn''t find a solution to cancel the attack. Still, he found a way to make the enemy suffer the same pain... by using Vengeful Explosion. Ryan redirected the damage he felt back to Hephaestus, but the barrier protected him. Still, the barrier trembled since the damage of his attack wasn''t something tough at. While that wasn''t making Ryan suffer any less, perhaps it would be enough to destroy the barrier before Tyr falls. That being said, Ryan had been fighting for far too long to think that things would go that smoothly. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Rage has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "I''d bettere up with another n¡­ otherwise, it will be my turn to go on a rampage. Chapter 777 - Different Ryan couldn''t help but sigh in the end. While one thing led to another, he should have understood that from the beginning¡­ he could counter Hephaestus''s skill by using the Mana Barrier. If his own barrier protected him from Vengeful Explosion, it was only obvious that would be the case. Once Ryan found out the weakness of that skill, Hephaestus surprised Ryan. From the very beginning, he didn''t have to make the swords fall¡­ he could make them appear and fly toward the enemies from all directions. The very moment he used that for the first time, Ryan felt shivers when he saw Femradiel and Alissa surrounded by dozens of them. Fortunately, Femradiel had some crazy reflexes and used Teleport before they could get pierced by all of the projectiles.?? "It seems that you aren''t bothered that your friend is intervening now," Ryan said. "This is a war, not a duel," Tyr said. "It is different from before." "It sure is," Ryan said and then summoned the Vengeful Sea Crossbow. The same way Hephaestus attacked those two, Ryan attacked Tyr. He saw himself surrounded by dozens of water bolts and then moved his arms to protect his vitals. As much as that annoyed Ryan, it actually worked since he was also wearing another armor made of mithril. However, Ryan used his previous tactic while Tyr wasn''t looking at him. He used Power of Money to damage his armor in a single point without letting him notice it. Alissa and Femradiel noticed what I did and then approached Tyr in the blink of an eye. Feramdiel made a massive ice hammer fall on his head, and then he was forced to block with his arms. At that moment, Alissa punched his left side, and the damaged part created by Ryan broke. Thanks to that, her punch hit Tyr''s left side and broke several of his ribs¡­ before he fell on the ground and broke the others from his left side. Ryan smirked, and then Hephaestus looked really annoyed. Suddenly, he stopped using those weird swords and then left the barrier, and that was weirdly unexpected. Due to the surprise, all of those three forgot to attack Tyr once again. Hephaestus was unarmed and didn''t have armor either, but he sure looked like he was about to fight. Then when Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa were about to attack him, his body began to grow. He grew and only stopped when he was like one thousand feet tall. The ground cracked under his feet, but then he began to levitate. Soon after, Hephaestus made a full te armor made of mithril appear, and he wore it¡­ that was going to be tough. Out of nowhere, a big rock appeared and then fell toward Hephaestus'' feet. Still, then he kicked, and Ryan was instantly sent flying backward for hundreds of kilometers. Before, Alissa and Femradiel could do anything. Hephaestus disappeared, and Tyr showed up to block their path. "Ah, I wished that I could see this," Tyr smiled. "I never saw him fighting, but he sure has the skills to smash your friend like an ant." At the same time, Ryan was almost smashed by the rock and against a mountain. In fact, he probably only survived the attack because he got Draconic Skin the previous day. When Ryan healed his body and moved away from the rock, he saw Hephaestus'' feet about to finish the job. Ryan escaped by using Teleport, but he teleported instinctively to behind Hephaestus, and thanks to that, he got punched. Hephaestus turned so safe that Ryan didn''t even have time to think of dodging. Such was his speed¡­ Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Pain Immunity has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan fell on the ground this time, but the pain wasn''t anything less annoying than when he hit the mountain. Once again, he got as fast as possible when Hephaestus was about to crush his head with his feet. This time, Ryan escaped to the distance, but then Hephaestus quickly followed him by using Teleport. Ryan faced plenty of massive opponents that could move at speeds that it didn''t make any sense considering their bodies. However, Hephaestus was a cut above them. Ryan grew tired pretty quickly of being beaten one-sidedly, so he used a cheap trick, he summoned Vengeful Sea Crossbow again, and they bombarded Hephaestus''s face with water bolts. "Hephaestus, free me and together we can crush this worm," Poseidon said. Ryan knew that Poseidon would say such a thing. After all, they were uncle and nephew. Still, much to his surprise, Hephaestus didn''t even blink andpletely ignored Poseidon''s words. "At least answer me, your dirt cksmith!" Poseidon shouted. While he was protecting his eyes, Hephaestus approached Ryan to kick him, but then when Ryan was about to fly away, he suddenly felt a change in the air, something was about to happen, and he sessfully discovered what was about to happen¡­ Hephaestus created another big rock and kicked toward Ryan. However, this time, the projectile split in half when Ryan used his crossbow and aimed at the center of the rock. Even Hephaestus frowned since he didn''t expect that Ryan could react and cause damage so fast. "Come to think of it¡­ you guys have a history, right?" Ryan asked. "Among one of the many men Aphrodite cheated on you, Poseidon was one of them." It looked like Ryan stepped on andmine. The look in Hephaestus'' eyes changed. He looked pretty calm until now, but now his eyes were as vicious as his actions. Using his whole body, Hephaestus dashed toward Ryan, and thanks to a miracle, Ryan reacted on time to dodge and move to high in the sky. "Although I got mad when I saw Mia and Daniel that day, but even though we were in the same situation once, he is far angrier," Ryan said. Hephaestus burned everything on his path with his speed alone. For a second, Ryan thought he was Hermes instead of Hephaestus. That speed was just that crazy. Chapter 778 - Different Tactics Hephaestus quickly found Ryan again and then flew toward him. He seemed like a mad bull charging around like that. Still, while it wasn''t one of the most skillful ways to fight, it was highly effective. Although making the enemy mad was one of Ryan''s mostmon tactics, he decided to shut up regarding the problems that Hephaestus had with Aphrodite, the main reason being the fact that he was suffering damage from his words as well. Ryan used sh to escape Hephaestus'' charge. He seeded and then began to attack his left side. Still, as if the quality of his own armor were a league above the other, Ryan didn''t cause a single scratch. When Hephaestus returned, he dodged again and used Power of Money, but not even that skill.?? "Let''s see¡­" Ryan muttered. The next time Hephaestus attacked, Ryan didn''t try to dodge until the veryst moment, and then when the enemy got close enough, Ryan summoned that big ass sword and made it collide against Hephaestus'' neck. The massive creature was actually forced to slow down when the de scratched his neck. Still, it wasn''t nearly enough. The wound was too small since Ryan didn''t have time to make it a spin. Hephaestus took his time to check the wound on his neck, and Ryan used that chance to fire Acid Arrows on the enemy''s face. He also fired poisoned arrows since he had no idea at which level Hephaestus'' poison Resistance was. In that regard, the Chimeras Crossbow really came in handy since they could fire three bolts at the same thing. "Tsk," Hephaestus clicked his tongue in annoyance. In the end, Ryan''s n was working pretty well. Hephaestus looked as if he was being annoyed by the acid and Poison. However, he quickly charged at Ryan again. In order to keep attacking nonstop, instead of using Teleport or sh, Ryan used Evading Shot, and since he was using it alongside almost twenty magic bows, he could maneuver pretty well in midair and dodge Hephaestus attacks. At some point, Hephaestus cooled his head and noticed that the charge wouldn''t help him in any way. So, he returned to the tactic of firing rocks at Ryan. However, this time, he kicked some that were pretty weak, so his kicks made them explode, and a cannon of small rocks that were fast like machine guns flew toward Ryan. He dodging them would be impossible, but Ryan clenched his teeth and decided to ept the pain. He couldn''t stop attacking, after all. While he was moving backward, Ryan attacked Hephaestus and made sure that the effect of the poison was stacking up. It was even better since the power of acid could decrease endurance and mentality, so those two were an excellentbination. Meanwhile, Ryan also made sure to dodge all the pieces of the rock that were about to hit his vitals. While Hephaestus only summoned some big rocks, they were made of mana and, after being kicked, could fly faster than the speed of sound, so they would naturally cause a lot of damage, even against Ryan''s Frost Armor. "Tsk," Hephaestus clicked his tongue in annoyance again. After doing that, Hephaestus changed his tactics¡­ rather drastically. Out of nowhere, a massive hammer made of mithril appeared in his hands, and Ryan couldn''t help but gulp. If Hephaestus, with his speed, hits him with that, Ryan would be a goner. Ryan decided to create some distance between them, but Hephaestus quickly began to follow. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, he used those special swords to block his path. "This guy¡­" Ryan mustered. Ryan quickly activated Mana Barrier, but that didn''t make Hephaestus stop. His torrent of swords only grew more severe¡­ perhaps he wanted to make Ryan run out of mana, and that was bound to happen since it was obvious that Hephaestus was more prepared for the battle. Ryan suddenly stopped and then changed directions. Instead of running away, he flew directly toward Hephaestus'' face. He could fly at the same speed as the swords at his best speed, so his back was fine. The problem was his front. Hephaestus began to swing his hammer, ready to smash Ryan into a pulp. But in the end, Hephaestus, only his swords with his swing, created a powerful shockwave. As for Ryan, he decided to see Hephaestus speed from a safer distance. As it turned out, he barely had room to see his swing. "Shit¡­" Ryan said. "Haste is already active and Sloth Aura won''t be enough¡­ Perhaps if I cast Slow on him, then perhaps our speeds will more or less equal." Even if that n works, Ryan will have to consider the cost of mana and the danger of getting too close to Hephaestus. There wasn''t room for mistakes¡­ Ryan decided to summon the Absolute Death Crossbow and then hit Hephaestus'' eyes. There was a small hole in the helmet that he was using, so it should work. He probably didn''t have Tyr''s crazy reflexes, so the chances of him blinding him for a while were quite high. However, the very moment Ryan pulled the trigger, a visor made of mithril appeared and protected Hephaestus. "Son of a bitch¡­ he probably watched my whole battle against Tyr and now has some countermeasures," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Out of nowhere, Hephaestus began to spin around while holding his hammer with both hands, and then after a while, he tossed it toward Ryan. He used Teleport to move upward, and Ryan seeded, but then Hephaestus appeared right in front of him and grabbed his neck. "Fuck¡­" Ryan opened his eyes widely. Without wasting time, Hephaestus began to suffocate Ryan, and he immediately understood that he would die in a few moments. The difference in physical strength was that big¡­ When Ryan felt that his neck was about to snap, he used the Draconic Bow. The weapon appeared right in front of Hephaestus, and he didn''t have time to dodge. In the end, the arrow flew and caused a massive explosion in the area. Chapter 779 - Insistence Thanks to the explosion, Hephaestus loosened his grip, and Ryan freed himself. However, he paid a high price since he was so close to the explosion. His front body suffered some burns, and he rolled on the ground for quite a while, but despite the pain, he got up. He needed to heal himself and recover his mana. After all, Ryan was pretty sure that he didn''t cause much damage. He aimed at Hephaestus'' face, but the helmet was on the way. When the dust and smoke disappeared, Ryan saw Hephaestus standing a few meters away from the explosion center. His hands were bleeding since he involuntarily moved his arm to use the hammer and protect himself, but aside from that, he was pretty much fine. However, the miasma wasing from the wounds in his hands.?? "You really did it, huh¡­" Hephaestus said while he looked at his hands. "With his, you certainly were able to damage Poseidon. You arecking in power, but with some preparations, yes¡­ it is possible." Although it looked like Hephaestus was talking to Ryan, he only looked to the ground while he said that. It was really weird¡­ seeing Hephaestus interested in the fact that Ryan defeated some elder gods without an army. "I guess I should report this to my father, after all," Hephaestus said. Ryan couldn''t help but sweat cold when he heard that. It wasn''t like he didn''t consider the hypothesis of he facing elder gods and they asking for help, but if Zeuses to that world. Then that truly would be the worst-case scenario. However, for some odd reason, Hephaestus didn''t move from his spot. He just stayed there silently. He was already sending his message¡­ "Oh, shit¡­" Ryan muttered. At that point in time, there was no point in trying to stop Hephaestus. Still, the idea that the strongest god of Olympus might target him in the future made Ryan sweat cold. Why only now? Shouldn''t he be aware that was bound to happen once he killed Poseidon, who was Zeus'' older brother? No¡­ Ryan wasn''t worried about the possibility of a fight; he was worried about the possibility that he wouldn''t be the one starting. Ryan loved stealth attacks, but the idea of suffering one was kind of nerve-wracking. "Oh, well¡­" Ryan shrugged. Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points. Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points. Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points. ¡­ In the end, Ryan deactivated Draconic Transformation and used Wolf''s Greed. There was no better moment than that since Hephaestus was busy. Fortunately, Hephaestus ignored Ryan''s action for quite a while for some reason, so his dexterity increased by more than one thousand points. It wasn''t nearly enough to make any difference in that fight, but it was better than nothing. When Hephaestus prepared to attack, Ryan was already back in the game, hitting Hephaestus'' hands. While he couldn''t cause much damage thanks to that juggernaut of an armor, he could make the poison spread through the wounds and then make him unable to use that stupid big hammer. However, Hephaestus noticed what Ryan was nning and then changed his posture, making the hammer protect his hands. "What an annoying guy¡­" Ryan said. Despite that, Ryan insisted on attacking Hephaestus'' hands. However, he had to stop when he got close enough and swung his hammer. Ryan used Teleport to move away, and when he saw Hephaestus finishing his swing, Ryan had an idea. At that very moment, Ryan used the summoner''s crossbow. Naturally, Hephaestus ignored the few bolts that flew to his face. Still, then he regretted that when the magma Golems appeared and exploded. Even though they had no divinity or corruption, the self-destruct attack was bound to cause massive amounts of damage. Hephaestus stopped moving while he was trying to get rid of the magma in his face, and then Ryan put into motion his next n. When Hephaestus recovered his vision, he saw Ryan charging a massive spear of light. Hephaestus already knew what that could do, so he raised his guard. In the end, Ryan fired the projectile much sooner than imagined, and Hephaestus destroyed the projectile with his hammer. Light enveloped the area for a while, blinding him, but then he opened his eyes again. Hephaestus saw Ryan doing the same thing¡­ "What is he nning¡­" Hephaestus frowned. That didn''t make any sense¡­ Still, Hephaestus understood that he couldn''t let Ryan do whatever he wanted. He watched the fight between him and Tyr, and he knew that Ryan wouldn''t do anything without a good reason. Hephaestus only figured out what Ryan was nning when he fired the third light spear. After the light dissipated, Hephaestus heard a cracking from his hammer. Right below the head, he found a small point damaged¡­ Ryan used Power of Money like crazy to cause that small amount of damage. Still, it had been more than enough. "Now things are a bit fairer," Ryan said, and then he began to create an ice hammer above him. "Wanna bet which one is the strongest?" "A foolish question," Hephaestus said. Although Hephaestus looked pretty annoyed since a human was trying topare a single weapon created by magic with a real one, he looked strangely excited as well. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he didn''t have the chance to test his weapons against others often. In the end, Hephaestus dashed, and Ryan made his hammer spin at fearsome speed to collide against Hephaestus''. In the end, the heads of both weapons collided and caused a massive thunderous impact that cleaned the area around them. Not to mention, the noise caused by them could have been heard dozens of kilometers away. Ultimately, Hephaestus'' hammer won the exchange, the ice hammer broke into pieces quite fast. However, the ice shards didn''t fall around the area, they flew toward Hephaestus and pierced several parts of his body. Hephaestus'' expression broke to one of pain, and then surprise, when he saw dozens of Hydra''s bows above him. Chapter 780 - Failure Just as Ryan expected, Hephaestus couldn''t move so fast to dodge those arrows, so he moved his hammer to protect himself. Ryan counted on that, and thanks to it, the hammer of mithril broke, and then the head fell. However, Ryan picked it by teleporting, and then he stored it in his spatial storage. "This entire n of yours was just to get the hammer?" Hephaestus asked.?? "I just want more mithril, that is all," Ryan said. "Still, I heard that your weapons are made of mithril, but yours seems different. It can''t bepared to Poseidon''s or Thanatos'', why?" "Why should I answer that?" Hephaestus asked. "Well, it can''t hurt to ask," Ryan shrugged. "I imagined that you were the one who forged their weapons, but I guess I was wrong." "You weren''t wrong, I did forge their weapons," Hephaestus replied. Ryan couldn''t help but think that Hephaestus was working with Tyr just to have a near-infinite supply of mithril to y with. That was probably why he wasn''t bothered when Ryan broke his hammer. Still, what would be the secret to his forging when his own weapon was like the other Greek gods? In the end, Ryan didn''t have time toe up with an answer. Hephaestus made the cable of his weapon disappear, and then he pointed his right hand toward Ryan. He didn''t like that¡­ he thought that Hephaestus was a pure melee fighter, but it looked like he assumed too much. Suddenly, that whole region began to change. The temperature began to rise so much that even Ryan began to have a hard time breathing. Ryan saw everything vibrating around him due to the heat, and his nose began to bleed¡­ that was a level of heat even higher than when Ryan fought in that world filled with volcanoes. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Heat Resistance has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. ¡­ "Oh, shit¡­e to think of it, he is the Greek god of fire," Ryan thought. Even before he received Femradiel''s power, Ryan never liked fire. Maybe because its tone would make him remember a certain someone. Either way, now he disliked it even more due to his ice dragon powers. Unfortunately, not even Frost Armor was helping him with that spell. Ryan decided to attack while Hephaestus was busy controlling the spell. Still, he soon moved his hand, and the spell stayed active. That was bad¡­ really bad. Hephaestus charged toward Ryan again, and this time, he didn''t have time to react¡­ Hephaestus was faster than before, it didn''t make any sense, but he was. The air left Ryan''s lungs upon impact, and he felt most bones of his body turning into dust even before the impact could make him move away from Hephaestus. Ultimately, Ryan only stopped when he hit the ground and created a massive crater. The first thing he did when he finally could control his body again was spat a huge amount of blood, and then he used Full-Heal, but despite that, his body was almostpletely destroyed, and it would take a while for his bones to be mended. Just like before, Hephaestus tried to crush Ryan''s head by stepping on him, but he quickly teleported to high into the sky. Despite moving away from Hephaestus and gaining a distance of forty kilometers, the heat wasn''t letting up. From that height, Ryan confirmed that his spell was even crazier than he had imagined. It was affecting everything around Hephaestus in a massive range of forty kilometers wide, and as far as Ryan could see, it worked upward until the end of the atmosphere of that world. Could Thanatos or Poseidon have done something simr? Hephaestus quickly approached Ryan again, and he could only teleport away from the enemy since he didn''t know what to do. That was Ryan hated facing enemies he didn''t know a single thing off because he didn''t have countermeasures, anding up within the heat of the battle wasplicated, to say the least. Even without teleporting, Hephaestus was faster than Ryan in that space. He could cover thirty kilometers near instantly. So, Ryan had to Teleport a lot, and his supply of mana was quickly ending. While he could eat some mithril, it wasn''t the answer that he needed. "The range of this spell is a problem, just like the fact that it moves around his body¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Considering Hephaestus'' speed, Ryan couldn''t escape since his own range of Teleport was based on what his eyes could see or the ces he had been. To move to ces he had been, he had to concentrate for a short while and envision the ce, but he couldn''t do that now thanks to that heat and the mad bull chasing him like there was no tomorrow. At that point in time, Ryan could onlye up with a single way to fight Hephaestus: let the anger control his body. ording to Femradiel, he could fight on par even against Thanatos while the corruption was controlling his mind. The problem was what would happenter. It was a bit risky, but Ryan had another idea¡­ Ryan tried to shallow some mithril, but then Hephaestus increased his speed to catch him off guard. That actually worked, and then Ryan''s body was hit against Hephaestus'' chest. However, this time, Hephaestus was forced to stop after a few moments. While Ryan''s body was rolling on the ground, almostpletely destroyed, Hephaestus found his chest bleeding, a sharp paining from there. It almost reached his heart, but even though it didn''t kill him, the Mithril Sword of Suffering caused critical damage to his body, and his spell weakened thanks to it. "Shit¡­ what a fucking monster," Ryan muttered in pain while he was trying to get up. "Not even that worked." The sword was supposed to cause more damage ording to the enemy''s endurance. Still, even at pinpoint range, it didn''t pierce Hephaestus'' heart. Chapter 781 - Hard To Kill "This is a fine sword," Hephaestus said. "Where did you get it? This type of Enchantment is quite rare." Ryan couldn''t help but feel that he was being mocked. A sword almost pierced Hephaestus'' heart, and he was asking who forged the weapon¡­ Regardless, it was time for n B¡­ it was time to formte n B. Fortunately, the next n was formted pretty fast. If Hephaestus needed that heat to make his body stronger, Ryan knew the ce where he wouldn''t be able to keep that spell active¡­ without paying a high price.?? Ryan teleported to high in the sky and then eventually, to space. Hephaestus followed him as if that wasn''t a real problem. In the end, the heat followed him. Apparently, it was an advanced spell that created a barrier, and the interior created a perfect environment for Hephaestus. Still, how much mana did he have to do that? "You sure have a lot of mana," Ryan said. "We all have," Hephaestus said. "If Poseidon didn''t try to hurry and be the first to return to Earth, he would have a near limitless supply of mana and you wouldn''t have defeated him." "What about Thanatos?" Ryan asked. "Use your brain ande up with the answer yourself," Hephaestus replied. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have time for that. Still¡­ to think that the elder gods could store so much mana in their bodies¡­ It was no wonder that Ryan couldn''t actually kill Poseidon and Thanatos. They probably could recover much more health than Ryan could cause damage without using attacks that have divine energy. Even by using Fly, Hephaestus was fast enough to make Ryan feel shivers in outer space. His speed didn''t decrease one bit, and now Ryan had to worry about his sense of depth since thendmarks in outer space were far away stars. However, amidst his anxiety, Ryan had another idea¡­ it was another thing that he could do once. Still, he couldn''t afford to miss it¡­ as dangerous as that looked once again. After teleporting around again, Ryan fooled Hephaestus by swallowing another piece of mithril. He used to catch Ryan off guard, but in the end, Ryan suddenly turned around and then opened his mouth. Hephaestus felt some danger and was forced to slow down since he saw darkness within Ryan''s eyes, but that had been toote¡­ Ryan used Dark Ice Breath. Hephaestus tried to protect his face, but Ryan aimed at the wound on his chest. When Hephaestus noticed that, it was toote. His entire body had been frozen and covered by a thickyer of the dark ice. Once again, Ryan stopped before the corruption could take over his mind and body. Still, he panicked since he couldn''t see anything¡­ the corruption had taken over his head almost entirely. After taking some deep breaths and using Anger Maniption, Ryan managed to calm down and recover his vision, but that scared the crap out of him. Congrattions! The skill Ice Breath has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Draconic Transformation has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. "This is such an amazing attack, but it is a pity I can use it only once," Ryan sighed in relief. Ryan wasted a lot of time trying to recover. Thanks to it, he could see some cracks around the dark ice. Fortunately, his own attackpletely countered Hephaestus, so that heat wasn''t the thing destroying the ice. It was Hephaestus'' will alone. Before Hephaestus could free himself, Ryan created the biggest ice spear he had ever made. Creating ice and making it harder was just too easy in outer space due to the temperature. Ryan swallowed mithril until he felt his limbs growing a number¡­ he had eaten too much. However, in exchange for that, he had created a five kilometers long ice spear¡­ it wasn''t at the level of the one Poseidon used against him, but it was the best he could use. When the dark ice finally broke, Ryan fired his ice spear, and at thest moment, Ryan saw Hephaestus clenching his teeth. The spear hit the target and then immediately proceeded to push him downward at a fearsome speed. Hephaestus tried to fight, but he had the strength to do it, not even in his enormous size. It took only a single second for Hephaestus to reach and be crushed on the ground of that. Even from so far away, Ryan couldn''t even begin to imagine the size of that world, but from that distance, he saw the impact of his attack. All the clouds in the area moved to the distance, and they gave up the ce to a single cloud of dust. It onlysted for a single second as well, but Ryan felt the whole world tremble. Congrattions! The skill of Water Maniption has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Water Transformation has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! The skill Draconic Transformation has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. ¡­ "¡­ Where are my coins?" Ryan asked. Ryan received many notifications, but not a single one of them made him aware of his victory¡­ he knew that defeating an elder god with an ordinary attack wouldn''t be easy, but that was a bit too much. It was dangerous, but Ryan was forced to approach the point of the impact. If Hephaestus didn''t get up, it means that he was heavily wounded, and that means that Ryan had to finish the job as soon as possible¡­ but that also could be a trap. Either way, Ryan just epted the inevitable and approached. Hopefully, he didn''t make Hephaestus fall where Femradiel and Alissa were fighting. Ryan couldn''t tell since he didn''t have time to consider anything while he was fighting. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 99 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 98 (+ 03 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 98 (+ 03 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 21432/21432 (28,25/s) Mana: 20225/20225 (28,25/s) Stamina: 22630/22630 (28,25/s) Strength: 881 (+7622) (+130) Dexterity: 42593 (+13555) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+10010) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+7421) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+8595) (+160) Control: 1476 (10050) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+5695) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+3360) Recovery: 6450 (+9450) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+5693) (+40) Coins: 105.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Herculean Strength Lv 92 (+ 06 UP), Draconic Lance Lv Max, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 195 (+ 10 UP), Concentration Lv 195 (+ 10 UP), Archery Lv 195 (+ 10 UP), uracy Lv 195 (+ 10 UP), Draconic Skin Lv Max, Draconic Stamina Lv Max, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 225 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 219 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 259 (+ 05 UP), Magic Bow Lv 125 (+ 05 UP), Teleport Lv 222 (+ 12 UP), Anger Maniption Lv 49 (+ 18 UP), Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 87 (+ 37 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 77 (+ 41 UP), sses: Combat: Hercules'' Descendant Lv 38 (+ 06 UP), Brawler Lv 95 (+ 05 UP), Draconic Archer Lv 04 (+ 01 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 03 (+ 01 UP), Draconic Lancer Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 27 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 782 - Surprise Even though it might be a trap, Ryan approached as fast as possible. If that were the case, he might as well fall into the trap as fast as possible and give Hephaestus less time to recover. As soon as he got close enough to feel Hephaestus'' presence, Death Sense warned Ryan of danger. He immediately used sh and moved to the side, and that had been just enough for Ryan to dodge a massive sword that went flying upward at sonic speeds. However, things didn''t end there. Several types of weapons began to be fired from the ground toward him, and all of them were stupidly big. Still, they were only made of ordinary steel and not of mithril.?? The speed of the weapons was so high that they quickly left the. Under normal conditions, Ryan would be able to follow them with his eyes, but not while the dust was covering the area. Still, by relying on Death Sense, Ryan escaped the danger. "There is no mistake. Hephaestus is firing those," Ryan thought. "He is probably trying to buy time since he is heavily wounded. Still, approaching someone that could fire such massive weapons at fearsome speed isn''t wise¡­" Despite thinking that, Ryan decided to approach. He didn''t have armor or shields that could help him in that situation, but he had the chains that he used against Thanatos. So, Ryan covered his arms with them and added ayer of strengthened ice. One or another projectile flew directly at him as he approached, but Ryan blocked them with his arms. In the end, just as expected, they weren''t powerful enough to surpass his defense. Ryan tried to use Appraisal on them, but he didn''t see anything. That was weird¡­ there wasn''t any reason why the system wouldn''t recognize the weapons created by the Greek god of cksmithing. When Ryan got close enough, he swung the chains in the direction he saw the weaponsing from. Ryan actually hit something that wasn''t on the ground, but then the chains were pulled alongside him. Before letting the chains go, Ryan bombarded that spot with the Hydra''s bow. Thanks to it, the dust cloud began to dissipate, and then the figure of Hephaestus covered in blood appeared. He was standing on a single foot since the other waspletely broken, and he was firing the massive projectiles using a single hand as well because the other was nowhere to be seen¡­ even though he was pulling those from some sort of spatial storage, he apparently had to do that for some reason. "To think that I would be this damaged, even though I didn''t hold back for even a second¡­." Hephaestus said while his eyes were emanating a vicious glow. "It was with this that you defeated Poseidon?" Hephaestus asked while he was looking at the miasma leaving his body. Just like what happened with Thanatos, the same thing was happening with him. The wounds on his body were emanating a lot of miasma. It was no wonder since Ryan aimed his Dark Ice Breath toward his heart. Still, for some reason, Hephaestus looked even more beaten down. "No, I didn''t use it," Ryan said. "How then?" Hephaestus asked. "Would that change anything?" Ryan asked. Hephaestus recalled the moment half an hour ago when he said the same thing. In the end, he only showed a tired smile. There was no point asking how since the fight was about to end. Ryan was also thinking among the same lines, but weirdly enough, Hephaestus didn''t look like someone who had already epted his defeat. "It is time to end this," Hephaestus said, and then he threw away the chains and raised his arm again. Ryan didn''t like that. Why was he raising his hand when the enemy was right in front of him. Nothing happened for a while, but then Ryan understood what Hephaestus was doing¡­ he was calling back the weapons he fired earlier. "Don''t even think of dodging," Hephaestus said. "Those will follow you even in hades." It was the effect of Perfect Aim; Ryan knew that Hephaestus had used that skill. If all those weapons return at the same time, then Ryan will truly be cut into pieces. However, even while panicking, Ryan found a way out of that situation. After using all the buffs that could increase his speed and strength, Ryan began to concentrate all his energy on his right fist. Usually, not even all his mana and stamina would be useful at such time, but Ryan assumed that Hephaestus'' body was weakened due to the miasma. So, after Concentrated Strike reached the max power that Ryan could reach, he dashed toward Hephaestus. Naturally, Hephaestus knew that such an attack wouldn''t kill him, but Ryan didn''t try to do that. He attacked the leg that was keeping Hephaestus standing and then broke it. Hephaestus clenched his teeth in pain, but the worst was yet toe. Ryan returned before Hephaestus could fall and then grabbed him by the back¡­ Ryan was nning to use him as a shield. Congrattions! The skill Concentrated Strike has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Concentrated Strike has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Concentrated Strike has leveled up. ... "Oh, shit!" Hephaestus said. Before Hephaestus could think of stopping his own attack, the first weapons fell on his chest. Naturally, they immediately broke, but not before causing some damage. In the next few seconds, hundreds of enormous weapons made of steel fell on Hephaestus''s body, and while they weren''t damaging Ryan, the impact and the Hephaestus'' weight began to crack his bones and even crack the ground below him. In the blink of an eye, Ryan saw himself standing at the center of a crater. One that grew with each impact caused by the steel weapons. Amidst the downpour of weapons, Ryan couldn''t help but open his eyes widely at Hephaestus'' resilience. He was supposed to be feeling some hellish pain, but he didn''t do anything aside from grunting. In his ce, Ryan probably wouldn''t have time to scream in agony. Chapter 783 - Blacksmith Lord Until the end, Hephaestus didn''t cry, scream or show any sign of weakness. Ryan realized that immense power wasn''t the only thing that made the elder gods fearsome. Their pride was equally as impressive. While Poseidon couldn''t help but ignore his pride a little and ask for help when Ryan fought some powerful foes, he only did so to protect his pride¡­ After all, it was humiliating for him to stay in that form. Regardless, Hephaestus eventually passed out due to the exhaustion and the bleed¡­ probably. Ryan couldn''t tell since he returned to his normal size after a while. Thanks to that, his wounds began to heal faster, but Ryan wouldn''t let that happen.?? Mithril Hammer of the Destruction Effect: With each attack, this weapon stores part of the energy of the impact, and that same energy can be used against the energy whenever you decide to do so. Strength + 2400, Endurance + 1500, Recovery + 1500, Speed + 1500, Mentality + 1500. Durability + 2000/2000 You obtained 756.365.688 coins. Congrattions! For defeating Hephaestus, you have be a Level one cksmithing Lord! You obtained the following skills: Instantaneous Forge, Heat Field, and Fire Absorption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Instantaneous Forge. Effect: It grants the power to create weapons, armor, and essories using any material instantly. The higher level this ss is, the more powerful the forged creations will be. Cost: 5.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heat Field. Effect: It grants the power to summon a magical field that will cause fire damage over time on all enemies. At the same time, the field will increase all your status by one hundred points per level. Cost: 1.000 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Absorption. Effect: It decreases the power of fire-based attacks by one hundred points per level. When you seed in canceling the total damage of the attack, you will be able to absorb it and then restore your health, mana, and stamina. The amount absorbed will be a percentage equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. "Why a hammer?" Hephaestus asked. "I thought you really liked crossbows." "I am in dire need of melee weapons, so I decided to create one," Ryan said. "Considering the effects that your spirit gave to the weapon, I would say that I was right in doing that." "Is that so¡­" Hephaestus said. "What? Aren''t you going to curse me or something?" Ryan asked. "I lost this time, and the loser doesn''t have the right to say anything. I will just wait for the perfect moment for my revival," Hephaestus said. Unlike Poseidon and Thanatos, it seemed like Hephaestus won''t cause much of a headache to Ryan. Still, it was hard to say if that was good or bad. After hearing that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder that perhaps disposing of those weapons would be the best thing he could do, but he probably couldn''t do that without not freeing their spirits. Regardless, it was a question for another time. Ryan had to check things with Femradiel and Alissa. At the end, when Ryan made Hephaestus fall from outer space, he made the battlefield change locations a bit too far away from the others. So, he had to use Teleport for five hours to get close enough. However, once he did, something happened. The entire world began to tremble, and then a powerful shockwaveing from the battlefield headed toward Ryan. He covered his eyes, but then he felt a lot of mana spreading in that world. "Shit¡­" Ryan muttered. In a hurry, Ryan approached the battlefield, but he saw the result of that explosion; even for far away¡­ something attacked the area and destroyed even Hephaestus and Tyr''s dungeon, leaving only a massive hole behind. It was much bigger than the one caused when Alissa fought those two aliens that could make things explode¡­ still, that wasn''t the issue. The issue was that Femradiel, Alissa, and the others were nowhere to be seen. "Why now of all times¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. The dust cloud took a while to disperse, even though Ryan used magic to make it disappear. He started to look around for survivors, but he didn''t find a single trace of the armies¡­ and that was weird considering that there were more than three hundred thousand of them. Ryan sighed in relief when he found a massive wall of ice at the border of the hole, and then he found Femradiel, Alissa, Nakine, and some dragons behind it. When he arrived, the wall copsed entirely, and everyone was unconscious. Femradiel and Alissa''s presences were fine, just weakened, but the dragons were about to die. Ryan healed them as fast as possible to avoid the worst, but even so, they took a while to wake up. "What happened here¡­ where are all the others?" Ryan asked with a look of astonishment on his face. Even Femradiel and Alissa weren''t waking up. Although their wounds had been healed, their bodies were too weakened for some reason¡­ when they woke up, they showed a look of surprise on their faces as well. "What''s up, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "What happened?" Ryan asked. "What do you mean by¡­ wait, weren''t we fighting a moment ago?" Femradiel frowned. "Yeah, now tell me, what happened after Hephaestus and I left?" Ryan asked. "We fought Tyr for a while¡­ and then¡­ I don''t remember anything," Femradiel put her right hand on her face trying to remember what happened, but apparently, she couldn''t remember. Ryan tried to get some answers from Alissa and the others, but they didn''t know anything either. In fact, they froze in shock when they saw the massive hole nearby. Something attacked all of them, and they tried really hard to survive, but they couldn''t even remember what that was. However, things were only about to get even weirder in the next few days¡­ Chapter 784 - Draconic Mage They searched for quite a few survivors, but in the end, only fifty of the original five hundred survived. As for the chimeras, not a single one survived. After a while, Femradiel had the idea to use Memory Maniption to check what had happened, but at the end, when Ryan essed her memories, she didn''t even find the part where she created the ice wall to protect that small group. "I never heard of something like this happening before¡­" Alissa said. "This is giving me creeps."?? "I am sorry about your allies, Nakine," Ryan said. "Well¡­ I can''tin right now," Nakine said with a tired expression on his face. "You defeated Hephaestus, and I am sure those two protected those they could. The problem is what will happen from now on." They decided to return to the fourth vige to rest, and they heard something even more unbelievable¡­ all the dungeons of the dungeon masters that managed to capture dragons had been destroyed. In the ces they once had been, the pendragons found those massive craters. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. While it was good news that the dungeons disappeared, the chances of freeing their allies disappeared with it. Before going to those ces, Ryan, Femradiel, Alissa, and Nakine decided to move to the first crater, and there, Alissa tried to check the link between worlds. It was the same thing she used to arrive on that, but she didn''t find anything. "It is no good," Alissa said. "I didn''t think this was possible, but the link waspletely destroyed." "Is it different from the others you found?" Ryan asked. "The other weakened over time since the dungeon master that connected this world, and the other passed away, but ultimately, it would never disappear," Alissa exined. s aren''t standing still in the universe; I am sure that you know that. So, only powerful magic would keep two worlds connected like that while they move around. Hence, it is a magic that its traces won''t ever disappear." It seemed like it was one hell of a spell¡­ but even a spell-like that could be destroyed. Ryan didn''t think that energy could be destroyed like that, but he didn''t know many things. It was na?ve to think that he coulde up with answers using only the knowledge he obtained in thest year. "How are the other tribes?" Ryan asked. "They are fine, just a bit worried that whatever destroyed the dungeons will return to finish us off," Nakine said. "And also, a bit depressed now that they know that our captured allies won''t return." "The dungeons that were destroyed, the dungeon masters were the most troublesome ones you knew, right?" Ryan asked. "Is there anyone else who could take down all of them at the same time?" "No¡­ something that powerful, we never found on our," Nakine replied. In the end, all of them decided to check the other dungeons and make sure that no danger was nearby. They didn''t find a single monster, and as if things weren''t weird enough, the other dungeon masters that were lurking around also retreated to their worlds. They didn''t want to get anywhere close to a thing that could cause such destruction. "It seems now we have the peace that we always wanted, not the way we wanted, but peace nheless," Nakine said. "Considering what happened, I don''t think that staying in a single ce will be that effective, but dividing yourselves into tribes won''t work either," Ryan said. "I know, we are going to move to the other side of the and stay on the remotest parts until we confirm that we can protect ourselves from anything," Nakine said. "Regardless, since we are here, we might as well give you the chance to use the other crystals." "Are you sure of that? Our deal was to free all your captured allies, and we didn''t have the chance to do so," Ryan said. "It is fine. We didn''t do much in these previous fights," Nakine said. "Still, I would like to think that you will return to help us if something happens." "I see, so you are trying to make me feel indebted in order to fight alongside you, when necessary," Ryan said. "Well, I guess that is fine." Even Alissa and Femradiel thought that was fine since that power-up was more than wee, and after the attack caused by an unknown enemy, they needed all the power-up they could get. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Mage! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Intelligence, Draconic Mentality, and Draconic Willpower. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Intelligence. Effect: It permanently increases your intelligence by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Mentality. Effect: It permanently increases your mentality by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Willpower. Effect: It permanently increases your willpower by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Although Ryan was expecting a bit more from that ss, he always weed passive skills. Regardless, after Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa''s turn, all the other dragons touched the fifth crystal. Considering how many experienced warriors they lost in thest battle, they couldn''t help but hurry up and make all of their members obtain that power. More than ever, that was absolutely necessary. In any case, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ will they gain a special power once they obtain all of the seven draconic sses? Another thing that he found weird now was why the tribes split and took the crystal hearts to different regions? Would something happen if they stay in the same ce? It certainly would make things simpler for the dragons to obtain power, though. Chapter 785 - Draconic Assassin A lot of dragons were following Ryan, Femradiel, Alissa, and Nakine. At least half of the poption of dragons was with them to obtain power¡­ the other half was supposed to protect the viges if something happens. Still, it was kind of weird that a mighty race now only had two thousand members¡­ Ryan didn''t know much about dragon physiology. Still, if he used Femradiel''s thirstiness as a basis, perhaps they could reproduce as fast as rabbits. "When was thest time someone obtained the power of the seven crystal hearts?" Ryan asked.?? "That never happened," Nakine replied. "The seven dragons never stayed together in a single ce aside from when they fought. Due to the situation of the world in thest hundred years, we never had the chance to move the crystal to ces close to each other, it was just too risky." "Maybe they stayed in different ces already considering the fact that in the future, they would be crystals," Femradiel said. "By staying far away from each other, only those who survive a hard journey would be deserving of their power." "Would you do the same if the fate of your race were in danger?" Ryan asked. "Would you give the power to all humans if they were in danger?" Femradiel asked. "Don''t answer a question with another question¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I understand your point, though. Although their descendants were free from the corruption, it doesn''t mean that they won''t fall for it again. The harsh journey probably is a means to make your people stronger mentally and less capable of falling to the clutches of corruption. It is obvious that those seven dragons prepared this." Many shared the same thoughts, but Nakine wasn''t that understanding. Although he was the leader of a tribe, he lost too many allies because they weren''t strong enough. Hence, he couldn''t help but be a bit mad at those requirements left by their ancestors. For a seven hundred-year-old dragon, he sure was na?ve and didn''t how lucky he was receiving that kind of power. Ryan was fully aware that he was lucky by founding a slime dungeon on the first day, but it couldn''t bepared to the luck of the pendragons. The sixth tribe was hidden inside a mountain of ice¡­ although a good part of the ce was below ground level, the mountain was unnaturally big. Someone attentive enough would understand that the mountain had been created by a dragon, and apparently, one of the seven dragons was the one who made it. Although one might discover that the mountain was unnatural, destroying it was nearly impossible. Ryan noticed that the mountain was sturdy was mithril¡­ the only downside was the fact that the interior was extremely cold. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Assassin! You obtained the following skills: Draconic w, Draconic Control, and Draconic Speed. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic w. Effect: It exponentially increases the damage caused by a single furtive attack. If the enemy survives the surprise attack, all his status will decrease by at least twenty percent. Cost: all your mana. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Control. Effect: It permanently increases your control by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. Cost: all your mana You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Speed. Effect: It permanently increases your speed by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. This new ss seemed pretty interesting from Ryan''s perspective. Since he and Femradiel were always fighting together, one of them could use it to decrease the foes'' strength. Still, soon after thinking that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ wouldn''t that be pretty cowardly? Not to mention all the victories he had as ofte, with the exception of Hephaestus, Femradiel yed a major role. "What are you looking at?" Femradiel asked and then smiled. "Could it be¡­ that you can''t resist anymore?" "No, I was just thinking that it looks like you got fat in thest few weeks," Ryan said. Ryan knew that was andmine, but he stepped anyway. Although Femradiel didn''t do anything physical, she looked at him as if he had made the worst mistake of his life. Even Alissa was looking at him with reproachful eyes. "It was a joke, a joke," Ryan said. "You are always saying nonsensical things, why can''t I do the same?" "Because you rarely say nonsensical things," Femradiel replied. "That doesn''t exin anything," Ryan said. Ryan made a mental note to keep his mouth closed when he thinks of saying something sarcastic. Perhaps the victory against Hephaestus got on his head. Still, he couldn''t afford to get carried away and be beaming with confidence. Not when someone destroyed seven dungeons recently. As they moved toward the next tribe, things got pretty quiet in the group. The main reason for that was the fact that Ryan was spending his time looking at that world with different eyes. Thest two weeks passed pretty fast because Ryan had only a few things in mind, but now that he thought about it, it was the first time he spent so much time away from Earth. Alissa spent even more time away from it, so she was even more quiet than him. "Dear me, who could have thought that you two could be so quiet at times like this," Femradiel said. "¡­ What are you nning after this?" Ryan asked. "I will continue searching for a method to bring back Orgar," Alissa replied. "This job made me realize that perhaps I was too narrow-minded, there are many worlds out there, and even some unexpected species might have the answers that I want. I will search for other worlds where civilizations exist like this." Chapter 786 - Draconic Lord That was pretty interesting to do. If Ryan had time to do so, he would do as well. After all, space is much deeper than any human can ever imagine, so there was no telling what one could find out there. "That is fine, but you should be more careful since dungeons and domains can be destroyed so easily," Ryan said. "Your way back to Earth might be destroyed and finding another way will cost you a domain stone."?? "I already have a solution to that problem," Alissa said. Alissa was even quieter than Ryantely, so she had plenty of time for that. Regardless, they eventually found the seventh tribe hidden in the only ocean of that world. They had a natural barrier since the entire ocean was covered in a thick mist for some reason. The inds around weren''t that big as well, so only some attentive eyes would be able to find it.Although that was the case, the pendragons there had enoughnd to cultivate some weird vegetables that were filled with mana. They could grow so fast that they had enough food all year round for two tribes. Those two tribes heard of the conflict, but they decided not to participate from the very beginning. They haven''t been attacked for the past five hundred years, so they got used to that peace. As if that wasn''t enough, the inhabitants there looked at Ryan and the others with dubious eyes. "For some reason, I feel pretty angry here," Ryan said. "It is not like I don''t understand you, but¡­" Nakine said. "Yeah, I got it," Ryan said. Fortunately, the members of the tribe didn''t try to interfere. Maybe it was due out of respect for those who could have fought thest fights, or because they were fearing the power they obtained while using all the other crystals. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Draconic Priest! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Mana, Draconic Recovery, and Draconic Absorption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Mana. Effect: It permanently increases your mana by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Recovery. Effect: It permanently increases your recovery by one hundred points for each skill at the max level that you have. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Absorption. Effect: It grants you the power to eat elemental spells to recover your mana. The amount of mana recovered will be based on the level of the elemental resistances. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You havepleted the trial of the seven pendragons and obtained their special ss. You have be a Level one Draconic Lord! You obtained the following skills: Draconic Soul, Draconic Leadership, and Draconic Submission. All of your status has increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Soul. Effect: It permanently increases all of your statuses by one hundred percent when absorbing the soul of a dragon defeated by you. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Leadership. Effect: It temporarily increases all of your statuses by five percent by each dragon fighting by your side. You obtained 1000 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Draconic Submission. Effect: It grants you the power to force other dragons into submission. If you defeat a dragon and use this skill, the target will be unable to defy your orders. You obtained 1000 status points. As soon as they obtained the same power, all of the dragons repeated what Ryan, Alissa, and Femradiel did: they looked at each other in confusion. Those new skills were a bit too powerful¡­ a sudden power up like that by defeating a single dragon was just too absurd. Besides, wouldn''t it be the same thing as stimting the dragons to kill each other? "What do you think of this, Nakine?" Ryan asked. "I told you¡­ the dragons that obtain the power of the seven crystals will have power equal to the seven that freed our race," Nakine said. "I couldn''t expect anything less from them, since they were able to fight against thousands of cursed dragons." That was right, but it also meant that they used the souls of the cursed dragons to be more powerful¡­ did they truly try to free the entire species? Or did they just want to create an environment where they would be the absolute leaders? That was a question for Nakine and his friends. "It seems that you and your friends will have a lot of time to think about this," Ryan said. "So, we should hurry up and give you guys the space necessary to do that." "I once again thank you three for the help, and¡­" Nakine said. "Yeah, we know. We will return if you need a hand," Ryan said. "We have some slots on the domains avable to create new dungeons," Nakine said. "So, we will eventually connect this world with Earth." "I am not sure this is a good idea, but do as you wish," Ryan shrugged. If the pendragons fight by his side, Ryan will be able to make good use of Draconic Leadership. However, he doubted that they would be able to aplish anything on Earth. Not to mention, the individual that attacked and destroyed the dungeons probably had some ties with Earth. "Speaking of which, did you guys receive any notification that you now are ady of war or something?" Ryan asked. "No, we didn''t even receive extra coins. So, most likely, Tyr is still alive." Feramdiel replied That seemed somewhat troublesome¡­ to think that he would survive an attack of that level¡­ Was he hit by it? Or was he spared by the attacker? That was another important question. Chapter 787 - That Day Since Ryan recovered a lot of mithril when he defeated Hephaestus, he hurried back to the portal they used two weeks ago by eating the mithril Nakine gave him like there was no tomorrow. Thanks to that, they made the trip that was supposed to take two weeks in a single day. Things on the domain that once had been Belphegor''s were the same as usual, so Ryan and the others quickly returned to the next portal and back to Earth. Now that he thought about it, why didn''t Alissa use the same method as before??? "Are you going to visit Fang Shi after this?" Ryan asked. "Why do you care?" Alissa asked. "Geez, I am just asking, since you didn''t return using the same method that you used to go," Ryan shrugged. "Don''t return now!" Isis suddenly said. Ryan frowned when they returned to Earth and then heard Isis''s voice, but he didn''t have much time to think about it because he began to feel light-headed even in his draconic form. "This is¡­" Femradiel muttered and then fell unconscious on the ground. After Femradiel, Alissa fell on the ground as well. Ryan even had time to cast Purification multiple times, but in the end, it was useless. Draconic Transformation was canceled, and Ryan fell to the ground. When Ryan opened his eyes again, he felt strangelyfortable. That sensation seemed weird for some reason¡­ in any case, after staring at the ceiling for a while, his eyes were focused enough to make him understand where he was. He spent the night sleeping on the couch of his parent''s house. "I can''t believe that I am still falling asleep on the couch at my age," Ryan shook his head. Since it was Sunday, Ryan didn''t find any motivation to get up. He had some things to do in his apartment since he was going to start his work the next day, but he felt like he could do that anytime. "Son, I thought that I taught the benefits of waking up early," Ryan''s father said. "It is 7: 30, Dad," Ryan frowned. "It is early enough." "You already wasted two hours of sunlight, so it is not early enough," Ryan''s father said. "You will need to correct your attitude a little bit, otherwise, you won''t be respected by your students." "I can always obtain respect by making them run around the school," Ryan said. "The perks of being a PE teacher, don''t disrespect one, unless you want to practice for a marathon two times a week." Ryan finally recalled why he slept in his previous home; he watched some ser with his father on the previous day for old times'' sake. He didn''t have much time to spend with his parents while he was in college. Not because the sses were difficult, but because he had to work and make money whenever possible. His wedding was approaching, after all. "Where is Mia, by the way?" Ryan''s father asked. When he heard that name, Ryan suddenly felt a headache. That was weird. The headache had been pretty strong but onlysted for a second¡­ that never happened before with him. That was weird. Ryan was pretty sure that they didn''t drink anything aside from soda on the previous day. "She must be with her mom¡­" Ryan said. "If I remember well, she needed to discuss something with her." "You are too young to forget things, son," Ryan''s father said. "Ryan, what are you going to have for breakfast? Pancakes or toast?" Ryan''s mother asked. "Pancakes with a lot of¡­ with not so much honey," Ryan said but then corrected himself when he saw his father''s eyes. "Look after your body, Ryan," Ryan''s father said. "You never know when you might need a fit body, and while you are not so bad, you could be better." "Better than this?" Ryan asked while he showed his biceps. "That doesn''t show anything, wanna bet fifty bucks on an arm-wrestling match?" Ryan''s father asked. "Dad, I am not going to take fifty bucks from my father at my age?" Ryan shrugged. "Are you that scared? Are you a man or a chicken?" Ryan''s father smiled. "... All right then, bring it on," Ryan said. Ten minutester, Ryan was eating his pancakes with a semi annoyed expression on his face since his father was grinning from ear to ear, not because he lost fifty dors. "Don''t worry, son," Ryan''s father said. "I am sure there are many young men like you out there who can''t win against fifty years old men in an arm-wrestling match." Ryan sighed. His father was usually a pretty serious man, but when he decides to y around, Ryan always ends up troubled. Despite that, Ryan stayed with his parents until noon and had lunch with them as well. After that, he returned to his apartment in order to check things for the next day. He couldn''t mess up¡­ as it turned out, everything was mostly ready, so Ryan found himself bored, and then he began to mess with his phone and talked with some friends. For some odd reason, the closest ones were busy. When Ryan checked the calendar, his head began to hurt again¡­ the very moment he saw the date that he would marry Mia. Something was off¡­ he was supposed to feel happy, but the headache made him troubled. "I feel like I am forgetting something important¡­" Ryan frowned. It certainly wasn''t something rted to his job or marriage. Ryan double-checked everything, and nothing seemed out of ce or weird. "I guess I am just anxious¡­" Ryan said. Things were going pretty well in Ryan''s life, so it was no wonder that he couldn''t help but feel a bit worried that things might disappear or that something might happen. Fortunately, he began to rx once he turned the TV on and began to watch a ser game. There was no point in worrying about things beyond his control, and if something happens, Ryan could always work to solve the issue. Things worked that way until now, so there was no reason it wouldn''t work anymore. Chapter 788 - Dream Ryan also woke up pretty rxed the next day, but things changed when he received a message on his cellphone from Mia. "Good luck today, love you."?? The headache again¡­ this time, it had been more powerful than before. At that point in time, Ryan couldn''t help but worry. Was he sick or something? He was much fitter than most guys, even though he couldn''t win against his father in a wrestling match. He was as strong as a bull¡­ so what was happening to him? "I guess the fact that I am starting to teach kids is making me nervous¡­ it is a pretty important job, after all," Ryan said. "I and many others are responsible for teaching and guiding the next generation." After convincing himself that was the case, Ryan didn''t feel anything. Not even nervous. He soon arrived at the school where he would be a teacher and where he spent his high school days. Naturally, not a single student recognized him, but some teachers did. After saying hello to everyone he knew, Ryan greeted the ones he didn''t know. Since it was the first day of a new year, he wouldn''t teach any students, but he had plenty of work to do. Checking the gym, the materials that he would use, and informing the principal what was in need. Although he didn''t do what he really wanted to do and that was teach others, Ryan''s day passed really fast. While Ryan was driving home, for some reason, he felt the need to stop at the police station of the town. He had passed by it many times, but he never stopped or even entered the ce. The ce felt strangely nostalgic¡­ "Is there something wrong?" A voiceing from behind Ryan asked. When he turned around, he saw a redhead a bit older than him in a police uniform, and she was looking at him with dubious eyes, even though he didn''t notice anything weird with her tone. Also, strangely enough, she seemed pretty familiar¡­ "No, ma''am¡­" Ryan readily replied since he was fully aware of how suspicious he looked. "I just felt that the police station seemed familiar today." "Have youe here many times in the past?" The female officer asked. "Not once in my entire life, and I n on keeping that way," Ryan said. "I sure hope so," the redhead officer said. "Well, have a good day." After saying that, she left. Ryan wanted to ask if they had met before, but he decided not to do it since that was amon pick-up line, or at least the start of many. Not only was he going to marry Mia, but it was also a bad idea to use those lines on a female officer. "Something certainly is wrong with me today¡­" Ryan said and then entered his car. Once Ryan returned to his apartment, he took a shower and changed his clothes. Things would start seriously at school from the next day onward, so it was high time to prepare himself. Still, Ryan didn''t have the chance to rx even a little bit. Something felt out of ce¡­ even though the apartment was the same as usual. In the end, Ryan decided to call his dad and talk about it. "Hello, son," Ryan''s father said. "How was your first day on the job?" "Pretty normal I guess¡­" Ryan said. "Hey, dad, have you ever felt a sensation of familiarity in a ce that you had never been before?" "Are you talking about the school?" Ryan''s father asked. "No, I am talking about the police station," Ryan said. "For some reason, the ce felt so familiar to me today¡­ and now for some reason as well, I can''t rx at home." "You must be just imagining things due to the nervousness," Ryan''s father said. "Just exercise a little and you should feel better. Why don''t you use the bow that I gave you to exercise your back and arms? That should do." "My bow¡­" Ryan muttered. That seemed like a good idea, it has been a while since Ryan used it, but even without firing arrows, he should be able to get some exercise. However, for some odd reason, Ryan couldn''t find it¡­ "Was it stolen or something?" Ryan said. "I am pretty sure I put the bow and the quiver on the back of the closet¡­" As expected, something was wrong with Ryan. Feeling sudden headaches, forgetting where he put certain things, feeling familiar with unknown people in weird ces¡­ maybe Ryan should go and do a checkup in the hospital. After thinking for a while, Ryan realized that he wasn''t the only one weird. His room seemed a bit different than he recalled¡­ Ryan finally noticed¡­ there wasn''t a single photograph in his apartment. When he left his parents'' house, he took a few with them, but he had others that he obtained in thest four years. One was when he won a bowling tournament. Another one, when he went fishing with Daniel and Johnst year, and another when he and all his friends went to the beach three years ago. Not even on his cellphone, they could be found. "Is this... what is that thing called again?" Ryan frowned. Ryan knew that word, but it wasn''ting out that easily¡­ that was another thing that made him think that there was something wrong with him, but this time, he didn''t be neuroethical over it. He could tell that the answer to all of his problems was right in front of him. He just needed to say that word¡­ "A dream¡­" Ryan suddenly said As soon as Ryan said that, he recalled everything that happened over thest year, and he also recalled what happened. He had fallen to someone''s spell and was put to sleep. Who did that? It didn''t matter because he knew the spell wouldn''t be broken that easily¡­ the world around him began to shatter like ss, but then Ryan noticed that his mind and body were getting heavy again. As expected, things won''t be solved that easily. Chapter 789 - Solution When Ryan opened his eyes again, he saw himself in that morning. He woke up and turned on the TV to watch the morning news of the region. When his cell phone began to ring, Ryan saw the news about a car ident. Before he could hear the names of the victims, he picked up the call and then heard from the hospital that his fathers had suffered a car ident. The hospital tried to be subtle with him in order to prepare his mind, but then he heard on the TV that his parents had died. His coffee cup fell on the floor and broke, and Ryan''s mind went numb. He couldn''t believe that it had happened¡­ he was supposed to start his new job in two days, and now he lost both his parents. He was going to watch a ser game with his father¡­ things happened automatically after that. He went to confirm the bodies of his parents in the hospital, and then he found Mia and Danieling out from a motel. He felt upset like his life was a grand lie¡­ but he was just too tired to care about it.?? What happened between that and the funeral? Ryan couldn''t even remember or process properly. As if fate was trying to mess with him, it started to rain in the middle of the funeral. Ryan, alone with his mind, didn''t even notice when the rain increased in strength. Suddenly, probably because due to the cold, Ryan felt the strength leaving his body, and the next thing he saw was him waking up on his couch. The TV was already on, and then he saw the same news of two days ago¡­ about the death of his parents. "What?" Ryan asked, confused. For the first time in two days, Ryan''s mind began to work properly, but at the worst possible time. Now that his mind was somewhat back, Ryan noticed that he even changed his clothes at some point, and he wasn''t wet anymore. Although that was weird, the same things happened all over again, and also, for some reason, an unknown force made him repeat the same steps. Was that a dream? Or Ryan had finally gone mad? Seeing Daniel and Mia and then his parents'' funeral all over again made Ryan feel a bit different from before. He was exhausted, but he was also a bit angrier than he was supposed to feel. "Something is off here¡­" Ryan said. Amidst the sadness and the anger, Ryan noticed that the whole situation fell out of ce. Putting the whole situation of those two hellish days repeating themselves, Ryan felt a strange sensation of nostalgia. Ryan couldn''t quite believe that he felt like that during those two days¡­ but it wasn''t because of that, but due to the fact that he had the chance to remember his old days. Still, more than the old day, Ryan felt that he should recall something else. When Ryan felt that he was about to recall what he had forgotten, things suddenly changed. The speed of those events increased. Instead of having a certain time between the news, the time Ryan found Daniel and Mia, and the funeral, there was no pause between them¡­ They happened one after another as if Ryan was being teleported around. The same thing happened dozens of times before Ryan finally broke the firstyer of the spell¡­ "It is a dream caused by magic¡­" Ryan said. Once that happened, Ryan''s mind began to work differently than before. While he was still angry and sad by watching all of those things several times in a row, he felt strangely calmer. Like he had epted those incidents and moved on with his new life¡­ It took a while for Ryan to notice other things and his memories return, but once they did, that worked pretty well for him to sharpen his resolve to kick the ass of the one who cast that spell. "Aren''t you pretty shy?" Ryan asked. "You should show yourself, that is the least that you can do when you are nning to defeat someone by crushing them from inside." Usually, that kind of taunt works pretty well, but he didn''t get an answer. Most likely, the enemy this time wasn''t like the others, or perhaps they had better things to do than the answer to Ryan''s words. The more Ryan felt less connected to those events, the weaker they became. Until that reality began to shatter itself again¡­ This time, Ryan didn''t fall unconscious. Instead of that, the reality turned into something else. Ryan suddenly saw himself, back in that mountain, where he saw the dragons appearing in the sky, and this time, all his memories were back¡­ that possibly couldn''t mean anything good. "What now¡­" Ryan said. In the end, Ryan didn''t notice anything weird in that memory. He thought that the dragons would all swarm toward him and bit him into pieces. However, that didn''t happen. The dragons appeared and then headed toward Shreveport. While Ryan was wondering what would be the trick to destroy that illusion, he noticed a slime approaching him from behind. "Oh, yeah¡­ this happened," Ryan said. Once the slime entered his range, it fired an Earth Arrow toward Ryan''s head. Naturally, Ryan''s body was as heavy as he recalled, but he still dodged the attack by slightly moving his head to the side. He was in a body that he could die with a single shot of a slime, but he decided to do at least that much. "Come to think of it¡­ what will happen if I sustain critical damage in this illusion?" Ryan frowned. "Will I die in reality as well?" That was a problematic question¡­ not like Ryan was nning to get killed in reality or in a dream. Still, he had to consider all his options. In the previous dreams, he woke up by realizing that the situation was weird, but most likely, that won''t work anymore. Chapter 790 - Sealed Once the slime ran out of juice, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what he should do. Even if it was a slime, he couldn''t kill it with his hands alone. To make things worse, the creature was blocking his path to the car, where his bow and quiver were supposed to be. "In any case, since this is rted to my memories, I guess all my skills are sealed¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is there a way for me to use them? Perhaps if I use Memory Maniption¡­ I guess I can''t do it."?? If Ryan couldn''t even summon his magic bows, there was no way he would be able to use such aplicated skill. Unfortunately, he couldn''t think of any way to break the illusion aside from recovering such skills. "Let''s see¡­ maybe I can do this¡­" Ryan said. ss: (--) / (--) / (--) Race: (--) / (--) / (--) Rank: -- Health: 10/10 Mana: 10/10 Stamina: 10/10 Strength: 7 Dexterity: 9 Speed: 7 Intelligence: 6 Endurance: 7 Control: 6 Mentality: 7 Luck: 6 Recovery: 01 Willpower: 7 Coins: 00 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Support Skills: Ryan confirmed that he could see his status screen¡­ as expected. Not even the enemy could change a memory so much that even that would disappear. In any case, Ryan approached the slime, and then it jumped to crush Ryan. He moved to the side to dodge the attack, but he still hit his left shoulder and got hit by the enemy. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Pain Resistance! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Pain Immunity! "So, it is like that, huh¡­" Ryan nodded to himself. Ryan also noticed that the skill returned at the levels they should be in reality, and he gained some extra status points ording to the level of the skills. In the end, Ryan allocated all of them in speed and then hurried to retrieve his bow and quiver. Thanks to that, he finished the creature in the blink of an eye. The difference in speed granted him the power to aim extremely fast. "I guess I discovered the trick¡­ the question is: which skill do I have to regain to destroy the illusion?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. The next slime approached, and then Ryan did the same when the creature fired another Earth Arrow. He let it scratch his shoulder. Thanks to the increase in his speed, he could easily do it, but it looked like his stamina won''tst for long that way. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Earth Resistance! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Fire Resistance! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Cold Resistance! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Wind Resistance! When Ryan entered the dungeon, he had already recovered most of his elemental resistances, at the least the low-level ones. Still, he didn''t notice any difference so far. After thinking for a while, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ recovering the skill was really the way to dispel the illusion? "Mmm¡­ with this much power, I guess I can take down the boss," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps, doing something that I didn''t do before will solve the problem¡­" Before challenging the boss, though. Ryan tried to recover the first skills he obtained. For some reason, they didn''t show up until now because he didn''t focus enough to obtain them, but after some attempts¡­ Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Power Shot! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill uracy! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Eagle Eye! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Concentration! "All right, with those, this will be a cinch," Ryan said. With all those skills at a high level and the status points, Ryan indeed defeated the boss pretty easily¡­ most likely, not even twenty minutes had passed since the dungeons appeared. In any case, that didn''t break the illusion¡­ "This is starting to annoy me¡­" Ryan said while furrowing his eyebrows. Perhaps Ryan needed to do something more drastic¡­ instead of making events happen sooner than they should, he should do things that didn''t happen before¡­ like, for example, picking the Swordsman ss instead of the Hunter ss. "Nah, it can''t be that easy¡­" Ryan said and then picked up the Hunter ss. "Perhaps something at the level of preventing someone''s death will be enough. After thinking for a while, Lilian''s friends were the first people he saw dying in front of him. But then he realized something¡­ perhaps that defeating the hobgoblins without losing his hand might break the illusion. That certainly was a physical event that didn''t happen instead of a magic one like the ss choices. "Well, now¡­ how do I arrive in that dungeon without meeting a single dragon on the way?" Ryan asked. Ryan could always use Cole''s motorcycle again, but he should be in the area at that point in time. If he were to rob his house and then get caught¡­ that kind of thing made Ryan wonder¡­ What will happen if he doesn''t meet the persons that he met before? The officer that he met on the first illusion was Anna, and she seemed the same as he remembered, but if he doesn''t give them a hand¡­ that illusion might be even more troublesome since some things that aren''t supposed to happen will happen¡­ "My head is starting to hurt¡­ this is supposed to be an illusion inside a dream, howe such a spell can be soplex?" Ryan asked. "Making me see the system how it was before while the skills return to the level they should be." While Ryan was considering his options, he saw an airne falling near that mountain. He already knew that such a thing was bound to happen, but even so, he couldn''t help but feel someplicated feelings. Aside from that, he wondered how Femradiel and Alissa were since they fell for the same spell. Hopefully, they would be in a better situation than Zaos, but considering their backgrounds, that was hard to imagine. Chapter 791 - Same Old In the end, Ryan found Cole, Carter, and Anna. After just a few minutes of looking around, they were trying to help people. Still, few of them could listen to the words of police officers while dozens of Velociraptors were running around and tearing people into pieces. Without wasting any time, Ryan approached them. Those three were about to run out of mana at that point in time, so they were already thinking of retreating to somewhere. They lost their vehicles, they were exhausted, and the people weren''t listening to them, so Cole, even amidst his despair, recognized the fact that they needed to calm down and focus on a new n. Such ns disappeared from his head when he saw the Velociraptors getting killed one after the other with a single arrow on their heads. As if that was something easy to do, Ryan approached him.?? "Hello there," Ryan said. "Do you see that mountain over there, you can find shelter there. Although some monsters are being spawned, I am sure you can take them down with some knives, go there and obtain some power and items if you want to help people." "What?" Anna asked. "Who the hell are you?" "Someone who has eyes and can see that you are close to useless right now," Ryan said. "See this bow? I obtained in that cave, go there and you will have ess to many things that will grant you the chance to do your job properly. Now, give me the keys to your home, I will borrow your motorcycle." "¡­ How do I know that I have one?" Cole frowned. "I obtained the power to read minds in that cave," Ryan replied. "You should hurry, every one hundred seconds, one monster will leave the cave and you three won''t be able to take all of them at the same time." "Are you a special agent or something? Even with weird powers that we can see, you shouldn''t have such a fearsome aim," Cole said. "¡­ You are wasting my time," Ryan sighed and then said. "Ah, they are here too¡­" Ryan saw a pterodactyl in the sky and then recalled the first time he killed one. It was basically at the same time he met Tristan and his sister¡­ To save some time, Ryan had an idea. He decided to move with those three for the time being while they head toward Cole''s house. "I will help you guys this time," Ryan said. "In exchange, you will give me your motorcycle, deal?" "Help? How?" Cole asked. "Just follow me," Ryan said. While they headed toward Cole''s house, Ryan killed all the monsters he found on the way. Thanks to that, many survivors began to approach since he didn''t seem like an enemy, and three police officers were with them. It was weird how people flock to the police when they think that they can be protected. "Hey, do you think what he said is true?" Anna asked while whispering. "About superpowers inside a cave?" Cole asked. "I don''t know, but¡­ I can''t exin that aim without superpowers." "Still, he is too calm considering this situation," Anna said. "Perhaps he is a monster disguised as a human and is leading us to a trap." "Why would he lead us to a trap?" Carter asked. "To eat us," Anna replied. "Why doesn''t he eat the monsters he killed then?" Carter asked. "Well, that is¡­" Anna said but didn''t have an answer for that. Ryan almost let out a sigh. These people sure can whisper pretty loudly. In any case, they soon found Cole''s house, and he frowned when Ryan pointed toward there. At the same time, he looked for houses that had been attacked by the Giant Bees, but he didn''t find any. However, after a while, he saw one breaking a window and then he heard a boy shouting. Without wasting any time, Ryan approached and then saw Tristan and Natalia tried to chase away the Giant Bee with some chairs¡­ that certainly will take a while. Regardless, Ryan killed the bee. "Take those two with you as well," Ryan said. "Now, give me the keys." "Sure¡­ where are you going?" Cole asked. "To Shreveport, don''t ask why," Ryan replied. "Instead of that, look at this. If you head toward the dungeon and defeat the big slime, you will be able to do it as well." Ryan fired some me Arrows and killed a group of Pterodactyls instantly with the spells. The people around couldn''t help but tremble in fear at the power necessary to take down those creatures. Still, the idea of obtaining that power appealed to them. In the end, Ryan more or less understood that defeating the Hobgoblin without losing a hand won''t change anything. After all, he prevented Natalia from getting wounded, but the illusion seemed as strong as always. Not only that, Ryan probably prevented some deaths when the humans joined his group, but that didn''t change a single thing. The survivors freaked out when they heard that Ryan was nning to leave the region, and unfortunately, the few vehicles in the area wouldn''t help them on following him. However, after thinking for a while, they decided not to try to follow him. After all, there was power to be obtained in that mountain. "This is just a dream, but¡­" Ryan thought. "It is so weird how humans can react in such a precise way." They would need some supplies, so they took all the food and water they found in Cole''s home. Not like it had much in there since he was single, and most of the time, he grabbed food after work and always used those delivery apps. "Well, I wish you good luck," Ryan said as he turned the engine of the motorcycle and then left in a hurry. "Do you know him, Cole?" Anna asked. "He sure looked familiar around three armed cops." "With a skill with the bow like his, he doesn''t have to fear guns," Cole said. "But I don''t remember ever meeting him." ss: Hunter Lv Max / (--) / (--) Race: (--) / (--) / (--) Rank: -- Health: 110/110 Mana: 110/110 Stamina: 410/410 Strength: 7 Dexterity: 650 (+ 200) Speed: 145 (+ 100) Intelligence: 169 Endurance: 7 Control: 6 (+ 100) Mentality: 7 Luck: 6 Recovery: 455 Willpower: 7 Coins: 255 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 115, Throw Lv 32, Dash Lv 55, Rapid Shot Lv 87, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 195, Concentration Lv 195, Archery Lv 195, uracy Lv 195, Stealth Lv 185, Pain Resistance Lv 103, Spells: Analysis Lv 09, Lurk Lv 08, Mana Transfusion Lv 92, Meditation Lv 48, me Arrow Lv 35, Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 11, Fear Resistance Lv 26, Fire Resistance Lv 87, Heat Resistance Lv 77, Sleep Resistance Lv 69, Chapter 792 - Easy Mode When Ryan obtained the Hunter ss, the ss returned to him to the max level since he had already reached it at some point in the past. Thanks to that and all the skills he obtained, he recovered a pretty decent amount of power, and now the small fries were even less than an annoyance to him. However, that only made him worry. "Defeating most enemies like this won''t be a problem, the issue is why am I gaining my powers in this dream world?" Ryan asked. "By using this, I will be able to do things that I wasn''t supposed to do, so¡­ breaking the spell in theory, should be simple. If my guesses are actually right."?? In any case, Ryan decided to follow the same path that he did it before by focusing on increasing Dexterity and Recovery. His attacks will cause more damage, and he will be able to attack more often. In theory, that was the best n of action, but Ryan wasn''t that confident. After two hours, he found the region where the goblins'' dungeon was supposed to be. Much to his surprise, he arrived just in time to find a group of goblins dragging on the ground some survivors, Daniel''s father, was among them. "John¡­ I guess this isn''t like an alternative reality, even if my actions are different, it won''t change the flow of a timeline like a wave," Ryan nodded to himself and then stopped his motorcycle. "In any case, I will have to clear that dungeon, so why not start working now?" Ryan didn''t try to be stealthy, so the goblins found him. Some of them tried to run and attack him, but before they could have the chance to do so, Ryan put an arrow on their heads. The goblins that had prisoners didn''t even see Ryan pulling the bow''s string, but that was only obvious. "Let''s see¡­ to create something of his magnitude, only an elder god would be able to do it," Ryan muttered. "The trick of canceling the spell is by finding them? If this is a dream world instead of an illusion¡­ then, perhaps the one who created this was Hypnos. It doesn''t seem like things disappear as soon as I am not looking toward, so I can''t help but feel amazed at this absurd power." ording to the lore, Hypnos was a primordial deity in Greek mythology, the personification of sleep. In the underworld, he lived in a cave next to his twin brother, Thanatos, where no light was cast by the sun or the moon. Considering what Ryan did to his brother, it was only obvious that Hypnos would seek vengeance. Still, he found a pretty roundabout way to do that. Imagining how much mana one would have to use to create a ce like that... it was much better to use all that mana and attack. Ryan wasn''t paying much attention to the goblins, so they decided to escape with their prisoners once they noticed that Ryan was someone way out of their league. Although Ryan''s head was somewhere else, he didn''t let them escape. He put an arrow on their heads. Although they had the chance to escape, the survivors didn''t even get up. They were so beaten that they couldn''t stay conscious, much less move at all. Since Ryan didn''t have any healing skills, he couldn''t help them. Carrying them over to the dungeon was impossible, so he had to wait for a while until a group of dumbasses led by Daniel showed up. "Ryan? Is that you?" Daniel asked. Ryan took a single look at them, and he recalled that those two showed the same expression the first time he saw them in almost the same situation. That was definitely just a dream, so why was he so focused on helping the people that he did before? In any case, Ryan ignored them and went to the dungeon. Daniel and his group looked at each other in confusion since Ryan ignored thempletely. When Ryan found the dungeon, the number of goblins was surprisingly small. Still, that was also just a minor detail. Instead of that, he was worried about what he would do if the enemy was actually Hypnos. He had no idea where his dungeon was, and his mobility was incredibly low in his current situation. "I wonder if things here will be the same in reality¡­ can I talk with Isis here?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It would be weird if I could, but I guess the chances aren''t actually null." Perhaps if Ryan finds Femradiel in that dream, he will solve the problem of mobility. However, he couldn''t help but wonder what would happen if he told them that they were living inside a dream and that they don''t actually exist¡­ or if they exist and they are all in the same dream¡­ no if that were the case, Cole, Carter, and Anna would have recognized him. In any case, Ryan will have a lot of work on his hands from now on. There were many questions about that environment, but if Ryan wanted to escape and perhaps one day defeat Hypnos, be will have to understand every single thing about it. Otherwise, finding a weakness or a way to counter won''t be possible and Zaos will stay stuck in there forever. "I guess it''s better having something to do, than having nothing in this situation," Ryan muttered. "Perhaps, I can find a way to end this damn spell along the way before I find Isis." Regardless, Ryan began to fight the goblins in their vige, and things ended pretty quickly since he put everything on fire with me Arrows. Those that escaped the mes fell after getting hit by Ryan''s arrows. It was like ying a game in the easy mode where Ryan knew everything, but it wasn''t fun or even boring. It was just work. "I''d better hurry up, before those dumbasses approach," Ryan said. Chapter 793 - Skipping A Few Steps In the end, not even the Hobgoblin put up much of a fight. The creature onlysted for a while because of the chainmail and because Ryan still was using a wooden bow. When he got tired of it, he made the creature melt with me Arrows. "This isn''t going to work¡­ this will take too much time," Ryan said after he recovered some skills.?? Now that the job inside the dungeon was over, Ryan had to go to Shreveport, but he also had to talk with Zoe and convince her to join her father there. However, the ce was still being attacked by dragons¡­ "ording to what happened, Zoe should be fine until tomorrow afternoon, it was the time I met her," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe if I kill some dragons, I can make her reunite with her father much sooner than expected¡­ but¡­" Things would be much easier if Ryan just forgot about everything and everyone and just focused on finding Hypnos. Still, then¡­ by doing so¡­ Ryan would feel pretty guilty. There is also the issue with Arthur and his mother¡­ Perhaps he can prevent her death. "Wait a minute¡­ how much has passed on Earth while I am here?" Ryan frowned. Ryan and all the other humans changed and became strong, so he probably canst more than three days without water. Still, wouldn''t he be an easy target while heys unconscious? "I think I am going to lose my mind here¡­" Ryan said. In the end, even though he had been pretty fast. Ryan found the dumbasses when he left the dungeon. As much as he wanted to ignore all of them, he should at least tell John what he should do. "In 24 hours, a monster will appear near the crystal at the end of the dungeon," Ryan said. "If you want to survive, defeat the creature." "Wait a minute¡­" John said, visibly exhausted and still dirt by blood. "I am sorry for what happened to your parents." Ryan recalled that John said the same thing before, but then he quickly forgot about it when he noticed what Daniel and Mia were about to bother him. In the blink of an eye, Ryan dashed and disappeared from the location. They couldn''t believe his speed¡­ fortunately, they weren''t nearby when Ryan stopped. Having that speed consumed a lot of his stamina, so he almost fell due to the exhaustion when he found the motorcycle. "This might make me waste some time, but I will return for Zoeter. At this point in time, Arthur''s mother should be fine as well¡­" Ryan said to himself. "So, I guess I can take my time and kill some dragons." What Ryan was nning to do was crazy, the first day didn''t even end, and he wanted to kill not one but several dragons. Still, he should be able to pull that off since he was at least two times stronger considering status alone ifpared to the time he killed the first dragon. "Come to think of it¡­ if I find Alissa and Orgar, perhaps all my troubles will be solved," Ryan nodded to himself. Still, he had no idea if he would find them anytime soon. They were supposed to meet only three weekster. It was also possible that Alissa and Orgar didn''t meet on the first day¡­ There were so many doubts in his head that Ryan couldn''t help but feel annoyed. "Well, if the worstes to the worst, I can always beat the crap out of a dragon and force them into submission," Ryan said. After making up his mind, Ryan proceeded to Shreveport. He quickly passed by the area where Zoe was supposed to be, and even though only five hours had passed since the arrival of the monsters, the ce had been overtaken by monsters. Without having to stop, Ryan cleaned the area with the crossbow that he just bought. Even the fast Velociraptors couldn''t keep up with Ryan. After killing the monsters in that area, Ryan didn''t find any monsters for a while. Due to that, he decided to emte the same feelings he had when he used skills like Teleport. Perhaps he will be able to recover his powers by doing that. The feeling when he used Teleport was simple, a certain amount of mana disappeared inside him, and then it would appear in another location, and the mana also pulled him. However, Ryan failed miserably. He barely could emit mana through his hands. There was no way he could make the mana disappear inside him and appear somewhere else. However, after doing some training, Ryan recovered other skills. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Earth Maniption. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Earth Transformation. The idea behind those skills was simple. First, Ryan had just to make his mana enter inside a small amount of Earth, and then the second, he could change the material by increasing more mana up to a certain point. But he only managed to pull it off because he used it for quite a while. Without the experience, few people could do it. "This should give me some extra mobility," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. The motorcycle would sooner orter run out of gas. Still, with Earth Maniption and those extra statuses, Ryan could increase his magic powers and then fly over a small tform of Earth. If he ys his hands right, he could even dodge the speed of dragons in midair. Still, he didn''t want to get carried away. It was better to y most of them one after the other and then try to tame thest one¡­ "Speaking of tame¡­ there is that dungeon East of here where I got my first smander," Ryan said. Although the skill says that Ryan can''t tame anything stronger than him, the system will recognize his power if he defeats a few dragons. Not to mention, the level of the skill will make the whole process a lot smoother. Chapter 794 - Hunting In the end, Ryan really decided to pay a visit to the smanders'' dungeon. The main reason was because he would need Tame, and the second reason was because he would be able to surprise the dragons with more efficiency at night. Unfortunately, the motorcycle ran out of fuel much sooner than he predicted, so he had to run for one hundred kilometers. While he could fly, he didn''t need to draw the attention of the dragons.?? "Found it..." Ryan said, trying to catch his breath and covered in sweat. The ce was already swarming with smanders, but in the end, even those couldn''t survive with a steel bolt in their heads. The monsters out the vegetation around in mes, trying to damage him since they weren''t fast enough to enter their range. Still, they failed, and ultimately, they just became a pile of corpses. "Well, they are level two. Even if I let them attack me, they wouldn''t cause much damage," Ryan shrugged. "Come to think of it¡­. if the system can work here and I am recovering my skill, what will happen outside with the skills that I gain that I didn''t obtain in reality?" That was an interesting question¡­ that could only be answered once he finds his way out of that dream. As usual, Ryan hurried to clear the dungeon. However, he underestimated the boss of the dungeon. He fired dozens of steel bolts, but the creature melted them. Ryan couldn''t help but frown. Still, he didn''t stop there. He kept going until the dungeon master ran out of mana. It was only obvious that it would happen extremely soon since it was only at level three. "Things seem a bit different here¡­" Ryan said after he obtained his next ss. "I am pretty sure this part of the dungeon was supposed to be more ominous." Ryan couldn''t feel much manaing from the purple crystal¡­ something was definitely off with it. It was dangerous, but Ryan decided to touch the crystal because he felt like it, and he needed to confirm a few things. Was Hypnos'' spell so powerful that it could even replicate other worlds and even worlds that Ryan hadn''t been? As it turned out, it seemed that wasn''t the case, he touched the crystal, but nothing happened. "... All right, let''s not panic," Ryan said to himself. "Maybe the crystal isn''t working because I never used this one before. So, that confirms that Hypnos spell has limits, which is good. However, what if this is a limitation all the purple crystals have?" If that were the case, Ryan wouldn''t be able to contact Isis. Objectively speaking, why would Hypnos create a dream like that and put someone that could help Ryan? Real or not? It didn''t make any sense. "No, there is a chance that Hypnos didn''t create this entire dream," Ryan said. "Since he is using my memories as a basis, it is only natural that it will have holes." Now that Ryan thought about it, there was a huge chance that Hypnos used that spell on the whole world. That would exin why Isis tried to warn him the very moment he returned. Also, considering that, it would be crazy to think that he would go as far as to create dreams that lock every single person on Earth in a dream world. Still, Ryan was considering things from a human''s perspective. His mentality might change a lot if he has the chance to live for thousands of years. Ryan had nned to stay in that dungeon until night and then ambush the dragons in Shreveport. However, now that some other questions appeared on his head, he couldn''t afford to do that. So, he ran back to Slime''s dungeon at full speed. In the end, Ryan returned around the time the sun was setting to the slimes'' dungeon. He found Cole''s group already there, and they were arguing about something. It was another scene that was repeating itself. Still, they kept quiet when Ryan suddenly appeared. "You are¡­" Cole said. "I am sorry, I am kind of busy," Ryan said. Ryan ignored the survivors and then headed toward thest part of the dungeon. He touched it, but there was no response¡­ Instead of being angry, Ryan felt tired. He was running in circles¡­ at that rate. What could he do to undo the spell? Find Hypnos in that dream world? "All right¡­ let''s not waste time thinking about useless stuff," Ryan massaged his eyebrows and then said. "Let''s focus on what I can do right now¡­ Ryan left the dungeon after ignoring everyone again. Right now, the only thing he could think of doing that might be meaningful was to recover his powers. Once he does that, perhaps he will be able to resist the dream world. After a couple of hours, Ryan arrived in Shreveport and just in time to see a dragon melting the foundation of a building with Fire Breath. The city was being burned down by dozens of dragons even at night, and the few survivors that were on the streets were there because their shelters had been attacked. Regardless, Ryan''s current range was two kilometers, so he activated Power Shot when he got close enough. Since the target was busy, it didn''t feel Ryan''s presence, or maybe it was due to the fact that Ryan didn''t emit any animosity. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Perception! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Precision! Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Art of Sniping! Ryan ignored the alerts after he fired and put a bolt on the dragon''s forehead. Although the projectile didn''t pierce all that much the monster''s skin due to the level of the weapon, the massive concentration of prated the dragons'' head and pierced all the way to the monster''s brain. Ryan seeded in one shooting a dragon. "They are much weaker than I thought¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, I can''t underestimate them despite that." Although Ryan tried to keep himself hidden, the other dragons noticed when one of them fell. They soon raised their guards and prepared to hunt the one who killed their ally. Chapter 795 - Frost Beam Crossbow Ryan couldn''t afford to waste a single minute, so when the dragons headed toward that part of the city, he weed them with open arms and bolts on the forehead. Right at that moment, he had enough firepower to kill the dragons, but only one at a time. So, when the second fell, the others soon found Ryan. "Here ites," Ryan said.?? When the dragons began to fly toward Ryan, he waited patiently, but then when they opened their mouths to use their breath. Ryan jumped with all his might and began to fly. While he didn''t have that skill yet, he solved the issue by putting his mana on the dirt under his boots. His sudden speed surprised the dragons, but that was just the beginning. Ryannded on the back of one of them and began to fire the bolts toward the others alongside Rapid Shot. "I can''t use Power Shot, but I can always kill them by causing damage like this," Ryan muttered. While the dragon he was using as the vehicle was struggling to make him fall, Ryan damaged all the others. Although his basic abilities couldn''t even bepared to before, he was causing enough damage to make the dragons even madder. Without wasting any time, they opened their mouths to use breath again. However, their attacks only hit the poor dragons that Ryan used. The creature didn''t resist being attacked at the same time by twenty or so dragons at the same time. When the dragons noticed the mess that they had made, Ryan was already on the back of his next target and bombarding the enemies around him. Three more dragons had to fell in that same manner before they could understand that their breath attack was too easy to notice and to dodge for Ryan. So, they decided to use their ws and rip Ryan from the dragons'' back. "Why are these guys so dumb?" Ryan asked. "Is the breath the only spell that they can use?" While he was fighting, Ryan was thinking why the dragons weren''t using other spells. Considering what he heard from Orgar and Femradiel, the dragons came to Earth without their memories. So¡­ they weren''t much different from spawned monsters or newborn dragons that rely solely on their instincts. Perhaps they will recover some of their intelligence in the next few days¡­ if Orgar and Femradiel were once in that same state, then it was bound to happen. Regardless, Ryan didn''t have any intention of waiting for that. When Ryan killed the eighth dragon, he saw a crossbow falling alongside the corpse. Two other dragons had drop weapons, but Ryan ignored those since they wouldn''t help in his current situation. However, a crossbow was a different matter. Even better, the one that dropped it had been an ice dragon, so Ryan jumped toward it with all his might. It was a risk he had to take. Frost Beam Crossbow Effect: At the cost of 100 points of mana per second, it grants you the power to fire a highly concentrated beam of ice that might freeze enemies in just a few moments. Dexterity + 200, Intelligence + 100 Durability: 200/200 That weapon will only work against Fire Dragons, but that was more than enough since they were the majority anyway. When Ryan turned around, he saw the dragons surrounding him. In that position, it would be hard to get on their backs, but Ryan already had the weapon, and that would be useful at such a moment. He pointed the new weapon toward the face of the Fire Dragons and pulled the trigger. Instantly, their faces were covered in ayer of ice, and Ryan used that chance to approach. The other creatures tried to stop him, but they flinched when Ryan pointed the crossbow at them. The Fire Dragons were screaming in agony, so it was evident that such a weapon wasn''t normal. In the blink of an eye, Ryan killed seven more dragons. The others quickly noticed that they couldn''t take down that human and decided to run away¡­ while that was surprising, it was only obvious when they lost most of their allies and since they were relying on instinct. Regardless, Ryan wouldn''t let them run away. Ryan quickly used Tame on the dragon he was riding. The skill took a while to take effect but eventually seeded. "Sorry, buddy," Ryan said. "But you are going to help me fight those friends of yours that are escaping. Ryan needed all the power he could get, so he couldn''t afford to let dragons'' escape. Although the creature was trying to eat Ryan five minutes ago, it obeyed Ryan''smand without hesitation, and Orgar said that dragons were so smart and powerful that Tame would never work on them¡­ The dragons panicked when they saw Ryan chasing them on the back of their ally, and they panicked even more, when they noticed Ryan''s charging Power Shot. They tried to escape, but they failed since they were too wounded. Ryan had imagined that they would try to do that at some point, and that was exactly why he attacked all of them instead of one at a time. The chase only ended when Ryan was halfway to Das. Although they were wounded, dragons were known for their resilience as well, so it was no surprise that Ryan had to follow them for several minutes. Regardless, he quickly returned to Shreveport and arrived just in time to see the survivors there escaping the city. "I guess Zoe''s father is among them, and if they stay in a group like that, they will be fine," Ryan concluded. There were more than a few thousand survivors leaving the town, so many people managed to hide and stay safe until now. Arthur''s mother probably was among them, so Ryan felt that his business was over in Shreveport. Although that was the case, he went to the dungeon to get the Monk ss¡­ again. He needed all the power he could get. Chapter 796 - Doubts Ryan obtained a lot of coins from killing almost thirty dragons. Still, he couldn''t find a single weapon better than the crossbow he just obtained. However, while he was in the dungeon shop, he couldn''t help but wonder¡­ "If I recover Spatial Maniption, will I have ess to my collection of weapons again?" Ryan asked.?? That definitely was something worth checking¡­ Still, he will need at least one hundred times more coins than he had at the moment to be able to buy that tome. The best way to obtain coins was to hunt armies of monsters. However, since not even a single day had passed since their arrival, there weren''t many armies out there. Hunting dragons or causing dungeon breaks seemed the best ns of action¡­ "I need to recover Spatial Maniption and Teleport. By using those, I will be able to move around freely and then try to look for some traces of Hypnos, or perhaps some bugs in this spell¡­" Ryan said. There were plenty of dragons out there, so Ryan had to consider his options wisely. Instead of moving around without a clear destination, he headed toward the ces where he got his sses. Before morning, he cleared all the dungeons. He defeated the dragons near Anta, and then he decided to head to Phoenix. However, a sudden idea came to Ryan''s mind. "Due to his level of divinity, Hypnos can create a spell this crazy, but since Isis warned me, it seems it doesn''t work on beings that have a high level of divinity¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, what will happen if I recover Lunar Arrow and Nemean Rage?" Those were the main skills that Ryan had obtained before, Semi-Divinity was another one, but he rarely used it. In any case, those were skills he obtained after sacrificing some sses, so if he obtains them again, perhaps the spell will get weaker¡­ still. Would that solve the problem? Even though he had those and was in his draconic form, Ryan still felt for Hypnos'' spell. "Still, I guess I have to start with those¡­" Ryan nodded to himself. Ryan already reached the requirements to sacrifice some sses. Still, the system didn''t recognize it because he probably has to sacrifice the same sses he did before¡­ His next goals were clear: recover Spatial Maniption and Teleport, and soon after sacrificing some sses and obtaining the special ones. Ryan and his dragon proceeded to head to Phoenix. At some point in time, he imagined that the dragon would begin to speak, but that didn''t happen yet. That was weird. Ryan was pretty sure that Alissa met Orgar on the first days of the monsters'' arrival. Since she was weak and in a hospital, she couldn''t survive in this chaotic situation for long. Still, there was also the chance that different dragons take different time to recover their sanity. In any case, at this point in time, most dragons couldn''t even be considered a minor nuisance for Ryan, so he quickly wiped the dragons around Phoenix as well. However, he already noticed a difference in them. Fire Dragon ¨C Lv 10 Health: 36.000 Mana: 25.000 Stamina: 21.000 Strength: 3000 Dexterity: 4000 Speed: 2000 Intelligence: 8000 Endurance: 3000 Control: 2000 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 1000 Recovery: 6000 Willpower: 1500 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Explosive Touch Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Mind Enhancement Lv 50, Fire Armor Lv 20 Spells: Hellfire Lv 40, Absolute Chaos Lv 15, Fire Spear Lv 40 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 150, Electric Resistance Lv 100 "They were at level two today when I fought them¡­ ifpared to the others, they are at least twenty percent stronger," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "I can''t imagine how strong they got, only eating humans that barely had the chance to use the system." Ryan thought that his actions weren''t changing that illusion all that much, but perhaps he was wrong. If he remembered correctly, the first fire dragon he killed was at level fifty. Still, the creature only obtained that power after three weeks. At that pace, some dragons will be stronger much faster¡­ which was good and bad for Ryan. At some point, Ryan realized that he was making the dragon work too much. He barely had time to stop since he was always moving around, and the dragon was the one doing most of the heavy work. Thanks to that, Ryan realized that he would gain more power if he tames some dragons instead of just eating the hearts of all of them. Unfortunately, considering the level of the skill at that moment, he could only tame twenty of them. "Unless I kept them with me all the time and force the skill to level up," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Although I don''t have my draconic powers here, the skills already surpassed the level one hundred marks, so they can keep leveling up non-stop." That made Ryan realize that despite his situation, his powers still were there. They were just waiting to be unlocked and used. It was kind of surprising that Ryan never thought of taming some dragons since they were the best way to level up that kind of ss. During the rest of the day, Ryan tamed neen other dragons and also recovered some sses and skills. Much faster than expected, he was bing much strongerpared to any kind of monster. However, he didn''t yet know that he had to use that strength. So, instead of being confident, he was getting impatient. Congrattions! The skill Tame has leveled up. You obtained 01 status points. It has been a while since Ryan saw that notification, so at the very least, not everything was trouble. Regardless, this time, Ryan didn''t need to stop at any moment. Even when he found a group of fifty dragons flying toward him, he faced them directly since he had his own army of dragons, and the army was quickly increasing since the skill was leveling up and Ryan was giving them enough time to rest and eat some monsters to recover their stamina. Chapter 797 - Plan When the third day ended, Ryan had recovered most of the sses he had obtained in US territory. Now he just needed to go to Canada and then get the High Priest ss and then Mexico to get the Ranger ss. That will take some time, but then Ryan will be able to recover the Artemis'' Disciple ss. "I need more than fifteen million to buy the Spatial Maniption and once that happens, I guess half of my powers will be back," Ryan said. "The other half I will have once I find the Femradiel of this world."?? Femradiel was pretty smart, so she must be one of the first dragons that recovered her sanity. Still, the trip to the extreme south of South America would belong, even on the back of a dragon. Not to mention, there is no guarantee that she will be there¡­ "Oh, well¡­ I can''t just stay here clearing low-level dungeons forever," Ryan shrugged. There was always the option of waiting for someone to beat Hypnos or cancel the spell in some way or another, but Ryan wasn''t the type to sit around and wait for others to do the heavy work. After flying for several hours, Ryan finally reached the Fenrir''s dungeon. Just as he had imagined, he didn''t hear Loki''s voice when he defeated a weakened version of Fenrir. That confirmed that the illusion was limited¡­ still, thanks to that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ "If the illusion only replicates Earth, what will happen if I try to leave it?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Once he obtained the next ss, Ryan decided to fly high on the back of a dragon. At some point, he noticed that there were no stars in the sky. In fact, clouds were covering the whole even though clouds were supposed to be found fifty kilometers above ground level. "I guess this confirms it, even Hypnos could only create a copy of Earth in his spell," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. Ryan knew that it was a waste of time, but he tried to fire his arrows upwards and see if they hit some sort of barrier, but in the end, they only disappeared after a while. It was a bit risky, but Ryan decided to make the dragon leave the in the end. It wouldn''t be for long, but both of them could survive out there without freezing to death for a few seconds. In the end, Ryan didn''t even feel the temperature decreasing. As soon as his body became lighter, he just saw himself and the dragon standing in the ce they had been a few seconds ago. Ryan tried again, but in the end, that just confirmed that breaking the spell wouldn''t be that easy¡­ "It has been a while since someone made me this mad¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. That spell was really annoying, but thanks to it, Ryan had the chance to see things from a different perspective and even learn about Hypnos. By the look of things, he wasn''t an opponent that would try to kick his ass directly. He was probably a mage-type who was nning to make Ryan despair in that illusion. That was pretty nasty, but Ryan would do worse if he had a brother and that brother had been killed. Regardless, Ryan returned to his group of dragons and then proceeded to Mexico. The trip would be long, so time was of the essence. At the same time, he was flying on a dragons'' back. Ryan tried toe up with other ways to dispel the dream world, but as expected, he was extremely limited with the skills he had or obtained in the past. Not to mention, he didn''t have much experience in dealing with illusions. Perhaps he should train that skill, Illusion Resistance or Sleep Resistance. However, that probably won''t help all that much now that he was under a spell. He had to find another way¡­ After ten hours, Ryan reached the Chupacabra''s dungeon in Mexico, and after clearing the ce, he managed to recover Lunar Arrow. However, there was no change in the ambient in any way. Regardless, Ryan obtained enough coins to recover Spatial Maniption, and once he used the skill, he recovered ess to his vault. "This illusion is made of mana, huh¡­" Ryan said and then summoned the Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Ryan pointed the crossbow downward and pulled the trigger. Much to his surprise, the bolt damaged the ground much more than he had expected. No, it didn''t damage the ground¡­ it made it disappear. Ryan pulled the trigger several times in an arrow and confirmed that the matter had beenpletely erased, creating a hole in the ground. Ryan was finally making some progress¡­ the arrows that could drain mana of anything that could affect the dream world, but it wasn''t affecting as much as Ryan wanted. "It is probably because I am only using one at a time¡­ and because my dexterity is really lowpared to before, ifpared to the time when I use Draconic Transformation, it isughably¡­" Ryan said and then rubbed his chin. "In any case, I managed to find a way to damage this fake reality, but how exactly can I make it disappear?" After thinking for a while, Ryan understood that the dream world is supposed to have some sort of core since there were no boundaries. He couldn''t force his way out since he was basically trapped inside his head¡­ so he had to destroy the mana within him. The possible core could be anywhere¡­ but Ryan decided to aim for some ces that seemed more suspicious: the dungeons. Ryan made his dragons attack the dungeons, but he didn''t notice any real damage being caused. However, when he used the Spiritualist''s Crossbow, he actually managed to damage the ce and even destroy the purple crystal. Not even a dungeon break was possible to make happen in that world. "All right, this can work¡­ I just need to recover the Magic Bow skill and then destroy Hypnos'' dungeon like this," Ryan nodded to himself. Chapter 798 - Failure Ryan''s n seemed very risky like all others, but with this one, he felt really confident for some reason. Destroy all the dungeons in the dream world, and the dream world will bepletely different from his memories. If that weren''t enough, eventually, Ryan will cause enough damage to the mana that was keeping him unconscious in reality. To make things as efficient as possible, Ryan used his dragons to obtain coins and items he could sell. After all, he will need all the mana he can get to destroy all dungeons in the world.?? Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Night Hunting. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Hunter Specialization. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Corruption Sense. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Firing Posture. Congrattions! You have recovered the skill Magic Bow. After going on a quick trip to recover certain skills, Ryan began to destroy all the dungeons in North America. With the help of Firing Posture and Magic Bow, he obtained the power to destroy an entire dungeon in a couple of minutes, but Ryan still wanted more. "Come to think of it¡­ I didn''t receive any notifications about the rank and their rewards," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "After working like this, I should be the strongest human in this dream world¡­ Now that I think about it, I didn''t find any monster''s DNA that I could use¡­" Ryan couldn''t help but wonder that Hypnos tried to make Ryan waste a lot of time by not replicating those features, but in the end, Ryan concluded that wasn''t the reason. He couldn''t actually tell what it was, but something seemed off¡­ Regardless, with the help of the dragons, Ryan obtained a considerable deal of coins, and his speed increased a little bit. Although his skills could level up much faster while he was in his draconic form, the skills still were leveling up pretty fast for some reason¡­ if he only could find Femradiel there¡­ Even though Ryan hurried, it took him a full week to destroy all the dungeons in North America. At that rate, it will take months to return to the real world¡­ Ryan didn''t want to stay conscious for that long. Although there was no guarantee that time worked at the same speed in both worlds, there was no guarantee either that it was faster in the dream world. "I guess I will have to focus on destroying the dungeons in Europe," Ryan nodded to himself. "Isis said that the dungeons of the Greek elder gods could be found mostly in there¡­ I can''t see any reason why Hypnos wouldn''t do the same as others." While he and his group of dragons were flying to Europe, Ryan made sure to use all the essences he got recently. He created a pretty decent supply of mana and DEX potions. He wasn''t supposed to need the DEX potions, but Ryan decided to make them just to be safe. Ryan decided to destroy all the dungeons in Europe, but he started in Greece¡­ the reason being that when he approached, he saw dozens of those there, and the country wasn''t the biggest in the region, but it certainly had a high number of dungeons. Without wasting any time, Ryan destroyed several dungeons in a couple of seconds, but then when he approached Athens to do the same, he noticed the world trembling. He had the same feeling that he has when a world-wide dungeon breaks happens . However, that shouldn''t be possible¡­ Ryan checked the other dungeons, but he only saw the monsters being killed by something invisible¡­ he couldn''t help but frown since he never saw something like that happening before. As if that wasn''t weird enough, he saw a domain barrier suddenly erecting around that dungeon he was about to attack. "Found you¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. It seemed that Hypnos didn''t want to fight or didn''t want to let Ryan destroy the dungeon. If anything, that was very suspicious. Regardless, Ryan attacked the barrier with all his might, but he failed in destroying it. "Come to think of it¡­ why did he erected the barrier after killing the monsters?" Ryan asked while frowning. "He is an elder god and his is a world where he can do anything¡­ did he need mana and coins to erect that?" That was another problematic question¡­ in any case, Ryan attacked for quite a while until he eventually ran out of potions. Even the dragons helped him, but that didn''t change anything. Ryan decided to retreat and then think of another approach, and then he noticed that the trembling ended. "He definitely is using the monsters to keep the barrier up¡­" Ryan said. At least that showed Ryan how he could make Hypnos unable to keep the barrier up¡­ he just had to prevent any monster from spawning¡­ that was great¡­ It was a lot of work, but at least Ryan knew what he had to do to escape. Ryan decided to make his dragons attack the barrier while he went to destroy other dungeons, but much to his surprise, the tremor didn''t return. However, once Ryan began to attack again, it returned. "Son of a¡­" Ryan said. "I can''t even use the dragons against the barrier?" In the end, Ryan couldn''t even do one of the few things he was good at¡­ which was multitasking. He will have to do the heavy lifting all by himself¡­ after a long sigh, Ryan made his dragons go kill all the monsters they could find. At the same time, he began to destroy all the dungeons. While Ryan was working, he found a massive number of survivors, but he didn''t contact them in the end. He didn''t have any more seconds to waste in that dream world, after all. If they couldn''t help him escape, then they were none of his business. Since he hurried, Ryan destroyed all the dungeons in Europe in a week. However, he was worried about the fact that Hypnos didn''t try to stop him¡­ most likely, he had another thing to use against Ryan. Chapter 799 - Arcanist Since Ryan was in a dream world, he imagined that he wouldn''t need to sleep, but in the end, he felt like his head was about to split up after staying three weeks straight without taking a nap. While he could use Hibernation, he didn''t want to waste even a single second in that world¡­ as if things weren''t troublesome enough. He wasn''t making much progress in destroying the dungeons. He calcted that he would need three more weeks to finish the job even at his best speed. In the end, Ryan realized that he would have to change his ns. Instead of destroying the dungeons without care to return to the real world as fast as possible, he decided to clear some of them and obtain an extra boost of power, or at least recover what had been sealed.?? Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Legionnaire, Ranger, and Archmage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Legionnaire! You obtained the following skills: Undaunted, Warrior''s Fury, and Steel Storm. Your strength and health will increase by six points, your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Undaunted. Effect: it increases your resistance against attacks that might decrease your mobility and status by two percent per level. Cost: 500 mana. Duration: 300 seconds. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Warrior''s Fury. Effect: It passively increases the damage caused by your physical attacks by one percent per level. Cost: 100 health per attack. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Steel Storm. Effect: It grants you the chance to spin indefinitely while holding a two-handed sword. Your strikes will cause extra damage, and your endurance will increase by five points per level. Cost: 100 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Electric Warrior, Ranger, and Arcanist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Arcanist! You obtained the following skills: Elemental Boost, Conversion, and Inner Focus. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points, your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Elemental Boost. Effect: It passively increases the damage of all of your elemental attacks by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Conversion. Effect: It grants you the power to drain some of the mana of the spells that hit you. You can recover five points of mana per level of this skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Inner Focus. Effect: It grants a boost on your mana pool of five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. At first, Ryan bumped into a wall after recovering from some sses, but soon after, he obtained a ss that could actually help him. The Arcanist ss certainly will make him obtain some extra mana, so he might as well let it level up for a while. As if it wasn''t good enough, all the skills were passive ones. In the end, since Ryan rushed and didn''t sleep for a single minute, he finished the job after two weeks. However, when he loses his focus, Ryan starts to see things. On the good side, Sleep Resistance was leveling up like crazy. "In the end, I never found Femradiel, Alissa or Orgar here¡­" Ryan said while he was heading toward Hypnos dungeon. Another weird thing about that was that if Ryan had truly stayed unconscious for several weeks in the real world, something should have the chance to kill him. Or at the very least, he should have died from dehydration¡­ there was a chance that someone was looking after him, but maybe the sense of time in the illusion was deviated. Just like in dreams, most people think they dream for only a couple of minutes, but several hours passed while they were asleep. However, things were reversed with Hypnos'' power apparently. Without wasting any more time, Ryan attacked the dungeon when he arrived. Naturally, the barrier withstood for quite a while, but without monsters to kill, Hypnos couldn''t protect the ce forever. In the end, the barrier disappeared. Ryan waited for something toe out, but nothing came. "Is this a trap¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. That kind of mental game was very annoying, but Ryan couldn''tin since he used it all the time before he obtained his Draconic powers. Regardless, Ryan approached the dungeon and then entered. It was the only dungeon in the world that was spawning creatures, so Ryan was expecting to find something at the end of the cave. As for the monsters being spawned, they were just level eighty specters. The reaper-like boss caused a bit of trouble for Ryan since he could drain magic attacks, but in the end, it onlysted for two seconds. As expected, things were a bit different in that dungeon. He actually could feel that ominous sensationing from the crystal, so Ryan was one hundred percent sure he hit the jackpot. Now he just had to touch the crystal and then face Hypnos. While he didn''t have his Draconic powers, Ryan had some ns on how to deal with him. It will be hard, but it isn''t impossible. Regardless, Ryan touched the crystal and was teleported to the next world¡­ in the end, he couldn''t help but sigh. Chapter 800 - Score Ryan saw himself standing in a world that wasn''t quite the one he had expected. Things are a bit too colorful¡­ sky was blue, but the clouds looked like they were drawings from some cartoon. The ground seemed real enough, but so it was the one on the previous world. In any case, everything seemed full of life since they looked 2d. The grass, the trees, the mountains in the distance¡­ and some new system features that Ryan could see. Score: 000000000000?? "What the¡­" Ryan muttered in shock. "What the hell is this?" ''Wee to Hypnos world! You are one of the few humans that seeded in breaking the three barriers and received the right to arrive on the fourth andst one. Obtain points and exchange them for items, weapons, skills, and much more. Hypnos is waiting for you at the end of this world, and if you defeat him, you can take his seat!'' Ryan was left speechless after hearing some very happy-go-looking voiceing out of nowhere and echoing through thend. In the end, it didn''t take long for him to understand what was going on¡­ Hypnos created a game world. Although that was insane, Ryan confirmed that all his skills and status were back. With the exception of his Draconic powers, he was almost back. Still, that means that he couldn''t contact Femradiel yet. "This guy is seriously pissing me off¡­" Ryan said. "Is this his way of trying to get on my head and then force me to make a mistake? If that is the case, then he will have to try harder." Ryan decided to check that new feature, but in the end, as soon as the voice disappeared, slimes began to appear around him. They were spawning like that was a real game¡­ since he had better things to do, Ryan activated Heat Field, and the creatures melted instantly. However, every moment, at least ten of them appeared around him¡­ just to be melted. You obtained 01 points. You obtained 01 points. You obtained 01 points. ¡­ "Let''s see¡­ this is just like the dungeon shop, but¡­" Ryan said and then frowned when he saw a new option in the dungeon shop. The option was called ''humans''... when Ryan touched that, he saw a list of names. He recognized the first ones on the list, Femradiel, Alissa¡­ but there were many others he didn''t. As expected, Hypnos used his spell on the whole world, and the names on the list were the names of those who still were trapped on the previous illusions. Femradiel - 1.000.000 points Alissa - 1.000.000 points. "So, I can make them skip the other illusions ande here?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, I guess this will take a while." Ryan deactivated Heat Field and then began to fly. If that was like a game world, then the more he approaches the castle of thest boss, the stronger monsters will be, and then the points he will make¡­ or so goes the theory. However, before he could move, Ryan saw some monsters spawning in the air¡­ they were winged slimes. Winged Slime Health: 2.000/2.000 Mana: 2.000/2.000 Stamina: 2.000/2.000 Strength: 1000 Dexterity: 200 Speed: 1.000 Intelligence: 2000 Endurance: 100 Control: 1.000 Mentality: 1000 Luck: 500 Recovery: 5.000 Willpower: 1000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Corrosive Touch Lv 400 Passive Physical Skills: Passive Recovery Lv 250, Active Spiritual Recovery Lv 230 Spells: Fly Lv 100 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 500, Cold Resistance Lv 500, Electric Resistance Lv 500, Poison Resistance Lv 500, "What the actual fuck?" Ryan frowned. Ryan never saw that kind of creature, but it was weird to see a monster that had wings for ears¡­ in any case, since they were wind and began to fire Wind Bullets toward Ryan, he decimated them. Ryan had to fly for quite a while to finally see something that wasn''t a flying smile appearing nearby. However, what was really weird was the fact that the monsters spawned around him, but only within ten meters. The range of the spawn increased by two times when goblins appeared, but that still felt weird from Ryan''s perspective. "This ce is really weird¡­" Ryan said while looking at the world below him. "I bet this is the right path, but¡­ I also feel like Hypnos is screwing with all of us." Fortunately, Ryan''s theory was correct, goblins were giving him more points, but it was unpleasant to see them melting nearby. As if things weren''t troublesome enough, there was the smell¡­ Hypnos went as far as making this illusion world even nastier than the others. "Let''s save some mana and gain points faster by using Evading Shot," Ryan said. Whenever he fired, a goblin fell, and Ryan moved dozens of meters in the opposite direction. That was another skill that he needed to train a lot but never had the chance since it wasn''t that effective against powerful and fast creatures like Hephaestus. In any case, it was better than just moving and spending mana without gaining anything in exchange. For quite a while, Ryan felt that he wasn''t approaching the mountains. In fact, he didn''t notice any difference in their sizes even when he faced slimes, goblins, velociraptors, giant bees, and pterodactyls. However, as soon as he passed the pterodactyls, the mountains suddenly grew more prominent, changing the scenarios. "I feel like I had to watch the longest loading screen ever¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan had killed thousands of monsters since ten of them spawned every moment. Still, he wasn''t close yet from summoning Femradiel and Alissa. Still, that made him wonder¡­ Why would Hypnos create a world like that we''re the ones inside of it could grow stronger and even call their allies to fight him? Was he insane? Or was he that confident in his victory? "Well, either way¡­ I will use this to my advantage," Ryan said. Chapter 801 - Doubts It was hard to tell the time in that world, so everything was too colorful, and there was no night, but Ryan assumed that one ten hours had passed when he got the first million points. Without wasting any time, Ryan freed Femradiel. For a while, she looked at him nkly, but eventually, she reacted. "Is this another illusion?" Femradiel asked.?? "No," Ryan replied. "This is thest stage of Hypnos'' dream world." "You are¡­ the real Ryan?" Femradiel asked while frowning. "Did you meet a fake Ryan before?" Ryan asked. "I actually did, and he was as annoying as the real one," Femradiel said. "Anyway, prove that you are the real one." "You have gotten fa¡­" Ryan said and then stopped when he saw the murderous look in Femradiel''s eyes. "Is that good enough?" "No¡­ you could be another illusion based on my memories," Femradiel said. "... This might take forever, so you can doubt my identity while we headed to Hypnos castle," Ryan said. Once Femradiel returned, so did Ryan''s draconic powers. He turned into a dragon, and then his speed increased, but he was passing the stages any time faster. "It seems we can''t just move along the road; we have to kill a certain number of monsters to proceed and fight others," Ryan said. "Right¡­" Femradiel said while looking at Ryan with dubious eyes. "You are being weird again," Ryan said. "Did the fake me that you met before did anything?" "He was a bit different, but still an ass," Femradiel replied. "Anyway, if you think I am a fake as well, you can kill some monsters and then bring Alissa yourself," Ryan said. "Speaking of which, did you find Hypnos dungeon? I assume that you reached the third illusion." "Yeah¡­ I reached the third illusion, but I was having a hard time destroying the dungeons since Hypnos was using them to create a domain barrier to protect his own dungeon," Femradiel crossed her arms and then said. "I guess I won in that regard," Ryan said. "It took me five weeks, but I destroyed all the dungeons in the world," Ryan said. "Anyway, I thought you were the ones that voice mentioned, but I guess I was wrong¡­ Perhaps Yahiko and some others are about to face Hypnos¡­ Speaking of that, I seriously need to sleep for a while. Can you move us using an earth tform or something while you defeat the monsters as well?" "¡­ Sure," Femradiel said. "Those long pauses again¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Regardless, Femradiel was back, so that was just a minor problem. Come to think of it, Ryan was pretty sure that it was amazing that he endured those hellish illusions for so long without bing wary of some things like Femradiel. Once Ryan rxed, hepletely fell asleep. In the end, he had no idea for how long he slept, but when Ryan woke up, he was feeling angry and thirsty. It wasn''t like he didn''t feel like that during the other illusions, but things were more intense this time than before. Regardless, when Ryan opened his arms, he also saw Alissa standing next to Femradiel¡­ "For how long did I sleep?" Ryan frowned. "Three whole days," Femradiel replied. "I guess all this, and you aren''t an illusion created by Hypnos to mess with us. No, he is using this damn environment to do that." Ryan looked around and saw themselves passing above some sort of swamp where poisonous trends were trying to attack them. They were pretty strong, but they certainly weren''t the strongest of all monsters they had seen in thest year. "I guess this journey will take a while¡­ "Alissa said. Alissa seemed fine, but Ryan couldn''t help but worry about her. Her ultimate goal was to bring back Orgar, and Ryan was pretty sure that she did have the chance to see him, at least during the two first illusions. As for the third one, Ryan could only hope that the situation didn''t mess with her head¡­ still, considering her behavior, it didn''t seem that wasn''t the case. Alissa wouldn''t let herself be controlled by anger again. "Did you try to work together? Maybe the stages can be cleared faster if we work together," Ryan said. "We tried," Femradiel replied. "However, no matter what, one of us has to kill ten thousand monsters of each species to reach the next area. This fucking game is so annoying¡­" "Really? Under different circumstances, I sure could enjoy this¡­" Ryan said. "I can''t understand how," Femradiel said. "Me neither. The idea of training in a ce not bound by reality''s time is appealing, though," Alissa said. Since there wasn''t much that they could do, they decided to make the most of the situation. If Hypnos wanted to see others ying that game, then Ryan would y it and then force Hypnos to regret that. Just like the dungeon shop, the things Ryan could buy using that system were based on how many coins he had. Still, it would take a while before he could find anything useful. So, he decided to create a decent stock of potions. Even the special potions that could boost attributes temporarily were being sold, but they cost one thousand potions. Still, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why he couldn''t gain the monsters'' essence this time. "What do you think of this?" Alissa asked. "Why would Hypnos create an environment where he is waiting for us at the end, but we can get stronger along the way?" "Obviously, Hypnos is gaining something from this," Femradiel said. "Probably energy¡­ and much more energy than he needs to use to keep this illusion active. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 99 (+ 03 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 98 (+ 03 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 98 (+ 03 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 23332/23332 (32,75/s) Mana: 23325/23325 (32,75/s) Stamina: 24530/24530 (32,75/s) Strength: 881 (+9422) (+130) Dexterity: 55633 (+12455) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+12410) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+9121) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+10295) (+160) Control: 1476 (12450) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+7395) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4160) Recovery: 6450 (+16150) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+7393) (+40) Coins: 880.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 135 (+ 20 UP), Dash Lv 95 (+ 40 UP), Rapid Shot Lv 87 (+ 10 UP), Herculean Strength Lv 92 (+ 06 UP), Undaunted Lv 01, Warrior''s Fury Lv 01, Steel Storm Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 219 (+ 24 UP), Concentration Lv 219 (+ 24 UP), Archery Lv 219 (+ 24 UP), uracy Lv 219 (+ 24 UP), Stealth Lv 219 (+ 24 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 225 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 219 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 259 (+ 05 UP), Magic Bow Lv 160 (+ 45 UP), Anger Maniption Lv 49 (+ 18 UP), Instantaneous Forge Lv 01, Heat Field Lv 26 (+ 25 UP), Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 129 (+ 50 UP), Nocturnal Eyes Lv 95 (+ 30 UP), Elemental Boost Lv 26 (+ 25 UP), Conversion Lv 26 (+ 25 UP), Inner Focus Lv 26 (+ 25 UP) sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 57 (+ 06 UP), Crystal Archer Lv 75 (+ 03 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 38 (+ 06 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 79 (+ 10 UP), Marksman Lv 88 (+ 06 UP), Expert Archer Lv 89 (+ 05 UP), Draconic Priest Lv 01, Draconic Lord Lv 01, Legionnaire Lv 01, Arcanist Lv 22 (+21 UP) Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 802 - Playing Since he had plenty of time while they were crossing the stages, he decided to test some skills that he obtainedtely. The main one that he wanted to level up was the Instantaneous Forge, one of the skills he obtained after defeating Hephaestus. Weirdly enough, he just thought of creating a regr sword, and then when the skill was activated, he obtained it. Short Sword?? Strength + 10, Speed + 10 Durability: 10/10 Although the speed of creation was insane, the mana consumed was muchrger than expected¡­ Ryan assumed that it was due to the parts of the sword that were made of some sort of material that Ryan couldn''t create with his other skills. After that, Ryan tried to use Seal on the monsters, but the skill didn''t work¡­ since it was a world created by an illusion, or at least it looked like one. The monsters didn''t have souls. "You should focus on doing something more than just ying with your new skills," Alissa said. "ying with my new skills¡­" Ryan frowned. "You talk like I have a reputation for doing that." Since Ryan had to keep himself focused all the time during the third illusion, he decided to rx a little bit. Ryan could create metal, so he decided to forge a machine gun. While he didn''t have all the knowledge regarding that kind of weapon, he still managed to create one that could fire bullets made of mana. It was excellent that he didn''t have to recharge it. Magic Machine Gun Effect: It grants you the power to fire magical bullets that will cause ten points of damage. Each Bullet will cost two points of mana. Dexterity + 10, Intelligence + 10 Durability: 15/15 "I guess this skill has its own limitations. If that weren''t the case, I wouldn''t have survived thest barrage of Hephaestus'' attacks," Ryan said. "I guess you are the real deal," Femradiel said. "Only the real Ryan would be stupid enough to waste this golden opportunity." "Rx, we have a long way ahead of us," Ryan said. "This kind of skill might help us in the next battle, even more than those points created by Hypnos." "How so?" Femradiel asked. "For example, once the skill reaches a certain level, I will be able to create an armor for my draconic form," Ryan replied. "Once the skill reaches a certain level, an armor made of mithril will be much more powerful than anything we have seen so far." "I also want an armor made of mithril," Femradiel said. "You can''t get those by killing imaginary monsters¡­ Anyway, I don''t know if I will have enough time to make one that big, but with some luck, perhaps we can get yours." "All right then," Femradiel said. "Let''s optimize this work. I will take care of our mobility; Ryan will y with his skills, and Alissa will kill the monsters." "Sounds good to me," Alissa said. Ryan sighed¡­ it seemed that his actions still weren''t being taken seriously as they should. Regardless, that idea was good enough since the game created by Hypnos recognized them as a team, and as long as one of them kills enough monsters, they can move to the next stage. While Ryan leveling up Instantaneous Force, he tried to think of what kind of powers aside from illusory and sleep-rted skills he could use. While he hade up with a n on the third illusion, it wasn''t enough now that he knew that Hypnos could create a system simr to the mana system. For a moment, Ryan considered asking Thanatos, but that would be too low, even from Ryan''s perspective. Asking him how he should defeat Hypnos? That was probably the nastiest thing he had ever thought¡­ Ryan didn''t know if he would have time to create a weapon made of mithril after making his armor, so he decided to level up the skill using that massive steel sword. Using a material that already existed was possible, and that would let Ryan save some mana as well. The weapon was too big, even for his draconic form. So, Ryan decided to make smaller versions in which he could use. It wasn''t much his style, but Ryan first created a double steel club. It was a weapon that could cause the same damage, even if Ryan uses the head or the butt. The weapon was a big as his and quite difficult to handle, buttely, Ryan felt that he would need more ways to cause blunt damage, aside from using his fists. Double Steel Club Strength + 500, Endurance + 250 Durability: 800/800 "No effect, huh¡­ I should have known¡­" Ryan said. The weapon wasn''t that powerful despite the size. The only good thing about the weapon was its durability. In any case, Ryan was nning to use it anyway. After that, Ryan made another sword, and a double-edged ax, and then a spear. Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. ¡­ Double-Edged Steel Axe Strength + 580, Speed + 280 Durability: 850/850 Ryan confirmed that the power of the weapons was increasing pretty fast. That was another effect of the skill. It could make the weapons stronger with each level up. In any case, while Ryan was leveling up that skill, he noticed that things were getting weird with the monsters. While they were always strongerpared to the previous species, there were too many variations of them. Species like goblins could be shamans, champions, or archers. Still, some other species were defined by their elemental attributes, like Fire Eagle or Thunder Eagle. Based on Ryan''s calctions, they spent more or less three hundred hours killing fifteen hundred species of monsters. Still, all of them were basically copies of variations of the monsters they found on Earth. Regardless, after all that time, they could see a castle in the distance. That was probably where thest boss of the game could be found. However, first, they had to defeat ten thousand dragons. Chapter 803 - Gifts Fire Dragon Health: 79.000?? Mana: 71.000 Stamina: 69.000 Strength: 4500 Dexterity: 6500 Speed: 4200 Intelligence: 10500 Endurance: 5900 Control: 4500 Mentality: 2900 Luck: 3600 Recovery: 15.000 Willpower: 3900 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Explosive Touch Lv 450¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Mind Enhancement Lv 410, Fire Armor Lv 280¡­ Spells: Hellfire Lv 400, Absolute Chaos Lv 350, Fire Spear Lv 470, Fire Breath Lv 500... Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 700, Wind Resistance Lv 650, Electric Resistance Lv 700¡­ "Mmm¡­ their status are a bit weird," Ryan said after he stopped leveling up Instantaneous Forge and then used Absolute Appraisal. "Something seems weirder here." "While we can''t see them, I am pretty sure their power ispared to level five hundred fire dragons," Alissa said after she killed the first group with a non-elemental breath attack. However, she soon noticed that things wouldn''t be that easy. "That attack seems interesting," Ryan said. "Orgar taught me that since non-elemental attacks can''t be countered by elemental resistances," Alissa said. "Regardless, you guys will have to help me here." "Femradiel, you do that, I will make the mithril armors," Ryan said. "I can''t make all of us move and fight at the same time," Femradiel said. "Not when the opponents are dragons." "No problem, after this stage, we will fight him, so it doesn''t matter," Ryan said. Femradiel summoned her familiars and then began to freeze all the dragons while Alissa finished them off. Ryan killed some of them when they needed to catch their breaths and because it was impossible to fight against thousands of level five hundred dragons without taking a break. While they were a bit more troublesome than Hydras at the level max, they weren''t much of a threat after Ryan obtained the power of the seven pendragons. You obtained 1500 points. You obtained 1500 points. You obtained 1500 points. ¡­ "In the end, this system created by Hypnos is really a shit¡­" Ryan said once he saw those notifications. "It ispletely unbnced." It took a while to realize it, but all the monsters were much stronger than the ones Ryan faced on Earth. At least when ites to most species¡­ despite that, the number of coins one could receive was meager. Thanks to that, the idea of summoning others from the dream world didn''t even cross Ryan''s mind. It would take too long, and not to mention, Ryan never found the names of Yahiko, Gustavo, and Lucas. Which was weird since he didn''t see them along the way either. At some point, Ryan even tried to tame or use the Draconic Lord skills on the dragons around, but they didn''t work. So, Ryan decided to focus on leveling up Instantaneous Force while Femradiel and Alissa were fighting. A certain idea crossed Ryan''s mind, but in the end, Ryan hesitated in using it because he didn''t have enough mithril. The idea was simple, try to level up that same skill by using all the mithril and creating a prototype of the armor. Once that happens, Ryan would use Memory Maniption and make his mind relive that moment several times. However, Ryan was quite sure that mithril wasn''t that malleable, so he couldn''t reforge the same item over and over again. "I guess I will do that¡­ it will work," Ryan decided to change his ns a little bit. In the end, Ryan decided to melt the Hephaestus'' destroyed hammer, and once it became more malleable, he decided to use Instantaneous Forge that had reached level one hundred. The armor wasn''t that thick or heavy since it was basically a copy of the ck armor he obtained after losing Lucia''s group. Still, it seemed good enough since it protected Ryan''s torso and head, and those were the parts he was hit most. Draconic Mithril Armor (Heroic) Health + 3000, Endurance + 1500, Willpower + 1500, Mentality + 1500 Durability: 2000/2000 "Not bad, I guess. I have no idea why it became a draconic armor, though," Ryan said. "A full-body armor would be much cooler," Femradiel said. "I don''t need to be slowed down by something so big and heavy," Ryan said. "Besides, it will do the work. Armor aren''t made to make someone look cooler, either." After storing the armor away, Ryan began to use Memory Maniption and then saw those memories several times in a row. It was weird to use Draconic Transformation just for that, but Ryan used it. Unfortunately, things weren''t progressing that fast¡­ Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Instantaneous Forge has leveled up. ¡­ When Femradiel and Alissa finally killed ten thousand dragons each, Ryan had used hundreds of mana potions. Still, in the end, the skill only leveled up a little more than twenty times. It wasn''t like Ryan imagined he would reach the level of that skill easily, but that disappointed him. "We are ready to go," Alissa said. "¡­ I guess this is it," Ryan said after a long sigh and then summoned all the rest of mithril he still had. After making the mithril be more malleable, Ryan used Instantaneous Forge again. He created one set of armor for Femradiel and Alissa, and those werepletely full-body armor. Ryan wasn''t good with his creativity, but he designated the armor to look like the armor that Athena was using. Although it would make them stand out a lot more, it really looked like the armor some female warriors would show on the battlefield. "Well, well¡­ who could have thought," Femradiel said. "Alissa''s armor looks much more imposing." "It is due to the size," Ryan said. "Stopining." "I didn''t ask for one," Alissa said. "Yes, but since you are too reckless, I decided to make one. "Well¡­ thank you," Alissa said. Draconic Mithril Armor (Heroic) Health + 3250, Endurance + 1590, Willpower + 1590, Mentality + 1590 Durability: 2200/2200 Valkyries Mithril Armor (Heroic) Health + 2250, Endurance + 1090, Willpower + 1090, Mentality + 1090 Durability: 1500/1500 Chapter 804 - Giving Up Once the preparations were ready, they headed toward the castle in the distance. For the first time in weeks, they felt that they were actually approaching something. However, in the end, that also worked to make them worry a little bit. After a while, the castle was so big that they arrived in a part of the world covered in the castle''s shadow, and that shadow was dozens of kilometersrge. "I am starting to think that we should enjoy this chance to grind more," Femradiel said. "This power is beyond what we already have seen until now, and we have seen and fought against troublesome foes."?? "If we defeat him, we will have that chance whenever we feel like it," Ryan said. "We can''t afford to stay away for much more time away from reality. We don''t know if the flow of time here is different or not." "Do you think we will be able to create a ce like this if we defeat him?" Femradiel asked. "That would be awesome¡­ and quite scary. This is like an alternative reality¡­ beings made of flesh shouldn''t have the power to create this." "Perhaps one day we will create a ce crazy enough, but at the beginning, only a small version of it," Ryan said. It was hard to believe that was possible, but once the group reached the gates of the castle, they saw how huge the building was¡­ if they were inside an illusion, they wouldn''t think that was possible, but the castle was at least eight kilometers tall and fiftyrge. Hypnos sure was trying hard trying to make an impression¡­ Considering that Hypnos created a game world, Ryan imagined he would put some watchdogs on the gates to wee the visitors, but he didn''t do that. As soon as they got close enough, the gate opened as if it was weing the guests. Ryan shrugged while looking at the two others who were showing tense expressions. They sure didn''t know how to appreciate a good mood¡­ or perhaps Ryan was just a weirdo for liking that kind of tension. As they crossed the interior of the castle, they didn''t find anything special or out of ce. Everything seemed weirdly dark, though. Only a few giant torches were illuminating the ce, and they were too far away from each other to make the ce really illuminated. The dark atmosphere didn''t fit that whole situation, even more so when they saw so much color outside the castle for several days. After a while, Ryan began to worry because fighting in his draconic form would be a pain indoors. Not to mention, he was pretty sure that the castle wasn''t just there to improve the mood of the fight¡­ After a while, they reached the other side of the castle, and there they found the throne room. That part of the castle was a lot less dark ifpared to the others. Instead of torches, some golden candbrum and giants'' candles illuminated the golden room. On the opposite side, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa found what seemed to be a man with golden hair sitting here sleeping. Aside from the golden hair, he didn''t look any special, but that wasn''t the case¡­ the man wasn''t physically imposing like Thanatos, but he was exactly like him. Ryan confirmed that when Hypnos opened his eyes and showed that same glow with his golden eyes. Hypnos ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? ¡­ Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? ¡­ Spells: ???, ???, ??? ¡­ Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? ... "Wee, dear guests¡­" Hypnos said. "I hope you have liked the world that I created to entertain you humans and the female dragon. What do you think about it?" "Well¡­ you certainly managed to keep us busy, but not in a fun way," Ryan said. "The monsters spawn too fast, and the numbers are always the same, so that give us the time to obtain strength and get used to them. I guess that is also a good way to prepare for the next stages. Still, the rewards weren''t good enough. Why would a fire dragon five us one fifteen hundred points? They certainly should have given us at least ten thousand. The fact that there is no inventory or saving screen is also a problem. Aside from that¡­" Ryan was forced to stop because Alissa and Femradiel were looking at him with dubious eyes. Ryan certainly was talking a lot, but at least Hypnos was paying attention to it. At least it looked like he was paying attention¡­ "What? He asked me to review this game world of his," Ryan said. "Well, I guess your review makes a lot of sense considering that you are a yer," Hypnos said. "However, I didn''t create this topletely please you guys. I created it to be fun for me and somewhat fun for visitors like you." "This certainly isn''t a game that is going to sell a lot," Ryan said. "That much is fine¡­ now, onto business," Hypnos said, and then the air around him changed. "Return to me my brother''s soul, and I will let you leave this world. If you do that without making me waste my time, I will hold no hard feelings against you." "That seems like a good deal," Ryan said. "Here is my counter offer: give up on your domain that is connected to Earth, and I return it to you. Your brother used and tormented the souls of my parents, and I believe he is paying for that. If you don''t want that, then offer at least that much forpensation." "He is the god of death, and that is what he does. He uses souls," Hypnos said. "That is his nature. You can''t change a god''s nature. You also can''t negotiate with a god. You either obey, or you are crushed." "Well, it seems we have a problem here," Ryan shrugged. "I was never much of a negotiator anyway." Chapter 805 - Difference Ryan immediately used Draconic Transformation and equipped his armor. Alissa did the same. Still, then when they were about to attack, they saw themselves standing in a ring at the center of a very active volcano. Ryan felt the strength leaving his body because that heat was even stronger than when Hephaestus'' Heat Field. Naturally, the extra defense that Frost Armor protected began to melt as well¡­ "I am not much of a fighter, but I understand that the terrain is a very important factor," Hypnos said, while still standing on his throne.?? "Just offer me support, you two," Alissa said and then prepared to dash toward Hypnos. "I can do this." Ryan summoned the double-headed club and decided to fight while using Telekinesis, which should save his energy in case something happens, but then when Alissa was about to attack. Two surprising creatures made of blue energy appeared in front of them. They seemed like ghosts, but Ryan and Femradiel recognized the ghosts¡­ They were copies of themselves in their draconic forms. Ryan''s copy and Femradiel cast ThunderStorm, and instantly, the whole battlefield was being hit by lightning bolts. Ryan tried to protect them by using his gigantic weapons to block the attack, but he could only react so fast. Several lightning bolts ignored the steel weapons and fell toward them. However, Feramdiel blocked them with an ice wall. Alissa opened her mouth to use her breath, but her copy did the same. In the end, the two attacks collided and caused an explosion that made both groups move backward a little. "Using long-ranged attacks is a waste of time. The attacks will only be canceled by copies," Femradiel said. "If you want to win against the copies, use your own weaknesses against them." Ryan was fully aware that he was weak in closebat, but that was only the case because he was impatient. Since the copy was just a concentration of mana, it couldn''t be impatient or something like that. Regardless, Ryan had toe up with some to end the fight quickly, Hypnos still was watching, and he didn''t like to show his skills to the enemy like that. The copies even had a magical version of mithril armor on them, so Ryan assumed that using the steel weapons wouldn''t do any good. While Ryan was thinking, his copy recovered and used Ice Breath against Alissa. While it wasn''t at the same level of the Dark ice Breath, Alissa still saw her arms freezing due to it. As for her copy, it aimed its mouth toward Ryan and Femradiel. Ryan blocked the breath by spinning the steel club in front of him, and thanks to that, he had another idea. He summoned the steel sword and spear and made them hit the copies from above, but they stopped the weapons with their hands. At the same time, Ryan smirked. In the next second, he used Thunder Storm and increased the power by using Mana Maniption. Femradiel''s copy tried to move away from the weapons that were being used as conductors for the lightning bolts, but it didn''t have time to do that. Alissa had enough time to concentrate and then use her breath. While being shocked and attacked from above, the creatures didn''t stand a chance and suffered damage until they evaporated. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Thunder Storm has leveled up. ¡­ "Well, that ended much faster than I expected," Hypnos said. "Still, I should have expected that magic copies wouldn''t win against those that actually have brains." "Thank you for thepliment, I guess," Ryan said. "What will be next? Considering what you showed us until now with the other illusions, I assume you have some other tricks in store for us." "Indeed, I have," Hypnos said. "Still, I am feeling generous to offer you a second chance to give back my brother''s soul. Do you want to change your mind? This second battle, will¡­ well, how can I put this? It will mess with your head. After all, you are fighting to make Earth still a ce humans can still live, right?" "I also feel like giving you a second chance," Ryan said. "I won''t ask forpensation for keeping us locked in a dream world for two months, but I will ask forpensation for your brother''s actions." "Well, then¡­ Let''s proceed to the next fight," Hypnos said, and then he changed the terrain again. Ryan and the others saw themselves standing in the middle of a massive grasnd. It seemed the perfect ce for them to fight without having to hold back, still, considering that Hypnos also knew that, then something was definitely off¡­ When Ryan prepared to attack, he suddenly stopped when some humans appeared between him and Hypnos. The number of humans increased at a fearsome pace until they became a prettyrge army. Ryan didn''t recognize anyone among that group. Still, their level of power seemed pretty equal to the guys in the underground shelter under Daniel''s control now. "What is the meaning of this?" Alissa asked. "Who knows¡­ before continuing, let me exin to all of you a few things," Hypnos said. "Most of you experienced seventy-one days worth of memories under my dream worlds. However, only seven days passed in the real world. That is pretty good, right? Despite my powers as the god of sleep, I can''t control the flow of time here while so many of you are here. However, if some of you die or are freed from the spell, that will change." "If that is true, why didn''t you do that now?" Ryan asked. "Your target the whole time was me, right?" "Yes, but I assumed that you have some friends among our ranks, and those friends would protect you once in some sort of way. That is why I destroyed the dungeons in that world and forced your group to return," Hypnos exined. "I also assumed that you, the human who defeated my brother, would reach this point. So that is why I am going to use these humans against you." Chapter 806 - What To Do? Ryan furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that. In the end, he was truly Thanatos'' twin brother¡­ he had little to no regard for human lives. "Do you know why all of you can gain strength in this dream world?" Hypnos asked. "It is because your spiritual forms are actually here. I put the whole under a spell that will pull your spiritual form to this world, and that actually forced all of you to enter aa. Only those that were inside the domains and remain until now escaped my n. But I can say that all humans on Earth that have managed to survive on their own are here."?? Ryan didn''t even doubt that because he could see close to one hundred thousand humans between him and Hypnos. Humans who deserved respect survived only relying on their strength, but all their confidence they had was shattered before Hypnos, who would use that spell, and they didn''t even realize what had happened until now. "Your bodies will probably survive for three to five more days," Hypnos said. "If some of you die before that, your souls will be trapped in this world. On the other hand, if you die in this world, your spiritual form will disintegrate, and your body will copse instantly." Ryan clenched his teeth because he already knew what Hypnos was nning. Regardless, the humans began to panic after hearing that. There was no reason to doubt Hypnos'' words. If he wanted, he could kill all of them in an instant, after all. "Those who want to return to the real world, you guys will have to help me defeat those three," Hypnos said. "I understand I am not in a position to ask any of you that, but I don''t have any choice. I need to recover my brother''s soul, and they refuse to give it to me. Help me achieve that, and I will grant all of you a portion of my power. You will be able to create your own perfect world and live inside it forever." "Yeah, the price for that is really cheap. You just have to let your real body rot in the real world," Ryan said. Ryan tried to convince the humans that they wouldn''t gain anything following an elder god that would go as far as putting the entire world under a sleep spell, but in the end, his words didn''t reach them. Not only were the humans scared, but the idea of receiving the power of an elder god seemed really appealing. The humans turned to face Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa¡­ there was no worst enemy to fight than a cornered one. "What are we going to do, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "What indeed¡­" Ryan said while he was taking a step back. With the massive power-up he obtained thanks to Nakine and his pals, Ryan was pretty sure that they could win that fight. However, that wasn''t the issue. The issue was that they would have to kill one hundred thousand humans¡­ They didn''t want to fight because they were assholes, but because they were scared. They became pieces of a game much more prominent than them. That was exactly why Ryan was struggling toe up with a solution to that problem. "Listen here, you sorry group of dumbasses," Alissa raised her voice. "I understand that you are tired and scared, but I can''t believe you people survived until now with that kind of attitude. Do you really want to fight your fellow humans just because a powerful monster promised you power? Have you gone mad? Did you really survive in the same world as us for the past year?" "You are not human!" Someone shouted. "If we weren''t humans, we would have annihted all of you without hesitation, dumbass," Alissa said. "I don''t have time to waste here, so make up your mind already. However, either side you choose, don''t regret itter." ording to Ryan, Alissa''s speech could use some work. After all, Ryan could imagine things going both ways in that situation, considering her words. The humans hesitated, but in the end, that only amused Hypnos. Probably because he knew how things were going to work out in that world, no matter what. In the end, the humans pointed their weapons toward Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa. From their perspective, it was a matter of facing two dragons and a human or facing a god of legends that could put the entire world to sleep in a few moments. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what he would have done in their situation¡­ he had to do plenty of things he didn''t want, but neither of them seemspared to that. Regardless, now that it hase to it, there was no time to hesitate. Before Ryan could do anything. Alissa suddenly opened her mouth, the humans felt the danger for their lives and tried to split up, but some of them didn''t do it fast enough. Alissa''s breath decimated thousands of humans instantly, but some of them even survived the direct hit. While they didn''t join any groups to survive, they obtained strength by themselves and could do at least that much. Before all the souls could disperse into the nothing, Ryan absorbed them into his Soul Armor¡­ that was right. There was no time to hesitate now. Neither Ryan nor the humans could me him for that. They could only me their weakness. It was because of that they had to face that situation. Femradiel fired some Ice Spears toward the enemies, but most of them were fast enough to dodge. Not to mention, those that had powerful long-ranged attacks began to bombard them with those, and those with high endurance began to work to protect them. As if things weren''t troublesome enough, Hypnos stepped forward. "I figured that it is only obvious that I should help you guys with this," Hypnos said and then made some weapons and armor out of mithril appear before the humans. "Use them well." Ryan sighed after hearing that¡­ in the end, Hypnos even decided to use copies of the mithril armors that he had made. He had no idea if those were real or not, but they sure would be a pain in the ass to deal with. Chapter 807 - No Going Back Even with their armor, the enemies wouldn''t survive if Ryan put a bolt in their heads. That is right. At that point in time, Ryan decided to treat them like he treated all the others that got in his way. Unlike the others, they had the chance to fight alongside Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa, but in the end, they decided to take the side that had the better chances of winning. That was with Ryan, and because of it, he didn''t have to hesitate. Ryan summoned his magic bows and bombarded the enemies with copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Naturally, the enemies specialized in defense tried to protect the long-range fighters, but even those were pushed backward several meters at Ryan''s powerful barrage of attacks. They were pushed back for dozens of meters, and they couldn''t do a single thing about it because Ryan''s power nearly doubled, at least when ites to his long-ranged attacks after the trip to the pendragons'' world. It didn''t take long for even the ones specialized in defense to fall in the droves. It was only obvious that it would happen¡­ to make things end sooner, Femradiel began to freeze the area around, and with her magic, the enemies started to get stuck on the ground. Thanks to that, Ryan and Alissa''s attacks obliterated hundreds of the enemies. At that pace, Hypnos was going to lose his arms, so he decided to send some help. Suddenly, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa saw a group of ten fire dragons appearing around them¡­ Hypnos chose to make use of the feature of that game-like world. "What an annoying guy¡­" Ryan said. Ryan was saving his mana while he was attacking the humans anyway, so he could afford to use some extra mana against the Fire Dragons. He used the Illusory Crossbows and made some of the dragons think that the others were the natural enemies. The fact that he had to hit them for the illusion to keep going was a problem, but it was better than just killing them and make ten others spawn. "Smart, but how about this?" Hypnos said and then threw some potions toward the enchanted dragons. Once a weird liquid was poured under the dragons, the illusion broke, and when Ryan tried to hit them again with the Illusory Crossbow, the bolts were repelled, at least their effects. Hypnos had ess to some potions that could nullify the power of illusions and create a barrier against them¡­ Although that was a problem, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if, with the Alchemy ss, someday he would be able to make such a potion. The skill was about to reach level one hundred, so soon, he should be able to create more than just regr potions and others that could boost his attributes. "Focus on the mission, Ryan," Femradiel said. "You even stole my line, huh," Ryan said and then sighed. "Anyway, Alissa, focus on transforming them into magic weapons, this might take a while, but it will be for the best." "It''d better be," Alissa said without imagining what Ryan had in mind. They had no idea when Hypnos was going to fight in earnest, so they had to make sure to make the most of the situation before he decided to pitch in. Alissa also could store the magic items in spatial storage, so she quickly hides those there. Still, even at her best speed, she could only defeat two humans and turn two of them into weapons for a second. Seeing them fighting so passively made Hypnos wonder about what they were plotting. ording to the data he had of them, it was hard to tell what Ryan was nning. Regardless¡­ to save some mana and make sure that the dragons wouldn''t fall too fast and make some fresh ones appear. Ryan made his double-headed club spin at terrific spins, to the point that it even created a tornado that pulled the dragons toward it. The creatures tried to run away and split when the weapon approached one of them and knocked it down near instantly. Although it was a game world, it was a world that followed some real-worldws. So, even those creatures could be knocked down like that. The dragons tried to attack the club at the same time with their Fire Breath, but in the end, that gave Femradiel the chance to snipe them with some powerful Ice Spears. She was the best to face that kind of enemy, after all. Still, soon after, ten other fire dragons appeared. "I am going out for a bit," Femradiel said. "You two can face them without me." Femradiel teleported, and before they could even see her, they saw the head of a Fire Dragon freezing. In the blink of an eye, the same happened to others, but they didn''t die¡­ at least not so fast. Since Femradiel was taking care of them, Ryan began to help Alissa. While he made the massive club scare the crap out of the enemies, he froze some of them with Freezing Bolts and then turned them into weapons. Pyromancer Staff Effect: It increases the power of your fire-rted skills by ten percent. Intelligence + 200, Recovery + 100 Durability: 100/100 Enraged Warrior Ax Effect: It increases the power of your attacks when facing other humans by ten percent. Strength + 200, Speed + 100 Durability: 150/150 Lightning Beam Crossbow Effect: It grants you the power to fire a continuous beam of electricity that might paralyze the enemies. Intelligence + 200, Dexterity + 100 Durability: 100/100 The quality of the weapons was pretty decent, but in the end, Hypnos wasn''t fooling enough to let the enemies do what they wanted when he had no idea what they were nning. Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa''s bodies suddenly became much heavier, and they felt the danger for their lives. Thanks to Death Sense, Ryan knew from where the danger wasing from¡­ it was from above. Ryan started to sweat cold when he saw a group of meteors moving toward them at unbelievable speeds. Chapter 808 - Calm Fighter Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Immunity has leveled up. Even under the effects of a powerful gravity spell, Femradiel managed to return and then create an ice wall to block the attacks. As usual, her reflexes were something hard to believe, but even so, she could only do so much in a few moments. Ryan couldn''t move his arms and barely could think at all with his body that heavy, but he still gave her a hand. The ice wall created by them was hit by the meteors and soon began to crack. They tried to repair it as fast as possible and reinforce it as well, but the damage was piling up too fast. Ryan considered his options, he wasn''t much of a mage, and he wasn''t much of a fighter either, but at that moment, perhaps using his body and his archery skills were the best way to solve those problems. Besides, Ryan had another thing in mind¡­ When the ice wall was about to crack, Ryan used all the buffs he had in a single moment. His body got a bit lighter, and thanks to that he then tensed the muscles of his legs before letting all that power proper him upward. "Shoryuken!" Ryan shouted. With his right fist raised, Ryan concentrated all the energy he could gather in a single moment on his right fist. Somewhere inside his heart, he hoped that he would learn the skill, but even though his right fist was enveloped in mes, it never happened¡­ However, his punch hit the fifty meters long meteors one after the other and broke them. Congrattions! The ss Brawler has reached the Max level. Your Health and Strength have increased by six points. Your stamina, mana, speed, and endurance have increased by three points. Congrattions! The ss Brute has reached the Max level. Your Health and Strength have increased by six points. Your stamina, mana, speed, and endurance have increased by three points. Ryan seeded in repelling the treat and even made two sses reach the max level thanks to it, and he only had to destroy his right fist to achieve it¡­ he couldn''t have asked for more. Regardless, Ryan learned his lesson. When hended, he summoned his magic bows and made sure to use only half of them on the enemies around him. Hypnos didn''t imagine that Ryan would actually try that, but he actually did it. When the next wave of meteors came up, Ryan used his magic bows to attack them. He had only one second to attack and hit the targets, but it had been more than enough. Thanks to the extra numbers of magic bows and thanks to Firing Posture, Ryan fired a massive concentration of bolts thatpletely decimated the meteors. "Wow, I guess it wasn''t a fluke that you defeated Thanatos," Hypnos said, visibly impressed. "But then, how about this one?" Ryan didn''t like to hear that because he knew something bad was going to happen. In the sky, a giant meteor appeared, much bigger than any of the others. If somethingnds in the area, everything around will be decimated. Knowing that the humans that just decided to fight for Hypnos dropped their weapons¡­ their death was imminent. However, that gave Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa the chance to focus only on the meteor. Without hesitating, they attacked the massive piece of cosmical dust. Ryan focused on attacking with his magic bows, while Alissa used a concentrated version of her breath that increased its range like aser. As for Femradiel, she created a single ice tower that was supposed to stop the meteor advance. Their attacks hit the target and somehow manage to slow down its advance. However, there was no sign of any damage on the massive rock, and it was still approaching. Things were looking dire. Despite that, Ryan was smiling. "Have you gone mad, Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "Maybe?" Ryan said. Although Alissa and Femradiel seemed a bit worried, they weren''t that tense because all of them still had some hidden cards in case things really got dire¡­ Just like Ryan, they grew tired of battles where only they could worry about losing their lives. They needed to enjoy their moments a little more. What was the point of surpassing a powerful barrier and not feeling great about it? That was exactly why Ryan shouted that earlier¡­ When the meteor was only ten kilometers away from them, it finally cracked right in the middle of it. Exactly where those three had aimed their attacks. Once the crack appeared, it took only a few moments for the entire projectile to break into several pieces that flew in all directions. They seeded, and they didn''t have to look like they had to endure a lot of crap, not to mention, Ryan also received a reward. Congrattions! The ss Marksman has reached the Max level. Your Dexterity and Stamina have increased by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased by three points. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Brawler, Brute, and Marksman? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Calm Fighter. You learned the skills: Target Selection, Sixth Sense, and Hand Crossbows. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Target Selection. Effect: Once you hit a target, you mark them in order to make it impossible for them to dodge the bolts fired by Hand Crossbows. With each level up, this skill will increase the power of Hand Crossbows by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sixth Sense. Effect: When fighting against enemies that specializes in closebat, it grants you the chance to see where their attacks wille from by watching their muscles moving. With each level up, you will be able to notice the attacks faster. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hand Crossbows. Effect: It grants you the power to summon two crossbows that will be attached to your forearms. They will cause damage equal to your dexterity, and they can be fired just by thinking about it. With each level up, you will be able to fire one more bolt per second. Cost: 50 mana per shot. You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 809 - Unknown Attack Ryan wished that he had the chance to check the skills, but he didn''t. Regardless, the power gained by a few sses level up, and by the arrival of another one, was pretty smallpared to Ryan''s power. Still, he started to feel even more confident than before. Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa prepared for the next attack, but it never came. It seemed that creating a one-kilometer-long meteor instantly was the limit of Hypnos ability. Still, that wasn''t the only thing that made him stop his attack¡­ it was the fact that the humans now were wondering if they truly had chosen the side with the best chances. Even if that wasn''t the case, Ryan and the other two saved their lives. Considering their power, dodging the meteor wasn''t something impossible¡­ they probably didn''t know that Hypnos had used Perfect Aim when he cast the spell and chose Ryan as a target. So, it was pretty much unavoidable. "Even more useless than cowards, are hesitating fools," Hypnos said and then raised his right hand. Hypnos was preparing to onught the humans, but Ryan used Teleport and punched him. A Mana Shield appeared and blocked the attack, but he stopped his actions while Ryan didn''t even make Hypnos move. "You people are useless," Alissa said. "Go and hide somewhere else." It wasn''t surprising that Alissa didn''t want them in her army. First of all, she abandoned her soldiers, and second of all, she hated cowards. She also didn''t let hundreds of humans join her army a few months ago, so Ryan wasn''t surprised. Still, he wanted to make people owe him favors. "You still decided to help them?" Hypnos asked. "How disappointing¡­" "What can I say?" Ryan asked. "I am not a huge fan of genocides. However, I am a huge fan of fighting assholes." Ryan summoned his magic bows and tried to make them prate the Mana Shield. Still, as expected, even though he was using his full power, the Spiritualist''s Crossbows weren''t even making the shield tremble. Hypnos truly was a mage-type elder god. Congrattions! The skill Double Crossbows have leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Double Crossbows have leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Double Crossbows have leveled up. ¡­ Ryan used the skill since he had the chance and saw two small crossbows appearing attached to his forearms. They were kind of simr to the ones he had envisioned while he was moving to Russia, but the fact that he didn''t have to pull any trigger wasn''t something he had nned. "I guess I really should bet more on mixing several sses that don''t have any connection with each other," Ryan smiled in satisfaction. Before Ryan could keep having the satisfaction of seeing a new skill continuously leveling up. Their body''s weight increased yet again¡­ summoning, gravity, meteors¡­ So far, those were the only things that Hypnos used. Still, none of them seemed like his real specialty in a battle. Still, it was annoying as hell. Once again, the terrain around them changed, and then Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa saw themselves engulfed by darkness. Even though Ryan could see reasonably well in the dark, even him was having a hard timepletely understanding the surroundings. Alissa and Femradiel had good eyes, but even so, they will have a hard time there. By the look of things, Ryan assumed that they were in some sort of giant cave. The temperature, the humidity, and the format of the ground, and of the few things he could see around made him think of that. Still, before he could understand anything more, Ryan suddenly felt a blunt impact on his face. For a second, he felt that his neck was going to snap, but that didn''t happen. Femradiel and Alissa noticed that Ryan got hit. Still, they didn''t feel anything moving, so they approached to cover each other''s backs. "That hurt like a bit¡­" Ryan said. "Did you receive any notification when you got hit?" Femradiel asked. "No¡­" Ryan replied. Most likely, it wasn''t an elemental attack. Regardless, just knowing that wouldn''t help them all that much. Ryan and the others activated Mana Barrier, but then they felt something hitting their bellies out of nowhere. Ryan had prepared for another surprise attack and even tried to grab whatever hit him, but he didn''t react in time. "This is weird¡­" Femradiel said. "You both were hit at the same time, but¡­ I didn''t notice until the veryst moment." That was indeed weird. Femradiel had sharp senses, so perhaps in that world. Only Hypnos could be faster than her reflexes, but that shouldn''t be the case since they got hit at the same time. Not to mention, she didn''t know where Hypnos was. Not even her senses could let her know that. So, she couldn''t tell Ryan and Alissa either. Alissa tried to illuminate the ce by using a Fireball. Still, much to their surprise, while they could see the spell, they couldn''t see the light emanated by it¡­ it looked like that environment could suppress the light emitted by most things. While Ryan was trying to figure out the situation, he suddenly felt something hit him from both sides. His ribs cracked so easily that Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he was in his human form. The pain made him lose the air in his lungs. Perhaps that was Hypnos'' truebat power. Still, it seemed weird¡­ When beings like Hephaestus used their best attacks, Ryan barely could endure them. So, why could he take so many of those hits while he was being almostpletely defenseless and not lose his consciousness? "Follow me," Ryan said. Femradiel and Alissa didn''t know if Ryan had any n in mind, but at such a point, there was no point in arguing or trying something else. After all, they didn''t have any idea where Hypnos was. Ryan was trying to locate Hypnos and then try to prevent those weird attacks by bombarding him. However, Ryan was forced to stop when he felt another attack hitting the area below his left ear. At that moment, Ryan noticed while he was almost losing consciousness, then he was in trouble. After all, his mithril helmet was supposed to protect that area. Chapter 810 - Experience Who prevented Ryan from falling was Alissa. She grabbed him by the shoulders and then used a healing spell. Ryan waspletely dizzy thanks to the attack, so she used Purification as well, and that happened. "It seems he is kind of familiar to Thanatos, even hisbat style," Femradiel said. "Oh, yeah," Alissa said. "You guys defeated his brother, so, what do you mean by that? Maybe we can find a way to counter his attacks by recalling this fight of yours." "Thanatos can control death itself, so he can cause damage just by thinking," Femradiel said. "As long as he can see you, he can damage you just by thinking and you can''t do anything about it." "That seems like a real pain, so how did you manage to defeat him?" Alissa asked. "Well, Ryan got mad and became a cursed dragon for a while when he saw Thanatos breaking my neck," Femradiel said. "He got so wounded during those moments that when Ryan woke up, he was basically dead." Ryan was about to contest that, but then he felt an attack on his neck. It almost looked like Hypnos wanted to hear more about it¡­ Regardless, Ryan didn''t have to think because a hit in the neck was even more agonizing than a kick on the balls. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Immunity has leveled up. ¡­ At least the notifications confirmed that he was actually being damaged and wasn''t just hallucinating about it. Hypnos didn''t seem like a proper fighter, so he definitely was using a spell simr to Thanatos. Ryan suddenly had an idea. He decided to use Vengeful Explosion and reflect the damage that should stop Hypnos for a while and then give them his current position. However, Hypnos noticed that Ryan was nning something, so he focused on attacking Alissa. When she tried to do the same strategy, Hypnos just didn''t attack, and that worked pretty well since neither of them could keep Vengeful Explosion active for long. Soon after, Ryan returned to be Hypnos punching back. Since Ryan didn''t have any other strategy, he decided to annoy the heck out of his enemy. "Although apparently, you two have simr powers, you arepletely different," Ryan said. "Let me guess, you were always the scared little brother, right?" "You like to use your tongue, don''t you?" Hypnos suddenly said. "Perhaps, you don''t need it anymore." As expected, Ryan found a touchy subject. Still, for an elder god, Hypnos sure was na?ve to fall for that. Regardless, couldn''t tell the direction the voice came from, and before he could try anything again, he felt three consecutive impacts on his chin. Once again, his vision began to spin, but since he was prepared for the attack, Ryan endured it. "You will have to try harder to keep my mouth shut," Ryan said while he massaged his mouth. "To someone like, to stop someone like you from breathing is a simple matter," Hypnos said. "So, don''t tter yourself with useless bravado." "You think so?" Ryan asked as he looked around. "Do you think that you can judge what is useless bravado and what isn''t? I mean, you arepletely hidden in this darkness. I mean no offense, but this sure looks like a n of a coward." "As expected, you have better eyes than most," Hypnos said. "Perhaps instead of your tongue, you don''t need your eyes." Ryan couldn''t help but feel shivers. That wasn''t an empty threat. However, he couldn''t just react to Hypnos''s words like that, so he didn''t try to protect his eyes. Fortunately, Hypnos didn''t go for them either for some reason. Ryan activated Draconic Eyes, but he only saw a massiveyer of mana covering everything. As expected, finding traces of Hypnos would be useless in that dream world. Finding Hypnos by looking for his voice was useless as well. Since he could attack like that, he probably could make his voicee from any direction. He also could use Telepathy¡­ "Hey, Alissa, didn''t we have experience in a situation like this?" Ryan asked. "Remember, when we were facing the skeletons, why can''t you use your skills like that again?" "Are youparing the skills of a bunch of minions with the skills of an elder god?" Alissa asked. "Are you stupid or what?" "Well, I guess it doesn''t matter, if all he is good at is hiding and punching like a little girl, we won''t lose," Ryan said. Soon after, Ryan was bombarded with a rain of those weird attacks. His groin, stomach, ribs, and neck¡­ every possible ce he could be hit and receive massive damage, was hit. But amidst the pain, Ryan managed to use Vengeful Explosion, and he felt a lot of the damage being reflected toward the ceiling. The ceiling broke, but then it didn''t hit anything. It just revealed a hole that would lead them to another part of the cave. "I guess we are making some progress," Ryan said while he was using Full-Heal. "That is very manly of you Ryan, but you can stop now," Femradiel said. "You are not anywhere good at receiving damage, so you are only killing yourself." "Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," Ryan said. Once they realized that the cave they were in had manyyers, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa began to destroy all the ceilings they found on their path. Despite doing that for quite a while, they never found the way out of that hellhole. Naturally, Hypnos didn''t leave them alone, even for a single moment. He kept attacking Ryan as if that was the greatest sport in the world. "I know that I pissed him, but¡­ this is starting to get annoying," Ryan thought. The damage he was receiving wasn''t critical, but thanks to that, Ryan''s body was starting to get exhausted. Just suffering damage and not being able to cause any sure was a bitch since it exhausts him mentally. Chapter 811 - Disperse Once they grew tired of breaking ceilings, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa decided to stop to catch a breath. Naturally, Hypnos annoyed the hell out of them with his attacks. Considering what happened before, Ryan assumed that Hypnos was somewhere above them. However, they could only cause so much destruction. Hypnos made sure to create an environment in his dream world where he could attack and be protected by hundreds ofyers of earth. If anything, he deserved praise for being that creative. "We don''t have enough power to keep going like this," Femradiel said. "For all we know, it is possible that Hypnos is creating anotheryer of defense right now between us and him. In this ce his will is absolute." "We have wasted too much time here, we have to return to reality right now, no matter the cost," Alissa nodded. Hearing those two talking like that made Ryan realize that he couldn''t pull his punches anymore. Hypnos was powerful and too skilled, so they had to force him to fight seriously in order to make him stop with that crap about changing the ce for the better. "Let''s do that, then," Ryan said. "It should be enough to let us escape from his hellhole." Hypnos didn''t know what they were talking about since they didn''t show any skill in that world that could make them escape the dark cave. While Hypnos could use Absolute Appraisal, he couldn''t find certain skills due to their ability to hide skills. Regardless, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa raise their heads, and then in the next moment, they used Draconic Bow. Even the natural darkness of the ce was unable topletely make it disappear the light emanated by all mana of those three. Still, that was the minor of the Hypnos problems. The massive cannon of energy fired by them pierced theyers of the cave andpletely destroyed it like it was made of cotton. After destroying hundreds of thoseyers, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa finally could see the sky of that world¡­ but something was off. "Where are we¡­" Femradiel asked. The world seemed different from the previous one, but it didn''t seem like that was the case since Ryan and the others still could see the score. Above them, they found apletely dark and starless sky. Around them, they saw what seemed to be a massive mountain range of mountains covered in darkness¡­ Those mountains were as big as Hypnos castle. So, it wasn''t surprising that they had to use their Draconic Arrows to open the path to the exit. Regardless, they raised their guard since their mana was low, and they didn''t know that ce. However, much to their surprise, Hypnos didn''t attack them. "Keep your eyes open and your senses sharp," Ryan said. "He won''t take us lightly after we showed that attack." Ryan assumed that Hypnos didn''t attack because he was cautious. It was only natural that he would do so since theirbined attacks would certainly damage him quite a lot. After a while, those three couldn''t help but frown. Hypnos was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn''t attacking either. That was beyond weird¡­ while he didn''t seem much of a warrior, he certainly didn''t look like a coward that would run away from the enemy that had his brother under custody. "Well, let''s use this opportunity to recover our energy," Ryan said. They couldn''t throw away such an opportunity, even more so considering that Hypnos had no idea how much energy they spent. Ryan wanted to use some potions that could increase his attributes as well, but since those onlysted for five minutes, it wasn''t wise to use them when Hypnos was nowhere to be seen. After a while, Hypnos suddenly appeared, and this time he looked different. He was wearing full te white armor that made him look angelic-like. As if that wasn''t enough, he also had a headband made of some sort of nt and a silver bow on his hands. "So, he is a magic archer," Ryan said. "My apologies for taking my time in preparing for the battle," Hypnos said. "Still, I figured that in the end, I will have to face all of you seriously." Ryan couldn''t help but be a bit surprised. After all, Thanatos lost against Ryan and Femradiel, and now they had the help of another human being who had Draconic powers and, most likely, was stronger than Ryan. Despite that, he still wanted to face those three at the same time¡­ "Betterte than never," Ryan said. As soon as Ryan said that, Hypnos pointed his bow toward him, and much to his surprise, he didn''t even shoot an arrow, but Ryan felt something piercing his chest. "What¡­" Ryan said. Alissa and Femradiel bombarded the enemy while Ryan was recovering from the surprise. Still, Hypnos just pointed his bow at the ice spears, and the breath and that had been enough to make those dissipate. It looked like he could use some extremely high-level version of Disrupt Magic. Ryan decided to join the fray, but then he noticed that the area around where he got supposedly hit had gone numb. That was another type of magic that he had never seen before. "Use the Mana Barrier! Don''t let him hit you!" Ryan shouted. "I wonder if that will be enough," Hypnos said. Ryan and Femradiel noticed it. Hypnos was Thanatos''s brother. It wouldn''t be weird if he actually could damage or hit others with his special arrows while ignoring their defensive spells. Just like Thanatos, the only way to deal with that kind of attack was by forcing Hypnos to lose sight of them. After using Purification for a while, Ryan managed to feel that area of his torso again. Still, it was only because Alissa and Femradiel kept him busy. If anyone got hit multiple times by the arrows of that bow, things would get very messy. Using all her power, Femradiel created a mist to cover the entire region. Still, in the end, Hypnos easily dispersed the spell. ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 8th Health: 25332/25332 (34,75/s) Mana: 25325/25325 (34,75/s) Stamina: 26530/26530 (34,75/s) Strength: 881 (+9922) (+130) Dexterity: 56233 (+13655) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+12910) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+9621) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+10895) (+160) Control: 1476 (12950) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+7995) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4760) Recovery: 6450 (+17350) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+7993) (+40) Coins: 880.444.986 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 165 (+ 30 UP), Rapid Shot Lv 107 (+ 20 UP), Herculean Strength Lv 92 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 76 (+ 06 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 228 (+ 09 UP), Concentration Lv 228 (+ 09 UP), Archery Lv 228 (+ 09 UP), uracy Lv 228 (+ 09 UP), Stealth Lv 228 (+ 09 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 123 (+ 20 UP), Target Selection Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Sixth Sense Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 235 (+ 05 UP), Frost Armor Lv 229 (+ 05 UP), Ice Breath Lv 269 (+ 05 UP), Magic Bow Lv 170 (+ 10 UP), Hand Crossbows Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Support Skills: sses: Combat: Expert Archer Lv 94 (+ 05 UP), Night Ranger Lv 63 (+ 09 UP), Avenger Lv 61 (+ 20 UP), Death Lord Lv 07 (+ 02 UP), Draconic Archer Lv 05 (+ 01 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 04 (+ 01 UP), cksmithing Lord Lv 24 (+ 23 UP), Calm Fighter Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 812 - Combination "Imend you for knowing how to counter some of my skills, but you will have to try harder if you want to seed," Hypnos said. After saying that, Hypnos pointed his bow toward Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa. In a single moment, and before they could do anything, they were hit by invisible arrows on their left arms. Instantly, a good part of them began to fall asleep. Before Hypnos could try to hit them more, they began to Teleport around in order not to give them the chance to aim. Usually, that would buy them enough time to recover themselves, but only if the opponent weren''t an elder god. Hypnos decided to focus his attacks on Ryan, and he had imagined that would be the case and then charged toward Hypnos. He tried tond a fake punch and then grab the bow, but Hypnos Teleported away from him. Naturally, while he holds such a powerful weapon, he won''t drop his guard. When Hypnos tried to aim the bow toward him, Ryan used Ice Breath, but Alissa and Femradiel attacked with Ice Spears and another breath attack from above and from behind. In the end, Hypnos was forced to Teleport and stop his counterattack. "All right, let''s keep coordinating like this," Ryan said via Telepathy. "He is strong and skilled, but he can''t attack and block all of our attacks at the same time. Once he drops his guard, attack with all your might." Femradiel and Alissa nodded, but even so, all of them knew things wouldn''t be simple since Hypnos knew what they were nning. It was a bit risky, even for Hypnos, but he had to select a target and focus only on them. Once he seeds and puts one of the three down, then things won''t be that troublesome. Hypnos began to teleport at high speeds as well to dodge theirbined attacks, but Ryan and Femradiel made sure to activate Perfect Aim. At some point, Hypnos was going to be bombarded by them¡­ or perhaps Ryan and Alissa will suffer the same fate as Hephaestus due to their size. Regardless, it was a necessary risk. Hypnos focused on evading their attacks and attacking Ryan whenever possible without taking many risks. He sure had steel nerves because he never got too tense, not even when he escaped the attacks by a hair''s breadth. When the projectiles were about to unavoidably hit him, Hypnos suddenly disappeared, and then the bolts hit one of the mountains. The whole area trembled, but not Hypnos line of defense. He could teleport to the interior of those when ites down to it and ultimately returnpletely unscathed. "I guess this isn''t going to work¡­ unless we use Draconic Bow again," Ryan thought. Even using that attack wasn''t a sure way to defeat Hypnos, perhaps at firing at point-nk range, but there were no guarantees that it would happen. Hypnos already proved himself to be a capable mage, so his defensive spells will decrease the power of their attacks exponentially. Using his best weapons and long-ranged attacks won''t work like that, so Ryan decided to use his newest skills. Like a madman, Ryan began to Teleport too close to Hypnos while trying to punch him. He wasn''t firing any arrows or bolts in order to save mana just for that, and thanks to it, he managed to force Hypnos to focus on moving away from him as well. "We can''t attack if you stay too close to him," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "Don''t worry about that," Ryan said. "Just make sure to take advantage of the situation." Ryan knew that those two only needed a single instant tond any attack, and that was exactly why he insisted on chasing Hypnos. At first, Ryan was always a step behind Hypnos, but despite that, the target didn''t have the chance to use his bow. If he were to aim at Ryan even for a few moments, Ryan would have the chance tond a hit. Hypnos'' expression darkened upon noticing that Ryan wasn''t giving him any room to attack. Suddenly, Hypnos disappeared, and then Ryan felt his presence above him. Ryan tried to chase him, but then he saw some meteors falling. He tried to escape by teleporting, but then the meteors chased him. After trying to escape from those for two seconds, Ryan felt his arms getting hit by invisible arrows, and then they fell asleep near instantly. "Shit¡­" Ryan said. Ryan used some extra mana to summon Magic Bows and then destroy the meteors with his bolt, and this time, he approached Hypnos. Much to his surprise, Hypnos blocked a punch with his bow, and as if that wasn''t crazy enough, the weapon didn''t even move. Soon after, Ryan felt a wave of energy passing through his whole right arm, and then hepletely lost control over it. Alissa and Femradiel attacked Hypnos in the next moment, but their breath and Ice Spear didn''t hit anything. Hypnos used Teleport to escape the very moment he achieved his goal. Ryan began to chase Hypnos again while he was using Purification. It was a pain that not a single of his resistance skills worked against that kind of attack. Still, it was only natural since Hypnos was Thanatos''s brother. His normal speed wasn''t enough, so Ryan decided to use SPE potions. It was a bit risky to use all of them, but Ryan was dead set on using them to end that fight as soon as possible. At some point, Ryan''s reaction speed increased so much that he could even see Hypnos'' movements when he was about to attack or teleport. When that same scene repeated itself, Ryan saw almost in slow motion the moment when Hypnos tried to block another punch with the bow, but in thest moment, Ryan stopped his arm and then used Draconic Bow. An explosion enveloped the area where Ryan and Hypnos were, and since they were in the air, it was obvious that Ryan hit the enemy. Near instantly, Femradiel and Alissa also fired Draconic Bow. Chapter 813 - This Is Good Before the smoke caused by the explosion could disappear, Ryan appeared while falling in his Draconic form. His body was covered in wounds, and he was bleeding quite a lot. Still, he was conscious¡­ "I guess I should be happy that they went all out and didn''t treat me like someone made so frail," Ryan said and then began to levitate and heal his wounds. Fortunately, Hypnos''s skill worked to help Ryan. Since his arms were still asleep, he wasn''t suffering all that much. Regardless, before Ryan could heal himself, another explosion happened and dispersed the smoke. Hypnos''s figure appeared, and he seemed pretty pissed. His wounds weren''t as big as Ryan''s, and he barely was bleeding, but he suffered some damage. Ryan''s surprise attack messed with his rhythm and made him unable to react to even Alissa and Femradiel''s attacks. "I guess not even in this world, you are all powerful," Ryan said. "This is good." "It wouldn''t be fun to create a world where I ampletely invincible," Hypnos said and then took a deep breath. Hypnos was angry, but he wasn''t the type who tends to let his anger control his emotions. Still, it didn''t mean that he would let things go unpunished. Ryan, Femradiel, and the others prepared to attack, but then Ryan stopped in midair after he used Teleport to move behind Hypnos. Thanks to that, he easily blocked Alissa and Femradiel''s attacks. Suddenly, Ryan began to fall while he was making a surprised expression. "What the hell happened?" Ryan asked in shock. Ryan suddenly lost control over his entire body, with the sole exception of his head. Almost at the same time, he understood what had happened. Just like Thanatos, Hypnos had the ability to make the enemies that approach him suffer under some effects. In his case, it was the effect of making the enemies'' bodies bing asleep. Femradiel and Alissa flew to help Ryan, but he stopped his fall by using Telekinesis. It looked like the enemies couldn''t use their mana properly while they were close to Hypnos. That would be the only exnation for his fall since his head was what controlled Fly. "What happened?" Femradiel asked when she approached. "He created some sort of magic field that numbs your senses around him," Ryan replied. "Except my head, I can''t control any part of my body. Be careful because using mana is also difficult around him." While they were talking, Hypnos, for the first time, made an arrow appear and nock it. Soon after, he also pulled the string and began to concentrate on his next attack. In the blink of an eye, so much energy was gathered that Femradiel and Alissa couldn''t help but sweat cold. An attack like that was gathering energy enough to cause more damage than that one-kilometer-long meteor. "We have to attack that," Alissa said. "Now!" Following Alissa''s lead, Ryan and Femradiel used the Draconic Bow. Their attacks united as one and then quickly approached Hypnos, but Hypnos also fired his attack and easily overpowered it. Ryan imagined that their attacks wouldn''t stop Hypnos, so he had already prepared his next move. He ate the magic weapons he created earlier, recovered a lot of mana, and also received a boost in power. Congrattions! The skill Cryomancy has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Power Shot has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Somehow, Ryan reacted in time and recovered enough mana to teleport himself, Femradiel, and Alissa away from the st, but even so, things didn''t end just by moving away. Hypnos'' attack obliterated the entire area and kept expanding for quite a while, turning the dark mountains into nothing while being eaten by the ever-growing pir of light. When the pir of light finally disappeared, Ryan and the others found the result of Hypnos''s full power. There was no hole left by the attack, only what seemed to be a space where nothing could be seen or put. It was like a version of outer space on earth, but it was nothing like that in reality. It was just a destroyed part of Hypnos'' dream world. Still, it wouldn''t be stupid to think that an attack like that could destroy a small country, and if Hypnos has the chance to charge that attack for longer¡­ The idea was just too much for them to bear, and unfortunately, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa saw Hypnos charging another arrow. Their best attacks couldn''t defeat Hypnos, not even if they could fire it in a quick session. "Well¡­ what now?" Femradiel asked. "Just like Hephaestus said that elder gods have a near unlimited mana pool, I would say that Hypnos'' mana pool is evenrger in this world. Most likely, even if he doesn''t kill us, he will destroy this world and make us unable to do anything, much less defeat him." Hypnos looked as calm as always, but Ryan could see another level of anger in his eyes in the end. He didn''t fear those that express his anger like beasts. Ryan fears those that express their anger like that. "¡­ Things will work out in the end as long as we try together," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Alissa, protect Femradiel with all your might. Femradiel, you should work on leveling up Anger Maniption while you can." After saying that, Ryan used the small amount of mithril he still had and created a chamber big enough for two people on the back of his armor. That should keep those two protected from his own attacks if Femradiel takes too long on recovering his mind. "Are you sure of that?" Femradiel asked. "There is no telling if I will seed in doing this, Thanatos seeded because he is an elder god and he was good at doing that." "There is no other choice," Ryan said. "The enemy this time is that troublesome, and we aren''t strong enough to defeat him on his turf. Femradiel and Alissa could only nod after hearing that. Ryan''s idea was probably the best one, but not even Alissa could offer such an option. After all, she barely could remember anything when she was a cursed dragon. Chapter 814 - Me Neither When Ryan decided to stop having fun and enjoying the situation, his blood began to boil again. Alissa and Femradiel also decided to enter the chamber he created on his back to offer some support and stop him if they ever have the chance. After all, there was a chance that Ryan wouldn''t win by letting his anger control him once again. Almost near-instantly, Ryan''s body was covered by that shadow, and he began to emanate the miasma. Femradiel imagined that he would lose his mind after a certain point, but much to her surprise, even when she noticed that Ryan was no longer there, the rage didn''t turn him into a beast-like before. While she heard Ryan''s grunt, Femradiel also noticed Ryan starting at Hypnos. Ryan charged toward Hypnos, and the elder god couldn''t help but frown. That was pretty much suicide since Ryan wasn''t the type who could withstand many attacks. While he knew that those three were plotting something, it was hard to imagine any n being useful right at that moment. Regardless, Hypnos weed the attack since his arrow will obviously cause more damage the closer Ryan gets. When Hypnos fired the arrow, Ryan opened his mouth and used Dark Ice Breath. The attacks collided, and much to Hypnos, Femradiel, and Alissa''s surprise, the attacks apparently had the same level of power. Neither cannons of energy win the war of attrition, but Ryan and Hypnos were forced to back down due to the sheer power alone of their attacks. Hypnos moved to high in the sky and tried to attack Ryan with his special arrows, and he hit him, but he didn''t notice his body getting slower or weaker. "What is wrong with him?" Hypnos asked, confused. It was impossible to dodge or nullify the effects of his arrows instantly so that Hypnos couldn''t understand it. He faced plenty of cursed dragons in the past, but neither of them resisted the power of his arrows. While Hypnos was confused, Ryan suddenly increased his speed and hit his body hit Hypnos before he could use his bow to protect himself. Hypnos clicked his tongue in annoyance since Ryan''s resilience against special attacks wasn''t the only thing that grew. Before Hypnos could try to stop moving after the impact, Ryan used Teleport and appeared right behind him and tried to slice in half with his ws. However, Hypnos moved away by using Teleport as well. "It looks like you managed to keep your sanity even after reaching this level of corruption," Femradiel said. Femradiel hoped to hear an answer, but she didn''t hear one. She had assumed that Ryan was somewhere in there since he was using his old tactics, but it seemed that wasn''t the case. The madness within him was just trying to defeat the enemy before him no matter what. "Orgar told me that cursed dragons are stronger than ordinary ones, but this boost in power isn''t anything that he had mentioned¡­" Alissa said. "I don''t remember many things when I lost my mind, but I didn''t feel that powerful." "It is probably because you didn''t have much rage inside you to begin with," Femradiel exined. "Considering your past and Orgar, you were more sad than angry. Ryan is stupid enough not to let himself get sad. He doesn''t show his anger, but when he is not calm, he is usually pretty mad. Since he doesn''t do many things to let out his frustration, that is why he has so much rage umted inside him." From Alissa''s perspective, Ryan didn''t look like that kind of person. Still, he couldn''t disagree that Ryan was the type of person who would deal with certain troublesome things with sadness. Even on the few times, she saw him angry. It was only a demonstration thatsted for a couple of seconds. While looking at Ryan fighting like that, Alissa couldn''t help but think that Ryan always forced his anger to stay inside him to use in moments like that. When Ryan got close enough again to hit him, Hypnos focused on blocking the attack with his bow. However, even with that, he was being pushed backward. The difference in size didn''t help Ryan before, but now it was working. While clenching his teeth, Hypnos used his bow and tried to numb half of Ryan''s body before his punch could overpower his bow. However, that never happened. What happened was the fact that Hypnos was sent flying backward and only stopped after hitting one of the dark mountains in the area and only stopped after piercing it for hundreds of meters. For the first time in a long while, Hypnos coughed blood. "I see now¡­ this miasma¡­" Hypnos said. "My brother should have a fearsome ability to heal himself. Adding vampirism and his power to control death itself, he should be able to heal from most wounds instantly, but thanks to this miasma¡­" No one knew who Hypnos was talking with, but it certainly wasn''t Ryan. He flew toward Hypnos again and tried to smash him with his knee, but at thest moment, Hypnos escaped, and Ryan only ended up opening another massive crater on that mountain. While he was cleaning the blood from his mouth, Hypnos'' face darkened again. At that point in time, there was no reason to keep hiding his cards¡­ Hypnos moved his bow to the side and then suddenly punched the air in front of him, but before the swing of the motion could end, a dark sphere appeared in front of him and engulfed his arm. In the next moment, Ryan was hit in the stomach and was forced to slow down his charges. "So, that is his trick¡­" Femradiel said. "He is bending space to cause physical damage at any distance on Ryan. What is even worse is the fact that his arm doesn''t have to appear near the target." "That sure is a troublesome ability¡­ do you know how to counter it?" Alissa asked. "No¡­" Femradiel said. "Me neither," Alissa added. Chapter 815 - Only Option Alissa and Femradiel couldn''t help but frown. Hypnos was causing just too much damage using that strategy. Ryan''s endurance should have increased three to four times when he became a cursed dragon, but even so, he was suffering too much damage. "He is going all out this time," Femradiel said. "He didn''t do that before because he didn''t want us to understand his ability." Hypnos attacks were strong enough even to stop Ryan''s charge in his draconic form, and while the corruption, the corruption had utterly overtaken his mind. They had assumed that Hypnos was a magic archer, but he was more all-rounder than any enemy they met so far. In fact, that made sense considering this nature. However, Hypnos attacks only worked to make Ryan even madder. He managed to fight like an enraged human until that point, but it seemed that would be no longer possible. "HAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared. "Here ites¡­" Femradiel said. Ryan flew toward Hypnos again, but this time he did so while he was using Dark Ice Breath. Hypnos tried to dispel the mana of the attack, and he actually seeded¡­ to some extent. As it turned out, Hypnos failed at dispersing the attack because the attack had more than just mana. It had dark energy that Ryan''s rage had given birth to. Hypnos escaped before the Dark Ice could hit him, but in the end, even amidst his madness, Ryan grabbed that massive block of ice and then looked for Hypnos. Once he found it, he threw it at him after activating Perfect Aim. Femradiel assumed that Ryan wasn''t there anymore, but whatever was controlling his body still made good use of his instincts and experience. Hypnos tried to hit below one of the dark mountains, but he made a mistake when he assumed the dark ice wouldn''t reach him. The projectile cut the dark mountain like butter and hit Hypnos that was hiding right in the middle. Although the dark ice was supposed to be pretty resilient, it started to crack after hitting the target. "I guess even that has some level of durability," Femradiel said. "Since it is a massive concentration of energy, it can prate almost everything, but after a while¡­" Alissa nodded after hearing that a projectile like that would usuallyst for a lot more, but since Ryan threw it in his draconic form and with that power up, not even that could endure more than a single throw. Not to mention, Hypnos dispersed an excellent part of the energy used. When Hypnos showed up again, his left arm was bleeding, and some miasma could be seen from the wounds. He didn''t reach a critical level, but the damage was piling up¡­ at that rate. Femradiel could imagine Ryan winning. Still, her instincts were telling her that things wouldn''t be so simple. "Yeah, that is right¡­ this is how it should be," Hypnos said. Ryan dashed toward Hypnos again, but then Hypnos used the same trick with space bending, but this time he punched so many times that in the end, Ryan was forced to stop while coughing blood. Hypnos didn''t stop there. He kept punching until Ryan''s neck was moving from one side to the other. At that moment, Femradiel and Alissa started to get worried, they were healing Ryan whenever possible, but he might break much sooner than imagined. Much to their surprise, the miasma around Ryan''s body began to act weird, and then it created a thickyer around Ryan''s neck. That was weird since the area that was getting hit was the face, but that worked pretty well in the end. Ryan''s head stopped moving, and then while ignoring the damage, he flew toward Hypnos again. However, for some reason, he didn''t use Dark Ice Breath. Femradiel tried to see things inside Ryan''s mind, but she couldn''t see anything aside from the darkness covering his spiritual form. Which was weird since, in that world, they were already in their spiritual form¡­ Regardless, when Hypnos realized that Ryan was suffering damage, but that wouldn''t stop him, he moved away and stopped attacking. "It seems he can''t bend space like that while moving¡­ some concentration must be required to use that technique," Femradiel said. While Hypnos was trying to gain some distance over Ryan without having to move so far away and unable to deal any damage, Ryan''s speed suddenly increases, and he Hypnos with a Body m. Hypnos and even Ryan were caught off guard, probably because he wasn''t used to using Haste and Heat Field at the same time. Regardless, that worked pretty well. Hypnos was sent flying in the distance and only stopped hitting the peak of a dark mountain. This time he quickly got up since Ryan didn''t attack him with the corruption. As if the madness controlling Ryan''s body had noticed that, he created some Dark Ice Arrows around. Naturally, they were as big as Ryan himself. Hypnos tried to rebel against those with his magic and with his real arrows, but in the end, one of the arrows hit him. "That is new¡­" Femradiel said. "Did I use any attack like that when I was, you know¡­ mad?" Alissa asked. "Only the Dark Non-Elemental Breath," Femradiel replied. It wouldn''t be difficult for Hypnos to dodge the attacks. While they could easily pierce the dark mountains, he knew the entire environment, so he could hide much deeper than the arrows could pierce. Still, Hypnos was liking the fight, so running away every single time was boring, and that hurt his pride quite a lot. When Ryan approached to finish the job, he suddenly was weed by a kick in the stomach. Instead of using tricks, Hypnos kicked him with his own leg. The entire area trembled with the impact, and Ryan''s body bent toward the enemy, and soon after, he coughed blood. Even his mithril armor cracked a little after that attack. Soon after, Hypnos pped Ryan''s face with his bow, and then the sound of the armor and scales cracking began to spread around the area. That wasn''t good, the corruption, the mithril, the Frost Armor, and the scales were supposed to be protecting Ryan, but with every passing second, he was coughing more blood. Chapter 816 - Follow Up "HAHA! This is it!" Hypnos said. "This is so much fun! It has been so long since I had this much fun!" It seemed that Hypnos had forgotten about his original goal of rescuing his brother. He didn''t look like someone who enjoys himself that much in a fight, but he sure looked delighted while he was beating the crap out of Ryan. Femradiel thought that the more he gets hit, the angrier Ryan would be, and thus he would gain more power, but it seemed things weren''t that simple¡­ In the end, Hypnos finished the sequence by charging thest attack for half a second and then hit Ryan''s head. This time, Femradiel and Alissa heard his neck cracking, and they feared the worst. However, they didn''t have time to worry since they were on Ryan''s back, and his body was sent flying in the distance. He flew for dozens of kilometers in a few seconds, only to stop after rolling on the ground for half a minute. It was a miracle that Femradiel and Alissa didn''t suffer much damage, but even so, they worked hard to heal Ryan''s body. However, before their spells could have any effect, the miasma fixed Ryan''s neck in just a few moments. That was good, but it was also bad. Femradiel knew that not a single body could withstand that kind of damage for long. "Let''s use some potions," Femradiel said. "This should give Ryan some boost in power." "Ah, I hate to stay in the background like this¡­" Alissa said. Although she wanted to fight, Alissa worked hard to use potions that boosted Ryan''s status. Still, for some reason, he wasn''t as active as before. Neither of them could notice that the real Ryan was back, but his rage seemed quieter than before¡­ However, when Hypnos approached to attack, Ryan suddenly attacked him with his double-headed club. Hypnos'' kick and Ryan''s weapon collided, and a powerful blunt sound echoed through the area. The weapon broke, but Ryan recovered a huge deal of mana. The club broke into several pieces in the same instant. Ryan used his Dark Ice Breath at point-nk range. Putting aside Hypnos, not even Femradiel imagined that Ryan would be able toy such a trap while he waspletely mad. In the end, it worked pretty well. Hypnos waspletely sealed inside, and his body was emitting a lot of the dark miasma. The block of ice fell on the ground, and then Ryan began to fly¡­ that was another weird step considering how violent he was when he became a cursed dragon. After Ryan reached a certain altitude, he stopped and then saw the dark ice cracking. Hypnos was still trying to fight, but Ryan wouldn''t let that happen even in his madness. So, he began to focus all his energy on his right fist. Weirdly enough, even the corruption began to concentrate on his right arm. Until it reached a point, it became a huge, dark arm that resembled the wing of a fallen angel. "This is going to hurt¡­" Femradiel said. Ryan flew toward where Hypnos was stuck, and at the veryst moment, he was able to free himself and charge toward Ryan as well. Hypnos tried to disperse the energy, but in the end, it barely made any difference. Ryan''s fist and Hypnos bow collided, and then a massive explosion happened that destroyed all the dark mountains in the area. The explosion of energy made the entire space vibrate, and Femradiel and Alissa saw some distortions in the illusion. It seemed that they could escape using those, but not while Ryan was trying to overpower Hypnos with that attack. In the end, they saw his right armpletely being destroyed by the massive impact¡­ that was bad, really bad. However, the energy collision suddenly stopped, and Ryan''s attack won the exchange, much to their surprise. Hypnos was sent flying toward the horizon, and his body waspletely damaged and emanating miasma and blood from all his wounds. When that ended, Femradiel and Alissa saw that their attacks destroyed that reality, just like Hypnos enhanced arrows. However, Ryan lost a hand, and not even the corruption was healing it so fast. Ignoring the wound, Ryan looked for the ce where Hypnos was sent, and only after quite a while. He found him unconscious on the ground and in the middle of a dark forest. Why was he unconscious in his own dream world? No one could exin, and Ryan couldn''t care less about it either. "HAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared. Ryannded right above Hypnos and then began to hit him with his left arm. With every hit, he created a crater below them, and then it expanded. Although Hypnos was already half-dead, that was just a minor detail for the current Ryan. He attacked and attacked, and at some point, even his left arm broke. Once that happened, he noticed that it wasn''t causing much damage, he began to headbutt him. "I really don''t want to rely on a power like that¡­" Alissa said. "What is the n?" "I am already working on it," Femradiel replied. Since the moment Hypnos lost the exchange, Femradiel began to use Anger Maniption, but even so, that wasn''t making any difference. At that rate, Hypnos will die, the dream world will disappear, and Ryan will rampage on Earth. That was the worst-case scenario. Although he was unconscious, Hypnos'' body was enduring the damage quite a lot, but there were no signs of him recovering consciousness. At that rate¡­ Ryan will end up killing an elder god, and that probably wasn''t good since they had no idea what might happen. Sure, turning them into tools was a crime from their perspective, but not as much as killing. Fortunately, Femradiel had an idea¡­ "Let''s use Seal on Hypnos, once we defeat him and turn him into a weapon, we will obtain his powers and use it on Ryan and then force him to calm down in this dream world," Femradiel said. Chapter 817 - Collapse It was insane to try to stop a lion in the middle of a meal, but Femradiel was pretty used to situations like that. After all, she had been fighting the elder gods with Ryan pretty much every week for the past two months. In the end, she didn''t hesitate in using Teleporting and taking Hypnos away from Ryan. Fortunately, he was so beaten down that Femradiel didn''t have to move for long before Seal finally worked. You obtained 1.685.692.125 coins. Mithril Crossbow of the Instantaneous Sleep (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using the crossbow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. At the cost of one thousand points of mana, it grants you the power to put to sleep any target for five minutes. Dexterity + 3600, Intelligence + 1000, Speed + 1000 Durability: 2400/2400 Congrattions! For defeating Hypnos, you have be a Level one Sleep Lord! You obtained the following skills: Void World, Sleep Maniption, and Darkness Maniption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Void World. Effect: It grants the power to create a world alternate from reality where you can create things as you see fit. You can also make the time in their pass faster or slower. The speed of time in such space increases or decreases by ten percent per level of the skill. Cost: 10.000 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sleep Maniption. Effect: It grants the power to put your targets to sleep near instantly. The amount of mana to make the target fall asleep will depend on their resistances and statuses. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Darkness Maniption. Effect: It grants you the power to manipte darkness and shadows as you see fit. At high levels, you will be able to bend reality by using this skill. You obtained 01 status points. The name of the ss seemed prettyme, but that was just a minor issue at the moment from everyone''s perspective since the dream world began to disappear. Femradiel and Alissa suddenly felt light-headed, but that probably was how it should be¡­ When Ryan opened his arms again, he saw himself looking at the unknown ceiling. His head was hurting like a bitch. He was hungry and thirsty as well. When he got up, he saw several other beds around, and he saw Alissa, Femradiel, and many other individuals. One by one, they woke up, and thanks to that, Ryan soon recalled the fight against Hypnos. It seemed that they won. Ryan checked his status screen and confirmed that was the case. When Femradiel and Alissa started to move like they were about to get up, the door of the room opened, and Ryan saw a familiar figure. It was Mohammed, probably the only person in Egypt that he talked with aside from Isis. "Hey, it has been a while," Mohammed said. "I guess we owe Isis one," Ryan said and then sighed. "How have you been?" "Well, considering the situation, pretty good, actually," Mohammed said. "I am better now knowing that you and the others are back." Soon after, Alissa and Femradiel got up, and they couldn''t help but frown while looking at Ryan. Now that he thought about it, he nned to rely on his Cursed form to defeat Hypnos, and then Femradiel would make him recover his sanity, but considering her expression, it seemed that not everything went as nned. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "We won, but¡­ we thought you wouldn''t return to normal soon after," Femradiel said. "I guess we were lucky that the destruction of the dream world made me return to normal," Ryan said and then noticed that he was burning with a fever. "I guess this is the price of relying on that power and making my spiritual body suffer so much." "It has been a while," Isis suddenly opened the door of the room and said. Instantly, the people who knew Isis bet their knees. Even those who just had woken up. That had been a better idea, though. Since they hadn''t been using their bodies for the past week, many of them fell to the ground. "Don''t push yourselves," Isis said. "This is hardly the time to do anything reckless. Rest easy because we all know that you have been fighting. As for you¡­ you are full of surprises. You return after several weeks and already fell for a trap." Isis seemed a bit tired. Even though she was an elder god, that was kind of weird. Now that Ryan thought about it, it was also risky for her to show up in the middle of the city, even though she could already show her full power on Earth. "Can you exin to me what happened while you were unconscious?" Isis asked. "Do you want to hear from there?" Ryan asked. "I already know what happened in the pendragons'' world," Isis said. In the end, that wasn''t even a single bit surprising. Regardless, Ryan owed at least that much to Isis, so he exined in detail what happened in the dream world. Those had been some pretty intense days, but in the end, things ended well¡­ or so, Ryan thought. "It looks like you three were pushed pretty hard by Hypnos," Isis said. "He didn''t underestimate you, so it is only natural. Regardless, you have emerged victorious so you should feel proud for saving so many lives. Rest for a few days, and once you recover your strength, we will talk about what changed while you were away." "Yeah¡­ we will do¡­" Ryan said. Before Ryan could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt the world spinning around him, and in the next moment, he lost consciousness once again. Chapter 818 - Explanation "Hey, Ryan?" Femradiel frowned when she suddenly saw Ryan copsing. Femradiel and the others quickly approached to check what was going on with Ryan, and then he noticed that he had one hell of a fever. Aside from that, his body seemed fine, but it was weird that he lost consciousness after sleeping for so many days straight. "What happened? Why did he copse?" Femradiel asked. "... His spirit has be too powerful for his human body," Isis replied after she got closer and noticed Ryan''s presence. "I heard that you three obtained a huge deal of power in the dragons world, but I didn''t imagine it was this massive¡­ adding that to the power of Hypnos that he just obtained, his body is trying to adapt in order to withstand it." "Will he be fine?" Mohammed asked. "His body just needs to adjust to his new powers¡­ it might take a while, but he will be fine," Isis replied. "How many days will he stay like this, isn''t there anything we can do?" Femradiel asked. "None," Isis replied. "I thought one problem was finally solved and then this happened¡­ still this might not be so bad." "What do you mean by that?" Femradiel asked, visibly angry. "I was nning to talk about this after a while since you three are exhausted, but I guess the situation has changed,'''' Isis said. "While you were under Hypnos spell, the world changed a lot. No, even while you were on the other, things changed. Most of the elder gods can show up on Earth now, and thanks to Hypnos, they have massive armies under their control, that is because Hypnos spell only targeted humans." Alissa and Femradiel looked at each other. That was some seriously bad news. Since all humans outside the domains fell to the spell, the monsters had the chance to gain territory and numbers, and those inside the domains couldn''t do anything about it. "For the time being, things are pretty calm, but once a singlerge scale battle breaks out, you can be sure that many elder gods and dungeon masters will use the chance to gain some edge over others," Isis said. "As someone who has defeated some elder gods and dungeon masters, Ryan will be targeted wherever he goes. So, perhaps this problem with his body isn''t all bad news." "I know that he wouldn''t sit still knowing all this, but there is no way this is good news," Femradiel said. "It is if you y your hands well," Isis said. "You obtained a part of Hypnos power, so you can create a world like he did, by using on Ryan, you will be able tomunicate with him there. If you let him train his skills in such a world, his body and mind will get used to his new powers faster and he might even gain a huge deal of power as well." That made sense, but even if Femradiel uses Soul Steal, she could only make that skill work for so long. Still, there was no other choice. As long as Void World levels up, Ryan will have the chance to return faster. "I guess I will do that," Femradiel said. "I wish I could help, but I will have to leave," Alissa said. "I have to look for my guys and then inform my allies in China about my return. I am sorry." "Don''t be," Femradiel said. "Thanks to you, we escaped that world and things are under control here. Besides, in his own weird way, Ryan would feel bad if he were to get in the way of your goals." "My goals, huh¡­" Alissa said and then looked through the window of that room. "I guess I won''t be able to try to chase my goals so blindly as before. Thanks to this idiot I have friends and people who look up to me, so I can''t mess things up more than I already did. I will stay nearby in case something happens and I wille to help." "Thank you, Alissa," Femradiel smiled and then said. "I don''t really rmend you to leaving so soon, but I can''t stop you," Isis said. "If I remember right, the people that Ryan referred to as your followers are in Canada fighting against the Ice Trolls and their dungeon master." "Thank you¡­ but they are my soldiers, not my followers," Alissa said. Things got quite busy after that, the people who stayed trapped inside the dream world didn''t want to rest since they stayed unconscious for too many days, and after hearing the news, they felt like all that was a big waste of time. And after a while¡­ "Eh? Where am I?" Ryan said. Suddenly, Ryan felt himself standing in apletely white world. Since he wasn''t feeling tired and he couldn''t see anything, he imagined that he was in the beyond, but then he realized that his body was the same and he had clothes. Not to mention, he could ess the system. "Did someone use Hypnos power on me again?" Ryan frowned. "Yeah, I did," Femradiel suddenly appeared and then said. "Everything went exactly as I had imagined and you fell for my trap. Now I am much stronger than before, and I have ess to all of your powers and items! I am nowpletely invincible! HAHAHAHAHA!" Ryan stared at Femradiel with a nk expression, she sure likes to fool around, and it wasn''t that time that she tried to do that kind of prank. If Femradiel''s acting weren''t so horrible, maybe Ryan would fall for it. "It didn''t work again, huh?" Femradiel asked. "Yeah, but you know what they say: the third time''s a charm," Ryan said. "Anyway, what am I doing here?" "Well, perhaps you should sit since this exnation might take a while," Femradiel said. Ryan thought that it would take a while before he messes things up again, but it seemed that wasn''t the case. In the end, Ryan sighed after hearing what happened and why he was there. Chapter 819 - Now What? "So¡­ there is no prediction as to when my body will return to normal?" Ryan asked. "Nope, right now, you are burning so that we could fry an egg on your forehead," Femradiel said. "ording to Isis, if you train here and obtain full control over these crazy abilities that we obtained in thest few months, you should recover faster. She even went as far as helping me with the mana to create this environment and since we were at it, I decided that I would send some other people who need to be trained to this ce in order not to let you feel lonely." Ryan furrowed his eyebrows after he heard that, most likely, Isis offered a hand but also the fact that some people might find this opportunity pretty good. After all, time could pass differently in the Void World. Still, if he had to train, he would train by himself, not with others. However, that would be a bit unreasonable. After all, a stupid amount of mana was being used to keep that world working. "Isis said that she can create a ce simr to this, but it requires a lot more mana than when Hypnos or us can use it," Femradiel said. "She also said that I can customize this ce as I see fit, so let''s make things look a bit more interesting." In the blink of an eye, the Void World became blue like the color of the sky. After that, Ryan and Femradiel saw themselves standing on a pretty small ind that had only space for a single coconut tree. "Mmm¡­ it seems the level of the skill also determines howrge this ce is," Femradiel said. "Right now, this is the limit of what I can do." "Are you messing with me?" Ryan asked since that was supposed to be an ind, but there was no sea. Femradiel solved that issue quickly since the skill was already leveling up. Still, even so, from above, it looked like they were standing in the middle of arge-sized pool and someone decided to create a fake ind in the middle of it. "Anyway, I am going to returnter to upgrade things a little bit," Femradiel said. "I don''t like this type of world, not even a little bit, even despite its usefulness. I have some things to do as well, so it might take a while before I return." "Can you at least make some dragons spawn in order to make time pass faster?" Ryan asked. Femradiel tried that, but in the end, the best she could do was to make a single level one goblin appear, and he didn''t even appear as often as in Hypnos'' dream world. In the end, Femradiel shrugged before leaving. "This girl seriously is¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. A single kick had been more than enough to make the goblin disappear, and another creature appeared after thirty seconds. Also, neither of them gave Ryan coins or points¡­ It looked like Ryan will have to find some other way to have any training done in such a world. Although Ryan had a golden chance to train, now that he thought about it, he didn''t know what he should do. After all, his skill with bows and crossbows probably was leagues above any other human. Not to mention, his skill increased naturally as his dexterity went up. "Oh, well¡­ might as well have some fun while I am at it," Ryan said and then began to use Chi Explosion. Ryan fired spheres of energy through his hands and made them fly into the distance until theypletely disappeared. As expected, using that kind of spell without a target was boring. Still, eventually, Ryan got used to it as the skill leveled up. While that was happening¡­ "How did he take it?" Isis asked when Femradiel opened her eyes. "He didn''tin as nearly as he usually would," Femradiel replied. "I guess deep down he knows that something is changing inside him and that he has been overworking himself." "You said that this anger reached a whole new level this time, even though she still managed to fool Hypnos in that state," Isis said. "I faced some cursed dragons myself, so I can understand how things gotplicated. Did you manage to create an environment where he will be able to learn how to control his rage?" "I think so, right now he is standing in the middle of a five per five tropical ind," Femradiel said. "Once Void World levels up a bit more, I will make the ce more rxing." The idea was to make Ryan train in a ce where he could have some peace of mind while training, not for him to take a vacation on a tropical resort. Still, Femradiel probably was the one who knew most about the current Ryan, so Isis decided to trust her judgment. "Are the people who are going to join Ryan ready?" Femradiel asked. "Many of them saw us fighting Hypnos, so it wouldn''t surprise me if they got scared of him. Not to mention, he isn''t the most patient person in the world." "Mohammed is making a list since we can''t send all those who want to be stronger to that world at the same time, it will be ready by tomorrow," Isis replied. "You should rest in the meantime." "I am going to bring Furball over, he should help Ryan to rx in that world," Femradiel said. "I will return as soon as possible." It was already night, so Femradiel would be hard to find, not to mention, her mana pool grew so much since thest time she had been on Earth that perhaps she could return before one hour. As soon as Femradiel left, Isis stared at the night sky and started to wonder. Those two worked a lot to defeat several elder gods. Still, ording to Isis''s intel, only Ryan was being hunted for, and that was weird in more ways than one. Chapter 820 - Training Congrattions! The skill Chi Explosion has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Chi Explosion has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Chi Explosion has leveled up. ¡­ In the end, Ryan soon learned how to make that skill level up faster and while he learned that, Ryan also learned how to use it in quick session and look exactly like KAMEHAMEHA. As soon as Ryan seeded that, an old friend suddenly appeared, jumped onto him, and then began to lick his face. "Hey, there, buddy," Ryan said to Furball. "It has been a while." Furball Health: 65.852/65.852 Mana: 35.632/35.632 Stamina: 43.523/43.523 Strength: 9523 Dexterity: 8522 Speed: 7486 Intelligence: 7512 Endurance: 7451 Control: 6632 Mentality: 4563 Luck: 8536 Recovery: 11562 Willpower: 4452 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Charge Lv 223, Body m Lv 199¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 188, Improved Speed Lv 181, Improved Recovery Lv 173¡­ Spells: Fire Bullet Lv 218, Electric Bullet Lv 203 Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 245, Cold Resistance Lv 192, Electric Resistance Lv 175¡­ "It looks like you haven''t been cking off despite the fact that we were away," Ryan said while he patted his legendary squire. "Since Hypnos spell didn''t work on monsters, he had been working quite a lot in fighting the hordes of monsters in the area around Isis''s domain," Femradiel said and then began to work on expanding the Void World. "Anyway, I finally had the chance to check things on your country and from a certain perspective, it looks like it ispletely in the hands of the monsters." "That bad, huh¡­" Ryan said. "What about Baal and Lilith?" "I didn''t have the chance to check their dungeons, but I am pretty sure they will try to take over the entire North America," Femradiel replied. "Alissa''s men and your friends back in the underground hideout are probably the only ones that may get on their way." "If they seed, they will be able to march South and take over the rest of the continent," Mephisto is in South America, so if they join forces¡­" "Isis is already too busy in this region, so she won''t be able to offer any help to your friends there," Femradiel said. "Do you want me to give them a hand?" "I want to give them a hand, I want to leave this ce as soon as possible and do that," Ryan said. "Besides, we know that the demon generals are as strong as the elder gods. Not to mention, they can corrupt other monsters, so they can increase their own army exponentially faster than any other enemy." "Sure, I can bring you to the battlefield and do the same thing you did to that woman in Russia," Femradiel said. "Using Telekinesis, I will make you spin and then attack the enemies. It should be even more effective while Draconic Transformation is active. Anyway, this ce is already big enough, so I will start to send some people here. If you don''t have anything to do, you can help them." "I am pretty busy here," Ryan said. "Sure, trying to mimic cartoons sure is busy," Femradiel said. After Femradiel left, Ryan checked and confirmed that the ind and the whole scenery were at least ten timesrger than before. Ryan finally could take two steps without having to worry about wetting his feet. In any case, he couldn''t spar with others. So, the only way he could help other people in getting stronger was by using Skill Bestowal or bing a target for their skills. Naturally, Ryan didn''t feel like doing anything like that for free. Furball seemed pretty strong, but the ind wasn''t big enough for them to fight in the end. While Ryan was considering what to do, suddenly ten people appeared behind him. That was actually good since Ryan could act like he didn''t notice them. While he was thinking, those people began to train with each other. That was a golden opportunity, and they couldn''t afford to waste it. Trying to train Chi Explosion seemed strangely silly while others could see him, so Ryan decided to try something else. While he was checking his skill list. Two people approached him. Ryan didn''t like people approaching from his back, so he turned. "Hello¡­ we came to apologize for before," A certain young man said. Ryan frowned since he didn''t recognize him, but he frowned even more when he saw that there was a woman on his side, but they looked alike a lot. They were probably twins. "I don''t know you, so I don''t know what you are apologizing for," Ryan said. "We were there¡­ when Hypnos started to fight against you," The young woman said. "Oh, yeah¡­ well, it doesn''t matter," Ryan said. "I have no hard feelings, so don''t mind me." After saying that, Ryan turned around again. While Ryan usually doesn''t forgive those that point their weapons toward him, he wasn''t harsh to the point where he would go as far as killing every single one of those. Even more when there were dozens of thousands trying to attack him due to aplicated situation. Ryan seemed unapproachable, and due to his cold attitude, those two assumed that Ryan didn''t want to get involved with them. So, they decided not to get in his way. It was the least they could do after what happened. Thanks to that, Ryan realized once more that he didn''t have any reason to worry about what others think of him. So, he resumed his training with Chi Explosion. However, after analyzing things for a while, he understood that such a technique wouldn''t work against tougher enemies, only against small fries. "Well, it is not like I can only train my most powerful skills here, but¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Perhaps I should level up the weakest ones for the sake of status points." Ryan didn''t have the chance to check some of his skills truly through, so perhaps that was a good chance since he finally had some peace and time to do so. Chapter 821 - State Of The World "The next time shees, I should ask her to create a sun here," Ryan said. "Then, I will be able to think more freely while looking at the sunset." Ryan had nned to train most of his skills to learn the ins and outs while they level up, but in the end, time was limited. So, he couldn''t just choose randomly, he had to choose the ones that could be useful in all battles, and he was having a hard time thanks to it. "What do you think, buddy?" Ryan asked Furball. "Should I train the skills I have or focus on leveling up new sses and getting new special sses? Raise your left paw for the first option and the right for the second." Weirdly enough, Furball raised the right paw without hesitation. Perhaps he was more intelligent than Ryan thought¡­ After checking the list of sses, Ryan saw that he had only a couple of sses that were anywhere close to reaching the max level, but that is something that always happens. Then he would ignore them for a while, and then suddenly, they would level up like crazy in the middle of a difficult battle. "All right, I am bored, and I don''t know what to train, so you are going to help me here," Ryan said and then used Skill Bestowal on Furball. "Now, attack me with the elemental spells." Ryan wished that he could use Gravity magic, but he couldn''t. Now that he thought about it, he could manipte darkness and shadows, but there were no shadows to manipte since they were in the middle of a tropical ind that doesn''t know the night. Congrattions! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ While Ryan was making himself more resilient against elemental attacks, Femradiel was doing some reconnaissance work for Isis. She was pretty good at sensing others, and she was pretty good at hiding from others as well. So, she was perfect for that kind of job. Not to mention, she had the same skills as Rya, so she could see pretty much everything in outer space without being noticed. Right at that moment, Femradiel wasn''t much further away from Egypt. She was pretty close to checking things in Europe. Things were getting pretty tense there since, thanks to Hypnos, the elder godsst their path to the pendragons'' world, and even though those who knew where they could find the mithril were creating new dungeons there, it would take a while for that to bore any fruit. "What a mess¡­" Femradiel said. Basically, every single dungeon in Europe had dozens of thousands of monsters behind, and all of them were working to an elder god. They offered some prizes to the dungeon masters to join their sides. Thanks to that, the Greek gods were obtaining a lot of power, but the Norse gods weren''t staying behind in the North. While Loki obtained a domain and he was a pain in their asses, the Norse gods, probably still thergest armies since few humans got on their path. As soon as she obtained intel regarding the types of monsters and the numbers each side has, Femradiel returned to Egypt, and she was informed that Isis was waiting for her in her Oasis. That was weird since she didn''t leave Egypt in thest few days since Hypnos caused trouble, but Femradiel soon realized why she was there, and when Femradiel arrived, she confirmed her assumptions. Athena and Loki were with her. "Are you alone today, little miss dragon?" Loki asked. "Bite me," Femradiel said. "It seems someone is on edge for some reason," Loki shrugged while smiling. "Why did you tell him?" Femradiel asked while looking at Isis. "He would discover sooner orter about Ryan," Isis said. "Instead of letting him cause trouble to gather intel, we saved ourselves from the hassle. So, can you share with us what you learned today?" The elder gods couldn''t leave their domains or use magic that often now that all the others were around. Even if Isis, Athena, and Loki were to use irvoyance, they would leave traces for the other elder gods, and that would make them look suspicious. After Femradiel shared the information with them, Athena began to tap on the round table in front of them. She looked even more serious than usual¡­ probably because a massive fight was about to break out, and the world would be the one who would suffer the most damage. "It seems we can divide the globe into five parts now," Isis said and then created a hologram-like map with magic. "The demons have taken over half of Africa already, and they are quickly marching North. They are also moving their armies to wipe out all humans from America and the Northern parts of Asia. The people in Russia and America might resist for a while, but things won''t go well if the demon generals join the fight." Femradiel realized that perhaps Isis had nned that meeting to happen and keep it as a secret from Ryan. Knowing him, he wouldn''t let the demons take over the American continent. Even if he had to face all the remaining five by himself, he would fight them until hisst breath. He would die trying because he was the type who wouldn''tst, demons defile thends he came from. "Most parts of Asia are under the control of Indians or the Chinese since they are strong and have many guardians and fallen heroes on their sides, neither demons nor the elder gods will try to attack them for the time being. However, they are bound to move if a fight breaks out around our territories. They know that the victor may be the most troublesome enemy, after all. In the end, things will start here¡­ the Mediterranean." ss: Artemis'' Disciple Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) / Frozen Spellcaster Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) / William Tell''s Apprentice Lv 99 (+ 01 UP) (--) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 6th Health: 25332/25332 (34,75/s) Mana: 25325/25325 (34,75/s) Stamina: 26530/26530 (34,75/s) Strength: 881 (+9922) (+130) Dexterity: 56233 (+13855) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+12910) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+9621) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+10895) (+160) Control: 1476 (12950) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+7995) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4760) Recovery: 6450 (+17350) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+7993) (+40) Coins: 2.544.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Chi Explosion Lv 63 (+ 30 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Spells: Void World Lv 01, Sleep Maniption Lv 01, Darkness Maniption Lv 01 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 45 (+ 34 UP), Fear Resistance Lv 26 (+ 10 UP), Fire Resistance Lv 95 (+ 08 UP), Heat Resistance Lv 89 (+ 11 UP), Electric Resistance Lv 59 (+ 22 UP), Shock Resistance Lv 41 (+ 24 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 349 (+ 15 UP), Darkness Resistance Lv 49 (+ 38 UP), Gravity Resistance Lv 87 (+ 20 UP), Fire Immunity Lv 28 (+ 08 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 72 (+ 11 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 32 (+ 07 UP), Cold Absorption Lv 11 (+ 05 UP), sses: Combat: Storm Caster Lv 57 (+ 06 UP), Conjurer Lv 74 (+ 13 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 06 (+ 02 UP), Draconic Lancer Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Draconic Mage Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Sleep Lord Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Chapter 822 - Strategy Femradiel looked at the map and then nodded. All the elder gods from Greek Mythology were located around there, and the Norse Elder gods will attack much sooner thanter. Once that happens, the demons in Northern Asia and in the Southern part of Africa will move to take advantage of the situation¡­ All in all, the Greek gods will be attacked by three forces. "The Greek gods won''t ask for help, even though they could fight alongside the angels since they are equally in a difficult situation," Isis said. "Is that right, Athena?" "That is right," Athena nodded. "Considering all that, our best option is to halt the advance of the demons on the South and the Norse gods on the North," Isis said. "If we seed in doing that, then we can avoid the worst-case scenario." "How can we do that?" Femradiel asked. "I nned this meeting so that I could hear your opinions on the matter. To tell you the truth, I don''t know how we can stop those two armies," Isis said. "How about we make your draconic friends in South America receive the same boost in power that you did in the dragons'' world?" Loki asked while looking at Femradiel. "With that power, they can stop the demons'' generals by themselves. Without Lilith, Baal, and Mephisto to back them up, Beelzebub and Belial won''t risk facing so many elder gods." It was the first time that Femradiel had heard the name of the remaining demon generals, but that wasn''t the important part right now. While that seemed the best course of action, it seemed too risky. "We can''t afford to try that, it will take too long, and those five might suffer from the same problem Ryan is facing right now," Femradiel said. "If that were to happen, the situation will only get even more chaotic." "Speaking of which, when are we going to negotiate about Belphegor''s domain?" Loki asked. "Once, I am sure that you won''t cause problems for the pendragons," Femradiel said. "They are our allies now, and until we are one hundred percent sure that you aren''t a threat for them, there won''t be any negotiations." "Rx, little missy, I am just interested in the mithril," Loki said. "You should trust more on your allies." "You can talk about thatter," Isis said. "What do you think we should do here, Loki? Athena is fairly knowledgeable regarding tactics, but things look troublesome even from her perspective. How do you think we should proceed?" "Just let the battle begin and focus on defense," Loki said. "What is the point of focusing on defense when we already are at a disadvantage?" Isis asked. "You treat war like just some child''s game," Loki said. "You don''t have what it takes to make some sacrifices, and you try to avoid the worst-case scenario, but you still can''t see how that can be useful to you." "Enlighten me," Isis said. "If the Norse gods decide to start an all-out war against the Greek gods, they will show their backs to the domain that I acquired," Loki said. "The domain that we acquired," Femradiel corrected him. "That is just a minor detail right now," Loki said. "Anyway, they will show their backs to me. Even though they don''t know yet who is the dungeon master of that domain, they only know that Ryan defeated the previous one. Once they expose their backs, I will attack, and then you guys can join the fray as well to eliminate their armies in a single swoop." Isis agreed that was a good n, but it probably was something that Athena thought but couldn''t consider since it relied on trusting Loki. Although he made it sound simple, Isis and Athena will have to focus most of their forces on trying to hold the enemies back while Loki destroys them from behind. If he were to betray them, Isis and Athena''s people would see themselves in a very difficult position. "That was why I also wanted Belphegor''s domain because even if they don''t be our allies, we can help the angels destroy the Northern armies with a somewhat pincer attack," Loki said. Femradiel also could see that Belphegor''s domain had some tactical value. Still, it was hard to tell if he really wanted that domain to help or just to be even more resourceful. Of all the possible enemies, the one that Femradiel considered the most annoying was Loki since it could tell his end goal. "What do you want to give in exchange for that domain?" Femradiel asked. "Aside from my promise that I won''t harm your friends?" Loki asked. "Maybe we should sell it to someone else¡­" Femradiel said. "Geez, why does no one here know how to take a joke?" Loki shrugged. "How about some Asgardian Blood? If he obtains that, he might recover faster since it will grant a real boost on his divinity level." "If you can help Ryan like that, then¡­" Isis said. "Hold your horses," Loki said. "Just like he can''t give the domain for free even though that might help us in the long run, I also can''t make a human join our ranks like that," Loki said. "We are a warrior race, and we are direct descendants from the primordial gods. That isn''t something a human should be that easily." Loki was as annoying as he was persuasive. After saying that, no one could refute his words. Besides, that probably was one of the worst things he could do to annoy the other elder gods from Norse mythology. Still, it was weird that someone like him obtained that kind of item¡­ what were the chances that someone working for him would obtain that kind of drop?" "¡­ All right then," Femradiel said. "We will give you the domain, but only after Ryan wakes up. He is the current owner, so only he can pass you the rights over the domain." "That is not a problem. Even unconscious, he can pass the rights to me," Loki said. "You just have to teleport him there." Annoying and persuasive indeed¡­ Chapter 823 - Asgardians Blood "So, he wants Belphegor''s domain in exchange for a single bottle of blood?" Ryan asked when Femradiel exined what happened during the meeting. Isis asked Femradiel to keep a secret for the time being the parts that might make Ryan return no matter what, but she ignored that. She couldn''t keep secrets from Ryan. Besides, she knew that he wasn''t stupid or insane¡­ not all that much, at least. "Yeah, what do you think?" Femradiel asked. "I think that you need to improve your negotiation skills," Ryan said. "I mean, for how long do you guys think I need to rest here?" "We have no idea. You are still burning up," Femradiel said. "Seriously, water is evaporating from your head despite the fact that I cast a spell to make the room as cold as possible without bothering anyone." It seemed that Ryan didn''t understand his situationpletely. He thought that he would be back on his feet in a week or so. He didn''t have any idea how serious his situation was since he never got really sick before. "Well, let''s just hope that will work," Ryan said. "If that doesn''t work, we will have to search for the god of medicines or the god of herbs¡­ does Isis know people who have that title?" "I don''t think so¡­" Femradiel frowned. In the end, Femradiel teleported Ryan to the domain in just a few minutes, and much to her surprise, she found Loki waiting for them there. Although the barrier was filled with mana, they knew it wasn''t unbreachable¡­ still, Loki probably used other methods to enter. "Wow, he looks really bad," Loki said. "Can I talk with him there?" "What for?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t like to do business in an indirect way," Loki said. "Besides, it has been a while, and I want to see him in person." Although that seemed suspicious, Femradiel decided to summon Loki in the Void World. Ryan wasn''t the type to lower his guard, so if Loki were to show his true colors, that would be the perfect moment to deal with him. Ryan still was letting Furball hit him with magic attacks when Loki appeared. Weirdly enough, both of them frowned when they saw each other. "What are you doing here?" Ryan asked. "Why is everyone so cold towards me?" Loki asked. "Are you messing with me?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Rx, I was just joking," Loki said. "I see¡­ it seems that despite everything, you haven''t changed all that much. Interesting. Ryan frowned again. He knew that Loki was weird and suspicious, but it seemed that his weirdness was only increasingtely. It seemed that Loki could see things that most people couldn''t. "I came to confirm that you are fine with the terms of our agreement," Loki said. "Yes, I am," Ryan said. "I wasn''t nning to tell you this since it is pretty much obvious, but I can''t let this chance go. Don''t betray us, Loki, not even just to amuse yourself. If you cause problems to those that I consider my allies, and they get hurt thanks to it, I won''t think twice about attacking you with all I have. I might lose in the end, and right now, I think that I will probably lose, but I won''t go down without making you regret deeply." "Why aren''t you confident in your victory?" Loki asked. "I mean, you have the record of defeating tough elder gods." "Just a gut feeling," Ryan said. "I see¡­" Loki said. "Well then, I''d better get going. I need to prepare many things." Once Loki disappeared, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder why he felt like Loki would be hard to kill. He sure was different from the other elder gods he faced, but he didn''t look anywhere dangerous ifpared to them. Maybe that was the fact that bothered him the most. Congrattions! You obtained and absorbed Asgardians blood. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Supernatural Healing. Effect: It grants you the power to heal wounds, mend bones and recover from most types of damage much faster than before. This skill also passively increases your recovery by one hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Superhuman Mentality. Effect: It grants you the power to receive minor damage from all types of magical attacks. This skill also passively increases your mentality by one hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Superhuman Endurance. Effect: It grants you the power to receive minor damage from all types of physical attacks. This skill also passively increases your endurance by one hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status points. The skills seemed more straightforward than Ryan imagined considering that he received by obtaining the DNA of a special race of warriors. Still, even in his spiritual form, he felt much better than before¡­ if anything, it seems they received the real deal from Loki. That being said, Ryan couldn''t help but worry that Femradiel made him drink the blood like that without informing him first. After a while, Femradiel appeared and informed Ryan that they were back in Egypt already. "Your fever decreased a little," Femradiel said. "How do you feel?" "Pretty good, actually," Ryan said. "Since I am bored here, I am letting Furball train my endurance. Perhaps I will recover faster than before. Since all the issues this time are due to my weak body and weak spirit." "Well, that is good then¡­" Femradiel said. "If you don''t mind, I am going to rest here for a while." After saying that, Femradiel sat down and thenid her back against Ryan''s back. That was right, she was much as exhausted as Ryan before, but she still was working hard in the real world. She was so exhausted that Ryan noticed that she quickly fell asleep. "Let''s do something else, for the time being, buddy," Ryan said to Furball. "She deserves this rest, and we don''t want to wake her up." Chapter 824 - Apocalyptic Archer Without moving his body, the only thing that Ryan could actually do was to use magic or train his skill with bows. Thanks to those few moments of absolute peace, Ryan noticed that something was off¡­ the sses: Artemis'' Disciple, Frozen Spellcaster, and William Tell''s Apprentice already reached level 99, but they were taking their time leveling up¡­ "Based on my experience and on the things, I know, I should be able to make them level up even without fighting," Ryan muttered. "Still, maybe the rules are different since they are special sses." Although Ryan considered that, deep down, he knew it couldn''t be true. After all, he received sses that granted much more bonuses in attributes like the draconic sses and the ones he obtained after defeating the elder gods. Training Artemis'' Disciple should be easy. Ryan just has to ask Femradiel to create a fake moon in that world¡­ Still, it was hard to know if the skill reached a level where she could do something like that. Since he didn''t have anything better to do, Ryan used his archery skills rted to those sses for several hours. Even though the sses were still taking their time leveling up, others still were like Eagle Eyes and Concentration. After twenty or so hours doing that non-stop, he finally had some results. Congrattions! The ss, Artemis'' Disciple, has reached the max level. Congrattions! The ss Sorcerer has reached the max level. Reach the max level with another ss to sacrifice them and obtain a special ss! Don''t worry. You won''t lose the bonuses in status and skills you acquired by sacrificing those sses. "Now, I just need to level up Spell Caster¡­ Still, what ss am I going to obtain by sacrificing those?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This is getting kind of exciting." That was going to be a real pain in the ass since Ryan didn''t have any skill that increased the level-up speed of his magic-rted skills. Still, it had to be done. Before continuing that, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder for how long Femradiel was going to sleep¡­ he knew that time, in reality, was passing slower ifpared to the Void World, but still¡­ something smells fishy. "Are you sleeping, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. Ryan didn''t hear an answer; still, he wasn''t convinced. While her negotiating skills needed some work, her acting skills were pretty decent. Waking her up didn''t seem like the right thing to do, but he would make a lot of noise while using the Spell Caster''s ss spells. "What do you think, buddy?" Ryan asked. "Is he asleep or not? I bet your senses are better than mine. Raise your left paw if you think she is sleeping or raise your right if you think she is awake." For some reason, Furball didn''t do either¡­ maybe his senses were getting dull, or maybe he had muscles for the brain like Ryan. Still, that whole situation seemed even more fishier¡­ Furball usually obeys Ryan''smands, so why didn''t he try anything? "If you lick her face, we will know if she is awake, buddy," Ryan said. "Go on, show how much you love her." For some odd reason, Furball reacted to Ryan''s words this time, but then he stopped and gave up on licking Femradiel''s face when she suddenly opened her eyes. He understood the message in the blink of an eye. "You traitor," Femradiel said. "I would say that he stayed right in the fence," Ryan said. "There is no point in procrastinating when you are not tired. Staying off pretending that you are sleeping, you should use this ce to train. After all, it costs tons of mana to keep it up and to run. Things got really noisy after that since Ryan cast Thunder Storm. The few survivors that were training there couldn''t help but stop and see the lightning bolts falling in the distance like rain. They sure were impressed, and Ryan couldn''t but imagine how they would react if he used Draconic Transformation and used the skill which would be ten times stronger¡­ Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Artemis'' Disciple, Spell Caster, and William Tell''s Apprentice? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Apocalyptic Archer. You learned the skills: Meteor Arrow, Fungus Arrow, and Twilight. Your intelligence and mana have increased and will increase by thirty points whenever this ss level up. Your health, stamina, recovery, and willpower have increased and will increase by fifteen points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Meteor Arrow. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a powerful arrow that will hit the target near instantly. The farther the target is, the more damage you will cause, the increase in damage will increase by one percent per ten kilometers, and the level of the skill determines the bonus damage. Cost: 5000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fungus Arrow. Effect: It grants you the power to fire an arrow filled with a fungus that will devour the target''s flesh and cause extra damage per second while the fungus is active. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Twilight. Effect: It grants you extra damage while you fight without receiving any damage. The bonus will be equal to one percent per minute, and the maximum bonus is determined by the level of the skill, and it will reset after every battle and when any damage is suffered. You obtained 01 status points. "Not bad, not bad at all," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "This is one hell of a new ss. Still, I guess I will have to return to my endurance training." "Why? While the bonus in status isn''t as impressive as the draconic sses, they sure are impressive," Femradiel said. "Not to mention, the skills¡­" "Yeah, but more ways of attacking won''t help me recover faster," Ryan said. "Making my body and mind stronger probably will. Let''s get going buddy. You will continue helping me here." Femradiel once again confirmed that Ryan had muscles for the brain. Chapter 825 - Warning While Ryan was trying to ovee his weakness, which was his inability to endure high amounts of damage, Femradiel decided to warn the people that they knew that things were about to be serious. When Femradiel showed up at Rio de Janeiro, Gustavo and his friends couldn''t help but raise their guard. They never saw Femradiel after she assumed her physical form, and her presence was powerful just like them, even though they couldn''t feel a dragon inside her. "Hey, it is just me, Femradiel," Femradiel said while she raised her arms. "There is no need to attack me, I just came to talk a little." Gustavo, Bianca, and Fernanda frowned when they heard. While they knew that dragons had many powers, they didn''t expect that they could assume human form. At least, the dragons inside them never said that they could do something like that. However, they did recognize her voice. "Where is Ryan?" Gustavo asked. "Is the pact between you two still active?" "Yeah, he is sick right now, do you want to meet him?" Femradiel asked. Gustavo, Fernanda, and Bianca looked at each other. That didn''t seem like a good idea since they didn''t have much free time. Still, Femradiel easily put them to sleep and then summoned them to the Void World. Ryan couldn''t help but frown when they appeared. "What is this? A resort?" Ryan asked after he facepalmed. "Is Femradiel selling tickets in the real world?" "What happened? Where are we?" Gustavo asked. "Are you really Ryan?" "I know that I look out of ce here, but there''s no real reason to think that I am a fake," Ryan said. In fact, Gustavo asked that because Furball was attacking Ryan, and he wasn''t doing anything, not even trying to protect himself. As for the others that were there, they already got used to the scene. "... I heard that you were sick, but I didn''t think it was that kind of sickness," Gustavo said. "Are you messing with me?" Ryan frowned. "I am sick, this is why I am in this ce, a world where only my spiritual body exists¡­ Why doesn''t Femradiel never exin anything?" It took a while, but eventually, those three understood that Ryan was the real deal. It was for them to imagine going to another world facing several armies and then defeating Hephaestus, but once Ryan showed up with the mithril hammer, things easily solved themselves. "What do you want now?" Hephaestus asked. "Nothing, I am just showing proof of my trip to them," Ryan said. "Hephaestus is a bit grumpy. So, he doesn''t talk all that much, Poseidon will curse us if I let him out, Thanatos will do the same thing. Do you want to talk with Hypnos?" "No¡­ it is fine," Gustavo said. "Anyway¡­ are you getting better?" "Only Femradiel can tell you that, I can check my condition outside this ce," Ryan said. "Come to think of it, maybe one of you guys should stay here and spar with me, I am bored out of my mind. Time passes faster here, so you don''t have to worry about it too much." "I am going to pass," Gustavo said. "I am grateful for the offer, but I believe it wouldn''t be a spar," Bianca said. "I am Sorry," Fernanda said. "You guys are so boring¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. After that, Femradiel pulled those three out of the Void World. They had no idea how Femradiel could do that so easily, but in the end, they knew that she wasn''t the enemy. "That is the gist of the things," Femradiel said. "The next few days, many battles will start, so you will need to stay focused because a battle here might cause the start of another in Europe. You should help Lucas because he is the one in the most difficult position. Since you canmunicate with him via Telepathy, I will rely on you to pass the news. Things are a lot more serious in Europe, so we might not be able toe and help in case something happens." "I understand, but about Ryan''s situation¡­" Gustavo hesitated. "... it has been two days since he is burning up and he only got a little better because he obtained a certain bloodline," Femradiel exined. "We don''t know when he will be back, but I can''t imagine himing back in the next two weeks." After hearing that, those two couldn''t help but worry. Even if Ryan couldn''t help them directly, it was evident that he impacts the several battles even while they happen far away from each other. Regardless, time was of the essence, so Femradiel left after saying that. One hour after talking with Gustavo and his friends, Femradiel showed up at the underground base, and she was already surrounded by the people there even though they were inside the domain barrier. Not only was her presence powerful, but the fact that no one aside from Mia knew her to put all the survivors on guard. Femradiel ignored all that and just waited for Mia to show up. It has been a while since they saw each other, and Femradiel couldn''t help but frown since Arthur was already at least eight years old looking at his eight. In any case, that wasn''t really the issue there. Loud and in a clear tone, Femradiel exined to them the situation. Where the enemies were located, what their obvious move would be, and what they were nning to aplish. Since they never left the country, they had no idea how bad the situation really was. "If you are going to face the demons, you should hurry up and defeat them before they increase their armies even further," Femradiel said. "Just focus on the defense this time won''t work since they can very well ignore this domain and focus on stabilizing their strength throughout the whole continent." "Our people already are working on that, so you don''t have to worry," Mia said. "Thank you for warning us and Ryan my regards." Chapter 826 - Worries Mia sounded weirdly calmpared to thest time Femradiel saw her. She epted the harshness of the situation better than most people. Now that Femradiel thought about it, the people around her didn''t even flinch when they heard that a massive battle was about to take ce around the whole world. "That makes me wonder if they believed in my words¡­" Femradiel said. Fortunately, Femradiel contacted Alissa, and she was already back with her soldiers, and she knew more or less how things were and how they should proceed. That was one less thing to worry about. As long as Alissa and Gustavo''s group do their parts, the worst-case scenario can be avoided. "Now I just have to contact Yahiko, pay for the dragon hearts he saved to Ryan and then contact that Russian girl," Femradiel said. "I am starting to get bored of this¡­" While Femradiel wasining, Ryan was spinning in the air in the lotus position, he was already running out of ideas on how to pass the time in the Void World, and he just realized that letting Furball attack him for dozens of hours straight it was only working to make him feel even more impatient. Regardless, he was spinning in the air in order to make the blood flow better and then make his brain even better¡­ even though he was in his spiritual form, and that wasn''t helping anything. "What do I do with those 2 billion and half coins?" Ryan asked. There were many options in the dungeon shop, but once again, Ryan had no idea which would help him most, considering his fighting style. Hisst big purchase, Word Magic, helped him a lot, but not as much as he had envisioned, probably because of the enemies he faced after that, he didn''t know much about them. Thanks to that, he wanted a skill that would help him in all situations no matter what. Gravity Maniption tome Effect: it grants you the power to control the effects of gravity on you and those in your field of vision. Each level makes you able to control gravity ten percent morepared to thest one. Price: 2.000.000.000 coins. The most obvious option was the Gravity maniption tome. Ryan knew very well how annoying that spell could be. After thinking for a while, Ryan realized that his fighting style that relied mostly upon bows and crossbows was just too primitive¡­ it would be difficult to make it work with other advanced skills like the control of gravity. Despite that, the idea of abandoning his current fighting style never crossed his mind. The reasons were simple because he survived until now, putting into practice the knowledge he obtained from his father and because despite their crazy powers, the elder gods still used weapons that could be considered primitives. Maybe it was due to their own legends or for some other weird reason, but it didn''t matter. They could show their true might using those weapons, and Ryan was nning to do the same. Mana Maism Tome Effect: it grants you the power to attract the mana of your surroundings and absorb it. You will be able to recover one hundred points of mana per second and per level. Price: 2.500.000.000 "I guess this will do," Ryan said. "It would be awesome if this skill could restore health and stamina as well, but then it would be too overpowered." As soon as Ryan learned the skill, he already put its effects into good use. He made Furball attack him again, and Ryan used Sapphire Arrows to recover his mana. Although it was boring, Ryan already could notice a difference thanks to the results of that training. Not only physically but mentally as well. Ryan could feel himself more patient since a lot of patience was necessary to endure that kind of training. Not to mention, the cold, the shock, and the burns weren''t bothering him as much as before. Although Ryan didn''tplete the set of elemental resistances yet, he still decided to focus on that kind of training for as long as possible. He also made a mental note to find a way to obtain thest version of those skills since Elemental Absorption probably was the previous level. Congrattions! The skill Fire Absorption has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Cold Absorption has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan had decided to train his elemental skills until Femradiel showed up. Still, after almost fifty hours of non-stop training, he changed his mind since she was probably too busy alerting everyone. Still, with their speed, it shouldn''t take more than ten hours to travel the whole globe, so that makes Ryan wonder: which level Void World already was¡­ he wanted to train his as well, but he couldn''t while he was inside another. "Let''s take a break from this type of training, buddy," Ryan said. "Before I start liking it." Ryan was missing the time where he could get sses pretty much every day, so he decided to check which sses were about to reach the max level. In a world like that, he had to do things like that to feel even a little bit of excitement. Much to Ryan''s surprise, he had four sses pretty close to reaching that mark. Expert Archer and Necromancer were at level 95, while Demon Hunter and Demon Hunter were almost at level 90. Putting the necromancer ss aside, the other three had some corrtion, so Ryan assumed that he would gain another special ss like Artemis'' Disciple or William Tell''s Apprentice. However, the idea of mixing Necromancer among those also seemed pretty interesting. After thinking for a while, Ryan concluded that it would be wiser to sacrifice the Necromancer ss with other magic sses. Perhaps he could obtain an even more interesting ss ifpared to necromancer that way. Ryan was missing some action, but if he focuses on training his strengths and his weaknesses at the same time, he will probably make time pass faster there. Chapter 827 - Future "How is he?" Isis asked when she suddenly entered the room where Ryan was resting. "For the time being, he is okay," Femradiel said with her eyes closed as she watched the Void World. "But he is starting to run out of ideas of how to kill time. I guess this n of yours is making time there pass faster by using more mana will only make a mess out of the things." "You know him better than anyone, so you are probably correct," Isis said. "But you decided to take the risk anyway." Femradiel couldn''t even say otherwise because she assumed that probably helped Ryan be stronger faster. Until now, they survived by trying really hard, even when they faced Tyr and Hephaestus at the same time, but things were about to reach a whole new level on Earth. Femradiel and Isis couldn''t imagine Ryan facing only one or two elder gods at a time now that he was fairly well-known among them. "How did your friends react after you told them the news?" Isis asked. "They aren''t my friends, they are Ryan''s¡­ even though he will never admit that," Femradiel said and then frowned. "The guys in Brazil and North America will be a huge help, as for the other group in America¡­ it is hard to say. Yahiko, and Natasha are going to do what they can, but Yahiko can''t make his whole army leave his country and help those that might be enemies in the future. As for Natasha, she isn''t the only leader there and the other two are two blockheads." Things were looking pretty grim. The people that Isis could count were basically her people, Athena, Ryan, and Femradiel. Loki was just that difficult to trust, and he probably didn''t want to look trustworthy to anyone. From his perspective, things would be more interesting that way. For the time being, those three couldn''t openly rebel against others because they would be targeted and treated as traitors. Loki could act like that because everyone knew the type of elder god he was. Things could be a bit different if they could lead all the survivors'' camps in the world, but that wasn''t going to happen. "Anyway, are we going to face the demons in the South?" Femradiel asked. "If we want to dy their movements, we should do it as soon as possible. Unless I give some regr reports to Ryan, he will probably find a way to leave the Void World and join the fights and I don''t want to lie to him." "I know¡­ the demons are one week away from us, they won''t attack until they obtain a base in the region," Isis said. "So, we should use all this free time to strengthen our soldiers." Every day, Femradiel would make a group of twenty survivors go to the Void World, and thanks to the amount of mana Femradiel was using and considering the level of the skill, time was passing already five times faster in that world. So, even though Ryan wasn''t helping them, Femradiel was using Skill Bestowal, and they were training some crazy skills on their own. "Now that I think about it," Femradiel rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we should make him ept the survivors as students. He can do at least that much, I am sure." "Yes, you are probably right," Isis said and thenughed when she saw Femradiel rubbing her chin since it was the same way Ryan thinks seriously about certain things. "Why are youughing?" Femradiel asked while frowning. "For no particr reason," Isis said. Convincing Ryan of epting students didn''t take too long, fortunately. Femradiel used the dragon hearts she obtained from Yahiko, and thanks to it, his mood improved a lot. "All right, I will do that," Ryan said after a long sigh. "I can''t see how that will change anything since not a single one you sent was a true archer." "Just show them some useful skills that can be highly effective against an army and that will be plenty," Femradiel said. "Against an army, huh¡­ when the next fight is going to happen?" Ryan asked. "Considering the flow of time here, perhaps forty days," Femradiel said. "Regardless, unless one of the demon generals shows up, you don''t have any reason to join the fight." Ryan nodded after hearing that. He didn''t have to win all the battles by himself. After all, the world was going to be his alone. Still, he wanted to participate in the battles where all the demons were involved. He had a debt to pay and not only to Baal, Mephisto, and Lilith. "Anyway, soon enough, I will capture a powerful monster and send it to this ce to keep you entertained," Femradiel said before leaving. "So, help these guys as much as possible." Ryan frowned when he heard that. It looked like Femradiel was implying that Ryan was a battle freak. While he did enjoy winning difficult fights, he didn''t want to spend the rest of his life fighting¡­ or did he? Now that Ryan thought about it, he had no idea what he was going to do once all the enemies are defeated, and the human race has some peace again. What will happen then? Considering that all humans will have crazy powers, it was hard to imagine them creating a peaceful world. A good number of people will try to stand above others, and¡­ that doesn''t matter. What did matter was the fact that Ryan had no idea of his goals after fighting against those that want to take over Earth? "I guess this is as good a time as any to think about the future¡­" Ryan said, and then he turned around to face the new survivors who were going to stay for a while in the Void World with him. "Before that¡­ let''s get this over with." Ryan registered the new people as his students and then proceeded to help them learn skills like Vampirism, Magic Vampirism, and Magic Bows. It took a while, but they eventually learned¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but think if he should ask them for payment. After all, he made them save more than one hundred million coins. Chapter 828 - Training Once Ryan finished teaching everyone those skills, he asked them to use those against him. They would need a powerful target to make those skills level up faster, and Ryan could be that target. Ryan made some rapid-fire crossbows for them in order to make things proceed more quickly. Congrattions! The skill Spiritual Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Spiritual Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan couldn''t counter Vampirism directly, but he could decrease the effects of his variants. While he didn''t face many enemies that could use those types of skillstely, he decided to level it up as much as possible. He and the other survivors trained that constantly for a while, but then when that group left, Ryan noticed that the next one didn''te. However, Femradiel showed up. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "Isis decided to position her soldiers a bit sooner than nned," Femradiel said. "Should I feel worried about that?" Ryan asked. "What about the condition of my body?" "No, it is fine. Your condition is improving, but you probably won''t join us in the next battle." Femradiel replied. "We are rtively confident in our ns. Rather than that, I came to make some changes here. I had an idea to keep you upied in this ce. What about I partially free the elder gods in this world to fight with you." "¡­ What?" Ryan frowned. "While you can use your magic weapons here, they still exist outside," Femradiel said. "I can move their spirits to this world. To make sure that nothing suspicious will happen, I will seal a part of their mana pool." "That is a pretty interesting idea, but their status still will grant them the chance to recover a lot of mana," Ryan said. "I still don''t know the ins and outs of this technique, but I think it is kind of risky to give them this much freedom while we are about to have a difficult fight." "I know, but we also think that if you be physically and mentally stronger faster, you will recover sooner as well," Femradiel said. "We might have ended up letting one of them escape, but it is a risk we will have to ept. Besides, we already defeated them once and not even those guys will be able to escape Isis''s domain that easily." "Hmm¡­ I suppose so," Ryan nodded. "Well, let''s be careful and summon only one of them at a time. Belphegor should be fine for the time being, since he iszy, he probably won''t try to escape." "Well, if you say so," Femradiel hesitated while frowning since she imagined Belphegor would be the most useless one to help Ryan train. Femradiel disappeared, and after a few moments, Belphegor showed up. It worked faster than Ryan had imagined considering that Femradiel only knew the theory behind that kind of possibility. "Aw,e one¡­" Belphegor said with a dejected expression on his face. "It is time to make yourself useful, Belphegor," Ryan said. "You don''t have to fight if you don''t have to, I already know that fighting someonezy will be a pain in the ass. Still, youy on the ground and use your magic on me. After that, you will summon your sloth demons to damage me." "Well, I suppose this is better than nothing¡­" Belphegor said and then sighed. Belphegor was really depressing with hisziness. Still, he was probably the one who would make Ryan gain some status points faster than others. Before anything, Ryan asked him to use his magic to make Ryan feel the exhaustion of a full day in a single instant. When he did that, Ryan almost fell to the ground since that feeling of exhaustion had been intense¡­ Ryan thought that he had leveled up his Fatigue Resistance quite a bit. However, it still wasn''t at the level where it would be useful against Belphegor. Congrattions! The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fatigue Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ "Is that all?" Belphegor asked. "Can I return to the weapon now?" "Of course not¡­ dumbass," Ryan said. "Let''s see, you made me lose ny percent of my stamina. I will use Draconic Transformation to make that more efficient." ----- ----- While Ryan was training. Femradiel decided to look for some dungeons and obtain some sses as well. While she was almost at his level in terms of statuses and skills, she felt that she was still behind in a far more fundamental level. Still, she couldn''t pinpoint what that was¡­ Regardless, Femradiel also knew that things from that moment onwards will get moreplicated, and while they defeated many elder gods, the other remaining that saw Ryan as an enemy would be even more dangerous. While she thought that Ryan could fight and win against most of them, Femradiel knew that Ryan couldn''t face some enemies because Ryan wasn''tpatible with their skills. "The dungeon Isis mentioned must be around here," Femradiel said while she was teleporting around the Antic Ocean. Eventually, Femradiel frowned at a certain ind that had an underwater dungeon nearby. Thanks to that, the ind was crawling with two types of monsters: Mermen and Mermaids. While they weren''t that strong, their numbers and their skills were something else. In any case, Femradiel flew towards it and then fired Ice Spears andpletely destroyed dozens of Mermaids every single instance¡­ she only attacked them. "Ryan willugh at me so hard if he discovers this¡­" Femradiel said while holding her face due to embarrassment. "Whatever¡­ Let''s hurry up and finish this. I don''t have much time to train." Congrattions! The skill Charm Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Charm Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Charm Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Once Femradiel killed all the Mermaids on the ind, she let the Merman use their magic on her. While that made her feel weird, she easily solved the problem by using Purification. That was a weird type of training indeed¡­ Chapter 829 - Celestial Bard Congrattions! You have be a Level one Celestial Bard! The Celestial Bard ss allows you to simultaneously attack enemies and support allies with heavenly fire skills. You obtained the following skills: Ethereal Lyre, The Will of Music, and Entrancement. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ethereal Lyre. Effect: Summons a magical lyre that, when strummed, will summon musical notes made of sr fire. The notes are fast and will pursue their targets. When an enemy is struck, they will take damage equal to your intelligence + dexterity + 150%, but when an ally is struck, they will gain a temporary bonus of 1% to a stat of the user''s choice, per level Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: The Will of Music. Effect: ying any song on any instrument will provide any nearby allies with a 3% boost in a specified stat. The music will also decrease the statuses of the enemies by the same amount in a specified stat. Effect willst for 5 minutes Cost: 800 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Entrancement. Effect: Grants you the ability to put your enemy into a trance-like state for 20 seconds. If their willpower is less than yours, they will be unable to move or react Cost: 2500 mana You obtained 01 status points. "Those are interesting skills, where did you get this ss?" Ryan asked. "I bet that I can automate my attacks even more with this ss." "I found it when I was exploring the Antic," Femradiel replied while she was trying to avoid Ryan''s eyes. "Anyway, how is your training going?" "¡­ Belphegor is easy to keep on leash, I just have to threaten him a little saying that if he doesn''t cooperate, I will tell Lucifer that he could have won if tried a bit harder," Ryan replied. "Anyway, you seem weird today." "It must be your imagination," Femradiel forced a smile. "Well, I am leaving." Before Ryan could say anything, Femradiel left. As expected, something happened, but it didn''t seem bad per se. Otherwise, Femradiel would be depressed instead of just looking extremely ufortable. "Enough resting, Belphegor," Ryan said. "Summon your sloth demons and make them explode near me again." "¡­ Yes," Belphegor said while he was slowly getting up. As soon as she returned, Femradiel checked Ryan''s fever. She could tell that it had decreased. Still, his resistance training wasn''t showing as much result as they expected¡­ Femradiel couldn''t understand why that was happening to him. Many other humans gained power extremely fast, but she didn''t hear of them getting sick like that because of it. The main example of that was Alissa and Yahiko. As soon as they obtained their powers, they were able to fight and defeat dragons¡­ a power-up like that was supposed to be more taxing to their bodies than Ryan''s¡­ Perhaps it was due to the fact that he nearly doubled his dexterity while he was on the pendragon''s world. Only someone insane would try to use so many status points in a single parameter. Regardless, after she left that room, Femradiel looked for Isis, and she found her standing above the walls that were built to protect Cairo. She seemed lost in thought, probably because those walls wouldn''t be of much use once the magic barrier falls. "We are out of time, Femradiel," Isis said. "Things are proceeding faster than we imagined, and it seems the fight will start in five days. The demons noticed that they won''t obtain much rewards if we are attacked from three sides, so they are nning to go all out. I know that you want to train to prepare for the battle against certain enemies, but you will need a certain power to buy Ryan enough time for him to recover and for our allies not to fall in droves." "What kind of power?" Femradiel asked. "The power to summon monsters freely¡­ Echidna''s power," Isis replied. "I thought she gave birth instead of summoning," Femradiel frowned. "Originally, she did that," Isis nodded. "But eventually, she turned that characteristic and created a powerful relic that gives her the power to summon most types of monsters. It is very simr to how the dungeon system works. However, it is much more powerful, since she can control the power of all the monsters she summons freely." "That kind of power wouldn''t be more powerful in your hands?" Femradiel asked. "No, much like Ryan, I am more of a single target and long-ranged fighter," Isis replied. "You think that I am wrong in saying that he is a single target fighter with his weapons, but trust me, he is much more effective fighting against a single target than many. Regardless, summoning spells isn''t something I like to use or feelfortable with. While you have and use only a few familiars, your magic powers make you a more suitable user for that power." Femradiel doubted that, but considering the allies, she couldn''t say that she waspletely wrong. Athena was a melee fighter, Loki was a mage-type, but at the same time, he didn''t stay in the backlines forever. However, something still was bothering her¡­ "Will I be able to take her down and her minions in only four days while I keep the Void World active?" Femradiel asked. "I honestly don''t know, we can only hope that you will seed," Isis replied. "You will find her on a certain ind East of Africa. She has many monsters guarding her territory. So, you will be able to recover a lot of mana. Still, things might get messy, so you might want to prepare for a one-on-one fight pretty early on." Femradiel nodded and then decided to check Ryan''s spatial storage. While Ryan didn''t have many things that woulde in handy against Echidna, Femradiel took out certain things that would be useful in most types of situations. Chapter 830 - Shura Femradiel was fully aware that Ryan would notice her absence, and unless she has a decent exnation, he will discover that she went to fight alone against a troublesome foe. Knowing Ryan, he would feel pretty pissed at being left behind, and then he would feel a bit depressed while he looked cute. From her weird perspective like that, she decided to look at a dungeon that would grant her another useful ss. At the same time, she headed toward Echidna''s base. Fortunately, her luck was good. She found one dungeon in the Eastern side of Africa that had been recently cleaned. She only found a few hundred Cyclops guarding the ce, and once she found the sses there, it made sense that people would oftene to clear it. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Shura, Poison Archer, and Arcanist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Shura! You obtained the following skills: Heat Wave, Hell Thrust, and Health Gain. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Heath Wave. Effect: By concentrating all of your power, you can create a heatwave by attacking with a weapon or without one that will cause physical damage and magical fire damage. Cost: 400 stamina You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hell Thrust. Effect: It grants you the chance tond a critical hit on the opponent that will add the bleed status on the enemy for thirty seconds. Cost: 500 stamina. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Health Gain. Effect: When clearing dungeons, you have the opportunity to increase your health by one point per level. You obtained 01 status points. "Nice... this one will be good enough to keep him from asking too many questions," Femradiel said. "Well then¡­ it is time to start the mission." The sun had set a few hours ago when Femradiel found the ind. Although she was using Mana Concealment, she could tell that all the monsters on the ind were on guard. That was weird, she couldn''t see any signs of battles, and she hadn''t been found yet, so the monsters had no reason to be on guard. Scy ¨C Lv Max Health: 33.000/33.000 Mana: 75.000/75.000 Stamina: 9000/9000 Strength: 2500 Dexterity: 7600 Speed: 5500 Intelligence: 21.000 Endurance: 5600 Control: 12.000 Mentality: 7500 Luck: 5000 Recovery: 36.000 Offensive Physical Skills: Cold Whip Lv 560, Freezing Touch Lv 450 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 750, Augmented Intelligence Lv 520, Enhanced Intelligence Lv 10 Spells: Water Creation Lv Max, Water Maniption Lv 850, Water Transformation Lv 745, Water Cannon Lv Max, Cyclone Lv 880, Swim Lv 862 Support Skills: Wind Resistance Lv 455, Fire Resistance Lv 335, Water Absorption Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv 389, Electric Resistance Lv 395 The first type of monster Femradiel found was Scy. ording to from what she heard, Femradiel thought that Scy was one of the creatures Echidna gave birth to. Still, it seemed she had no qualms in mass-producing copies of her own children. Still, considering the stories of how she treated some of the species that served her, it wasn''t that surprising. "I can''t use irvoyance, otherwise, I will be found out," Femradiel muttered. "Before that happens, I need to decrease those numbers as much as possible." Feramdiel summoned her familiar Drake and then made the creature run over water while she changed her location. It didn''t take long for the Scy to notice the creature, but they didn''t have the chance to do anything. Drake dashed forward with lightning speed, and just the fact that the familiar passed a few meters away from them it had been enough to electrocute them. Those that were paralyzed got kicked in their heads, and with the power of two kicks, their heads exploded. If Ryan had seen that, he would have frowned. It seemed that Femradiel''s familiars got much stronger than he had imagined. That was probably truer for Furball, but Ryan couldn''t notice it since he had been fighting some crazy enemiestely. The other Scys tried to attack Drake. Still, the creature moved around with lightning speed. It kept zigzagging, electrocuting the enemies and then kicking their heads whenever possible. Eventually, so many enemies approached that Femradiel was forced to make the creature disappear. She could do that even from far away. It would be better if she could summon her familiars wherever she wants, but that would be a bit too much without relying on Teleport. "I guess this might be enough to keep the monsters on their toes," Femradiel nodded to herself. "As long as I summon another familiar, Echidna will probably think that more than one enemy is trying to attack her." If Femradiel had done what Ryan asked dozens of times, things would be a lot simpler: create a tyrant body. A creature like that would be able to take down dozens of Scy''s in a few moments, as long as it has been trained well enough. Still, it was a bit toote to ponder about that right now. Femradiel summoned the Ice Phoenix and then made the creature fly as high as possible. Once that happened, she gave the order for the phoenix to bombard the monsters below freely. Unfortunately, the Scys quite the resistance against ice magic, so they took their time to die. On the other hand, their attacks couldn''t reach the Ice Phoenix. However, it seemed that the flow of the battle would change much sooner than Femradiel had predicted. She heard in the distance the sounds of countless wings pping, and eventually, she saw an army of Chimeras flying toward the Ice Phoenix. Chapter 831 - Cerberus Femradiel assumed that those Chimeras were like the others. Still, then she recalled that ording to Isis, Echidna could create them as she saw fit when the Chimeras opened their mouths and used Fire Breath. A sea of fire flew toward the Ice Phoenix. Still, Femradiel made her fly upward as fast as possible before dashing downward toward the enemies. At first, the Ice Phoenix suffered quite a bit of damage. Still, when she got close enough, she killed dozens of chimers in a single instant after using Absolute Zero¡­ turning the creatures into ice sculptures that fell in the ground and shattered like ss. Killing so many enemies made Femradiel receive a huge deal of mana. If only she had enough time, perhaps she would be able to defeat the enemies, steal their mana and then create the Tyrant familiar. Still, once again, she was reminded that things wouldn''t proceed so favorably. The Ice Phoenix easily killed hundreds of Chimeras in a few instants. Still, then suddenly, a creature appeared out of nowhere and bit the Ice Phoenix''s neck. Femradiel clicked her tongue in annoyance when the creature fell on the ground and then snapped the neck of the Ice Phoenix. "That is¡­" Femradiel frowned. Cerberus Health: 455.963 /455.693 Mana: 221.632/221.632 Stamina: 335.523/335.523 Strength: 29.685 Dexterity: 21.632 Speed: 11.365 Intelligence: 17.112 Endurance: 32.365 Control: 14.623 Mentality: 14.563 Luck: 19.655 Recovery: 200.000 Willpower: 15.452 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Fire Charge Lv Max, Paralyzing Bite Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv Max, Improved Speed Lv 852, Improved Endurance Lv 921¡­ Spells: Fire Breath Lv Max, Ice Berg Lv 855¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv 775, Fire Immunity Lv Max, Cold Immunity Lv Max¡­ Ryan had mentioned that he almost got killed by one of the underlings of Echidna. Cerberus was back and was way stronger than Ryan had depicted him. It was only obvious, though¡­ Still, considering Echidna''s power, he seemed way stronger than one was supposed to be able to summon. While Femradiel was thinking about that, the Ice Phoenix was revived and used Absolute Zero again. That made Cerberus drop her body, but instead of making her run away, Femradiel made her fly and face the Chimeras. At the same time, Femradiel teleported to where Cerberus was. "Who are you, woman?" Cerberus asked. Femradiel ignored the question and summoned Drake to face the Scys that were approaching in the distance. Once that happened, she bombarded Cerberus with Ruby Arrows. It wasn''t her style to use that kind of skill, but ice magic that was her forte wouldn''t let her kill Cerberus as fast as she wanted. Cerberus grunted in annoyance when he saw his health being sealed. Still, instead of retreating, he charged toward Femradiel like a lightning bolt. Once that happened, Femradiel used her arms to stop Cerberus'' mouth and keep it wide open. While she was being pushed backward because of the momentum, she summoned a copy of Thunder Lord Crossbow. She then fired numerous bolts inside his mouth. Cerberus was caught off guard, but before he could receive any real damage, he made several massive blocks of ice fall. Femradiel created some distance between them with a single jump, but she didn''t stop attacking Cerberus with Ruby Arrows. Cerberus opened his mouth and used Fire Breath to destroy the arrow. Still, the very moment he did that, Femradiel teleported to the right above him and fell on his back. Femradiel grabbed his back in order not to fall while she kept firing Ruby Arrows. However, she didn''t imagine that Cerberus would make some massive ice blocks fall over himself just to hit her. Femradiel jumped once again to escape the attack but frowned when the blocks of ice shattered into pieces as soon as they touched Cerberus. As if Cerberus wanted to avoid dealing with Femradiel on his back again, Cerberus summoned several Fire Spears and made them fly around himself. "What a troublesome monster¡­ he is not only physically and magically stronger, but he can also think fast," Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. Cerberus attacked again, but this time he fired some Fireballs that could explode even before they touched anything. Femradiel was forced to jump backward several times to escape all the damage she couldn''t afford to get wounded against one of Echidna''s dog. She was lucky that Echidna didn''t decide to join the fight since it was obvious who the invader''s real target was. Still, Femradiel had to find a way to finish that as soon as possible. Femradiel had a certain idea, but it mainly relied on ice magic. Considering that Cerberus had high resistance against it, she imagined that it would be useless, but¡­ she didn''t have any other choice but to try. When Cerberus dashed again, Femradiel jumped backward even though just teleporting would be faster, but that had been a part of her n to attack the mythological beast. Suddenly, when Cerberus passed right above the ce Femradiel had been half a second ago, a massive spike of ice rose from the ground and touched Cerberus and then trapped him in a prison of ice. Soon enough, the ice cracked, but before he could move again, several Ice Meteors fell from the sky and hit him. Putting the ice damage aside, the impact surely would cause some. However, Femradiel was only left with disappointment when the attack stopped, and she saw Cerberus,pletely unscathed. "Dear me¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. Cerberus bombarded Femradiel with Fire Spears while he made sure to zigzag around and dodge from her Ruby Arrows. Femradiel couldn''t help but clench her teeth in annoyance. The beast had massive health, but its speed was also a problem¡­ Fortunately, she had brought Ryan''s entire collection of crossbows¡­ ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 02 (+ 01 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 59 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 77 (+ 02 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 6th Health: 25771/25771 (34,75/s) Mana: 25888/25888 (34,75/s) Stamina: 26930/26930 (34,75/s) Strength: 881 (+9922) (+130) Dexterity: 62933 (+13855) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+12910) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+9621) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+10895) (+160) Control: 1476 (12950) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+7995) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4760) Recovery: 6450 (+17350) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+7993) (+40) Coins: 44.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Heat Wave Lv 01, Hell Thrust Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 145 (+ 22 UP), Pain Absorption Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Sixth Sense Lv 01, Supernatural Healing Lv 01, Superhuman Mentality Lv 01, Superhuman Endurance Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Health Gain Lv 01 Spells: Void World Lv 01, Sleep Maniption Lv 01, Darkness Maniption Lv 01, Ethereal Lyre Lv 01, The Will of Music Lv 01, Entrancement Lv 01 Support Skills: Spiritual Resistance Lv 87 (+ 30 UP), Fatigue Resistance Lv 114 (+ 41 UP), Mana Maism Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), sses: Combat: Sleep Lord Lv 01, Celestial Bard Lv 01, Shura Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian Chapter 832 - Realization Cerberus frowned when Femradiel''s presence suddenly changed. Her presence suddenly looked a lot more like the elder gods than before. Since he was a right-handed man of Echidna, he naturally knew that some humans had defeated some of the elder gods. Still, he didn''t imagine that made them change so much. As if that wasn''t weird enough, Cerberus suddenly saw water bolts appearing right in front of his eyes and then being fired. He jumped backward to escape those, but even he had hard dodging attacks that could appear too close to him. While he was trying to adjust to that, Cerberus was hit by some other boltsing from above, and he noticed his speed decreasing. "So, it is like that¡­" Cerberus furrowed his eyes. Cerberus closed his eyes and then decided to trust his instincts. Even if the attacks were aiming for his eyes, he had confidence in his endurance. Cerberus dashed toward Femradiel again, but much to his surprise, she didn''t try to dodge. She only punched him in the chin. Cerberus heard the sound of her right fist cracking. Still, Cerberus also saw the world spinning¡­ When he closed his eyes, Femradiel prepared a concentrated punch. Although she didn''t look like one, she actually could fight without relying on weapons. "No wonder you surprised me¡­" Cerberus said after he recovered from the damage and used Absolute Appraisal. For Cerberus, he thought that was just another fight against another rat. He had done that dozens of times, so he didn''t feel the need to use Femradiel''s statuses. However, he finally noticed that this fight wouldn''t be like the others when he used it. Femradiel was the first human that he had to fight that had some skills at the max level, after all. Cerberus increased the output of his magic and began to fire his spells while using Fire Breath as well. The ground of the ind was slowly darkening due to the power of his mes, and the vegetation was burning down at a fearsome pace. The beauty of the ce was quickly disappearing, but Cerberus couldn''t afford to let the invader approach his mother. Femradiel kept moving backward like there was no tomorrow. The power of the mes was starting to make her sweat like crazy. Even though she had been working to increase his resistance against her weakness, it wasn''t something that a monster of the level of Cerberus had to worry about that. Regardless, while Femradiel dodged the Fire Spears, she kept attacking his eyes. Even when she couldn''t see him, she still attacked. Thanks to her magical powers, it didn''t take long before she could see Cerberus'' face covered in blood. His eyelids had been damaged after getting hit so many times with the power of the Vengeful Sea. This crossbow had a high level of divinity. For the first time in a long while, Cerberus stopped attacking and then couldn''t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he was screwed¡­ even if he keeps attacking like that and keeps relying on his defenses, he eventually will start to suffer critical damage after critical damage when those water bolts hit his eyes. Although he couldn''t see Femradiel, he knew that his attacks didn''t cause any real damage aside from some small burns, and he was absolutely certain that ice magic wouldn''t help either. "What is wrong, Cerberus?" Echidna''s voice echoed through the area. "Are you afraid of losing again?" Even Femradiel couldn''t help but frown after hearing that voice. She looked pretty amused, considering that her best minion was being defeated by a single weapon used by the enemy. "My apologies, mother," Cerberus said and then sharpened his resolve. "I will definitely kill her and protect your territory." Echidna didn''t say anything. At least she could try to rally a little one of her children, but it seems that she deemed that it wasn''t necessary. Cerberus clenched his teeth and focused all his mana into his fangs. His canines began to shine, emitting a purple glow. Once that happened, he dashed toward Femradiel without caring about a counterattack. His speed increased exponentially, and Femradiel only noticed that when she got hit by the first attack. Trying to dodge without relying on Teleport was too dangerous¡­ Femradiel''s arm got hit by the purple ws, and she lost the sense of touching from it. Her body rolled on the ground after the impact, but even before she could stop, Cerberus dashed again. A mithril hammer fell over him and hit his head when he was only half a meter away from Femradiel. Cerberus lost control over his charge and then rolled on the ground as well. Fortunately, that gave Femradiel the chance to teleport and escape the impact. "I have been with Ryan for too long¡­ I am starting to copy his fighting style and even the way he is always getting beaten down," Femradiel shook his head and then said it. Femradiel got up and then grabbed the hammer before Cerberus could recover from the attack. Although she did it only once, the attack stored some energy into it, and she used to attack Cerberus''s head again. This time, she felt his skull cracking, but Cerberus still tried to bite her despite that. Somehow, Femradiel reacted on time and then smashed Cerberus'' face with the hammer. She was even surprised that he reacted on time, but then she realized that Sloth Aura''s problem helped her with that. After getting his jaw and skull damaged like that, Cerberus finally lost consciousness. Still, in the end, Femradiel didn''t feel any happy with it. She was trying to make her arms move again. Still, after using Purification dozens of times, it didn''t improve even a single bit. Not to mention, she wasn''t receiving any information from the system informing her of what kind of attack was preventing her from using her right arm. "This is what Ryan learns in most battles¡­ there is no point in trying to hide your cards only to suffer this much damage," Femradiel said after a long sigh. Chapter 833 - Victory Three-headed Crossbow (Heroic) Effect: It grants you the power to fire three types of bolts that will cause fire damage as well as decrease the enemy''s recovery exponentially, that will also cause ice damage and will decrease the enemy''s speed exponentially, or that will poison them and cause agonizing pain over a long period of time. Each shot will cost one thousand points of mana. Dexterity + 2000, Speed + 1000, Intelligence + 500, Recovery + 500 Durability: 1200/1200 "Dear me¡­ even on an instinctual level, I am copying Ryan," Femradiel furrower her eyebrows. "I am not him, I don''t have a fixation on bows and crossbows, so why did I make one without even thinking?" Putting that aside, Femradiel had a job to finish. However, she soon noticed that something wasn''t right¡­ her familiars returned to her because the monsters in the area suddenly disappeared. It wasn''t like Echidna had a shortage of monsters to summon, so why make all of them retreat? "I imagined that she would summon other copies of Cerberus once she realized that one wouldn''t be enough, but¡­" Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. "I suppose this work well enough for me, still¡­ I don''t like it." Femradiel would have more time to do her job, and that would give her allies plenty of time to formte a better strategy with Echidna''s power. However, that feeling was one of the things that were bothering her the most¡­ Since it still was night, Femradiel decided to move forward slowly in order to avoid traps and ambushes. While she had confidence in her senses to avoid that, the enemy was someone that could make copies of that Cerberus. She certainly wasn''t someone to take lightly. Although the ce was supposed to look like a tropical paradise during the day, the ind''s interior looked like a demonic forest at night. Fortunately, Femradiel didn''t fear imaginary things. The only illusions that worked on her were the ones cast by powerful mages or monsters. If she were in a hurry, Feramdiel could have found Echidna''s base in the blink of an eye, but since the movement of her left arm still hadn''t returned. She decided to just walk, and that was beginning to annoy her. She wasn''t exactly patient, after all. After a couple of hours, Femradiel eventually found a dungeon in the center of the ind. However, she couldn''t find any trace of monsters inside or around. It seemed that not only could Echidna summon monsters of many levels of strength, but she also could make them return to her world. "She probably isn''t confident in her abilities since she didn''t make a base in this world¡­ there is not even a domain here¡­" Feramdiel frowned. From another point of view, one could think that Echidna was confident enough and didn''t think that she needed one. Femradiel considered that, but she dismissed the idea and considered that kind of thought as just another thing that she had ''inherited'' from Ryan. He was a little bit paranoid, after all. Not like he didn''t have any reason not to be¡­ ording to Isis, that dungeon spawned Lamias, but Femradiel didn''t find a single sign of them when she entered. Now that she thought about it, aside from a few signs near the coast of the ind, there wasn''t a single sign of battles near the dungeon. Most likely, Echidna had the chance to create a massive army during a whole year, and yet¡­ those creatures were nowhere to be seen. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Dark Knight, Trapsmith, and Illusionist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Trapsmith! You obtained the following skills: Bear Trap, Spear Trap, and Chain Trap. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bear Trap. Effect: It grants you the power to bend iron and turn it into a bear trap. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity, and it will cause extra two percent damage per second for three seconds. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spear Trap. Effect: It grants you the power to bend iron and turn it into a special trap. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity, and it will cause extra two percent damage per second for three seconds. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Chain Trap. Effect: It grants you the power to bend iron and turn it into a special trap. The trap won''t cause damage, but the value of your dexterity will determine the durability of the trap. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. "I guess this is better than nothing¡­ AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!" Femradiel shouted in embarrassment. "I am even copying the kind of thing he would say in this type of situation!" Femradiel made a mental note to get rid of those mannerisms. Maybe it was fine that she could act like that when she was alone, but it would be really embarrassing if she acts like that in front of others. She wasn''t aware that something like that was fine since she tried to y to cold beauty that rarely speaks when she was with Ryan. That was a mannerism that she had since the times she was an ice dragon. Femradiel stared at the purple crystal for a while before touching it. The reason for that was that she was nning how to deal with Echidna as fast as possible. That being said, she could only think of one way of doing that considering the situation¡­ using her best attack as soon as she finds her. Chapter 834 - Giant Crows When Femradiel touched the crystal, she saw herself in another tropicalnd. However, it was day¡­ and she saw herself surrounded by thousands of monsters. She could even feel ten presences around that were equally as powerful as Cerberus¡­ in fact, the presences were weirdly simr. Femradiel used Absolute Zero before any of the monsters could do anything. Still, even though she turned hundreds of monsters into ice sculptures, it didn''t change anything. As if the monsters couldmunicate with one another, they created a fire tornado right where Femradiel was. Thebination of the power of so many monsters made Femradiel feel like all the water on her body was evaporating. Even without looking toward it, Femradiel Teleported to above, only to see himself surrounded by thousands of Steel Eagles. The monster''s fire Steel Spears toward Femradiel, and she is forced to create an ice sphere around her. "I guess this confirms that she was confident in her skills¡­" Femradiel muttered. Before the ice sphere could be destroyed, Femradiel created a double-edged spear and then made it spin. She made the sphere disappear, and then he chased the weapon while it was flying toward the eagles. You obtained 777 coins. You obtained 777 coins. You obtained 777 coins. ¡­ The monsters were killed so fast that it seemed that it was raining blood, but even so, Femradiel couldn''t see an end to the number of monsters. In fact, she couldn''t even see the sky. While she was flying and trying to force a way out of the prison made of numerous monsters, Femradiel looked around and saw many kinds of monsters on the ground. She even saw ten copies of Cerberus. No wonder Isis wanted that power on her side. Femradiel suddenly noticed the presence of the eagles changing. In a moment, she was surrounded by steel eagles, but in the next, she was surrounded by red Falcons ready to burn her alive with Fire Breath. Once the creatures opened their mouths, Femradiel was engulfed by the mes, and she became unable to see anything around her. The world had be a world of red and fire. Even her ice spear melted in the blink of an eye. When Femradiel felt the smell of her own sweat evaporating, she decided that it was time to change her tactics¡­ Femradiel summoned Poseidon''s Trident and then made it spin with her own hands. Once it reached a certain speed, it became able to dissipate the mes, and then Femradiel dashed toward the monsters again. The mes of the monsters were unable to cause any damage to it, and as if it wasn''t enough, Femradiel began to recover a massive amount of mana since she was hitting the same enemies several times in a row. Femradiel and Ryan never noticed that before, but it seemed that making the weapon spin by themselves was much more effective. Femradiel used Soul Eater to store all the extra mana, but even though she did that for quite a while, there was no sign of Echidna doing anything. In fact, Femradiel didn''t find any sign of her¡­ "What is she plotting¡­." Femradiel thought. Following simple logic, one would conclude that Echidna was trying to make Femradiel show all of her skills and weapons, but that would take a while. Besides, was the world so big that he would be able to stay away from Femradiel while she moves and kill monsters like that? "If Ryan were here, he probably would taunt Echidna in order to make her show up," Femradiel muttered. "A simple tactic, but highly effective on muscle heads and people who had too much pride, but this isn''t my style¡­" Femradiel tried to find Echidna''s presence since that was her style. Still, even hundreds of kilometers away, she could only feel the presence of monsters in all directions. While Femradiel was thinking of what to do, the presence of the Red Falcons began to change. Until they turned into Giant Crows¡­ that was a species of monsters she had never seen before. Giant Crows ¨C Lv Max Health: 44.763 /44.793 Mana: 79.000 /79.000 Stamina: 46.000 /46.000 Strength: 3500 Dexterity: 11.000 Speed: 4.365 Intelligence: 7112 Endurance: 4.400 Control: 8.770 Mentality: 4563 Luck: 6.655 Recovery: 20.000 Willpower: 5452 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Steal Peak Lv 840, Paralyzing Bite Lv 450¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv Max, Improved Speed Lv 445, Improved Recovery Lv 320¡­ Spells: Dark Sphere Lv Max, Gravity Lv 855¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 630, Cold Resistance Lv 550, Electric Resistance Lv 320¡­ When she saw those statuses and skills, Femradiel couldn''t help but feel shivers. The creatures looked at her, and then her body suddenly began to get heavier. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up Congrattions! The skill Gravity Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Femradiel tried to resist, but she couldn''t do much since the number of monsters was insane, and they focused on using only that skill. Femradiel began to fall, and then she realized that was only half of the problem. Below her, she saw thousands of giants armed with steel clubs ready to smash her. "I get it¡­ I get it," Femradiel said and then sighed. "This wouldn''t be happening if I had a familiar like a tyrant dragon." It wouldn''t solve the problem, but Femradiel used Teleport and appeared on the ground. Despite that, she still hit the ground and made the entire area tremble as her bones cracked just like thend. However, before the giants could attack her, Femradiel endured the pain and used Absolute Zero three times in a row. The first two attacks turned the monsters into ice statues, but the third killed them for good. However, Femradiel hadn''t time to celebrate because she could barely move a finger with the extra gravity, and hundreds of other giants were running toward her. Chapter 835 - Combination Before the giants could get too close, Femradiel summoned the Petrification Crossbow magic copies and attacked them. At first, the enemies managed to protect themselves with their clubs, but the closer they got, they became less able to react on time. Not to mention, even their steel weapons petrified after a while. Some of the enemies dropped their weapons as they turned into statues, and that gave Femradiel another idea. After grabbing the steel clubs, Femradiel bet them into they became piles of deformed steel and put several of them together. Once Femradiel had enough, she used Rapid Production to turn all that steel into a single weapon¡­ a massive shuriken. Once that was finished, Femradiel teleported all that to the sky and then made it spin around. The dark crows had powerful magic, but their durability sucked. They were killed in droves and were unable to resist. As for the Giants, the Petrification Crossbows had been more than enough to deal with them. "Argh¡­ this is so boring," Echidna''s voice echoed in the area. Femradiel couldn''t care less about that. She wasn''t fighting to entertain anyone, after all. Still, she began to wonder that perhaps she should have done that. The presence of those ten Cerberus suddenly appeared around, and Femradiel also noticed them getting closer. If they wereing from the same direction, dealing with them would be easy, but that wasn''t the case. After letting out a long sigh, Femradiel equipped Soul Eater, and then she drained some of the mana stored. When all the Cerberus finally was about to attack her at the same time, Femradiel raised her arms and then pointed toward them. The monsters suddenly stopped moving while they were trembling from head to toe. Their faces turned blue and then purple as they slowly were pulled toward Femradiel. When they were close enough, all the water in their bodies began to leave through her pores¡­ Femradiel never tried that before, but she was d that theory was correct. The more mana she uses, the more control over the water around her will have. She noticed that when Ryan fought against Poseidon''s kids. They didn''t use the water of the ocean to stop him. They use the water on his body, but stopping his movements was the best they could do. Regardless, before monsters could actually die, Femradiel used their spirits to upgrade the Three-headed crossbow. That weapon will certainly be more useful for all types of monsters after getting that much improvement. However, before Femradiel could attack the monsters, all of them suddenly disappeared. "I guess this is enough," Echidna said and then suddenly appeared in front of Femradiel. Maybe it was a coincidence, but Echidna looked like Lamia, which was much more humanoid than it should be. Aside from her lower body, which was exactly like a Lamia, and her canines that were pretty sharp and long, she looked like an ordinary redhead woman who used some nts as clothing. "Hello, I am Echidna," Echidna smiled before she sat on the ground and thenid on it while holding her head with her left hand. "I am also known as the mother of monsters, who might you be?" "... Femradiel," Femradiel replied. Echidna ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: ??? Status: ??? Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Femradiel trained Absolute Appraisal much more than Ryan, and yet, she received that when she tried to see Echidna status. Although she couldn''t see the exact numbers, Femradiel could feel that the woman was in trouble. She wasn''t as fearsome as Poseidon and Thanatos, and yet¡­ Femradiel felt like she was much more troublesome. "What is wrong?" Echidna asked. "I thought that you came to steal my powers¡­ or are you going to ask nicely after making such a scene?" "I can feel that you are powerful¡­ So why are you here doing nothing?" Femradiel asked. "Many other beings like you are about to fight to obtain control over Earth¡­ if you don''t care about that, why did you create a dungeon?" "Well, how can I say this¡­ I am ying a bigger game," Echidna replied. "While those stupid beings that calls themselves elder gods fight each other and decrease their strength, I am getting stronger and building an army. In fact, my army could take the whole world, don''t you agree?" "Oh yeah, I agree," Femradiel said. "Still, to think that you know about the bigger game¡­" "... What? Do you know what I am talking about?" Echidna asked, visibly surprised. "Let''s say that I have a good idea¡­ I just recalled something," Femradiel replied. "I highly doubt that, if that were the case, you wouldn''t waste your time with the small fries," Echidna said. "Normally, I would do that, but someone I care for doesn''t want to see this world being destroyed," Femradiel exined. "So, I decided to take the difficult path. Not to worry, I am preparing myself to return to those four." Echidna opened her eyes widely. It seemed that Femradiel really knew what she was talking about¡­ and yet, here she was wasting time instead of preparing to fight the true enemies. "I guess this is going to be more interesting, you will fight to obtain my power and I will fight to see what you know," Echidna said. "If my guess is right, your knowledge will be truly useful." Instead of assuming a fighting position, Echidna just pointed her right hand toward Femradiel, and then the whole area around her began to heat up. Femradiel tried to free herself by using an Ice sphere, but the heat was even inside it. Defending wasn''t a good idea, so Femradiel decided to attack. She charged and tried to punch Echidna, but suddenly her body grew heavier, and she lost all her speed. "It is a pretty nastybination, right?" Echidna asked. "This is the power of Gravity and Sunlight Prison level max." Chapter 836 - Reason Femradiel clenched her teeth and tried to muster all her strength. However, she failed in moving a single inch. As crazy as that sounded, Echidna''s control over gravity was even strongerpared to thousands of giant crows. If moving wasn''t an option, she decided to finish Echidna with a single attack. Without hesitation, Femradiel used a Draconic Bow. Although Echidna was caught off guard when such a massive bow appeared right in front of her and fired an arrow of mana, Femradiel immediately noticed that she hadn''t killed the target. The explosion made the entire world tremble and even made Femradiel fly backward despite the effects of the gravity. When she stopped moving, Femradiel noticed that both spells that had been used against her had been deactivated. It was time to recover her mana as much as possible, but then some lightning bolts fell from the sky and hit her. The firstpletely paralyzed Femradiel, but she recovered enough mana to use Teleport and escape the second. "Phew¡­ that was a pretty nasty skill as well," Echidna said while she was touching a mana shield in front of her. "Ah¡­ you destroyed a good part of my world. I really liked this one, you know." When the dust dissipated, Femradiel saw that a small portion ofnd behind Echidna was intact. Still, everything else in a range of thirty kilometers had beenpletely destroyed. The power behind that attack wasn''t something tough at¡­ "Not even that, huh¡­" Femradiel bit her lips in annoyance. If not even Draconic Bow was strong enough to destroy that Mana Shield, then perhaps Femradiel will have to put aside and use Soul Eater to cheat. Using that weapon, he would recover his mana pretty fast. However, Femradiel soon noticed that something was weird¡­ Echidna''s presence didn''t grow weaker, even though she was supposed to have used a lot of mana blocking her attack. Either she used a lot of potions in a way Femradiel couldn''t see, or¡­ "You have a Soul Eater¡­" Femradiel said. "Good guess¡­" Echidna said. "Well, I suppose anyone with half of a brain would discover sooner orter." Femradiel couldn''t agree more. It was only obvious. After all, how else Echidna would be able to summon and make disappear so many enemies at the same time. Not to mention, even if his greatest attribute was mana, Femradiel couldn''t imagine using less than a few million mana points to make a copy of Cerberus. While that was a crazy amount of mana, it was impressive. After all, to recreate her previous body, Femradiel would need ten billion mana points. "If you know about Soul Eater, I can only assume that you have one as well. Still¡­ Do you think you have more mana stored than me?" Echidna smiled from ear to ear. "Also, anyone with half of a brain would realize one or two simple ways to cheat with that weapon and my powers." Once again, Femradiel was left biting her lips in exasperation. Since the monsters she could summon were pretty strong and real monsters, she could always use them to store mana inside her Soul Eater. So, in the end, the more monsters she has, the more she can summon¡­ No wonder it seemed that Femradiel killed tens of thousands of monsters, but their numbers never decreased. "Are you ready to give up?" Echidna asked. "Nope," Femradiel replied. "I respect your spirit, but you are wasting your time here," Echidna said. It was logical that Femradiel waspletely against the wall. However, despite that, she smiled confidently. It seemed that she still had a trick up her sleeve, but Echidna assumed that she was just bluffing. After all, she had to fight against countless enemies, and they had all kinds of strategies against her, but none worked. Femradiel summoned magic copies of the Spiritualist''s crossbow and then attacked the Mana Shield. At the same time, she began to hit it as well. However, it was clear as the day that her attacks were ineffective. Femradiel''s attacks seemed weird, but Echidna could see what she was nning. She was trying to recover her mana while she uses that crossbow alongside Magic Vampirism. Even if Echidna let that happen, it would take weeks for Femradiel to steal all his stored mana. However, she wasn''t nning on letting that happen. Even while behind the Mana Shield, Echidna managed to fire a massive burst of wind toward Femradiel. That made her fly for hundreds of meters. Still, why attack like that when thebination of Gravity and sunlight prison still was good enough? Femradiel ignored that and just recovered from the attack. "Hmm? Something seems weird¡­" Echidna said. Echidna felt that something changed when Femradiel was thrown away, but she couldn''t pinpoint what it was. Regardless, she didn''t have much time to think because Femradiel attacked again. This time she threw the massive shuriken he made a while ago, but even while it was spinning at fearsome speed, the Mana Shield didn''t break. After letting out a sigh, in the end, Femradiel only bluffed before. She pointed her index finger toward Femradiel and used Thunder Beam. Still, then Femradiel disappeared and reappeared right behind Echidna and with her Soul Eater already in her hands. At first, Echidna didn''t think of anything. Attacking from whatever direction was useless as long as she uses Mana Shield. Still, then she felt the surroundings changing and getting more grayish. Echidna didn''t recognize that magic immediately, but after a while, she noticed that time was passing faster inside that gray sphere ifpared to outside. As soon as she focused her eyes on Femradiel again. She saw her pointing her sword upward, and then a shadow was cast above them. In the next moments, dozens of Ice Meteors fell around the gray sphere, but Echidna couldn''t see the meaning of that. Time magic was useless since she also has a certain level of divinity, and ice magic wasn''t even hitting her. However, eventually, she noticed all the ice covering the grey sphere¡­ in the end, Femradiel was just preparing the stage of the real fight. Chapter 837 - Strategy Echidna used Thunder Beam on Femradiel, but she also used Mana Shield to protect herself while she was working. Eventually, the whole barrier was surrounded by ice, and slowly, the coldness emitted by that massive amount of ice began to spread inside the effect of Chronos'' Ring. It took a while, but Echidna eventually noticed what Femradiel was nning. It was a weird tactic. Still, it seemed highly effective against spells like Mana Shield. "I see¡­ you want to create a space where the effects of your ice magic can massively damage my Mana Shield," Echidna said. "Still, do you think you can do it? I can survive outer space for quite a while and with this type of spell, I can probably stay there for years without running out of mana." "That is impressive, but you will die in less than one hour here," Femradiel said. That much confidence was starting to get on Echidna''s nerves¡­ It was time to finish off Femradiel. Echidna used Thunder Beam again, and this time, she attacked Femradiel from three directions. Echidna wanted to see for how long she would get confident once her mana reached the bottom line. However, much to her surprise, Femradiel didn''t create a Mana Shield. Instead of that, she blocked the attacks by creating some Ice Shields around her. Echidna increased the output of her magic to destroy those as fast as possible, but in the end, she didn''t see any progress. She clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw the shield repairing itself by absorbing the cold air around. Echidna decided to melt all that ice by using one of her strongest attacks: Sunlight Nova. A spell that could scorch thend and turn any target into a lifeless desert area. Echidna imagined that it would take a few seconds for the ice to melt, but she couldn''t help but sweat cold when nothing happened after several minutes, and she could feel her mana being drained while the spell was damaging the outside with the max output. "How¡­" Echidna opened her eyes widely and felt shivers when even her breath turned into small particles of ice. "It wouldn''t be interesting if I exin everything so easily," Femradiel said. "Try to use your head a little, I am sure you will have a better time understanding this n as a whole once you do that." Instead of trying to understand, Echidna decided to escape. Her Mana Barrier was starting to consume a lot more suddenly, even more than she loses in outer space, even though her skill was at the max level. However, she failed in moving outside¡­ the interior of that field was just like the interior of a domain. If attacks from outside didn''t work, Echidna decided to explode that thing from inside. However, even her Fire Breath didn''t melt the walls. In fact, the power of her mes was way lower than usual. She quickly understood that it was due to the cold. "Don''t mess with me¡­" Echidna increased the output of her magic to the max, and she eventually began to damage the walls. Still, that hadn''t been enough. At some point, the cold air in that environment had grown so dense that Echidna couldn''t even see Femradiel anymore. It wasn''t like Femradiel was trying to create a version of outer space on that. She was trying to create apressed space where the temperature would keep decreasing since the energy wasn''t dissipating and was freezing everything. Echidna had a high affinity with fire and a weak one against ice, but no one was supposed to know that. Was it because of that that Femradiel was confident? Regardless, even if Echidna''s powers were limited since she was a summoner, she could increase them by using her monsters. Without hesitation, she summoned ten copies of Cerberus, but those guys died without doing anything. They instantly froze¡­ "How can this be?" Echidna''s surprise increased. Before she could notice it, the temperature of the ce reached a point where even a monster at the level of Cerberus couldn''t resist for a single second. At that point in time, Echidna panicked, she even summoned Fire Dragons at the max level, but unfortunately, there wasn''t much room in that ce for more than one at a time. Echidna lost thirty percent of the mana she had umted for hundreds of years and then finally realized that Femradiel really hade with the best n to finish her off. However, Echidna still has one more trick up her sleeve¡­ she summoned a cursed ice dragon. Even Femradiel couldn''t be in that space anymore. Still, she quickly recognized the presence of a fellow ice dragon and the level of corruption on that creature. It was weird, though. The presence and the power didn''t resemble, or it was even close to Ryan''s when he goes berserk. Femradiel recognized the monster''s movement, opening its mouth and preparing to fire Dark Ice Breath. Still, before that could happen, Femradiel used a Draconic Bow. The entire space trembled like the world was ending when that happened. The dragon was sent flying backward. Still, he quickly stopped when it collided against the walls covered in the ice of that space. In the end, not even Draconic Bow or a creature of that size could destroy the space. Echidna realized that Femradiel''s confidence was well-founded. She indeed had the best n on how to fight her, and that was shocking since she didn''t know anything aside from Echidna that she was a summoner and had a massive reservoir of mana thanks to Soul Eater. However, more than anything, she realized why he was going to die¡­ she grew overconfident due to her massive reservoir of mana, and because over the years, she had obtained more skills than anyone else. All thanks to her level of skill while summoning monsters, she basically could learn all of their skills after watching them for a while. Unfortunately, that made her be the best summoner who was just a jack of all trades when ites to anything else. Even if you are the best at something, you can''t just do it without preparation¡­ She learned that toote. Chapter 838 - [Bonus ]Soul Trapper Stone You obtained 1.569.982 coins. "Phew¡­ that was close," Femradiel felt shivers when she saw the mana in her Soul Eater reaching the four-digit mark. After she stopped using her mana and deactivated Chronos'' Ring, Femradiel found Echidna''s statue a few meters away from there. She was an enemy much more troublesome than Belphegor, but she had more confidence in her skills than Thanatos. She probably would have won against Ryan due to the nature of their skills, but that was one of the reasons as well as to why she was defeated. In any case, right in front of her, Femradiel found a dark crystal that she could hold with a single hand. Soul Trapper Stone Effect: it grants you the power to trap the souls of all kinds of creatures in here, and it also gives the power to summon copies of them. The more high-leveled the beast is, the less mana you will have to spend to summon them. This item also gives you the power tobine the skills of different monsters and summon them. Still, the cost of summoning will be higher ording to the level of the skills transferred. Durability: 500/500 "It is a pretty frail item¡­ and there is no statuses bonus," Femradiel muttered. That was only obvious since the item was stupidly useful. In any case, Femradiel finished her job, and she did so much faster than anyone had expected. It was quite weird that she pulled that off considering that she wasn''t feeling that confident in the beginning, but gained confidenceter after recalling a certain tactic and even more considered the fact that her arm was¡­ "Ah¡­ my left arm is finally back to normal," Femradiel realized, a bit surprised. "Hmm¡­ I guess Femradiel gave that power to Cerberus and because her mana still existed, the effect of his fangs didn''t disappear until now." Putting those thoughts aside, Femradiel still had another job to do¡­ find the domain crystal. ----- ----- "She iste¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows during a pause of his training. "I wonder if something happened." Ryan could tell that something was on Femradiel''s mind thest time he saw her, but he more or less knew that it wasn''t due to the next battle. Regardless, he was only taking a break because Belphegor never stopsining. Another reason Ryan was missing Femradiel was because he wanted another training partner. As if she had been waiting for the perfect moment to show up, Femradiel appeared. However, Ryan changed his mind and that was the case since he looked pretty exhausted. "Hey¡­ it seems you already got tired of Belphegor," Femradiel forced a smile. "Yes, and you, who caused you so much trouble?" Ryan asked. "I bumped into some old friends of yours," Femradiel said and then decided to rest her back against the grass of the ind. "Cerberus and Echidna." "Bumped?" Ryan frowned. "Not now, Ryan, I want to rest for a while," Femradiel said and then closed her eyes. "Hmm¡­ why don''t you turn around? I will give you a massage," Ryan said. "Why are you being nice all of a sudden?" Femradiel frowned. "Or is that an excuse just to look at my ass?" "Yes, that is just an excuse," Ryan replied. "I can''t say any other things without causing a lot of damage to your confidence. Anyway, my mom taught me how to apply a massage that relieves some stress. If you don''t do that, then it is fine." "I guess I will ask for one," Femradiel said and then turned around while trying to hide a smile. Although that was expected since he was an archer, Ryan was pretty good with his hands. He made the tension escape from Femradiel''s muscles in the blink of an eye. After that, he put some pressure on her bones, and that hurt a little. "Ouch, that hurts!" Femradiel said. "Rx, it will only hurt in the beginning¡­ what the hell am I saying?" Ryan frowned. In the end, what Ryan said was true, it only hurt in the beginning, and then Femradiel suddenly felt a lot more rxed. One of those messages every day would be like a heavenly reward for her. "Now, spit it out what happened," Ryan said. "I guess it is fine¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "We figured out that we would need another card up our sleeve, and Echidna had that card, so I attacked her base and defeated her." "You are skipping a few steps there," Ryan said. "Not really, it wasn''t that hard to defeat her, I just had to use a lot of mana to create a sure-fire way to kill her," Femradiel said. "That is kind of weird considering how much trouble Cerberus caused at first, but then I was able to defeat ten of them at the same time. Speaking of which, I created another crossbow and upgraded." "Again, you are skipping a few steps there," Ryan said and then sighed. After that, Femradiel gave more details of the fight. While she had to use a lot more mana than expected, she indeed defeated a troublesome enemy that had one heck of a useful power. Ryan could also imagine himself struggling against that kind of enemy. Knowing himself, Ryan would try to kill as many monsters as possible before fighting Echidna, just to level up his skills and gain coins. While Ryan was thinking about that, Femradiel fell asleep. It seemed that he didn''t lose those skills even though he didn''t use them for a long while. In the end, Ryan alsoid on the grass and decided to rx a little. The sound of Femradiel''s breathing made him feel quite rxed and made him wonder why he just didn''t choose to take the next step in their rtionship. It wasn''t like he had an aversion due to the fact that she was a dragon before. It was just because Ryan couldn''t see a reason to take the next step. After Mia, deep down, Ryan decided to only love someone if he had a good reason to do so, but was that actually necessary? Besides, he already had a reason. He trusted Femradiel more than anyone else. "Can I go back now?" Belphegor asked. "¡­ Just shut up," Ryan replied after a long sigh. Chapter 839 - Celestial Archer Now that Femradiel could summon all kinds of monsters, Ryan could take his training to the next step, but then when they tried that, they discovered that all the souls trapped inside the sphere disappeared when Echidna was defeated. It seems that once the owner of the item changes, they have to collect new souls. "I will returnter, once I capture a good number of monsters," Femradiel said. She left before changing Belphegor for another one, but then Belphegor disappeared, and Poseidon showed up. As if he had gained the chance that he had been looked for, Poseidon began tough maniacally. "Finally, finally!" Poseidon said. "Finally what?" Ryan asked. "Can you do anything without your trident?" "You will see!" Poseidon said and then dashed toward Ryan. Poseidon was still faster than Ryan. When he kicked him, Poseidon felt the bones of his right leg cracking. As if that wasn''t weird enough, Ryan only moved away a few meters. "I guess that speed still is a problem¡­" Ryan muttered. To solve that problem, Ryan summoned his Immobilizing Crossbow and fired at Poseidon. The Greek god tried to dodge those, but their speed was higher than he had anticipated. He got hit by several of them, and every time he got hit, a wound appeared in his body, and his speed decreased. "What?" Poseidon asked in shock. "It seems that Femradiel decreased the level of your divinity," Ryan said. "That will make things a little more boring, but that is eptable." Poseidon used his magic and tried to drown Ryan with the ocean, but while the attack made him move away quite a bit, Ryan still could move against it¡­ which was unexpected. Poseidon knew that Ryan gained a huge deal of power in the dragon''s world, but he didn''t think it was that much. Essentially, now he could fight and cause more damage than the time he defeated him in his draconic form. "Can you attack using more ice magic? I kind of want to train my resistances right now," Ryan said. "Belphegor already helped with the skills rted to pain, after all." Poseidon clenched his teeth in anger¡­ to think that the enemy would see him just as a tool to make himself stronger¡­ that was so humiliating that he wished to kill Ryan in the most painful way possible while ignoring everyone else. Instead of listening to him, Poseidon tried to attack with his fists and kicks. While the damage was piling up and his wasn''t increasing all that much. It was only because Ryan only wanted to keep their speeds equal. "This is a pain¡­ you are causing even more trouble than Belphegor," Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan considered giving the trident back to Poseidon. He won''t be able to escape unless he defeats Femradiel, after all, and she basically could do anything to him in that world. The chances of him winning were basically null¡­ However, Ryan decided not to do that. Instead of being nice, he will make Poseidon cooperate by using brute strength. Since their speeds were equal now, Ryan could see his movements. When Poseidon charged in a straight line and tried to punch him with his right fist, Ryan raised his left elbow and blocked the attack. Ryan suffered quite a bit of damage, but Poseidon''s expression changed quite a bit. A few bones of his hand broke since he punched the elbow, but he quickly recovered from the damage by using magic. "I guess this isn''t so bad either," Ryan said. It wasn''t his style to fight like that, but Ryan decided to attack Poseidon only when he was about to attack him, and he also only aimed at his legs and fists. At first, he got hit several times, even when he kept his guard up, but eventually, he got used to Poseidon''s patterns. After all, he was a spear user, not a bare-handed fighter. ---- ---- After asking Isis the best monsters to train one''s elemental resistances and the locations of their dungeons, Femradiel went on another trip. She had already imagined that training with the elder gods wouldn''t be easy, even without letting them use their divinity. Regardless, Femradiel wished that she could have trapped Cerberus'' soul. It was hard to find a monster that wasn''t a dragon but was that powerful. While the monsters Femradiel wanted were under the enemies'' control, she still found some good ones in other parts of the world. While she was doing that, she even found that it granted her a ss they didn''t see before. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Celestial Knight, Celestial Archer, and Celestial Priest. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Celestial Archer! The Celestial Archer ss allows you to rain down fiery death from above from a mighty distance. Effects provide an enhanced burning effect with a holy slight impact. You obtained the following skills: Amber Arrow, Sun''s Wrath, and Ricochet. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by six points, your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Amber Arrow. Effect: Summons an arrow made from pure amber. This arrow cannot be enchanted but contains a moderate amount of divinity. Cost: 1000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sun''s Wrath. Effect: Summons a rain of fire from the sky covering a massive area. Damage will be equal to your intelligence + 50 % per level Cost: 5000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ricochet. Effect: Upon a projectile striking a target, there will be a 0.5% chance that the arrow will bounce off to target another nearby enemy. The activation chance will increase by 0.5% per level. Cost: 500 mana. You obtained 01 status points. "Another Celestial ss¡­ I need to talk with Isis about this," Femradiel frowned. Chapter 840 - Preparation Femradiel had nned to let Ryan fight the copies of the monsters she had captured first, but she changed the order of things when she saw Ryan and Poseidon punching each other. While that was weird in many eyes, she decided not to think about why they weren''t using any weapons. Poseidon sure could create a trident out of ice, after all. When Femradiel found Isis, she was having another meeting with Athena and Loki. As usual, the women looked worried, and Loki was rxed as ever. Perhaps not even the world would make him feel ufortable. Maybe, he would evenugh if the sr system is destroyed due to a supernova. "What is wrong, Femradiel?" Isis asked. "Did something happen?" "I could ask the same thing¡­ but I came to ask if you know anything about those Celestial sses," Femradiel replied. "They still are at the level of the tier three sses, but the skills they granted are way above that level." "We heard of that some dungeons have been granting those skills," Isis said. "I can''t find any exnation, though. I heard that some sses even grant skills that have divine energy. That doesn''t make any sense considering what we know¡­ all that we know is the fact that they have been appearing in thest month." "Is it a coincidence? Or is the system preparing normal people to fight other beings that have divine energy?" Femradiel asked. "I don''t know," Isis shook her head. Femradiel looked toward Athena and Loki, and they looked like they didn''t have any clue either. That was unexpected in many ways, but it wasn''t like she expected that they would have all the answers. "Now about the reason for this meeting¡­ it seems that the word about Echidna''s defeat spread and our enemies decided to hurry up before he can use that power," Isis said. "The demons will probably attack us tomorrow. They will attack from the East and South." "The Norse gods are pretty close as well, in two days they might join the party," Loki said. "Athena won''t be able to move since she and the other Greek gods are supposed to wait for the enemies in East and North," Isis said. "So, we will have to face the demons by ourselves." "What about the other Egyptian deities, can''t you count on them?" Femradiel asked. "No. Aside from Seth and me, the others can''t face so many enemies," Isis replied. "In fact, most of them don''t see any reason to find their ces back on Earth. They are prettyfortable in their new worlds." "Well, then¡­ we will just have to defeat them with what we have," Femradiel said. "What about Ryan''s condition?" Loki asked. "It has improved¡­ if he keeps growing spiritually stronger, perhaps in three days he will be able to fight without any issues," Femradiel replied. "Three days¡­ I guess he will miss all the fun," Loki said and then scratched the back of his head. "Well, I am still confident in this n, but what are the next steps once we manage to defeat the demons and some of the Norse gods? Are you going to stab Zeus in the back, Athena?" "Don''t spout nonsense, Loki," Isis said. "We agreed to work together, but that doesn''t mean that she has to do that. I will face Zeus when the timees." "That will be quite something to see¡­ still, he has many allies, how are you going to do that?" Loki asked. "I can do some of the dirty work too¡­" Athena said. "I can deal with Ares and Hades." "At the same time? Wow, your confidence always inspires me, Athena." Loki smiled. "Anyway, if you guys are going to do that, then do it fast because aside from me, everyone else in Asgard are pretty much hot-blooded idiots. Once they see their armies not making any progress. They wille to fight. Naturally, I will deal with Thor, but as for the others¡­" Loki really had a big mouth¡­ with just a few words. He made everyone have terrible headaches. Arge escape battle was about to take ce, they had to deal with dozens of deities and several demons, and they had to do it as fast as possible. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to win and avoid problems down the road. They had to defeat close to twenty elder gods in just three or four days. "You should focus on getting several types of monsters that might be useful tactically speaking, Femradiel. Since they will be important to decrease the enemies'' numbers." Isis said. "You can leave the other things to us. Here are the ces where you can find some interesting monsters." "All right, thanks," Femradiel said. Femradiel left in a hurry, but she checked things with Ryan again. Although one week was supposed to have passed in the Void World, those two were still trying to kill each other vigorously. While that was a good method of training, what Ryan really needed was to increase his resistance. So, Femradiel made Poseidon disappear and then summoned several copies of Thunder Birds, King Trolls, Red T-rexes, and Mechanical giants. "Hey¡­ what the hell¡­" Ryan frowned since he didn''t recognize those monsters. "Sorry, Ryan," Femradiel suddenly appeared. "We don''t have much time left, so you will have to train all of your elemental resistances at the same time. Ah, before I forget, here are the skills of the sses I gained recently." Femradiel used Skill Bestowal and then disappeared. Ryan had many things to say, but it looked like he won''t have time to do so. The monsters began to attack him with their elemental attacks, and probably because Femradiel increased their intelligence, the attacks began to make him sweat cold. "Whatever, I just have to endure this for a few days," Ryan said and then activated Regeneration. Soon enough, Ryan learned that it wouldn''t be enough. Even in the Void World, his clothes and hair began to burn and turned into charcoal in the blink of an eye. Ryan used Full-Heal many times in just a few moments, but he only found some peace when the monsters ran out of mana. Chapter 841 - [Bonus ]Doing Great? The next day, Femradiel returned to Cairo pretty early in the morning to prepare for the battle, but she didn''t imagine that she would see the demon''s army raising dust in the distance. Femradiel found Isis sitting at the border of the walls watching her followers moving to outside the walls alongside the monsters she created using the dungeon system. "You are back," Isis said. "I have some bad news and good news for you." "Tell me the bad news first," Femradiel said. "The bad news is the fact that my other armies from the other dungeons that I had got attacked by demons," Isis said. "They were wiped out and they won''t be able to help." "And the good news?" Femradiel asked. "Apparently, your friends in South America were giving a hard time to Mephisto, Alissa is also fighting Baal and his army. Beelzebub and Belial will try to attack from the East, so right now, only Lilith is leading that army of demons." "I guess this is a pretty good opportunity for us," Femradiel nodded. "I was nning to deal with her sooner orter, so I guess I will fight her. You should conserve your strength to fight the Greek gods." "Are you sure about that?" Isis asked. "We are going to ask a lot of you by summoning monsters already. Not to mention, our real goal here is to buy time for Loki to attack the Norse gods from behind." "I won''t take any risks, but I need to make sure that she won''t be here once Ryan wakes up," Femradiel exined. "Why? Is it because she can charm her enemies?" Isis frowned. "That is quite the silly worry that you have." "She is an opponent that messed with Ryan''s hand quite a bit when everything started, so I don''t want to see him fighting her again," Femradiel added. "I have other reasons to fight her, but that is the main one." "I see," Isis said. "Well, I''d better start working," Femradiel said and then touched the Soul Trapper Stone. After selecting a certain monster and editing their parameters a little bit, Femradiel finally felt confident about her chances. She could see with irvoyance and an army of corrupted fire golems, so it was a good chance to destroy all of them. Ice Golem Lv 650 ¨C 25.000 coins or 250.000 mana Health: 3.000/3.000 Mana: 12.200/12.200 Stamina: 500/500 Strength: 800 (+ 300) Dexterity: 300 Speed: 200 Intelligence: 15.000 Endurance: 1600 (+ 400) Control: 200 Mentality: 500 (+ 400) Luck: 100 Recovery: 800 Willpower: 500 (+ 400) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 100 Passive Physical Skills: Ice Layer Lv 110, Bronze Skin Lv 90 Spells: Water Ice Punch Lv 60, Ice Arrow Lv 60, Frost Explosion Lv 800 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 250, Fire Resistance Lv 50, Earth Resistance Lv 80 Femradiel nodded to herself in satisfaction, if she had the chance, she would make some more modifications, but she felt that it was enough for the time being. Without wasting any time, she summoned those in the middle of the enemies'' golems. Even though she summoned dozens of them, they didn''tst a single second. Such was the power of the demons and corrupted monsters. However, the golems exploded once they died, and the mana in their bodies froze everything around them. The following explosions made the frozen statues break, and even other monsters were frozen. The attacks caused a chain reaction, and in the blink of an eye, around 1500 monsters were defeated. You obtained 645 coins. You obtained 645 coins. You obtained 645 coins. ¡­ "As expected, it would be too much to hope that I would recover as many coins as I used," Femradiel said. "Well, I have plenty of coins to spare." The downside of that tactic was the fact that Femradiel didn''t level up a single skill. On the other hand, she recovered some of the coins she spent, and she also recovered some mana that was quickly stored in her Soul Eater. Regardless, Femradiel repeated that action several times because the ice was slowing down the enemies even in the desert. When a good part of the golems had been destroyed, Femradiel summoned Cold Whispers inside the enemies'' army. A group of cyclops tried to smash them, but they hit the air. Without wasting time, the monsters cast a snowstorm, and hundreds of monsters were covered in snow. After that, Femradiel made the Cold Whispers return and summoned the Thunder Birds. From above, those creatures made lightning bolts that fell like rain on the battlefield. The droves killed the wet monsters, but soon enough, the Thunder Birds suffered from the same fate when some skeleton archers attacked them. Femradiel had customized them to have a high magic power but little to no health. "That is what I get from trying to save coins¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "Don''t worry, you are doing great," Isis said. Femradiel wondered if that was true, after all. The army of demons and corrupted monsters numbered millions. Until now, Femradiel only killed a couple of thousands¡­ Femradiel alternated between the types of monsters she was summoned, but when she could see the army of demons with her eyes alone, she didn''t notice the enemies slowing down. The demons were attacking and overwhelming her summons with numbers alone. By the look of things, the demons weren''t nning to use any strategy. They just wanted to crush them with brute strength. "That isn''t good¡­" Femradiel said. "While they aren''t approaching using any formation, they still will destroy us in a couple of minutes unless we create some holes in their front line." "The only way of doing that is to summon sturdy monsters that will cause a lot of damage over time," Isis said. Femradiel nodded¡­ It seemed a bit too soon for that, but Femradiel decided to use all the coins she obtained. After that, she would join the battle and kill as many monsters as possible to make Lilith appear. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 04 (+ 02 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 61 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 81 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--) Rank: 6th Health: 27171/27171 (36,75/s) Mana: 27488/27488 (36,75/s) Stamina: 28430/28430 (36,75/s) Strength: 881 (+10422) (+130) Dexterity: 64533 (+14655) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+13410) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+9921) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+11895) (+160) Control: 1476 (13450) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+8495) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4760) Recovery: 6450 (+18550) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+8493) (+40) Coins: 44.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Passive Physical Skills: Pain Resistance Lv 222 (+ 77 UP), Pain Immunity Lv 144 (+ 71 UP), Pain Absorption Lv 92 (+ 79 UP), Spells: Regeneration Lv 88 (+ 33 UP), Full-Heal Lv 122 (+ 62 UP), Bear Trap Lv 01, Spear Trap Lv 01, Chain Trap Lv 01 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 144 (+ 34 UP), Fire Resistance Lv 155 (+ 43 UP), Poison Resistance Lv 244 (+ 23 UP), Wind Resistance Lv 51 (+ 30 UP), Gravity Resistance Lv 182 (+ 55 UP), Petrification Resistance Lv 111 (+ 32 UP), Fire Immunity Lv 68 (+ 38 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 112 (+ 22 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 82 (+ 33 UP), Cold Absorption Lv 77 (+ 33 UP), Fire Absorption Lv 88 (+ 35 UP), sses: Combat: Hercules'' Descendant Lv 62 (+ 14 UP), Temr Lv 77 (+ 16 UP), Crusader Lv 81 (+ 25 UP), Barbarian Lv 71 (+ 21 UP), Warrior Lv 46 (+ 06 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian Chapter 842 - Reptilian Champion Twenty kilometers away from Cairo and in the middle of the desert that the demons were crossing, Femradiel created a massive army of Mechanical Giants. Their numbers were close to forty thousand. If Femradiel used the mana stored in Soul Eater, she could have produced more, but that was more than enough for the time being. Mechanical Giants Lv 650 ¨C 75.000 coins or 750.000 mana Health: 115.000/ 115.000 Mana: 15.500/15.500 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 12.000 (+ 3000) Dexterity: 1000 Speed: 1000 Intelligence: 1500 Endurance: 16.000 (+ 4000) Control: 2000 Mentality: 6500 (+ 400) Luck: 100 Recovery: 25.000 Willpower: 6500 (+ 400) Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Slice Tornado Lv 800¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv Max, Bronze Skin Lv 850, Steel Skin Lv 560¡­ Spells: Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 650, Fire Resistance Lv 750, Earth Resistance Lv 480¡­ Mechanical Giants were basically ordinary giants, but half of their bodies were made of metal as if they were androids. Although they were slow, they were pretty durable and could cause a lot of damage while they spin around the enemies since, in the ce of their arms, they had two chainsaw-like things. The only problem of using them was the fact that they wouldn''t cause any damage to flying enemies, but Femradiel was nning to solve that herself. The demons'' army began to attack them with long-ranged attacks, but they barely caused any damage since they had high elemental resistances and were protecting their non-metal parts with their metallic arms. Aside from a few losses that didn''t even reach the three-digit mark, the Mechanical Giants reached the demon''s army and began to spin around and cut the weaker ones in pieces. Femradiel nodded as she saw her mana increasing, and naturally, she transferred all that to the Soul Eater. "I guess I should get going," Femradiel said. "I will have to deal with those flying enemies." "Wait," Isis said and then closed her eyes. Femradiel had no idea what Isis was thinking, but time certainly wasn''t something they could afford to lose right. However, she quickly realized that Isis was conjuring something. Suddenly, in the middle of the desert, an army of warriors appeared. Although they seemed light-armored, they didn''t seem weak. When the demons finally entered their range, the soldiers fired arrows and spears toward them, and then a massive rain of projectiles fell on the flying demons and monsters. They were killed in droves, thousands of corpses fell with each passing moment, but eventually, as if they were a mirage, they disappeared when they ran out of projectiles. "What was that?" Femradiel frowned. "My royal guard, even though they died a long time ago, I can still summon their spirits with some preparation," Isis exined. "It costs some mana, but their attacks are the real deal. Well, you can go now, if you buy us enough time, I can summon them and help without having to fight per se." "¡­ I will see what I can do," Femradiel said. That was a pretty weird skill¡­ Regardless, it was time for Femradiel to kill some demons¡­ millions of them. Perhaps she will have the chance to gather enough mana to create a tyrant familiar before Lilith appears and then use the creature to wipe out the demons. Although the familiar will need some time to level up, that was the perfect chance for that. Although she wanted that, Femradiel still decided to use bait to lure Lilith. The sooner she disappears, the easier things will be for the whole group, after all. So, she summoned Thanatos'' Scythe and then teleported to right in the middle of the demons'' army. As if she was the god of death herself, Femradiel swung around the spear, and every time she did it, dozens of demons were cut into pieces. ----- ----- Back in the Void World, Ryan was enduring the training where he basically just have to ept being hit without doing anything. He knew that it was for him to wake up sooner, but sometimes, he had an incredible urge to kill those fucking monsters. In one of those times, he actually opened his spatial storage to grab a weapon, but then he calmed down when he realized that Thanatos'' Scythe wasn''t there. "It already started, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Just when Ryan stopped to imagine how things were outside, the Thunder Birds made dozens of lightning bolts fall on him at the same time. If he didn''t know any better, he would say that Femradiel summoned and actually gave the order for them to kill him. "Fucking birds¡­ when this is over, you will be my dinner!" Ryan shouted. Although that was only obvious, Ryan realized that he hade a long way since one year ago¡­ Now, he could get hit by multiple lightning bolts and keep standing. He knew that it was partly due to the power he received in the Pendragons'' world, but he worked for that too, so he knew that he deserved his powers. In any case, Ryan couldn''t tell if his body was itchy due to the lightning bolts or if it was due to his wish to wake up and join the fight. That was another thing that he could barely understand¡­ the constant urge to fight and defeat monsters. As if the creature was trying to tell him that he didn''t have time to be lost in touch, a king troll tried to split Ryan''s head with its massive ice club. Ryan managed to block the attack with his hands, but he could feel his bones cracking. As much as he might train to be sturdier, he could tell that taking damage would never be his forte. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to be a Reptilian Champion. The effects of the skills Passive Recovery, Lesser Poisonous Enchantment, Iplete Reptilian Transformation have doubled. Well, it looked like Ryan could find another way to increase his endurance without having to suffer like that for months¡­ Chapter 843 - True Intentions Although Femradiel, her Mechanical Giants, and the Ghost Army of Isis slowed down the enemies for quite a while, eventually, they reached Cairo, and the humans of the ce began to fight alongside the monsters that were summoned by Isis. Not as impressive as the Ghost Army, the inhabitants of Cairo fired their magic projectiles and made fire, ice, and lightning rain over the demons. They had prepared themselves for the battle for thest few weeks, so they have plenty of potions to use. Thanks to that, the world seemed to be ending right where the demons with all that many spells falling over them. Despite all that, the demons were slowly approaching the city. At that rate, they will eventually attack the barrier of the domain and cause massive damage with their numbers. "Perhaps that is her goal all along¡­" Femradiel clenched her teeth in annoyance while she was flying around the enemies, slicing them to bits with Thanatos Scythe and draining the enemies'' mana with Soul Eater. "I don''t like to use this kind of thing, but¡­ it can''t be helped." Femradiel pointed her arms to the demon''s army, and then dozens of corpses began to get up in the next moment. Femradiel used Summon Zombie¡­ one of the few spells that she had absolutely aversion to. For some reason, the demons felt pretty eager to crush the undead creatures, even though they themselves also seemed like undead monsters with their yed bodies covered in blood. "This won''t be enough, let''s see¡­ in this angle, I should be able to recover plenty of mana," Femradiel said and then teleported to a point where not a single one of her allies were fighting in front of her. Without any hesitation, Femradiel used the Draconic Bow. The massive arrow of energy turned into dust hundreds of enemies and even made the desert tremble. Allies and demons were forced to stop their flight thanks to that. In the end, Femradiel recovered only seventy percent of the mana she used. However, she was fine with that because she seeded in wiping out all the demons that were approaching the barrier. "I will coordinate with my people to retreat to inside the barrier in certain points when the demons get too close," Isis said via Telepathy. "Once they do that, you will have space to wipe out the monsters." "Leave it to me," Femradiel said. Femradiel had thought about using that tactic, but in the end, Isis talked first. Still, that saved her a lot of time. Femradiel used that tactic whenever it was necessary, but mainly, she focused on feeding Soul Eater and collecting souls to her Soul Armor by using Thanatos Scythe. Although the Mechanical Giants were slowly decreasing, the flow of the battle continued like that for several hours. Isis'' side suffered some losses, but the barrier didn''t suffer any damage. Now they just had to endure that for a few days¡­ It was easier said than done, but they didn''t have any other option. Suddenly, Femradiel felt a powerful presence a few kilometers above the battlefield. She also felt a high level of corruption¡­ it seemed that Lilith finally showed up. Femradiel used irvoyance and then saw a tall and muscr woman with two horses and ck armor, raising her arms upward. In the next moment, a sphere of dark energy appeared above her. Femradiel felt shivers because that sphere wasn''t the type that causes debuff. It was the type that wipes everything in arge area. Lilith ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Femradiel warned Isis, but then she quickly Teleported to attack Lilith. Then the demon frowned, but she decided to attack even though it was iplete. That sphere of dark energy was thrown toward Femradiel, and she created an ice shield to block the attack. Naturally, the shield began to fall into pieces, but before that could really happen, Femradiel repaired it. As if she had imagined that Femradiel would seed in blocking the attack, Lilith fired another one, and the small sphere made the bigger explode. When the explosion and smoke disappeared, Femradiel was found by the demonpletely unscathed thanks to the mithril armor that she quickly equipped. "Not bad," Lilith said. "Are you the dragon that works for that human? Where is he Anyway? I was kind of looking forward to seeing how strong he got. I want to confirm that he indeed defeated Belphegor and those others." "I don''t work for him, I work with him," Femradiel replied. "If you want to face him, you will have to defeat me first." "I was nning to do that anyway," Lilith said, and then she drew her great sword. "I can''t have you killing my demons." Femradiel wasn''t used to fighting one on one with a scythe, but she decided to use it because it was durable enough. However, she didn''t let go of Soul Eater. When Lilith prepared to charge, suddenly, an ice meteor fell, and she was forced to block the attack with her sword. In the next moment, Femradiel swung her scythe toward Lilith''s neck, but she reacted in time to fly backward. However, she didn''t notice that Soul Eater had disappeared from Femradiel''s hands. In the next moment, Lilith felt something draining his mana from behind. She tried to grab the weapon, but then it disappeared and reappeared in Femradiel''s hands. "Already relying on tricks?" Lilith asked. "I guess your fighting style is pretty boring." "Whatever you say," Femradiel shrugged. Lilith clicked her tongue and then Teleported and appeared right in front of Femradiel. She swung her sword with all her might. The sound of her strike cutting the air made the area vibrate, but it didn''t even scratch Femradiel. The very moment she felt Lilith preparing an attack, she teleported as well. Still¡­ "That sword and her speed are trouble¡­" Femradiel muttered. "Her fighting style is pretty straightforward, but¡­" It didn''t seem like Lilith used much mana to fight, so stealing hers wouldn''t make the fight easier. However, Femradiel didn''t want her mana to make the fight easier... Chapter 844 - Trick After trying to cut down Femradiel for a while, Lilith understood that fighting like usual wouldn''t take her anywhere. Not to mention, she was getting tired of getting hit by Soul Eater. While it doesn''t cause damage, Lilith doesn''t like to get hit because she thinks that is a sign that the opponent is better in terms of skills. It has been a while, but she decided to use a certain troublesome skill. After concentrating the mana around her body, Lilith converted the energy into dark magic, and then her whole body was covered by a dark armor made of magic. When she attacked Femradiel again, their weapons collided, but Femradiel was sent flying to the distance. "That is one crazy buff¡­" Femradiel clenched her teeth. Before Femradiel could stop, Lilith appeared behind her and then swung her sword to separate her upper and lower body. Instead of trying to dodge, Femradiel swung her scythe backward and aimed for Lilith''s neck. That was one of the exchanges that Lilith asked, but since Femradiel didn''t look like a warrior who had the same preferences, she smelled that something was off. Despite that, Lilith didn''t stop, and her sword hit Femradiel''s waist¡­ but it didn''t cause damage. Soul Armor protected her. Femradiel''s scythe touched Lilith''s neck, but it didn''t cause any damage either because of the Dark Armor. However, that didn''t bother her. She kept pushing forward, and at the same time, she drained the Dark Armor by using Darkness Maniption. Lilith teleported backward to prevent that, but despite her quick reflexes, Femradiel''s scythe drained some of the darkness, and now the tip was covered with it. Meanwhile, the energy around Lilith''s neck was thinner than before. If that was Femradiel''s strategy, it was extremely wed. Even though she doesn''t fight relying on mana all that much, Lilith could recover hers in many ways. While that was a bit worrisome, Lilith looked at Femradiel,pletely uninterested. She didn''t want to fight an enemy that relies on cheap tricks to gain an advantage¡­ Since she was the type of opponent Lilith disliked the most, she decided to crush her into bits. Lilith also summoned dark energy and enveloped her sword with it. After doing that, she charged toward Femradiel and swung her sword downward. While the speed wasn''t anything special, the attack made Femradiel''s bones crack when she blocked it. If she had any other weapon in her hands, the strike would have broken it. The second strike had been more powerful, but it hadn''t been enough to make Femradiel fall. Lilith realized that it was because Femradiel moved the dark energy to the ce where the weapons collided. That decreased the power of the impact¡­ as if that wasn''t annoying enough. Femradiel began to drain the dark energy again. "You are wasting your time¡­" Lilith said and then sighed. "You think so?" Femradiel frowned. Femradiel moved backward and then made Soul Eater absorb the dark energy. It seemed that she was really set on keeping doing that. Lilith wondered if she shouldn''t exin why that was useless. That probably would make Femradiel despair and fight harder. However, it was also dangerous to reveal the nature of her powers as the demon of lust. Femradiel decided to fly upward, and then Lilith followed her. Even if she didn''t want to reveal the secrets of her power, she could at least let Femradiel choose the ce she wanted to fight. However, Lilith soon regretted that a little¡­ Femradiel suddenly disappeared, and in her ce, Lilith found dozens of Lunar Arrows flying toward her. That was unexpected since it was midafternoon, but the Moon already could be seen on the horizon¡­ Lilith tried to dodge them by Teleporting, but the arrows followed her, and it was impossible to escape at that speed. In the end, Lilith moved her sword and blocked the projectiles. The Lunar Arrows made the energy on her sword dissipate, but at least she escaped from getting hit by a skill that can cause divine damage. However, while she was blocking the attack, Femradiel attacked her from behind. Soul Eater passed through her whole upper body and absorbed all the dark energy of that region. As if that wasn''t enough, Femradiel swung her scythe as well and hit the now almost unprotected area. Lilith''s real armor failed at blocking the attack entirely, and she felt the piercing pain of the de cutting her flesh. Still, she endured since the pain onlysted for a second. Lilith turned around when both attacks ended and faced Femradiel. She wanted to pass a message with her eyes, she wanted to say how much she was pissed, but Femradielpletely ignored her. It seemed that she had grown rusty¡­ back in the day. Her eyes alone would make her enemies tremble in fear. Nevertheless¡­ Lilith closed her wound in the blink of an eye and then repaired the Dark Armor. She wouldn''t fall for the same trick twice¡­ Lilith began to Teleport around in order to make sure that Femradiel wouldn''t have a clear target to use Perfect Aim, but she also used her speed to attack Femradiel from all angles. Thanks to Death Sense, Femradiel knew from which direction the attack woulde from, and thanks to Sloth Aura, she could react on time. However, blocking was still causing a lot of damage to her arms. Despite that, she endured it¡­ Eventually, Lilith ran out of patience and prepared a big attack. She enveloped her sword with a massive amount of dark energy and then swung it, cutting the air. The dark energy escaped from the de and flew toward Femradiel, but at thest moment, she didn''t try to block or absorb it¡­ the energy stopped in front of her and then was sent back toward Lilith. That was the power of Vengeful Explosion. Usually, one would suffer a lot of damage after suffering such counterattacks, but Lilith only smiled. She blocked the energy with a single hand and then absorbed it. Femradiel''s great n was useless¡­ or so Lilith thought. Femradiel had disappeared, and then she felt the dark energy disappearing behind her again. However, in the next moment, she felt something piercing her nape, and it seemed that it was an arrow. Soon after, Lilith lost control over her body. Chapter 845 - [Bonus ]Better Lilith couldn''t help but sweat cold. Her armor was supposed to be protecting that area. Not to mention, she had a high resistance against all kinds of debuffs and poison. So, she couldn''t understand what was going on. However, Femradiel suddenly moved away from her, and then she recovered control over her body. That was even weirder¡­ "What did you do?" Lilith asked while she touched her nape and noticed that her armor hadn''t been damaged. "Who knows?" Femradiel shrugged. While that was annoying, Lilith couldn''t waste time questioning what Femradiel did to her. Even without Femradiel, the survivors of Cairo and Isis monsters were managing to keep the demons away from the barrier. While the number of demons still willst for a while, Lilith couldn''t risk losing all of them just to take over Isis''s base. Lilith summoned several Dark Spears and then prepared to fire them toward Femradiel. With that angle, Femradiel quickly realized that Isis''s barrier would get hit if she dodged it. While Femradiel could decrease the power of those spells by using Soul Eater, she wouldn''t be able to stop all of them. Femradiel didn''t want to use that so soon, but she ended up summoning the Absolute Death Crossbow and then pulled the trigger. Lilith began to suffer damage on her face and on the region of her eyes, but the Dark Armor protected her. Lilith ignored most of it until Femradiel teleported to behind her. At that moment, she changed the direction of her spears and then fired toward Femradiel. Getting hit by a spell of that level at point-nk range was supposed to be deadly, but Femradiel predicted that kind of change and then decreased the power of the attacks by spinning Soul Eater in front of her and by using Darkness Maniption. Even so, Femradiel suffered a huge deal of damage and was almost sent flying to outer space. Lilith grinned from ear to ear when she saw her bleeding from her face and both arms and showed a pained expression. "That is better, that is much better," Lilith said. Even though Femradiel expected the attack, it still hurt her quite a bit. To gain some time, she decided on one of the recently obtained skills, even though she didn''t have time to level it up. Femradiel made Amber Arrows rain over Lilith. Although the arrows seemed weaker than Lunar Arrow, Lilith still used her sword to block them. Much to her surprise, the energy in her sword began to dissipate at a fearsome speed¡­ probably because those projectiles had some divine energy onto them, and they didn''t rely on the position or the phases of the Moon to cause any real damage. Femradiel disappeared again, and then Lilith suddenly felt the same pain on her neck before she could turn around. Femradiel hit her with the mithril hammer of destruction. At the same time, it didn''t cause much damage, thanks to the Dark Armor. Still, at least, which prevented Lilith from seeing what she had done. Fighting with a hammer wasn''t much of Femradiel''s style, but she had a few uses for it for the moment. When Lilith tried to split her in half again due to her rage, Femradiel blocked the attack by using the energy umted on the hammer. The impact made the air in the area vibrate, and Lilith''s sword trembled for several moments. Femradiel disappeared, and then Lilith prepared to receive another attack from behind. However, instead of that. Femradiel used Sloth Illusion when she touched her head. Lilith''s vision darkened when a powerful wave of exhaustion took over her body, but before that could leave her unguarded, she used a spell and recovered a huge deal of her stamina. Instead of letting rage decide for her what to do, Lilith decided to calm down and take a deep breath. Femradiel was always one step ahead of her because she managed to keep herselfposed, no matter the situation, and Lilith doesn''t intend to change her style because of her. She at least could use her head a little more to avoid falling for obvious traps. "Belphegor''s power, huh¡­" Lilith said. "You sure like to use boring skills." "I guess so," Femradiel shrugged again. Before not too long, Lilith''s stamina was full again, and she couldn''t help but frown since it was evident that she would use magic to recover herself, and yet, Femradiel didn''t try to prevent it. "I thought she was smarter than this¡­" Lilith furrowed her eyebrows. It has been a while since she fought against someone for so long, and thest time that happened, that someone discovered the secrets of her power. Still, that didn''t change the oue of the battle. In fact, it made things a lot easier for Lilith since it made the enemy despair and sweat cold¡­ and yet, there were no signs of that on Femradiel. Since she wasn''t used to that, Lilith realized quitete that Femradiel had activated Concentrated Strike and was preparing a big attack. Using that skill with a hammer made of mithril was bound to cause some crazy damage, but that only made Lilith''s blood boil, and it made her wish to test her strength against it. Trying to win an exchange using a sword against a hammer wasn''t one of the most brilliant things Lilith had thought, but it certainly would make Femradiel despair if her precious hammer was destroyed. She was missing seeing that kind of expression, after all. Without wasting any more time, those two dashed toward each other. Lilith raised her guard because Femradiel might be nning to hit her from another direction, but in the end, she really tried to attack Lilith from the front. In the blink of an eye, Lilith enchanted her sword with a massive amount of mana. She had packed so much energy that her sword was even firing dark lightning bolts. When both weapons collided, a massive explosion happened due to the enormous amount of energy those two used in their attacks. Femradiel tried her best to resist the impact and the explosion, but in the end, she was sent flying backward as soon as the bones of her arms broke. Chapter 846 - Lady Of Lust Femradiel''s expression broke into one of pain as she was spinning in the air. She knew that things wouldn''t be easy against a demon general and alone, but things were being moreplicated than she had nned. Thanks to Soul Eater, she managed to survive this long since she was constantly in need of mana, but on the other hand. Lilith didn''t do anything to recover mana, and her sword certainly wasn''t a weapon that could restore her mana just by attacking¡­ Lilith had an infinite supply of mana, thanks to her power as the demon of lust. The more she thinks about her lord Lucifer, the more mana she can generate for herself¡­ It was quite an interesting power, but it was kind of useless on a pure-breed warrior like her. Regardless, Lilith decided to finish Femradiel off before she could stop moving. She flew in a straight line and prepared a big swing, but at thest moment, when she was just a few meters away from Femradiel, she was hit by Draconic Bow. This time, it had been Lilith''s turn to receive massive damage. She didn''t have time to block since she prepared a big swing. In the end, her Dark Armor protected her from losing her head, but the impact and the explosion that happened made most of her Dark Armor disappear. As if she had been waiting for that, Femradiel used Draconic Bow. Lilith opened her eyes widely since she wasn''t supposed to recover her mana that fast, even with Soul Eater on her side. This time, Lilith blocked the attack with her sword enchanted by darkness, but she still suffered some damage. Her original armor began to crack, and then Femradiel disappeared even while she was spinning. Lilith knew what was going to happen, and yet, she didn''t have the chance to react on time. Sloth Aura slowed her reaction and movement speed, and eleration made Femradiel faster. Without giving an opportunity for Lilith to recover, Femradiel attacked her back with Soul Eater. Usually, causing damage with that weapon was impossible, but not if the user casts an elemental enchantment on it¡­ Femradiel learned that when she attacked Lilith''s back for the first time. As if that wasn''t good enough, the sword still could steal mana. However, even that had certain demerits¡­ Femradiel only caused damage superficially since it would be weird if the sword inside the enemy could cause physical damage while it steals their mana. The electric Enchantment paralyzed Lilith for a few moments, and that had been just enough for Femradiel to use Draconic Bow again. This time, Lilith didn''t have the chance to defend herself. That had been basically Femradiel''s strategy, put a doubt in the opponent''s mind and then attack with everything once the opponent thinks that the doubt is irrelevant. That worked incredibly well to prevent Lilith from recovering her mana. After all, she couldn''t have lustful thoughts while he was getting hit by a massive attack after falling for a trap she couldn''t understand¡­ or could she? After getting hit from behind, Lilith felt like her body was falling into pieces. The pain was almost unbearable. If Draconic Bow had some level of divinity, she probably wouldn''t have survived getting hit at point-nk range from behind. However, she stopped moving and then nned to heal herself, but then she saw Femradiel smirking, something seemed wrong about that¡­ then Lilith realized that she was almost reaching the outer space and pretty much everything was covered in the darkness behind her¡­ before she could understand the meaning of that, Lilith was hit by a massive barrage of Lunar Arrows. As if that wasn''t enough, Femradiel used Draconic Bow again, and Lilith was attacked from two different directions without having the chance to protect herself from either. Things went almost as exactly Femradiel had nned, but she didn''t n to get hurt like that. Regardless, she felt relieved when she saw Lilith''s body falling. She even had let go of her sword, so it was evident that she was unconscious. Just to make sure that nothing dangerous might happen, Femradiel used Soul Eater enchanted with electricity to paralyze her. After that, she used a Seal a couple of times on her. You obtained 2.658.992 coins. Long Mithril Bow of the Excitement. (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: It passively increases all of your statuses by ten points per minute when fighting against the same opponent. This weapon causes ten percent more damage against demon generals. Dexterity + 2800, Intelligence + 1000, Speed + 1000 Durability: 1000/1000 Congrattions! For defeating Lilith, you have be a Level one Lady of Lust! You obtained the following skills: Lust Conversion, Unrivalled Charm, and Lust Maniption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lust Conversion. Effect: It grants the power to convert your lust into mana. The more lust you feel, the more mana you can convert, but you have to pay the price for it. By using this skill, you canpletely negate your sexual desires. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Unrivalled Charm. Effect: It grants you the power topletely enchant demons and corrupted creatures with a one hundred percent of chance of seeding. This skill also works on other creatures, but the chance of sess will depend on the level of the skill, your intelligence, and the target''s willpower. Cost: 1000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Lust Maniption. Effect: It grants you the power to control your lust or of others. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Femradiel sighed in relief once again. With those skills, she will be able to recover her mana almost infinitely, and she will also manage to quickly stop the demons and corrupted monsters. She was even more thankful that Ryan wouldn''t have the same power, because otherwise, he would make himself utterly immune to her charms. Chapter 847 - Realization "It seems you seeded," Isis said when Femradiel returned to the wall. "I must say, I am really impressed. You defeated Echidna and Lilith much faster than I think I could do." "Don''t sell yourself short," Femradiel said. "No¡­ I mean it," Isis said. "You impressed me so much that I am starting to get worried that the fight seemed too easy for you." "It wasn''t easy. She broke my bones several times," Femradiel said. "What do you think of this, Lilith? Isis thinks that you didn''t cause me enough trouble." "¡­ Shut up," Lilith said. "Well, don''t be so grumpy. You won''t be alone in the spatial storage," Femradiel said. "You will have plenty of times to talk with Belphegor." "That is just one more reason to escape once I have the chance," Lilith said. "Really, I thought the demon of lust and sloth would get along pretty well," Femradiel said. "Come to think of it, perhaps you have a better affinity with the demon of gluttony." "Anyway¡­ I can see that you reached your goals," Isis interrupted her. "Can I assume that obtaining her powers is part of your n?" "You think I am going to use this on Ryan?" Femradiel frowned. "You know that the entire city is in my domain, right?" Isis frowned as well. "I can see everything that happens inside it. I also can see what you do with his body¡­ while you still didn''tmit any crimes, you are almost there." "I have no idea what you are talking about¡­" Femradiel looked away nervously while she said that. "Still, keep quiet about this in order for Ryan not to have any misunderstandings." "I am sure he wille to his own conclusions once he hears that you were so eager to fight Lilith alone," Isis smiled. "Regardless¡­ the demons seem a bit weaker now that Lilith has been defeated. We have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, but I guess we seed in the first part of our n." Femradiel nodded and then teleported toward the middle of the enemies. While she didn''t like the idea of brainwashing even demons, it would be faster if she uses some of them to cause havoc in the middle of the army. ----- ----- While Feramdiel and the people of Cairo were fighting off the demons'' army. Ryan was counting the seconds to receive his next special ss. Since his job now was basically to let the monsters beat the crap out of him, time inside the Void World passed even slower than before. So, he was really itching to see something new happening. He needed that kind of thing to distract himself, or he might go nuts. Congrattions! The ss Crusader has reached the max level Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Temr, Guard, and Crusader? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Hero. You learned the skills: Hero''s Path, Extreme Shield, and Health Boost. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hero''s Path. Effect: It grants you a different speed of learning and training melee-rted skills by one percent per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Extreme Shield. Effect: By activating this skill, you can exponentially increase your endurance, mentality, and willpower by fifty points per level. Cost: 300 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Health Bonus. Effect: When clearing dungeons, you have the opportunity to increase your health by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. "Hmm¡­ it isn''t as impressive as the others, but¡­" Ryan frowned. "Still, I guess this will make things here more interesting." Ryan activated Extreme Shield without wasting any time to make those assholes of monsters have a more challenging time. However, even they got a bit stronger during those days, so it would take a while before Extreme Shield actually can help Ryan. At some point, Ryan got bored of even leveling up the new skills that he just got. After all, he has been doing that the whole time he had been in the Void World, and from his perspective, close to three monsters had passed there¡­ even though he knew that less than three weeks had passed in reality. At some point, Ryan decided to check his spatial storage and see what kind of weapon Femradiel would be using this time, but none were missing. In fact, there were two new ones¡­ a bow and a sword and the sword he recognized. "Lilith''s sword¡­" Ryan frowned. "Femradiel defeated her alone?" Demonic Bloody Sword (Cursed) Effect: it curses the enemy upon contact, and it can repair itself when bathed in the blood of your enemies. Strength + 3000, Endurance + 3000 Durability: 2000/2000 "If this is her sword, then this bow is¡­" Ryan muttered. "This is quite the interesting ce," Lilith suddenly said. "I knew you would always be a small fry, but I didn''t think that you were this much of a coward. Hiding here and letting your allies do all the fighting for you." "Lilith¡­" Ryan said with disgust in his voice. Ryan assumed that he still was stronger than Femradiel, but perhaps he will have to change his mind about that. While he defeated some elder gods alone, he still knew that he was supposed to be weaker than them. Not to mention, in some way or another, he had relief on Femradiel to defeat them. Ryan thought that he had gotten stronger in the Void World, but it looked like he was getting behind others. As expected, getting stronger by training wasn''t his best way method. He had to put himself at risk in order to gain true power. Still, he couldn''t do that while he was in the Void World, so the only thing he could do was to wait patiently¡­ Chapter 848 - Hades Although the demons had lost theirmander, they still kept fighting and eventually even managed to attack Isis''s domain. Femradiel tried hard to wipe them out, but in the end, one thing became obvious: Isis''s army was slowly getting exhausted, and their supplies were running out. That was what happens when millions of demons try to take them out. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, Isis detected a new force that suddenly appeared on the west side of Africa, and that same force was marching toward her domain. It was getting dark and one of the worst enemies that could attack them at night showed up. Hades Health: 3.555.263/3.555.293 Mana: 5.898.441/5.898.441 Stamina: 1.435.623/1.435.623 Strength: 39.500 Dexterity: 85.600 Speed: 44.000 Intelligence: 225.420 Endurance: 95.000 Control: 63.600 Mentality: 79.000. Luck: 20.000 Recovery: 800.000 Willpower: 79.000 Coins: -- Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Cursed Touch Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv Max, Enhanced Intelligence Lv Max, Augmented Intelligence Lv Max¡­ Spells: Cursed Breath Lv Max, Summon Death Knight Lv Max, Summon Cursed Spirits Lv Max, Underworld Calling Lv Max¡­ Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Cold Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv Max, Earth Resistance Lv Max ¡­ Unlike Ryan and Femradiel, Isis could actually use Absolute Appraisal and see the status of other elder gods. Her skill level was much higher than theirs, after all. Regardless, Hades had also brought with him an army of underworld spirits with him. Those creatures didn''t have a physical form, but they could cause a lot of damage while they even torment the thoughts of their target. The only way to defeat them was with magic, but Isis was having a hard time believing that they would pull that off. After all, her army was exhausted. As if he had been tasked to do one of the worst jobs, Hades looked toward Cairo with an expression on her face that showed how uninterested he was. Hades was a bit simr to Thanatos, but his hair was longer, and his armor waspletely dark. Although his skin was so pale that it seemed like he was sick or something, he still looked weirdly handsome. His dark eyes that didn''t emit any emotion made those who looked at him feel shivers. On his waist, one could see a long but thin sword attacked¡­ he really came prepared to fight. Even up close, considering that wasn''t his style. "Athena," Isis said via Telepathy. "Hades showed up here, and it seems he intends to finish Lilith''s job." "My apologies¡­ but I won''t be able to help," Athena hesitated. "I am leading the defense of our Eastside, so I am holding back the demons while the other greed gods are preparing to face the Norse gods. I didn''t hear of this attack, Isis." "I believe you, most likely. Hades decided to take action by himself and get rid of us since we could be a threatter," Isis said and then let out a long sigh. "Well¡­ I wish you good luck." That wasn''t within their ns, but perhaps Isis will have to face Hades. It was an enemy Athena wanted to deal with since there has been some bad blood among them over the ages, but she couldn''t do that right now. As for Isis, she didn''t know if she could take down Hades by herself. Among the Greek gods, he was the one people knew least of. Although she could see his skills, seeing them in a status screen and inaction were two different things. "It seems someone troublesome showed up," Femradiel suddenly appeared above the wall. "What is the n? We can''t afford to face those two armies at the same time. Our forces won''tst long." "I suppose I will face Hades and slow his army''s advance," Isis said. "I am careful. I should be able to escape suffering critical damage." "¡­ I think I should let them join this fight finally," Femradiel said, and then she summoned her familiars and also brought Furball from the Void World. "They should help in keeping the spirits in check¡­ for a while. Perhaps it will be enough for you to finish him off." Isis couldn''t imagine how three creatures could slow down, Hades'' Underworld Calling, but at that point in time, she will need all the help she can get. No matter what happens, she couldn''t let her people be attacked from two sides. When Furball finally showed up, Femradiel gave him and her familiars the order to fight the spirits. Unless Hades approaches them, they should be fine. After all, themander won''t expose himself while Isis had him on sight. When night fell, the demons got even more agitated, so Femradiel had a lot more work to do. She began to use Draconic Bow much more frequently than before, even though she wanted to fill Soul Eater with mana again¡­ At the same time, Furball, Drake, and the Ice Phoenix met Hades'' army fifty kilometers away from Cairo. While Isis didn''t expect much from those creatures, she couldn''t help not in amazement when they saw them running around and destroying the spirits just by doing that. Furball had used Electric Armor, and now he was mimicking the Drake. Both of them were electrocuting the spirits, just bypassing nearby them. Upon realizing how effective her familiars were being thanks to the mana she was obtaining, Femradiel decided to do something rather drastic. She used Ice Meteor and made them fall all over the battlefield. Some of them broke when they smashed hundreds of enemies, and then she used Lightning Bolt and then hit those same spots. Even if it wasn''t in their liquid state, the ice still conducted the electricity and made thousands of demons being killed. "This is better, but¡­" Femradiel clenched her teeth in annoyance. "This will take too long." Thanks to their speed, Furball, and the others were escaping from receiving damage, and they will be able to fight for quite a while since Ryan and Femradiel equipped them with the right skills. Still, even while doing their best, they will be able to buy only a few hours. Perhaps even less if Hades decides to kill them. Chapter 849 - [Bonus ]A Dangerous Weapon After using half of the coins she received after defeating Lilith, Femradiel summoned another army of Mechanical Giants. However, this time, she allocated them to different parts of the battlefield in order to make them prevent the advance of the demons. Isis''s barrier was still standing, but even Femradiel was impressed by how much damage it received¡­ "This isn''t good¡­" Femradiel bit her lips in exasperation. "Perhaps I should have killed Lilith and then trap her soul in that stone. She really woulde in handy right now." One could only wonder how much mana or coins Femradiel would have to spend to summon a copy of Lilith. Still, considering that she was a fearsome melee fighter, she would be really useful in that situation. As if the situation wasn''t already troublesome enough, Femradiel and Isis noticed some presence approaching in the distance. They were dragons¡­ "Who is the bastard that is¡­ wait, those dragons are¡­" Femradiel frowned when she saw those big but slow dragons flying. Pendragon ¨C Lv 100 Health: 12.000/12.000 Mana: 7600/7600 Stamina: 9500/9500 Strength: 900 (+ 100) Dexterity: 650 (+ 80) Speed: 950 (+ 90) Intelligence: 750 (+ 100) Endurance: 750 (+ 140) Control: 400 (+ 60) Mentality: 900 (+ 100) Luck: 250 (+ 90) Recovery: 4000 (+ 1500) Willpower: 900 (+ 100) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Concentrated Strike Lv 50, Roar Lv 50 Passive Physical Skills: Improved Strength Lv 85, Fire w Lv 76 Enhanced Strength Lv 47, Augmented Intelligence Lv 42¡­ Spells: Ice Breath Lv 120, Fire Breath Lv 80, Electric Breath Lv 60 ¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 70, Electric Resistance Lv 60, Shock Resistance Lv 50, Fire Resistance Lv 42, Curse Resistance Lv 29¡­ For a second, Femradiel imagined that Nakine and the others hade to help them, but then she realized their dungeon wasn''t at a high level enough for that. However, they already reached level one hundred in just a few weeks. That was some progress. "I am thankful for the help, but what are they expecting to¡­" Femradiel frowned. "You can turn them into zombies, and they will be stronger," Alissa said via Telepathy. "Not to mention, they will also boost your status by five percent for each one of them." "Alissa!" Femradiel raised her voice in excitement. "Sorry that I couldn''t help more than this, but I helped the other guys in leveling up their dungeon," Alissa said. "I am also using this tactic, so I can say that is highly effective." "Yeah, I thought about using that, but I didn''t find any dragon¡­" Femradiel said. "I could have asked Yahiko for some, but his people really need the dragon hearts, and they are fighting the demons as well." "Well, how considerate of you," Alissa said. "Anyway, use them wisely because it was a pain to make them cross half of the world undetected." "Hehe, thanks, I will," Femradiel smiled. "I owe you one." Even without the effects of Draconic Leadership, the zombie dragons alone would be a force to be recognized on the battlefield. Not to mention, those fifty dragons will make her at least 250% stronger¡­ perhaps, she should just use them for the buffs. After transforming the dragons into zombies, Femradielnded in the desert and then began to attack alongside the zombies. Although Draconic Leadership was useful, they needed to be within a certain range for her to receive the buffs. Femradiel barely could believe the strength she had obtained. Even when she wasn''t putting much effort, she could split several of the demons in half with ease. In order to make things proceed faster than before, she made several spears out of ice and made them spin with Telekinesis. The few demons that could endure were attacked by the zombie dragons. "I can leave this site to Femradiel," Isis nodded to herself. "Since that is the case, I should make good use of this moment and then defeat Hades." Isis used Teleport and then appeared right in front of Hades. While she wasn''t much of a warrior, Isis was looking forward to defeating the enemies that threatened her people, even more so when they used the worse and cowardly times to attack. "Hades¡­ it seems that after all these years, you lost the little pride that you had," Isis said. "To think that one of the three greatest gods of Greece would try to defeat me when demons were aiming for my domain¡­ tell me, when did you be such a pathetic god?" "I don''t owe any exnations to you," Hades replied, still showing disinterest in his face. "You even don''t have a minimal sense of ss, huh," Isis said, then sighed. "Very well, I shall end this quickly." Isis created dozens of longbows using the sand of the desert to attack. Still, even before she could fire them, Hades had already summoned his Mana Barrier. She still attacked him, and the sound of arrows flying at supersonic speeds left the air vibrating and thenpletely disintegrated when they hit the Mana Barrier, thanks to that. Despite that, Isis made Hades frown¡­ as expected. Even though she was just using sand, her powers still were something else. Hades made some cursed spirits fly toward her, but those were pulled back to the ground when some tornadoes appeared below her. Isis didn''t even look at them. Such were her powers when ites to magic. While she still considered that summoning magic wasn''t her forte, Isis summoned some fairies to attack the cursed spirits alongside the tornadoes. That should be enough for the time being. If Hades tries to do more than that, Furball and Femradiel''s familiars will cause massive damage to that army. "In the end, I suppose I will have to work pretty hard to seed in my mission," Hades said and then drew his sword. "It has been a while, so go easy on me." Hades flew toward Isis and then tried to cut her neck, Isis sand to block his path. Still, when the sand touched the sword, itpletely disintegrated into small lifeless particles. It will be bad if that sword touches her¡­ Chapter 850 - No Need While Hades was flying around, even the most powerful survivors looking at him would only see a shadow for a few moments while moving around. Hades'' speed was really unrivaled, but on the other hand, he couldn''t keep or maybe didn''t want to move like that with his Mana Barrier on. When Hades approached to attack, Isis fired her sand arrows toward him. Usually, those arrows could prate several meters of steel. However, when they touched Hades'' sword, it didn''t make any sound. The very moment the impact happened, they lost their power. Hades got close enough and split her in half, but then the figure of Isis distorted, and then he noticed that he only cut a mirage. Hades sighed and then looked around for Isis. Since she wasn''t the type to keep hiding using magic all the time, she was a few hundred meters above preparing her own attack. In the next moment, they emitted some pollen from her hands, and Hades swung his sword and then dissipated it with a st of win, but Isis didn''t stop. Hades thought that it had been enough, but soon he felt some parts of his body growing number. After letting his sword touching those parts, Hades recovered, and that made Isis frown. Howe his sword could nullify that type of effect without damaging his body? "I suppose that is one of the perks of having a weapon that has been on your side for thousands of years," Isis said. "My apologies, but I don''t feel sorry for you right now," Hades said. "It is okay. I don''t need a weapon," Isis said. Feramdiel pointed both of her index fingers toward Hades, and then she fired a new type of projectile that even Hades had a hard time blocking it. Just two bullets made Hades be pushed backward for several meters, and then he saw smokeing from the points. The sword had got hit. "sma¡­ it has been a while since someone used that against me," Hades frowned. "You really are a master at elemental magic." "I am not ttered," Isis said. Isis fired more sma Bullets, and Hades was forced to dodge most of them. However, those bullets hit his army of spirits by doing so, and they dissolved whenever they got hit. When Hades got close enough to hit Isis, she forced him to step back with a barrage of bullets. The expression of calm and disinterest was slowly cracking and appeared one of annoyance. Eventually, Hades got sick of that and then made several Death Knights appear around Isis. Those creatures even could fly, so they moved to attack Femradiel from all sides. Meanwhile, Hades used that chance to advance using Isis''s blind spot. However, the monsters exploded after getting hit by the bullets. Hades learned that Isis didn''t have to use her hands to even use that type of spell. "Truly, a master of elemental magic," Hades said. "If we didn''t know that we weren''t scheming with the human that killed Poseidon, I would dly wee you on our ranks." "I am not ttered in the possibility of receiving a position to be among those who see Earth just as a battlefield," Isis said. "Aren''t you tired of seeing your underworld getting filled with more and more souls whenever one of you decides to pick a fight with each other over something stupid? I don''t rule over that kind of environment, but I know what Osiris had to do endure as our god of the underworld." "Everyone has a role to y, even the gods," Hades said. "It doesn''t matter if we like or not about the things we have to deal with while doing our job. We just have to endure it." "I suppose that is a pretty decent way of looking at things, considering that you rule over a ce where souls can''t rest," Isis said. "Their voices in torment made you realize that? Or did someone whisper those words in your years many times, and then you decided to ept them as the truth of things?" Isis saw a glint of anger in Hades'' eyes. It seemed that she had thrown salt in a fresh wound. Among the three greatest gods of Greece, she knew that Hades was the most troubled one. That was one of the reasons he and Athena never got along. Athena wanted to create a world where even mortals could live their lives without the influence of elder gods. Those who want to worship them could do so freely, but they didn''t have to feel obligated to do it. As for Hades, even though he wasn''t one of the gods who liked most about their domains of influence, she demanded respect from humans. It was quite weird, it was apparent that he didn''t like to rule over the underworld, but he still wanted to be praised for it. Hades suddenly raised his sword and then swung down slowly. However, once he did that, Isis felt the danger for her life. She created a sma Barrier, but despite that, she still got cut in her left shoulder. The wound didn''t even let blood escape¡­ it looked like just swinging his sword without touching anything made Isis lose a part of her body which Hades tried to attack. The wound was small since Isis also had a high level of divinity. "I see¡­ you used your divinity to create an attack impossible to defend," Isis said as she began to heal her wound. "Not even Thanatos could do that¡­ no wonder you be someone who he respected and admired." "I am not ttered after hearing this," Hades said. "After all, you are working with the same human that defeated my brother, Poseidon, and my dear friends, Thanatos and Hypnos. Once I am done with you, he will be the next, and I will recover their spirits." "Did you forget about Hephaestus?" Isis asked. "I couldn''t care less about him," Hades replied. "He ignored the war that was about toe just to y with some ridiculous stones." Chapter 851 - Reason Everyone knew that Greek deities had their share of problems with each other. It was like the craziest soap opera that anyone could imagine, so Isis wasn''t surprised that they had renegade Hephaestus, even though he probably had the skills to turn the tide of any war. Regardless, it wasn''t time to talk. Since she was a master of magic, Isis healed the wound caused by Hades'' attacks in just a few seconds. However, she was aware that things might get messy if he uses something like that again. Still, an attack of that level probably couldn''t be used easily, not even by one of the three greatest gods of Greece. With one hand, Isis fired sma Bullets toward Hades, and with the other, she tossed the magic pollen in the air. Hades couldn''t help but be disappointed after seeing Isis insisting on the previous ways of attacking. Unless she shows something new, Hades was confident that he could deal with anything. To show as such, Hades focused on blocking the sma Bullets. While blocking them made him lose some momentum, Hades wasn''t in a hurry since his army still wasn''t that close to Cairo. While zigzagging and blocking the attacks, Hades slowly approached Isis. When he felt that her pollen was starting to get troublesome, he used Absolute Purification instead of his sword but obtained the same result. Eventually, Isis was within his range, and he swung down his sword, knowing that he wasn''t a mirage, but then much to Hades'' surprise, Isis raised her right hand and stopped the weapon. She was supposed to lose her hand by doing that, but then Hades realized that she wasn''t actually touching the sword. She was pushing it away from her by firing a constant burst of wind. Isis stopped her attack by doing that, but Hades now had to endure the pollen in full force in exchange. Thanks to that, he also noticed another effect of the pollen¡­ it could steal mana. Hades Teleported away because he knew that giving his mana to a mage type would only make things moreplicated for him. As soon as he reappeared, Hades was weed by an unpleasant surprise. Isis fired a sma Spear, and out of reflex, he swung his sword like before and repelled the attack with the previous attack that wounded Isis. In the end, both strikes canceled each other. Still, the explosion of energy made the whole desert tremble, and the point of the collision caused some lightning bolts to fall and hit the Cursed spirits. "I see. Our attacks can cancel each other," Isis nodded. "That is good to know." Hades let out a sigh¡­ now that Isis was starting to learn more about that kind of skill, things might get troublesome. He had to finish that faster than she could find all the secrets of his skill. Not to mention, he also had to defeat her because the Norse gods are fast approaching, and he will need to face them since they are outnumbered and still have to worry about the demons in the East. "I might as well hit two birds with one stone," Hades said and then teleported to the right side of his current position. Isis frowned when she heard that. Hades was nning something and certainly wasn''t something good. He raised his sword, and a sphere of dark energy that was firing small dark lightning bolts appeared above his weapon. That kind of attack was never good¡­ eventually, Isis realized what he meant by hitting two birds with one stone¡­ Isis was right in front of him, and behind Isis, there was the barrier of her domain. While the barrier won''t fall with a single attack, the explosion will certainly kill many of her allies nearby. Suddenly, Isis fired several sma Spears, and now it was time for Hades to be surprised. A spell of that level was supposed to consume a lot of energy, and she was firing it like it was water¡­ Regardless, Hades fired his dark sphere of energy, and the projectiles hit each other. Another explosion happened, and this time, even Hades and Isis were pushed backward. The impact was so powerful that it created a powerful shockwave, and eventually, what seemed to be a sand storm hit the other battlefield. When Isis opened her eyes again, she saw a hole in the middle of the desert where the sand was constantly falling in. It almost looked like a few nukes had hit that area. Such was the power the elder gods could muster in just a few seconds¡­ No wonder Isis was worried that Earth might be destroyed if she and her allies didn''t y their hands right. For the first time since the start of the battle, Hades used Absolute Appraisal in Isis, and that made her click her tongue. That was very unusual since she is alwaysposed no matter what. She only did that because Hades now saw that despite the attacks, her mana was full. He looked below and saw that despite their overwhelming advantage thanks to sheer numbers, his cursed spirits weren''t making much progress¡­ it wasn''t because the fairies, tornados, Furball, and the familiar were doing one hell of a job. It was because Isis pollen was stealing their mana. "You really have many tricks up your sleeve. I always thought the n was just to annoy me," Hades said and then raised his sword. In the next moment, the Cursed spirits began to emit a purple aura that looked really ominous. Thanks to that aura, Isis saw the pollen that was falling over them burning¡­ It was a really useful skill. "Now we are even," Hades said and then began to create another sphere of dark energy. Isis summoned several sma Spears again and prepared to repel the attack. No matter what happens, she couldn''t let Hades damage her troops. Many of them already died while she was conserving her energy, so she had to show them that they didn''t choose the wrong elder god to follow. Chapter 852 - Trick Hades knew that mages would have the advantage in a middle-range battle distance, even more so when they had the guts and experience like Isis. Still, despite that, he decided to see how long Isis would want to fight directly like that. If she used some tricks, it was because she didn''t have confidence that she could win without them. So, he kept increasing the size of his dark sphere. However, soon he changed his mind when Isis aligned her sma Spears and made one single massive spear. There is no doubt that when both of them collide, a massive explosion will take ce, but her spear will undoubtedly make things more difficult for Hades. His army will suffer more damage since Isis''s army was too far away. Hades could always respond to her actions and change his way of attacking. Still, he decided to insist but also add something different. When they fired their spells, Haded Teleported to behind Isis and then prepared to cut her down, but she had moved away from her original ce as well. The spells collided, and another massive explosion happened. Thanks to all that mana, neither of them noticed that they nned to attack using the same strategy. Thanks to that, they only changed their positions¡­ The fight continued like that for several hours because neither of them wanted to take too many risks. Hades wanted to conserve his strength to face the Norse godster, and that was why he brought so many of his minions. Only when morning came, Hades realized that by taking his time and trying to defeat Isis only with his lost basic skills was a mistake. Not to mention, things already stabilized on both battlefields, so the demons and Cursed ghosts stopped making any progress. "No more games¡­" Hades said and then sighed before raising his sword. Isis prepared for another attack, but no sphere of dark energy appeared this time. Instead of that, the wind changed its direction, and she felt like Hades was making somethinge from the other battlefield. That wasn''t good¡­ Isis''s instincts were telling her that she had to defeat Hades as fast as possible. Just holding back and waiting for Loki wouldn''t be enough. Isis pped her hands in front of herself, and then the whole desert trembled. Hades was waiting for arge-scale version of sma Spear toe, but it seemed that Isis was returning to the basics again. However, her basic skills were on a whole different level. The sand began to rise and engulfed the Cursed spirits, with the exception of a few. They were trapped in an Isis trap made of sand. Hades didn''t think that wasn''t supposed to be possible, but¡­ he knew not to underestimate the enemy on their turf. Hades could feel the Cursed spirits being sealed, but he paid no mind to it. Before Isis could even reach the halfway point of sealing that army, she saw herself surrounded by many other Cursed spirits. "The spirits of the demons and corrupted monsters¡­" Isis muttered. Isis had imagined that Hades was preparing to do something with the spirits. Still, she didn''t imagine that it was the spirits of the other battlefield. She had messed up, and thanks to it, she was stuck in a vortex of spirits, and she couldn''t even see the exterior. Isis attacked the walls made of ghosts with her sma Bullets, and while she destroyed one of them, it didn''t make any hole in it. Another ghost came and took its ce. As if things weren''t bad enough, Isis lost control over the sand she had used to seal the other Cursed spirits. "Now, if you escape this, I would dare say that you are the best mage that I have ever fought," Hades said. Considering his words, it was pretty evident that no one escaped that kind of attack. If Isis had heard of something simr, she might have the chance to find a way out, but that was actually the first time she saw an attack like that. Suddenly, the vortex increased in speed and then began to shrink. Considering what she saw, Isis concluded that the vortex created a barrier that cut contact between the interior and the exterior. It was even more powerful than a barrier of a domain, as if it wasn''t enough, the space inside could bepressed¡­ Even if Isis survives the effects of the spirits, she will be crushed. "Hmm¡­ what to do?" Isis crossed her arms and began to think. Isis looked pretty calm despite her current predicament. The reason for that was because she was thousands of years old. She had seen death in front of her more than a few dozen times. "Well, first of all, let''s recover my mana," Isis said and then began to emit her pollen with both hands. Due to the speed of the vortex, the spirits barely had the time to be touched by the pollen. In fact, the movement was making the pollen stay away. That being said, while it wasn''t much, Isis was recovering some of her mana. At some point, the pollen will be so dense due to thepressed space that she will recoverrge amounts of mana. Still, considering the speed and the remaining time she has, that wouldn''t solve the problem. Before long, Isis saw herself confined inside the vortex that now was just a few couple meters wide. She was running out of time, and yet, she didn''t find a solution. She wasn''t underestimating Hades but dying right now would be really embarrassing considering that her far weaker allies had aplished some impressive feats. In the end, Isis realized that she didn''t have time for any smart n. So, she just used her big guns. She bombarded a single spot in front of her with a massive torrent of sma Arrows. sma spears could cause more damage, but their area of effect was pretty wide. Not to mention, Isis decided to make use of the bonuses of her many archery skills. Chapter 853 - Indeed Hades watched Isis attacking a part of the vortex with her sma Arrows in amazement as the mana on them caused explosions inside the ce and slowly began to wound her. Despite that, Isis didn''t stop, and much to his annoyance, the explosions inside the vortex made it lose speed. "What a troublesome woman¡­" Hades said and then sighed. Logic says that mages aren''t good at taking damage. To some extent, that also applies to elder gods. Still, despite that, Isis kept attacking the vortex until she caused so much damage to it that it began to lose its stability. Eventually, it became so unstable that it was destroyed alongside all spirits inside it thanks to explosions caused by sma Arrows. Hades sighed because the other battlefield already had more than half of bothbatants, so he won''t be able to use the same spell. Regardless, in a certain way, the spell did its job. Isis escaped, but she was bleeding, and she was also exhausted since the damage took a good part of her stamina. Suddenly, Isis used her spiritual royal guard. While Hades was protecting himself from their attacks, she began to heal herself. Hades teleported and attacked her from the front. Still, Isis had anticipated that and fired toward him a massive burst of wind and pollen. That made her gain some distance over him, as well as make him unable to move for a short while. Using all the mana she gained recently, Isis raised her hand, and then a massive pir of the sma fell from the sky and hit Hades. Even though he reacted fast enough to use his sword to block some of the damage, he felt that. It onlysted for a couple of seconds, but his dark armor suffered some damage, and even his body got burned in some parts. "Are you done now?" Hades asked after he realized that Isis used all her remaining mana. "Almost," Isis replied. Hades noticed that her royal guard was attacking him again, and he couldn''t tell the point since their attacks didn''t have any divinity. All the damage caused by them would be minimal. Still, then he noticed that a vast amount of energy wasing from the other battlefield¡­ no, it was beyond that. Hades didn''t like that. It seemed that Isis could also use the environment in her favor, and since she was a master using magic, her effectiveness would be much higher. Hades swung his sword and cut the air, but Isis was the one who got cut in the end. A part of her neck suddenly disappeared, but she kept concentrating and ignored the pain. Unfortunately, Hades swung his sword and made disappear several parts of her body. He even teleported and pierced her heart with his sword at thest moment, but he didn''t in time. He finally saw what seemed to be a spiritual floating river approaching Isis and restoring her bodypletely. Even her mana was recovered and was increasing beyond her limits¡­ Hades had heard that when she wishes for it, Isis can draw power from the Nile. Thergest river that gives life to a massive part of Egypt, but he didn''t imagine it would be that much. With that in mind, the other Olympian gods imagined hades would have better chances in defeating Isis since he also could borrow a lot of power from external forces such as spirits of the dead, and since a massive battlefield had taken ce, Hades indeed almost killed Isis. Hades sighed¡­ his allies really should have worked harder to convince her to join their side. Even if she wasn''t Greek, she would be a powerful ally that would manage to wipe their enemies easily under the right circumstances. In the end, Hades summoned his cursed spirits to the tip of his sword because Isis was preparing another big attack. Just as he had predicted, another massive sma pir fell from the sky and hit him. Despite using his spirits as a shield, Hades was pushed back to the ground, and once again, the entire desert began to tremble. Even Femradiel, who was almost fifty kilometers away, felt that an attack that probably could destroy a small country had been used. When Femradiel used irvoyance, she only saw Hades been melted by a massive pir of condensed energy. Still, despite that, she felt that something was off. He was supposed to be feeling excruciating pain. Still, he never let go of his sword, and his sword didn''t suffer any damage either. Isis furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Hades'' true form. When his body was destroyed, he assumed his spiritual form, and he still could even hold his sword. Most elder gods could fight in that form. Some were even stronger in it. That was why Isis was nning to seal Hades, but she didn''t imagine that he wouldn''t pass out while his entire body was being destroyed. "You seem exasperated, Isis," Hades said. "Annoying is more appropriate," Isis said. "Regardless, it doesn''t matter." "Indeed¡­ it really doesn''t matter," Hades nodded and smiled. Hades'' army had been destroyed when he tried to protect himself, so he didn''t have any reason to feel that confident. However, once again, Isis was reminded of what type of god he was¡­ little by little, once again, the spirits of the other battlefield flew toward him, and this time, Hades absorbed them. When that happened, his spiritual body increased in size, and his presence also grew more powerful. Isis couldn''t help but sigh¡­ he was really troublesome. "You take power from the river that has been helping your people for thousands of years, and I receive power from the spirits of the dead¡­" Hades said. "Shall we see which source of power is the greatest?" "But of course," Isis said. There was only a problem. Isis couldn''t receive power from the Nile whenever she wishes for it. To receive that massive amount of energy, she had to wait for a full day... Isis couldn''t help but wonder. Maybe she should have asked about Athena''s n to defeat Hades. Chapter 854 - Spirit It wasn''t actually the most reliable way to defeat an elder god in his spiritual form, but Isis quickly came up with one. When Hades flew to attack her again, Isis bombarded him with special arrows. Hades frowned since they didn''t have any divinity and the mana on them was also low, so he decided to just let them hit him. However, he regretted that a little when the arrows touched and stole his mana. It stole a minimal amount of mana, but Hades could see what Isis was nning. "That is a useless effort," Hades said. "I don''t think that any effort is useless," Isis said. Hades charged once again, and this time, Isis attacked him from all directions with her arrows. In order not to make the same mistake twice, Hades activated Mana Barrier, and Isis''s arrows were repelled. She nned to use the desert as a weapon again, but Hades was hit by some lightning bolts before that could happen. The damage caused was once again minimal, but Hades was forced to stop because he didn''t expect to be interrupted. When he looked in that direction, he saw Furball and the Drake familiar of Femradiel preparing another attack. Lightning attacks were near impossible to dodge, even more so considering that Hades had a sword with him. "Well, this is a bit unexpected, don''t you think, Hades?" Isis smiled. "You asked for help from insects like this?" Hades asked. "I am disappointed, Isis." "I didn''t ask. They came from their own volition," Isis replied. "They are well-trained creatures since they are willing to risk their necks to fight you. Well, while they can''t actually die, I don''t want to disappoint my allies. So, I will finish you before that can happen." Fighting from a distance was more her style, but Isis recognized that the situation required her to adapt. It was the perfect chance to decrease the power of the Olympian gods, so she couldn''t let that opportunity go to waste. Using all her mana, Isis covered her body with sma Armor. The spell wouldn''tst for long, so she couldn''t waste time. As soon as that was finished, she dashed toward Hades. Hades couldn''t help but frown when he saw a punch moving toward his face at insane speeds and was forced to block it with his sword. His spiritual body, alongside his sword, was pushed back several meters¡­ that wasn''t supposed to be the punch of a master mage. He assumed that sma Armor increased Isis''s parameters quite a bit. "Hmm? I see¡­ you sure like to insist in the same tactics," Hades muttered when he noticed that some of his mana had been drained Isis attacked. If Isis was even relying on that, it means that she couldn''t keep sma Armor active for long, so Hades understood that he just had to stall for time, and eventually, Isis would self-destruct. However, Isis, more than anyone knew that, and she charged toward Hades. The Greek god of the underworld began to teleport away from Isis, but he never got too far away from her. Even though she was just flying toward him, somehow, Isis was able to predict the ces where he was going to appear next, probably because of her skills with magic. In one of those times, Isis increased his speed and thennded another hit. Hades showed an annoyed expression when he blocked the attack, and his sword began to vibrate thanks to the impact¡­ Isis probably used the time while she was pursuing him to charge Concentrated Strike. That wasn''t good. Even Hades'' sword was starting to lose durability. In order to discourage her, Hades summoned some small spheres of dark energy and fired toward her, but Isis ignored those even when she was hit. Thanks to that, she had another chance to attack, and Hades used his sword to block again. However, maybe due to the fact that he got used to it, he didn''t expect that Isis would teleport in thest moment to behind him. Shended an incredible punch that made Hades fell on the ground and made a massive curtain of dust rose in the desert. Weirdly enough, the curtain was only raised because of the sword since Hades didn''t have a physical form at the moment. The sword was also what prevented him from keeping falling while passing through the soil. Isis frowned when she saw that¡­ why Hades was trying so hard to hold the sword? Thanks to that stubbornness, he suffered a lot of damage¡­ it wasn''t like he could only use the sword to attack in that spiritual form. "Oh¡­ I get it," Isis smiled after she muttered that. Isis flew to attack Hades again, and this time, she moved even faster. When she got close enough, Hades used Mana Barrier since he didn''t want to lose his sword. Still, then he opened his eyes widely when instead of punching, she touched the barrier with both hands and enveloped it with her mana-eating pollen. That was an even nastier way to steal his mana since Mana Barrier was directly connected to his mana pool. Hades was forced to deactivate the spell. Otherwise, Isis would only be annoying for longer, but that had been a bad move as well. Isisbined a Wind Cannon with her pollen, and then she enveloped Hades'' sword with it. At that moment, Hades lost his sense of touching from his sword¡­ "Shit¡­" Hades muttered as he watched Isis approaching him. Hades tried to escape and buy time to use Absolute Purification enough times to get rid of the pollen. Still, in the end, Isis grabbed his sword and prevented him from escaping. While Hades'' sword canceled the effects of pollen earlier, it was due to the fact that Hades still had a body then. Now that he lost his body, his sword had be a medium that granted him the chances to use certain skills¡­ most likely, the sword had been made using his own body, possibly his blood. That was why Hades never let the sword go, and that was why the pollen worked now¡­ since his whole spirit was connected to the weapon. Chapter 855 - Gloves Of The Lost Souls Isis began to punch Hades like there was no tomorrow, while she wasn''t exactly a master at close-rangebat. She had fought many monsters, so she knew what to do and what not to do. With her right hand, Isis punched and stole Hades'' mana, and with the left hand, she emitted the pollen that covered the sword and made him unable to react. Interestingly enough, the more Isis punched Hades, the more she felt refreshed. At the same time, the desert around was slowly changing its shape due to the impact of her fully-powered punches. It took a while, but Hades'' spiritual body began to shrink since he was losing his mana and receiving damage. However, after a couple of hours, when she had the chance to finish him since he had be as small as a sphere that could fit in her hands, Isis stopped attacking. "¡­ Why did you stop now?" Hades looked bored out of his mind even though he got one hell of a beating. "Did you stop to add some dramatic effect to the fight?" "While I don''t like you, I don''t have any reasons to kill you," Isis replied. "Besides, I can still use you to help me in the future." In the end, Isis also used Seal on Hades. Since she took a liking to fight with her fists, she decided to seal him on some gloves made of mithril that she had in her spatial storage. She never used them, but she wasn''t crazy enough to throw away anything made of mithril. After she used Seal, Isis also gained a portion of Hades'' power. Gloves of the Lost Souls Effect: it grants you the power to charge these gloves with the souls of your defeated foes. For each soul in those gloves, your strength will increase by two points. After thirty seconds without collecting any souls, the effect will dissipate. Strength + 3000, Speed + 1500, Endurance + 1500 Durability: 2000/2000 "Impressive, as expected of your soul, Hades," Isis said. In the end, Hades decided not to reply. It didn''t seem like he was a sore loser, but he also didn''t think that he had to be friendly to the one who defeated him. Regardless, Isis sighed in relief since she somehow managed to defeat Hades. Even though he was an enemy, he wasn''t expecting to fight. She was forced to show many cards that she was nning to hide to use against other opponents, but it couldn''t be helped¡­ After turning around, Isis realized that things were about to end on the other battlefield as well. The reason for that was that Femradiel finally created her Tyrant familiar. ----- ----- Tyrantiel (Ice Tyrant)- Lv 40 Health: 125.000 Mana: 95.000 Stamina: 75.000 Strength: 12500 Dexterity: 800 Speed: 2000 Intelligence: 10000 Endurance: 20000 Control: 2000 Mentality: 9000 Luck: 4000 Recovery: 50000 Willpower: 9000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Ice Touch Lv 80, Freezing Step Lv 70¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv 60, Bronze Skin Lv 60, Steel Skin Lv 60, Health Boost Lv 50, Spells: Ice Armor Lv 60, Ice Breath Lv 50, Cold Ingestion Lv 50 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Cold Immunity Lv 150, Cold Absorption Lv 100, Freeze Resistance Lv 550¡­ Femradiel couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear. Even though her new familiar was at a low level, the creature already could do whatever it wants on that battlefield against the demons. While it was slow since it was more than one hundred meters long, it could ignore the attacks of most demons and kill some of them just by stepping on them. As if that wasn''t enough, it could turn the creatures that got touched by it into ice, and then it could absorb the ice and replenish its energy. It took quite a while to obtain all the mana to create something as powerful as that, even though Femradiel killed hundreds of thousands of enemies and even made use of Lust Conversion throughout the whole night. Some people even looked at her with suspicious eyes when she was breathing hard with a red face. That was the price she had to pay to use Lust Maniption and Lust Conversion at the same time. "Ryan was right¡­ I should have created this sooner," Femradiel said while she was standing above the head of her new familiar. Femradiel will need to recharge Soul Eater, but she decided to do thatter. After fighting so hard for so many hours, she decided to rest and fight only using her magic bows. Since there were still many flying enemies, she had the perfect excuse to do that. Things were progressing well, and things improved even more when she noticed that Hades'' presence had changed and became simr to the elder gods that Ryan had defeated. "She really did it¡­ even without a n," Femradiel said, visibly surprised. "Even without having any prior knowledge about Hades'' skills¡­ Maybe I was mistaken when I found weird elder gods trying to work with Ryan." Regardless, Isis returned to her domain, and Femradiel resumed her hunting. The number of corpses around was so massive that the area around the city didn''t seem like a desert. People barely could find spots on the ground that weren''t filled with blood or corpses, after all. In any case, Femradiel already could see the end in sight of that battle. They assumed that they would have to fight back and defend the ce for several days, but that victory only showed that they had underestimated their own powers¡­ not to mention Ryan didn''t even participate on that one. After a couple of minutes, Femradiel finally bombarded thest demons with arrows and ended the fight. The survivors were exhausted and sad about their losses. Isis had at least fifty thousand people working for her in Cairo, but at least fifteen thousand¡­ despite that, the survivors raised their arms and celebrated. Against all the odds, they survived one heck of a battle, so they deserved at least that much. Chapter 856 - Hobby? While the people of Cairo were celebrating outside, in the Void World, Ryan reached a level where he could take the attacks of dozens of powerful monsters without letting his anger get the better of him. It was quite the progress, considering how short-fused he was. In any case, he was waiting patiently for the news outside and considering that the spell was still working. Femradiel was alive and fighting. That was good. Considering that she didn''te to inform him of anything, Ryan assumed that she was too busy¡­ that wasn''t good. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to be a Lord of the Ice Foxes. The effects of the skills Frozen Arrow, Water Maniption, and Icebound have doubled. "Finally¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Most of Ryan''s mana was being used to heal himself from the damage he was constantly receiving, but the rest that was free, he used to train some of his skills and thus, obtained an upgrade in one of his bloodlines. While he had nned to upgrade the ones that increase his health and endurance first, he made some adjustments becausetely, Ryan had been using water and ice magic quite a bit. "... It seems Furball is still alive, so I guess they don''t need my help outside. "Ryan said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Did I train them well or¡­" Ryan shook his head before weird thoughts could make him think weird things. That is why he doesn''t like to stay idle¡­ it is because he starts to doubt himself despite his aplishments. While Ryan was thinking about that, the monsters suddenly disappeared, and then Femradiel and Furball appeared. This time he couldn''t help but wonder if she had been spying on him, but he shook his head when he saw her lying on the ground. She really looked exhausted. "So tired¡­" Femradiel said and then let out a long sigh. "I need a massage, Ryan." "And I need a report," Ryan said. "What happened? I only know that you defeated Lilith." "Well, not much happened," Femradiel said. "I killed a few million demons and corrupted monsters, created a tyrant familiar, and then Isis defeated Hades. The end." Ryan sighed, he assumed that Femradiel liked the sound of her voice, but it seemed that not even that was enough to motivate her at the moment. After giving her a massage, Femradiel felt a little better and, this time, didn''t skip the details. Right at that moment, the survivors were dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Treating the wounded and getting rid of the corpses, after all, even in the desert, a massive sea of bodies might spread diseases in Cairo. That was thest thing they needed since the war had just started. "How is my condition?" Ryan asked. "Your fever has decreased again, and now we can''t fry an egg on your forehead alone," Femradiel replied. "However, you need to wait for a while longer. Otherwise, your body will suffer from strain, and all the progress you made will be for naught. Isis and I agree that you should wait until you arepletely fine." "Shit¡­" Ryan said and then clicked his tongue. "Don''t worry about that. There are still many others that we will have to fight," Femradiel said. "Rather than that, when did you be so bloodthirsty?" Ryan didn''t answer that because he couldn''t find an answer that wouldn''t trouble him. Regardless, he thought that sparing with the elder gods would help him with that, but it didn''t. Ryan didn''t have obligations to anyone, but he still couldn''t just sit still and wait while some battles were happening that might decide the fate of the. "What do you think?" Femradiel asked after summoning the ice tyrant. "Much cooler than you had imagined, right?" "As usual, your naming sense sucks," Ryan said. The creature was essentially a copy of the crystal tyrant they faced before, but it was mostly blue, and the scales around its body were made of crystalized ice. It even had some special skills, one that would be really useful on Femradiel and Ryan''s hands, but it wasn''t something they could find in the dungeon shop yet. "What name do you think would be better?" Femradiel asked. "Lustiel¡­ wait, that would fit you better, right?" Ryan asked with a scary smile on his face. "What are you talking about?" Femradiel asked while looking away. "You see, I had a lot of time to talk with Lilith. While she wasn''t cooperative at first, I persuaded her just as I do with Belphegor," Ryan said. "So, she told me that you fought her alone¡­ why were you so desperate to obtain her power?" "For no particr reason¡­" Femradiel replied, still avoiding Ryan''s eyes. "... You need to improve your acting skills," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Anyway, good work on defeating her and protecting the city." "Thanks, finally some proper words of gratitude!" Femradiel said and then showed a smug smile. "I worked pretty hard while you were having your vacation here." "Getting carried away, aren''t we?" Ryan Shrugged. "Regardless, rest as long as you can. The fight just started, and we still need to keep track of the situations in the east and north. There is also the chance that the other demon generals will try to avenge Lilith, so we aren''t entirely free of worriesing from the south." "It will be hard to rx if you keep saying things like that," Femradiel said. "Anyway, I am going to sleep a little." Ryan wouldn''t have the chance to train his resistances while she sleeps there. After all, the monsters were quite noisy with their attacks. Once Ryan noticed that Femradiel really fell asleep, he began to worry again about the fact that he hadn''t done anything meaningful in several weeks. "I need to find a hobby that isn''t rted to fighting¡­ unfortunately, I think it is a bit toote for that," Ryan thought while he was imagining what was going to happen in the next few weeks. Chapter 857 - Lets Do This Without monsters to hit him, Ryan used the few poison and darkness-rted skills he could use to train his body. He also used Light Solidification; there was no telling when he was going to face an enemy that can use that kind of skill. Femradiel was so exhausted that she slept for three days straight in the Void World. While time there passed faster ifpared to the reality that still showed how taxing the previous battle had been. When Femradiel woke up, she did so fast that Ryan couldn''t help but frown. It seemed that something in the real world had caught her attention. "Sorry, but I am leaving again," Femradiel said and then got up and then summoned the double number of monsters as before. . "Have fun while you train with them." "Wait! At least exin to me what happened," Ryan said. "I am going to find out. I will return soon with more details," Femradiel replied and then disappeared. Ryan clicked his tongue and then sighed. He had imagined how useful the Void world would be in their hands, but now that he could use it, it became a troublesome ce where his patience was being tested every single moment. However, much sooner than he had expected, he forgot about that. He had absolute faith in Femradiel, after all ----- ----- As soon as she woke up, Femradiel teleported to where she could sense Isis''s presence. Only three hours had passed since the end of the battle, so she was overseeing the clean-up while standing at the top of her walls. "Did you call me?" Femradiel asked. "I received an update about the situations on the other battlefields," Isis said. "Athena still is fighting the demons in the East with her army. It seemed that the other Greek gods couldn''t spare anyone to help her. They did that to surprise the Norse gods, and now they are fighting dozens of kilometers away from the Mediterranean sea. It seems they didn''t inform Athena again, and my guess is that they are starting to suspect her." "But since only Loki is on our side, and he is trying to mess with the other Norse gods, it doesn''t make any sense. Why would they do that?" Femradiel asked. "Considering Athena''s behavior, she wouldn''t ally with them¡­ at least most of them seem like the type who Athena would absolutely hate." "Still, since the Norse gods were caught off guard, they will assume several things. Some might thing that Athena is in a difficult spot," Isis said. "So, once we have the chance, we will have to defeat all of them before they can turn to attack her. The surprise attack will be much more effective than we can ever imagine." "That goes without saying, in any case, how are the first impressions of their battle?" Femradiel asked. "The Greek gods are just attacking with their monsters and are waiting for one of the most hot-blooded warriors on the other side to lose their patience and expose themselves," Isis exined. "The most troublesome one is Thor, but even if he exposes himself, he won''t go down that fast. Loki must be giving them warnings about possible threats so that he won''t show up anytime soon. If either Tyr or Baldr makes a mistake, the Greek gods will try to kill them instantly, even if they had to attack using four or five of theirs." Femradiel nodded. It was only obvious that they would do that since they lost Hades, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Thanatos, and Hypnos. While they still have more minor deities, it was hard to imagine the weakest ones fighting on equal standing against the strongest ones on the other side, even if they had a few tricks up their sleeve. "I assume you nned to do something since you called me and all," Femradiel said. "Attacking and defeating another demon general might help us a lot in the long run." "That would normally be my next move, but since things might change any moment now that the Greek and Norse gods are fighting, we shouldn''t take those risks," Isis exined. "I decided that it would be better if we use some way to lure a few of the Greek gods away from the battle. Once they realize that they have the upper hand, the Norse gods will attack with full force, and then Loki will have his chance to move." "That seems like a good n¡­ in theory," Femradiel said. "How are we going to lure some of the elder gods away from the battle, and can we defeat a few of them at the same time?" Femradiel asked. "Under normal conditions, that wouldn''t be possible, but we will use the power you received recently, and I will be there to back you up," Isis exined. "If you use Lilith power, Aphrodite will probably be attracted to it. The Greek gods will think that you are nning to make use of the confusion just like them, and they will send one or two to help Aphrodite. She definitely will try to be the one to strike you down. I understand if you don''t feel confident in this n. Even though I am aware that this is a huge bet, still, if we are going to do this, we will have to do it now." Femradiel wondered what Ryan would think if she epted a risky n like that. While he was always trying not to show his feelings, it was evident that he worried about her well-being. However, Femradiel was also aware that she and her friends were still in the worst situation. If either the Greek or Norse gods decide to attack them at the same time, they won''t survive. That was why the chance of taking two or three of them down at the same time was valuable like on others. Hopefully, Loki will manage to take at least one of the Norse gods. "All right, let''s do this," Femradiel said. Chapter 858 - Sketchy After epting the offer, Femradiel and Isis began to prepare, but before that, she had to find a proper exnation to convince Ryan. Lying was the easiest way out, but Femradiel knew that Ryan wouldn''t take that well, even if it were for the sake of the group. In the end, she decided not to y a game with words and just told the truth. "I thought Isis was calmer than this," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now, I can see that she is quite the gambler. Anyway¡­ it seems you are bound to receive some suspicious powers. Are you nning to brainwash me or something with them?" "That is your concern after hearing the n?" Femradiel frowned. "That is right, if you defeat Aphrodite, you will have the absolute power to enchant others, and with Lilith''s power, I doubt that anyone will be able to resist you if you try to mess with their lust," Ryan said. "Humph, it is not like I need any of those powers," Femradiel said after she snorted. "It is just a coincidence that I am obtaining them." "Well, it is important to have confidence if anything else," Ryan shrugged. "I wish you luck with the next battle." "So¡­ aren''t you going to nag and say that is too risky?" Femradiel frowned. "If you know that much and still are willing to do it, it means that you have thought things through," Ryan said. "You don''t seem particrly suicidal today, so I can say for sure that you think that you can pull this off. Besides, you don''t need my permission to do anything. We are partners, not ves and masters." Femradiel had something on her chest that she couldn''t describe with words. It was quite a weird moment to feel like that, but in the end, she let those feelings control her, and she jumped onto Ryan''s arms and hugged him tightly. Once she got a small dose of what she wanted, she whispered into Ryan''s ears. "I love you, Ryan," Femradiel. "Well¡­ I don''t dislike you," Ryan forced a smile. "Again, with that evasive answer¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "I have been working very hardtely, and once Ie back, I will want a better reward than this." "How about ice cream or chocte cake?" Ryan asked. "A much, much better reward," Femradiel said and then looked Ryan in the eye. "I suppose Lilith''s power is making you show your true nature more often now," Ryan said and then looked away while smiling. "Well, I''d better get going," Femradiel said and then showed a sweet smile. Once Femradiel left, Ryan couldn''t help but sigh. He was getting pissed at himself now¡­ he couldn''t take the next steps when ites to his love life, and now he was feeling miserable thanks to that and thanks to the fact that he couldn''t help at such an important time. "What am I going to do with myself at this rate?" Ryan asked and then sighed. Before resuming his training, Ryan took his time to stare at the ocean and wonder why he was feeling like that. His need to prove himself and have some confidence weren''t only thanks to the fact that Mia cheated on him. Since he idolized her in his youth, he couldn''t help but think that he was inadequate to her. Once they somehow started going out, those feelings only got stronger. He worked hard in all senses to be someone who deserved her, and once he lost her due to the situations of life, his pride and self-confidence suffered a lot more damage. He needed to prove himself constantly, and he was fearing that eventually, the same things would repeat themselves or that Femradiel was starting to be better than him. "Such annoying feelings¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. ----- ----- After finishing their preparations, Isis and Femradiel met at the wall. Things on the base will stay under themand of Mohammed, but even he couldn''t help but worry considering that the leader of the ce was going to leave to fight some elder gods away from their base. Isis had already used the power of the Nile that day. So, she wouldn''t be able to use her trump card. Femradiel decided to leave her tyrant familiar if something happened, but it wasn''t the same thing. "We are going to Turkey," Isis dered. "Athena is fighting in Syria, so if something happens, we will be able to count on her, but we should try to solve the situation ourselves in order to prevent her workload from increasing." "All right," Femradiel nodded. "If we have the chance to choose, you can fight Aphrodite," Isis said. "Why? Are you assuming as well that I am nning to do something with her powers?" Femradiel frowned. "No¡­ I just thought it would be better if you fight her since you have been leveling up your Charm Resistance as ofte," Isis replied. "I assumed that you were nning to deal with Lilith and Aphrodite because they might brainwash Ryan with their powers, but I guess Ryan already put a doubt in your mind." "Let''s go already¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. Isis teleported both of them at the same time to Istanbul, the capital of Turkey had beenpletely abandoned due to the fact that Norse gods and Greek gods were about to go at each other''s throats. Just using your powers won''t be convincing. You will need to use it to clear some dungeons. If you use Lust Maniption to brainwash some monsters and make them guard the dungeons, it should be enough. "Herees the worst part of this job¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. While pretty much everyone was thinking that she was nning to do something sketchy with those powers, Femradiel really hated using it like that. She was that prideful, after all. Instead of using such indirect ways, she was the type who would decimate the enemies with brute strength. In any case, she began to work while Isis hid her presence. Chapter 859 - Geomancer Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Frozen Knight, Raider, and Geomancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Geomancer! You obtained the following skills: Geomancy, Earthquake, and Wrath of Earth. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points, your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Geomancy. Effect: it grants you the power to manipte earth freely. This skill also increases the power of all earth-rted skills by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Earthquake. Effect: It grants you the power to cause an earthquake causing massive damage. Cost: 3000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wrath of Earth. Effect: It grants you the power to summon several earth spikes to pierce several targets at the same time. Cost: 1000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. After clearing some dungeons, Femradiel finally obtained a pretty good ss. Leveling up easily in some sses was always good, but in the end, few things could bepared to the feeling of obtaining a new ss. Femradiel''s army of monsters brainwashed thanks to the power of Lust was increasing by the minute, so she couldn''t help but worry about when the enemies were going to show up. That kind of army really made her feel ufortable, after all. Fortunately, it looked like the wait was over. Femradiel suddenly felt two presences appearing nearby, and they seemed pretty powerful. She tried to keep doing her own things in order to fool them, but that only gave a chance for the enemies to attack her. A beam of light fell from the skies and then hit the area where Femradiel was. The temperature didn''t increase suddenly. It immediately burned everything around Femradiel. Thanks to Death Sense, Femradiel used Teleport and escaped on time, but¡­ she couldn''t help but look at the massive hole in the ground left by the attack¡­ It was quite impressive that a beam of light alone managed to do that. Helios ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Aphrodite ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? It seemed that Isis''s stealth skills were really something else. To think that only two Greek gods woulde, and one of them was a minor deity like Helios. In theory, that was the best oue, but considering Helios'' previous attack, Femradiel knew that theory wasn''t everything. Helios was a blond young-looking man wearing light silver armor. Weirdly enough, he didn''t have any weapon with him, but he had a chariot that wasn''t being pulled by anything. Despite that, he looked pretty serious about the fight or the fact that the enemy was Femradiel. As for Aphrodite, even Femradiel couldn''t help but gulp while looking at her. It wasn''t weird, but it seemed that her charm powers were highly effective even against females, even though Femradiel trained her charm resistance like crazy. Or maybe it wasn''t due to her powers, but her real appearance. Aphrodite was a redhead beauty that had emerald-like green eyes. She had a pretty curvy body and lustrous lips, but the little fat she had was in the right ces. Looking at her massive chest and very thin robe, Femradiel already could feel her shoulders getting sore. "As expected, Ryan shouldn''t really fight that¡­" Femradiel thought. "It is too dangerous in many ways..." As much as he tried to deny it, Ryan had an attraction to redheads. They made an even more troublesomebination when they had green eyes; it was almost his Achilles'' heel. Regardless, before anyone could make any move, Aphrodite stared at Femradiel as if she were her archenemy. Femradiel couldn''t remember doing anything against her aside fromying that trap. Still, she wasn''t that much worried about stares. Suddenly, Isis finally reappeared and then grabbed Helios by the neck, and she teleported both of them to somewhere else. While that happened, Aphrodite didn''t even blink¡­ it almost looked like she had been waiting for that. "Give me that bow that has the spirit of Lilith, and I swear it that I won''t do anything against you, dragon woman," Aphrodite said. "I won''t take a no for an answer." Aphrodite''s voice was quite beautiful and sweet. Even though she was angry, one couldn''t feel that threatened while listening to her angry voice. Naturally, Femradiel just ignored and tried to analyze Aphrodite with her eyes this time. However, she couldn''t find any trace of a warrior on her, not even the presence of a mage or of an archer. That was quite weird, but that didn''t surprise Femradiel. "Here is my counteroffer: leave the and swear not to return, and I might give you the bow," Femradiel said. "No, wait... you have to ask nicely too." Aphrodite slowly pped her hands, and Femradiel summoned the crossbow that increases her intelligence for a time when she hits the enemy. Without holding back, she pulled the trigger, but as soon as Aphrodite closed her eyes, the bolt stopped midair, ten meters away from her. "This is going to be a pain in the ass¡­" Femradiel thought when she realized that Aphrodite didn''t use any skills or mana to block her attack. Regardless, Femradiel still had some ideas she needed to test before doing anything. Hopefully, that won''t put her on a difficult spot... Chapter 860 - Interesting... Femradiel began to fly around the abandoned city and kept attacking Aphrodite, but even though the Greek goddess of love didn''t move an inch or used any mana, she still blocked her bolts. Long-ranged attacks weren''t effective but then trying to fight up close without fully understanding the enemies'' ability wouldn''t improve anything. When Femradiel stopped attacking for a second to analyze Aphrodite''s actions, she suddenly was hit by something in the stomach. It didn''t feel like a punch or kick, but it wasn''t sharp like a weapon either. However, Death Sense alerted her, and she moved her head to the left side, and then something sharp scratched her right cheek. Femradiel began to fire again as she flew in circles around Aphrodite. She touched her face and confirmed that blood was flowing from the wound¡­ she was supposed to have a high endurance and mentality, so the invisible attack wasn''t something tough at. "She is using her special powers to defend herself¡­ is she unable to attack and defend at the same time, or is this just a trap?" Femradiel wondered. Femradiel couldn''t tell, and most likely, unless Aphrodite messes up, she won''t be able to confirm anything. It looked like she would have to use that crossbowter, so Femradiel summoned the Spiritualist''s Crossbow to confirm something. While she flew around, Femradiel fired dozens of bolts every second, those were supposed to drain mana from the enemies, and they could even drain mana from magic attacks¡­ despite that, Femradiel''s bolts didn''t approach her more than the others. "Something is wrong here¡­" Femradiel thought. While it was only natural that she wouldn''t be able to analyze and understand her enemies'' abilities so fast, Femradiel could smell something amiss on A Aphrodite''s skills. Until now, all the enemies they faced used mana in some way or another. Even to manipte things like direct damage or the deadly sins, they used mana for that, but it seemed that Aphrodite didn''t need mana to do anything. And yet, despite that, her magical presence was on an equal level as the other Olympian gods. Femradiel stopped attacking and then activated the Mana Barrier. At the same time, she used some potions to increase her intelligence and dexterity. However, she was forced to stop when Death Sense alerted her yet again. This time, Femradiel was hit in the left shoulder. Her wild reflexes prevented her from getting her heart pierced, but still¡­ that power was worse than she had predicted. "It can''t be helped¡­ even if my attacks aren''t hitting her, I will need the effect of that bow," Femradiel said and then summoned the Long Mithril Bow of the Excitement. Aphrodite showed her displeasure the very moment she began to feel Lilith''s presence. Femradiel didn''t know many myths regarding demons and Greek gods, but it seemed that those two had a certain history¡­ "Are my eyes wrong, or I can see the biggest slut in the universe?" Lilith asked, and she sounded particrly amused. "It has been a while, Aphrodite." "I don''t want to hear that from you who keeps chasing the same filthy demon and never gives up," Aphrodite said, visibly annoyed. "You should be ashamed of yourself, chasing a demon for thousands of years." "I think it is better than opening the legs to almost all Olympian gods," Lilith said and then shrugged. "I can sense your jealousy thousands of kilometers away," Aphrodite said. Femradiel frowned when she heard that exchange, but she didn''t try to stop it since she would need all the time she could get to obtain the status bonus of the bow. They increased their parameters for each minute while fighting the same opponent, after all. Fortunately, her status was increasing, even while those two were insulting each other. In any case, Femradiel wondered if she was weird because she considered the behavior of both of them pretty pathetic. It was fine to pursue love and all, Femradiel was doing that as well, but those were pretty intense about their pursuit and not in a good way. "You can say whatever you want now. I will give you the permission to do so since you are going to disappear soon enough," Aphrodite said. "Once I defeat her, I will erase your existence from this n." "Good luck with that," Lilith said and then began to whisper. "Hey, you¡­ if you promise me that you will kill her, that I will give you a hand on this fight." "I can''t promise anything," Femradiel said. "If I have the chance, I will seal her spirit, but if she proves to be too difficult to deal with, I will have to kill her." "Unless you promise, I won''t help," Lilith said. "That is fine by me," Femradiel said. "I am going to ask Isis if I can make a spatial storage where time can keep passing just like in reality. That way, you two will have a lot of time to talk with each other." That was a pretty annoying thing to say, but in the end, Lilith decided to keep neutral since whatever happens, she will end up losing anyway. Being killed for good and passing the time alone in the same ce with Aphrodite were basically the same thing for Lilith. The fight was resumed, and Femradiel attacked with her new bow. Even though that was one of the strongest weapons in her arsenal, it still was being stopped ten meters away from Aphrodite. Suddenly, Femradiel had an idea¡­ she attacked the Greek goddess of love with a barrage of arrows, and at the same time, she made an ice meteor fall over her. This time, the attack got a bit close, but it was stopped before Aphrodite could be damaged¡­ However, something weird happened, the ice meteor was split in half. "Interesting¡­" Femradiel muttered. Her arrows weren''t stopped like that, so Femradiel assumed that Aphrodite used two types of things to deflect the arrows and to prevent the Ice Meteor. That pretty much was obvious¡­ Still, Femradiel needed to learn more in order to put her n into motion. Chapter 861 - Neat Several hours had passed since the start of the fight. Even though she had gotten considerably stronger, Femradiel didn''t learn much more about Aphrodite''s power or even scratch her. On the other hand, Aphrodite noticed a long time ago that Femradiel was getting stronger, but she didn''t seem worried in the least. That was quite weird considering that the other Greek gods were still fighting indirectly, but they were still fighting. "She didn''t strike me as a calm fighter¡­ but I guess she is only hot-blooded with things rted to love¡­" Femradiel muttered while making a troubled expression. That fight was dragging for too long, and it was the same as giving the enemies the chance to intervene. Fortunately, that didn''t happen until now, but who knows if things will keep going that way forever¡­ Femradiel had to deal with Aphrodite as soon as possible. "I can''t risk using my strongest attack right now since it will drain all my mana," Femradiel thought. "So, I will have to improvise while I try to cause damage and learn more about her powers." Femradiel began to teleport around at supersonic speeds. While Aphrodite seemed like a sensorial type since she fought with her eyes closed during the whole fight, she could only be so fast while relying on reflexes and her weird magic alone. Little by little, Femradiel approached, and when she finally entered Aphrodite''s range. However, Femradiel was suddenly hit by something invisible, and that sent her flying to the left side. Congrattions! Your Pain Resistance has leveled up. Femradiel clicked her tongue when she stopped moving and saw that message. The system didn''t alert her of what kind of attack Aphrodite used, but at least she learned that everything ten meters around here, she could attack near instantly. "The shape of what hit me was¡­ round?" Femradiel frowned. If Femradiel didn''t know any better, she would have said that a shield hit her, but was it possible to create an invisible shield without using mana that still could affect the physical world? Before Femradiel could think more about that, Death Sense warned her again, and this time she teleported to the side instead of just flying. Little by little, Femradiel was learning more about Aphrodite''s powers. They obviously had some limitations. Otherwise, she would have killed Femradiel when she just tried to move to the sides. Since she didn''t do it, most likely, the sharp thing she used before couldn''t split and attack her from many angles. As for the round thing that seemed like a shield, it had a limited range. "I just need to know what those are made of, and then I will be able to act more and put my n into action¡­" Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. As if she was trying to prevent Femradiel from analyzing too much of her skills, Aphrodite finally opened her eyes, and then they emitted a weird glint that made Femradiel feel hot all over her body. However, she solved that by using Lust Maniption. "I suppose lust is only one of the results of love and charm¡­" Femradiel sighed. In any case, Femradiel decided to experiment with something. So, even though that wouldn''t change her overall capabilities, she used Transform and then assumed her previous ice dragon form. Without wasting any more time, she used Ice Breath and also used Mana Maniption to increase its power. Thanks to the massive Ice Breath, she is the shape of the thing that was protecting Aphrodite. Just as she had imagined, it was round, and it also had ten meters of radius. Aphrodite couldn''t help but frown slightly, considering that Femradiel managed to find the exact proportions of her invisible shield. However, that was a minor detail. Aphrodite still knew that her shield and her spear were unlockable. She also made the spear pass through the Ice Breath and show its shape with that in mind. Before she could get hit, Femradiel looked at the path in the Ice Breath. She did go as far as letting it touch her just so that she could see from which direction the invisible wasing from¡­ it came from behind the shield and probably from Aphrodite. Once again, the invisible spear almost reached Femradiel''s heart, but she used Teleport at thest minute to evade it. However, once she returned to her human form, she noticed that the bleeding would be a problem. She quickly healed herself, but then she felt her body getting hot just like before¡­ no, the power of charm was much more intense. She hadbined both of her powers¡­ Femradiel quickly used an enhanced Purification with the power of Mana Maniption, and she recovered some of her reason. She thought that she slowly understood Aphrodite''s powers, but it seemed that she still had many cards up her sleeve. Regardless, Aphrodite used her invisible spear again, and Femradiel resumed the tactic of teleporting around as if that was the only thing she could do. When she got satisfied with her speed, she began to fire arrows as well, but it didn''t matter the angle, all of her projectiles were blocked. She was teleporting so fast that sometimes five to six arrows that he fired at different points hit Aphrodite''s shield. However, thanks to that, Femradiel learned another thing¡­ The spear was controlled by Aphrodite, but the shield wasn''t. She discovered that when Aphrodite tried to pierce from above, but she missed by arge margin. As for the shield, it never failed to protect her¡­ Femradiel decided to put the first part of her n into motion. After teleporting around and attacking with Long Mithril Bow of the Excitement, she suddenly summoned the Absolute Death Crossbow and began to fire. As expected, every time Femradiel pulled the trigger, a concentrated explosion happened right in front of where the shield was supposed to be. However, each attack got closer and closer¡­ after all, that weapon caused extra damage against elder gods and had a high level of divinity. Aphrodite''s tricks were neat, but they weren''t invincible¡­ Chapter 862 - A Bloody Fool Aphrodite''s calm expression finally disappeared when her invisible shield was slowly but surely being pushed backward. However, Femradiel noticed that the shield suddenly stopped retreating¡­ At the same time, Aphrodite stopped trying to attack her with the invisible spear. "Is it a trap, or¡­ is she using the spear to help the shield?" Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. Even though she had to use more mana, Femradiel increased the speed of her attacks, but that didn''t help. Slowly, she began to approach Aphrodite, but the shield followed her whenever she got too close. Even when she tried to hit Aphrodite''s back with the crossbow and then attack the front herself, the shield was always there to get in the way. Regardless, Femradiel had another trick to make Aphrodite lose her range of defense and attack. She stored away the Absolute Death Crossbow and then used the Vengeful Sea Crossbow¡­ the bolts made of water appeared a few centimeters away from Aphrodite. Still, before they could hit her, something else protected her body, and Femradiel could tell that it wasn''t her shield. "She is surprisingly cautious¡­ to think that she would have ast line of defense so close to her body¡­" Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. As if she had gotten sick of that, Aphrodite flew toward Femradiel and then attacked using her spear. Femradiel hid behind a semi-destroyed apartment, but the spear pierced it like it was made of butter. Femradiel used the dust to disappear, but the very moment she used Mana Concealment and tried to run, Aphrodite almost hit her and opened a hole in the ground. The area trembled, and Femradiel realized that Aphrodite really was a sensorial type fighter. Aphrodite insisted on pursuing Femradiel, but she was having a hard time finishing her off. When Feramdiel focused on dodging, it was clear who had the advantage in terms of speed. Using the same weapon won''t work on Femradiel¡­ despite that, Aphrodite insisted. "I didn''t think she would insist on this for so long¡­ well, in a sense, this works for me," Femradiel thought while she was flying and moving away from Aphrodite. Femradiel was gaining more status each minute, so his mana pool was growing in size as well. While it was only temporary, she would need all the help she could get to be able to deliver the final blow once she had the chance. Once again, Femradiel noticed that Aphrodite was running out of patience that happened when the Greek goddess of love finally stopped moving as if she couldn''t care less about the result of the fight. Femradiel frowned, but then she raised her guard when Aphrodite opened her mouth. Some weird vibrations left her mouth, and then those began to spread around the town. While Femradiel wasn''t receiving damage, she could tell that the little vegetation that survived thest year was starting to die. That wasn''t a good sign, so Femradiel tried to move away from Aphrodite, but unfortunately¡­ Teleport didn''t work. "Why is everyone but us able to do this?" Femradiel asked and then sighed. This time, Femradiel could feel the barrier made of mana that Aphrodite had created. It was like five hundred meters wide and tall. So, still, there was plenty of space for her to move¡­ for now. Just like Hades, she probably makes her version of a domain to shrink, and that would be the best-case scenario for Aphrodite. Before she could have the chance to do so, Femradiel decided that it was time to put the second part of her n in action, it was kind of a nasty thing to do, and Femradiel really felt troubled when she decided to use it¡­ but in the end, she actually summoned the Mithril Hammer of the Destruction. "Aphrodite¡­ my love, my reason to live¡­" Hephaestus said. "You fool¡­ not only you ignore the Olympian gods, you still let yourself be defeated and captured like this," Aphrodite said. "You are a disgrace to all the other gods of Olympus." In the end, Hephaestus couldn''t help but just grunt in pain. It seemed that he received some massive damage just by hearing those words from his wife. It was quite weird, though. Femradiel was pretty sure that few people got close to the number of times Hephaestus was cheated on¡­ despite that, the fool still loved her. Putting thatplicated situation aside, Femradiel prepared to fight. While holding the hammer with her two hands, Femradiel dashed toward Aphrodite, and the Greek goddess of love tried to attack her. However, much to her surprise, Femradiel swung her hammer and hit her invisible spear at thest moment. It hadn''t been a lucky attack. Although Femradiel''s advance was stopped, she didn''t mind it. She was actually hoping to have a hard time approaching Aphrodite. While seeing how eager to get close to Femradiel was, Aphrodite used Appraisal and saw what the hammer could do. It was quite the troublesome effect¡­ "You bloody fool¡­ even like this, you still keep causing trouble to us," Aphrodite said, visibly annoyed. Femradiel was pretty sure that Aphrodite caused much more trouble to Hephaestus with her status as the goddess who opens her legs to almost slightly interesting men. However, it wasn''t Femradiel''s ce to tell her that, and if Hephaestus didn''t want to say it, that it only showed how pathetic he was, and he deserved to hear that much. On the next attack, Femradiel surprised Aphrodite by using a Concentrated Strike, and this time. The impact made the hammer emit a glow. The same glow began to pulse as if it was being bombarded for a heart, but Feramdiel could tell that it was just a prettyrge amount of energy stored in there that was ready to be used. Femradiel smirked and then dashed to attack, but then when she tried to strike, Aphrodite used Teleport and appeared a few hundred meters behind her. It seemed that she was quite scared of what would happen if Femradiel unleashes all that extra energy stored. That only made Femradiel look forward tonding a direct hit even more¡­ Chapter 863 - Forgotten Voice Orb While Femradiel was trying to hit Aphrodite with the hammer, Ryan was about to have a pleasant surprise. Those were hard toe bytely. At least that was what Ryan felt, considering that he had to let monsters attack him day and night just for him to wake up faster. Who could have thought that to make his body healthier, he would have to punish his mind? Congrattions! The ss Dark Knight has reached the max level Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a particr ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Death Knight, Saint Knight, and Dark Knight? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Mad Knight. You learned the skills: Supernatural sh, Possession, and Damnation. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by twelve points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by six points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Supernatural sh. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a beam of energy by using a sword as a vessel. The damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + your strength. You will recover your health, mana, and stamina by one percent of the damage caused per level. Cost: 5000 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Possession. Effect: By activating this skill, you can let the souls of the fallen warriors on the battlefield takeover of a part of your mind. Over time, they will consume your health, mana, and stamina, but each spirit will increase all of your statuses by one hundred points. The level of the skill determines how many spirits can possess you. Cost: 500 health, mana, and stamina per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Damnation. Effect: It grants you the power to use the fallen souls and create a massive sphere of energy that can cause damage based on the number of souls. Attention, the souls used will bepletely destroyed. You obtained 01 status point. "What a scary ss and skills..." Ryan frowned. "Well, at least they seem useful enough, despite their risks." Congrattions! You have be the strongest human! Keep clearing dungeons and defeating monsters to keep your rank and in order not to lose your reward! Only the strongest human can keep it! Current Rank: 1st You obtained Forgotten Voice Orb. "What?" Ryan muttered,pletely surprised. It has been a while since Ryan saw his rank changing, and those changes only happened when he cleared a dungeon. That was why that change was suspicious¡­ ording to the system, only killing monsters and clearing dungeons mattered when ites to the rank, and Ryan didn''t do any of those in quite a while. "What the hell is this for?" Ryan frowned when a dark sphere that was floating in front of him appeared. "Hello, Ryan," The sphere said. "It is nice to meet you." Ryan ignored it and tried to use Appraisal on the sphere, but it didn''t work. Things were getting weirder and weirder by the minute¡­ Another thing that Ryan noticed was the fact that the sphere didn''t emit any mana. It didn''t seem like a machine either, so Ryan couldn''t understand how it could fly. "Did you understand me, Ryan?" The sphere asked. "Am I speaking using the correct tongue?" "Yes, you are¡­ what are you anyway?" Ryan asked. "I am the orb of the Forgotten Voice," The sphere said. "That is the name of the person who created me gave me anyway. My previous owner called me "annoying ball," and the other before that called me "stomachache." You can refer to me as you see fit. I won''t mind any names, even if they are insults." "Well, I would mind¡­ I am not a¡­ wait, who created you?" Ryan asked. "I cannot answer that," The sphere said. "It goes against the principles that I was created with." "Is that so¡­ I assume any question rted to your creator is confidential," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, can you answer me if the rank system was part of the mana system from the very beginning?" "Yes, I can. The answer is no," The sphere said. "My creator added this feature on the system without the original creator of the system notice it." "¡­ I see, he is quite the secretive fellow," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Regardless, why he added that?" "To help humans with rewards and for me to be able to stick around with the most appropriate master," The sphere said. "Why help humans, and why do you need to help humans?" Ryan asked. "Well, not like I amining or anything." "That is confidential," The sphere said. "¡­ Which actions and creations of your creator can tell me?" Ryan asked. "I can say that he also created the ss system and that he put the knowledge of the sses in the dungeons to help you, humans," The sphere replied. "However, it seemed that my creator made a few miscalctions." "What kind of miscalctions?" Ryan asked. "By giving your people that they should only be able to obtain after training for countless years, he sped up the return of the elder gods and dungeon masters," The sphere replied. "However, that isn''t the only thing that made that happen." "Aren''t you just giving excuses for the miscalctions of your creator?" Ryan asked. "You can think that is the case if you wish so," The sphere said. "That being said, it is irrefutable the idea that the arrival of the dragons also changed the final destiny of this world." "So, your creator and the person who summoned the dragons aren''t the same person?" Ryan asked. "That is correct," The sphere replied. Deep down, Ryan always wished that they would be the same person that would make things much more straightforward, after all. In any case, Ryan couldn''t imagine a world where he would have survived without the sses, but what if the dragons hadn''te as well? That way, he wouldn''t have met Femradiel¡­ it was better not to think about that. "So, you are here to help me, huh," Ryan asked. "How can you do that?" "My creator is the person who created the sses. So, If you give me enough mana, I can pass to you the knowledge of all sses and make them level up as well with the skills," The sphere said. Chapter 864 - Understanding While Ryan was having time believing in his ears. Femradiel was chasing Aphrodite and was trying to hit her head with the hammer as if that was the most fantastic sport in the world. Aphrodite had imagined that if she waits for a while, the energy in the hammer will dissipate, but things weren''t that simple¡­ So, she decided to change her strategy. It really wasn''t her style, but she decided to give flesh in order to break bones. When Femradiel charged again, she noticed that Aphrodite didn''t try to escape like before. She was obviously nning something. Still, that was a chance that she couldn''t let that chance go. Femradiel tried to smash Aphrodite''s head with all her might, but her invisible shield got in the eye. However, a massive explosion happened, and both of them were sent flying backward. But before she could move more than a few meters, Femradiel felt something piercing her back¡­ it was Aphrodite''s'' spear. Aphrodite missed Femradiel''s heart because the explosion messed with her stance. Despite that, her spear passed through Femradiel''s stomach all the way to the other side. The pain made her almost fall unconscious, but at least she managed to grasp through Aphrodite''s power when she felt her heart getting warm¡­ When Aphrodite stopped flying, she noticed that her shield had cracked a lot. Even if it was the best items she could have, they weren''t invincible. She quickly repaired, but before she could attack again, she noticed that Femradiel waspletely fine. She had healed herself using a part of Lilith''s power. Aphrodite could tell that because of the smell of lust in the air. That being said, she wasn''tpletely fine. Femradiel looked tired. It was only normal after getting wounded like that. Still, it looked like something changed on Femradiel. She looked more focused, and her hammer was now emitting a darker aura. Aphrodite quickly realized what she was doing¡­ she was using Anger Maniption to power up the weapon like an enchantment. "You finally discovered, huh¡­" Aphrodite said. "Yes¡­ you can materialize love and use it to defend and attack¡­ as weird as that sounds," Femradiel said. "I assume that is a special ability of yours that doesn''t require mana. That is why mana can''t do anything against it." Aphrodite didn''t deny that and only confirmed what Femradiel discovered. Most people learn that toote, but she understood everything since Femradiel survived getting hit and almost killed by a spear made of her materialized love. While it wasn''t the same thing, Femradiel could use divinity against Aphrodite''s love, as well as she could use any other feeling that she could materialize. That was supposed to cause more damage against her shield. Aphrodite couldn''t believe that her love could lose to Femradiel''s anger. Still, she was fully aware that she might receive more damage the next time Femradiel charges the hammer for long enough. She wasn''t exactly sturdy, nor was she used to fighting for so long like that. So, she had to finish her as fast as possible. When Femradiel dashed toward her, Aphrodite did the same to surprise her. However, instead of attacking with her spear, Aphrodite teleported to get closer to Femradiel and then touched her in the stomach. Femradiel used Teleport to escape imagining that something else was going to happen, but nothing actually happened. Instead of that, she found Aphrodite smiling in the same ce. The next moment, Femradiel felt her mana being drained from her stomach, and a terrible smell wasing from it. "What is this?" Femradiel covered her nose since the smell was too nauseating. "A little something that I used a few times in the past on those that refused to pay my tribute," Aphrodite replied. "Aphrodite''s Curse¡­ a spell that uses the mana of the cursed ones to create a terrible smell emanates the area. Originally, it made half of the poption of an ind have a lot of trouble. The women emanated the smell, and their husbands refused toy with them. After that, they cheated on them, and they have gone mad and killed all the men on the ind. Naturally, those women refused to pay me tribute. I made some changes, and now this smell has the sole purpose of either suffocate you to death or go mad. Either way, it works fine for me. Just so you know, the smell ispletely useless against me." Femradiel clenched her teeth in annoyance. She didn''t expect that kind of attacking from Aphrodite. Still, the fight wasn''t over yet. Even with one hand alone, Femradiel could pull that off. She was certain of it. Femradiel dashed toward Aphrodite, but she just teleported away. It seemed that she didn''t want to fight anymore. Just wait would be enough. Femradiel clicked her tongue when she noticed that the smell was making her feel dizzy, even though she wasn''t breathing using the nose or the mouth. "Waiting for her to use that won''t be enough. I will have to force her¡­" Femradiel thought. Femradiel suddenly teleported to above Aphrodite and then used Draconic Bow. Aphrodite''s shield worked on time to protect her, but despite that, the explosion forced her to move downward. When all the smoke and dust disappeared, Aphrodite saw Femradiel holding Soul Eater, and then she used Draconic Bow again. Aphrodite clicked her tongue in annoyance, and it was starting to lose herposure. She decided to teleport and escape from the attacks. Still, Femradiel predicted her movements, or maybe it was just her reflexes¡­ either way, the very moment Aphrodite tried to escape, Femradiel would appear close by. While her level of divinity still was low, Aphrodite could see her shield getting damaged at a fearsome rate. Unless she has enough time and the chance to repair itpletely, she couldn''t do it. Without any other choice, Aphrodite decided to use her trump card¡­ Self-Replication. At a certain point, Aphrodite teleported upward to the limits of the barrier she had erected, and after she did that, her body began to shine¡­ after a few moments, the glow separated from her body, and another Aphrodite appeared. Femradiel faked some surprise when those two became four, but deep down, she was smirking. Chapter 865 - Success In the end, Aphrodite quickly had fifteen copies. While she could create an infinite amount of those, the skill had some downsides. Once she cancels the skill, all the exhaustion of the copies will be transferred to the original. Aphrodite particrly disliked the shoulder pain that she had to deal with after she used it. Maybe it was due to the fact that her possibilities increased, or it was because she never lost using that power of her. Still, in the end, Aphrodite stared down Femradiel with a smug expression. That was amon mistake for people who aren''t used to fighting¡­ they take their time showing off how superior they were in terms of skills and raw power. Instead of using her main body, Aphrodite controlled the others to attack Femradiel while using their spears. As insane as that looked, each copy had the same shield and spear. So, she began to attack Femradiel relentlessly, and she didn''t have to make her copies move all that much. After all, the barrier wasn''t that big, and the spears had a fifty meters range. Femradiel dodged the attacks by teleporting like before. However, even at her top speed, she was barely dodging so many invisible spears. Little by little, she was getting scratched and losing blood. Femradiel summoned several magic copies of the Spiritualist''s Crossbow and then fired toward Aphrodite clones. Still, all of them were blocked with their invisible shields. Once again, Femradiel felt dizzy. The smell was starting to get troublesome¡­ so, Femradiel equipped her hammer and prepared to block some of the spears. However, Aphrodite wasn''t even a single bit worried about the possibility of her charging the hammer. Instead of that, she made sure that several of her spears would hit the same point and give Femradiel the chance to attack it. Meanwhile, she would get hit from behind. Aphrodite''s n was simple but highly effective¡­ When the first attacksnded, Femradiel decided to block them with the hammer. Still, then three other spears came to attack Femradiel from behind. Much to Aphrodite''s surprise, Femradiel blocked those too¡­ she summoned Thanatos'' scythe and made it spin. In the end, only weapons at that level could do that. Femradiel flew and tried to approach the original body of Aphrodite, but the copies got in her way. Teleporting wouldn''t help since they were almost at the ceiling of the barrier. Regardless, ten of the copies used their spears and then tried to pierce Femradiel all at the same time, but she blocked the attack with the hammer. Unfortunately, she had to pay the price. The impact cracked the bones of her arms and made her fall to the ground. The result opened a massive crater that was almost one hundred meters wide. Femradiel quickly got up, but even her legs received considerable damage. She used Full Heal, but it will take some time for his bones to mend. Blocking several attacks of that level was no longer possible, but Femradiel still prepared to fight. When the next spears approached, Femradiel attacked two of them, but the other three still pierced her legs. She had expected that Aphrodite would attack the same ce and make the bones of her arms torn into dust, but it seems that she wants to see her suffering a bit more. That became evident when Femradiel saw the face of ecstasy of Aphrodite. "Are you ready to change your mind?" Aphrodite asked. "You still offer me that?" Femradiel asked while frowning. "Being merciful is one thing, but being stupid is another. Still, I suppose that question might be just a trap to make me drop my guard." "It may be," Aphrodite said. "Well, then, let''s finish this." "Let''s¡­" Femradiel said and then let out a long sigh since it was finally time to put her n into action. Instead of preparing to use Draconic Arrows, Femradiel used all her mana to reinforce her hammer. At the same time, she began to control her stamina and activated Concentrate Strike. Aphrodite didn''t want to believe that Femradiel was going to try that on her condition. Not only would it only make her waste time, but it also would damage her body even further¡­ It was insane. Aphrodite sighed and then decided to finish things off. It had been fun at the beginning, but now she was only doing her job as her position demanded. To make sure that Femradiel will die after her stupid attack, Aphrodite positioned all the copies in front of her and then attacked. When she felt the spears getting close enough, Femradiel swung her hammer and let all the energy inside explode. From a distance, it looked like a piece of the sun had fallen on Earth. Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, was enveloped by light when Femradiel let the energy stored in the hammer explode. Even though the barrier was supposed to prevent everything from leaving and entering, in the end, even that disappeared. The shockwave caused by the impact made monsters, humans, and dungeon masters feel that even when they were thousands of kilometers away from the battlefield. Pretty much everyone who noticed that decided not to check what had happened there. After all, only two elder gods fighting would be able to cause so much destruction. Regardless, only after several hours, the dust began to disperse, and everyone could see what was left¡­ somehow, the capital wasn''t destroyed, probably because the barrier prevented the energy from dispersing. Thanks to that, Femradiel and Aphrodite suffered massive amounts of damage, as well as the fact that they created an enormous hole on the ground that one couldn''t find the end of. Almost unrecognizable, Femradiel was lying on the ground covered in wounds and with ny percent of her bones broken. Despite that, she opened her eyes and then quickly got up and looked for Aphrodite. Almost falling on the hole, Femradiel found Aphrodite. She also was unrecognizable. Their beauty was nowhere to be found. In fact, she looked like a humanoid creature who had been tortured and burned.. However, she was still alive¡­ Femradiel''s n actually worked. Chapter 866 - Discovery Femradiel''s n relied on the effect of the hammer from the very beginning. While she didn''t know everything about Aphrodite''s powers, she knew when she would have the best moment to attack her¡­ it was when she was at her strongest point¡­ when she uses Self replication. Just like the fact that all the replicas can use and have their own invisible shields and spears, and just like the fact that the exhaustion of all replicas is transferred to the original in the end, their damage is also sent to the original. So, Aphrodite received the damage that knocked down all fifteen copies. Another important factor of Femradiel''s n was the fact that she had charged the hammer even before the fight. She asked Isis to help her with that. Hephaestus didn''t warn Aphrodite because he didn''t know the effects of that weapon. He couldn''t use magic in that state, after all. Another thing that Femradiel did was to make the hammer glow, the hammer doesn''t glow when he is charged, and he only made that to fool Aphrodite. "I bet that I would survive this thanks to my blood and spirit of a dragon, but the next time¡­ I want toe up with a better n," Femradiel sighed and then decided to use Seal on Aphrodite. "Ah¡­ I did it again." Pure Love Crossbow (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: It Grant''s you the power to charm targets that have lower willpower than yours. Once they are hit, they will be charmed forever. It causes ten percent more damage against elder gods. Dexterity + 2000, Intelligence + 2000 Durability: 2500/ 2500 "What the heck¡­ Ryan will surely look at me with dubious eyes once he sees this," Femradiel said and then sighed. Congrattions! For defeating Aphrodite, you have be a Level one Lady of Love! You obtained the following skills: Self-Replication, Love Dimension, and Sweet Voice. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Self-Replication: It grants you the power to create replicas. The number of replicas that can be summoned will rely on the level of the skill. All replicas shade the same health, mana, and stamina. Love Dimension: It grants you the power to materialize and use love like a tool in a dimension beyond the physical Sweet Voice: It grants you the power to affect the enemies or the surroundings with your voice. The level of the skill determines how much you can affect others using your voice. "Those are some incredibly useful skills, not to mention, only Sweet Voice consumes mana¡­" Femradiel nodded to herself in satisfaction. "To think that I would lose to someone like you¡­" Aphrodite said. "Considering how you are full of yourself, I am pretty sure you would say the same thing to any other person who might have defeated you," Femradiel frowned. "Anyway, there is no need to feel bad about this. I am not going to use you to do anything shady. Anyway, can I have your cooperation, or I will have to put you and Lilith alone in a room for who knows how many hours?" Aphrodite didn''t even try to answer that question. Nothing good woulde out of it for her if she tried. In any case, Femradiel couldn''t help but wonder¡­ it was already pretty dark, probably around midnight, but there were no signs of Isis. Not to mention, they stayed unconscious for so many hours, and not a single elder god tried to approach¡­ "I can''t return without Isis, she might need my help, but I can''t sense her presence anywhere¡­" Femradiel rubbed her chin thoughtfully. It wouldn''t be weird if the opponent this time had erected a barrier just like Aphrodite did. Femradiel recalled that while she was fighting Hades, Isis''s presence disappeared for a while, after all. "I might as well try to level up some of the skills I just gained for efficiency''s sake," Femradiel said and then created a replica to transport to the Void World. "What? When did the spell was undone?" Femradiel opened her eyes widely when she noticed that Void World was no longer active. Did the damage of the attack she used to defeat Aphrodite did that? After summoning Soul Eater, Femradiel used irvoyance to check on Ryan, but he was no longer in that special room. She couldn''t even feel his presence in Cairo¡­ "Oh, shit¡­ I have to¡­" Femradiel began to bit her nails in exasperation. "Calm down, your dear Ryan is fine," Loki said via Telepathy. "Loki¡­ what did you do?" Femradiel clenched her fists tightly. "Why does everyone assume I always do something? That is a rhetorical question, by the way. I know that they have obvious reasons to assume that," Loki said. "The truth is, I stumbled into a problem earlier, and when I tried to inform you and the others, I found that you were unconscious, Athena was busy, and Isis had disappeared. So, I asked Ryan to do something about that problem." "He still is sick, you bastard!" Femradiel raised her voice. "He will need more time to rest!" "Not exactly. He obtained a power that will help him recover faster," Loki said. "Regardless, the problem is more serious than you can imagine, and Ryan didn''t think twice if going to solve it." "Stop beating around the bush and just tell what the hell happened," Femradiel said. "Well, the truth is, I was nning to attack the back of Norse gods'' army pretty early on to spread confusion and make the Greek gods more eager to fight," Loki said. "But then I noticed that two important figures and their armies were missing. They were Odin and Balder. I had a hard time finding them. Odin is always causing me trouble, seriously." "Loki¡­" Femradiel said ominously. "Don''t tell that you sent Ryan to fight someone like Odin alone¡­" "Well, funny thing," Loki said. "I only told where Odin was, and the rest Ryan decided by himself. As far as I could tell, Odin and Baldr''s army were going to attack the back of a certain army. They were facing Baal''s army." Femradiel bit her lips in exasperation when she heard that¡­ Ryan returned to America to prevent from his old friends from being ambushed. Chapter 867 - News "Mark my words, Loki¡­ if something were to happen to Ryan, you wouldn''t have a clean death," Femradiel said. "Wow, so scary¡­" Loki said. "Anyway, you shouldn''t try to help him. If you make your presence even more obvious, I won''t be able to fool the enemies." "As if I would listen to you," Femradiel frowned. "Well, you should, after all¡­" Loki said, and then Femradiel could feel a lot of amusementing from his voice. ---- ---- A few hours prior¡­ "¡­ Are you telling me that two other people had you and this opportunity, but they still lost you?" Ryan frowned after he heard what the sphere said. "That is correct, they had potential since they became the strongest humans at some point, but they got carried away," The sphere said. "They had innate talent thanks to their blood, and they put a lot of effort, but then, they were killed." "What do you mean by their blood? And who killed them?" Ryan asked. "They were demi-gods, to some extent," The sphere said. "Before they left this world a long time ago, some of the elder gods left children that were half-human and half-gods behind. Those two were direct descendants of Odin and Baldr. One of them had an inapt talent to control lightning. The other could regenerate even lost limbs in a matter of hours without relying on magic. While they didn''t work for the gods, they eventually started to cause trouble to humans. So, around six weeks ago, they were killed by a man called Daniel." "Daniel¡­ it has to be a coincidence," Ryan said. "No, it isn''t," The sphere said. "It is the same Daniel that you are acquainted with. Apparently, he is also someone who was born with some blood of the elder gods. He is a direct descendant of Hercules, and thus Zeus." That had to be some kind of joke¡­ how can life be so unfair? The guy was tall, good-looking, charismatic, and notpletely stupid and still even was a descendant of Zeus? That only gave Ryan more reason to hate him. "Come to think of it¡­ he had gotten considerably stronger thest time I saw him," Ryan said. "Was it because of that? What kind of special abilities does he have?" "I can inform you the skills of those who had already fallen, but I can''t openly say the skills of other top-rank humans," The sphere said. "Even if you say that, I already know that is a skill rted to hunting dragons, and considering that he defeated two demi-gods, he can probably cause divine damage as well," Ryan said. "Nevertheless, let''s see if you aren''t telling lies about your power. Can you show me a list of low-level sses that I don''t have and how much mana do I need to give you to obtain those?" "Certainly," The sphere said. Pirate ¨C 25.000 mana points Swashbuckler - 35.000 mana points Medic, 40.000 mana points Scout - 45.000 mana points Oracle - 50.000 mana points Engineer - 50.000 mana points ¡­ A list appeared in front of Ryan''s face, and it was pretty long. As expected, he had neglected the low-level sses quite a bit since he discovered the existence of the high-level ones. Even though those would be easier to level up and would eventually grant special sses. In any case, the cost in the mana of those skills was pretty low. If he uses Draconic Transformation alone, he will have enough mana to gain several of those. "Let''s start with Pirate," Ryan said. "Are you sure you want to exchange 25.000 mana points for the Pirate ss?" The sphere asked. "Yes," Ryan replied. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Pirate! You obtained the following skills: Barrage, Currency Damage, and Happy Pirate. Your dexterity and stamina will increase by two points. Your health, mana, speed, and control will increase by one point whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Barrage. Effect: When using firearms, it grants you the power to fire additional bullets every time you pull the trigger and ignores the limits of the weapon. One additional bullet will be fire for each level of the skill. Cost: 10 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Currency Damage. Effect: By activating this skill, you obtain the power to cause direct damage to the number of coins of the target. Your hits will cause critical damage with a one hundred percent chance when the target doesn''t have any. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by ten. Cost: 20 mana. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Happy Pirate. Effect: It grants you the power to receive coins when attacking ships. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan frowned¡­ it looked like the weird sphere was really telling the truth all along. Things were starting to get interesting again¡­ Truth to be told, he got a little jealous when he saw Femradiel''s new skills. While they seemed a bit dubious, now she had an infinite supply of mana. While she couldn''t fill her mana bar instantly, she eventually will reach a level where something close to it will be possible¡­ under the right circumstances. In any case, bybining their skills, Ryan and Femradiel would truly be much more powerful in the future. "Is this a sign of¡­" Ryan hesitated. "A sigh of what?" Loki suddenly asked. Ryan almost had a heart attack, to think that Loki, of all people, would talk with him right now. Still, Ryan looked around and didn''t find him. It didn''t seem like he was using the proper means to talk. "What do you want, Loki?" Ryan asked. "You should be busy like the others¡­ unless you are nning to backstab them." "And I thought you had some faith in me¡­" Loki said and then sighed. "I came to inform you that something happened. I am busy, Femradiel is out cold, Isis disappeared, and Athena is busy as well.. So, only you can solve a certain problem." Chapter 868 - Elemental Drake After Loki exined the matter about Odin and Baldr, Ryan couldn''t help but frown. That timing was just weird¡­ after all, he just learned about their kids being killed by Daniel. Did Loki hear that and came up with an excuse to cause trouble for Ryan? If that were the case, Loki wasn''t as smart as Ryan assumed. "Your timing is even more suspicious than usual, Loki," Ryan said. "In any case, is Femradiel all right?" "Yes, you can rest assured," Loki said. "She defeated Aphrodite and just has to seal her. Due to her attack, both of them suffered grave wounds, but I made sure to hide their presence once that happened. Regardless, we are out of time. If you intend to do something, I can free you from the Void World. I am busy, so I can only do this now." "All right then, do it," Ryan said. Suddenly, the whole space cracked like ss, and those pieces began to fall, revealing apletely dark world. That was probably Ryan''s consciousness. Hopefully, he will open his eyes soon enough, and that will disappear. As much as that was annoying, it only happened when all the pieces of ss fell and shattered. After blinking a few times, Ryan recognized the ceiling of that room in Cairo. Aside from Furball, who was sleeping on the left side of the bed, Ryan couldn''t see anyone in the room. It seemed that everyone had recovered¡­ "What is this¡­?" Ryan said when he saw that his eyesight was a bit cloudy, and then he touched his forehead. "Notpletely fine yet, huh¡­" "It looks like your condition would bepletely healed by tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we don''t have time," Loki said. "Well, whatever, I am going," Ryan said. "Do you have any tip for me about how to defeat those two?" "Hahaha, that was a good one," Loki said. "I can''t imagine you defeating even Baldr, and you want to defeat them at the same time? Your arrogance is even troubling me now." "So, you don''t know how to defeat them," Ryan said. "Don''t be silly, of course. I devised ns on how to deal with all the elder gods," Loki said. "However, since they are my ns, I don''t want to share them with you. I can give you some tips about how to deal with Baldr, but I want to defeat Odin myself." "Yeah, right¡­" Ryan said and then looked away, showing a bored expression. "You have the right to doubt me, but that is the truth," Loki said. "Anyway, Baldr is quite the fight, his ferocity only losses to Thor''s, even though he doesn''t use any real weapons. Aside from his stupidly high healing factor, you need to watch out for his physical attacks that, upon contact, will ignore your defense. The trick is not to let the fight extend for too long. Overwhelm him with a single attack." "What a basic n. I guess I was expecting much from the god of mischief," Ryan shrugged. "Hahaha, I won''t fall for that one," Loki said. "Anyway, I wish you luck. Hopefully, your old friends won''t be exterminated too fast, and Baldr''s death will make Odin retreat." After saying that, Loki canceled Telepathy. Considered that both of them probably wanted to kill Daniel and his allies because of the death of their descendants and because they could be troublesome in the future, Ryan doubted that any of them will retreat, but he will have to force them. "So, that is Loki¡­" The sphere said. "I need to update the information I have about him, considering this conversation you had." "You didn''t know him?" Ryan asked. "My data was based on his actions. I don''t have any registers of him talking with anyone," The sphere said. Ryan used irvoyance and then checked things around the underground base, and he found that the people there still were fighting the demons of Baal''s army. However, things looked pretty dire. Ryan used Search, and he found Zoe and Arthur fighting side by side. Zoe was as tall as Mia, and Arthur looked like a twelve-year-old boy. They grew a lot in thest few months¡­ Ryan could see many people dying, even though their numbers increased since thest time. Things could be even worse once Baal joins the fight. Ryan checked the other areas for a massive concentration of monsters, and then he found some trails that led him to Columbus, Ohio. In there, Ryan frowned when he saw an army of silver-colored Drakes. Elemental Drake ¨C Lv Max Health: 105.000 Mana: 47.000 Stamina: 76.000 Strength: 1500 Dexterity: 4500 Speed: 7000 Intelligence: 4000 Endurance: 12000 Control: 2000 Mentality: 9000 Luck: 2000 Recovery: 30000 Willpower: 9000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Ice Touch Lv Max, Fiery Touch Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Stone Skin Lv Max, Enhanced Strength Lv Max, Augmented Intelligence Lv Max, Health Boost Lv 550¡­ Spells: Ice Breath Lv 750, Fire Breath Lv 750, Electric Breath Lv 750 Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Fire Immunity Lv 650, Shock Resistance Lv 600, Wind Resistance Lv 650¡­ "Hmm¡­ those are way stronger than Femradiel''s Drake," Ryan frowned. Ryan couldn''t find any sign of Baldr and Odin. Still, it was evident that they will show up once Daniel and the others began to fight and annihte his army. Right now, Daniel''s team was dashing forward the horde of minions and smashing them to bits, and no demon could stop them. Ryan assumed that he was far ahead in terms of status ifpared to them, but it seemed that wasn''t true. "At that speed, those Drakes will reach Indianapolis in five to six hours¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Loki said that I can''t face Odin and Baldr at the same time, much less win, but if I attack their arms there, they will definitely show up. Unfortunately, it isn''t like I don''t have any other choice." Putting aside Zoe and Mia, who were almost at the same level as Daniel''s team and could fight the demons easily, Arthur was just a kid who was forced to grow faster than any other. While he could fight, he still didn''t have much experience¡­ the sword he was trying to swing around was even bigger than him. "I guess he is trying to imitate Daniel¡­ The worst person that he could learn anything from," Ryan said and then sighed. Chapter 869 - No Name Ryan considered his possibilities. Fighting alone, Odin, was impossible, at least ording to Loki. Fighting Odin and Baldr then it would be no different than suicide. On the other hand, if he doesn''t attack now, their armies will attack the backline of the people in the underground base. "Why do I have to clean that asshole''s mess?" Ryan asked and then facepalmed. "It is unavoidable since those two might be in danger, but still¡­ what do you think I should do¡­ what is your name again?" "I have no name," The sphere said. "What do you want me to call you?" Ryan asked. "A proper name¡­ considering your data as a basis, I assume you really want me to have a name," The sphere said. "How about Merlin?" "Why Merlin?" Ryan asked. "It is the name of the legendary magician who helped the legendary King Arthur," The sphere said. "I would like to think that I am pretty smart as well." "I am not sure about that, but you sure sound smug," Ryan said. "All right then, Merlin. What do you think I should do? You are made to help the strongest human, right? Then, it is time to show that." "Considering your status, skills, battle experience, I would say that fighting Odin and Baldr at the same time really is a stupid thing to do," Merlin said. "You should fight only against one of them and with a proper battle n. Still, I suppose that if you can''t take Odin, the other humans in that country won''t be able to buy you enough time. Based on a few simtions considering all the data I have, only a miracle can help you solve this problem." "You are proving to be more useful than I expected¡­" Ryan said and then sighed again. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Archmage! You obtained the following skills: Magic Power Amplification, Force Focus, and Spell Reading. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Power Amplification. Effect: By activating this skill, it grants you a bonus of ten percent per level of damage on the next magic attack. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Force Focus. Effect: It grants you the power to change your status for a short amount of time and increasing your intelligence by decreasing others. The amount transferred will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by one hundred. Cost: 200 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spell Reading. Effect: Upon recognizing certain spells, it grants you the power to decrease the damage caused. The decrease in damage will be equal to two hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Ryan summoned his Soul Eater and then transferred some mana after checking for a moment the list of sses Merlin could give him. While it wasn''t as impressive as special sses, Ryan felt really interested in the Spell Reading skill. That mighte in handy when fighting Odin since Baldr was just a brawler with divine powers. Ryan wished that he had more time to increase his powers, but he decided to hurry up back home in order to stop the army of millions of Drakes by himself if he had to. Thanks to the mana in Soul Eater, he appeared in front of the Drakes after using Teleport only a single time, and the creatures couldn''t help but flinch when they saw his eyes and felt the aura that he was emanating. Congrattions! The skill Teleport has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Teleport has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Teleport has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan summoned thirty magic bows, and then he began the massacre. As if a cannon of suddenly appeared in front of the army, dozens of monsters were killed in just a few moments. The monsters stopped their advance, but they began to fight back¡­ thousands of projectiles were fired toward Ryan, and he looked and recognized most of them. Despite that, Ryan let Lightning Bolts, methrowers, and Ice Spears hit him. Congrattions! The skill Spell Reading has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Conversion has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Spell Reading has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Conversion has leveled up. ¡­ Even though he was receiving damage even more than when he was training, Ryan ignored the pain and let Conversion help him refill his mana. The pain was annoying. It was fine because he was recovering much more mana than he was receiving, not to mention, he could use Full-Heal pretty much whenever he wants to. "Ah¡­ I suppose using Draconic Transformation will help me more," Ryan said. However, Ryan realized that it would reveal his presence to everyone who had decent tracking skills. Most likely, even on the other side of the world, the elder gods will notice him and try to intervene. Many of them wanted him dead, after all. Still was troublesome, but Ryan decided to stay like that. After all, his real goal was to prevent that army from reaching Indianapolis. Upon noticing what Ryan was nning, the monsters tried to move to the sides further away from him and then advance. However, they had no idea of Ryan''s range¡­ Those that tried to escape from him ended up being hit by Ice Spears that appeared out of nowhere right above them. Despite their elemental resistances, they were beheaded whenever they got hit. Congrattions! The ss: Archmage has reached level 02. Congrattions! The ss: Archmage has reached level 03. Congrattions! The ss: Archmage has reached level 04. ¡­ It seemed that Ryan was going to have an easy time leveling that ss up, but then he felt a shiver, and Death Sense warned him from the danger as well. Before Ryan could use Teleport, however, a massive lightning bolt suddenly fell over him.. The powerful electric discharge paralyzed him for a few moments, but in the end, Ryan survived¡­ he had several wounds, and his body was emitting an incredibly amount of heat, but he survived an attack that was supposed to one-shot him if he were the same of one month ago. Chapter 870 - Vs. Odin And Baldr "Impressive. I thought you were supposed to be a bowman, but to think that you would survive a direct attack like that¡­" A white-haired man floating in the air said. When Ryan looked above, he saw a white-haired man that had an eye patch over his right eye. He also had a long white beard, but despite having the features of an old man, he had the body of someone in his prime. Aside from that, Odin had his legendary spear on his right hand. He also was a golden armor that protected himpletely down to his knees. On his head, Ryan could see one of those famous horned helmets. Odin ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? On his right side, Ryan also found a light-brown-haired man wearing only some pants and light silver armor. Loki had described him as a pretty violent man, but Ryan couldn''t see any signs of that while looking at the calm posture on the side of Odin. In any case, even though Odin looked really dignified, Baldr looked wilder, at least when ites to his hair and gruff beard. Not to mention his eyes, he had the eyes of one of those berserker warriors of stories... Baldr ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "Tell me, are you the human called Ryan?" Odin asked. "The same who defeated Poseidon?" "I guess so¡­" Ryan said and then pointed his magic crossbows to the sides and attacked the Drakes who wanted to pass him. "My apologies, you came here to stop our attack, am I correct?" Odin asked. "I will stop my army advance for a short while. Until I kill you." "I am thankful for your consideration," Ryan smiled. Still, then the smile disappeared from his face when he saw Baldr disappearing." Ryan used Teleport and barely escaped being punched by Baldr. However, he could see how powerful that punch had been¡­ Baldr hit only the air, but the movement alone made the entire area around him vibrate. His punch even made the wind in front of him forcefully move forward, creating a path of destruction that was several hundred meters long. The power of that physical attack was surreal... Ryan couldn''t let himself being hit by those in a row. Otherwise... "Father, let me kill this insolent worm who showed a mocking smile after hearing your words," Baldr said. "We shouldn''t underestimate him, Baldr," Odin said. "He already defeated Poseidon alone, and he can dodge your attacks¡­ at least some of them. He isn''t a target that we should underestimate. Not to mention, we came here with a goal, and he isn''t part of that goal. You might find this unsightly, but we need to be careful for the sake of our people and history. Not to mention, we don''t know who he is working with or how he managed to obtain divine energy, so we can''t take any chances." After hearing that, Ryan couldn''t help but force a smile and sweat cold. Deep down, he had hoped that those two would use some bullshit logic like chivalry or another code of honor to fight him one-on-one. That certainly would be good for him, but the reality is often disappointing¡­ Ryan suddenly felt a shiver, and Death Sense warned him. However, once again, he was unable to do anything. Another lightning bolt fell and hit him. While Ryan was feeling his body being burned by the electric discharge. Baldr suddenly appeared and then punched Ryan in the stomach. His body bent forward, and then he was sent flying in the distance. Thatbo sure was annoying... Ryan felt his whole body like it was falling apart. Bones, bloody vessels had ruptured with a single punch. Loki wasn''t joking when he said that Baldr''s attacks could ignore defense. Regardless, Ryan used Full-Heal even before he stopped flying. In the end, he stopped after his body hit a mountain and reached half of the middle waypoint. He was forced to heal himself again, and then he felt the danger for his life. This time, Ryan managed to use Draconic Transformation and Mana Barrier. However, he still got hit by another lightning bolt that paralyzed half of his body. He wondered how that was possible¡­ he thought that only special attacks could ignore defensive spells, but it seemed that Odin could do what with all his attacks. Ryan waited to be punched, but he only found Baldr on Odin''s side again, studying Ryan with serious eyes. "He really can transform into an ice dragon, and with that much energy¡­ it seems it is true that he defeated Poseidon," Baldr said. "Still, something feels off... While Baldr was amused, Ryan decided to attack. He summoned Vengeful Sea Crossbow and aimed at Odin''s single eye. Those lightning bolts of his were that annoying, after all. Ryan pulled the trigger even when Odin made another lightning bolt fall on his head. Still, much to his surprise, he noticed that the water bolts didn''t move an inch, even when they appeared a few millimeters away from Odin''s face. "I believe those are yours," Odin said and then fired back the water bolts. As if it was only natural, the water bolts pierced the Mana Barrier. They hit Ryan''s face¡­ even his own attacks couldpletely ignore the Mana Barrier¡­ how? After thinking for a while, Ryan understood that it was thanks to the spear on Odin''s hand.. ording to the myths of Norse Mythology, Gungnir never misses a target and, when it is thrown, always returns to Odin¡­ what if he had managed to extend that effect to his magic? If that was the case, Ryan knew that he was in a pretty bad spot. Chapter 871 - Counter Congrattions! Your Electric Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! Your Shock Resistance has leveled up. In the end, Ryan deactivates Mana Barrier and just decided to ept the attacks. He also tried to dodge them by teleporting, but not even that worked after getting by twelve lightning bolts in a row. Ryan epted that he couldn''t dodge a single one of them. So, he just clenched his teeth and summoned his magic bows. When Baldr tried to attack him once again, Ryan pointed his weapons toward him. Baldr wasn''t much faster than Ryan in his draconic form, so he could follow him with his eyes. However, when he prepared to bombard him. Several lightning bolts fell over Ryan''s head at the same time. Once again, he waspletely paralyzed, and once again, Baldr had the chance to attack him without worrying about anything. This time, his massive body wasn''t sent flying for dozens of kilometers. Still, the pain of a single punch had been so concentrated that Ryan spat a mouthful of blood after being pushed backward for several meters. Ryan red murderously at Odin, but the king of gods of the Norse mythology didn''t feel anything when he met those eyes. As expected of a true master of magic, he only needed to think of a single moment, and he could fire several lightning bolts. If it weren''t for Conversion and Spell Reading, Ryan would have been killed a long time ago. Odin proved that he wouldn''t be hit by elemental attacks, not even if they were fired at point-nk range. So, Ryan decided to test something else¡­ He knew that Odin would try to prevent his attacks. With that in mind, he aimed at Baldr but then summoned his Hydra''s Bow and fired toward Odin. Not even the pain of being hit by several lightning bolts prevented him from doing that. However, Odin easily blocked the projectile with his spear. In fact, he Ryan hadn''t been throw around thanks to Baldr''s punches, Odin wouldn''t have moved from his spot. "Merlin¡­" Ryan said. "Give me a list of the sses that can boost my resistance to electric attacks." "Understood," Merlin said. Ryan assumed a defensive position to protect his vitals. At the same time, that it didn''t help much since Baldr''s punches could make his entire being tremble. He didn''t have to do that for long. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Electromancer! You obtained the following skills: Electromancy, Thunder Beam, and Electric Immunity. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electromancy. Effect: it boosts the effects of all your electric-rted skills by five percent. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Thunder Beam. Effect: It grants you the power to fire a beam of continuous electricity that might paralyze the enemy based on the level of the skill and the enemies'' level. The damage caused will be equal to your intelligence + 30 % per level. Cost: 1000 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Immunity. Effect: It decreases the effect of electricity-rted attacks by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. While Ryan tried to be subtle, he noticed that Odin frowned and stopped attacking for a short while. It seemed that he had noticed it¡­ it was weird, though. He never tried to attack Merlin. "Merlin, can other people see you?" Ryan whispered. "Not in battle, I can make myself invisible and intangible," Merlin thinks of me as a part of your soul that can''t be touched unless you die." That only made things weirder, but it didn''t matter. Ryan lost three million points in mana to obtain that ss and paid five million more mana points to make the skill reach level fifty. It was quite the investment, but it was necessary since Ryan barely had the chance to attack the enemies until now. "Baldr¡­ let''s finish him off with the next attack," Odin said. "He has some sort of power that grants the ability to obtain abilities and make them level up on the fly. We can''t afford to let him grow even stronger like this." Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Even though Odin only had a single eye, his only eye was pretty good. Ryan couldn''t let them prepare a big attack, so he teleported to right in front of Odin and used Draconic Bow. This time, Ryan was certain that Odin didn''t have the chance to easily repel the attack. A massive explosion happened that even surprised Ryan and made him fly for several kilometers backward. That was weird, though. He didn''t get that much stronger while he was training¡­ he only got a bit sturdier. Regardless, the power of his skill alone made the entire area tremble. The skill, the ground, the air¡­ For a second, Ryan thought that Odin was the one attacking to cause such an event. After a couple of seconds, Ryan saw some cracks in the ground around and a crater right below Odin was supposed to be. That crater was weird, though¡­ only half of it could be seen. It was almost like the attack had been blocked by Odin, and he protected his army. When the dust began to disperse, Ryan finally saw what happened¡­ Baldr had used his body to protect Odin. "Holy crap¡­" Ryan frowned when he looked at Baldr. Baldr''s body was pretty messed up after getting hit directly. He has lost his two legs and his left arm. Most of the skin of his body had been burned as well. Despite that, his body was healing so fast that Ryan couldn''t believe his eyes. He had to finish him off, but then¡­ twenty lightning bolts fell one after the other on his back. This time, even though he had got studier, even though he was in his draconic form, even though he obtained Electric Immunity¡­ Ryan was forced to bend the knee in order not to fall before the king of the Norse Gods. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 14 (+ 12 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 61 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 85 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1th Health: 29371/29371 (42,75/s) Mana: 31388/31388 (42,75/s) Stamina: 31430/31430 (42,75/s) Strength: 881 (+12422) (+130) Dexterity: 65533 (+17655) (+550) Speed: 1270 (+15410) (+48) Intelligence: 1352 (+10995) (+33) Endurance: 1398 (+12895) (+160) Control: 1476 (15450) (+10) Mentality: 1452 (+9895) (+70) Luck: 1080 (+4760) Recovery: 6450 (+20350) (+1045) Willpower: 1452 (+9893) (+40) Coins: 44.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Supernatural sh Lv 01, Possession Lv 01, Damnation Lv 01, Barrage Lv 01, Currency Damage Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 238 (+ 09 UP), Concentration Lv 238 (+ 09 UP), Archery Lv 238 (+ 09 UP), uracy Lv 238 (+ 09 UP), Hero''s Path Lv 01, Health Boost Lv 01, Happy Pirate Lv 01, Spells: Reading Lv 55 (+ 54 UP), Thunder Beam Lv 01 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 244 (+ 34 UP), Electric Resistance Lv 233 (+ 74 UP), Shock Resistance Lv 202 (+ 55 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 389 (+ 33 UP), Darkness Resistance Lv 149 (+ 38 UP), Gravity Resistance Lv 182 (+ 55 UP), Fire Immunity Lv 168 (+ 38 UP), Gravity Immunity Lv 212 (+ 22 UP), Cold Immunity Lv 182 (+ 33 UP), Cold Absorption Lv 177 (+ 33 UP), Mana Maism Lv 33 (+ 18 UP), Electromancy Lv 01, Electric Immunity Lv 50 (+ 49 UP) sses: Combat: Mad Knight Lv 01, Hero Lv 01, Night Ranger Lv 73 (+ 09 UP), Draconic Knight Lv 01, Draconic Archer Lv 15 (+ 06 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Draconic Lancer Lv 06 (+ 03 UP), Draconic Mage Lv 03 (+ 02 UP), Draconic Priest Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Pirate Lv 01, Archmage Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Electromancer Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Non-Combatant: Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Chapter 872 - Unwanted Help Ryan tried to attack Baldr several times in the next few seconds, but Odin made sure to stop him with his lightning bolts whenever that happened. At some point, Ryan got so angry after being hit by the same attack over and over again without being able to do anything to prevent it, that his eyesight began to darken. He actually didn''t know if it was due to the anger or his condition that had gotten worse after all the fighting. In the end, he took a deep breath to calm down, and his head cleared up a little bit. Once that happened, Baldr was also back in one piece. "Now, do you see, Baldr?" Odin asked. "He is a troublesome opponent, and we can''t afford to waste our time here." "Yes, father," Baldr said and then nodded. Draconic Bow won''t be as nearly as effective as before, so Ryan will have to improvise¡­ not like he hadn''t been doing that from the very beginning. Ryan had no idea what those two were going to do, but he knew that he couldn''t let them. So, he summoned a massive sword made of ice and then teleported toward them to attack. However, Baldr reacted fast, and once Ryan reappeared and swung his weapons, he blocked them with his bare hands. Baldr was forced to move back a few meters, but his grip made the ice sword crack into many pieces before that could be an issue. That being said, Ryan had been waiting for that, and now both Odin and Baldr were right within his range. Ryan opened his mouth and then let rage control him. In the next moment, he used Dark Ice Breath. Odin noticed that something was different than before and held his spear with both hands. However, in the end, he and Baldr still were caught by the Dark Ice Breath, and their bodies began to be crystallized thanks to the dark ice. However, much to Ryan''s annoyance, Odin dispersed all the ice and only let the corruption hit them. That made them feel really ufortable, like they had drunk something poisonous. Still, without mana and a proper attack, it wasn''t more than a minor nuisance. "Shit¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance when he saw that his best attack failed. Baldr dashed to attack Ryan, and while he managed to block the attack with his arms and Frost Armor, the damage made him move backward quite a bit and also forced him to spit some blood. Soon after, Odin finally moved his arms as if he was showing that he would finally try to kill Ryan for real. That only worked to make Ryan angrier, but in the end, he didn''t let that control his actions. Baldr suddenly stepped back, and Ryan teleported to attack him. Still, he was forced to stop when eight pirs of electricity suddenly fell around him. The pirs quickly began to emit energy between each other, and some prison bars made of electricity were blocking Ryan''s path. The same thing could be said from above. "Thunder Reign," Odin muttered, and then pirs began to shrink the prison. Ryan panicked when he attacked the pirs and the bars, but he ended up causing zero damage. He tried to Teleport as well, but the skill failed. Ryan summoned Soul Eater without any other choice and then recovered his mana before finally using Draconic Bow. As expected, the attack caused a massive explosion that even damaged Ryan, but aside from that, it didn''t do anything. The pirs of electricity were still standing. Without any other option, Ryan nned to use Dark Ice Breath. However, he was hit by numerous lightning bolts when the prison became only a few hundred meters wide. The more the prison shrunk, the more damage Ryan received, and to make things worse, the pirs weren''t losing any power. Unable to lift even a finger, Ryan''s vision began to get dark¡­ It looked like he would have to rely on his dark side again to solve the problem. However, he changed his mind when he felt a certain presence approaching. Thanks to his willpower, Ryan managed to get used to the pain, and at the very least, he was able to use magic. He used Full Heal several times to speed up his recovery speed, but in the end, that only stopped him from dying. "What a persistent human¡­" Odin frowned. "Now, Baldr." In the end, Thunder Reign could only work for so long while emitting so much electricity. Finally, the spell ended, but before Ryan could feel any relief, Baldr approached and then punched Ryan''s face. He really felt that one, after the hit, his jaw waspletely shattered, and several parts of his brain cracked. Before the impact could even finish transmitting all the pain to Ryan, he was sent flying to the distance. Even though his body was bigger, he still had to hit four mountains before he could actually stop. Most likely, Baldr used Concentrated Strike in order to amplify the damage. Somehow, Ryan didn''t lose consciousness, but he couldn''t muster any energy to move or even think. That was hard to believe, but with all his bones fractured, blood vessels damaged, that probably wasn''t the closest he had to die. If it were, he wouldn''t be conscious. "Crap¡­" Ryan muttered when that pretense finally stopped right above him "So, it is really you¡­" Daniel said. "What an unsightly appearance." "Fuck you, asshole," Ryan said and finally mustered some energy to get up and use Full Heal. "Is that what you say to someone who came to help you?" Daniel frowned. "The more time passes, the more I feel like you are another person." "I wouldn''t need your help if you weren''t such a dumbass," Ryan said. "Those came to kill you." Daniel frowned when he saw two figures approaching while flying.. Even though he couldn''t see their status, Daniel could tell that they will be more difficult to defeat than any other type of creature. Chapter 873 - [Bonus ]Reasons "Odin¡­ so that is how an elder god looks like," Daniel said. Ryan clicked his tongue when he tried to see Daniel''s status and only saw question marks. However, even without the precise Intel, Ryan could tell that he has gotten stronger again. His weapon now was a great sword that was as tall as him and made it vibrate around itself while emitting a red glow. As for his armor, he was wearing an orange-ish full te armor that also emitted the same weird tone on the border. "Is that what he said true?" Daniel asked. "Did youe to kill me? If the answer is yes, then why?" "You justmitted two crimes that we can''t ignore, that is all," Odin said. "You killed two demigodsst month. They were their descendants," Ryan said while he was checking the movements of his limbs. "If that is the case, then I can understand your anger," Daniel said. "You want this sword and armor to revive them, am I right?" No wonder the sword and armor looked really special. To think that Daniel used the souls of humans to increase his strength¡­ he certainly grew less naive in thest few months. "As much as I hate to say this, but I can''t take both of them at the same time. I will need your help Ryan," Daniel said. "Giving up without even trying, how pathetic," Ryan said. "At least I didn''t almost die trying to do something impossible," Daniel said. "You look like a walking corpse. Anyway, I am going to face Odin here." "No fucking way, I will fight him. I need to pay him back in full for all of his attacks." Ryan said. "Don''te uninvited and try to give me orders. You will face Baldr or just disappear. I won''t need your help, anyway." Daniel sighed. It was actually good to know that the opponents were waiting patiently. However, that also showed how confident those two were. Fighting two against two seemed the best thing they could do, and they would need to work together. While bad as that seemed, both of them knew that their synergy would be as bad as it could be. After he healed himself, Ryan moved to Odin''s left side, and Daniel approached Baldr''s right side. Both enemies also changed the direction they were facing. It seemed that they agreed that fighting separately would be for the best¡­ to avoid wasting time and to aplish the mission and then return to the war against the Greek gods. Using Draconic Bow as soon as possible probably gives Ryan and Daniel some advantages. Still, Ryan didn''t know if it wouldn''t cause problems as well. Such as making the enemy learn more about his attacks. Ryan teleported to behind Odin and summoned his magic bows as he tried to punch him. However, a lightning bolt flew from Gungnir and hit Ryan. That onested for quite a while, so Ryan became unable to move. During that time, Odin turned around while he created a massive Fire Spear, one that was even bigger than Ryan''s current body. Odin sure knew how to attack an ice dragon, even though that seems pretty obvious, though. Soon after, Ryan was hit by the Fire Spear, and he clenched his teeth while he was being burned from two directions at the same time. However, eventually, Odin had to stop the lightning bolt and move away from Ryan''s punch and bolts. The punch he dodged, but Odin just drained the mana of the projectiles and made them disappear. "I guess this is some progress¡­" Ryan muttered, visibly annoyed. "Regardless, elemental and attacks made of mana won''t work on him¡­ he is really the worst type of enemy someone like me could face." It was time to change tactics and see if Odin was just a master magician and that spear was only for show. Before Odin could attack again, Ryan used Meteor Arrows. The projectiles moved so fast that not even Ryan could see them. While that prevented Odin from attacking, it only made him move his spear around to block the projectiles. As for the damage caused¡­ it only made his weapon tremble slightly. Congrattions! The skill Meteor Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Meteor Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Meteor Arrow has leveled up. ¡­ "He indeed has a good eye¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrow. "I thought that he was just a pretty all-around magician, but¡­ I was wrong." While Ryan was firing other Meteor Arrows to buy enough time for him to think, things suddenly got noisy a few kilometers away from there. It seemed that Daniel and Baldr were finally were fighting, and considering that the impacts that happened were pretty intense and constant, it seemed that their level of power was somewhat equal. "Let''s just hope that dumbass will buy me enough time¡­" Ryan muttered. When Ryan thought that Daniel would be a useful tool for the time being, he had a certain idea. While he knew that elemental attacks would be useless against Odin, he summoned Ethereal Lyre. He made it fire constantly fire projectiles toward Odin. Fire magic note began to fly toward him automatically while Ryan was flying around and looking for an opening. When Odin made the first fire projectile stop and then fly toward Ryan, he used the Vibrating Crossbow and made it explode right in front of Odin. The damage had been weak, but Ryan saw some scratches on Odin''s face. He really was a master magician, but he could only control the enemy''s spells so much. Slightly annoyed, Odin red at Ryan. Instead of letting that bother him, Ryan used Sun''s Wrath, and a massive beam of sr energy fell on Odin. In the end, the king of the Norse gods stopped the heat from damaging him.. However, he was forced to turn around and use Gungnir to stop Ryan''s punch when he teleported behind him. It seemed that Odin had difficulty controlling the area of effect spells, which became evident considering the first explosion that damaged him, and Ryan decided to use that in his favor¡­ Chapter 874 - Kind Of Unfair Before Ryan could think of a way to do that¡­ Odin returned to his tactic of shock Ryan with multiple lightning bolts. That tactic was getting really old, but why stop when it still was highly effective? In any case, while he could use many other types of attacks alongside the lightning bolts, Odin decided to change his tactic a little bit¡­ he aimed his spear at Ryan, and that made him feel shivers. In the next moment, Odin swung his spear from right to the left side, and then a cut opened on Ryan''s left chest. "What¡­" Ryan opened his eyes widely in shock. Having a weapon that was impossible for the target to dodge was something, but attacking like that and causing so much damage without putting any effort behind the attack was just insane. Much to Ryan''s despair, before Odin could take a break from the lightning bolts, he swung Gungnir around, and every time he did it, Ryan suffered more wounds. The shock caused by the lightning bolts prevented him from feeling the pain caused by Gungnir, but once the lightning bolts stopped falling, Ryan felt all the pain in a single instant. His dark blue body of a dragon now had many traces of red due to his blood¡­ he used Full-Heal to close the wounds, but even those were taking their time healing. "I suppose if corruption can make them heal slower, their divinity also has the same effect on me¡­ or perhaps on all other creatures," Ryan thought while he was fighting the growing anger inside him. While Ryan was having a hard time moving his body due to the new wounds, Odin was just staring at him with his chin up, as if he was trying to show that was the difference between their power, as if that it was only natural. To make that annoying expression disappear, Ryan cast Snow Storm on Odin, and at the same time, he used Thunder Storm. Odin withstood the Snow Storm easily since the spell was at a low level, but he was forced to fire some lightning bolts upward when Thunder Storm began to hit him. While it wasn''t effective directly, indirectly, Snow Storm enhanced the power of Thunder Storm due to the water that was created in the environment. Things would be a lot simpler if Odin just tried to Teleport, but he never did that. His confidence was well-founded, though. Dozens of lightning bolts fell from the sky each second, and he repelled them all with his own lightning bolts. That reaction speed was beyond the limits of understanding of any human. "With that reaction speed, most tricks will be useless¡­" Ryan thought as he checked his body and felt that he was almost fine. "Reaction speed¡­ I know what I should do here." Even though they were both useless, Ryan let Snow Storm and Thunderstorm active. While Odin was busy with them, Ryan teleported to attack him from behind. Odin turned around to face him and block the attack with his spear. Still, he felt his body strangely slow, and Ryan seemed faster than before¡­ those were the effects of Sloth Aura, eleration, and Haste. In the end, Odin managed to block the attack, but Ryan''s fist still touched him and made him fly backward for several meters. Not to mention, Odin suddenly felt dizzy as well¡­ Ryan had used Sloth Illusion and damaged his stamina directly. Before he could recover from that, Ryan decided to attack again. Still, this time, Odin let go of his stubbornness and used Teleport to escape. "¡­ I suppose this is also progress," Ryan said after he clicked his tongue. Ryan didn''t seem very pleased, but that was just the usual him waiting for too much result from such a simple tactic. Regardless, to respond to that unpleasant surprise on an equal level, Odin swung his spear, and then a wound appeared on Ryan''s neck. That was dangerous¡­ it seemed that Odin couldn''t just behead him from a distance, but still¡­ "In this game, two can y," Ryan said and then summoned the Absolute Death Crossbow. Odin frowned when he felt Thanatos'' presence, it was obvious that he had raised his guard. Regardless, Ryan didn''t do anything. For the time being, he just studied Odin until he finally swung Gungnir. When that happened, Ryan pulled the trigger. Once again, Ryan got cut in the neck, and Odin''s head moved backward. Ryan had aimed at his left eye, but he noticed a small bruise on his left cheek. "Did he move his head the very moment I pulled the trigger?" Ryan wondered. That never happened before. Aside from when the enemies stopped the damage with some sort of special skill, the Absolute Death Crossbow always hit on the spot Ryan had aimed. Ryan needed to test that more¡­ he pulled the trigger without caring about the crazy amount of mana he was using. Ryan aimed at several parts of Odin''s body. Thanks to that, he saw Odin''s eye moving around as if he could follow the damage flying in the air and just about to reach his body. That wasn''t supposed to be possible¡­ how was he able to see something that doesn''t exist? The damage only exists when it happens on the body of the target. In any case, Ryan confirmed that Odin could see that when he saw Odin''s body moving, only to let himself get hit in parts of his body where he could afford to get hit. "The more I face them, the more I realize how unfair their powers are¡­" Ryan muttered. While that battle was getting harder by the minute, Ryan didn''t have to rush it. He could see the sun setting on the horizon, and the night would bring him a very useful power. However, before that could happen. He saw Odin covering his left eye with his left hand, and then he raised his spear. Ryan recognized what was going to happen and then Teleported to attack Odin with Draconic Bow.. However, much to his surprise, Thunder Reign was activated much faster than before. Chapter 875 - It Is Time At first, Ryan didn''t mind about falling for that spell once again, after all. Odin cast it in a single moment. Besides, Odin got caught too. However, he changed his mind when he saw Odin passing through the bars made of electricity as if they weren''t even there. "You have got to be kidding me¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Without any other choice, Ryan used several defensive spells in order to see if the damage and effects caused by Thunder Reign would decrease. No matter what happens, he couldn''t let himself get paralyzed by that spell for so long. If that happens, Odin will have plenty of time to behead him. Unfortunately, when the prison shrunk, none of his spells protected him. Ryan''s body began to be electrocuted all over again, and even though he tried to resist, he soon lost control over his body. Once that happened, Odin began to swing his spear, and Ryan''s neck began to be cut. Several times in a row, Odin sliced the same spot. Even though he couldn''t feel the pain, Ryan could tell that he was starting to lose a lot of blood. "So¡­ I can only do so much by myself, huh¡­" Ryan thought while he showed a self-mockery smile in that situation. It was annoying to be forced to stop now after all that much progress and that many things that he had aplished so far. Deep down, Ryan felt somewhat satisfied. He was just an ordinary guy that managed to survive until now by relying on the things that his father taught him. It was a bit too much to hope for that he would aplish much more considering that the enemy was thousands of years old, and Ryan only had a year of battle experience. Deep down, Ryan also hoped that Femradiel''s face would show up in his mind and then give him a boost of courage to keep trying to survive that mess of a situation, but not even that happened. Not like he was the type of person who would feel motivated to fight by relying on such feelings, after all. However, much to Ryan''s surprise, Thunder Reign disappeared before he could lose consciousness, and he found Odin staring at him in confusion. Somehow, Ryan survived¡­ even though he lost a lot of blood, his wounds weren''t that deep. Did he make a mistake considering Odin''s power? Or¡­ Ryan realized what had changed. The dark marks around his body had decreased again. It seemed that the corruption had protected him from suffering too much damage from an elder god''s attack. "This is weird¡­" Ryan frowned while he was healing himself. "I didn''t imagine I could control the corruption like this." While Odin was confused. Ryan tried to find a usible exnation¡­ considering that he heard in the Pendragons'' world, those seven dragons freed themselves from the corruption somehow¡­ maybe they got lucky, and after all that fighting, the corruption disappeared by trying to protect them. That being said, it wouldn''t exin how Odin was surprised. After all, he should have experience in fighting creatures that have high levels of corruption¡­ maybe it was due to the fact that Ryan had divine energy as well, on his body. Regardless, before Odin could go on the offensive again, Ryan teleported toward him. Odin almost escaped Ryan''s surprise attack, but thanks to Sloth Aura, eleration, and Haste once again, he was punched. Ryan once again activated Sloth Illusion, and that made Odin''splexion change. As soon as he finished that, Ryan used Draconic Bow. Even though he received some damage by hitting an enemy so close to him, Ryan couldn''t care less. It was time to cause as much damage as possible. The massive explosion of mana made the entire state tremble. No wonder Daniel showed up. The previous Draconic Bow probably warned him¡­ Regardless, while Ryan suffered some scratches, he could see that Odin''s armor suffered a lot more damage, and even though his face was fine, the other parts of his body weren''t. The vast amount of mana wasn''t something he couldn''t block entirely, not even with Gungnir, because it was a non-elemental attack. In any case, Ryan couldn''t get carried away now that Odin''s body was burned in some parts. Odin''s expression grew grimmer, and Ryan hurried to recover his mana with Soul Eater. Still, in the end, Odin surprised him once again. He wrote something in the air that resembled the runes that Ryan used when he used the skills of the Runecaster ss. As soon as Odin finished the first rune, it disappeared and then reappeared on Ryan''s right leg. Instantly, his leg grew immensely heavier¡­ and Ryan began to lose altitude. That wasn''t gravity magic, so Ryan''s resistances that he trained so hard in thest weeks didn''t help him. Soon enough, Odin cast another rune and made it appear on Ryan''s other leg. Considering that he was trying to get rid of Ryan''s mobility, it was obvious what he was nning¡­ a big attack that will certainly kill Ryan, or at least buy some time for himself to attack enough times that not even the corruption will protect him. Ryan tried to Teleport, but the runes prevented even that. Ryan tried to use Purification, but it didn''t work. Without thinking about how insane that was, Ryan even scratched his legs, damaging them to rip the flesh, but the runes weren''t damaged. It seemed that the spell was attached to his spirit or something. Eventually, Ryan fell to the ground, and he barely had the power to take a single step. Ryan used the Absolute Death Crossbow again, but Odin protected his left eye and then kept writing the same runes over and over again. Eventually, Ryan''s legs had each of those, and he couldn''t move an inch. "I am disappointed, Odin," Ryan said. "To think that the king of the Norse gods would be this fearful." "I am also disappointed that only something like this can stop you," Odin said.. "Regardless, it is time for you to die." Chapter 876 - Round Two Ryan''s continuous attacks with Absolute Death Crossbow made Odin''s left hand bleeding. Still, while the weapon was causing a lot of damage, the output of a single weapon wasn''t enough. In a minute or two, Ryan was confident that he will render that hand useless and put a hole in it, but it seemed that Odin had other ns. Instead of moving his spear to the side and prepare the swing, Odin pulled his arm backward¡­ he was preparing a thrust, not a swing. It was only obvious that spears would be more effective like that, and thanks to it, Ryan began to sweat cold, imagining where Odin would hit him. In the end, Ryan felt a sharp pain in his chest¡­ Odin was really aiming for Ryan''s heart in a deadly way. Ryan created an Ice Meteor to buy some time, but Odin stopped the projectile even without looking at it. In fact, he didn''t even point his hands towards it. Regardless, soon after, Ryan used made a lightning bolt fell on the ice meteor. Eventually, the meteor was shattered, and Odin was hit by some of its water and the lightning bolt. However, the attack flew and was absorbed by Gungnir. Once again, Odin stabbed the air, and Ryan felt the same sharp pain approaching his heart. "Son of a¡­" Ryan bit his lips in annoyance. Ryan stopped wasting time and then fired several Amber Arrows toward Odin. He noticed that he could use his elemental magic to stop those, so he attacked those by hitting them with lightning bolts. Half of the moon had already shown up on the horizon, but Ryan still couldn''t use Lunar Arrow. That being said, a good part of the region was already covered in darkness, so Ryan created several arrows made of them and made those surround Odin. Damaging something made out of the darkness was impossible. Still, in the end, Odin didn''t fall for Ryan''s trick¡­ his Darkness Maniption was at such a low level the damage caused would be minimal. Despite that, Ryan kept attacking since the opponent was stupidly powerful, and the skill would level up at incredible speeds. Congrattions! The skill Darkness Maniption has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Darkness Maniption has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Darkness Maniption has leveled up. ¡­ At some point, Ryan even covered the area around him in darkness to make himself unable to be found, but Odin still managed to hit him in the same ce. The path to his heart was being opened in a very violent way¡­ It seemed that Ryan will be forced to rely on Dark Ice Breath again. It should be fine if he tries harder this time since the level of corruption in his body decreased. However, there was a problem¡­ Dark Ice Breath could cause a lot of damage¡­ as long as the enemy is within a certain range. Without that, ites to a very predictable attack that any idiot can dodge, even more so, someone at the level of Odin. Amidst his panic, Ryan suddenly had two ideas¡­ what if he used the corruption to enhance his Frost Armor? Ryan quickly decided to throw away that idea since Odin had the skills to make his Frost Armor to dissipate. However, he didn''t give up on the second one¡­ Ryan opened his mouth and then used Dark Ice Breath, and that made Odin frown since he was so far away that he could easily disperse the attack before it could free even the air on its path. However, Odin felt danger for his life suddenly, and he prepared to retreat. Still, before he could do it, he was suddenly hit by a massive arrow of the crystalized arrow of dark ice. The attack had been so fast that not even his eye granted Odin the chance to dodge it¡­ Ryan hadbined Dark Ice Breath and Draconic Bow. The arrow froze Odin instantly. Thanks to it, he was unable to resist the attack in any way and began to be pushed by the arrow until it eventually leaves the. The speed of that wasn''t something that Ryan could even see, so capturing Odin was out of the question. "What now?" Ryan frowned. "That was an impressivebination of attacks, Ryan," Merlin said. "I will register that skill on my database and name it as Draconic Corrupted Arrow of the Absolute Zero." "¡­ That name is too long," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Anyway, considering that you are supposed to help me, you didn''t help all that much, actually." "I am not a battle-support item that you can use. I can only give you information irrelevant to the destiny of the and enhance your sses and skills," Merlin said. "Regardless, you should work on freeing yourself. Based on my calctions, that attack won''t kill Odin." "I suspected as much," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and watched the dark night of the sky. "Maybe I should defeat Baldr and obtain a power-up before Odin returns. He certainly will return if I defeat Baldr." That being said, Ryan would rather drink boiling water than help Daniel. Not to mention, while he was fighting for his life, they had moved to somewhere else, and Ryan didn''t want to waste mana and time looking for them. "I forgot to ask, Merlin," Ryan said. "But what you do with mana, can you even store it? Aren''t you some kind of machine?" "I am a semi-organic life-form," Merlin replied. "I can use, store and spend mana much more efficiently than you." "It seems someone touched a troublesome subject here¡­" Ryan said and then used Search on Odin. "It seems he still is moving further away from Earth. I have some time to prepare for round two, but what should I do?" The same trick won''t work twice, even though Odin could use the same tricks on Ryan over and over again. Ryan had to think fast because a wizard of the level of Odin probably could Teleport between thes of that sr system in a single instant¡­ Chapter 877 - Celestial Warmage Ryan''s options were limited, but he decided to go with the one which would, without a doubt, help him. He asked Merlin about a ss that could increase his all his status based on the level of the skill, and he got another surprise. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Celestial Warmage! The Celestial Warmage ss grants you the ability to take control of the energies of the sun itself to smite your enemies from above. Effects provide an enhanced burning effect with a slight holy effect. You obtained the following skills: Smite, Sr Eclipse, and Sr Enchantment. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Smite. Effect: Summons a single massive sunburst made of sr energy to fall from the sky. The projectile has a slow speed but covers a wide area. Deals wide area damage with an enhanced burning effect plus a slight holy effect Cost: 2000 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sr Eclipse. Effect: Summons a massive disc in the air that will cover the sun from view. While you stand in the shadow of this object, you will receive a 1% bonus to all stats per level Cost: 800 mana per second You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Sr Enchantment. Effect: Gives you the chance to add a sr enchantment to items. Enchantment will provide an enhanced burning effect with a slight holy effect equal to a percentage based on the level of the skill Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status point. It was weird that Ryan obtained such a ss considering that it was night, but he had something else in mind when he selected that. In any case, now that Odin and Baldr were far away, Ryan waspletely free to wipe out their army, and now he had another reason to do that¡­ "You know what to do, right Merlin?" Ryan asked. "Yes, I don''t see any reason for you to be so sketchy about this," Merlin replied. "You don''t give me better options, but you still have the nerve to doubt my ideas," Ryan frowned. "I am starting to think that your creator was really a messed up guy." "I can''t deny that," Merlin said. Without wasting any more time, Ryan teleported to the Drakes'' army and began to massacre them. While flying from above with his speed, the monsters didn''t have the chance to attack Ryan even a single moment. While Conversion would help Ryan quite a bit, it was too time-consuming, not to mention, he doesn''t gain coins just by letting them hit him. In the end, Ryan had the chance to do that for several hours. While being himself, he still managed to kill around two million of those creatures in just four hours. The number of his coins and mana in Soul Eater skyrocketed, but Ryan didn''t use them. "I wonder if Femradiel already woke up¡­" Ryan muttered. Weirdly enough, it was exactly at that moment that Search warned Ryan that Odin was finally free from Draconic Dark Ice Arrow¡­ it was a weird name as well, too long¡­ but Ryan decided to use it. In any case, Odin didn''t suddenly show up, probably because the dark ice filled his body with corruption, and that would have decreased his status. So, while he was purifying his body, Ryan had time to kill the Drakes for one more hour. When Odin returned, he made sure to do so while making one heck of an impression. He suddenly teleported to close to Earth, and then he began to create a massive rock there¡­ it seemed that he was pretty expressive with Earth magic as well since he created five hundred meters long rocks in just a few seconds. Regardless, it wasn''t time to think about that. Ryan already knew what he was plotting. "Poseidon did that as well, and both of them did seem like the types who get mad enough in a battle and try to destroy the world they are trying to conquer¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Either way, I can''t let him finish that attack." Ryan''s preparations hadn''t been finished yet, so he really was in a bad spot. Despite that, he flew to stop that attack. Even if Odin thinks that won''t destroy the Earth, it certainly will destroy North America¡­ Ryan wouldn''t let his home country be destroyed like that. When Ryan appeared in front of Odin, he noticed that the look in his eyes hadpletely gone cold. Instead of just an enemy, he had to get rid of, Odin was looking at Ryan as if he was the most annoying insect he had ever met. Not to mention, the rock had be around thirty kilometers wide¡­ "You are trying to protect that man''s friends, aren''t you?" Odin asked. "I also don''t like to involve innocent bystanders in my fights, but people like you two need to be exterminated for the sake of the world we are trying to create." "That reminds me, I never heard of any of the elder gods I defeated about what kind of world you people want to create," Ryan said. "Why don''t you enlighten me? I am sure it is a wonderful world thatpletely justifies your people''s necessities to fight and destroy a good part of the world and, while they are it, kill many humans." "We want to create a world where all of us can bepletely free to protect our people," Odin replied. "We can''t live in a world where our people are always in danger due to the existence of the other elder gods, demons, and dungeon masters. We also want to be free from those who threaten the very existence of this universe." "And who might those be?" Ryan asked. "If you don''t know yet, then you don''t deserve to hear the truth," Odin said and then fired the rock.. "Die for the sake of a better world." Chapter 878 - Draconic Hunter Ryan clenched his teeth and prepared for the impact, he could always bombard the massive rock with Draconic Bow, but at the same time, he couldn''t. It wouldn''t solve the actual problem that was Poseidon. Regardless, that attack might give Ryan the final push that he needed¡­ After using all the buffs that could increase his endurance and strength, Ryan moved his arms to stop the attack. However, he was easily pushed backward, and things would only get worse the more the rock gains momentum. "Ugh¡­ Shit!" Ryan said. The massive rock began to crush Ryan''s body as he tried to stop it from gaining momentum. Suddenly, he felt his body getting heavier¡­ it was because he was approaching the atmosphere. "Nothing yet, Merlin?" Ryan asked. "No, Conversion isn''t recovering the mana that you need," Merlin replied. "Maybe you will have gathered enough mana upon impact." "So, do you want me to be in the right ce when this thing hits Earth?" Ryan asked. "You are useful as always." Ryan was always trying to gain some mana using the rock''s kic energy in movement, and thanks to that, he was able to slow down the projectile, but it wasn''t enough¡­ Ryan suddenly had the idea of covering the rock in ice and use magic to stop the rock, but it didn''t look like he would have enough time to do that. Regardless, he opened his mouth and used Ice Breath. In the end, it didn''t help all that much, and Ryan and the rock entered the atmosphere. Once that happened, the projectile gained speed, and Ryan felt his body getting crushed by the pressure. "Ah¡­ it seems my calctions were incorrect," Merlin said. "You have obtained enough mana." "You fucking little¡­" Ryan clenched his teeth. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Archer has reached level 36 Congrattions! The ss Draconic Archer has reached level 37 ¡­ Congrattions! The ss Draconic Archer has reached level 99 Congrattions! The ss Draconic Archer has reached the level, Max. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Archer has evolved into Draconic Hunter. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points once this ss levels up. The effects of the previous ss'' skills have doubled. Ryan, at first, felt like crushing Merlin into bits. Still, that feeling disappeared when he began to feel the power surging through his body. He didn''t expect that the ss would evolve, but he weed that. For a moment, he also wished that he had gained new skills, but it wasn''t a good idea to be greedy. Regardless, now that he had aplished his goal, Ryan used Draconic Bow without hesitation when he was just five kilometers above ground level. In the end, Ryan regretted it a little as well. The massive explosion hit him in full and made him fall at supersonic speeds. Thanks to the impact of the fall, Ryan felt his ribs cracking, but at the least, the pain made him wake up and see the massive explosion of mana above him. He was worried that his attack would only break the rock into a few pieces, but it broke it in thousands of them. The rocks fell and caused some craters upon impact. Still, overall, the damage wasughable considering that Ryan predicted that it could have wiped out North America. Some of the rocks even crushed the remaining army of Drakes. Ryan suddenly got up and then looked for Odin, but the king of the Norse gods was flying right above the ce of the explosion. It seemed that we wouldn''t try the same again since an area of effect spell like that could be stopped by Ryan again¡­ once he has enough mana. "You obtained much more power than before¡­ how?" Odin asked. "A magician never reveals his tricks," Ryan replied. Despite what happened, Odin didn''t look worried. In terms of raw status, he still was at least a few times stronger than Ryan. However, his resourcefulness, his ability to use corrupt and divine attacks, as well that power to suddenly increase his power somehow made things a little more even. Suppose Odin knew that Ryan used all his mana and coins to obtain that power-up. In that case, he could attack without worries, but he didn''t know that, and there wasn''t a single thing that might lead him to find that exnation. Thanks to that, Odin was worried¡­ not even his eye granted him the insight that he needed to understand Ryan''s power. "I can''t see anything special on you aside from the fact that you can wield divine and corrupt energy and the fact that you can suddenly receive boosts in power," Odin asked. "Are you truly a human? Are you an alien possessing a human body?" "Ouch, are you trying to make me depressed now?" Ryan frowned. "Please, let''s not go down to that level. We don''t have to insult each other." "I suppose I can study your spirit once I defeat you," Odin said while he scratching his beard. " Ryan couldn''t help but shrug, now he couldn''t lose because he might be a test subject to satisfy Odin''s curiosity. In any case, now Ryan really needs to be careful. He couldn''t rely on Soul Eater anymore, so he had to attack using other means. Fortunately, he already had the means to do that. After eating a small portion of mithril from his spatial storage, Ryan summoned a Draconic Sword. It wouldn''t cause massive damage in an instant like Draconic Bow, but it certainly wouldn''t break so soon. "I can no longer underestimate you, so I shall end this giving my very best," Odin said. "It has been a while since this has happened, but I am grateful to you, Ryan. I thought that all the humans had grown weak while the elder gods were away, but it seemed they still have strong spirits that can grow even stronger under the right circumstances. I won''t give up on my goal, but I will make sure to wee you to Valha." Ryan wasn''t so sure of that, he wouldn''t say that out loud, but his spirit wasn''t that impressive.. As for Valha, he wouldn''t mind paying a visit¡­ as long as he doesn''t have to die for it. Chapter 879 - Confidence Odin spun around Gungnir and fixed his stance as if he was going to fight directly. However, his title of king of magic wasn''t just for show either, so he wrote some runes on his weapon and armor. Gungnir began to emit a yellow glow, and since Ryan''s eyes were that good, he noticed a thing but incredibly concentrated electric current passing through the weapon. As for his armor, Ryan assumed that he made it sturdier. Odin suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Ryan, then he swung his weapon to pierce his right eye, but Ryan reacted fast enough to block it. Odin frowned when he saw that¡­ Gungnir wasn''t supposed to miss, no matter what, unless¡­ he actually hit the enemy. "That sword is a part of you, I see¡­" Odin said. Ryan clicked his tongue since it was pretty annoying to fight someone so smart. Without wasting time doing that, he dashed and swung the sword as well, but Odin flew so fast to the side that it seemed that Ryan was moving in slow motion. Even with that speed, Odin couldn''t attack Ryan directly as much as he wanted because Sloth Aura made him slower when he got too close, and even though it was his weapon, it wouldn''t cause the extra damage of his runes if he uses at a long-distance. With that in mind, Odin decided to charge with all his might while ignoring defense. Once again, Ryan blocked his attack, but his massive power made Ryan stumble while he was being pushed backward for hundreds of meters. Not to mention, the effects of the rune were starting to affect him since the massive sword used his spirit as a basis. His hands were growing numb¡­ the power behind the runes wasn''t specially made to damage him, but to make him have a more challenging time-fighting¡­ When Odin moved backward to gain momentum for another charge, Ryan made his mind to take some risks as well. When Odin approached and was affected by Sloth Aura, Ryan swung down his sword, and Odin was forced to block the attack. Although he was supposed to be a magician, hepletely blocked the attack without suffering any damage¡­ that was probably only natural since Ryan wasn''t a real melee fighter either. Ryan summoned some copies of his Immobilizing Crossbow and activated Vital Hunter, but Odin disappeared before they could hit him. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance¡­ it has been a while since he got that annoyed in a fight, but it also has been a while since he had been in any fight. Regardless, Odin appeared several hundred meters away and then sighed. It seemed that Sloth Aura was really troubling him¡­ Odin decided to draw some runes, but Ryan attacked because he knew that nothing good woulde out of it. He dashed toward him while aiming the tip of his sword toward him. Much to Ryan''s surprise, Odin charged as well, but he suddenly moved forward when the sword got close and then approached when he was certain that Ryan wouldn''t be able to reach. However, Ryan had another trick up his sleeve¡­ he hit Odin with some Lunar Arrows. Odin showed an annoyed expression since he couldn''t see an attacking from above while he was going down. His attack came to a stop, and Ryan had the chance to attack him. With all his might, Ryan tried a back head strike, Odin blocked again, but the impact made him fall on the ground. The surprise attack messed his rhythm, and Ryan decided to capitalize that chance even more. By bombarding him with copies of Immobilizing Crossbow while Vital Hunter was active. Odin repelled some with his spear and with his control over mana, but he gave up on it when he saw Ryan preparing another big swing. Odin let some arrows hit him and then used Teleport. "Interesting¡­ why did he let himself get hit?" Ryan wondered. "He can''t disperse magic and use magic at the same time? That is weird since he used that before while he was flying¡­" That information seemed important, but Ryan couldn''t waste much time thinking about it. His Draconic Sword was made of mana, and the weapon grew shorter whenever it was used. While he was stealing some mana from Odin thanks to Magic Vampirism, he would rather have a decent reserve before anything. Ryan prepared to be attacked, but instead of that, he saw a tired Odin floating a few meters ahead. He was even sweating¡­ that was weird. Not even Ryan, who was supposed to be recovering from almost literally overworking himself to that seemed that tired. Odin was even sweating¡­ "¡­ I guess that Arrow really damaged him," Ryan thought. "If I use another, then¡­" That solution seemed too good to be true. It would really solve the problem, but what if Odin was waiting for that? As if Ryan had seen through his ns, Odin let out a long sigh. "To think that your previous attack would damage my spirit this much¡­" Odin said and then took a deep breath. "I suppose it can''t be helped." Odin raised his spear, and then Ryan prepared to escape from another trap. However, the feeling was different than before. Odin wasn''t using mana¡­ he was making his spear drain from the surroundings all the mana. In the blink of an eye, Gungnir began to glow, emitting a white color. Not to mention, it began to increase in size as well¡­ if that weapon can gather enough energy and it is thrown at Ryan¡­ his sword won''t prevent his death. "He doesn''t tire of causing me trouble," Ryan said and then bit his lips. Ryan wanted to recover more mana, but if Odin were that eager to end the fight, he wouldn''t be the one to drag it.. The question was¡­ which type of skill should he use against Gungnir? Aside from Draconic Bow and Dark Ice Breath, Ryan didn''t have confidence in any other in that situation. Chapter 880 - Stubborness It was a bit risky, but Ryan decided that he couldn''t use his beat skills. However, he could do something else. In fact, he could do the same thing Odin was doing, but better. Ryan assumed he was nning to attack with his sword using only the tip and while holding it only with his right hand. He activated Concentrated Strike and then summoned magic copies of his Hydra''s Bow. As if that wasn''t enough, he activated Power Shot in all of them. Odin frowned when he saw Ryan''s stamina decreasing. He was spending stamina even faster than he could spend stamina, but would that be enough? It was who had more energy avable¡­ Despite that, Ryan kept charging his attacks even when bolts of mana began to fly around Gungnir. When Ryan''s stamina reached the bottom, he fired his magic bows, but at the same time, he activated Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. Dodging those will be impossible. At the same time that happened, Ryan teleported to the right in front of Odin and swung his sword. Odin knew what Ryan had nned, so he was forced to throw his spear toward Ryan''s head. When that happened, the arrows finally passed by Ryan and hit Odin, causing a massive explosion, but when Gungnir stopped Ryan''s sword strike, the same thing happened. It seemed that Odin''s true specialty was really that type of attack. He didn''t even have time to charge it fully, and yet, the damage caused by Gungnir made the whole continent tremble. Those who had a slight talent at feeling mana could feel the impact wherever they were in the world. The attack made Draconic Sword disappear after a couple of seconds, and then Gungnir flew toward Ryan''s head, but he grabbed the weapon and prevented that¡­ or so he thought. The weapon and the explosion made him fly to the distance while spinning in the air. Ryan didn''t know for how long he had been flying, but that was just a minor detail, he used all his power and mana to stop the weapon from hitting his head, but even after a while, the weapon didn''t lose any power. Ryan thought that using all his mana and using Mana Reinforcement would solve the issue regarding Gungnir, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth. After using Magic Vampirism and Drain Touch dozens of times, Ryan finally felt the energy decreasing in the weapon, but that wouldn''t be enough since Gungnir was destined to return to Odin''s hands. If he couldn''t prevent that, he could at least defeat Odin before that happens. Eventually, Ryan seeded in stopping Gungnir, he stole all of the mana stores in it, and he only had to sacrifice his hands that now werepletely burned and wounded thanks to the attack¡­ suddenly, Ryan felt his body slowing down in the fly because Gungnir was being pushed back toward its owner. "So, it is like this, huh¡­" Ryan said and then smiled. Although his hands were really hurt, Ryan didn''t let the weapon go. Even when the weapon began to fly back at a fearsome speed, he just endured the pain¡­ and he also activated Concentrated Strike. Where the explosions happened, one could find Odin getting up and cleaning the dust from his body. Although they didn''t have much divine energy in them, those arrows damaged him quite a bit. His condition was really bad considering the damage he received from such a normal attack¡­ Regardless, he couldn''t just retreat and tryter. By doing that, he would throw mud on his name and on the name of the Norse gods. Regardless, he knew that Ryan was in an even worse situation¡­ even though he didn''t use his full power. In any case, Odin frowned when he felt Gungnir approaching and the fact that Ryan was still holding the spear. He sure was trying to do something foolish¡­ it was impossible to steal the weapon from him. However, Odin realized that Ryan had something else in mind¡­ his fists were glowing due to the high amount of energy he had been storing in them. Ryan was nning to attack when Odin was mostly vulnerable¡­ when he wasn''t with Gungnir. "This young man really is¡­" Odin opened his eyes widely in surprise. Without Gungnir, Odin couldn''t use his attacks that ignore defense and spells rted to defense. So, he really was in a bad spot¡­ In the end, he raised both his arms and prepared his most powerful lightning bolts, and made them fall when Ryan got close, but even when he got hit by those and his Frost Armor began to melt, he didn''t let go of the spear. In the end, Gungnir returned to Odin''s hands, but he also received the most powerful double punch he had ever seen. The impact sent Odin flying in the distance. That was a really good chance of pace for Ryan since he was usually the one being tossed around. However, he paid a high price¡­ The attackpletely damaged both his arms. Bones, bloody vessels, muscles¡­ The damage was sorge that they could even move them. That being said, Ryan used full heal. His attack also stole a massive amount of mana from Odin, after all. Before Odin could have any chance to recover, Ryan teleported and found him two hundred kilometers away, trying to get up while using Gungnir. He really had felt those punches. His face waspletely swollen, and he was bleeding from his mouth, not to mention, it seemed that both of his legs were broken. The very moment Odin looked at him, Ryan bombarded him with Lunar Arrows, using the same mana he stole from Odin. He tried to block those with his spear, but Odin couldn''t make it spin fast enough for that. Eventually, the damage built up, and Odin copsed while standing¡­ still using Gungnir to prevent his fall. "What a stubborn guy¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. As expected, Odin was the one who caused the most trouble for Ryan.. Ryan would feel impressed in any other situation, but he was too tired to care about that. Chapter 881 - Magic Lord You obtained 4.986.325.471 coins. Gungnir Effect: A legendary spear that grants the user the power to hit the enemy no matter what with direct and indirect attacks. Only the god of magic can wield this weapon and show its true capabilities. Strength + 2000, Intelligence + 2000, Recovery + 2000 Durability: 10.000 Mithril Crossbow of the Unrivalled Sorcerer (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: It grants you the power to fire bolts of the following elements without restrictions: fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness. Each bolt will consume five hundred points of mana and apply effects ording to their nature. It causes ten percent more damage against elder gods. Dexterity + 2400, Intelligence +2400 Durability: 1500/1500 Congrattions! For defeating Odin, you have be a Level one Magic Lord! You obtained the following skills: Odin''s Eye, Runic Knowledge, and Mana Control. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Odin''s Eye. Effect: It grants you the power to see the movement of all things affected by mana in the physical and non-physical realm. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Runic Knowledge. Effect: It grants you the power to create magic runes that will affect the properties of all kinds of things. The power and the duration of the rune will rely on the level of this skill. The number of things you will be able to do with runes will also increase with this skill level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Control. Effect: It grants you the power to control your mana and the mana in the environment freely. You only can''t control the mana in someone else''s body. The amount of mana you can control will be equal to the level of this skill multiplied by one hundred points. You obtained 01 status points. "It is finally over¡­" Ryan said and then let himself fall on the ground after a long sigh. "To think that I would be the first of my people to be defeated¡­" Odin said. "Considering that Poseidon was also the first of the Greek, it isn''t all that surprising¡­ What is this? I can feel Asgardian blood in your veins¡­ Loki, huh. I should have known." As usual, the speed Odin perceived things was insane. Ryan could only hope that he would be that fast now that he had Odin''s eye. Fortunately, it seemed like, unlike Poseidon and Thanatos, Odin wasn''t enraged for being used to create a crossbow. "I am surprised that you are surprised by this, father," Loki''s voice suddenly echoed in the area. "I am trying my best to surprise you, but it is kind of bing repetitive always to surprise you." "You should try to get a new hobby, then," Odin said. "What is your end goal this time, Loki? You should know that we will need all this''s resources for the final battle." "Let''s not worry about the future and enjoy the present," Loki said. "Still, I find some fault in your logic. Why didn''t you try to convince more humans to join your side if you are that worried? Why didn''t you try to be a bit more reasonable to convince Isis to join your side?" "Our natures are too far apart," Odin said. "Even if she has the power to defeat even Hades when ites down to it, she isn''t ready to do what it takes." "As usual¡­ you always talk in riddles," Loki said and didn''t sound very amused this time. "What about the humans? You ended up being bested by one of them, after all, and I didn''t have to share my strategy to defeat you." Odin didn''t say anything. He was a pretty famous figure, so if he had tried to help some humans in the beginning, he should have a pretty powerful andrge made of humans by now, but for some reason, he didn''t. Ryan could only imagine that it was due to his nature as a Norse god. Only the best warriors can enter Valha and his ranks or something. Ryan didn''t intend to judge people by his own standards when those have been living throughout the ages, but that kind of thing seemed really old. "In any case, you should hide those weapons and return to the base, Ryan," Loki said. "Your friend is about to defeat Baldr, and the Norse gods are retreating now that they feel that Odin was defeated. Femradiel defeated Aphrodite, and Isis is almost there in her fight against Helios." "What the¡­" Odin said, surprised. "Ah, I forgot to mention," Loki said, and the amusement in his voice returned. "I convinced Hel not to return to Earth for a while, and I also sealed Vidar so that he won''t be a problem for the time being. The Norse and Greek gods are retreating now, but they mighte here and fight you." Hel was Loki''s daughter and ruler of the underworld in Norse mythology, so he probably knew very well how to deal with her. As for Vidar, he was the god of vengeance¡­ Ryan couldn''t imagine how strong he was or how Loki sealed him. Regardless, Ryan decided to follow Loki''s advice this time. He still was a suspicious character, but he could do at least that much without worries. Before leaving, Ryan confirmed that the army of drakes was withdrawing, and then he found Daniel and Baldr fighting in the southern side of the state. Ryan saw the exact moment Daniel''s sword pierced Baldr''s heart, but in the end, he stopped there and then used Seal on him to create another sword. "The asshole is copying me¡­ well, I suppose it is better than killing the enemy for good," Ryan said. "We still don''t know what might happen if we kill the elder gods, after all." In any case, Ryan used Teleport and then returned to Egypt. A powerful hug given by Femradiel weed him.. She was tired and wounded as well, so both of them looked like they hadn''t won any battles. Chapter 882 - Sensing Hostility While Femradiel wanted to celebrate as soon as possible, she decided to be patient and wait for news on Isis and Athena''s side. Even if they managed to decrease the number of enemies by seven in a single day, it didn''t mean that they could celebrate if they lost one or two of the few allies that they had. After a while, though, they finally showed up and basically at the first time. Isis looked refreshed, but Athena looked troubled¡­tely, she always looked troubled over something. "It seems we all won this time. Good work, everyone," Isis said. "I can''t say that I won, though," Athena said with her arms crossed. "The leader of that army of demons never showed up, not even when I was fighting and ignoring my surroundings." "Hmm¡­ it seems the demons were waiting for our sideshow some weakness," Isis concluded. "Since Lilith was defeated, their Eastern army wouldn''t receive any help, even if they somehow defeated you. Regardless, it seems that all the Greek and Norse gods have withdrawn. This is a sess. On the other hand¡­ I am pretty sure everyone already knows that Loki and Athena are on our side. Athena was pretty close to where Femradiel defeated Aphrodite, after all." "A total withdrawn seems a bit too good to be true¡­" Ryan frowned. "Knowing how bloodthirsty some of them can be, I expected that some of them would try to attack and recover the new weapons to free the elder gods." "What do you know about this, Loki?" Isis asked. "I got no clue," Loki shrugged. When people starts to think they can rely on him, then he acts like that. Regardless, everyone knew that the situation still was a bit weird. The enemies won''t fall for the same surprise attacks as before, so they had to be cautious. "Well, we won the first day of this war, but there will be tougher battles in the future," Isis said. "Let''s rest well, but without lowering our guard." Ryan had been only awake for a few hours, but he felt like sleeping once again. Fortunately, his fever was nowhere to be seen, so it seemed that some hardcore exercisepletely made him recover from whatever sickness that put him down on the bed for several weeks. After spending so much time there, Ryan felt reallyfortable in the patient''s room, so he jumped into bed there and then prepared to sleep, but then Femradiel hugged him from behind. That wasn''t bad, but it was a bit troublesome, anymore contact than that, and Ryan won''t be able to keep his cool due to the softness he was feeling on his back thanks to Femradiel''s natural armor that provided zero defense. Still, it was quite a sight for sore eyes. "So, you are showing your true colors," Ryan said. "I am sorry, Femradiel, but we don''t have time for that." "Shut up. This is the reward that I demand," Feramdiel said. "Well¡­ aren''t you quite pure-hearted?" Ryan frowned. "I thought dragons were supposed to be symbols of the seven deadly sins¡­ in any case. I guess we can consider this a reward for me as well." Furball, who had been standing on guard outside the city, finally returned. It seemed that he had felt the presence of his master and decided that it was time to rest as well. While the people and the monsters of that city didn''t have to fight since morning, they still had a lot of work to do. "Hey there, buddy," Ryan said. "If you notice that she is trying to brainwash me, you can lick her face without hesitation. Don''t worry about the consequences. I got your back." Femradiel looked at Furball like she was trying to tell with her eyes alone how she would punish him if he did that. Even without words, the threat had been highly effective since Furball lowered his head and then whined. Using Sleep Maniption, Ryan put himself to sleep, but not before he activated some skills. Thanks to Mana Control and Mana Maism, Ryan could obtain a lot of mana from the surroundings, so he used that to level up Void World while he slept. He had some coins that he gained after defeating Odin, but Ryan decided to save those to do something else. Maybe it was due to his own magic that made him fall asleep easily, or perhaps it was due to the softness of Femradiel''s boobs on his back. Ryan slept really well that night. Even while sleeping, he managed to make Void World reach level twenty, and he certainly will be able to use that on his daily routine. In any case, when he opened his eyes, he saw Merlin floating above him, and he realized that he would be a troublesome existence for reasons like that. "I am sensing some hostility," Merlin said. "Your sensors might be broken¡­ this isn''t just hostility. It is in killing intent," Ryan said. "Nevertheless¡­ can you make the calctions about how many coins I will need to level up the Sea Lord ss to the max level?" "You will need¡­ 6.555.329.921 coins," Merlin replied. That ss was the closest to reaching the max levelpared to all the sses Ryan gained when he defeated dungeon masters. He had a feeling that the ss would evolve as well. After all, those sses had a lot inmon with the draconic ones. In any case, he will have to defeat another difficult opponent to obtain that many coins¡­ or at least another army of the size and as strong as the drake''s army. "I can''t cheat on that, so maybe I will need mana to solve that problem¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan had tons of loot that he gained in the battle of the previous day, and he also had a lot of essences to create mana potions. So, he will have to gather a lot of mana doing that. The problem was the time, Void World could solve that problem, but it will cost some extra mana. "Oh, well¡­ Mana Control is leveling up pretty fast, and it will level up faster there, so it is not really a problem," Ryan shrugged and then entered his Void World. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 21 (+ 07 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 61 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 85 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 38371/38371 (59,75/s) Mana: 42388/42388 (59,75/s) Stamina: 41430/41030 (59,75/s) Strength: 1881 (+21422) (+130) Dexterity: 67533 (+28655) (+550) Speed: 2270 (+23410) (+548) Intelligence: 2352 (+19595) (+33) Endurance: 2398 (+20395) (+160) Control: 2476 (2450) (+510) Mentality: 2452 (+17195) (+70) Luck: 2080 (+13560) Recovery: 8450 (+29050) (+1045) Willpower: 2452 (+17193) (+40) Coins: 5.111.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 215 (+ 30 UP), Barrage Lv 01, Currency Damage Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 258 (+ 19 UP), Concentration Lv 258 (+ 19 UP), Archery Lv 258 (+ 19 UP), uracy Lv 258 (+ 19 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 265 (+ 25 UP), Frost Armor Lv 249 (+ 15 UP), Ice Breath Lv 299 (+ 25 UP), Smite Lv 01, Sr Eclipse Lv 01, Sr Enchantment Lv 01, Odin''s Eye Lv 01, Runic Knowledge Lv 01, Mana Control Lv 06 (+ 05 UP) Support Skills: Electric Resistance Lv 233 (+ 74 UP), Shock Resistance Lv 202 (+ 55 UP), Conversion Lv 113 (+ 39 UP), Electric Immunity Lv 112 (+ 49 UP) sses: Combat: Hero Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Celestial Archer Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Electromancer Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Celestial Warmage Lv 01, Magic Lord Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Non-Combatant: Transmuter Lv 39 (+ 13 UP), Time Mage Lv 27 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 18 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Chapter 883 - [Bonus ]Secret Time was of the essence, so Ryan didn''t waste a single minute. He drained the mana of thousands of items, and soon enough, Soul Eater was filled with mana yet again. He did the same with the potions, but once again, based on Merlin''s calctions, it wasn''t enough¡­ maybe Ryan should turn his mithril armor into mana. It was too big anyway, and against Odin, it didn''t help all that much. It didn''t work even against Baldr. "Well, it didn''t work because of their abilities, and armor like that still grants me a massive boost in my defense," Ryan muttered while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should ask Nakine if he can lend me some mithril¡­" "Fear not! For I am here to solve all your problems," Loki''s voice echoed through the Void World. "Loki¡­ I knew that you were an annoying guy, but I didn''t know you were a peeping Tom," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? I just felt that one of my friends was in trouble, and I came to help!" Loki said. "I wasn''t spying on anyone." That was obviously bullshit. Still, rather than that, Ryan was more interested in how he could enter Void Worlds like that. He didn''t enter, but his voice could work inside¡­ things would have been a lot easier if he had used that when they were under Hypnos'' influence. "You know, I can help you with your problems, and you can help with mine," Loki said. "I see¡­ you want something more, even though we already sold you several domains," Ryan said. "Let me guess. You want Echidna''s domain." "You are pretty smart, Ryan," Loki said. "I can only feel shivers and annoyance when you praise me," Ryan frowned. "Regardless, that domain belongs to Femradiel, and I won''t ask her to hand it over. In any case, since I am done here, I will just hunt some monsters and steal their mana. Or even better, I can ask Femradiel to summon some monsters here, and I will steal their mana with Soul Eater. That is a pretty efficient way to reach my goal." "Well, that is up to you, but I wasn''t nning to tell you about a world of mine that I have been keeping as a secret," Loki said. "Thanks to that, I have a nearly infinite supply of mana." "Good for you," Ryan said without showing any interest. "Come on, don''t be like that," Loki said. "Come to my domain in Spain, and I will show you something impressive." Ryan wondered if he should waste time with or not. Knowing Loki, he was insane enough to make his allies waste time in such an important time. However, he knew that Ryan wasn''t by far one of the most patient people in the world, so he wouldn''t dare do that. "All right¡­ but if I think that this trip was a waste of time, I will demandpensation," Ryan said. "I am sure you won''t be disappointed," Loki said, and Ryan could imagine the grin on his face. Ryan canceled Void World and then sighed. It was already time for breakfast, but Femradiel still was snoring. Somehow, he freed himself from her arms and then left by using Teleport. He wondered if he should have warned the others about his leave, but in the end, Ryan wasn''t the type of person who felt the need to report every single one of his actions to his allies. No matter who they are. Thanks to Soul Eater, he reached Loki''s domain in a single instant and then moved to the dungeon as well. On the next, he found Loki and a portal on his side. Weirdly enough, this portal granted him the chance to see the other side, and in there, Ryan saw apletely blue world. "What is that?" Ryan frowned. Instead of replying, Loki made the image approach the, and then Ryan saw that the world was filled with small blue nts. Much to Ryan''s surprise, he actually could appraise those nts. Blue Angel. Effect: A spiritual nt that has magical powers. When its leaves are eaten, they recover your mana by ten points. Each nt can bore five leaves, and a new leaf can appear once every five days. "¡­ A pretty interesting nt indeed," Ryan frowned." You cultivated an entire world to multiply those?" "Yes and no," Loki replied. "Using them like this wouldn''t be that efficient. That is why I transform them into mana liquid." Loki said and then showed another part of the world where some humans and creatures of all kinds of species were working harvesting them and transforming them into mana liquid after turning them into powder. Ryan bet that he could drain the mana liquid with Soul Eater¡­ if he had a decent size stock of those nts, he would be able to charge Soul Eater between battles, and he will have the power to level up sses even when he isn''t fighting or training. "So, you want to trade Femradiel''s domain for this world?" Ryan asked. "Ha-ha, that was funny," Loki said. "You are smart, but you are not smarter than me. In exchange for that domain. I would give you one billion points of mana every day." That seemed too good to be true¡­ besides, what does Loki do with so much mana? Probably something very worrisome, still, those humans and the other creatures didn''t ufortable working like that. Then again, there was a chance that he was only showing an illusion. "I can teleport you to that if you are that suspicious," Loki said. "No, it is fine," Ryan said. "I will talk with Femradiel and see if she wants to do the trade. Talk with youter." Before Loki could say anything, Ryan left. Truth to be told, he wasn''t going to ask Femradiel anything. He just learned something pretty useful.. Even though Ryan couldn''t replicate the same method to obtain a stupid amount of mana, now he knew that he could do many things aside from just relying on skills to recover that. Chapter 884 - Male Pride As soon as Ryan returned, he was weed with eyes full of criticism from Femradiel, Isis, and Athena. They knew where he had gone and who he had met, so it was only obvious that they would look at him that way. "What? Do you think that I am the kind of person who would get along with Loki and plot something behind you guys'' back?" Ryan frowned. "No, but why be so secretive?" Femradiel asked. "If I were secretive, I would deny the event," Ryan said. "Even though I knew it would be useless. Anyway, did something happens?" "No¡­ aside from the demons, the elder gods aren''t making any moves," Isis replied. "By the way, may I ask, what did you talk with Loki?" "He only showed me what he wanted to offer in exchange for Echidna''s domain," Ryan replied. "I am not really interested in giving something that isn''t mine, so the negotiation is over. You guys look like you want to learn more about what he showed me¡­ he just showed me how he has a stupid amount of reserves of mana. Unlike many of you might imagine, he isn''t doing anything shady to have that¡­ I think." "¡­ Putting that aside, the demons are attacking my army, but they are not even trying," Athena said. "We need to make our move before the elder gods n to do something unexpected." "Can they even do that without Odin?" Femradiel asked. "I thought he was the heart of the Norse gods. As for the Greek gods, they already lost many of them. Unless they n to attack us at the same time, I can''t see them achieving much." "It might take some time, but those who are cool-headed enough will realize and convince others that this is the best way for them," Athena exined. "They are starting to realize that every time they fail, we gain move power. Directly and indirectly." Athena was talking about the weapons they created using the spirits of the elder gods and the fact that the followers of the other side were also growing less fond of their leaders that kept losing battle after battle against a smaller group. While that was a good weapon on their side, it could stir up all the remaining enemies and cause the worst-case scenario: an all-out war where all the gods of Norse or Greek mythology will show up to fight. "I was nning to decrease the strength of the demons once again, but in this type of condition where all our enemies are on alert, it might cause more trouble than help," Isis said. "The ces where the demons have high-concentrations of survivors. If a battle between us and then take ce in there, many bystanders will lose their lives." "So, we can only wait and see what will happen?" Femradiel frowned. "That doesn''t seem the smartest thing to do when we have the upper hand." "I agree, but staying low now will help us recover from the damage we received, not to mention, the enemies will realize that we won''t make any mistakes now that we aplished so much," Isis added. "That will make them grew even warier of us. They won''t attack so soon, and that will also let us the time to adapt to our new powers and weapons." "Now that those things had been solved¡­ can you care to exin what that thing is?" Athena asked while pointing to Merlin. "A little something that I gained when I became the strongest human," Ryan replied. "Its name is Merlin, and ording to with he/she/it, it was created by the same person who created the sses and added it to the system." "I thought that was just the system evolving and humans adapting to their new powers¡­" Isis furrowed her eyebrows. "As expected, someone is interested in helping the humans that part of the system didn''t exist a long time ago." "Well, let''s not be hasty. ording to Merlin, the so-called help granted us power, but it also caused certain problems," Ryan said. "The monsters grew stronger faster, the dungeons leveled up faster, and you guys returned much sooner than expected." "That was something we also assumed incorrectly," Athena said while looking at Isis. "We thought that the levels of mana increased faster than others because this world had mana a long time ago. Usually, it takes decades for a dungeon master to be able to appear on a world." Now that Ryan thought about it, that exined why he couldn''t find a treasure chest at the end of the dungeons in other worlds. It seemed that the guy who created the sses wanted humans to grow stronger, but not too strong to the point where they would seek more power in other worlds. Without reason like that, humans wouldn''t feelpelled to wage war against other races that weren''t picking a fight with them. "Well, if that is all, I am going to do some training," Ryan said. "Can you keep summoning monsters to my Void World, Femradiel?" "Sure, why not?" Femradiel shrugged. Ryan didn''t waste time customizing his Void World so that Femradiel couldn''t find anything inside it. That really was something Ryan would do¡­ focus only on the practical level of the skill. Regardless, Femradiel began to summon monsters, but Ryan only wanted to steal their mana with Soul Eater, much to her surprise. "Ah, I forgot to exin. Merlin can pass me the knowledge of all sses as long as I pay the right value for the ss with mana or coins," Ryan said. "What? Isn''t that pretty unfair?" Femradiel frowned in shock. "You can recover your mana by using Lust and increase your lust without using mana¡­ your new powers are the unfair ones," Ryan said. "What the heck¡­ Those skills you gained after defeating Aphrodite are also ridiculously insane." "I guess that is true¡­ anyway, you are going to grant me those sses, right?" Femradiel asked. "I was wondering¡­ I would feel better if I knew that I was stronger than you," Ryan said and then forced a smile when he saw Femradiel''s annoyed face. "Of course, that is just my male pride speaking.. I will share the knowledge with you." Chapter 885 - Command Thanks to Femradiel broken powers to recover her mana, she had created an army of five hundred monsters that could recover one hundred points per minute in just one hour. That means that by using Soul Eater, Ryan could drain fifty thousand points of mana per minute as well¡­ it was a pretty decent amount of mana. Considering all his skills, he could only recover one-third of that. Still, he wasn''t satisfied, so he decided to look in Merlin''s database for a ss that would help him even more. As long as it was a tier-three or lower ss, he would buy it. He actually found one. It was a very good ss against mages, even though it was mage ss. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Spell Breaker! You obtained the following skills: Magic Destruction, Mental Boost, and Magic Understanding. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points, your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Destruction. Effect: It grants you the power to nullify and absorb the mana of spells that uses low amounts of mana. At level one, you can nullify spells that cost five points of mana, and the same amount will increase with each level up. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mental Boost. Effect: It passively increases your mana regeneration by one point per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Understanding. Effect: By understanding the fundaments of magic, you can decrease the cost of mana of your spells by one point per level. This skill can only decrease the cost of all skills by up to fifty percent. You obtained 01 status point. "Not bad¡­ to think I would be able to recover and save mana so much thanks to a single-tier three-ss," Ryan said, visibly impressed. "I am shocked I didn''t find this one sooner." Ryan was about to ask Merlin to make Mental Boost to level up a few times when he realized it¡­ wasn''t he doing the same thing Femradiel could do with the monster system? She could do that because she was a dragon, but he couldn''t imagine the skills of a dragon and the skills of the creator of Merlin were so simr¡­ Usually, Ryan wouldn''t level up that ss since it would cost him mana, but since they were in the Void World, where time passes faster, it would be efficient to do that right at that moment. Besides, to make the skill level up in any other way, he would have to use magic, and that would be less efficient. "It is actually true¡­ you can really gain sses by relying on that thing," Femradiel said, visibly impressed after she used Appraisal and confirmed that Ryan gained a new ss. Ryan felt a bit offended since she thought it was a lie. Regardless, Ryan knew that Merlin''s presence wouldn''t take the chance to clear dungeons a useless task. After all, he could gain status points by clearing them periodically. "Merlin, you said that you can''t help me while I fight, but what about outside fights?" Ryan asked. "What else can you do to help me?" "I am surprised. I didn''t imagine any sane human would find my abilities insufficient," Merlin said. "It seems I was indeed wrong." "So, you can''t do anything else?" Ryan asked. "Aside from using sarcasm, of course." "No," Merlin replied. Merlin had a pretty human-ish behavior, but that was only natural since he had been created by using magic. It wouldn''t be weird if the mana of his creator heavily influenced his personality. Regardless, that wasn''t important for Ryan. He tried toe up with other ways to gather enough mana, but most of them would be only helpful in the long term. Fortunately, thanks to the time speed in the Void World, around noon of that same day, Ryan finally obtained enough mana to make Sea Lord reach level max. Congrattions! The ss Sea Lord has reached the max level. Congrattions! The ss Sea Lord has evolved into Sea King. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points once this ss levels up. The effects of the previous ss'' skills have doubled. "I knew it¡­" Ryan said while ignoring another massive power-up. "Following the logic between those titles, the next will be Sea God, and I will finally be able to use Poseidon''s Trident and demonstrate its full potential." Ryan knew that he was getting carried away, but he couldn''t help but wonder which other mythological figures used bows as the main weapon. The only ones that came to mind were Artemis and Apollo, but fortunately, he wasn''t crazy enough to pick up a fight with them just to obtain their weapons. "This seriously isn''t fair¡­" Femradiel said. "The bnce of power can''t be broken like this." "What kind of bnce of power¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Hey, Merlin, make some of Femradiel''s sses level up as well. As long as she doesn''t level up Lust Lady and Lady of Love, everything else is permitted." "Why are you so worried about those?" Femradiel asked. "As long as she gives the mana necessary, then I can do it," Merlin said. "What? Can you? I thought you were supposed to help only me," Ryan said, visibly surprised. "I follow your orders rted to my abilities, so it doesn''t matter if I use my abilities to help others," Merlin said. "As long as you give the order, then it is possible." That was another piece of useful information. That fact only made Ryan confirm that Merlin''s creator didn''t make him to help a single human rule over other humans or other species. Still, if the owner were another person, it wouldn''t change anything. "Why are you so quiet? Are you thinking of changing your mind?" Femradiel asked. "¡­ Remember, Merlin, all sses are possible, but those two," Ryan said. Chapter 886 - Dangerous Idea Ryan wanted to do another experiment, so he decided to stay and gather mana throughout the rest of the day, but they were forced to stop that a bit sooner because Femradiel noticed that Isis was calling for them. Without wasting time, they went to talk with her, and they found Athena and Loki already in the meeting room. "Did something happen?" Ryan asked. "More or less," Isis replied. "Until now, nothing really big, but apparently, Loki noticed that Hermes moved toward the Norse gods'' territory." Hermes¡­ the messenger of gods, and also the god of boundaries, travel, trade,munication,nguage, writing, cunning, and thieves. Hermes was also responsible for protecting livestock and presided over the spheres associated with fertility, music, luck, and deception¡­ at least, that was what Athena told them about Hermes. "I can''t gather intel from inside any longer. If I expose myself, I will be attacked," Athena said. "My guess is that the Olympian gods want to offer a truce between them and the Norse gods." That made things a bit more troublesome for the group¡­ without considering the opportunities of those parties trying to decimate each other, the actions of those presented would be extremely limited. If they decided to team up, then¡­ "In terms of raw numbers, the Norse gods still have the advantage," Loki said. "However, they lost Odin, and without their leader, they can only rely on Thor. He isn''t a very good diplomatic, and he tends to solve things with his hammer, but right now, his anger will bepletely directed to us." "I guess the chances of them teaming up are really high¡­" Isis closed her eyes and then crossed her arms. "This isn''t good¡­ we can''t team up with other deities. So, our only option is to try to make the other humans join our side." "The people in South America and Japan might ept, but they won''t leave their territories," Ryan said. "As for the Russians, I have a friend who might agree, but she isn''t the only one who calls the shots." "What about your friends in North America?" Isis asked. "Their numbers aren''t that big, but they have some survivors that mighte in handy against the big guns," Femradiel replied. "That being said, aside from Alissa and her soldiers, the others might not want to join forces since Ryan left a bad impression on them." "What about the survivors in Israel, Italy, and Ennd?" Ryan asked. "You should forget about them," Isis said. "They are a bitplicated." "How so?" Ryan frowned. "We tried to negotiate with them while you were on the dragons'' world, but the four archangels said that they want to ally themselves with those that are working with the man who has the power of a deadly sin and obtained the power of the demons as well," Loki exined. "Do I have to say who that person is?" "I didn''t know that I was that infamous," Ryan shrugged. "Still, I am surprised that they are divided into three regions but still can afford to negate bing allies with you three." "Their powers are highly effective against demons, after all," Isis said. They seemed like a strong force, so Ryan couldn''t help but feel bad about it¡­ but it wasn''t like his powers made him evil or demonic, at least not all that much. His actions certainly were¡­ no, Ryan was pretty sure that most of his actions could be considered evil. He was egoistic, and he didn''t listen to others. While he helped some people over thest year, that wasn''t his priority, not even ten percent of the time. "Alissa created her own domain, finally," Isis said. "So, she can''t abandon it now. Weirdly enough, we can''t ask them to join us because they have their own domains and thousands of civilians to protect." More and more, it was bing clear that they would have to deal with the Norse and Greek gods by themselves. There were also the forces in India and China, but they will only look at the rest of the globe when they see a single powerful enemy that they will have to work together to defeat. Otherwise, any negotiation would be useless. The room stayed quiet for a while because no one knew what to do. Although the people there weren''t the type, who would get depressed over theck of a solution to aplicated situation. Just thinking and not finding a proper answer wouldn''t help either. "Well, we can''t just assume that they will join forces yet¡­" Isis said and then took a deep breath. "Let''s keep on sharpening our fangs, and then we will deal with the situation. Femradiel, I need to ask you to train the soldiers here inside your Void World." "All right, I can do that," Alissa said. "As for the rest of us, let''s focus on developing strategies against the remaining enemies," Isis added. "I will be counting on you two, Loki and Athena since you know them better than any of us." "Yes, yes," Loki said. "Right," Athena said. Ryan quickly returned to the Void World and began to think of what he should do to improve their situation. However, he was from being a tactical genius, so nothing really came to mind¡­ nothing aside from keeping with his n to level up his sses. He had a certain idea that seemed promisor, but it relied on him as the center again. "I already knew that, but man¡­ I am really very egocentric," Ryan frowned. It seemed that the destiny of the whole group was in Athena and Loki''s hands. Without their help, fighting against so many elder gods at the same time will result in their end.. After insisting oning with some sort of n, Ryan ended up having an idea, but it was risky¡­ that being said, it would also decrease the pressure on the rest of the team. The downside was that he would have to pay a high price for it¡­ and the currency would be in blood and pain¡­ Chapter 887 - Probability "Merlin, based on my skills and your data, what are the chances of sess on that n?" Ryan asked. "None," Merlin replied. "¡­ What should I do to increase those chances?" Ryan asked after frowning. "There is nothing that you can do," Merlin said. "If you insist on that n, you will die. I hope that my next master will have a better brain." "I don''t pay you to say bullshit like this," Ryan said. "You don''t pay me, we exchange mana for knowledge," Merlin exined. "Therefore, I am free to say whatever I think it is convenient for myself." Ryan was starting to think that Merlin''s initial behavior was just an act, and that was the truth. Merlin¡­ a very annoying AI-type creature, even though his behavior made him look really far apart from any decent AI. Although he was fully aware that such a n was risky, Ryan couldn''te up with any other. In any case, he was worried, but he was worried about the future while he was stealing the mana from the monsters Femradiel summoned. Thanks to that, his levels of annoyance weren''t rising. Much sooner than Ryan predicted, Femradiel returned to his Void World. Weirdly enough, she gave him her Soul Eater, and Ryan frowned when he saw it with one billion points of mana. "... Why did you do that?" Ryan facepalmed and then asked. "I don''t have any use for that domain and I want some new sses," Femradiel said. "Well¡­ it was yours, so I can''t reallyin," Ryan shrugged and then said it. "Let''s just hope that Loki won''t do anything troublesome with so many domains." Domains granted mana and coins, but those could only be used on the dungeon system, so Femradiel really had no use for it. In any case, the first ss that Femradiel asked for was a really weird one. It wouldn''t make her stronger¡­ at least in a normal way. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Fire Spiritualist! You obtained the following skills: Fiery, Fire Meteor, and Fire Prison. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Fire Aura: it grants you the power to summon an aura that will increase your fire-rted attacks by three percent per level and will decrease the damage of all fire-rted skills on you by one hundred points per level. Cost: 500 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Fire Meteor: it grants you the power to summon a meteor that will spread a sea of mes upon impact. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill + 50 percent of your intelligence. Cost: 3000 You obtained 01 status points. Fire Prison: it Grants you the power to lock a target inside a prison of fire that will cause damage over time of one hundred points multiplied by the skill level. The duration will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by 5 five seconds. The prison can withstand up to one hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status points. "Are you nning to be a fire dragon now?" Ryan frowned. "Of course not, I just want to improve my elemental resistances," Femradiel said. "Use the crossbow in which you sealed Odin''s spirit. That should help me level up the ss and the Fire Aura faster." Ryan had many reasons to refuse. First, he was busy. Second, he didn''t want to hurt an ally. Despite that, he decided to help her since it was to avoid trouble in the long run. Femradiel was fully aware that she couldn''t rely on the monsters for her to be as sturdy as possible since no one could tell when the next fight would happen. In any case, Ryan frowned when he aimed at Femradiel''s feet and then pulled the trigger. The bolt exploded upon contact, and there was no piercing damage. Only a mark of burn¡­ Femradiel was surprisingly sturdy. "You can fire faster," Femradiel said. "All right¡­ Let''s finish this as soon as possible," Ryan said and then pulled the trigger in quick session. In the end, it didn''t take long for Femradiel to start to sweat cold. She was healing herself as soon as she got hit, but burn marks are annoying and tend to stay for a while, even after one uses Full-Heal. Ryan could tell that Fire Aura was getting stronger but not strong enough. Besides, Ryan received two boosts in his power recently. So it was only natural that he could damage Femradiel that easily. "Since we are already here¡­ Odin, do you think that your people might ally themselves temporarily with Olympus now that you have been defeated?" Ryan asked. "You should know that already," Odin replied. "If my people retreated and didn''t attack on the next day, they might be nning arge move." "How do you know that they didn''t attack again?" Ryan asked. "Since you are in this ce, it is only obvious," Odin said. Ryan hoped that Odin would free him from that worry, but he had been too naive. Soon enough, Ryan resumed his attacks and helped Femradiel for quite a while. He also used that time to think about his strategy, but he got nothing else aside from some very basic insights. Merlin said that Ryan would die, but Ryan had the confidence that he might seed¡­ he just needed the right tools. Fortunately, Femradiel gave him some amazing insight by trying to get sturdy as well. In any case, Ryan couldn''t show to anyone what he was going to do. Otherwise, Femradiel would use everything in her power to stop him. With that in mind, he attacked her until her face waspletely pale. Femradiel wasn''t the type toin, but she obviously was going too far. "We can resume thister," Ryan said. "Rest for a while and then you will be back on our feet. In the meantime, I will resume my own training." "Got it, I will wait outside since time will pass slower there.." Femradiel said. Chapter 888 - Electric Spiritualist Congrattions! You have be a Level one Electric Spiritualist! You obtained the following skills: Lightning Aura, Continuous Lightning, and Electric Prison. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Lightning Aura: it grants you the power to summon an aura that will increase your electric-rted attacks by three percent per level and will decrease the damage of all-electric-rted skills on you by one hundred points per level. Cost: 500 mana per second You obtained 01 status points. Continuous Lightning: it grants you the power to summon a lightning bolt that will hit and damage the target for as long as it stays active. The damage caused will be equal to the level of the skill + 50 percent of your intelligence per second. Cost: 2000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Electric Prison: it Grants you the power to lock a target inside a prison of electricity that will cause damage over time of one hundred points multiplied by the level of the skill. The duration will be equal to the level of the skill multiplied by 5 five seconds. The prison can withstand up to one hundred points of damage per level. You obtained 01 status points. "Now let''s see¡­ I guess I will have to use Mithril Crossbow of the Unrivalled Sorcerer myself," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "My skeletons won''t be able to use that crossbow for more than a few seconds, after all." Ryan activated Electric Aura and then began to fire Electric Bolts toward his feet. Whenever he got hit, his feet would paralyze and grow numbers for a while, so that was kind of scary, but Ryan eventually got used to it. "What about now, Merlin?" Ryan asked. "If I level up this skill up to level one hundred, then¡­" "You still will die," Merlin said. "You have so little faith on me¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Despite the fact that Merlin was so pessimistic, Ryan decided to keep training that ss. Soon, he would obtain others in order to make his ns have more chances of sess. However, before doing that, he would need to level up that ss as much as possible. ----- ----- Outside Ryan''s Void World, Femradiel was helping the survivors inside her own world by summoning monsters for them to fight. If the worst-case scenario really happens, most of those people won''t have many chances to fight. They will be decimated by the elder gods. Still, in case they bring their armies, then they will have their chance to fight for their lives and try to decide their own fate. In any case, Femradiel wasn''t inside the Void World. She was checking things from outside when she noticed Isis approaching. "I know that I asked you this without confirming your condition, but how are you after the fights of that day?" Isis asked. "I am fine, they caused some trouble, but I already had plenty of rest," Femradiel replied. "What about Ryan?" Isis asked. "He defeated a tough foe and while his previous condition didn''t interfere much in the fight, I heard that he struggled a lot." "He seems fine as well, but¡­" Femradiel frowned. "But?" Isis asked, slightly confused. "He is nning something, I can tell because he seems quieter than usual," Femradiel replied. "It seems that information about the other guys'' not joining this group bothered him a little and he is trying to make up for it." "That seems something Ryan would do¡­ are you worried that he is nning something dangerous since he isn''t telling anyone about it?" Isis asked. "Yes. Ryan is a simple guy and for what I can tell, he has been pretty ordinary throughout his entire life, thanks to that and some recent events, he has been fighting against hisck of confidence," Femradiel exined. "The only way he thinks he can do that is by struggling most than anyone." "Struggling right now by himself doesn''t sound too good considering the enemies that we will have to face," Isis looked upward and then said it. At the same time, she tried to imagine what Ryan was up to. "Well, if something were to happen, you can always run and help him. I am sure the rest of us can fight without you two for a while. Just make sure to prevent him from pushing himself too hard and make him get sick again." "Will do. Anyway, anything new about the moves of the enemies?" Femradiel asked. "We are trying to keeping an eye on them, but that is difficult," Isis replied. "If a dungeon master makes changes in their domains in order to let someone enter, no one can tell. Besides, feeling presences inside the domains is impossible. So, they might be teleporting around as we speak to have a meeting among themselves and we can''t confirm that. They can easily teleport around the globe, after all." Femradiel nodded¡­ it looked like despite their victories, things were only getting moreplicated. Regardless, they couldn''t just worry endlessly about such things. Just like Isis told before, it would be better to focus on improving their armies and their skills while they can. Using the rest of the mana that she had in her Soul Eater, Femradiel decided to speed up the time inside her Void World. While she and Ryan won''t be able to make use of that again, she needed to increase the power of the skill in case they obtain that chance one day.. That was because Femradiel heard from Ryan what Odin told him before about the true enemies¡­ Odin wanted to create a world where the people would have the chance to fight the true enemies, so Femradiel assumed that the battles wouldn''t end after the Greek and Norse gods had been dealt with. Maybe Femradiel should ask Isis about that, but she couldn''t help but wonder¡­ if she knew about those true enemies, why didn''t she mention them until now? Chapter 889 - Adjustements After leveling up Electric Aura up to level fifty, Ryan decided to take the next step. However, much to his surprise, even though only a couple of hours passed in the real world, he received some bad news. "Ryan, you need toe out and see this¡­" Femradiel said via Telepathy. Ryan quickly undid the Void World and then opened his eyes. Even before he could leave the room, he noticed that something was off. It was around three in the afternoon, the temperature in Egypt was supposed to be pretty high, but much to his surprise¡­ the wind was pretty cold. When he left the room, he noticed that it was snowing¡­ snowing in Egypt¡­ Ryan couldn''t say that never had happened before because he didn''t live that long. Still, he noticed that even Isis looked shocked, but not for that, but it was because the Mediterranean Sea was now frozen. "It seems that they reached an agreement much sooner than we expected," Isis said, showing aplicated expression. "All the armies of the remaining Olympian gods are marching South, toward this ce and toward Athena''s territory." "How many time do we have to do anything?" Femradiel asked. "Their armies will reach us in three to four hours, the same thing can be said about Athena," Isis replied. "The real issue here is that we can''t leave the domain, if we do, the Olympian gods will attacks us all at once. It is pretty obvious." "Sorry for my dy, but things aren''t that good on my end as well," Loki suddenly said via Telepathy. "The army of the Norse gods are moving toward my domain in Spain. While losing a single domain isn''t the end of the world, they will find traces of the other ones and they will be able to teleport to those as well. I will have to fight here." "Is that so¡­" Isis said, looking really troubled by the sudden change of events. "Keep us update if something happens or if you need help." The usual Loki would say something annoying this time to get on everyone''s nerves. Still, he just ended the spell without saying anything. It seemed that even he was caught off guard this time¡­ Regardless, soon after, it was Athena''s turn to use Telepathy. "It seems we were got on their nerves this time¡­" Athena said. "My predictions were way off¡­ my apologies." "There is no need to apologize, this never happened before and it only shows how much nervous they are regarding us," Isis said. "They probably imagined that we would try to obtain more allies once we noticed their movements. So, with that in mind, they decided to act this fast." "I have many followers here, so I can''t abandon them," Athena said. "I will fight here until the veryst moment." "Understood, keep us updated," Isis said. "So, are we just going to wait for the attack?" Ryan asked. "We can always try to melt the ice." "It is useless," Isis said. "The whole ocean was frozen in a single moment. So, they will just do the same again. Besides, it is not like monsters at the max level will ever drown. We might be able to attack them from a distance, but it won''t be enough. The farther away the caster is from the target, the weaker the spell and any other type of attack will be. There is also the fact that the elder gods will see through this n and will try to protect their troops with some defensive spells. " Ryan nodded. Since the elder gods won''t show up unless they leave the domain, they obviously will protect their troops since relying on those will be the fastest way to knock down any domain. "We have to split our forces and attack before they reach this ce," Ryan said. "Since Athena and Loki were in other regions, the enemies'' forces are already split to begin with. Besides, even if they hurry to defeat us, the army of the Norse gods will have to travel for a while. Femradiel, you take their left side and I will take the right. That way, if something happens, we will be able to help or be helped by Loki and Athena." Isis and Femradiel frowned when they heard that. Ryan was talking as if Loki and Athena''s armies were just a few hundred meters away, but they were hundreds of kilometers. Not to mention, splitting the enemies'' attention also meant that they would split their forces. They will be easy targets, and considering the situation, it was obvious that Ryan would be their main target. "No, that is too dangerous¡­ we will find another way," Femradiel said. "All right, if you have any better idea, I am listening," Ryan said. "You have one hour toe up with a better n." Ryan sounded pretty confident on his n, but he wasn''t a tactical genius, so Femradiel was also confident that she coulde up with a better n in one hour¡­ However, much to her despair, nothing came to mind. If all the enemies'' armies reach Egypt, then Isis''s domain will fall. She lost a lot of the mana stored in defense when the demons attacked, after all. Another push for an even greater force will certainly finish it off. Once that happens, it will be game over¡­ no matter what happens, they couldn''t let so many enemies approach. It will be better if they drown the entire armies in the middle of the Mediterranean. Isis probably can do that. She just needs to make sure that no elder god will get in the way of her attacks. For that to happen, they needed a diversion, and that was what Ryan offered. "So, Femradiel, what is your n?" Ryan asked. "¡­ Let''s go with your n, but instead of just fighting in the same area, let''s fight close to Loki and Athena," Femradiel said. "Having someone to offer us back up will be necessary, absolutely necessary. We will teleport to their domains and then attack the armies approaching them. Meanwhile, Isis will attack the monsters crossing the ocean.. Let''s win this." Chapter 890 - Vs. Thor And Zeus Although Femradiel''s n was just a slight upgrade from Ryan''s, he didn''tin. Still, he felt slightly troubled in having to fight while considering that Loki would have to back him up. Before leaving, Femradiel and Ryan gave the orders for their pets to fight to protect Egypt no matter what. In thest moment as well, Ryan decided to do something unusual to pump him and Femradiel. A brofist¡­ it seemed silly, but it was the best Ryan could do at the moment to show his trust on her. "What is this?" Femradiel frowned. "Just close your hand and touch it," Ryan said. "It is like a promise between friends, friends¡­ friends..... That we will win no matter what." "Why did you tried to imitate an echo in the word friends?" Femradiel frowned even more. "Well, I suppose this is just like you¡­ too damn shy." After touching each other''s fists, Ryan and Feramdiel teleported. In North of Spain, Ryan found an army of king trolls marching toward Loki''s domain. While Ryan could also see, thanks to irvoyance, an army of Fenrir in front of his domain. They didn''t seem like the best match-up against the trolls. "I heard details from Isis, are you sure about this?" Loki asked. "Yes, I am," Ryan replied. "Coming here will help me achieve my goal with more ease¡­ just make sure to let those two fight me, you can deal with anyone else, all right?" "Those two?" Loki frowned. Ryan used Draconic Transformation and then dashed toward the trolls. In the end, instead of attacking with arrows and bolts, he just summoned Draconic Sword and then began to swing it around wildly. The king trolls tried to attack Ryan with their ice clubs. They were ten meters long, after all. However, they were too slow¡­ Since the enemies were numerous, Ryan didn''t even have to worry about missing or being skillful. He just swung his sword around, and monsters and their weapons were split in half as if they were made of butter. Eventually, some of them began to fire Ice Spear toward him, but what was the point of firing Ice Spears against an ice dragon? For a second, Ryan even considered summoning Soul Eater and then fill it with some of the enemies'' mana. Still, he did well in not doing that¡­ Suddenly, several Electric Spears fell from the sky at absurd speeds, and Ryan didn''t even have time to dodge them. He got hit and paralyzed¡­ which surprised him since, at some point, he even got used to Odin''s lightning bolts, but even though those spears were a lot smaller, they caused more damage. While Ryan was being attacked by a rain of continuous Electric Spears, the king trolls passed by him as if it was only natural. Their goal really was Loki''s domain¡­ Somehow, Ryan activated Electric Aura, and then the pain and the paralysis decreased. Thanks to that, Ryan had the chance to use Teleport and escape from the torrent of attacks. Once he did that, he felt two presences floating in the air. Zeus ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? The visitors that Ryan had been waiting for finally showed up¡­ It was weird, but Zeus was pretty simr to how Ryan had imagined him. He was an old man that had one heck of a physique despite having long white hair and beard. His eyes emitted a silver-ish glow, but from them, Ryan could see sparks emanating. How strong someone had to be to be able to emanate sparks of energy in their eyes? Zeus didn''t have a weapon or armor. Instead of that, he was just wearing half of a robe on his upper body and showing off his muscles. Despite that, Ryan knew that he was far from being defenseless. Thor ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? On the other hand, Thor waspletely armed and armored from head to toe. He was a tall, young-looking man who had red hair and a beard. Both of those were quite gruff. On his left hand, one could see the legendary hammer, Mjolnir. Aside from that, his armor and helmet seemed pretty normal. Still, his brown eyes were weird¡­ aside from the usual transparent glow that showed that he had a high level of divinity, his eyes were so brown that they kind of looked red like blood. "Oh, boy¡­ you were waiting for those two?" Loki said via Telepathy. "Imend you, Ryan. You have balls¡­ or perhaps you just have a death wish." "No shit, Sherlock," Ryan said while sweating cold. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan knew that those two would emit one hell of bloodlust, but even in his guess, he had underestimated them somehow. Their bloodlust was so intense that Ryan felt like his body was being pierced by one thousand needles¡­ one thousand very sharp but thick needles. The afternoon sky was quite blue in that part of the country and of the year, but dark clouds appeared alongside those two. There was no mistake¡­ they would be the most challenging enemies Ryan would have to defeat. "Human¡­ release my father''s spirit, and I will grant you a quick death," Thor said with his chin up. "Bearded man, make me do it," Ryan said. "You can also try asking nicely, it may work." Thor raised his hammer, but then Zeus moved his right arm to stop him. That was more like it. Before any battle, those types of beings had to waste some time with chit-chat.. That was how things were supposed to be. Chapter 891 - No Thanks "Let''s not be hasty, Thor," Zeus said while looking at Ryan. "We need to show some respect toward the man who defeated Poseidon and Odin." "Says the man who greeted me by using hundreds of Electric Spears," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "My apologies, but I needed to check that you didn''t defeat those two by pure luck," Zeus said, still looking at Ryan as if he was trying to kill him with his eyes alone. "Before anything, I would like to ask where you put their spirits." "In a ce you will never reach," Ryan replied with a smile on his face. "While you throw mud in our names, I still need to thank you for not killing them," Zeus said. "That would be unforgivable and I would make sure to make the entire human race for that crime." "Well¡­ aren''t you quite merciful?" Ryan frowned. "Let''s make the humans pay for the ''crime'' one.. The crime you speak of, was just me fighting and defeating in a one-on-one fight against someone who wanted to drown the entire world. Odin was the same, he wanted the same justice you speak, but in the end, he failed at achieving his goal." Thor swung his hammer, and the most giant lightning bolt fell on Ryan''s head instantly. The attack made Ryan tremble from head to toe while he felt that even his bones were turning into charcoal. That was quite worrisome, considering that Electric Aura was already on, and Ryan didn''t feel any relief from those attacks. Congrattions! The skill Electric Aura has levelled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Aura has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Aura has leveled up. ¡­ "It is King Odin, worm," Thor red at Ryan. "You will show respect, or you will pay dearly." Ryan wished that he could say something sarcastic, but after the attack, he had to wait for a while before his mind could work properly. Maybe Merlin''s predictions weren''t off the mark¡­ even if Electric Aura reaches the max level, Ryan was having a hard time thinking that it would be enough. "Whatever, dude," Ryan said and then shook his head to regain the focus in his eyes. "You sure are different from your father. You could learn how to keep your cool from him, but if you didn''t learn until now, then you won''t ever learn." Thor raised his hammer again, but this time Ryan reacted on time to dodge by teleporting. The massive lightning bolt fell on the trolls'' army and decimated hundreds of them. In contrast, the sound alone paralyzed many others. Ryan had assumed that Thor would be a in warrior that could use lightning alongside his hammer, but it seemed that he wasn''t so bad at magic. "I already told both of you to calm down," Zeus red at them both. "If you kill him, you fool, you won''t recover your father''s spirit. Who knows for how long we will have to wait for him to free himself from that prison." Thor snorted. As expected, he wasn''t the type who would look at things with a calm mind. While it was only natural, his attitude would cause more problems to his people down the line. In any case, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ wouldn''t it be better if Odin never came? Or was he that worried about the spirit of Poseidon? "Let''s make a deal, the winner of this battle will gain everything," Zeus said. "Our spirits, our abilities, our weapons¡­ Naturally, we will fight one-on-one. You have the world of the god of the gods that we will keep our end of the bargain¡­ as long as you keep the weapons which you sealed the spirits of the elder gods in a ce where we can reach." "Thanks, but no thanks," Ryan said. Zeus let out a sigh. It was OK to be dubious of that offer, but to refuse it without giving any thought? Zeus assumed that Ryan had nned to make them go easy on him in order for them not to lose the spirits of the elder gods, but in fact, that was something Ryan thought about just now. "¡­ Since things havee down to this, then I don''t have any other choice," Zeus said after a long sigh. "We will crush again and again, until not a single piece of your spirit will be found inside this shell of yours. Prepare to be nothing but a dog." Zeus pointed his right hand toward Ryan, and then dozens of his bolts fell from the sky. Ryan didn''t even have the time to see a single one of them. Such was their speed. That being said, he managed to use Teleport and then retreat, and the bolts only hit the trolls. However, Ryan suddenly felt an impact on his right side and then felt his bones cracking. The pain spread around his whole body while Thor''s attack made him spin in toward the opposite direction. Ryan really hatesbined attacks¡­ As if things weren''t troublesome enough, Zeus bombarded Ryan even before he could stop flying with his bolts. Once again, Ryan felt like Electric Aura waspletely useless¡­ However, when he felt Thor approaching again, he clenched his teeth and recovered for a second. He had enough time to summon the crossbow in which he sealed Odin, and that surprised Thor. Without hesitation, Ryan bombarded him with Dark Bolts. Thor protects himself with the hammer. While he didn''t suffer much damage, his already massive hammer became even heavier, which made him frown. Ryan had nned to keep attacking with Fire Bolts, but Zeus stopped him with another huge torrent of his bolts. Before he could try to take the weapon, Ryan stored it away. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 27 (+ 03 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 63 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 89 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 38371/43371 (67,75/s) Mana: 42388/47388 (67,75/s) Stamina: 41430/46030 (67,75/s) Strength: 1881 (+26422) (+130) Dexterity: 67533 (+33655) (+550) Speed: 2270 (+28410) (+548) Intelligence: 2352 (+24595) (+33) Endurance: 2398 (+25395) (+160) Control: 2476 (29050) (+510) Mentality: 2452 (+22195) (+70) Luck: 2080 (+18560) Recovery: 8450 (+34050) (+1045) Willpower: 2452 (+22193) (+40) Coins: 11.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills:), Herculean Strength Lv 92 (+ 06 UP), Fighter''s Spirit Lv 76 (+ 06 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 267 (+ 09 UP), Concentration Lv 267 (+ 09 UP), Archery 267 (+ 09 UP), uracy 267 (+ 09 UP), Spells: Fiery Aura Lv 01, Fire Meteor Lv 01, Fire Prison Lv 01, Lightning Aura Lv 55 (+ 54 UP), Continuous Lightning Lv 01, Electric Prison Lv 01 Support Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 244 (+ 34 UP), Fear Resistance Lv 46 (+ 10 UP), Magic Destruction Lv 01, Mental Boost Lv 53 (+ 52 UP), Magic Understanding Lv 19 (+ 18 UP) sses: Combat: Mad Knight Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Hero Lv 07 (+ 03 UP), Hercules'' Descendant Lv 66 (+ 04 UP), Fallen Archer Lv 62 (+ 07 UP), Magic Lord Lv 09 (+ 05 UP), Spell Breaker Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Fire Spiritualist Lv 01, Electric Spiritualist Lv 39 (+ 38 UP), Non-Combatant:, Navigator Lv 37 (+ 14 UP), Time Mage Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 28 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Chapter 892 - Scratches Ryan wished that he had a n against even one of those two, but he didn''t have it. He decided to fight them because they certainly were the most troublesome foes and because the rest of the group would be able to fight more essible if they didn''t have to worry about them. Regardless, Ryan was in the wrong spot, and the situation will only get worse, so he had to damage them as fast as possible before they could have the chance to do something even more dangerous. After having a certain idea, Ryan decided to put it into practice immediately. It was a bit dangerous, but the whole situation was, after all. While leaving a trace like a lightning bolt had passed in his ce, Thor approached, and he swung his hammer. The very moment the strikended, he activated Soul Armor to nullify the damage, and the also summoned Gungnir and swung to cut Thor''s throat. However, in the blink of an eye, Thor noticed that something was weird and didn''t attack with everything. Thanks to that, he had the chance to dodge the spear by lowering his stance. "What an annoying speed¡­" Ryan thought and then stored away Gungnir. Before Ryan could do anything else, Zeus fired his bolts toward Ryan and then paralyzed him once again. Thor approached to smash Ryan''s head with the hammer, and in the end, hended a hit and almost crushed Ryan''s head, but Ryan got his hands smashed instead when he tried to protect it.. Regardless, at that moment, Ryan activated Vengeful Explosion, and it worked. The same amount of damage was reflected to Thor''s hands, and Ryan saw his expression of annoyance getting worse. On his hands, though, Ryan could only see some bruise marks. It couldn''t bepared to Ryan''s broken hands. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ "I suppose he is much sturdier¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. In any case, Ryan learned thatmon defensive skills worked against Thor, and that was good. It means that as long as he has mana, he can protect himself from receiving critical damage. Thor wasn''t as skilled as his father¡­ still he makes up for it with brute strength and stupid speed. Ryan could only react to it sometimes, thanks to Death Sense. However, Zeus was the problem. He was only using the most basic version of his attacks, and yet, he could paralyze Ryanpletely if he wished for it. Despite the difference in damage that both of them received, Thor seemed even more pissed. It appears that receiving damage from someone so inferior was something he couldn''t stand it. Maybe Ryan could use that pride against him, but not so well while Zeus stays behind, backing him up. Suddenly, Thor stopped charging like a mad bull and began to spin his hammer¡­ Ryan knew what he was doing. Apparently, Mjolnir was like a boomerang when it had an owner. No matter where it is or where it is thrown, it will always return to the user if he wishes for it. At some point, Thor spun his hammer so fast that a horizontal tornado appeared on his right side. Without wasting any more time, he threw toward Ryan. At the same time, Zeus bombarded him with bolts that paralyzed him¡­ that asshole increased the output at that time to make sure that he wouldn''t react¡­ The hammer hit Ryan''s chance and then made him to the distance. He lost consciousness for a moment while his chin was cracking, but when he recovered and tried to grab Mjolnir. He noticed that it couldn''t move an inch, even while it was flying close to his body. When the weapon finally lost some momentum, Ryan had the chance to breathe for a second, but then his back was hit against a mountain, and he felt many bones breaking. Ryan tried to heal himself faster, but he failed in doing so before he could vomit some blood. He caused only a small bruise on a single enemy, but he had already suffered so much damage¡­ he won''tst long that way. "Merlin, with the mana I gain from Conversion, uses it to level up Stone Skin, Bronze Skin, Steel Skin, and Electric Aura," Ryan said. "Understood," Merlin said. It was hard to imagine that he wouldst long enough to make good use of that skill or to hope that it would change the flow of the battle significantly, but Ryan could at least have some hope. Otherwise, what would be the point of fighting? Congrattions! The skill Stone Skin has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Bronze Skin has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Steel Skin has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Aura has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan saw that Merlin was quick to work, but he had hoped that he would be more optimal while making those levels up. Making them level up equally seemed like a waste when they required different amounts of mana to level up. To make that process a bit faster, Ryan decided to summon the mithril hammer in which he sealed Hephaestus in and then used it to block some of Zeus'' bolts. When Zeus noticed that the energy of his attacks had been drained by the weapon, he stopped attacking. The next moment, when Thor tried to hit Ryan with his own hammer, Ryan swung his hammer as well, and a thunderous impact echoed through the area alongside with an explosion. Ryan suffered some damage, but he also obtained a lot of mana from Conversion and from the dead trolls that were hit by the explosion. Ryan had used the energy stored in the hammer to even the power of their attacks a little bit. However, once again, he lost the exchange. His already damaged body suffered even more damage, and Ryan began to bleed from other parts aside from his mouth. As for Thor, he only had a few scratches here and there. Chapter 893 - Such Power The same kind of thing repeated itself several times before Ryan finally realized that perhaps he would have to rely on his trump cards much sooner than expected. He needed to weaken those two in order to make the fight a bit fairer for him. Fighting against one of them at a time would already be troublesome enough, fighting those two at the same time, then¡­ Dark Ice Breath might catch Thor off guard, but if Zeus sees that attack from a distance, Ryan doubts that it would work against him. He would be able to thoroughly analyze it and see what Ryan needed to do to use it and to hit the enemy. Ryan needed to find the perfect moment to damage both of them with the same attack¡­ Congrattions! The skill Hammer Mastery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Hammer Mastery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Hammer Mastery has leveled up. ¡­ Mithril Hammer of the Destruction Effect: With each attack, this weapon stores part of the energy of the impact, and that same energy can be used against the energy whenever you decide to do so.. Strength + 2400, Endurance + 1500, Recovery + 1500, Speed + 1500, Mentality + 1500. Durability: 360/2000 "Tsk¡­ already, huh," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw the durability of his hammer decreasing at astonishing speed. Ryan could always repair it, but it would take more mana than usual since the hammer was made of mithril. While that was a bit troublesome, it gave Ryan some ideas. One that he had nned to use against Odin, but he didn''t since the fight didn''t drag out for too long, and another was due to the hammer. Ryan activated Heat Field, a skill that Hephaestus used against him that could increase all his status and damage everyone nearby him, and he also used Sr Eclipse. Zeus frowned when he saw Ryan utilizing the skill of his son, but he frowned even more, when a dark disk appeared in the sky and covered the sun. The darkness covered only a small area of the, but it would increase in size the more it leveled up. Regardless, that wasn''t Ryan''s objective¡­ he wanted the bonus in status both skills granted him. "Merlin, add those two to the list as well," Ryan said. "Understood," Merlin said. "By the way, what are my chances now?" Ryan asked. "None," Merlin said. Ryan sighed¡­ but at least he had time to do that. Thor and Zeus stopped attacking and raised their guards because they imagined Ryan was nning something, but nothing happened. He only wanted the bonuses in status those skills granted. Zeus immediately realized that moving Ryan away from the darkness would be useless since the dark disc would follow him. It was quite a weird skill but highly useful. For the time being, the bonuses of those skills were nothing, but eventually, they will be a problem. Thanks to that, Ryan made those two realize that they should get rid of him before he could be a real nuisance. They had forgot about it that such skills would cost tons of mana to maintain, and Ryan wouldn''t it level up so fast without fighting. Due to the circumstances, though, waiting for Ryan to run out of mana wasn''t wise either. Greek and Norse gods had already lost too many elder gods, and considering that those two were the core of their respective people, they couldn''t afford to fail or even waste too much time. Thor and Zeus looked at each other, and as if they had exchanged words mentally, they nodded. Thor stepped back, and that made Ryan frown. The next moment, Zeus disappeared, and practically at the same time¡­ Ryan was punched in the stomach. The impact didn''t make him fly, but it shook his core. Maybe Zeus used much brute strength, but he certainly could cause critical and concentrated damage. While Ryan''s eyes were spinning, Thor raised his hammer and made another massive lightning bolt fall from the sky and hit him. It onlysted for a single instant, but a good part of Ryan''s Frost Armor melted. Ryan''s brain stopped working for a few moments due to the massive power of the attack, and then Zeus punched him in the stomach again¡­ they sure knew how to break the spirit of someone. Thor paralyzed and caused massive damage, while Zeus attacked Ryan''s stomach and made him lose all the air in his lungs. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Electric Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ That scene repeated itself several times¡­ it was agonizing. Ryan only had time to restore his health, but not enough time to properly recover from the wounds. Their speed was so insane that he couldn''t do anything else. It was overkill. From the very beginning, both of them knew that a single human couldn''t fight any of them separately, even less so when they fought together. However, they needed to do that much. Otherwise, they will never recover the spirits of the elder gods. However, they were forced to stop theirbo when they saw Ryan''s body changing. The corruption was spreading, and his anger made the miasma emanating from his body. As expected, they knew that Ryan still had a card up his sleeve¡­ However, before Ryan''s vision could be taken by the corruption, he used Anger Maniption and converted those feelings into mana¡­ he finally could use that to calm himself down and actually gain mana from it, thanks to the Spell Breaker ss. "I can''t let this get the better of me so soon¡­" Ryan muttered. "Even if I were to lose my mind, I can''t see myself winning against those two. I need to defeat them while my head is cool." Although Ryan knew that, he could only imagine for how long he would resist like that. After all, his body was already covered in blood and burn marks. Such was the power of the two strongest gods of Norse and Greek mythology. Chapter 894 - Yeah, Right... When Thor tried to use his massive lightning bolt again, Ryan suddenly summoned Gungnir, and that made him flinch for a moment. Using that opportunity, Ryan looking at him and then swung the spear¡­ it was hard to believe that Thor could react so fast. Still, he actually dodged an instantaneous strike that Ryan had aimed at his right eye. The damage was minimal since Ryan had to upgrade the Magic Lord ss, but it still ignored Thor''s defense and slightly made the right side of his bleed. "Now that is more like it," Ryan said and then showed a tired smile. Thor''s face grew red with anger, and then he proceeded to attack Ryan with his hammer. It seemed that the only way to cope with his anger was by using physical attacks¡­ what a dumbass. Zeus sighed when he watched that. As expected, Thor had no notion of teamwork, and he was quick to let the blood rush to his head. Death Sense warned Ryan, and he summoned Draconic Bow toward that direction and fired it. He couldn''t see Thor during that attack, but he still hit him. The impact happened before Thor could get too close to Ryan, so he waspletely unscathed.. The direct impact made Thor''s body sustained considerable damage. It had been a counterattack, after all. So, he was a bit dizzy. Before Ryan could try to finish him off, Zeus bombarded him with his bolts again¡­ forcing him to stop. However, Zeus frowned when he realized that Ryan''s spells didn''t deactivate. Thanks to that, he had the chance to summon his hammer and block some of the bolts. "I thought he had used all his mana in that attack, was I wrong?" Zeus furrowed his eyebrows. Zeus was certain that Ryan didn''t have time to use potions or summon Soul Eater, so that didn''t have any exnation. It had, actually, but Zeus won''t be able to realize it¡­ Ryan just stored Soul Eater inside him. That way, his weapon will drain and restore his mana whenever necessary. Zeus realized that Ryan finally had the chance to counterattack, and until he learns how Ryan is recovering his mana, they should change their strategy. Otherwise, even they will sustain a lot of damage with those counterattacks. When Thor finally recovered, Zeus touched him on his shoulders. He was about to charge recklessly again. "Calm down, Thor," Zeus said. "If you don''t want to be hit again by that attack, you will have to change your strategy¡­ we can''t give him the chance to counterattack, do you understand me?" It seemed those two were nning to raise the bar¡­ even though Ryan could barely keep up with their attacks. In any case, he couldn''t help but wonder¡­ what are they going to do? Attack at long distance? That seemed the easiest method, but¡­ In the end, Thor nodded. He did that pretty fast, considering how hot-blooded he was supposed to be. That wasn''t a good sign, and Ryan soon learned away¡­ the next moment, both of them disappeared, and then Ryan got hit on his sides at the same time. It was the same speed that Zeus had used before¡­ Thor could be that fast, too¡­ they were moving at light speed. That was why Ryan didn''t have the chance to react. Both attacks made Ryan''s expression change to one of pain and agony, but that hadn''t been enough for Zeus and Thor. They kept attacking the same spot over and over again until Ryan''s health almost dropped to zero, and he lost his consciousness. However, at thest moment, they were forced to retreat when Ryan activated Vengeful Explosion. That granted him a few seconds of rest, but he only felt agony after he fell on his knees¡­ to be attacked that fast by those two elder gods in particr. It was like experiencing a hell of pain and nothing more. "They used their lightning magic to enhance their movement speed¡­" Ryan thought. "¡­ and then only attacked me with physical attacks¡­ is it because they can''t use magic while moving that fast?" Or maybe it was due to the fact that they might kill Ryan, and they would lose the spirits of the elder gods. That would exin why they wouldn''t use magic while moving that fast¡­ In any case, that speed was no good. Not even Ryan''s teleporting speed could keep up with that. Not to mention, it was probably much more efficient. Ryan got used to their magical attacks because he had prepared himself for them before the battle. Still, against attacks at lightning speed that could decrease his health in an instant¡­ that wasn''t something he was prepared for. With that in mind, Ryan began to teleport around once the Vengeful Explosion ended. Even if he were to reflect some of the damage, it wouldn''t prevent his defeat. So, he had no other option but to teleport around the area and see for how long they could keep that speed. "My apologies, Ryan," Loki said via Telepathy. "If I weren''t so busy, I would help you." "Yeah, right¡­" Ryan said while he clenched his teeth and saw that the army of Fenrir was actually winning the fight somehow. Ryan didn''te to fight those two, hoping to receive his help, after all. Suddenly, Thor and Odin caught up with Ryan and then attacked his sides again, make his ribcage shatter into many pieces. Since it hase down to this¡­ Ryan will have to take some risks. Before Thor and Zeus could continue the attack, Ryan used Teleport, but those two quickly followed him. However, Ryan had a surprise waiting for them. When they tried to attack, Ryan used Shapeshifting to be a two-headed ice dragon. The two heads opened their mouths and used Dark Ice Breath. However, much to Ryan''s annoyance, they retreated. "Even their reaction speed is insane¡­ damn it," Ryan muttered while biting his lips. Ryan missed, and thanks to the fact that he used such an attack, the corruption spread around his body once again. That wasn''t good. Even if by some miracle he wins the fight by relying on that power, in the end, he will be an enemy to the entire world with his rage, and considering his recent power-ups, stopping him will be impossible¡­ without killing him. Chapter 895 - Small Chance Thor and Odin finally stopped their deadly sequence of attacks when they saw that the Dark Ice Breath instantly froze the air around Ryan. Two massive pirs of dark ice fell on the ground and smashed hundreds of king trolls. That was unexpected since endurance was also their forte. "As expected, his power added with the corruption is something else," Zeus said. "I can see how defeated Poseidon, Thanatos, and Hypnos." Ryan didn''t use that power on Poseidon, but he didn''t have to correct Zeus. Rather than that, he would use every single moment toe up with a better way to defeat those two pain in the asses.. "It seems that now you have 0.1 % chances of winning this fight," Merlin said. "¡­ Because of the corruption?" Ryan frowned. It was progress, but it was too dangerous to rely on that power now. Not to mention, the corruption had already taken over eighty percent of his body. The boost in power that he will receive probably won''t increase his chances up to one percent. In any case, Ryan still could keep using Anger Maniption to have some extra mana during that fight, so that much was fine for the time being. "Sloth Aura isn''t working¡­ probably because their divinity level is too high," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then considered that. "What about Chronos'' Ring?" Even if he were to use Chronos'' Ring, they could easily escape with Teleport unless Ryan seals the exterior with ice magic. Unfortunately, that would be deadly against those two¡­ it was like entering a cage he had created himself to take down those two. In any case, while they were analyzing the dark ice, Ryan decided to use the two pirs with Telekinesis. They won''t break easily, so they might help him cause some blunt damage on those two assholes¡­ Ryan made the pirs spin around him as fast as possible in order to use them as thest line of defense¡­ and he could only pray that it would be enough. At first, it didn''t work¡­ Odin and Thor used their light speed to approach and pass through the pirs while they were spinning and attacked Ryan. Still, they soon retreated since he had predicted that and made the weapons approach. They teleported away instead of flying¡­ "¡­ this hurt like hell, damn it," Ryan muttered while ring at the enemies. "Still¡­ why they teleported? Their speed is better than Teleport¡­ are they afraid of getting close to those pirs?" The corruption was there, but it was hard to believe that just getting close to those pirs would be so troublesome to them. However, considering how much damage and how weakened they be after getting hit by them, the previous elder gods showed to Ryan that corruption was like the worst poison in the universe for them. That would cost him a lot more mana, but in the end, Ryan used it anyway. He enhanced the power of his Telekinesis by relying on Mana Maniption. The spinning speed of the pirs increased exponentially, and even Zeus finally showed an annoyed expression. It was only obvious since the massive pirs created some tornadoes that were even making the king trolls fly to the distance. Suddenly, Thor and Zeus raised their arms, and then, numerous lightning bolts fell toward Ryan. Naturally, he used the pirs to block those, but they wouldn''tst forever. Still, that much was fine. Ryan already knew that those two were afraid of the pirs¡­ Ryan used one to block the lightning bolts and made the other spin around its own axis. Once it gained enough speed, Ryan activated Deadly Aim and Perfect and then threw it toward Zeus. Zeus decided to outspeed it and then attack Ryan from one of the sides since now he was unable to protect himself from two directions. In the end, he seeded in doing so. He punched Ryan''s left side until his body was bent to the side, but he had to stop because the speed of the pir also wasn''t something tough at. Zeus tried to keep moving around, but the pir followed him, and he barely had the chance tond two punches on Ryan. At some point, he decided to attack with bigger versions of his bolts, and while they were causing damage¡­ it wasn''t causing damage fast enough. "I am going to dispose of this," Zeus said. "Use your head a little, and you will be fine." Thor nodded. Both of them knew that the kic energy of the pir wouldn''tst for more than a few minutes, perhaps less than a minute, if Zeus finds something sturdy enough to hit that. Zeus found some mountains and made the pir pass by those. Still, thanks to its spinning speed, it passed through like the mountain was made of bubbles¡­ the same thing happened a few times before he realized that only that wouldn''t be enough. When Ryan felt Zeus''s presence disappearing in the distance. He immediately flew toward Thor and made the pir attack him, now was the time to kill one of them¡­ he couldn''t afford to defeat either of them without killing in order to make a weapon out of their spirits, after all. Thor wasn''t the type to run away from a fight, so he swung his hammer toward the dark ice pir and made the object move backward quite a bit, and it also made some fragments of the pir fly in the distance. Ryan looked at them and had an idea... Regardless, Not even his hammer could destroy that¡­ that only made Ryan eager to fight. Thor was forced to stop his lightning bolts, so Ryan summoned Gungnir and Mithril Crossbow of the Unrivalled Sorcerer. While attacking with the dark ice pir, Ryan also fired dark bolts to make Mjolnir heavier and also attacked Thor from a distance with Gungnir. "My son¡­" Odin said. "It seems that even you are having trouble dealing with Ryan." "King Odin¡­ I will free you in the blink of an eye," Thor said. Ryan was pretty annoyed, and that statement only made things worse. He began to attack much more fiercely than before, and he tried to cut Thor''s ligaments. Chapter 896 - Trick In the blink of an eye, Thor was covered in blood. Although his body still was free from deep wounds thanks to his lightning-like reflexes. The damage was pilling up¡­ Ryan made a mental note to level up the Magic Lord ss if he had the chance. Gungnir was just too useful, but he needed to cause more damage with it. Speaking of Gungnir¡­ Ryan had another idea. Ryan summoned Poseidon''s trident, and his power over the ice pir increased. This time, when he attacked, his turn finally came. When Thor tried to repel the attack, he was the one who was pushed back. Losing a contest of brute strength made Thor open his eyes widely in shock¡­ However, in the next moment, things changed again. Some iron gloves appeared on Thor''s hands, and a belt appeared on his wait. When he swung his hammer again, the ice pir was sent flying toward the opposite direction, and Ryan barely had the time to stop it. "He still has some magic relics hidden? Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryan asked, visibly annoyed.. Thor reassumed the offense and moved to attack Ryan, the massive pir got on his way, but he easily repelled it to the side. Ryan didn''t have the chance to block the next attack, so he felt Thor''s true power¡­ Mjolnir hit him in the stomach and the impact made each one of his bones to crack. Ryan was paralyzed due to the shock and continuous pain, and then Thor prepared himself to finish him off. However, he stopped before swinging his hammer. He felt a sharp paining from behind his body and at many points. When Thor turned around, he didn''t see anything, but he saw numerous shards of the ice pir piercing his body when he used irvoyance. Ryan obtained control over them while he wasn''t looking and used them as projectiles with Telekinesis, Perfect Aim, and Deadly Aim. "You¡­" Thor muttered in anger. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings," Ryan said. "You didn''t notice when that much corruption approached." Thor ignored that and tried to swing his hammer, but Ryan made the shards pierce his body even more. That dulled the feeling of his muscles, but it also made him some mental pain¡­ it was quite odd. Howe Ryan never noticed the elder gods had that much trouble against corruption? He knew that it was as effective as divine energy, but¡­ maybe it wasn''t due to the corruption alone. His recent power-ups made his corruption more effective. Regardless, Ryan didn''t have time to waste. He immediately brought back his dark ice pir and made it spin to gain strength. He had to crush Thor now that he had the chance. He couldn''t afford to half kill him. An elder god of that level would take too much time to go down using half-assed attacks. Ryan used Telekinesis and tried to crush Thor''s head, but in the end, somehow, he managed to swing Mjolnir and repel the attack. At the same time, he made the shards leave his body¡­ Ryan couldn''t believe that, but it seemed that he just used his own physical strength to do that. After opening his eyes widely in shock, Ryan finally noticed that Thor''s condition was still bad. After all, the corruption pierced his body, and it won''t leave that easily just because the shards left. Ryan covered Poseidon''s trident with ice magic and then increased its size by hundreds of times in the blink of an eye. At the same time, Thor raised his hammer and made a massive lightning bolt fall. Before Ryan could get hit, he fired the spear and the dark ice pir. Thor also didn''t have the chance to defend himself. That was probably Ryan''s best attack without relying on Draconic Bow and Dark Ice Breath¡­ it would cause a lot of damage, but so did Thor''s lightning bolt. He used everything he had on that attack¡­ the attack had been so massive that Ryan''s body disappeared inside the massive lightning bolt. The environment changed after that attack¡­ the noise of the attack had been so powerful that all the vegetation in the area died thanks to the vibration. The ground suddenly turned dark due to the burn marks left by the massive attack. Naturally, such a massive attack raised a massive curtain of dust that covered the entire north of Spain. Still, when it dissipated, it showed two bodies copsed on the ground. Those were Ryan and Thor¡­ Somehow, Ryan survived, and so did Thor. Due to the previous minutes, they were too wounded to be able tounch their best attacks as efficiently as possible. That being said, but of them were unconscious. "Well, well¡­ this sure took a longer than expected," Zeus suddenly appeared and then watched both bodies. "Your predictions are a bit off, though¡­ Hera." "My apologies, Dear," A dark-haired woman suddenly appeared and then said. "This human is more troublesome than I predicted." Hera seemed pretty young, unlike Zeus. Regardless, she was an astonishingly beautiful woman, but her expression was a bit¡­ too arrogant, even though she was apologizing. It almost looked like she med Ryan for her mistake. Hera was wearing a golden robe and a crown of the same color. She also had a short golden hand that had two snakeheads at the top. "Regardless, thanks to you, we don''t have to worry about Thor either, and this human will die without causing us any more trouble," Zeus said. "Use your magic to make him free the magic weapons in which he sealed the demons and elder gods." Hera nodded, and Zeus proceeded to recover Poseidon''s Trident. They touched Ryan and the weapon at the same time, but when they did it¡­ those vanished like they were made of illusions. "What a day¡­ what a day!" Loki''s voice echoed through the area. "Not only I saw my dear brother being bested by a human, but I also discovered that Zeus himself had been nning to backstab him since the very beginning¡­ I knew something was off when you took your time to return." Chapter 897 - Thunder Lord "Loki¡­" Zeus said as if he was chewing something very unpleasant. "For such a cowardly god, you sure have some nerve. Where are the human and Thor?" "Fear not, almighty Zeus," Loki said. "Ryan is about to wake up, and knowing him, I am sure he will finish his business with you. I just brought those two to my domain because I smelled something fishy, and I was right. Hera was really around." "You dirty little¡­" Hera bit her lips in exasperation.. "Let''s not insult each other before the fight," Loki said. "I knew that I wouldn''t be able to fight against Zeus and Thor, but I can fight you, Hera. Our powers are really simr, after all. I will see you soon." Zeus and Hera looked at each other and then decided to attack Loki''s domain before Ryan could wake up. If anyone could see that, they would think the world was ending, and the epicenter was Loki''s domain. Hundreds of lightning bolts began to hit the barrier with every passing second. ----- ----- The sound and the tremors of the lightning bolts were what made Ryan wake up. He looked to the ceiling of the barrier and felt like Earth was being destroyed. Suddenly he got up and then recognized Belphegor''s domain, which he sold to Loki. He saw the unconscious Thor on his left side, bleeding from his head, and on his right side, he saw Loki. "¡­ What happened?" Ryan frowned. "Your attacks knocked down each other," Loki replied. "After that, I brought you two here because this fight was more or less something Hera had nned." As quickly as possible, Loki exined what happened in thest few minutes. Ryan imagined that his n had been too good since Zeus didn''t get rid of the pir so soon. However, how Hera nned that? "It seems she can see the future," Loki said. "That is a power I definitely want, so while you faze Zeus, I will defeat her." That was in Ryan''s ns, but there was another thing that he didn''t understand. Loki had the chance to defeat Thor, but he didn''t do it. And yet, he helped the man who defeated his brother¡­ that wasn''t something someone was supposed to do just for amusement. "Why did you do this, Loki?" Ryan asked. "Why? Because it is interesting," Loki replied. "I am sure you watched many movies where you rooted for the underdog. It is even more fascinating to see one in real life. Not to mention, the elder gods already ruled this world once. Why would I let the same thing happen again? The same boring things will happen. That is not interesting." As expected, Ryan felt that he would never understand Loki. His way of thinking was just too ipatible with his. Instead of wasting time with that, he decided to get up and then seal Thor''s spirit in another weapon. However, before Ryan could select a weapon, Loki gave him a mithril bow. "Let''s at least put my brother inside a decent weapon," Loki said. "Thor is insufferable, but I don''t want to see him being used in a poor weapon." "Sure¡­" Ryan said. Lightning God Bow Crossbow (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using the bow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. At the cost of two thousand points of mana, it grants you the power to damage any enemy that you can see instantly and paralyze them for a while ording to their resistances. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity, and other skills and equipment can''t affect the damage caused. This bow can fire projectiles at the speed of light. Dexterity + 3600, Intelligence + 2000, Speed + 2000 Durability: 2500/2500 You obtained 9.296.475.777 coins. Congrattions! For defeating Thor, you have be a Level one Thunder Lord! You obtained the following skills: Light Speed, Electric Absorption, and Instant Learning. All of your status has increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Light Speed. Effect: It grants the power to move at light speed, this skill also enhances your reaction speed, but even so, you might want to be careful in order not to hit something while moving. With each level up. The cost of the skill will decrease by ten points per level. Cost: 20.000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Absorption. Effect: It decreases the effects of all-rted attacks by one hundred points per level. When you seeding in nullifying all the damage, you will be able to turn the enemy attack into health, mana, and stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Instant Learning. Effect: Thanks to the power of lightning, your brain can analyze faster skills, and that grants you the power to learn them instantly. As long as it isn''t a skill that has a high level of divinity, you can learn it instantly and make it level up as fast as possible based on the level of this skill. You obtained 01 status point. "Oh, boy¡­ this is quite insane," Ryan frowned. The cost of Light Speed was quite something, but its usefulness more than makes up for it. Ryan would be able to move at unbelievable speeds from the very beginning, and the cost will decrease over time. Instant Learning was also something else¡­ did Thor know that? He didn''t seem like the type who learns fast¡­ "You should take those two," Loki said, pointing toward Thor''s hammer, gloves, and belt. "While Zeus relied on Hera to find the best method to use the Norse gods, he isn''t a weakling. He will show his true power now¡­ you will need all the help you can get." Chapter 898 - True Power Thor''s Iron Gloves (Heroic) Effect: Those indestructible gloves give you protection when using Mjolnir and electricity at the same time. No matter what happens, it will protect you frown your own attacks. Durability: Indestructible Thor''s belt (Heroic) Effect: It grants you a bonus of fifty percent on your strength. Durability: 2000/2000 It has been a while since Ryan had any upgrade on his equipment. Aside from his bows and crossbows, he wasn''t interested in crafting anything, after all. In any case, before leaving, he gave Merlin the order to level up his Electric Absorption using all the coins he had. After all, Zeus had been firing lightning bolts against the barrier for a while. Their numbers were impressive, just like their intensity, and yet, there was no sign of him running out of mana¡­ Ryan truly will need to increase his resistance against electric attacks¡­ ¡­ Congrattions! The skill Electric Absorption has reached level 326. Congrattions! The skill Electric Absorption has reached level 327. Congrattions! The skill Electric Absorption has reached level 328. "Only this much?" Ryan frowned. "You are not scamming me, are you, Merlin?" "No. You see, Absorption is thest level in all resistance-type skills, so it is only natural that it will cost more to level it up," Merlin exined. "Besides, do you know that all these level-ups will decrease the damage you may suffer from electric attacks in more than thirty-two thousand points?" "Yeah, but¡­ I was hoping with this many coins, I would bepletely invulnerable against electric attacks," Ryan replied. "I wish that I was born human. I would be able to be this reason, and I also would be able to me my organic matter for such foolishness," Merlin said. "You are acting like you are so smart, but you said that I didn''t have any chance in defeating them, and yet, I defeated Thor," Ryan said. "Maybe we need to send you back to the technical support of the enterprise that built you since you are obviously not working properly." "I am working properly. You only won because Zeus and Hera were scheming beyond everyone''s backs," Merlin said. "If you don''t mind, I want you to leave," Loki said. "My barrier is about to copse, and there are many king trolls that I have to kill after all this." "¡­ My bad," Ryan said and then forced a smile. As soon as Ryan left the domain, he was immediately attacked by dozens of lightning bolts. Although he could at light speed and dodge them, he decided to see how much damage he could take now. As it turns out, he could see a difference. Each attack still could take ten thousand points of his health that was around three percent of his total when he is in draconic form. However, the paralysis effect is still as strong as ever. "I still can''t let those hit me, huh¡­" Ryan muttered. Death Sense warned Ryan, and then he used Light Speed to move away from that spot. In the next moment, he only saw Zeus standing in the ce he had been after he had punched the air. The motion of his punch made the air around vibrate and even created small lightning bolts, but Ryan ignored that. "You obtained his power¡­" Zeus said after he turned around. "I am impressed that you can use it already with such mastery." "Dexterity is my highest attribute, after all," Ryan shrugged. "Control is also pretty high, so it is only natural that I would be able to do it. Besides, the less I move, the less mana I will use." "You learn it quickly," Zeus smiled. "It is a pity that you were born just a lowly human, and it is also a pity that you hadmitted many crimes against us." "Yeah, I heard of that before. Someone much more convincing and admirable told me that." Ryan said. "Since not even Odin convinced me of my crimes, you won''t be able to pull it off. After all, you are someone who probably had to rely on Hera''s schemes on many asions to keep your throne. You cheated on her so many times, and she killed or tried to kill so many of your children, and you never abandoned her¡­ you are pathetic. No wonder that asshole is like that. He has your blood, after all." Ryan''s words of utter contempt made Zeus so made that a dark aura appeared around him. It was only an illusion created by his bloodlust. Still, it was enough to make Ryan sweat cold. However, he enjoyed that quite a bit¡­ get on the nerves of the enemy. Zeus raised both of his arms upward, and then Ryan prepared to dodge a big attack. However, nothing came. Instead of that, the dark clouds above grew thicker, and the bolts happening inside also grew more frequent. Soon after, Zeus fired a massive torrent of electricity toward it, and then he lowered his arms. In the next instant, a lightning bolt fell and almost hit Ryan¡­ that was odd. Zeus didn''t do anything, after all. "Ah¡­ you sent your energy so that the clouds could detect the mana of everyone below, aside from you, of course," Ryan said. "Now I can be attacked from above automatically, and you can focus on attacking directly." Zeus smiled after he heard that. A lightning bolt fell and hit Zeus in the next moment, but he didn''t even flinch. Instead of that, his body seemed bigger, and his presence also seemed more powerful¡­ it seemed that Ryan was only half-correct. "I will show you the power that I used to defeat my father, Cronus, during the Titanomachy," Zeus said. "Let''s hope that such power will be enough and you won''t need Hera''s help again," Ryan said. "Come to think of it, you probably relied on her to win the war. I am not your descendant, and I am pretty happy for it, but I will make sure to make history repeat itself. Just like Cronus defeated Uranus and you defeated Cronus¡­ I will defeat you. " Chapter 899 - Guess Before Zeus could grow stronger and bigger, Ryan decided to attack. However, Zeus predicted that, and it wasn''t like he was waiting for the power-up. He just wanted to see Ryan grow impatient and slowly be taken by despair. Using Light Speed, Zeus moved toward Ryan, but he did the same and escaped. While Zeus was pursuing Ryan, he summoned Absolute Death Crossbow and then pulled the trigger. Zeus was forced to protect his eyes from the continuous damage, and Ryan used that chance to approach and attack. He couldn''t hope that he would be able to draw the full power of Mjolnir, but what if he adds the momentum of his speed? What if he also attacks using Hephaestus'' hammer? Ryan approached and attacked using both. Unfortunately, Zeus blocked them with his elbows alone. Ryan immediately retreated¡­ While he stored some energy in Hephaestus'' hammer, he knew that he would need much more to stop Zeus, and he certainly won''t have the chance to do that. While Ryan was thinking about what to do, Zeus got hit by another lightning bolt and began to grow again. With each hit, he had grown ten centimeters, and Ryan could tell that his strength increased by at least five percent¡­ if things continue at that pace¡­ "I should have asked Athena and Isis about their strategy about how to fight against Zeus¡­" Ryan thought while he was having a hard time keeping the panic from showing in his face. If the worstes to the worst, Ryan also had some skills that he could to boost his status.. However, none of them were at the same level as Zeus'' spell. "Since I am not learning it¡­ it must be a special skill that only Zeus has," Ryan muttered. "Can you tell me any information about that, Merlin?" "I guess we can call it Infinite Potential," Merlin replied. "You guess?" Ryan frowned. "It is impossible to quantify and understand every single skill, my creator never mentioned and didn''t add any information simr to that on my database, so I can only deduct," Merlin replied. "Considering his status as an elder god and the things we know about his life, I can assume that he has an amazing body that grants him the power to be stronger by storing more energy on his body. While that is probably something temporary, it gives him the chance to surpass the limitations of his physical body. Considering all that, I can say that it is better to defeat him as fast as possible or wait for his body to overheat." Ryan had considered both things, but they were kind of difficult to achieve. Zeus was already crazy powerful, so if he wanted, he can focus on defense and wait patiently for his power-up. On the other hand, there was no telling for how he long maintained an enhanced body like that. Regardless, Ryan summoned the Crossbow of the Unrivalled Sorcerer and then began to bombard Zeus with dark bolts. However, even while Light Speed was active, Ryan failed in hitting him¡­ the reason being the fact that Zeus also used that skill to even things. Unless Ryan assumes some risks, he won''t be able to cause any damage. Without wasting time, he created some gauntlets of ice that he could use in that form and then moved toward the enemy. Naturally, Zeus smiled since he was going to fight in his best range. As if he was trying to amuse himself, Zeus punched Ryan''s fist when he wanted to beat him. Ryan''s arm trembled, and he felt his bones cracking slightly¡­ not even with the boost in the water element thanks to the ss Sea King. Ryan would be able to lose in a direct confrontation using that tactic¡­ However, he couldn''t stop now. Ryan tried to punch Zeus again, but at thest moment, his right fist opened, and he bombarded Zeus'' face with Chi Explosion. The Greek god was caught off guard, but Ryan only managed to scratch his face a little bit. Unlike Thor, Zeus didn''t let the blood rush to his head. So, Ryan didn''t aplish anything with that. Despite the failure, in the next moment, Ryan dashed toward Zeus again. Their fists collided, but Ryan also Draconic Bow at point-nk range. However, even though Zeus couldn''t have dodged it, he still managed to move his arms and protect his head. When the smoke disappeared, Ryan saw that Zeus was bleeding here and there, but even those wounds were quickly closing. "This isn''t good¡­ even if I use Draconic Bow several times¡­" Ryan thought and then looked around for the dark ice pir he used to defeat Thor. Unfortunately, that wasn''t anywhere. Zeus probably got rid of it when he returned. That was annoying, but there was no telling if it would work or not. Zeus watched the previous fight, and he probably had a good idea of what Ryan was nning to do. While Ryan was thinking, Zeus got hit two times by lightning bolts, and his body grew yet again. That kind of fight against time was really annoying, and yet, Ryan couldn''t do anything to stop those lightning bolts. Maybe he could disperse that massive cloud with Draconic Bow, but he would leave himself wide open against Zeus for a second, and that might be deadly. Ryan took a deep breath and then opened his mouth. Zeus opened his guard, but instead of an Ice Breath, Ryan summoned a Draconic Lance. The massive weapon made of mana looked like a problem. However, Zeus still wasn''t worried, he had taken a direct hit of Draconic Bow, and that was Ryan''s probably best skill. However, Zeus furrowed his eyes when Ryan finally used Dark Ice Breath and covered the spear with the dark ice. Now that seemed like a problem¡­ Ryan also covered his ice gloves with the dark ice. He tried to hurry up, his eyesight still got blurry thanks to the corruption. Now it was settled, if he uses that type of skill again, he will lose his mind¡­ he couldn''t let that happen. Chapter 900 - Difficult Question Ryan made the dark ice spear, but Zeus was the one who attacked; first, he knew that Ryan could be a pain if he gained the momentum while using a weapon like that¡­ at least for a while. Ryan moved his gloves and blocked Zeus''s punch that aimed for his chin, but even though the gloves protected him from direct damage, the vibration still made him click his tongue. Regardless, Ryan had to endure that because he needed to focus on controlling the spear. Congrattions! The skill Light Speed has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Death Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Light Speed has leveled up. ¡­ Thanks to Light Speed and Death Sense, Zeus was unable to catch Ryan off guard. For the time being, that was enough for him since his power was slowly building up. Ryan was also getting stronger, but not nearly fast enoughpared with that crazy spell.. When the Dark Ice Spear finally was spinning around fast enough, at least for Ryan''s standards. He made it fly toward Zeus, but it before it could hit him, Zeus moved away with his Light Speed. As expected, it will be bard to hit him with that massive spear¡­ unless Ryan wields it. However, even if he does that, Ryan is pretty sure that Zeus would use something to surprise him. Besides, he wasn''t a spearman. Ryan tried to block the lightning bolts from falling using the dark ice spear. Still, in the end, those passed nearby it,pletely ignoring the weapon, even though it wasn''t supposed to be possible. Ryan dashed toward Zeus with all his might again, using the momentum Light Speed granted him, and the power of Concentrated Strike, Ryan made Zeus move backward a little. Even though the attack also damaged him, Ryan didn''t stop there. He tried to punch with his left hand as well, but then Zeus was forced to escape when the dark ice spear approached to pierce him from behind. "This is quite disappointing," Zeus said. "Can''t you do better than this?" "I could ask the same thing. You were a lot more troublesome when Thor was with you," Ryan replied. Neither taunts actually worked. Usually, Ryan could do better than that, but he couldn''t since he was worried about the time limit. Regardless, Ryan tried to use the same way of attacking several times. Still, not even when he boosted the power of his Telekinesis by using Mana Maniption did he manage to hit Zeus with it. Eventually, Zeus became forty meters tall, and Ryan became unable to make him move with his punches. He still was running away from the spear, but without hitting him, it was essentially useless. Ryan was starting to get impatient. Not even when he was fighting Zeus and Thor at the same time, he was making so little progress. Despite his frustration, Ryan still charged toward Zeus in order to punch him, this time. He didn''t move the dark ice spear, so Zeus felt like ying with him a little. In the end, when Ryan''s punch approached, Zeus only blocked it and then grabbed Ryan''s arm. Still, before he could do anything, dozens of magic bows appeared around and were very close to him. Zeus was surprised. At that angle, he wouldn''t be able to block or even dodge the bolts. He tried to use Ryan''s as a shield, but he naturally only fired those that wouldn''t hit him. Zeus was hit by hundreds of bolts that stole his mana and decreased his Endurance. His calm expression finally broke a little, and then he threw Ryan to the ground after he tried to punch him in the face. Ryan''s gloves got in the way. The impact raised a massive curtain of smoke, but in the end, Ryan got up while smirking and feeling pretty refreshed. It seemed that he finally found a way to attack Zeus. Not to mention, his body shrunk a little. Those lightning bolts were charging him with mana, so if he uses too much or loses mana, he will decrease in size. When Ryan got up, he soon was weed by a punching from Zeus. However, he protected his stomach with his gloves. Zeus insisted on attacking even though Ryan was blocking it for a while. Eventually, he retreated when he noticed the dark ice spear approaching. "I need to steal his mana¡­ but I can''t do that while wearing these gloves¡­" Ryan thought. "Regardless, they are sturdy enough, and they can protect me from his attacks, so perhaps I should keep focusing on using Spiritualist''s Crossbow to do that¡­ Wait, there is that skill¡­ Merlin, which ss do I need to obtain to get Mana Stealer?" "It is a special ss called Spell Thief," Merlin replied. "It will cost you two hundred million mana points." That was more than Ryan had currently¡­ he would need fifty million more. Still, would it be worth it? The skill would be at level one, after all. Until it can steal more mana than Zeus can gain due to those lightning bolts¡­ Regardless, Ryan decided to keep using Spiritualist''s Crossbow whenever possible alongside Light Speed. Thanks to thatbination, he managed to recover twenty times more mana than he spent in a single second, after all. No wonder Zeus looked so pissed. When Zeus tried to attack Ryan again, this time, he blocked the attack with a single glove. With his left hand, Ryan tried to punch. Blocking the attack wouldn''t do Zeus any good, so he was forced to retreat again. Zeus stopped moving for a second and considered his options. If he takes his time, he won''t have to worry about anything. Power will naturallye to him. However, he had a bad feelinging from Ryan. Just attacking now and then didn''t seem like a good idea against a foe like that¡­ should he use magic to paralyze Ryan as much as possible or conserve his mana in order to be physically stronger as soon as possible? That was a tough question, even for Zeus. Chapter 901 - No Idea After thinking for a while, Ryan came up with a strategy to prevent Zeus from growing stronger. While he wouldn''t gain any mana from that, it was better than letting him be even more troublesome. Without wasting time, Ryan summoned thirty-four magic copies of his spiritualist crossbow. It was the maximum amount he could summon, considering the level of the skill. Before pulling the triggers, Ryan activated Light Speed, Perfect Aim, and Deadly Aim. The massive barrage of bolts flew toward Zeus, and he confirmed the weird feeling that he had been feeling¡­ Ryan had the skills to be troublesome. That is why he had to eliminate him as fast as possible. After all, he just came up with thatbination, abination that Zeus would be unable to dodge or dispose of without using a massive amount of mana. In order not to waste any time and to make Ryan unable to recover any of the mana spent, Zeus created a shield of made lightning and blocked the bolts. The shield consumed Zeus'' mana for quite a while since the bolts were eating away its energy. Still, eventually, Ryan was forced to stop. "It won''t be easy, just as I had expected¡­" Ryan muttered. "However, there is no doubt that Zeus used more mana defending¡­ should I risk it and see who runs out of mana first?". To answer that question, Ryan needed to learn for how long that massive thunder cloud will replenish Zeus'' energy and if Hera had nned something else. Both of them underestimated Ryan once, but they won''t do it again. Both Zeus and Ryan looked quite troubled in how to deal with each other, but in the end, it seemed that Zeus found an answer sooner than Ryan. After letting out a long sigh, Zeus looked at Ryan, and the air around him began to change. He moved his right forward, and then massive amounts of mana began to gather there. After a while, the mana changed it is natural and then became lightning. It was weird, though. The spell didn''t have a shape where it would be convenient to throw it. It was because it wasn''t made to be throw¡­ the energy eventually stabilized until it became pretty round. Once that happened, Zeus created the sphere that entered his left chest. Ryan frowned when he saw all that, but he frowned even more, when he saw Zeus'' body trembling uncontrobly. It was only obvious that something like that would happen¡­ who would make so much condensed mana in that form enter their bodies? Regardless, Zeus'' body began to change after all that trembling. His skin began to turn red like blood, and his whole body began to emit heat¡­ "Crap¡­ it was a buff¡­" Ryan muttered and then bit his lips. Thanks to Odin''s eye, Ryan could see the flow of mana around Zeus moving much faster than before. While that energy probably forced his heart to beat faster to increase his physical abilities, it was only obvious that it would enhance his magical capabilities as well. The worrisome thing was the fact that there was exist a spell that could put such a strain on the body of Zeus¡­ Ryan threw his Dark Ice Spear to prevent Zeus'' energy from stabilizing. He also fired multiple time Draconic Bow. No matter what happens, he can''t let a being like that be even more powerful¡­ In the end, Ryan was forced to stop after firing five Draconic Bows in a quick session because the massive and continuous explosion made him fly to the distance. The power of his attacks had been so massive that he saw the mana eating all everything around Zeus, be it ground, vegetation, mountains, and buildings. In the end, Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance when he recovered his bnce. Not even using his best attacks five times like that made Zeus'' presence grow weaker. It seemed that he was really screwed this time¡­ Ryan prepared to use Draconic Bow again, but then he felt a slight sensation of his whole body growing numb. He thought that before¡­ when he used too much mana in a few instants. If he tries to use the same attack so fast again, he definitely will lose control over his body, and if that doesn''t kill Zeus¡­ Before Ryan coulde up with an answer for that question. He suddenly felt a sharp paining from his chest. He saw the red Zeus with his right hand in his chest when he looked in that direction. He pulled a chunk of Ryan''s body as if he had seen something that shouldn''t be there. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fear Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan teleported away from Zeus and began to sweat cold¡­ if he had wanted, Zeus could have pulled Ryan''s heart with his right hand. What was that speed? Ryan''s Light Speed was active, but he didn''t see anything¡­ "That expression suits you better," Zeus said without showing a hint of emotion on his face. "You forced me to use this technique, so at the very least, you should keep showing that expression to me until you die." Maybe that was what Loki was referring to when he mentioned Zeus'' true power. Ryan had assumed that he would some time to gain the strength that made him win the war against the titans, but it seemed that Zeus could speed up that process. It probably wasn''t a safe thing to do, but he could do it if he wanted. Nevertheless, Ryan had a big problem on his hands now. The enemy was finally showing its true power, and Ryan didn''t have a single idea about how to counterattack that. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 36 (+ 07 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 65 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 93 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 45771 /45771 (71,75/s) Mana: 50099/50099 (71,75/s) Stamina: 51530/51530 (71,75/s) Strength: 3881 (+26422) (+130) Dexterity: 70933 (+33655) (+2550) Speed: 4670 (+28410) (+548) Intelligence: 4352 (+24595) (+33) Endurance: 4898 (+25395) (+160) Control: 4976 (29050) (+510) Mentality: 5952 (+22195) (+70) Luck: 4480 (+18560) Recovery: 10550 (+34050) (+1045) Willpower: 5952 (+22193) (+40) Coins: 11.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 235 (+ 15 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 284 (+ 13 UP), Concentration Lv 284 (+ 13 UP), Archery Lv 284 (+ 13 UP), uracy Lv 284 (+ 13 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 295 (+ 25 UP), Frost Armor Lv 279 (+ 15 UP), Ice Breath Lv 332 (+ 25 UP), Magic Bow Lv 170 (+ 10 UP), Lightning Aura Lv 89 (+ 33 UP), Continuous Lightning Lv 01, Electric Prison Lv 01, Light Speed Lv 44 (+ 43 UP), Support Skills: Fear Resistance Lv 79 (+ 31 UP), Electric Immunity Lv 161 (+ 38 UP), Magic Understanding Lv 27 (+ 08 UP), Electric Absorption Lv 338 (+ 08 UP), Instant Learning Lv 01, sses: Combat: Expert Archer Lv 94 (+ 05 UP), Night Ranger Lv 88 (+ 12 UP), Draconic Hunter Lv 09 (+ 06 UP), Electric Spiritualist Lv 59 (+ 20 UP), Thunder Lord Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 28 (+ 03 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Chapter 902 - Expected Ryan tried to heal his wound, but he felt another sharp paining from his right shoulder as soon as he activated the spell. Zeus wasn''t there. He was behind Ryan, holding another piece of Ryan''s body that he had taken in a single instant. Ryan bit his lips in anger¡­ that had to be some kind of joke. He defeated Odin, Thor, and Poseidon¡­ and he got even stronger, but he still couldn''t even see that guy''s movements. His body seemed to be made of cotton in front of Zeus'' power. "Did you know that he was this strong, Merlin?" Ryan asked. "I had a fair idea of his true power," Merlin replied as if the situation didn''t concern him in any way. If Ryan knew about Zeus'' true strength, even he would probably think twice before challenging him. Regardless, it was toote to change his mind or regret it. Besides, Ryan was certain that his allies were fighting and winning their battles. After all, not a single elder god came to annoy him. Either they have absolute trust in Zeus, or they were too busy. While Zeus threw away a piece of Ryan''s body, Ryan began to analyze about that new power of Zeus. His status grew so much that even light was slower than him. That wasn''t supposed to be possible, but¡­ it was hard to apply logic when the enemy was Zeus. Once again, very suddenly, Ryan felt a sharp pain and then a string. This time on his left arm, near the elbow. It was as if Zeus showed him that he could chop him from limb to limb if he wished for it. Ryan decided to ignore the pain and the obvious taunts. It would be dangerous, and Ryan had no idea if it would be enough to defeat Zeus. Still, he had a n¡­ before Zeus could attack once again, Ryan enhanced Light Speed with Mana Maniption. Once he did that, he felt like the surroundings had changed¡­ things suddenly seemed a lot slower than before. He had noticed that things seemed that way at some point during thest year, but only in very particr moments¡­ like when he was fighting Poseidon, where before dealing the blow that defeated him, he suddenly changed his attack and the enemy didn''t notice it. As if that wasn''t enough, he saw that his health, mana, and stamina were recovering much slower than they were supposed to¡­ it seemed that his enhanced Light Speed made Ryan feel the passage of time differently¡­ Ryan suddenly saw Zeus moving. Yes¡­ this time he saw it. Zeus frowned when he saw Ryan reacting to his sudden movement. That was unexpected¡­ Zeus never saw someone moving that fast, at least not a human. Not even those who had a high level of divinity. "I see¡­ you enhanced Light Speed," Zeus said. "Still, will that be enough? But of us may be fast enough to be two times faster than light now, but I didn''t enhance only my speed. Not to mention, you are using a lot more mana." "You really have a big mouth," Ryan said and then grabbed his Dark Ice Spear, only to store it away. Zeus frowned when he saw that¡­ that was the only weapon Ryan could use that actually would damage him, so why did he do that? Unless he is able to create the same version but this time using a Draconic Bow, Zeus couldn''t see him causing any trouble. Much to Zeus'' surprise, Ryan only summoned a Hydra''s Bow. It was one of the few bows that he could adequately use in his draconic form, but¡­ "What are you plotting?" Zeus asked. "The best way to defeat you before I run out of mana," Ryan replied. "Or maybe I should just focus on defense and see you self-destruct with that skill." After that, Ryan summoned an arrow and then nocked. Considering his current status, Zeus knew that Ryan''s arrows would hit him. While they might not cause much damage, that would be another matter. Zeus dashed to attack, but Ryan stopped him with an arrow. Zeus dodged to the side since even he would have some trouble blocking an arrow traveling two times faster than light. After dodging, Zeus looked behind and saw the arrow disintegrating after flying for five hundred meters. Even if an object could fly that fast, it doesn''t mean that it could do so forever. The attrition would slowly make it disappear until it became dust. Now that they were fighting on the same terms, magic and tricks won''t help all that much. The winner will be decided ording to the skills and who was the toughest among them. Ryan didn''t have the upper hand in neither aspect. After all, Zeus was many times older and had much more time to refine his skills. Not to mention, he is a natural brawler¡­ Nevertheless, Ryan was nning to win by using his spirit alone. Ryan began to bombard Zeus with his arrows. The target moved to the side and then advanced. Still, he could barely make any progress since Ryan was firing at rming speeds. His focus was on the max level, so it was only natural that he would show his actual ability with a bow. Despite that, Zeus couldn''t help but smile. Those continuous shots will make Ryan spend mana much faster while moving that fast. However, Zeus forgot to consider one thing¡­ Ryan was someone who surpassed all the obstacles along the way by bing stronger while he was at it. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Expert Archer has reached the max level. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Mad Archer has reached the max level. ¡­ It was barely noticeable, but Zeus could see Ryan''s skills improving. In the end, it wasn''t that unexpected. Ryan was facing the one who was considered the strongest among all elder gods. It was only natural that his skills would level up so fast. As for Zeus¡­ his skills couldn''t grow any further. He didn''t have all skills, but the ones he had, were already at the max level. Chapter 903 - It Tickles "Let''s see who will win this¡­ someone who reached the apex, or someone who is trying to reach it," Zeus said and then smiled viciously. Zeus began to zigzag around in order not to give Ryan the chance to aim. Without aiming, he couldn''t use Perfect Aim or Dead Aim, and those were the only skills that might prevent Zeus from getting close to Ryan. After all, the closer he gets, the harder it will be to dodge. Zeus got closer and close, but he couldn''t see Ryan getting worried¡­ as expected despite that. He really had some sort of n. Despite that, Zeus ignored and kept pushing forward. Eventually, Zeus got close enough to even touch Ryan''s bow. Stealing that from him and make him unable to attack would be easy, but that would end his fun. Instead of that, Zeus advanced and touched Ryan''s left arm and kept moving while doing that. With his touch alone, the external part of Ryan''s left army was damaged to the point where he could even see his muscles and bones¡­ that level of strength was insane. Still, Zeus had already informed him of that.. While ignoring the pain, Ryan summoned several Magic Bows and bombarded Zeus. In the end, he caused some damage to Ryan''s arm and made him break into a cold sweat, but he lost a lot of mana. Before he could lose it even more since he couldn''t dodge them at that range, Zeus decided to retreat, which gave Ryan a chance that he had been waiting for¡­ he summoned his Dark Ice Spear. Zeus frowned when he felt that much corruption returning to the area. It was particrly suspicious that Ryan only did that when Zeus began to retreat. Much to his surprise, Ryan nocked the spear as if it was an arrow. Even while sweating cold due to the pain in his left arm, Ryan smirked, and then he activated Power Shot. "This is going to be fun," Ryan said. The spear finally was aimed toward Zeus, and Ryan used Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. Now, no matter what happens, Zeus will be hit, and he knew that. He clenched his teeth in annoyance¡­ that human had already caused too much trouble for him. He had to kill him and prevent the shot¡­ otherwise, even Zeus wouldn''t leave unscathed. Teleporting and attacking won''t do Zeus any good. He needed the momentum of his high-speed movement granted him. It was risky, but he will be able to kill Ryan faster that way. Instead of zigzagging, Zeus taunted Ryan to fire sooner by flying in a straight line. That way, Power Shot wouldn''t gain much energy. However, Ryan didn''t fall for that. He kept charging the spear with all his stamina. Even better, before his stamina could actually decrease, he restored it with magic. Eventually, Zeus got close enough to attack Ryan. At first, he ripped apart the flesh of his face. He tried to do it slowly to make Ryan feel all the pain and give up on the attack but failed. Zeus finally realized that Ryan was nning to end things with that attack once and for all. Since he was close to Zeus, he would suffer a lot of damage as well, he would be lucky if he woke up, but he was willing to go that far. Zeus nned to blind Ryan that pain would make him give up with one hundred percent of chance, but in the end, he changed his mind when he saw those eyes full of confidence. Ryan knew that the next attack would defeat Zeus, and he was willing to make some sacrifices to achieve that. Maybe it was toote for that, but Zeus moved to Ryan''s left chest and began to rip apart his flesh. At first, the corruption caused a lot of trouble to Zeus. It even weakened his status when he touched it, but in the end, he ignored it and then eventually opened the path to Ryan''s heart. Once Death Sense warned Ryan like never before, Ryan fired the Dark Ice Spear. At the same moment Zeus'' pierced Ryan''s heart, the spear hit him from behind. When the massive explosion happened, the entire world trembled. The explosion of energy destroyed everything on its way. It couldn''t even bepared with the destruction of Ryan''s five Draconic Bows. If it weren''t for Loki''s domain, half of Spain would have been destroyed. Even involuntarily, he sacrificed billions of mana points to protect that domain¡­ Regardless, all of the king trolls were killed thanks to the explosion. The damage spread until the Balearic Sea¡­ creating a huge role on the. Weirdly enough, there were no traces of rocks or dust rising¡­ the energy decimated everything in its radius aside from Loki''s domain. ---- ---- One hour prior to the explosion¡­ As soon as Ryan left his domain, Loki looked for Hera. As expected, she was hiding behind severalyers of illusion. She kind of reminded Loki of himself, but unlucky him, she didn''t find any absolute pleasure in doing the things she wanted. She only worked to confirm the assumption that she was above everything else. Loki teleported to where she was and then cut the air. He had two green knives, but only one managed to cut the mana that created the illusions, the other one had been aimed toward Hera''s neck, but she blocked it with her golden wand. "Let''s y a game, Hera," Loki said. "The game is called, let''s try to kill each other to see who the better illusionist is." "Loki¡­" Hera said, visibly displeased. "Why everyone makes long pauses after saying my name?" Loki smiled while shrugging. "I don''t dislike that, but it is starting to trouble me." Instead of saying anything, Hera made some snakes appear around Loki''s neck, immediately biting him. Despite that, Loki didn''t react in any way. In fact, his smile grew even wider. "It tickles," Loki said. "Come on, Hera¡­ you can do better than that." Chapter 904 - Cute Dog Loki ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ???. Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Hera tried to use Absolute Appraisal on Loki, but that was what she found. Naturally, Loki couldn''t see her status. Those two make quite the weird pair. They were overly cautious of revealing any information about themselves to anyone. But at least, now Hera knew that Loki reached the absolute level in resistance against poison. After all, her snakes could produce the most deadly toxin that can be found on the. As if Loki was waiting for Hera to do anything interesting, he stared at her with his full of expectation. They certainly got on her nerve, but at least she had the chance to do whatever she wanted. Hera raised her wand, and then in the next moment, Loki saw the surroundings changing. That surprised him. The level and nature of mana seemed a bit off to be an illusion¡­ The environment changed from a semi-destroyed Spain to one that resembled the old Greece. Loki saw himself standing in front of a temple that seemed pretty new. However, it still was covered by many flowers and vegetation. The surroundings weren''t much different. It was full of life, trees, grass, monsters¡­ and not a single sign of civilization. "Wow, as expected of Hera," Loki said. "You manifested the interior of your domain on Earth, or did you forced me to teleport to your ce? It is hard to tell, but I am pretty sure this is temporary." Foul Serpent Lv Max Health: 35.000/35.000 Mana: 175.000/175.000 Stamina: 45.000/45.000 Strength: 2.900 (+ 2200) Dexterity: 6500 (+ 800) Speed: 5500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 15.000 (+ 1000) Endurance: 5800 (+ 900) Control: 8900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 8400 (+ 1600) Luck: 12000 (+ 3000) Recovery: 25.000 (+ 10.000) Willpower: 8400 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Snare Lv 760, Poisonous Strike Lv 680¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Intelligence Lv Max, Enhanced Recovery Lv 840, Poisonous Skin Lv 690¡­ Spells: Poisonous Tornado Lv Max, Poisonous Fangs Lv Max, Earth Transformation Lv 550, Earth Creation 310¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv 480, Shock Resistance Lv 420, Fire Resistance Lv 750¡­ "You sure like snakes, Hera," Loki said. "No wonder you can''t get rid of your bad reputation. By the way, am I being weird when I say that I find it weird seeing women ying with real snakes?" Loki didn''t know how Hera was nning to defeat him, but using those snakes around sure seemed like a waste of time. In any case, Hera made a throne appear at the temple entrance and then sat on it. Soon after, all the snakes in the region began to open their mouths, and a purple miasma began to cover the area. "Not much original," Loki shrugged. The poison wouldn''t work directly, but it sure could cause some respiratory problems if inhaled for long periods. If anything, it can at least prevent Loki from breathing. Loki tried to disperse it with wind magic, but it didn''t work¡­ which was weird. Instead of doing anything, the wing magic only made the cloud of poison spread even more than before. "I see¡­ a poisonous cloud of smoke that eats mana¡­. you sure created something pretty interesting," Loki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. One of Loki''s knives could deactivate certain spells, but the poison wasn''t one of them. In any case, the poison was so thick that soon enough, the whole area was taken by it. Surprisingly enough, the poison only affected Hera''s targets. At some point, Loki noticed that even though he wasn''t breathing, some spores of the poison were attaching to his body, and some of them were forcefully entering through his nostrils. That certainly wasn''t good¡­ Before Loki could decide between attacking Hera or the numerous snakes to prevent the poison from spreading, even more, he suddenly felt something weird. Little by little, his body was moving by itself. Completely, without Loki''s consent. "Really, now¡­ how many characteristics and powers can you put in a single poison?" Loki frowned. In the end, Loki teleported to where Hera was supposed to be, but he only found an empty ce. Not even the throne was there, he tried to teleport to above, outside the massive cloud of poison, but even so, he failed in doing that. It seemed that even the poison was messing with his senses¡­ "Oops¡­ maybe I took too long to act," Loki said with a nervous smile on his face. Loki tried to look for Hera''s presence, but he couldn''t find it. Even the snakes'' presence had disappeared. He suddenly had an idea, he marked the ground with his knives, and then he used Teleport¡­ just as he had predicted. He didn''t move from his spot. "All right, Hera, you got me," Loki said and then raised his arms. "I surrender." Hera heard that, but she wouldn''t fall for it so quickly. He kept waiting and waiting until she could feel Loki''s bodypletely under her control. Slowly but steadily, she made Loki get rid of his gear and then made him walkpletely naked in front of her. "It seems that you truly don''t have any more tricks up your sleeve. I am truly disappointed," Hera said while sitting on her throne. "You waited to see me acting, and in the end, you fell for my trap." "That is what I said before. Now, can you please be gentle?" Loki said while looking at his lower half. "I am sure that you are itching to make Zeus'' taste a little bit of his own poison, but let''s not be hasty." Hera smiled and then summoned a silver lion to attack Loki. The creature was five meters tall and ten meters long, so Loki couldn''t help but force a smile while looking at it. "That is a cute dog that you have there¡­" Loki said. Chapter 905 - This Side Nemean Lion Lv Max Health: 165.000/165.000 Mana: 71.000/71.000 Stamina: 91.000/91.000 Strength: 31.500 (+ 2100) Dexterity: 6500 (+ 800) Speed: 5500 (+ 500) Intelligence: 5..000 (+ 1300) Endurance: 19.800 (+ 900) Control: 6900 (+ 1600) Mentality: 8400 (+ 1600) Luck: 7000(+ 3000) Recovery: 55.000 (+ 20.000) Willpower: 8400 (+ 1600) Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Bite Lv Max, Silver ws Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength Lv Max, Enhanced Endurance Lv Max, Augmented Speed Lv Max¡­ Spells: Silver Spear Lv Max, Silver Rain Lv Max, Earth Transformation Lv 400, Earth Creation 410¡­ Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv 950, Shock Resistance Lv 850, Fire Resistance Lv 960¡­ Hera gave the order to the Nemean Lion split Loki''s apart with its ws very slowly. The creatures'' ws were so sharp that just by touching it, it made Loki''s skin bleed. "I should have known better¡­" Loki said. "I am not too much of a warrior, but seeing my brother fighting, it made my Asgardian blood boil." As if he was telling Loki to shut up, the lion stepped on his face. After that, the creature began to hurry up since Loki wasn''t making much noise. There weren''t any signs of screaming or even the usual fear¡­ Hera frowned when she noticed that. Loki may have a high-level tolerance against poison. Still, he didn''t seem the type who would do the same against pain¡­ not to mention he was bleeding quite quickly, so his endurance wasn''t that high. "Let''s skip the forey already, Hera," Loki said. "A man can only wait for so long." "Won''t you ever shut up?" Hera asked, visibly irritated. The lion passed his ws through Loki''s face and the rest of his body in a single swoop. However, Loki didn''t show any expression. Maybe he had drugged himself before the battle since he had imagined something like this happening. Even so, what would be the point of that? The poison willst for hours, and he won''t survive the torture she had nned for him, not even for thirty minutes. Just to make sure that he wouldn''t have the chance to do anything, Hera gave the order to the lion to chop his limbs, and so he did it. Still, no responseing from Loki, he was just staring at her, and that was getting on her nerves. "I thought you would be an enemy more like me, but I am disappointed," Loki said. "You have the skills, but not the ss or the guile." The next moment, Hera summoned the Lernaean Hydra, Loki tried to use Appraisal on that as well, but he didn''t have time. The creature swallowed him as a whole. With his level of divinity, he won''t die soon, but he certainly will suffer. At the same time, his body is dissolved in the monster''s stomach. "That should shut him up for good," Hera said and then sighed. Defeating Loki wasn''t much of an achievement from Hera''s perspective. Still, thanks to it, she gained control over many domains, and she could use those to defeat the other troublesome opponents all over the world. However, she suddenly was forced to forget about that when she saw the Hydra contorting in pain¡­ Hera frowned. What Loki could have done in that state to annoy the Hydra that much? In the end, Loki was vomited by the monsters, and then he smiled as if nothing significant had happened. "I am back," Loki said. Hera''s face contorted in anger¡­ Loki really knew how to get on her nerves. Just beheading him would be too easy, so Hera gave the order for the Hydra to crush his head with its tail. The monster quickly approached to obey itsmands and then began to attack Loki''s head. Hera imagined that she would finally see something that would please her, but she only got more annoyed. The more the monster attacked Loki and the more his head was damaged, the more his eyes began to bother her. Loki wasn''t known for his vitality, so howe he could endure that with a smile on his face? Eventually, Loki was beaten beyond recognition, and then Hera finally sighed. His presence had grown weaker enough for her to seal him, and that would be the best since she would need his powers. However, suddenly¡­ Loki''s presence returned to normal, and he was back¡­ at least his head was. "Hello, again," Loki said with a fresh smile on his face. At that moment, even Hera was taken aback. She waspletely paralyzed with fear and shock. That didn''t make any sense¡­ howe Loki could endure all that much? Not even an anesthetic drug that only the elder gods know of could exin that. "An Illusion¡­" Hera muttered, and then she felt a sharp pain on her back and on her limbs. "Bingo, you guessed right," Loki said. "I told you, this battle was supposed to determine the better illusionist." Hera looked behind and saw Lokipletely fine. He wasn''t naked or wounded, and in the same, he was supposed to be, Hera found a human-sized mud doll. Piercing her arms and limbs, she found some knives made of dark ice. They pierced her flesh so easily that she barely could believe that those were real. "You never showed up¡­ from the very beginning¡­" Hera said. "Not quite. I was always there. Otherwise, you would have seen through my trick," Loki said. "If I weren''t nearby, you wouldn''t have teleported me to this ce. Anyway, I got these when I recovered Ryan and Thor. Pretty neat, huh. However, just touching them makes my hands burn. I wonder if that is what vampires feel like when they touch things that have holy magic." Hera bit her lips in annoyance. The fight didn''tst that long. She danced on Loki''s hands from the very beginning. It was almostughable what he said earlier¡­ there was no need to find out who was the better illusionist¡­ the difference in abilities was that big. "Don''t worry too much about it," Loki said. "People on this side don''t kill their enemies when they can avoid it. I am sure you know why, but we can''t afford to let any of you disappear and return to where you came from." Chapter 906 - Speedster A few hours before that massive explosion¡­ As soon as Athena heard from Isis about the new n, she noticed that Femradiel appeared standing above one of the many mountains of that region. Although she had a job to do, Femradiel was looking toward the West as if she was waiting for something toe from that direction. "My apologies for this," Athena said via telepathy. "There is no need for apologies," Femradiel said. "This is a situation beyond our wild expectations, and it is not like I am worried or anything. I am just hoping that that idiot won''t do anything stupid.". As soon as she said that, Femradiel noticed two powerful presences appearing nearby where Ryan was. When she saw the lightning bolts falling from the sky and hitting Ryan thanks to irvoyance, she also saw Zeus and Thor. Those two made the hair of her back stand¡­ fighting against them at the same time was suicide. She had nned to use Teleport and then go help, but she was forced to stop when she felt two presences heading in that direction. One of them approached her, and the other moved toward where Athena was. Hermes ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Hermes was a middle-aged man that was wearing light armor. His hair was silver, just like the color of his eyes. It was quite a weird tone¡­ Regardless, he waspletely unarmed, but Femradiel recognized the winged helmet and the winged sandals that only one Greek god was supposed to have. Ares ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Ares, on the other hand, really seemed like a troublesome foe. He was wearing a full te dark armor that protected every single bit of his body. His hair and eyes were light-brown, but they seemed red like blood against certain sources of light. Aside from those, his big round shield and his long sword made him stand out more. They kind of looked like the same weapons as Athena. "You shouldn''t ignore those who came to greet you, missy," Hermes said. "That is quite disrespectful toward those that came from so far away." Femradiel looked at Hermes and couldn''t help but frown. He didn''t have an aura of a true warrior, and due to that, she couldn''t get motivated. Naturally, she knew that he wasn''t weak, but he didn''t seem like a particrly troublesome enemy either. ording to what Athena revealed, Hermes was the fastest of the Olympian gods. Apparently, not even Zeus, when he was serious, could win against him. However, Athena also said that Hermes wasn''t a warrior per se. He was a different kind of enemy¡­ "Let''s get this over with," Femradiel dered. After hearing that, Hermes'' expression changed. He looked pretty carefree before, but now he was pissed. More than anything, he hated those who looked down on him just because they assumed that he was the weakest god of Olympus. Hermes disappeared, and in the next moment, Femradiel felt a sharp pain on her chin. She didn''t see what attacked her, but she knew that it hadn''t been a weak attack when she began to spin in the air. She tried to stop it, but before she could actually try, something began to hit her from all directions. Every time she got hit, she felt her bones cracking and the direction she was flying changed as well. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ "That confirms it¡­" Femradiel muttered. It seemed that Hermes was nning to end the fight as soon as possible. That was why he wasn''t stopping to rest. Despite that, he failed to notice that Femradiel was yet to receive any critical damage. When Hermes noticed that Femradiel wasn''t showing any signs of being in pain, he stopped and gave her the chance to recover and stop spinning. He looked at her body and saw the marks of his punches, but they were weirdly shallow¡­ Before Hermes could wonder why Femradiel fired several Ice Spears toward him. Naturally, Hermes just moved to the side slightly and dodged those. Although from his perspective, he just walked, Femradiel only saw his image disappearing somewhere and appearing somewhere else. Femradiel insisted and fired other spears, but she also used Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim this time. Hermes noticed that and just shrugged¡­ such a simple trick. Instead of running away and letting the number of spears chasing him increase, Hermes just let those hit him. Femradiel frowned when she saw the spears being destroyed when they approached Hermes. One after the other, they began to crumble apart when they approached. The power of those was supposed to be equal to meteors, and yet¡­ Hermes didn''t move from his spot. He really had another type of strength, and yet¡­ Femradiel let out a sigh. Hermes bit his lips in annoyance and prepared to attack again. Still, before he could do it, he saw Femradiel emitting a cold Aura from her body. Hermes could feel a lot of mana from her, so it was definitely a spell. Despite her attitude, Femradiel obviously was taking the fight seriously. Thanks to that, Hermes calmed down a little bit. "Is she nning to damage me like that since she can''t keep up with my speed?" Hermes wondered. Many enemies used the same strategy before. It was only logical since attacking directly was impossible against an opponent so fast. It was better to rely on the area of effect spells. The defensive ones were quite effective since Hermes had to get closer to the attack. However, that strategy was very wed¡­ Hermes could always approach, attack, cause much more damage than he could receive in a single instant. Chapter 907 - Plan Without hesitating, Hermes flew toward Femradiel when she started the movement of a blink. He passed through her cold defensive spell in that single moment and then punched her thirteen times in the chin. He did that before her head could even begin to move backward¡­ Soon after, he moved away from her and then deactivated his magic. Femradiel''s body finally began to move at a normal speed, and then her head moved backward, and her body began to spin. Hermes saw that with a smile on his face. The cold of her magic barely had the time to make him feel refreshed¡­ Despite the attack and the failure of her strategy, Femradiel only looked at Hermes with an expression that didn''t show any interest when she recovered. Even though she was bleeding from her mouth and the fact that she was yet to cause any real damage, she still looked uninterested. "That attitude¡­ I can''t let it enrage me," Hermes muttered.. "There is no reason to feel this angry¡­ I am winning this fight and the next attack¡­ I will be sure to make her feel a lot of pain." Things would have been a lot easier for Hermes if Femradiel didn''t have that mithril armor. In any case, trying to break the armor with his fists alone was something that Hermes would rather not do. It was possible, but it would damage his fists. Those were his weapons, and he couldn''t afford to risk them. The non-protected parts of Femradiel''s body were the front of her head, her shoulders, hands, and feet. Only her face could suffer critical damage, so Hermes decided to keep doing it. In order not to let things go his way, Femradiel decided to change her ns a little bit. If Hermes could destroy something physical projectiles, could it do the same with the ones that were just made of mana? That was something worth testing. Femradiel summoned several magic copies of the Spiritualist''s Crossbow and then fired after activating Perfect Aim and Deadly Aim. Unlike Ryan, Femradiel doesn''t have to worry about mana consumption anymore, so she doesn''t stop firing it. In the end, Hermes created a shield made of light to block the projectiles, but it soon was eaten away by the bolts. However, when that happened, Hermes was nowhere to be seen. In the next moment, Femradiel was attacked on her chin again. When Hermes finished his sequence of attacks and Feramdiel recovered from the unpleasant surprise, she healed her chin. The damage was slowly pilling up, and while she could prevent the attacks using some simple tricks, that wasn''t a good idea. For the better or for, the worse, Hermes needed to keep attacking. That same scene repeated itself several times until Femradiel''s jaw sustained enough damage that Full-Heal almost had no effect. Hermes smirked when he saw that. Thanks to his attacks, Femradiel looked more annoyed than bored. For several hours, after all, she didn''t hit him a single time, after all. And yet, the glow in her eyes still was bothering Hermes. "What is this weird feeling?" Hermes muttered. "Is she plotting something? Nevertheless¡­ I just need to finish her with the next attack." The next attack could be pretty dangerous for Hermes himself. So, he only used that kind of move to finish off his opponents. He was going to attack so fast that even his fingers could be sharp like des. However, if he makes a mistake, he will lose his weapons and lose the focus to keep his movement spell active. However, when Hermes began to fly to attack, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his legs, and then he rolled in the air. He hurried to recover, but the pain prevented him from focusing, and when he looked at his legs, the shock made him open his eyes widely in agony. Everything below his knees had is cut off. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hermes screamed in agony. Instead of attacking, Femradiel used that chance to get winged sandals and store them inside the spatial storage after getting rid of Hermes'' feet. After that, she began to heal her swollen face. That was why she never got really interested in the fight¡­ Hermes wasn''t an opponent that could do much aside from attacking super-fast. Even though he could use light magic, he only used it to enhance his movements. Thanks to that, Femradiel knew that he would be done for once she disposed of his legs. "What did you do¡­" Hermes asked while sweating cold. Instead of answering, Feramdiel raised her hand, and some small particles began to gather there. The particles were blue, and when he looked closely, Hermes noticed that those were small fragments of mithril. However, something was off, only something like that wasn''t supposed to cut his legs, and when did attack him using that? Hermes should have noticed it¡­ "While you were attacking me, I attached those to your body with my cold aura, you didn''t notice it, or perhaps you noticed but assumed it was just some ice that would melt while you were moving," Femradiel said. "Either way, mithril is much more resilient. Not to mention, much sharper as well, considering this size. Still, usually, that wouldn''t be enough to damage an elder god. That is why I put a high concentration of ice magic inside them." Hermes opened his eyes widely yet again. The particles were too small for that. Unless Femradiel could create mithril, that was supposed to be impossible¡­ However, since that was an ice dragon, it would make sense that her control over those would be that high. "You nned all this?" Hermes asked while slowly moving away from Femradiel. "How did you know it would be this effective? How did you create the mithril?" "That is for me to know and for you to find out¡­ while you can," Femradiel said and then summoned Thanatos'' Scythe. "Don''t try to run away, even though you can still use light magic, some of the particles still are attached to your body, they will follow mymands wherever you go, so, unless you n on risking your life, you shouldn''t try to get away from here." Chapter 908 - Athena Vs Ares You obtained 2.564.987.214 coins. Bow of Light (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using the crossbow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. At the cost of two thousand points of mana, it grants you the power to damage any enemy with light that you can see. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity, and other skills and equipment can''t affect the damage caused. This crossbow can makes the bolts appear anywhere in your field of vision. Dexterity + 3600, Intelligence + 1600, Speed + 1600 Durability: 1200/1200. Congrattions! For defeating Hermes, you have be a Level one Lady of Speed! You obtained the following skills: eleration Control, Light Maniption, and Light Absorption. All of your status has increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: eleration Control. Effect: It grants the power to control the eleration of your body and the things that you touch indefinitely. Attention, increasing your movement and reflexes beyond one''s limits might damage your body if you are not strong enough. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Light Maniption. Effect: It grants the power to control all light around you, turning it into a weapon, armor, or evenpletely reflecting it to make you invisible. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Light Absorption. Effect: It grants you the power to absorb light from all kinds of sources. This skill can restore your health, mana, and stamina when absorbing light by one hundred points per level and second. This skill also decreases the damage of all light-rted attacks by one hundred points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Winged Sandals (Mythological) Effect: It grants you the power to move at supersonic speeds without losing stamina. Durability: 1000/1000 Winged Helmet (Mythological) Effect: It grants you the power to fly at supersonic speeds without losing mana. Durability: 1000/1000 "This is even better than I expected," Femradiel nodded to herself in amazement. Now it made sense that Hermes could fight like that without dropping a single drop of sweat. Regardless, he tried to escape from Femradiel, but the pain prevented him from using his speed. The reason for that was his wounds. Whenever he tries to move at supersonic speeds, there is a lot of attrition. Even particles of dust can cause damage when one moves like that and when those particles touch his wounds¡­ in any case, the battle was over, and so Femradiel began to look for Ryan''s presence. ---- ----- Around the same time, Femradiel and Hermes started to fight¡­ Athena and Ares red at each other without saying a single word. Those two disliked each other, and they never tried to hide it since ancient times. The area was probably one of the most troublesome Olympian gods. Not only he caused a lot of mess with his violent nature, but he also wasn''t popr among mortals, and he used that as an excuse to cause even more problems. Thanks to that, Athena disliked him more than any other Olympian god. From Ares'' perspective, Athena was equally troublesome. She always involved herself in matters that she wasn''t supposed to be concerned with. Always taking the side of the mortals, despite that, many agreed that she was the favorite child of Zeus, and now his favorite child rebelled against the Olympians. Despite all that, only one thing truly annoyed Area: Athena was the goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare. From his perspective, only the god of war was enough. There was no reason to exist as the god or goddess of warfare. Athena looked to the side for a moment and then saw the army of demons approaching¡­ that sure was bad timing, or perhaps, it had been nned all along. Either way, Athena had to deal with Ares without relying on her troops. Ares suddenly dashed and swung his sword toward Athena, she reacted on time to block the attack with her shield, but in the end, she was pushed backward for hundreds of meters. As expected, Ares had the advantage in terms of brute strength. Still, despite that, Athena''s calm expression didn''t disappear from her face. Ares swung his shield and tried to hit Athena''s face, but she also blocked the attack with the tip of her sword. Sparks of lightning flew from their weapons while they were trying to overpower each other. Suddenly, real lightning fell and hit Ares''s helmet, but he didn''t even flinch. Instead of that, he red at Athena even more. "You dare to use magic in a fight like this?" Ares asked. "You can use magic as well, Ares," Athena replied. "You are just too stupid and think that using magic in a duel is cowardly." Ares disappeared, and then he suddenly appeared above swinging how his long sword. Athena blocked the attack once again, but she fell down and only stopped when she hit the ground, and a crater appeared under her feet. It was never a good idea to taunt Ares like that, but Athena couldn''t help it since it was already second nature for her. Regardless, Athena swung her sword upward and sent flying a massive beam of mana toward Ares. Still, he blocked the attack with his own shield and swung his sword backward to stop Athena''s attack. He could read her movements as if she were an open book. After all, it wasn''t the first time they had faced each other. Still, Athena didn''t stop there. She enchanted her sword with lightning magic and then began to electrocute Ares. He tried to resist and show that such simple tricks wouldn''t work on him. Still, eventually, he was forced to retreat since magic attacks with divinity were a real pain in the ass. Chapter 909 - Preparation While Ares knew that Athena''s physical strength couldn''tpare to his, he knew that she could make up for it by enchanting her sword with elemental magic. While it wasn''t exactly her field of expertise, Athena knew a thing or two about magic. She was particrly good at controlling lightning magic. It was probably one of the things she inherited from her father. In order not to give her the chance to use that, Ares decided to change his strategy. Instead of relying on brute strength, he decided to rely on speed. While teleporting around, he dashed toward Athena and swung his de. Her sword still electrocuted him, but only for brief moments. While Athena could keep up with that speed, there wasn''t much she could do to counterattack, so her stance was slowly breaking, and the damage on her arms was piling up. Athena couldn''t help but sigh, she knew that the same trick wouldn''t work for long, but it was troublesome that Ares was so quick to find a way to counter them, despite the fact that he was too hot-blooded. In any case, it was time to change things a little bit¡­ instead of just enchanting her sword, she concentrated the mana on the tip and increased its length. Area frowned while looking at that¡­ why insist on that magic when he already found a weakness? However, when Ares charged again, Athena threw the weapon toward his face at an unbelievable speed. Ares slowed down in the brink of an eye and then moved his head to the side.. Despite that, his left cheek and a good part of his helmet got damaged by the attack. Much to his surprise, the attack didn''t end there¡­ Athena suddenly appeared in front of him and smashed her shield on his face. Ares was the one who was mmed against the ground now, and since he was caught off-guard, the impact raised a massive dust curtain and opened a crater with him as the epicenter. When Ares got up, he found Athena preparing to throw her sword again, but he was ready to wee it this time. When Athena threw the weapon, Ares swung his sword to repel it. He would rather do that instead of run away or dodge when he had the chance because it was the best way to show who the better warrior was. In the end, they repelled the attack, but not before the electric energy could shock him for a single moment, in which Athena used to m her shield against his face again. Once again, Ares was forced to move, and this time, the attack made him fly to the West for several kilometers, and he only stopped when he hit a yellow-ish mountain. Instead of getting up the normal way, Ares made the mountain explode. Thanks to Rage, he was slowly getting stronger, but he couldn''t care less about it. The taste of blood in his mouth was annoying him beyond reason. Athena and her tactics were so effective in making him lose his mind¡­ Despite the fact that she was winning, Athena was worried. Much like Zeus, Ares could also gather energy and then grow in size, which would be reflected in his status. That was why she was worried. The angrier he gets, the stronger he bes. Although he was an elder god, that power of Ares resembled quite a bit the power of Mephisto, the demon of wrath. Before Athena could think of another way to attack, Ares suddenly dashed at her, and his full swing collided against her shield, making the air of the entire area vibrate and burn all the vegetation around. At the same time, it made Athena spin in the air at a fearsome speed. Unfortunately, Ares didn''t give her time to stop and attacked her again and again¡­ until it looked like he was ying tennis alone and Athena was the ball. However, suddenly Ares was forced to stop when he suddenly got hit multiple times in the air by something invisible. When it finally stopped, Ares saw himself hurt in the same spots he had attacked Athena, and while his wounds were smaller, he suffered more mental damage since he didn''t realize what had happened¡­ it was something Athena never used it before: Vengeful Explosion, a skill that makes the enemy feel the same amount of damage the caster suffered during a period. It was something Athena had learned after seeing Ryan fighting a few times. It was a pretty good way to prevent the enemy from keeping attacking non-stop. Athena healed herself a little bit with magic. After all, Ares'' attacks weren''t something that could be gotten rid of so fast. Before Ares could begin to understand what happened, Athena dashed toward Ares, and when he tried to raise his shield, he noticed it getting heavier¡­ it was gravity magic. Ares tried to block the attack with his sword, but the weapon also got suddenly heavy. In the end, he was forced to Teleport away, and that enraged him. Running away from an attack made him so mad that one could see the sweat from his face turning into steam. "I should have known¡­" Athena said, and then she increased the output of gravity and then fired some Electric Arrows toward Ares. Ares'' pride didn''t let him run away again, so he used all his might to block them with his shield. Since his anger was increasing, so did his strength. Now that he was three meters tall, he could even afford to take on Athena''s full-powered gravity. Athena''s wisdom and tactics could prevent her from losing the fight. Still, she would need something more definitive to defeat Ares, which wasplicated because they never truly stood on different sides of a battle. Instead of letting Ares grow stronger with his anger, Athena decided to assume a defensive stance. She had a fairly good idea of how to defeat Ares, but she will need some time to prepare and wait for the right circumstances to take ce. Chapter 910 - Deadly Ares eventually noticed that Athena suddenly stopped attacking. Even for her, assuming such a defensive stance for so long was unexpected. Ares could understand that she couldn''t afford to let him grow angrier and stronger if she had any hopes to win that fight. Still, just boring Area wouldn''t solve things either. He hated boredom, after all. Nevertheless, Ares didn''t care much about that and began to attack mercilessly. At some point, he began to feel Athena''s bones cracking, and he started to like the fight even more¡­ even though Athena''s calm expression never disappeared. Not only that annoyed him, but it also made Ares feel shivers¡­ "What are you plotting, Athena?" Ares asked. Athena didn''t reply. She didn''t even pay much attention to Ares'' words. She just kept staring at him with her deadpan expression. That was really something since he could tell that Athena was having a hard time, even holding her sword with both hands.. Regardless, soon enough, Ares confirmed his suspicion. The next time he attacked and Athena blocked his sword, an Electric Arrow appeared a few millimeters away from his left eye. Somehow, Ares reacted on time and moved his head to the side before he could lose one of his eyes. However, the arrow still hit him in the head and paralyzed his nervous system for a fraction of a second. Athena used that chance to m her shied on Ares'' face. It has been a while since that had happened, and thanks to it, Ares really suffered a lot of damage. Ares hit the ground, and a curtain of dust emerged, but even before it could dissipate. Ares had gotten up and was ready to attack again. However, that scene a few seconds ago bothered him¡­ "What was that?" Ares muttered. Even if Athena was a decent magician, she created that arrow way too fast and way too close to Ares, considering that she had blocked a powerful attack. She wasn''t supposed to keep herposure like that while fighting Ares¡­ it was just surreal. However, Ares could tell that Athena didn''t get nervous a single time during the fight¡­ not even when Ares attacked her from all angles. Athena really had some steel nerves. Ares assumed that Athena got lucky and then dashed to attack again. Just like before, Athena didn''t break her defensive stance and received the attack without making any moment to counterattack. However, once again, the very moment the sword and the shield collided, another electric arrow appeared in front of Ares'' eyes. Thanks to the boost in his status, he once again prevented losing one of his eyes. Still, the arrow hit closer the target this time, and once again, Ares was mmed by Athena''s shield. Ares got up again as soon as possible. The anger made his body grew once again, but he didn''t let the blood rush to his head. The same thing happening twice in a row was no coincidence. Athena really reacted with a speed that she wasn''t supposed to have and tried to take one of Ares'' eyes. He wasn''t exactly that good at magic or even sensing his opponents, so if he loses a single eye, things will be really difficult for him. He had to be careful¡­ Instead of attacking while focusing one hundred percent on the offense, Ares decided to do so while keeping his eyes wide open. His speed should be at least twenty percent higher than Athena''s, so he didn''t have to let himself get carried away by two attacks only. When Ares attacked, he noticed that Athena''s eyes didn''t move a single bit. She blocked his sword and was pushed backward while looking directly at him in the eye. In the next moment, another Electric Arrow appeared. Still, Ares was with his shield ready and dispersed the mana of the attack. He was supposed to be faster, but Athena''s speed and precision while casting those simple attacks were just¡­ unbelievable. It was almost like she could see the future and where exactly to make her mana take shape¡­ not to mention, her uracy and speed were getting better. Ares imagined that he knew everything about Athena''s abilities, but it seemed that it wasn''t true. That was a bit troublesome, but it wasn''t surprising. Even though they belonged to the same group, all the Olympian gods kept secrets from each other, even more so when their powers and abilities were in check. Knowing her, Ares predicted that she had developed a strategy or technique that worked well against all the elder gods. Still, in the end, even after using Absolute Appraisal, Ares didn''t find anything out of ce on Athena''s skill list. "Well¡­ it doesn''t matter," Ares said while he furrowed his eyebrows. Ares was hot-blooded, but he wasn''t stupid enough not to have a hidden card up his sleeve as well. The very moment Athena tries something funny with that weird ability to counterattack, he will split her in half. Since Athena was obviously on the defense, it means that Ares will have plenty of chance to prepare a big move. After activating all the buffs that increased his strength, Ares began to prepare a simple and in concentrated strike. However, before he could do that for even a second, Electric Arrow appeared right in front of his left eye. Instead of dodging it, Ares used Mana Armor and blocked the attack¡­ he prevented losing one of his eyes. Still, instead of celebrating, he bit his lips in annoyance and didn''t even stop when he began to bleed profoundly. For Hares, that was probably the most humiliating thing he had to do in thousands of years¡­ rely on magic to prevent a wound. "You will regret this, Athena," Ares said. Even Athena felt shivers when she heard that. Ares wasn''t joking. He wasn''t the type of god who would joke around in the middle of a fight, after all. Regardless, Athena kept attacking, trying to damage Ares'' eyes, but the Mana Armor prevented all that. In the end, Ares charged so fast that it seemed that he didn''t move and didn''t swing his sword to attack. It seemed that he skipped several steps before he split Athena diagonally. Chapter 911 - Learning Speed When Ares cut Athena down, he immediately understood that something was off. She had activated Vengeful Explosion at thest moment. She made Ares suffer the same amount of damage, but since he was sturdier, he would survive, but as for Athena¡­ While he was bleeding from his left side with a big wound. Ares watched Athena fall. He was sure that he had split her in two, and yet, her presence was still there. Her armor fell off, split in two, but Athena didn''t die¡­ Ares then saw the wound in Athena''s body already closed. It seemed it had been cauterized, but how? How could have she done that so fast? Even if that was what kept her alive, it didn''t exin how she healed the interior of her body. At that moment, Ares noticed that the armor had fallen, but the backside of the armor was still intact. "You are faster than me, Ares," Athena said while pointing toward her eyes. "But too predictable. After attacking me so much, I memorized all the timing of your body. Even if you grow stronger and faster, you can''t escape my eyes and my reflexes¡­ not anymore.". Ares ignored that nonsense and then tried to heal himself. It was annoying, but it couldn''t be helped. However, before he could do anything, Athena created the Electric Arrows near his eyes and attacked. As if that wasn''t enough, she dashed toward him and swung her sword. Mana Armor protected Ares, but the Electric Arrows prevented him from seeing Athena entirely. Athena''s full swings made Ares lose a lot of mana in the blink of an eye. He had time to heal himself and close the wound, but he lost a lot of blood while Athena was bothering him. Thanks to that, even though his status was increasing, he could feel his body weaker than before. Ares decided that it was time for payback, but the constant Electric Arrow trying to hit his eyes messed up with his rhythm. Even though he was supposed to be faster, Athena was always one step ahead of him. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, after dodging, she always returned with a big swing that took another chunk of Ares'' mana¡­ it was painful for him to admit it. Still, it was thanks to that spell that Athena didn''t have his head yet. "She wasn''t joking¡­ she really memorized all my timing," Ares clenched his teeth in annoyance. "As if that isn''t enough, she is creating those annoying arrows to mess with my field vision." Ares realized that Athena could only create so many arrows so close from his body because she knew his timing all-too-well. That exined her quick counterattacks previously. Before he could find a way out of that mess, Ares'' mana reached the bottom. "Shit¡­" Ares muttered in anger. His statuses and body grew yet again, but not enough to solve that mess. In the end, Ares was forced to resort to his triumph card¡­ or at least a weaker version since he had too little mana to use. Dark mes in the shape of wings appeared behind Ares''s armor and also covered his sword. It was supposed to cover his entire armor with its full power, but he couldn''t since Athena made sure to spend all the little mana he had. "I can''t sense corruption¡­ still, you managed to empower one of your skills with the power of a deadly sin," Athena said. Instead of saying anything, Ares just dashed toward Athena, which made her realize that he didn''t have any energy left to defend. That skill probably won''tst for long either. Regardless, when Ares'' sword touched Athena''s shield, she felt a massive impact that made her fly and spin in the air like no before. She felt her energy being drained, her health, mana, and stamina while her left arm''s bones were cracking. Those dark mes did more than just increase Ares'' power. However, when Ares attacked again, he was weed by sword Electric Arrows in the eyes. Even when Athena was spinning in the air, she could counterattack like that. Ares raised his shield to block the attack, and that gave Athena the opening to pierce his stomach with her electric enhanced sword. Unfortunately, it seemed that the spell also increased Ares'' endurance and mentality¡­ the sword only pierced two centimeters of Area''s skin. Athena eventually recovered since Ares couldn''t attack and leave his eyes unprotected at the same time. However, she didn''t have much time to rest since Ares was in a race against time. He dashed toward her even though his shield was blocking his shield of vision. Even though Ares wasn''t that good of a tracker, he could still sense Athena''s divinity and attack using that alone. That strategy was simple but highly effective. Athena knew that¡­ before she could lose the ability to move her left arm, she had to do something. Athena charged her sword with electric enchantment and then prepared to throw it. Ares liked to see her trying to struggle like that, but he didn''t n to let her do what she was nning. She charged toward her, and then Athena threw her sword¡­ instead of blocking with his shield. Ares drained the weapon''s energy upon impact with his own sword and then smirked as he approached Athena. Still, then he was forced to stop when she made dozens of those arrows appear around his body¡­ he couldn''t protect himself against so many. So, Ares only clenched his teeth and waited for the pain. The pain came, but not alone¡­ Ares assumed that the paralysis would onlyst for a moment, but then he was hit from above by dozens of Zeus''s Bolts. "What¡­" Ares opened his eyes widely when he was hit by those. Ares lost the ability to move his body due to the shock and the effects of the attack. He couldn''t see Zeus''s presence nearby, and he couldn''t find any reason why his father would attack him at the moment. He saw Athena raising both her arms upward and preparing to fire Zeus''s Lightning in the next moment. It was hard to believe, but it seemed that Athena learned those while they were fighting¡­ ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 47 (+ 07 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 69 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 97 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 47871 /47871 (75,75/s) Mana: 52099/52099 (75,75/s) Stamina: 53530/53530 (75,75/s) Strength: 4681 (+26422) (+130) Dexterity: 72933 (+33655) (+2550) Speed: 5970 (+28410) (+548) Intelligence: 5152 (+24595) (+33) Endurance: 6198 (+25395) (+160) Control: 6276 (29050) (+510) Mentality: 7152 (+22195) (+70) Luck: 4480 (+18560) Recovery: 11550 (+34050) (+1045) Willpower: 7152 (+22193) (+40) Coins: 11.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 275 (+ 25 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 296 (+ 13 UP), Concentration Lv 296 (+ 13 UP), Archery Lv 296 (+ 13 UP), uracy Lv 296 (+ 13 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 315 (+ 15 UP), Frost Armor Lv 299 (+ 15 UP), Ice Breath Lv 349 (+ 15 UP), Magic Bow Lv 210 (+ 20 UP), Light Speed Lv 64 (+ 13 UP), Support Skills: Mana Maism Lv 66 (+ 08 UP), Electric Immunity Lv 161 (+ 38 UP), Magic Destruction Lv 01, Mental Boost Lv 67 (+ 12 UP), Magic Understanding Lv 38 (+ 08 UP), Electric Absorption Lv 348 (+ 08 UP), Instant Learning Lv 01, sses: Combat: Cryomancer Lv 78 (+ 04 UP), Draconic Knight Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Draconic Hunter Lv 13 (+ 04 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Draconic Lancer Lv 09 (+ 03 UP), Draconic Mage Lv 08 (+ 03 UP), Sleep Lord Lv 29 (+ 07 UP), Electric Spiritualist Lv 73 (+ 12 UP), Thunder Lord Lv 22 (+ 10 UP), Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 61 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 35 (+ 07 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Chapter 912 - Olympians Blood Athena really managed to copy Zeus'' power because she watched Ryan fighting him and Thor while she was fighting Ares. Truth to be told, she had imagined that she would be able to defeat Ares before relying on that. Still, he was a tough opponent that only now Athena was forced to recognize. After all, she had to use all her mana to fry him with a singly lightning that couldn''t bepared to the original that Zeus used. Regardless, he sealed him inside a weapon and gained a portion of his powers. With those, Athena knew that she would give her troops that still were facing the demons a bit extra power. Before she could celebrate it, though, Athena felt Thor''s and Ryan''s presence getting incredibly weaker and another troublesome one appearing nearby Zeus. "Hera¡­" Athena said, visibly displeased. Athena wasn''t surprised that she managed to interfere with that battle. She was surprised that Zeus decided that he had to rely on her to prevent a failure. Athena checked Femradiel and confirmed that she was still was fighting Hermes, she was having a hard time, but she lookedposed. It was good that she didn''t notice what happened to Ryan.. She was that busy, after all. After a while, it happened. Athena wasn''t in condition to help Ryan fight, and she couldn''t leave her troops behind, so she was caught off-guard when Ryan''s presence disappeared, and Zeus'' presence grew weaker. How was she going to exin that to Femradiel? ----- ----- When Ryan attacked, somehow and deep down, he knew that he wouldn''t survive that. He waited for the ssic moment where he would see life pass through his eyes. He only lived twenty-three years, so the movie wouldn''t be that long, but he didn''t see anything in the end. At first, he saw only darkness after that huge explosion of light, but then he eventually saw the blue sky above him. He had no idea how he woke up, but he understood that he had survived by a miracle¡­ or maybe not. "You woke up sooner than I imagined," Merlin said. "You keep proving that I am bad at doing calctions. At this rate, I will have one of those that you people have, a middle-age crisis." "This time, you bet that I would survive? How unexpected," Ryan said and then got up only to realize that he was standing at a flying earth tform and Zeus was right behind him. "No, this time, you would die for real," Merlin said. "However, I decided to intervene since you showed that you have the potential to be the chosen one of this world." "Those words really annoy me, for some reason," Ryan said. Zeus'' body was emanating miasma. It seemed that he directly took the Draconic Spear''s power added with all of Ryan''s power. Somehow, he still was breathing, even though it seemed like someone had peeled all of his skin and burned a good part of his hair. "It seems that you really have some sort of secret mission. Well, I am not really interested," Ryan said and then checked the destruction around them. "¡­ I feel like I did something irreparable to the that I wanted to protect." The hole below was so long and deep that Ryan couldn''t see the end of it. He only could tell that it was slowly being filled by the water of the ocean. In any case, thanks to Merlin, he survived, but Ryan couldn''t say that he won against Zeus. It wasn''t even a draw¡­ that being said, he couldn''t just wait for him to wake up and have a rematch. You obtained 12.564.987.214 coins. Zeus'' Rage Crossbow (Mythological) (Cursed) Effect: A weapon forged using the spirit of an elder god. Due to the power of the spirit used, the weapon is cursed, and its owner will have to endure the voice of the fallen elder god while holding the weapon. When using the crossbow, you can cause ten percent more damage against elder gods. At the cost of two thousand points of mana, it grants you the power to electrocute any enemy with Zeus'' Bolts that you can see. The damage caused will be equal to your dexterity and intelligence. Other skills and equipment can''t affect the damage caused. This crossbow can makes the bolts appear anywhere in your field of vision. Dexterity + 4800, Intelligence + 2400, Speed + 2400 Durability: 2400/2400 Congrattions! For defeating Zeus, you have be a Level one Thunder King! You obtained the following skills: Electrical Body, Akashic Knowledge, and Energy Maniption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electrical Body. Effect: It grants the power to control to boost your status by absorbing electric energy. Each level will increase the amount of energy and the bonus status points by three percent. Be careful. The stronger you get, the more exhaustion and pain you will feel once the spell is over. The duration is ten minutes. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Akashic Knowledge. Effect: It grants the power to obtain all the knowledge of your defeated foes, from battle experience to skills and their levels. The level of this skill determines how much knowledge you can obtain from your defeated enemies. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Energy Maniption. Effect: It grants you the power to change your sources of vital and spiritual energy. Health can be mana and stamina, and so on. The amount you can charge is based on the level of this skill multiplied by one hundred points. You obtained 01 status point. As if those rewards weren''t enough, Ryan also found a bottle of blood in front of him as soon as he sealed Zeus'' spirit. Olympian''s Blood Effect: it grants you the skills of Body Analysis, Protector, Semi-Invulnerability. "I am starting to feel bad about receiving all this when I am not satisfied with this result," Ryan said. Chapter 913 - Shocked Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Body Analysis. Effect: It gives you the power to see what the target is thinking or feeling by analyzing their body movements. The higher level this skill is, the more information you will receive. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Protector. Effect: It grants you the power to receive followers. Those followers will give you energy with their loyalty, and you will be able to bestow powers upon them. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Semi-Invulnerability.. Effect: It massively decreases the effects and damage caused by attacks ofmon sources. Only those that have a high level of divinity and corruption can actually wound you critically." You obtained 01 status points. "Those are really some interesting skills¡­" Ryan nodded to himself in amazement. "Speaking of which, Merlin. Your creator created the sses as well, right? Was he the one who granted humans the power to obtain the traits of other species without any repercussions as well?" "That feature wasn''t on the system, but my creator eventually learned it¡­ after receiving help from someone," Merlin replied. "I see¡­ so he wasn''t the only big shot on his age¡­¡­ or whatever he came from," Ryan said. Putting such things aside, there wasn''t time for Ryan to be amazed at his new powers. He used irvoyance to check things with the others, but he couldn''t find Loki. As for Femradiel and Athena, they were doing well. Ryan saw Athenamanding her soldiers to fight the demons, and Femradiel chased Hermes with Thanatos'' Scythe. She looked really scary since Hermes had lost a good part of his legs. "It seems that you survived," Isis said via Telepathy. "I won''t deny it. I am shocked that you survived and won." "I can''t say that I feel like the winner here, though," Ryan said. "Anyway, how are things on your end?" "Without the elder gods to protect the monsters, I managed to slow them down quite a bit," Isis replied. "I believe I can stop them with my army¡­ since the other elder gods aren''t making any move." "That is weird¡­ why aren''t they doing anything when Zeus and Thor were defeated?" Ryan frowned. "They can''t risk losing any more of them to our side," Isis replied. "I already noticed that the elder gods that were moving around and waiting for their chance to fight retreated to their domains." Now that Ryan thought about it, it would be weird if the others tried anything after losing more than half of their forces. Not to mention, their side gained a massive power-up whenever they defeated an elder god, so the chances of them losing any future fights were getting smaller and smaller. Unless they get careless or the enemyes up with some sort of crazy n, their victory is almost certain. "While you survive and look fine, you should rest inside the domain," Isis replied. "You received too much power-up, so you might have that problem again. Not to mention, you received too many attacks, so your spirit might crumble if you push yourself too hard." It was weird, but Ryan could understand that. Maybe it was due to those power-ups, but he could sense things that he couldn''t before, such as the fact that the man inside was quite tense and pulsating. It couldn''t calm down even though Ryan wasn''t fighting. "I guess I will," Ryan said. "I need to experiment with many things now before the next eventes up." When Ryan returned to Isis''s domain, he noticed that the city was almost empty. Everyone was outside, readying themselves to fight. He also noticed that he also received around thirty billion coins¡­ he received all the coins when that explosion decimated Thor and Zeus'' army, as well as the coins by defeating Zeus. He could do a lot with those. Probably even make Draconic Hunter evolve¡­ "Let''s go slow with those powers up and wait for my mana to stabilize," Ryan said. Ryan wanted to train his new skills in the void world. Still, he also wanted to notice immediately if something happened. So, he decided to train them in the real world. As it turns out, things ended really well for his side. Femradiel defeated Hermes and gained some interesting magic items, and Loki finally showed up. It seems that he fought against Hera for quite a while, but despite everything, he still looked refreshed. "You seem alright," Femradiel said with a frown when she returned. "It seems the difference in our powers got bigger again." Ryan didn''t think that was true. After all, Femradiel now had a near-infinite power to restore her mana, she could brainwash most living things, and she could summon all kinds of creatures. That being said, only the power to restore her mana seemed useful for her, at least inbat. Regardless, Ryan didn''t say anything because it would sound like fake modesty. "It seems we can''t teach others those new skills," Ryan said. "They have a high level of divinity, and that is kind of another requirement to use them properly. Putting that aside, I noticed that your recent fights had been rather weird¡­ you suffered some damage. Still, it always ended like you had some master n to defeat the enemies from the very beginning. Care to exin that?" "There is nothing to exin. I am just too smart for my own good," Femradiel shrugged. "Rather than that, I think we should have those Skills you got in action. Instant Learning and Akashics something. If something happens, I will inform you." Femradiel was always cooperative, but Ryan could see that she was hiding something. She was a poor liar, after all. Nevertheless, Ryan wasn''t the type to force others to tell him what he wanted to hear. So, he decided to stay quiet. Ryan entered the Void World created by Femradiel and immediately learned how insane and useful Thor and Zeus'' skills were. Chapter 914 - Apollos Descendant Congrattions! You have learned the skill Steel Spear. Congrattions! The skill Steel Spear has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Steel Spear has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Steel Spear has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but frown. Those new skills were way too useful. He began to think that Merlin was right, and he only knocked down Zeus by a miracle. After all, how can you defeat someone that can gain your skills and their levels when they defeat you? While it wasn''t at the same level as Ryan, Zeus could obtain some power-ups just by defeating weaklings. They just had to have different fighting styles.. "Those skills are way too useful, as expected of the power you gained by defeating the strongest Olympian god," Femradiel said. "Speaking of that, I am curious about something¡­" Ryan said and then summoned his magic weapons, in which he sealed the elder gods. "Zeus¡­ even you were defeated," Poseidon said, visibly astonished. "I can''t believe it." "You sound less displeased than I expected," Zeus said. "Did you grow used to this, Poseidon?" "... Tsk," Poseidon clicked his tongue after a few moments of silence. "Zeus," Odin said. "I watched all the fight, and I am disappointed that you have fallen so far to the point that you tried to use those who you allied with." "So, it was true¡­" Thorn said. "I knew something smelled fishy when you decided to offer an alliance. Still, I imagined that you had some pride as a warrior. You are pathetic, Zeus." "Silent, you snot-nosed brat," Zeus said. "If you weren''t so hot-blooded, we could have defeated him with our first n of attack." "That isn''t like you, Zeus," Thanatos said. "To rely on cheap tricks and thenin after failing." "Nevertheless¡­ it seems that the destiny of the world is in the humans'' hands now," Hypnos said. "The free elder gods won''t make any moves now that they have our powers. We assumed from the very beginning that we wouldn''t lose to them and that their only option was to be ruled by us, and thanks to it, we failed. Now a single human is on the path of mastering the power of one demon, two Norse gods, and five Olympian gods." "This war is far from over," Zeus said. "I only let my efforts of thest thousand years go to waste. I will escape from this prison and force each one of you to cooperate with me or face the consequences. You will be the first, Hephaestus. I won''t tolerate you showing your back to the Olympus again." Hephaestus didn''t say anything. He was far too quiet, after all. In any case, it was quite something to see those people talking as if Ryan wasn''t hearing them. Inside spatial storage, they couldn''t talk since time didn''t pass there, so they could only think of something in situations like those. "If you guys are done, I would like to ask some questions," Ryan said. "You guys didn''t want to be rulers of the Earth again just for the sake of it, right? Odin mentioned that he had a goal. What is your goal?" "You worked with some elder gods, and they didn''t tell you anything?" Odin asked. "No, I suppose they imagined it wouldn''t be worth sharing for the time being since we didn''t know if we would seed in defeating you guys," Ryan replied. "Why don''t you ask now then?" Odin insisted. "I will, but first, I want to hear your side of the story," Ryan said. Instead of an answer, Ryan only received silence. It seemed that he would have to be more persuasive. Odin seemed more reasonable than Zeus, but he wasn''t that eager to share the things that he knew. "I have nothing to say to someone who threw so much mud and the name of the Olympian gods," Zeus said. "You had thrown enough mud when you nned to stab me in the back," Thor said. "You guys can argue about thister," Ryan said. "Odin seems the most reasonable one. Can you answer my question?" Once again, Ryan received silence instead of an answer, which was troublesome, but he didn''t let that bother him. Since they didn''t want to cooperate, Ryan put his weapons away. Putting them in a prison where time doesn''t pass is actually a good way to handle those who didn''t want to cooperate, even after they caused so much trouble to Ryan. Regardless, instead of asking to Femradiel summon more monsters, Ryan decided to level up some sses to the max level. He had three of them that were in the nies, but Ryan decided to use themter and level up some that were on a lower level. They were Celestial Bard, Celestial Archer, and Celestial Warmage. He had a feeling that something good woulde out from those¡­ and Ryan''s guess wasn''t wrong. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Celestial Bard, Celestial Archer, and Celestial Warmage? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Apollos'' Descendant. The Apollo''s Descendant ss grants you the abilities of Apollo himself, granting you increased control over the sun''s powers with an additional damage boost to all fire-based attacks. You learned the skills: Python''s Demise, guefire, and Bow Mastery. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Python''s Demise. Effect: It Grants you the ability to teleport an arrow to its target. This skill will work even if the target is outside of your field vision. Cost: 200 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: guefire. Effect: Summons a rain of sr arrows that upon contact will burst into green mes. The mes will inflict the sr energy onto the enemy as well as a poison and hunger debuff that cannot be removed until its duration is over. Duration is 10 minutes Cost: 300 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Bow Mastery. Effect: It grants you increased proficiency in all bow-rted attacks. 1% increase in damage, uracy, and projectile speed per level. You obtained 01 status point. SYNERGY SKILL: The Soul Splitting Arrow: This special skill was unlocked due to the synergistic effects of your two sses, Artemis''s disciple and Apollo''s descendant. When activating this skill, you will fire an arrow that will ignore defense and directly target the target''s soul. Cost: 500 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 915 - The After "Synergy skill, huh¡­" Ryan frowned slightly. "This was unexpected. If I had gained this sooner, I would have had an easier time against Zeus and Thor." Ryan needed to test the skill, but he already could imagine its effects. Attacking the soul of a foe would be pretty intense in many ways. Summoning a monster himself and then use it as a test subject seemed like a pretty nasty thing to do, so Ryan decided to leave the Void World and look for one since he tried to call Femradiel, and she didn''t reply to him. When Ryan woke up, or rather, he noticed why Femradiel wasn''t responding when he opened his eyes. She was treating him like a huge pillow while snoring. Once he freed himself, Ryan checked things in the desert. A few monsters had approached since the entire city was focused on the Mediterranean. While the elder gods decided to retreat, it was toote for them to make their troops do the same. In any case, when Ryan selected a target, he confirmed his assumptions.. The magma golem that was hit tremble from head to toe, even though he was supposed to be a creature that couldn''t feel pain, and after that, he crumbled and became a pile of dust¡­ "¡­ I guess that is what happens when you damage too much the spirit of something directly," Ryan muttered. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Magma Bullet. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Magma Arrow. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Magma Spear. You obtained 01 status points. "You don''t waste time, do you?" Loki suddenly appeared and then asked. "I guess not," Ryan said. "Are you here, or are you just an illusion?" "What difference does it make?" Loki asked. "I would feel stupid in saying thanks to an illusion," Ryan said. "You saved my ass back there, so I suppose I owe you one." "No need for thanks, Odin, Thor, and Zeus'' domain shall suffice for that," Loki said. "I didn''t obtain those yet¡­ and one will be enough," Ryan said. "After all, you also watched me getting my ass kicked." "Oh boy¡­ are you trying to decrease the valor of your own life?" Loki said while faking some surprise. "You can''t make your life sound so cheap." "Nice try," Ryan said. "One domain will suffice." "Well, it doesn''t matter. I will find another way to obtain those," Loki said. "Nevertheless, when the missy dragon wakes up, take her to Isis'' pce. We need to talk about a few things now that the battle is most likely over." Ryan nodded. He wished that he could have heard things from Zeus and Odin''s perspective, but since they didn''t want to cooperate, it couldn''t be helped. Femradiel was pretty tired since she only had the chance to attack Hermes after getting hit by him for several hours. So, she slept for quite a while. In the meantime, Ryan makes good use of Instant Learning and Akashic Knowledge. It was a pit that he couldn''t find many monsters which had archery-rted skills. After hunting monsters for a while and getting some skills to level up, Ryan recalled a certain species of monster that caused him quite a lot of trouble: the specters, and he recalled that their skills would be really useful. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Health Stealer. Effect: It grants you the power to steal ten points of health per level from your enemy. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Mana Stealer. Effect: It grants you the power to steal ten points of mana per level from your enemy. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Stamina Stealer. Effect: It grants you the power to steal ten points of stamina per level from your enemy. You obtained 01 status points. "It is a bit toote to notice that, but¡­ aren''t I getting kind of overpowered?" Ryan frowned. Ryan couldn''t help but wonder what could have happened if the elder gods had skills like that, but he could also imagine why they didn''t use it if they had. Someone like Thor would say that he wouldn''t need the energy of a weakling. Someone like Odin would say that their divinity was more than enough to crush bugs. Regardless, Ryan wasn''t like them, and he would use all the tricks on his arsenal. It was a pity that such skill doesn''t work with bows or crossbows, but Ryan could speed up the leveling up speed of those by relying on Fast Cast. "Hey, Merlin," Ryan said. "Do I have enough mana and coins to make the ss Thunder King reach the max level?" "No, you need seventy billion more coins or seven hundred billion more mana points," Merlin replied. "That much?" Ryan opened his eyes widely. "Isn''t the cost too high this time?" "Do you have any idea how much each of your statuses will increase if that ss reaches the max level?" Merlin asked. "Around thirty thousand points¡­" Ryan said, and then he realized. "Yeah¡­ maybe the cost is right." Essentially, by making that single ss reach the max level, Ryan will increase in one hundred percent most of his status¡­ that was quite something. Aside from the first day when the monsters appeared, Ryan couldn''t remember a time where he suddenly became two times stronger than before. Regardless, now that the remaining elder gods retreated does Ryan still need more power? The answer was probably yes. Just like Odin said, there were some other beings out there¡­ beings that made Zeus and Odin worry about their own future. Regardless, it wasn''t like Ryan needed a reason to obtain power. The process was quite tough and sometimes tiresome and boring. Still, in the end, Ryan always felt aplished while seeing the result of all his progress. The question was: what will happen to him once he is sure that no one out there is a problem to the? What will he do? Chapter 916 - Their Goals After a couple of hours, Femradiel woke up and found Ryan meditating on the bed. There was no reason for him to do that in the real world, not to mention, his mana was already full. So it really seemed like he was only wasting his time. "You look troubled. Did something happen?" Femradiel asked. "No¡­ let''s head to Isis'' pce. The others are waiting for us," Ryan replied. Femradiel sighed. It was a real pain in the ass trying to help or talk with someone who is always trying to do everything by themselves. Still, at that point in time, she was already used to that part of Ryan. So, without wasting any time, she nodded, and they went to Isis pce inside her domain on the other world. Despite their victory, Ryan and Femradiel didn''t find Isis and Athena smiling or rxed for a change.. Loki seemedpletely amused as always, though. "You guys will need to sit. This talk willst for a while," Isis said. "At this point in time, you two should have noticed that the elder gods had some sort of goal in mind when they were trying to be the rulers of the world again. We are going to exin why." "I guess it was about time," Ryan said. "I am sure you two already know some about our history, how the world and the universe came to be and all that," Isis said. "While there are some urate facts, some aren''t¡­ in a sense. Would you believe if I told you that this isn''t the only Earth in this universe?" Ryan frowned when he heard that. He could understand the theory about multiple Earths across the multiverse, but several ones in a single universe? That was way too weird. While Ryan seemed confused, Femradiel was showing a serious expression¡­ it seemed that she knew something that Ryan didn''t. "A long time ago, certain beings appeared in the universe. They were the primordial lifeforms," Isis exined. "They had power beyond the limits that even some elder gods have a hard time understanding, and with their powers, they originated their first civilizations. They did the same thing over and over again in many regions of the cosmos. Some gave birth to humans, and others gave birth to different species. Eventually, those beings met each other, and due to the fact that they were somewhat simr, they began to view each other as enemies. They tried to fill with lifes that had the right conditions to sustain it. While the number ofs was pretty high, eventually, they came to colonize the same. After many disputes, most of those beings were sealed away until two of them were the only ones standing at the end. Eventually, a third force appeared, but those two were unable to seal the third force. So, they have been trying to overthrow each other and be the absolute ruler of the universe." Ryan looked at Femraidel, Loki, and Athena. They didn''t seem surprised in any way. Thanks to Body Analysis, he could also tell that Isis wasn''t telling a single lie or something that she felt that it was unclear. "Those three are Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer," Isis replied. "Ymir was the ancestor of all Jotnar creatures from Norse mythology, right?" Ryan asked. "As for Chronos, I heard that it was the personification of time, and it was an entity that they ruled over the destiny of the immortal elder gods, but what about Lucifer? Wasn''t he originally an angel of Christianity?" "It is quite a difficulty to answer those questions since none of us existed during those times," Isis replied. "However, in this Earth, they became known as such. When Lucifer rebelled, he became like a deity for the fallen angels, so he obtained the same power as the others and also created many worlds and originated many species of creatures." "I see¡­" Ryan said. "Regardless, those three sealed away many beings like themselves, and possibly, they even changed their essence and turned them into elder gods or demons that work or worked for them," Isis added. "It is impossible to confirm that since their original powers and natures were discarded, but that is a guess that we all share." "ording to our history and their actions, Chronus was a being that couldn''t be disobeyed by even the Olympian gods," Athena said. "That is why they became known as that. A creature that governs over an aspect of reality beyond our powers." "As for Ymir, ording to our history, he was defeated by Ve, Vily, and Odin," Loki said. "However, Odin never told that with his own mouth. So, we can assume that Ymir still is out there. Considering his actions, Odin certainly is trying to create a force to defeat the being who created the Asgardians, Norse gods, and many other species." "Zeus was doing the same," Athena added. "He defeated his father, Chronos, the titan, not the ruler over time. And his father defeated his father, Uranus. However, he always had the feeling that he had been dancing on the palm of Chronus'' hand, even though he never met them. With that in mind, he created the Olympus and even granted a high-level of divinity to some of his children that were half-human." "That is a veryplicated history¡­" Ryan said while frowning. "What is their goal, anyway?" "Lucifer just wants to rebel against everything; that is why he created and used the power of corruption to create several things and turn some of them into dragons. By doing so, he expects to find his creator, and eventually be the ruler of the universe." Isis replied. "As for Chronus and Ymir¡­ I think that it is safe to assume that they want everything back." "They want everything back?" Ryan frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?" "They created many species, but several of those species eventually rebelled against them," Isis said. "So, they want to take back the lives and energy they gave to them. Since we left this thousands of years ago, we have been following their traces and eventually found many civilizations that did the same as us. So, they got tired of it. They want to expunge their ingrate creations." Chapter 917 - Need Ryan was having a hard time believing in all that. It was no wonder since it looked like things suddenly sped up. The true enemies that Odin mentioned were probably those three. Still, even for someone as impulsive as Ryan, it seemed like a crazy idea to go against beings that have so much power. Ryan could make dozens of lightning bolts fell every second, sure. But create worlds and new species¡­ that was something that he had a hard time imagining. "This whole history¡­ how is that rted to the fact that you guys left this thousands of years ago?" Ryan asked. "My guess is that the elder gods from this were the first ones who openly rebelled against Chronus and Ymir," Isis replied. "With that in mind, it is obvious that they would try to take the mana from the and make us unable to manifest ourselves here. They assumed it was a fitting punishment for the actions of the Norse and Greek gods. After all, many of us are direct descendants from them." "But, mana returned to Earth, why?" Ryan asked.. "That is something we can''t exin, but we know that they will eventually return to finish the job," Isis replied. "After seeing so many species rebelling after evolving and growing too fast, they must have assumed that lower life forms don''t have the right to live. This is special. Went directly against their will. So, they will definitely try to erase it." "I guess it makes sense¡­ even most of the elder gods can only see humans as arrogant weaklings," Ryan said. "Still, with that type of creature as a target, why the elder gods didn''t decide to work together?" "Let''s ask directly at them," Isis said. Truth to be told, Ryan didn''t want to talk with them. He had already asked some things, but they refused to do so. In the end, they didn''t think that Ryan was someone who was worth listening to their reasons and motives. Still, after a long sigh, Ryan summoned the crossbows. "Father," Athena said. "We need to talk." "Athena¡­ to think that you would grow and someday rebel against me," Zeus said after taking a deep breath. "Where is your wisdom when you nned all this?" "We are not here to talk about that," Athena said. "Everyone here knows about Lucifer, Ymir, and Chronus. Why didn''t you decide to work together?" "Because it is useless and too dangerous," Zeus said. "We can''t risk alerting them. If we had joined forces to attack one of those three, the other two would notice and eventually woulde to watch us or join the fight. Once they decide to fight, this sr system won''tst even for a couple of minutes. The only way to defeat them is by taking the powers of the other elder gods and then face each one of those three separately." "Do you think the same thing, dear father?" Loki asked. "As much as I hate to share the way of thinking of someone like Zeus, I think that he is correct," Odin said. "I don''t know about the true power of Lucifer and Chronus, but I know for a fact how dangerous Ymir is¡­ thest time, the only thing we managed to do was to protect our realms, and he was holding back since Ymir was fond of our civilizations, but I doubt that he still has the same feelings after so long." "So, basically¡­ you two are saying that you are doing this to protect the world?" Ryan frowned. "Even though your actions cost the lives of so many people and caused so much destruction." "With us our without us here, the same thing would happen," Odin said. "You should know that human history is filled with conflict. Without having us as targets, you probably would have to face and kill much more humans. That being said, this kind of violent event pretty much happens in all worlds where its inhabitants obtain the power to wield mana." "I hate to say this, but Odin is right," Isis said. "Some events changed things for good and for bad. While their actions were wrong, and that is why we fought them, their motives weren''t exactly bad or evil. This is our home as well, that is why we returned, and that is why we took many humans to work with us. Some of us are harsher than others and treat them like servants or soldiers. Still, in the end, you can''t negate that those who couldn''t protect themselves found a safehouse serving the elder gods." Ryan let out a long sigh. He didn''t like that¡­ even though it was true. It was only obvious that he wouldn''t like it since he tried hard since the very first day to survive and obtain the power to defeat all the enemies that got in his way. In any case¡­ a world without the elder gods¡­ Ryan could imagine and where many dragons were still alive. Humans with draconic powers would rule alongside the guardians and the fallen¡­ other dungeon masters would also cause a lot of trouble. Maybe because of the elder gods, the number of targets was much smaller than it could be. "With all that being said, I have a proposal for all of you," Isis said. "We already won the war against the Norse and Olympian gods. The other elder gods won''t be able to defeat us now that we have your weapons and a good part of your powers. We only need to deal with the demons since they are working directly for Lucifer, but after that, we need to focus on building our forces to defeat those three, and we will need all the help we can get¡­ including the strength of the elder gods that we already defeated." Ryan didn''t like that, and for the first time in a while, he began to wonder if Isis was plotting something. Why work with those who tried so hard to kill him? Those who treated him like a worm more than once. However, the surprises didn''t end there. "I also agree that we will need their help," Femradiel said. Chapter 918 - The Right Thing Femradiel could feel what Ryan was thinking. Their pact was still working, after all. Still, even though she could sense his disgust toward that idea, she still said that. It was weird¡­ until now, every single time Femradiel supported him with his ideas and ns. So why only now she clearly said something that he disliked it? "Before you start looking at me like that, I have some things to reveal," Femradiel said. "I am sure some of already noticed that I have been strange since Poseidon captured me. Some of you also realized that thest enemies I defeated had been dealt with in the best way as possible. Despite some minor damage, the fights ended rather too well for me. The reason for that is because I came from the future." "Is that so?" Loki asked without showing many surprises. "That exins a lot," Isis said.. "I always had a feeling that you were hiding something, but I was expecting something more shocking," Athena said. Those three were talking as if time travel was somethingmon. Truth to be told, Ryan wasn''t that shocked either. He had considered that something like that was possible when he heard about Merlin''s origin. His creator was probably a human from the future¡­ but now he had doubts about that. After all, he knew that the person who Merlin and the person who summoned the dragons weren''t the same people. "Why are you telling us this now?" Ryan asked. "Because this is the time things might start to go wrong for the," Femradiel replied. "In the future, I came from, all humans began to serve the elder gods. The elder gods fought each other to obtain power for a while, but they failed in ruling the. Eventually, those three returned, and another massive fight started. In the end, humans, elder gods, and all other creatures were defeated." "With the exception of¡­" Ryan said. "My father¡­ his name was Arthur. He was the greatest mage of the human race," Femradiel replied. "Arthur¡­ Arthur?" Ryan frowned. "You couldn''t mean¡­" "Yes¡­ the same Arthur that you saved," Femradiel replied. "I don''t know the details, but he survived when his mother passed away. Some survivors raised him while they were fighting for their lives. Since he grew up in that environment, he became used to fighting all that time. He was exceptionally skilled at wielding mana. Even though he had ate start, he eventually became a trouble to the elder gods, and he led the few humans who didn''t join the elder gods. He eventually became strong enough to fight against Zeus and Odin. Still, when that happened, Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer came to Earth." "That history is quite crazy¡­ the Arthur that I know is on the path to bing a warrior," Ryan said. "Despite his young age, he is quite something, though." "On the timeline, I came from, humans survived for longer because dragons didn''t appear," Femradiel exined. "Hence, he never met you, and his life was different. This timeline won''t proceed in the same way as the other because the dragons appeared." "So, there were sses on the other timeline?" Ryan asked. "Yes, for a short while, Arthur even had the help of Merlin," Femradiel said. "It was thanks to that that he managed to obtain a part of Chronus power and sent the humans who had be dragons thanks to Lucifer to the past." "I assume you don''t know that, Merlin," Ryan said. "Naturally," Merlin said. "In any case, Arthur and Merlin¡­ that is an oddbination of enemies," Ryan said. "Merlin''s name was different on that timeline¡­ Regardless, that is not important," Femradiel said. "On that timeline, most humans were killed by Ymir and Chronus, but Lucifer transformed many of them into dragons and added them to his army. They were particrly strong since they were humans who survived and used the system for many years. I was among them. I also remember that Orgar was one of my father''s apprentices. No wonder he knew so much about magic. Of course, our names were different. Femradiel and Orgar were the names we received when we became cursed dragons." "But the dragons weren''t cursed when they came to Earth," Ryan said. "They were just extremely violent." "We lost a good part of our powers and knowledge due to the low level of mana on the," Femradiel exined. "Lucifer''s influence also disappeared, so we became normal dragons. I recovered those memories when Poseidon tried to erase my spirit. I assume that it was a natural response to the powers of someone who had a high level of divinity." "So, a human obtained Chronus'' power¡­ that is indeed interesting," Loki said. "He should havee to the past instead of sent the dragons, though. In this timeline, it seems that this kid called Arthur doesn''t have what it takes to be a decent magician." "The power to control time like that certainly would be useful in our hands," Athena said. "I suspect that Isis is the most suited to use it, but if she didn''t learn in the other timeline." "Those three will eliminate those who are the most troublesome foes, since magic is their main weapon, they don''t intend to let others of the same style observe them fight for too long," Femradiel said. "In my timeline, Odin, Athena, Loki, Isis, Hera were the first ones to be killed. It seemed those three feared that you guys could discover the secret of their powers if you watch them for too long." "You are a good mage as well," Ryan said. "If your father learned, then¡­" "I tried, but it is impossible, not to mention, just copying it isn''t enough," Femradiel exined. "When my father used it since he didn''t assimte in the normal eye, his spirit slowly crumbled while he was transporting us to the past. Much like Merlin''s creator, he was expecting to make humans stronger by doing that. He also knew that due to our souls, we werepatible with humans. That is why were could form a pact¡­ I am sorry for keeping this hiding until now, Ryan." "Well, given the circumstances, it was the right thing to do," Ryan shrugged. Chapter 919 - Chain Of Problems "Well, thanks to Femradiel and Arthur, now we know that if we don''t work together, we will be exterminated," Isis said. "I know that not all of you don''t like that idea, but we should consider this. Even though we aplished what the other elder gods didn''t in the other timeline, it doesn''t mean that we will automatically win." "Can you exin to us the powers of the three?" Loki asked. "... I have the feeling that I saw them using their powers, but I think it was while I was a Cursed dragon, so I can''t say for sure," Femradiel replied. "All that I know is that Lucifer has the power of the seven deadly sins, Ymir can summon pretty much anything, and everything with magic and Chronus have absolute control over time. Also, I am pretty sure that they don''t need mana to use those powers." Although they wanted to, neither of the ones present couldin. After all, they lived for thousands of years, and they knew even less than Femradiel.. In any case, Ryan suddenly began to wonder, did he aplish anything on the other timeline? Since Femradiel didn''t mention him, most likely, he wasn''t even alive when those three returned to Earth. That was quite annoying¡­ could it be that Ryan only aplished certain things due to his Draconic powers? "Nevertheless, you should think about this seriously now," Isis said to Odin and Zeus. "I am going to ask Ryan to leave the weapons here, and you will have the chance to exin everything you heard to others. You may not believe it, but I am sure that Aphrodite and Hermes will say that they felt that Femradiel''s tactics had been too effective. You will have three days to make up your mind. We have no idea when they will return in this timeline, so time is of the essence." Ryan didn''t like the idea of leaving his weapons behind. Still, in the end, he decided to do it because he recognized the severity of the situation. Since he could move at light speed, he had a good idea how useful it was, the power to control time. After all, it was like having control of all events. Even so, it was hard to say if Chronus would be the toughest enemy. After all, Ymir''s magic to summon all things and Lucifer''s power to use all effects of the deadly skins. After they left Isis pce, Ryan immediately headed toward the walls that protected Cairo. That history was bothering him quite a lot¡­ Femradiel apparently followed him to give some more exnations. "I can''t help but wonder¡­ Arthur¡­ your father didn''t truly learn Chronus'' ability to control time, right?" Ryan asked. "If that weren''t the case and he had truly mastered it, he wouldn''t have transported you guys to this timeline. He would have teleported you to the perfect point in time where you people would be able to make much more." "Well, I don''t know the details, but I am pretty sure that he didn''t have time to master this power," Femradiel said. "Thest time I talked to him, he was studying power, and he had just started his research. Soon after, I and many others were defeated and became minions in Lucifer''s army." Ryan nodded. Another weird thing was the fact that he didn''t consider how much damage the dragons would cause. Or perhaps he considered that and thought that it was unavoidable. Sending thousands of nice dragons to the past and making them ally with humans probably would make them turn into azy bunch. "Usually, in fiction, when one obtains that kind of power, they stay stuck in a circle where the same things are bound to happen again and again," Ryan said. "However, one of the enemies has the power to prevent that, and your presence altered this world so much that Arthur won''t be a magician." "That kind of power was never meant to be used by humans. Anyway, it is just too powerful," Femradiel said. "Besides, if he had mastered, other people would try the same, and then eventually, we would have dozens of people trying to change the past and fighting among themselves." That was kind of a scary thought. Most likely, only the best magicians would have the power to move between the future and the past. Maybe people like Ryan would be able to use that kind of power, but it wouldn''t be nearly as effective. "Most people would ask about the other versions of themselves. Are you not interested in learning about what you did in the other timeline?" Femradiel asked. "Not really, if a single kid who was a newborn baby when the monsters appeared became humanity''s hope, I can imagine that the other me failed on so many levels that I would feel embarrassed," Ryan replied. "Besides, I am done thinking about things that are beyond my power. I will just try my best and ignore that timeline where I am a failure." "That sure sounds like you, but you shouldn''t feel too embarrassed about that," Femradiel said. "When I was young, my father used to tell me stories about a very grumpy archer that helped him and his people many times. He refused to stay with them for long, but he always showed up to give a hand when they needed it." "... Let''s forget about that for the time being. I have another question," Ryan said. "The demons generals should have known that the dragons that appeared on Earth had been influenced by Lucifer, so why didn''t he return until now?" "He is probably too egocentric to ept or receive any messages from them," Femradiel said. "They can''tmunicate with him right now, they only have their orders, but I also think that they know that Lucifer can transform humans into dragons. That is why we need to get rid of them as soon as possible." Ryan couldn''t agree more with that, but there was also a chance that by defeating the other demon generals, Lucifer woulde to Earth again, and he would attract Chronus and Ymir. Thus decreasing their preparation time. Chapter 920 - Corrupt Alchemist With targets that had absurd power levels, Ryan felt even eager to train and obtain new sses. While he didn''t have to since he could obtain the experience of his defeated foes, Ryan still decided to clear some dungeons to sharpen his skills and gain those sweet, sweet status bonuses that he always gains when he clears dungeons. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Holy Knight, Expert Archer, and Corrupt Alchemist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Corrupt Alchemist! You obtained the following skills: Acid Creation, Wildfire, and Hell nt. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Acid Creation.. Effect: It grants you the power to create an acid potion that causes damage and decreases endurance and mentality based on the skill and intelligence level. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wildfire. Effect: It grants you the power to create a special potion when it is used. It causes magical and physical damage. The wildfire willst at the same level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Hell nt. Effect: It grants you the power to create a special potion that can be used to summon a magic nt. The power of the nt depends on your intelligence, strength, and the level of the skill. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status point. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have much time for that because Femradiel recalled something else and then warned Isis and Athena. She also called Ryan, and once again, the group had a meeting in Isis pce. "I forgot to mention this, but in the other timeline, there was a group that resisted Lucifer''s influence for quite a while and even caused some trouble to Chronus and Ymir," Femradiel said. "They were the angels and their followers." "So, you didn''t say this before, but you think that we should team up with them?" Loki asked. "Will we need it if Odin and Zeus decide to cooperate with us?" "We will because, as you know, they are immune to corruption and can damage demons much more than us," Femradiel said. "Not to mention, the humans on their sides are a force to be recognized." "How so?" Ryan asked. "The Angels gave them a part of their powers, and that is already enough to make each one of them two times stronger than any normal human," Femradiel said. "However, they are really fearsome because to obtain that kind of power, they had to give up on their earthly desires. They also gave up on their free will; thus, they are unable to show fear." "That is quite something, an army that has the power of the angels and doesn''t fear death certainly can be reliable allies," Ryan said. "I don''t like that," Loki said. "Without our desires and knowledge, what are we? Robots?" "You can''tin, neither can any of us since they decided that by themselves," Ryan said. "They weren''t forced to do Sox, right?" "I guess you can say that," Femradiel said. "The angels didn''t ept anyone that didn''t ept their power in their camp. So, to have their protection, they eventually would have to give up on their individuality." That seemed a bit troublesome¡­ will the angels demand the same to them? Femradiel probably knows the best way to persuade them, but¡­ based on what they knew, it seemed that angels had their own side, and those who weren''t with them were against them. "On the good side, Israel, Italy, and Ennd were the countries which have the most survivors in my timeline," Femradiel said. "I believe here is the same, and while they sacrificed something, the humans on their side also gained something in exchange." "What do you guys think about this?" Isis asked. "As long as they don''t demand for my followers to give up on their free will, I can''t see why we couldn''t work together to achieve the same goal," Athena said. "It is a bit worrisome, but I share the same feeling," Loki said. "Having a fun fight against those three will be a pain in the ass. We will need their help." It was weird to see Loki talking like that. Still, it seemed all the previous talk made him realize that they were going to fight some really difficult enemies and things were about to get serious like never before. Athena and Loki''s domains were pretty close to Israel and Italy, so they sent some messages to talk with the Archangels. In the end, they receive a reply only from Israel. Usually, Gabriel would reply, and Michael would ignore it. Still, this time, Michael was the one who replied to the message when Athena mentioned a certain thing Femradiel told her: she told him that she knew in which worlds he would be able to find the remaining demon generals. Apparently, Michael already knew that. Only he and the other three angels knew it. "I received a reply," Athena said. "They are willing to meet all of us outside their domain in Israel." "Well, let''s get going then," Isis said. "I don''t want to cause trouble again, so I am going to pass," Ryan said. "Actually, Michael said that he wants to meet Femradiel and you this time," Athena said. "He considered you unworthy, but since you defeated Zeus and Thor, it seems his opinion changed." "I still feel like clearing dungeons would be more useful for me," Ryan said. "They have their own dungeons, and we might be able to see if they can offer some interesting sses," Isis said. "Besides, not going might actually cause problems for the possible alliance." "What a pain¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Let''s hope this won''t be a massive waste of time." It was quite a weird group to travel around with. Still, in the end, the travel period onlysted a few seconds since everyone there could use Teleport. As soon as those five used Teleport and appeared in thebined ce, a creature that emitted a powerful light throughout his whole body appeared in front of them. The aura was particrly strong around the face, so Ryan could not see Michael''s face. However, he saw that he was wearing full silver armor that covered his torso until his knees, and he also had a ming spear. The mes were so intense that Ryan felt like he was close to the sun. Chapter 921 - The Four Angels "Thank you for receiving us, Michael," Isis said. "We have a lot to talk about and too little time." "... tell me how you discovered about the location of the four demons," Michael said with an authoritative tone. "I have knowledge of the future, so I can tell where they are considering the position of their troops," Femradiel said. "That is absurd," Michael said. "No mere human would have that kind of power." "But I have the knowledge, not the power," Femradiel said. "I also know that your Holy Knights won''t get strong enough to give you the chance to win the war against Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer.. You will resist for a while, but then¡­" "How did you know about the Holy Knights? They are being trained, and their existence hasn''t been exposed yet," Michael said. "Because I am from the future, I also know how you make the holy knights, but I don''t think you would like to hear me say that out loud," Femradiel said. Instead of that, Femradiel used Telepathy and told him that the holy knights are created the same way a human being receives draconic powers. By making a pact with an angel. Much in the same manner, humans obtain a lot of power ording to the level of Angelic Transformation. "I can''t see evil or lies in your eyes," Michael said. "You really came from the future¡­" "We don''t have time to talk about that," Isis dered. "We need to discuss once again the possibility of us joining our forces to defeat our enemies. You want Lucifer dead, and we want a universe where we don''t have to fear Ymir and Chronus. If we work together, we might be able to defeat them separately, in case theye to this again, together. However, for that to happen, we will have to prepare together. No matter what happens, we can''t let them turn this world into the battlefield chosen by them." Truth to be told, Michael didn''t care in the least about Chronus and Ymir. Since they didn''t dispose of Lucifer, he assumed that they weren''t that troublesome. So, as long as they defeat Lucifer, they will eventually dispose of those two as well. However, things weren''t that simple. Unfortunately, Michael couldn''t see that. He was a practical being. He knew that Lucifer had to be defeated and was working with that single goal in mind. "In the future, your holy knights had almost fifty years to train and reach the apex of their strength with Angelic Transformation, but they never did it," Femradiel said. "You will have even less time in this timeline. Half of the Norse and Greek gods have been defeated, so it is only a matter of time before the bes the center of their attention again. You need to make your choice as soon as possible." "In two days, we will receive an answer from Zeus and Odin as well," Isis said. "Even after we defeat them, we realize that we will need their strength to win this battle against those beings. Once we deal with this bigger problem, we can return to the times where we didn''t get along with each other, and we might again, but right now, we need to focus on what is important." Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if Isis and Athena had nned to do that when they decided to be allies. Defeat many enemies and then convince them to work with them for the sake of the world. The elder gods also wanted to protect the, but they didn''t listen to others because they were at the top. After being defeated, they weren''t anymore. "¡­ I will need to talk with the other three angels," Michael said. "While I am their leader, I believe that I can''t make this decision myself. I will ask their opinions about this possible alliance, and then I will give you the answer in two day''s time as well." "All right," Isis said. After that, Michael disappeared. Considering that the angels refused an alliance before because they had Ryan on their side, he sure looked calm. Ryan imagined that he would be more hostile, and that might even pick up a fight, but that didn''t even get close to happening. Maybe it was because Michael was more interested in the things they knew, or perhaps it was due to the fact that Ryan didn''t look that devilish despite having Belphegor''s powers. Come to think of it, Ryan noticed that he wasn''t on edge anymore. "Let''s return and continue with our preparations," Isis said. "For the time being, we will wait for their answers, and after that, I think we should focus on making contact with the other humans and the other leaders. We will be a lot more influential if Zeus, Odin, and Micheal decide to work with us." Again, Ryan thought that things were proceeding too fast, considering that they just fought almost to death with so many elder gods. It was also weird that the possibility of having more allies and fewer enemies was making him have less free time. Regardless, instead of worrying endlessly about things like that, Ryan decided to clear some dungeons. Meanwhile, Femradiel went to check things with Alissa, she had fought against many demons, and she was also helping her friends in China, so she had a lot of worktely. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 47 (+ 07 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 69 (+ 02 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 97 (+ 04 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 56871 /56871 (77,75/s) Mana: 61099/61099 (77,75/s) Stamina: 62530/62530 (77,75/s) Strength: 5281 (+35422) (+130) Dexterity: 75933 (+42655) (+2550) Speed: 6970 (+37410) (+548) Intelligence: 5652 (+33595) (+33) Endurance: 6798 (+34395) (+160) Control: 6976 (38050) (+510) Mentality: 7652 (+33195) (+70) Luck: 4980 (+27560) Recovery: 11550 (+43050) (+1045) Willpower: 7652 (+33193) (+40) Coins: 31.985.986.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Python''s Demise Lv 01, guefire Lv 01, Passive Physical Skills: Bow Mastery Lv 01, Spells: Soul Splitting Arrow Lv 01, Magma Bullet Lv 01, Magma Arrow Lv 01, Magma Spear Lv 01, Health Stealer Lv 17 (+ 16 UP), Mana Stealer Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Stamina Stealer Lv 01, Support Skills: Instant Learning Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Semi-Invulnerability Lv 01 sses: Combat: Poisonous Archer Lv 82 (+ 15 UP), Mad Archer Lv 88 (+ 08), Thunder King Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Apollo''s Decendant Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 66 (+ 05 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 42 (+ 07 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 922 - Sense Of Humor Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Night Hunting has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Hunter Specialization has leveled up. Since the next big battle will probably be against the demons, Ryan decided to level up the skills that would help him with that. Even though he got really strongertely, there was no telling what might happen when those crazy beings were on the path. In any case, leveling up those skills was kind of hard without facing the demons. Few monsters were good against demons, after all. The next option would be to rely on Merlin, but it seemed kind of a waste. Ryan wanted to make the Thunder King or Sea King ss reach the max level. When he finally is able to use Poseidon''s trident and Thor''s hammer and show their true power. "I will have to defeat a lot of monsters to have enough coins and mana to make a single one of them reach the max level¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.. "Maybe I should focus on leveling up the sses that already are beyond level ny." Ryan already had too many skills to train, but old habits die hard. So, it was only obvious that he would keep pursuing new special sses. Ifpared to the Draconic sses and the ones he gained after defeating elder gods, the bonus were quite small, but Ryan built his strength like that slowly. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Poisonous Archer, Bounty Hunter, and Expert Archer? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Rich Archer. You learned the skills: Golden Arrow, Riches and Glory, and Golden Bow. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Golden Arrow Effect: It grants you the power to steal the coins of your enemies while attacking them. The number of coins stolen will be equal to 0.1 percent of the damage dealt of this skill per level. Cost: 100 mana You obtained 01 status points. Riches and Glory Effect: it grants you the power to increase the damage of your arrows by using coins. Each level of this skill grants you the chance to use one hundred more coins per level. You obtained 01 status points. Golden Bow Effect: it grants you the power to summon a bow that will fire arrows at the cost of coins instead of mana. Cost: 10 coins per projectile You obtained 01 status points. "Rich Archer¡­ this system has really some weird sses," Ryan frowned. "Merlin, is it you who gives the names of those?" "No, my creator thought of the names of most sses," Merlin replied. "He always thought that his sense of humor could only be understood by a few people." "I can''t deny that," Ryan shrugged. Regardless, that ss would help Ryan achieve his goals a bit faster, and it seemed quite a fun ss too. So, he began to spam Golden Arrow on the demons like there was no tomorrow. You obtained 77 coins. You obtained 77 coins. Congrattions! The skill Golden Arrow had leveled up You obtained 154 coins. ¡­ The effects were even better than Ryan had imagined, probably because of his high dexterity. In the end, Ryan stopped using all other skills and focused only on using Golden Arrow¡­ "If only making money before was this easy," Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan spent those two days hunting monsters to gain coins and level up Golden Arrow, but then he was forced to stop because it was time to hear the answers. First of all, they returned to Isis pce and reunited there, where they found Ryan''s weapons. "Well, what have you decided?" Isis asked. "... I need to talk with the other Norse gods first, but Thor and I agree to cooperate until Ymir, Chronus, and Lucifer are out of the picture," Odin said. "What about you, Zeus?" Isis asked. "Before deciding anything, I want to hear what you are going to do with us if we decide to cooperate or refuse," Zeus said. "I won''t form an alliance if I have to ept some pact that will turn my people and me into ves." "You are pretty for someone who has a record of using temporary allies," Thor said. "... If you don''t cooperate, nothing will change. We will treat you like weapons and use you as we see fit," Isis said. "If you decide to cooperate, you will have your freedom back, and the only thing that we will need to trust you is your word." That is a pretty naive way to handle things. Still, Ryan could understand that Isis was probably giving them total liberty so that they could think that she wasn''t nning to do anything with them after the fight¡­ unless they forced her to do it. "We will have our gear and domains back?" Zeus asked. "You may keep your domains," Isis replied. "As for the other things¡­" "No way, I am not going to give up on two sets of amazing weapons," Ryan said. "They will have to look for something else to use. The loot of battle goes to the winner." "You heard him,e to think of it, your liberty and your domain are more than enough considering the number of resources and allies we lost fighting against you," Isis said. "What is the point of having our weapons? A mortal will never be able to use them properly," Thor said. "That is not a problem. We discovered that humans can increase the powers they receive when they defeat elder gods," Isis exined. "It is only a matter of time before Ryan can show the true power of your hammer and Poseidon''s trident." "That is impossible¡­" Thor said. "Putting such matters aside, what is your answer, Zeus?" Isis asked. Zeus stayed quiet for quite a while, the other Greek gods stayed silent for the whole time, so it was safe to assume that they had already reached an agreement. Zeus was just trying to make things even more convenient for them. Despite their nature of doing whatever they wanted the way they wanted, they sure knew how to negotiate¡­ "If you free each one of us without exception, I give you my word that we will work together until those three are defeated," Zeus replied. Chapter 923 - Counting On Freeing the elder gods from the weapons had been pretty easy. Isis just touched and damaged them just enough to make the spirits escape. As if they were prepared for that, the elder gods easily recreated their bodies. So, the room became full again. Poseidon, Thanatos, Hephaestus, Hypnos, Hades, Aphrodite, Hermes, Zeus, Odin, Thor, Hera, Ares¡­ they all were back¡­ no wonder the air in the room suddenly became so cold. Those people tried to kill each other not a long time ago, and it was evident that some of them, like Poseidon, and Thanatos still wanted to kill Ryan. "So, what are you going to do now?" Isis asked. "... Reform our armies and contact the other elder gods," Zeus replied. "As promised, we will build our strength to face those three.". "We will do the same. We will have to work for a few days since you defeated us through and through," Odin said. "Very well, I will contact each one of you daily. You guys can do the same if you feel the need," Isis said. "Before facing the demons, I will contact the other human leaders and see what they think about this alliance. So, I believe we will have plenty of time to prepare." "Right, see you soon," Zeus said, and then he and the other Greek gods disappeared. "I heard that you can use Hypnos power to train your soldiers, so I will send some humans here to train as well eventually," Odin said. "I will be counting on you." After that, Odin and Thor disappeared. As far as he was concerned, Ryan didn''t notice anyone who seemed like they were plotting something aside from bloodthirsty. "You sure are lenient, Isis," Loki shrugged. "You should have put a spell or two on them in order to prevent backstabbing. Odin and Thor aren''t like that, but the others¡­" "Zeus won''t do anything indirectly. I am one hundred percent sure that he will keep his word until the end of the battle," Athena said. "Even if he tries something after, he won''t backstab anyone. Considering that we didn''t kill any of them, even though we had the chance, it would damage their honor if they do that against someone who showed them that much mercy." "My apologies, Ryan," Isis said. "I decided all that on the fly without consulting you. You certainly are the one who lost more with this agreement." "I owe you one during the incident with Hypnos, so it is fine," Ryan said. "Still, without those weapons, the number of things I can do will decrease." "I suppose we canpensate by giving you a part of our powers," Isis said and then showed her hand. "Hold my hand for a while." Ryan wanted to ask why she didn''t do that earlier if she could give him some of her power. But in the end, it wasn''t time toin. Once he touched Isis''s hand, Ryan felt a strong wave of energy being absorbed by his spirit. Congrattions! Your ss: Magic Lord has reached the level max and has evolved into Magic King. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points whenever you level up this ss. You have learned the skills: Elemental Mastery, Legendary Archery, and Soul Creation. Elemental Mastery Effect: it grants you the power to have Absolute control over the elements. You can evenbine. The skill increases the damage of all elemental attacks by five percent per level. You obtained 01 status points. Legendary Archery Effect: it grants you five percent extra damage per level when using bows and crossbows. You obtained 01 status points. Soul Maniption Effect: it grants you the power to manipte souls under yourmand, create and transfer them to some types of bodies. The higher the skill level, the more you can customize a soul, given them even a certain amount of your knowledge and skills. You obtained 01 status points. "... Those are certainly some awesome skills," Ryan said after he opened his eyes widely in shock. "If you train for a while, you will be able to create even sma by using Elemental Mastery," Isis said. "However, Soul Maniption will probably be one of your best skills. If you think of a certain skill and then activate Soul Maniption, you will create one soul that has that kind of knowledge. Then you can seal it inside items to create magic items." "Is that so¡­ I find it quite weird that souls can be created that easily," Ryan frowned. Nevertheless, that means that Ryan could create magic weapons, even if he couldn''t find the right monsters to use them. He probably could even experiment more with it and make the weapons have more uses. It was a bit weird the idea of creating a soul, but it should be fine, as long as he doesn''t give it sapience and sentience. "Now it is your turn, Femradiel," Isis said. While Isis gave a part of her powers to Femradiel, Ryan began to n his subsequent actions. The group still was waiting for Micheal''s answer, but Ryan''s training could be decided like that. However, much to his surprise. It seemed that Isis wasn''t the only one who was going to give him a new power. Athena stepped forward and approached. "I must thank you, Ryan," Athena said. "After a very long time, the Olympian gods have reunited once again. Not under Zeus''mand, but under the goal of protecting this world." "They don''t seem all that eager to work together from my perspective," Ryan said. "That is because they are too different since they rule over many aspects of the physical world," Athena exined. "Nevertheless, after being defeated by the same group many times, their honor will force them to keep their word and work together. It isn''t the best condition, but maybe we can improve it after we solve all this situation." "One can only hope," Ryan said. "Yes, and we can because you didn''t try to kill them when you had the chance. You didn''t let the idea of taking their ce blind your judgment," Athena said and then offered a handshake. "I didn''t say this before, but I will be counting on you from this day onward." Chapter 924 - Illusion Lord Congrattions! You have be a Level one Lord of War! You obtained the following skills: Weapon Maniption, Combat Analysis, and Indomitable Will. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Weapon Maniption. Effect: It grants you the power to wield any weapon and show skills beyond one''s level of mastery of the weapon. Higher levels of this skill will grant you the power to use even more effectively more advanced weapons. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Combat Analysis. Effect: It grants you the power to understand the fighting style of your enemies and then adapt to them, giving you the chance to react to them with the minimal notion of their movements.. This skill will grant you the power to react to the enemies'' attacks at higher levels even before they start them. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Indomitable Will. Effect: It grants you the power to fight in your best condition at most times. This skill will give you almost total tolerance to negative magic effects and even pain. This state cannot be entered or maintained if your body is in critical condition. You obtained 01 status points. "Those are some interesting skills as well," Ryan said. "I will make sure to make good use of them." Athena nodded and then left. Although he didn''t say or demonstrated that, Ryan was quite excited with those skills. After all, Ryan really liked passive skills. Not to mention, those skills, in particr, would really help him fighting for longer periods without losing his head to anger. "Well, I guess I should get going," Loki said. Ryan crossed his arms and then faced Loki. Since Isis and Athena did that, it was only obvious that Loki was supposed to give him some powers as apensation for the weapons he had lost. "Don''t look at me like that," Loki forced a smile. "You are already strong enough, or do you want to rule over the elder gods? Besides, my powers wouldn''t fit your style." "If I wanted to rule over something or someone, I would have much more minions," Ryan replied. "I suppose that is true¡­" Loki nodded. "Oh, well¡­ I guess I have to do my part as well." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Illusion Lord! You obtained the following skills: Mind Summoning, Illusion Awareness, and Absolute Thievery. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mind Summoning. Effect: It grants you the power to summon all kinds of things from your mind. The moreplex the things you want to summon, the more mana you will have to use to make it real. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Illusion Awareness. Effect: It grants you the power to feel the presence of illusions nearby. It also grants you the awareness if you had fallen for one. The level of the skill determines how fast you can find the illusions. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Absolute Thievery. Effect: It grants you the power to gain the most valuable objects under your target''s possession upon defeating them. The level of the skill determines how many items you will gain and the chances of you gaining the treasures of the enemy. You obtained 01 status points. "Interesting¡­" Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "If I level up this ss and skills, then I probably won''t fall your tricks, huh." "I wouldn''t bet on that," Loki smiled and then disappeared. As much as that was annoying, Ryan had to admit that Loki was right. In the end, just having the skills wouldn''t make him defeat any master. Beings like him had the advantage of being long-lived and also had tons of experience of using their powers against all kinds of opponents. Putting that aside, even though his Illusion Awareness was at a low level, Ryan still could see Loki hidden nearby thanks to Draconic Eyes. He could see that the traces of Loki''s mana stopped moving somewhere because that skill was at the max level. "Well, it seems you are someone who I can trust to keep myself on my toes," Loki said and then reappeared to give Femradiel his powers as well. "Well then, what are the ns now?" Ryan asked. "Athena can receive the reply from Michael, right? We don''t have to go and see him again." "We should go just in case," Isis said. "That way, you will have the chance to meet with the humans working with them, and you will also have ess to their dungeons." "New sses are good and all, but it will be useless if we can''t kill the creatures being spawned there," Ryan said. "They are probably spawning angels'' non-stop¡­ Come to think of it, spawning angels for over a year¡­ they must have dozens of millions of them." "That was one of the reasons they caused so much trouble to those three in my timeline," Femradiel said. "If you y your cards well, maybe the four archangels will also give you their power," Isis said. "If I had there with that possibility in mind, they would know, and they won''t give it. Even without that, I am pretty sure they won''t." "Speaking of which, what Alissa and friends said about joining us, Femradiel?" Isis asked. "I know that they can''t leave their territory until we deal with the demons, but we will have to have more meetings and train our troops daily once we deal with them." "She said that there is no problem in leaving her territory behind once we deal with the demons," Femradiel replied. "The others in South America also share the same thinking. The only ones I didn''t contact were Ryan''s old friends." "Good, we will leave Ryan to talk with them," Isis said. "What the hell?" Ryan frowned. Chapter 925 - Together Ryan obviously didn''t want to deal with the people there. They were too much of a pain. Not to mention, it was too tiresome for him not to punch Daniel every time they met, now that he was sure that he could win any fight against him with his fists alone. "They won''t trust us unless you do that much. They will think that we are nning something, that is why you should go," Isis said. "I won''t force you, though. However, I am pretty sure that they have a better opinion of you since the elder gods'' troops aren''t causing trouble all over the world anymore and considering that you went to face Odin to protect them." "Like I care," Ryan said. "I was only worried about Arthur and Zoe. Come to think of it, it is about time for me to change this mindset¡­ I am not their guardian, and they are already strong enough to protect themselves." "You can stop this now, Ryan," Femradiel said. "We already know that you don''t care anymore about the past that much.. You don''t want to associate with Daniel and Mia, but you truly don''t feel any more hatred towards them." "What?" Ryan frowned. "Look at the things you had to endure over thest year. Ifpared to those, that incident looks so small," Femradiel said. "Perhaps you truly didn''t notice it, but your anger toward them isughable now. It is almost at the same level as the anger you would feel toward someone who stepped on your foot years ago. Think about it, if you really hated them, you would have made Mia run away when Alissa brought her to your domain six months ago. If you truly wanted Daniel dead, you would have made him fight Odin. That would be the worse match-up for him, after all. At this point in time, you only feel some anger toward them out of duty since they were once your best friends. They already moved from their past, only you are trying really hard to keep a part of yourself at that moment." Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ was that really true? He hated Daniel out of obligation? After thinking with his cool head for a while, Ryan realized that feeling anything toward them was a waste of time. Instead of that, he should focus on the present. Not to mention, in the past, he assumed a neutral stance with them, but after he caused those dungeon breaks, he was aggressive once again. "Just thinking about it," Femradiel said. "If you feel that you can''t forget that incident, then just kill them already and move on. If you think that is too much, then stop sulking due to something that happened only a single time, and that was beyond your control." Femradiel was being pretty harshtely. Probably because she didn''t have to hide about her origins anymore. Even so, that much change was troublesome¡­e to think of it, considering what Ryan heard about her past, her sudden change of behavior still wasn''t exined after Poseidon''s incident. When Ryan heard that she came from the future, he had imagined that something that happened there made her feel something towards him, but apparently, nothing umon happened. So, why Femradiel fell in love with him? From Ryan''s perspective, she needed to have a reason. Love can''t just happen like that, or can it? "It seems Michael wants to meet us again," Athena said. "Once again, he is calling all of us." "Well, what are you going to do, Ryan?" Isis asked. "Sure, why not?" Ryan said while he was scratching his chin and staring at nothing. Ryan had many things to think about, but he still decided to go with them. It was a rather annoying time to start to doubt himself, but in the end, it also seemed like it was finally time for Ryan to abandon his past. When they teleported back to Isreal, the group found four angels waiting for them. Just like Michael, they couldn''t see their faces thanks to an abnormal amount of lighting from them. One had a Harp and wasn''t wearing any piece of armor but had a white cloak covering his body. It was Uriel. Another one had a bow and was wearing light armor. It was Gabriel. The other was pretty simr to Michael, but he had a ming sword instead. It was Raphael. "We are here, Micheal," Isis said. "Zeus and Odin agreed to work with us, and they must be reuniting their other elder gods as we speak to mention about their decision." "Why did you mention that? Are you trying to force us into your alliance by telling that?" Michael asked. "No, I just saying because they are willing to put our differences aside to protect this world in which we all inhabit," Isis said. "How can you be sure that they won''t betray you at the first chance?" Michael asked. "I would rather have faith in their wish to protect this world," Isis replied. "Much like them, you and I also have some followers that decided to fight for us and alongside us. We have our differences, but our goal is the same. We want to protect this and all the life in it." Michael looked toward those five in front of him. Isis, Athena, and Femradiel looked pretty serious about that. As for Loki, it was hard to read him with that smile on his face. As for Ryan, he seemed too absent-minded. It seemed that something more important than the fate of the world was bothering him. "We already had made our minds. We will work with you this time to protect this world," Michael said. "I cannot fail to the people who decided to work alongside us and endure these hard times. I have some demands, though. Whatever n you might have in mind, I want my people fighting Lucifer first and foremost in case those threees to this world together." "Not to worry, I don''t have a single idea of how to defeat those three," Isis smiled. "But I am confident that we will find the most efficient way to solve the issue if we put our minds to work together." Chapter 926 - Battle Mage Even though they were quite secretive, the four angels guided the visitors toward the core of their base. For the time being, they didn''t have any reason to have a meeting. Still, they needed to optimize their movement speed in case something happened. So, Isis used a skill called Checkpoint. It was a level lower than Teleport, but it granted those who use it the chance to instantly move between two determined ces. Naturally, the other side of Checkpoint led to Isis'' pce. "I was informed that you are nning to contact another group of humans and other influential individuals to join this side," Michael said. "While I believe that might help our cause. You should hurry. The demons noticed that you are doing something suspicious, so they are dividing their forces to attack easier targets in order to increase their forces." "What are they nning to do now?" Isis asked. "They are nning to storm Asia since the groups there aren''t that cooperative toward each other," Michael replied.. "While they have the numbers and a high level of strength, it won''t serve their cause if they don''t work together." Ryan heard that. Natasha and Alissa''s friend, Fang Shi, might face some troubles due to that. For the time being, Yahiko was safe since Beelzebub would have to cross a whole continent to reach Japan, and he couldn''t see him targeting that country for the time being. "We will send some of our forces and Femradiel to help. Alissa will probably want to help as well," Isis said. "Why aren''t we going ourselves and surround Beelzebub to deal with him once and for all?" Michael asked. "I can understand why you are so eager to kill him," Isis said. "However, that won''t give us time to prepare in case we alert Lucifer. Once one of those three begins to move to this world, it will be certain that the other two will follow as well. We will need to organize our troops and gather more allies. We will probably need a lot of time to talk with all the leaders in China and India." Michael nodded. Beelzebub was the demon that could create demons faster than the others, so it would take some time anyway to find him on the battlefield. Ryan also wanted to join the fight since his thoughts were starting to annoy him. Still, in the end, he had to move on from his path, and the only way he could truly do that was to stop running away from it and talk with the people in the underground base. "About your Holy Knights¡­ how many of them can already control that power?" Isis asked. "May I ask why you are interested in the subject?" Michael asked. "Femradiel said that with the power you gave them, the humans are at least two times stronger than the average soldier in this world," Isis exined. "With the power of the Angelic Transformation, the difference in power will be even greater. So, I was nning to speed up their training. Hypnos, Femradiel, and Ryan can create worlds where time passes faster than usual, and the training there reflects in the real world. While we help your soldiers, you help ours and let us clear your dungeons." "I suppose that is only fair," Michael crossed his arms and then said. "Right now, we have around five hundred humans who can use Angelic Transformation. There are some requirements in terms of skills and status for their bodies to withstand that kind of power, so we are not making much progress on that aspect. However, if you also let us use your dungeons¡­" "Naturally," Isis said. "Things will be hectic from this moment onward, so let''s make sure to help this process go as smoothly as possible." There were two-tier three dungeons in Isreal, so naturally, Ryan and Femradiel cleared those. Weirdly enough, the angels could control prevent the death of their bosses by using Revival. It was one heck of a useful skill. Still, unfortunately, it only worked on angels and humans that had the power of angels. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Berserker, Sentinel, and Battle Mage. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Battle Mage! You obtained the following skills: Fire Spirit, Ice Spirit, and Electric Spirit. Your intelligence and mana will increase by six points. Your stamina, health, willpower, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Fire Spirit. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a spirit that will enter your body and grant you additional fire damage and resistance. When attacking, your physical attacks will cause fire damage, and when suffering damage, your body will reflect some of the damage with fire attacks directly into the enemy. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Ice Spirit. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a spirit that will enter your body and grant you additional ice damage and resistance. When attacking, your physical attacks will cause ice damage, and when suffering damage, your body will reflect some of the damage with ice attacks directly into the enemy. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Spirit. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a spirit that will enter your body and grant you additional electric damage and resistance. When attacking, your physical attacks will cause electric damage, and when suffering damage, your body will reflect some of the damage with electric attacks directly into the enemy. Cost: 100 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. One of the dungeons granted Ryan sses that he already had, but the other one had a ss that Ryan didn''t have yet. Even better, it seemed like one heck of ss. The only downside was that Ryan could only summon a single spirit at a time¡­ Chapter 927 - Talk At first, everyone imagined that there would be some confusion when people of all camps began to travel around using Checkpoint. However, the humans who followed the angels, Isis, Athena, and Loki, were surprisingly obedient. So, nothing happened. "I guess it is time to pay a visit to Odin and Zeus," Isis said. "I will create Checkpoints in their domains as well. Meanwhile, you two should go and talk with Alissa and the others." "Are you sure that it is a good idea for your three to go alone?" Ryan asked. "It will be fine. This will be a good sign to tell them that we are serious about this alliance," Isis said. "If you are nervous, Ryan, I can go with you and hold your hand while you apologize to them," Femradiel smirked. "Ha-ha, very funny," Ryan said. "I am not going to apologize. I am going to ask if they want to be my minions." "That way of thinking will only cause problems¡­" Isis said and then sighed. "Everyone in this alliance will work better if they know that all of us are on equal standing." "That is a good way to make humans get carried away, make them think that they are the same as elder gods who can make dozens if not hundreds of meteors fall on the." "I don''t think that those who survived until now without getting carried away will do now," Isis said. "Regardless, you can tell them about our goal. You can also mention that all the leaders'' opinions will have the same value in the discussions. As for other details, we three will have to talk with them since you are not exactly that eager to talk with them." "It is a pain, but I suppose since everyone is doing something, I should help out as well," Ryan said. That was bothering him for a while, so Ryan decided to solve that issue as soon as possible. He wasn''t the type who kept postponing things, so Ryan teleported back to the underground base. The domain had expanded since thest time he saw it, so Ryan frowned when he realized that even the entire Indianapolis was inside the domain. Not to mention, the survivors began to cultivate thend around that could be cultivated. As for meat, they just had to eat monsters. Ryan ate the Poisonous Toads when he cleared the dungeons of that region for the first time, and they were quite tasty, and weirdly enough, the poison in their bodies kind of worked like a seasoning. When the people there finally noticed Ryan, some of them frowned while some of them openly showed fear. It seemed that a lot of people still recalled him, but they soon calmed down when Daniel appeared after using Teleport. "Well, well, well¡­ look who appeared," Daniel crossed his arms and then said. "What are you doing here, Ryan?" "I want to talk with the leaders of this ce," Ryan replied. "We are forming an alliance, and some of the members want your group to join." "How unusual of you to reply to a questioning from me so easily," Daniel said. "So, you are working for the elder gods now?" "I am working with them, not for them," Ryan said. "Anyway, bring all those you think they need to hear an important piece of Intel because I don''t want to repeat the same thingter." Daniel seemed calmer than Ryan recalled. Come to think of it, he didn''t remember feeling all that anger when they met during the fight against Poseidon and Baldr¡­ also,e to think of it, Ryan had to free Baldr from that group. Daniel also noticed that Ryan seemed calmer than usual. Since he hade himself to tell about the alliance, he also assumed that he wasn''t joking or doing something shady. Ryan wasn''t that type of person, after all. Not to mention, he fought against Odin to protect the camp. "... All right, we were about to have a meeting anyway," Daniel said. "You can join us and tell us what you have to say." Daniel granted Ryan the chance to enter his domain, and without wasting time, they teleported to the meeting room. Some of the guys were already there, so they jumped when they saw Ryan. They were Tristan, Mark, and Ond. Ryan ignored them and then sat in a rotating chair and began to rotate it. It was quite rxing. "Before anyone asks anything, let''s wait for the others," Daniel said. "They must be on their way since they felt Ryan''s presence." Just like Daniel had said, everyone approached while running. It seemed that only Daniel could Teleport, so it couldn''t be helped. Naturally, they had many questions, but since they saw that Daniel was quiet and Ryan wasn''t the one who repeated himself, they waited until everyone had appeared. Even Arthur and Zoe showed up alongside Mia. "Big bro!" Zoe said. "Hey¡­ it has been a while," Ryan replied while he was still making the chair rotate. "... What are you doing?" Zoe frowned since Ryan looked like a child while ying with the chair. "Just killing time," Ryan replied. "It seems everyone is here, so I will tell you what happened in thest few days." In the end, Ryan gave one hell of a summary to everyone. He didn''t give many details, but he told them they had won the fights against the Norse and Greek gods and that they also freed them soon afterwards to make an alliance with them. He also mentioned that they were allied with the angels now, all for the sake of defeating Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer. Naturally, the whole ce fell silent. "... You will have to give us more details, Ryan," Daniel said. "You are skipping too many events. We can''t believe that Femradiel is from the future, considering only what you told us." "She defeated Echidna, Lilith, and Aphrodite by herself, and she knows where the demons can be found and how the Angels create their holy knights," Ryan said. "That obviously confirms that¡­ still, I suppose I can give more details." Chapter 936 - Unlucky One month was a pretty long time. The leaders of each camp had to clear the regions in the area to prevent monsters from increasing their territory. Some of them even had to cultivatends and kill monsters for their meat, after all. "Why one month?" Alissa asked. "One month isn''t a shor period, but isn''t that long either," Isis replied. "The demons should know that we are nning something, but taking our time will make them realize that we aren''t confident in our preparations. That will make them drop their guards, once that happens, we will swiftly defeat the four remaining demon generals¡­ if we all agree that we have enough strength to do that and face the next three." "One month should be plenty enough time if we use Void World," Daniel said. "If thousands of survivors use Mana Stealer on the same enemy at the same time, I would bet that we can stop any creature." "We can be optimistic, but we can''t get careless," Isis said. "Make your soldiers train those three skills equally because the enemies have their own way to recover their energy and they had thousands of years to train that and think of countermeasures against this sort of tactic.." "I think it would be wise if we were to pass our blessings to some of the strongest humans," Odin said. "That won''t decrease our powers and it will increase humanity''s potential. Some of us may think that it is too dangerous, but we don''t have that much leeway. We should at least pass the blessings to the strongest members of our camps." Most of the elder gods had at least a few thousand followers, and while only a handful of them could afford their powers, none of the elder gods had passed their real powers to them. The reason was the fact that Ryan defeated Poseidon before any of them could return to Earth. That put them on alert¡­ there was no telling if their followers would stay loyal if they received that much power. After hearing Odin''s proposal, a few of the elder gods nodded. As expected, they didn''t like the idea of giving their powers that easily to others. Humans had to prove their worth. The problem was the fact that they didn''t have time to test humans all that much. "It seems few of us are on favor of that," Odin said. "Since that is the case, I want to hear the opinion of the elder gods here of how we should deal with Ymir and Chronus." Once again, silence covered the ce. No one had a clear n on how to defeat those two. In fact, not even the angels had a n in how to deal with Lucifer. They just were nning to use their numbers and the fact that their powers were like poison on him. "Femradiel, what do the pendragons think of this alliance?" Isis asked. "I was nning to negotiate with them, the mithril they have. I know some of the elder gods are already working to craft better weapons for themselves, but evenmon soldiers will need weapons of that level to be effective against the next enemies." "I talked with them yesterday and they weren''t that pleased with it," Femradiel said. "They were pretty nervous around me. I am sure they are thinking that we changed sides and are nning to attack them." "I guess that is to be expected. Nevertheless, I will negotiate with them alone to obtain some mithril," Isis said. "Perhaps if we use Loki''s herbs to negotiate, they will feel morefortable around us." "Well, I certaintly don''t feelfortable on seeing you deciding that without consulting me first," Loki frowned. "We already know that you are using those to obtain mithril from them," Athena said. "There is no point in trying to hide from us." "Are you spying on me? From whom you got such a bad habit?" Loki asked while faking some surprise. "¡­ Putting that aside," Isis said after a long sigh. "I am also going to distribute the elunium and oridecon I have been stocking as ofte. We will need to upgrade even the gear made of mithril. Mostly, the defensive gear. You all should prepare your troops for that. For the time being, that is all. That being said, I want to hold meetings like this periodically to check all the progress we make." "Are you sure? This takes too much time," Loki shrugged. "You talk as if you were even here," Odin said. "As expected of the almighty Odin, I can''t really fool your eye, can I?" Loki smiled. "Divide your troops wisely, and tell them to stay on the right ces at the right time for their training sessions," Athena said. "We need to use our time wisely and we can''t waste it by organizing our troops every single day." After hearing that, everyone nodded, and then they began to leave the pce. At first, the leaders and their soldiers felt uneasy moving around and then appearing in certain domains. Those who had bad memories regarding Hypnos looked particrly troubled. After telling Ryan that she had to go to Israel for a while, Femradiel left as well and around that time. A group of slightly troublesome people appeared where Ryan was. Even in the Void World, he felt their presence. So, Ryan canceled the spell and then found Daniel and his team, Gustavo and his Team, Yahiko, and Natasha. "So, I drew the short stick, huh¡­" Ryan said and then facepalmed. "Don''t be like that, it will be faster if those who can use Draconic Transformation train with others that can use the same skill," Gustavo said. While that was true, Ryan was trying to attain a whole new level of training. One that costs a lot of mana, but that can be even more effective than that. Nevertheless, he summoned them to his Void World. That big group felt slightly troubled that Ryan summoned them to that world without putting any effort, and they didn''t even have the chance to resist. That being said, training with someone stronger was much better. Chapter 937 - Death Mage At first, everyone wanted to spar with Ryan, but once he made a quick demonstration of what he wanted to train, they gave up on it. Gustavo was the sturdiest among his group, so he offered himself to spar with Ryan first, and he even used Draconic Transformation. However, Ryan didn''t even move from his spot. Instead of that, he used Time Skip level twenty with the intention of punching him. Once that happened, Gustavo suddenly flew to the distance as his face was suddenly hit by something that neither of them had the chance to feel. Since he was the sturdiest, Gustavo managed to stay conscious, but his face got so swollen that he was having a hard time keeping his left eye open. "What was that?" Gustavo asked, visibly astonished. "The skill is called Time Skip, it grants me the power to skip certain events in reality," Ryan said. "For example, I decided to punch you a few times and the skill made that happen without me actually punching you." "I don''t get it¡­" Gustavo said, frowned. Based on Ryan''s exnation, Fernanda exined to Gustavo and the others who didn''t understand what had happened.. He was pretty good at exining things, but Fernanda was pretty good at that. "So¡­ he can attack¡­ without having to attack?" Gustavo frowned. "Isn''t that too weird? Where in the hell did you get that power?" "It isn''t, if you can control time to certain extent," Ryan said. "Any of you can have that ss, you just have to pay me half billion coins." "Half billion? Where did you get so many?" Gustavo asked. "From defeating Zeus, Thor, and killing millions of monsters," Ryan said. "Can''t you just use Skill Bestowal to pass the knowledge of the skill?" Daniel asked. "No, I tried with Femradiel, but apparently, this ss gives you a certain amount of divinity, so it isn''t a skill that you can learn like that," Ryan replied. Ryan also tried to create magic items using that skill and Soul Creation. Still, it seemed that both skills were at a low level, so Ryan couldn''t control the divine energy all that well to make a magic item. It wasn''t supposed to be impossible to make an object have that kind of power. After all, Chronus'' Ring exists. "Anyway, I want to focus on that for the time being, so you guys should spar against each other," Ryan said. "Whil you all don''t know each other very well, you are all goody-two-shoes. I am sure you will get along." Truth to be told, Ryan wanted to use Golden Arrows on everyone to gain massive amounts of coins, but that wouldn''t make them much stronger. Resistance training was pretty good, but the only thing they will level up following that n would be Pain Resistance. While they were having a meeting, Ryan confirmed some weaknesses of his current powers. Although he could use Time Skip and make some skills level up like that, he couldn''t use skills like Memory Maniption to make Time Skip level up. The reason for that was the fact that Memory Maniption didn''t have to use any divine energy. On the other hand, Ryan could use the experience he obtains while using Time Skip with Memory Maniption. "I wonder if this power will have limitations once I get Time King ss¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ryan was quite curious about the next ss. However, he couldn''t obtain that ss since he knew Time Lord would be an important foothold for Time King. Ryan had forgotten to train certain skills because he got more exciting skills in the past, so he couldn''t repeat that mistake. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Conjurer, Royal Mage, and Hight Priest? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Death Mage. You learned the skills: Bloody Mist, Blood Golem, and Cursed Whispers. Your intelligence and mana have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Your health, stamina, willpower, and recovery have increased and will increase by five points whenever this ss level up. Bloody Mist Effect: It grants you the power to summon a mist of blood in a massive area that will cause damage over time on all enemies inside it. The Damage will be equal to the skill level multiplied by two percent of your intelligence per second. Cost: 2000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Blood Golem Effect: it grants you the power to summon a golem made of blood that can recover from Damage by attacking enemies and draining their blood. Cost: 10.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Cursed Whispers Effect: it grants you the power to make your enemies hear whispers of fake ghosts that will decrease their intelligence, willpower, and mentality over time. The amount of status decrease will be determined by the level of the skill. Cost: 1000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan had used so much mana in thest few hours that even though he had some archery sses about to reach the max level, three magic sses reached that mark first. Nevertheless, he weed a new and very interesting special ss. "This Blood Golem seem like the type which would be useful against massive armies of enemies," Ryan nodded to himself. "I guess it will be useful against the demons, but not after that." It was a pity, but Ryan didn''t have more mana to spend using any other skills. If only Time Skip could level up faster¡­ Considering his actual recovery while Draconic Transformation was active, Time Skip will have to reach level six hundred before Ryan can rely on his recovery alone to use that skill all the time, and he was pretty sure he won''t be able to do that in just four weeks. "I suppose I can always ept the fact that and then use the skill anyway, I have a pretty decent mana pool, after all," Ryan said to himself. In the end, Ryan couldn''t ept that¡­ he wasn''t such a half-assed guy. He would do everything in his power to obtain the power to control time and get close to Chronus'' power. Chapter 938 - Study While Ryan was thinking of ways to speed up once again his training, he had to stop when he heard a massive impact in the distance. His Void World was fifty kilometers wide andrge, but even though he was on one side of the space and the others were on the side, he still could hear them. When Ryan turned around, he saw Daniel and Gustavo sparring. That being said, when they punched each other, the air vibrated around them, and small lightning bolts appeared. The others were supposed to be training, but they couldn''t help but watch the fight since Daniel couldn''t use Draconic Transformation, and yet, he could fight on equal terms with those that could. "At least, they are smart enough not to use their weapons," Ryan said. Since his problem now was mana, Ryan couldn''t see any sense in watching them spar. After all, they were two muscle heads that couldn''t see that the efficiency of their training was severelycking. "Maybe I am seeing this the wrong way," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I am not mage, so I shouldn''t try to solve the problem of mana like one." Ryan was an archer, so he had to solve his problems like one.. However, he had already tried that. That was why he got so many passive skills that increased his mana recovery. Considering his fighting style, the better way to recover mana was by leveling up Magic Bow and upgrade Spiritualist''s Crossbow. The problem was¡­ those skills had been countered many times in the past. While the bolts that could drain mana could decrease the effects of all defensive spells, Ryan wouldn''t recover any unless he hits the enemy directly. "Come to think of it¡­ if I attack using my usual style alongside Time Skip, will I recover mana if I use magic copies of the Spiritualist''s Crossbow?" Ryan asked himself. "I guess it is worth testing it." Ryan summoned some golems and then tested that theory. He actually draining their mana as he attacked¡­ however, since he used mana as well, aside from using Time Skip, he still didn''t notice any difference. "Let''s see¡­ If I use Magic Upgrade and Soul Creation to pass the knowledge of Soul Stealer to the Spiritualist''s crossbow¡­" Ryan said as he tried to improve the weapon. Spiritualist''s Crossbow (+ 56) Effect: fire bolts at the cost of fifty mana points that will drain 280 points your foes mana and recover yours. Dexterity + 660, Intelligence + 320 Durability: 650/650 Naturally, Ryan seeded and then made his attacks while using Time Skip drain more mana per second. However, before trying to improve that, Ryan found another barrier. Even though Time Skip granted him the power to skip certain steps when he attacks, the steps were still taken, and he could see the projectiles being blocked when he assimted the experience and used some Skeleton Wizards as test subjects. "I knew it wouldn''t be so simple¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I need to find a way to make my arrows and bolts hit the target no matter what." Ryan recalled Gungnir¡­ it was a weapon that granted Odin the power to ignore all types of defensive spells. At first, he had imagined that it was a weapon that had been created using the power of time maniption. Still, once Ryan confirmed that even his attacks could be blocked while Time Skip was working, he noticed that it wasn''t the case. "Maybe I should talk with Odin about this, the question is: will he exin to me the secret behind his most trusted weapon?" Ryan asked. Odin had all the reasons not to. He considered Ryan too dangerous since he could use Corruption and Divine energy. Not to mention, Ryan didn''t give back Gugnir. Odin seemed like a reasonable elder god, but even his patience has limits. While that problem was making Ryan feel a terrible headache, he couldn''t give up on it. Suppose he manages to make all his attacks be unblockable. In that case, his power will reach a whole new level, and he will be able to train Time Skip and his archery skills at the same time. Ryan didn''t stop his training, but he kept thinking about that non-stop. Unfortunately, he didn''t find a solution to that problem. It was only natural since that was basically a knowledge that only the elder god that had the title of Magic God possessed. It was something that someone who lived only for twenty-three years couldn''t grasp that easily. "Merlin, you said that you can quantify skills and turn them into sses," Ryan said. "Can you quantify Odin''s power to hit everything with Gungnir?" "Maybe, if you give me a few decades to study his memories and battle experience," Merlin replied. "A few decades? We can''t wait not even a few weeks," Ryan said. "What did you expect? Do you think that I can analyze the knowledge and battle experience he gained over thousands of years in an instant?" Merlin asked. "Are you that stupid? Is your brain okay?" "... You are really annoying as ofte," Ryan said after a long sigh. Now that he thought about it, Ryan realized that he was naive. It was too much to expect that Merlin would be able to do things like that. After a while, Femradiel showed up and she seemed pretty exhausted for some reason. Ryan thought that among all the groups, the soldiers working with the four Angels would be the easiest to work with, but that was just his assumption. "What are you trying to do with Odin''s spear?" Femradiel asked when she saw Ryan studying the weapon. "I am trying to learn how he can make all his attacks hit the target," Ryan replied. "If I don''t have to worry about having my arrows and bolts being blocked, I will cause much more trouble to the enemies." "Ah,e to think of it, my father could do that," Femradiel said. "Didn''t he learn that from you, Merlin?" "I didn''te from the future like you, so I can''t say," Merlin replied. Chapter 939 - Drastic Measures Speaking of Arthur, Ryan realized that he didn''te. He wanted to see the kid develop his full potential as a warrior, but he couldn''t exactly force him to train near him. He was probably with Mia and Zoe, training on Hypnos Void World. "So, a mage managed to learn that¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose that is to be expected. Still, if I only learn the basics, I just want to make my arrows hit no matter what. I don''t need to learn how to make magic hit as well." "I won''t be able to help you there," Femradiel said. "Half of the things my father told me about magic, I couldn''t understand. That being said, Aphrodite''s power is rtively simr to that, it can hit the targets with an scary precision and it is basically impossible to block since it isn''t an attack that uses mana." "If my arrows weren''t made of mana, I wouldn''t be able to create them," Ryan said. "Even if I use ordinary arrows¡­ I guess I need another source of energy, just like Aphrodite uses love." Maybe an attack that uses health or stamina¡­ no, that probably wouldn''t work since those types of energy were quite connected to mana. Ryan heard of Femradiel''s fight with Aphrodite, so he couldn''t hope to copy either of them. It seemed that Ryan was going to be forced to take the highway again¡­ "What kind of energy exist there outside from mana¡­ corruption and divine?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully while thinking about those sources of power. "I can''t say that I had seen the elder gods using divine energy in it''s pure form to attack¡­ not to mention, I always thought it was something that couldn''t be used alone¡­ can I use either of them?" Based on his experience, those sources of powers were more connected to his spirit and his will to live than anything else. Elder gods could cause Damage using divine energy because all their attacks naturally contain it. As for corruption, Ryan could use it when he is about to lose his mind. However, it isn''t like mana that decreases the more you use it. It is the reverse. It grows stronger and more efficient the more you try to use it. "Hey, Belphegor," Ryan said after he summoned the crossbow in which the demon was sealed. "How do you guys control your corruption?" "The same way humans control their lungs to breath," Belphegor replied. "We don''t control it, it is an automatic process," Ryan said. "The same can be said about us," Belphegor said. "The only one who can use corruption the way you are asking is Lucifer." Ryan was suspended as much. He probably used a high level of the skills the demons used to corrupt monsters be corrupt in order to make monsters and humans be dragons. Regardless, that was troublesome. "How can I be sure that you aren''t lying? Maybe I should be you and Lilith alone in the real world," Ryan said. "She seems really displeased with you, so that might be interesting." "That won''t change the fact that only Lucifer can do that and he never had any reason to exin to us how he can do that," Belphegor said. "... That being said, I would be thankful if you don''t put me and Lilith together. I am even willing to help you a little bit to prevent that." "How so?" Ryan asked. "I will let you use my mana when you use this crossbow," Belphegor replied. Deceleration Crossbow (Cursed) (Mythological) Effect: It grants you the power to fire bolts that decrease the movement and reaction speed of the target while It also causes Damage. This weapon doesn''t need mana to be used and can cause ten percent more Damage against demon generals. Dexterity + 2400, Intelligence +1200, Speed + 1200 Durability: 1200/1200 "Well, this is pretty good," Ryan said. "If you keep using my mana, my power inside you will grow stronger as well," Belphegor said. "This is pretty convenient¡­ weirdly convenient," Ryan said. "Are you nning on taking over my body?" "And do what afterward? My life now is pretty good, I don''t have to do anything and no one bothers me," Belphegor said. The demon was sozy that he actually liked the prison. Nevertheless, Ryan had the confidence to prevent Belphegor from doing anything if he tried. While he doesn''t use many skills of the Sloth Lord ss, Ryan will wee those level-ups and the chance to attack without using mana. "It seems you obtained power in an unexpected way," Femradiel said. "I will try to force Lilith to do the same, but that might take some time. Nevertheless, you didn''t find the answer you were looking for. What now?" "I will keep trying to find an answer, if the worstes to the worst, I can always try to talk with Odin, or perhaps Loki, he might have some ideas," Ryan said. "Either way, you should also try to increase your powers as well. Do you have anything in mind regarding that?" "Just like you, I am trying to improve my mana recovery by relying on Aphrodite and Lilith powers, I suppose that is the best thing that I can do for now," Femradiel replied. "Once I can recover all my mana instantly, I will take the next step." Ryan had forgotten about that, but Femradiel was getting considerably stronger while she used the Void World. After all, it was a skill that they gained after defeating Hypnos and consumed tons of mana. Considering that she had been using that for the past month nonstop, it was probably about to evolve. In any case, while Femradiel could use the same skills as him, she was initially a mage. So just using her mana will make her stronger¡­ with that in mind, Ryan felt even eager to improve as well, but if he doesn''t find the answer that he needs¡­ he will have to take some drastic measures. Chapter 940 - Pride The first few days where all the alliance members worked together passed fast since everyone was busy and nothing major happened. In that meantime, some new faces appeared in Ryan''s Void World as well, even though Hypnos and Femradiel''s Void World were much more interesting. Those people were Mia, Zoe, Arthur, and several others from the underground base. Ryan finally would be able to see if Arthur had the potential to reach the apex as a warrior just like he did it as a mage. However, they showed up when he was leaving to talk with Loki, Athena, and Isis. As usual, they were in Isis pce monitoring the movements of the demons. "What ''s wrong? Did something happen, Ryan?" Isis asked. "No, I just came to talk with you guys about divine energy," Ryan said. "I want to make my attacks unblockable like Odin''s attacks and I figured that using divine energy is the way to go to do that." Athena and Isis looked toward Loki. He was probably the only person aside from Odin who knew what one had to do in order to have the power to use unblockable and undodgeable spells. However, no one saw him using that.. Athena and Isis were interested in the subject, but they had no idea how to do that. "Don''t look at me like that," Loki said. "That is one of the many things I am interested in learning as well. Just like me, you should try to use your head and solve the mystery, after all, not even Thor can use that kind of ability. The person he trusts most doesn''t know the secret of his power, so asking nicely won''t work." Ryan nodded. He had forgotten about that¡­ but he also had assumed that he didn''t use the same technique because Thor wasn''t skilled enough. Odin didn''t seem like someone who would hide that thing from his son, so maybe there was another reason for that. "How do you guys control your divine energy?" Ryan asked. "I feel like I might obtain some clues if I learn how to do that." "It isn''t like I control it, it''s just that my divine energy manifests with more strength on our best techniques and skills," Isis replied. "For example, I can create instantly projectiles made of sma because I sharpened my casting speed to the limits." "The same thing can be said about my power to understand the abilities of my targets," Athena said. "I practiced hard enough to be able to respond and learn the timing of my opponents in a fight. After doing that for so many times, the chances of failure are basically zero." Ryan couldn''t quite understand that. It seemed that their divine energy worked like a force that would make their skills work as efficiently as possible. While it was weird, it made sense. After all, Odin could use that technique of his with zero chances of failing. Maybe that was his divine energy working. "I wonder if divine energy is something that turn you guys into creatures that can''t fail in what you do and what you excel¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then looked at Loki. "What about you, Loki?" "I don''t believe that an unknown force that I can''t control is actually helping me," Loki said. "I am of the belief that my amazing brain is what makes me seed all the time." "Well, everyone needs to have some confidence," Ryan said. "I guess I will have to try my luck with corruption then." "Wait," Athena said. "A while ago, I received a message from Artemis and Apollo. It seems that they want to meet you." "Why and why only now you mentioned that?" Ryan frowned. "I was wondering why they wanted to talk to you, but then I noticed now that you have a fraction of their powers," Athena exined. "My guess is that they want to confirm with their own eyes if you are worthy of their power." "Why should I go see them? Just to give them the chance to judge me?" Ryan frowned even more. "That might happen, but they might also give you arger potion of their power," Athena said. "You defeated Zeus, so there is no reason for them to think that you are unworthy of their powers." That was right, but Ryan had a feeling that it would be a pain in the ass. After all, ording to mythology, they were gods of archery thatpeted against each other a lot, and Ryan didn''t have time for that. That being said¡­ they received the power of two archery gods at the same time¡­ even better, they ruled over the sun and moon¡­ Ryan didn''t know other elder gods that used bows as weapons, so they were the only ones who could help Ryan make his archery reach the next level. "I guess I am going to see them," Ryan said. "The Olympian gods are staying in the same world, Zeus'' world," Athena said. "So, you will have to use his Checkpoint to meet them. Try not to cause too much trouble to them." "All right then," Ryan said, and then he stepped on the Checkpoint that connected Isis and Zeus'' domain. When Ryan disappeared, Loki began to tremble while hiding his face, but eventually, he broke into a massiveughter. It was hard to see himughing like that, but it only showed how much amused he was. "That guy is great, I love him," Loki said. "He didn''t even think twice in going to Zeus domain despite the fact that he caused so much trouble to the Olympian gods and he would be surrounded by them. Is he stupid? Or is he that naive to trust in his allies with his whole heart? Perhaps he is just confident enough that he can fight all of them at the same time." "It has been a while since you looked so amused," Isis said while showing a slightly troubled expression. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" "It will be fine, if one thing that the Olympian gods have in excess is their pride," Athena said. "They won''t attack an ally, much less when two of them invited him." Chapter 941 - Moon Lord As soon as Ryan used his mana to activate the Checkpoint, he noticed the spare around him changing instantly. Unlike when he used Teleport, he saw the fabric of space-changing before his eyes. He frowned when he saw a vast green camp that extended endlessly toward the horizon. It seemed like a full of life that had never seen war. Such thoughts disappeared from Ryan''s mind when he felt several powerful presences around and when he turned, he saw several white temples that made him recall those from Greece. "What a nice breeze¡­" Ryan said as he felt his mind being filled with inner peace. Ryan blinked a few times when suddenly Poseidon and Thanatos appeared in front of him. Of the enemies that he had fought in the past, those two were the ones who clearly wanted to have their rev someday. Despite that, they didn''t try to attack Ryan. "What are you doing here?" Poseidon asked without trying to hide his blood lust. "Artemis and Apollo called for me," Ryan replied,pletely ignoring those eyes filled with hatred.. While they were allies, Ryan could understand and knew that Poseidon would never forgive him. After all, his royal guard wasposed of his sons, after all. Not to mention, the leader was the kid he had with Aphrodite. That being said, Ryan had no reason whatsoever to ask for forgiveness. They captured Femradiel and tried to kill her. "I think this is enough," A silver-haired woman suddenly appeared and said. "We all know that not a single one of us here will dare to shed blood in this world, but emitting such killing intent is also unbefitting of you, Poseidon." Ryan didn''t have to use Absolute Appraisal to see that it was Artemis. She kind of made Ryan remind of Athena, but she looked more serene with her long silver hair and eyes. She wasn''t wearing a single piece of armor, but Ryan could feel a lot of manaing from her robe. "So, this is the best archer that the humans had," A redhead man suddenly appeared and studied Ryan from head to toe. "I can''t see how he defeated Zeus." Apollo was like the opposite of Artemis. His red hair and eyes showed how wild he was. Considering that he was the god of the sun, it made a lot of sense that he was like that. Apollo also was wearing light red armor that emitted some fire in the borders. It was enough to make Ryan not stare at it for too long. "Don''t take your time talking with him," Poseidon said and then disappeared. Thanatos red at Ryan for a while, but then he eventually disappeared as well. They should know better than Ryan wasn''t someone who could be scared that easily¡­ "I apologize for their rudeness and I thank you foring here," Artemis said. "Let''s not waste time here, we have better things to do than waste time talking," Apollo said. "I can see that despite not having lived long, you have the eyes of a true archer. Even though you don''t have the presence of someone who defeated Zeus." Ryan wondered why he was repeating that. In any case, he decided to stay quiet and see how things would y out. "Can we ask you a favor?" Artemis asked. "As long as it doesn''t take too much of my time¡­" Ryan said. "We would like to see your battle against Zeus," Artemis said. "We understand that you don''t have the skills to show us a part of your memories, so I am willing to bestow upon you the skill necessary." Memory Transmission Effect: it grants you the power to transmit some of your memories to a target. The skill level determines the transmission speed, making the target experience the memory ten percent faster per level. Cost: 500 mana per second. You obtained 01 status points. Before he could say anything, Ryan received that skill from Artemis. It seemed like a skill that could be helpful to make his allies train using his own memories, or at least experience certain situations and get used to them. However, Ryan didn''te to receive that¡­ Still, in the end, he decided to show them without making much of a fuss. If he were to gain anything, he would have to start with a good impression¡­ It was hard to imagine that Ryan could improve his image, though. He defeated several Greek gods, after all. Usually, it would take a while for Ryan to transmit the memories of the battle. Still, he speeds things up by using Mana Maniption. That made the skill level up pretty fast as well, so Ryan only had to wait for twenty minutes. Once the memories ended, Ryan noticed that Artemis and Apollo looked equally troubled. "You didn''t use an arrow on yourst attack," Artemis said. Ryan rolled his eyes¡­ they wereining because Ryan used a spear instead of an arrow¡­ that was so stupid that he let out a long sigh. "Nevertheless¡­ you fought as an archer and defeated Zeus as an archer," Artemis said. "You deserve to have my power." "This isn''t what we agreed with, Artemis!" Apollo protested. "We agreed that he would choose one of us to receive power!" Congrattions! You have be a Level one Moon Lord! You obtained the following skills: Lunar Arrow, Moonlight''s Blessing, and Lunar Absorption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. The skill Lunar Arrow has reached the Max level. You obtained 866 status points. Moonlight''s Blessing Effect: it passively increases all of your status based on the phase of the moon. Your status will increase by twenty percent during the New Moon and up to three hundred percent during the Full Moon. You obtained 01 status points. Lunar Absorption Effect: it grants you the power to absorb energy from the moon. You can restore ten points of mana, health, or stamina per second and ording to the skill level. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 59 (+ 04 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 74 (+ 01 UP)/ Crystal Archer Lv 98 Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 68871 /68871 (99,75/s) Mana: 73099/73099 (99,75/s) Stamina: 74530/74530 (99,75/s) Strength: 7281 (+44422) (+130) Dexterity: 78933 (+52655) (+2550) Speed: 8870 (+46410) (+548) Intelligence: 7152 (+42595) (+33) Endurance: 9198 (+43395) (+160) Control: 9676 (47050) (+510) Mentality: 9152 (+42195) (+70) Luck: 7180 (+36560) Recovery: 14550 (+52050) (+1045) Willpower: 9152 (+42193) (+40) Coins: 37.005.556.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Golden Arrow Lv 88 (+ 87 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Enhanced Recovery Lv 19 (+ 18 UP), Augmented Recovery Lv 14 (+ 13 UP), Heroic Recovery Lv 09 (+ 08 UP) Spells: Compressed Time Lv 59 (+ 25 UP), Time Skip Lv 32 (+ 31 UP), Time Percetion Lv 01, Bloody Mist Lv 01, Blood Golem Lv 01, Cursed Whispers Lv 01 Support Skills: Mental Boost Lv 67 (+ 12 UP), Magic Understanding Lv 68 (+ 18 UP), Illusion Awareness Lv 01, Absolute Thievery Lv 01 sses: Combat: Draconic Mage Lv 18 (+ 08 UP), Magic King Lv 07 (+ 06 UP), Rich Archer Lv 63 (+ 20 UP), Death Mage Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Time Mage Lv 91 (+ 15 UP), Sloth Lord Lv 46 (+ 04 UP), Time Lord Lv 25 (+ 24 UP) Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 942 - Sun Lord "My apologies, brother," Artemis said. "I know what we agreed, but I made a vow to help all those who decide to live their lives using bows to open their paths." "So did I, but that doesn''t mean that you had to force your power on him," Apollo said. "There is no need to fight, I would be d to receive your power as well," Ryan said. "We never helped the same human with our powers before and it isn''t now that we will do that," Apollo said. "There is a first time for everything,e on don''t be shy," Ryan said. "It would be an honor to have the power of the goddess of the moon and the god of the sun with me." Apollo wasn''t naive enough to fall for such cheap praise. That being said, he also wanted to see a good archer using the powers granted by him. He just needed a good reason to do so.. "I will consider that if you manage to hit me a single time with your arrows before I hit you ten times," Apollo said. As soon as Apollo finished saying that, he felt something cold piercing his shoulders, and then he saw ten ice arrows piercing him slightly. He didn''t give the sign, and yet, Ryan had already attacked¡­ "How did you¡­" Apollo asked, shocked. Apollo tried to understand what had happened looking toward his sister, but Artemis looked equally confused. Neither of them noticed what Ryan had done. However, they had an idea¡­ he used time magic to prove that he was the better archer, and tests were useless. Apollo couldn''t deny that, but it made him feel very frustrated. Howe such a young human could have the skills that surpassed them? "You don''t need my power¡­" Apollo said. "You can''t decide that, well, you can, but I want anyway," Ryan said. "In fact, this is a good opportunity, do any of you know how to fire an unblockable and undodgeable arrow? I want that and Maybe your powers will give me some insight for that technique." "What a greedy human¡­ he barely lived a few decades and wants to reach that level of mastery," Apollo said. "Unfortunately, we can''t teach you what we don''t know," Artemis said. "I guess I will just melt Odin''s trident and then make a bow out of it," Ryan said. "That would be quite something to see," Apollo said. "All right, I will give you my power If you say this to Odin and then show me the memory one day." "We have a deal," Ryan said. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Sun Lord! You obtained the following skills: Sr Arrow, Sunlight Blessing, and Sr Absorption. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Sr Arrow Effect: it grants you the power to fire an arrow made of sr energy that will burn the enemy for ten minutes, causing one percent of your intelligence as Damage per second. Upon impact, the arrow will cause Damage equal to your dexterity and will increase by ten percent per level up. You obtained 01 status points. Sunlight Blessing Effect: it passively increases all of your status based on the phase of the moon. Your status will increase by twenty percent around sunrise and sunset and up to three hundred percent during noon. You obtained 01 status points. Sr Absorption Effect: it grants you the power to absorb energy from the sun. You can restore ten points of mana, health, or stamina per second and ording to the level of the skill. Synergy skill: Eclipse Arrow. Effect: it grants you the power to summon an arrow thatbines the strength of the sun and moon at any period of time. The Damage caused will be equal to thebination of Damage caused by the Lunar Arrow and Sr Arrow. You obtained 01 status points. "While you caused a lot of problems to us, we still can respect the will and the determination of a true archer," Artemis said. "Show us that you can reach the level of absolutely mastery." "You have our powers, so now more than ever, you can''t be defeated," Apollo said. "Show to the whole universe that archers are the strongest warriors." Ryan nodded. Those siblings were quite weird. Although Ryan caused so much trouble for them, they still could afford to cheer for him from the bottom of their hearts as if the past waspletely obsolete. Since they had finished their business with Ryan, they disappeared, and so he lost the reason to stay in that world as well. So, he used Checkpoint to return. "What? Nothing happened? How boring¡­" Loki said. While Loki seemed bored, Athena and Isis looked relieved. They wanted to trust their allies, but in the end, Loki probably made them imagine the worst. "It seems you obtained their power, but you don''t look satisfied," Athena said. "They are supposed to be the best archers of this world, but not even they know how to fire unblockable arrows¡­" Ryan said. "I suppose, I will have to invent a new technique¡­ or turn Gungnir into a bow." "I want to be there when you show that to Odin," Loki said. Ryan shrugged and then left the pce. He had to resume his training and then began to think about what he should do as well. When he returned to his Void World, he noticed that everyone was training at the same time. They finally realized that Ryan had to use a lot of mana to keep the spell working and decided to make good use of it. He wished that he could obtain some inspiration to solve that mystery by sparring against others. Still, in the end, he knew that such a thing was impossible. "I guess it is impossible for me to use an attack that only has corrupt or divine energy, I am not a mage and far more skilled individuals tried to do the same and failed over thest thousand years," Ryan muttered. "I only have three weeks remaining, so I''d bettere up with a better alternative." Chapter 943 - Forgemaster In the end, two weeks passed, and Ryan didn''t make any progress in that aspect. While Time Skip leveled up a lot and Ryan also made a lot of progress on his ability to recover mana, he still wasn''t satisfied. "You are getting on edge again," Feramdiel said when she suddenly appeared and saw in Ryan''s eyes that he hadn''t slept in days. "You are not fighting solo anymore, so you don''t have any reason to think that you need to solve all of the world''s problems." "I am not, I am just trying to be stronger and more effective," Ryan said. "I already found two answers, but I guess I can''t aplish neither of them. At least not in the way I want." "That is impressive, what do you think you should do to be able to fire unblockable arrows?" Femradiel asked. "Truth to be told, I have been thinking about that and nothing came to mind." "The simplest way would be to kill Lucifer as fast as possible and gain a portion of his powers, that should give me a hint to control corruption," Ryan replied. "The other would be to be able to manipte time and attack enemies in a specific point in time where their defensive spells are not active.." "¡­ Putting the first n aside, the second seems like something that would only be possible for the most talented mage in the universe," Femradiel said. "I made some progresspared to my past shelf, but I am not at the level of my father¡­ I suppose even him would need a few decades to master something like that." "I agree with that, after all it would be the same as trying to alterate the past without destroying the future," Ryan nodded. "I guess I will just have to give up." While only two weeks passed in reality, almost five months had passed in Ryan''s Void World. The same amount of time had passed in Hypnos'' and three times more than that had passed on Femradiel''s. Ryan knew that was a difficult problem to solve. Still, he didn''t think that he wouldn''t be able to think of even a few usible ways to do that without considering messing with the fabric of time and space. Where he stands now, Ryan could see three paths ahead of him. The first would be to talk with Odin and offer his spear back in the ce of the knowledge of how to attack and not worry about being blocked. However, Ryan knew that Odin needed Gungnir for that. So, he probably needed the weapon as a catalyst. Even if he obtains the knowledge, he won''t be able to put it into practice without the spear. The second option was to assimte the knowledge and effects of the weapon and hope to obtain a skill. However, Merlin already told him that such a skill doesn''t exist. So, he won''t learn anything and will lose a useful weapon. The third option would be to use Gungnir as a projectile and fire with his bows. "We are progressing better than expected, and the demons are expanding their territories, so I am pretty sure Isis will attack them in one week," Femradiel said. Ryan facepalmed. It seemed that he had put an impossible task on himself. He was so focused on that task that he didn''t do anything aside from that in the past few days. He didn''t pay attention to Arthur''s training and didn''t even have some nice times with Femradiel. "Don''t worry, Ryan," Femradiel said and then hugged him from behind. "As usual, your job is to worry endlessly about certain things, but mine is to prevent them from happening. I am sure that in two or in three weeks all of our problems will have vanished and we will have some time for real vacations." "I guess we will," Ryan smiled. "Anyway, I am going to help Isis negotiate with the pendragons regarding the mithril that we asked for," Femradiel said. "Try to get some sleep. Seeing things from a fresher perspective might help you." Ryan nodded and watched Femraidel leave the Void World. Ryan wished that he could sleep, he actually tried, but he failed miserably. Not even his own sleep magic worked against himself anymore. His willpower was that strong¡­ "Unblockable Arrow¡­" Ryan said while he activated Word Creation. At first, he felt his mana being drained, and something in the shape of an arrow appeared in front of him. But then some sparks appeared, and then the energy dispersed. As expected, Ryan couldn''t create something that could ignore the mana of the defensive spells while using mana. "Perfect Arrow¡­" Ryan said while trying to imagine a perfect arrow and summoning it using Mind Summoning. In the end, Ryan didn''t know the properties of a perfect arrow. So, only a shadow made of darkness appeared before him. Ryan also tried to make copies of Gungnir using both skills, but he failed. If he couldn''t understand how the weapon worked, he couldn''t replicate its effects. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Holy Knight, Forgemaster, and Pyromancer. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Forgemaster! You obtained the following skills: Perfection, Weaponry Research, and Armory Research. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Perfection. Effect: it grants you the power to increase the number of times you can upgrade an item. You can upgrade it one more time for every five levels of this skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Weaponry Research. Effect: This skill grants a bonus in the power of one percent per level when creating or upgrading weapons. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Armory Research. Effect: This skill grants a bonus in the power of one percent per level when creating or upgrading defensive gear. Ryan even cleared Hephaestus'' dungeon in Earth to see if he could understand better the principle of certain magic weapons. Still, in the end, that didn''t work either. Chapter 944 - Time King Ryan was forced to admit his limits when it came to archery. Firing arrows that couldn''t be blocked and dodged were beyond him. Still, if he couldn''t make up with the quality of his attacks, he could always keep using quantity. He had been seeding until now, relying on that, so he might as well keep going. However, before he could truly move on, Ryan tried to find an answer by doing a certain thing. Congrattions! You received the ss Time King. You learned the skills: Reset, Time Weaponization, and Foresight. Your intelligence and mana have increased and will increase by two hundred point points whenever this ss level up. Your health, stamina, recovery, and willpower have increased and will increase by one hundred points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You learned the skill Reset. Effect: It grants you the power to go back in time.. Cost: 100.000 mana per 0.1 seconds You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You learned the skill Time Weaponization. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a weapon that can steal the time of the targets. Each level of the skill will increase by ten seconds the amount of time you can steal from a target. This skill can''t increase your lifespan, though. It only grants you the power to drain all the health, mana, and stamina you can recover in that specific time. Cost: 200.000 mana Duration: 10 seconds per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You learned the skill Foresight. Effect: it grants you the power to see the future. The skill level determines how fast you can see the future events, and it increases by one point per second. Cost: 50.000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan couldn''t help but open his eyes widely¡­ now, he could see the future, go back in time, and even steal time from his enemies. While those skills had an absurd cost, they sure were as useful as hell. Unfortunately, he couldn''t say if Time Weaponization was a skill that couldn''t be blocked. Would that even be useful against beings that have been alive for dozens of thousands of years? "Merlin, your creator learned those skills? How?" Ryan asked, visibly surprised. "He lived for a very long time and he also learned a lot from many other people," Merlin replied. "His final enemy wasn''t in a hurry and that creature underestimated him and his allies through and through and that gave them the chance to obtain knowledge beyond their limits." "Wow, I didn''t expect you would answer that," Ryan said. "It doesn''t matter, as long as I doesn''t give details, it is fine," Merlin said. "Not to mention, there is no one else in the human race that can take your ce. I suppose Arthur in the other timeline would be a more suitable human to be the guardian, but since I know that he failed due to the circunstances, I can only hope that you will seed." "Guardian?" Ryan frowned. "Guaridan of the human race of this universe," Merlin exined. "You already know that my creator is from another universe and he created me to help people in other''s universes. He experienced some things simr to you and he knew very well how harsh the journey would be, so that is why he decided to help." "Is that so¡­ it seems that he was one heck of a mage, and with these spells, I can''t imagine a decent mage having a hard time protecting the humans," Ryan said. "And it is for that reason that I want that my master were another mage¡­ you are too na?ve," Merlin said. "While he had these powers, he and his friends only managed to buy time with those." "Is that so¡­ how they seeded in the end?" Ryan asked. "That I cannot tell," Merlin said. "So, they managed to obtain powers even beyond this? Can I obtain the sses that will teach me that?" Ryan asked. "Nope," Merlin replied. "While I am here to help, I am not your babysitter, nor was my creator someone who believed that a spoiled human could be the guardian of this universe. He had powers beyond the system, but he didn''t put it in my database. He offered help, but ultimately, he wanted to see other guardians breaking their limits like he did to do the impossible." It was hard to talk about things without knowing the details¡­ Nevertheless, Ryan once more confirmed that he wouldn''t learn anything useful by talking about Merlin''s creator. It was time to move on and think of better ways to use those new powers. Ryan soon learned that even those overpowered skills had their weakness. Reset could make him go back in time. However, by moving back in time, he couldn''t actually undo the things he did in the future. So, using all the mana he had, Ryan could go back in time 0.4 seconds, but he wouldn''t return to a point where his mana was full. Not to mention, if he were wounded, he wouldn''t heal. Time Weaponization could create anything, swords, bows, spears¡­ those weapons didn''t have a physical form since they were made of time energy. Thanks to that, they couldn''t be blocked, but they couldn''t cause damage either. They only stole time from the enemies, and those effects could only take ce once for every second. At level max, the skill will grant Ryan the power to take three hours of the lifespan of a target, but it would take a while to reach that level considering the cost of the skill. As for Foresight, Ryan could actually see the future. However, the future was constantly changing, so his future might change if he changed his mind somewhere. Since he couldn''t see that far ahead in the future, the skill wasn''t that useful yet¡­ "I guess the key is in Time Weaponization," Ryan nodded to himself. "I need to create a bow that uses time magic, can have the effects of that skill, but that can also cause damage¡­ no wonder I obtained Wolf''s Greed." Chapter 945 - Doubts After five days, Isis called the leaders of all camps to a meeting. This time, even Ryan showed up, but he obviously looked impatient. Everyone could see that his training didn''t show the result that he was expecting. "Thank you foring," Isis said. "We worked together for the past month and I think that we made a lot of progress, but it seems that we no longer can postpone our ns. Aside from the dungeons that are inside our domains, the demons have obtained control of the majority of all others. Their armies are increasing in size at a fearsome speed, we need to strike them down before they can obtain enough power to fight against all of us at the same time." "We have obtained some allies in China, but we will need more time before we can reunite everyone under the same banner," Fang Shi said. "The demons are fighting against and trying to corrupt the troops of those who are being stubborn, but suddenly appearing and helping them won''t work in our favor. They will think that we are plotting something." Fang Shi began to participate in the meetings at some point. Still, Ryan didn''t even notice when since he didn''t participate in not a single one.. Regardless, it seemed that for due to some incidents over thest year, the other leaders in China were being cautious when strangers approached to help. Most likely, some fallen caused a lot of trouble using that strategy. So, using arge army to help will only raise suspicion. "I see¡­ we can''t make arge army to move toward those regions," Isis nodded. "I suppose we can send some small teams to face them. We can''t send the elder gods, though. Since it will make the demons warier of us. We need to lure them out and the only way of doing so is by relying on the humans of our side." "Mephisto is in South America, Beelzebub is between Asia and Europe, Baal is in North America, and Belial is in Africa, organizing the territory that once belonged to Lilith," Athena said. "Those demons rarely work together, so it would be in our best interest if we created four teams and attacked all of them at the same time. I think it would be best if we divided the work among us, the Norse gods will form a team to deal with one of the four generals, and the Olympian gods will do the same and deal with another. The humans will form one and do the same and Ryan and Femradiel will take thest one." "Why those two aren''t being treated like humans?" Daniel frowned. "They are, but they don''t have many underlings, that is why I am treating them like an independent force¡­" Athena frowned slightly. "If we work together and wipe out the demons from the face of the Earth, will be able to divide the territories and the dungeons among us to gather resources more steadily. Once we deal with the demons, we won''t have much time, but we will need to prepare as much as possible." "Maybe we can buy some more time," Ryan said. "How?" Athena asked. "I will use Belphegor and Lilith to lure the other demons and I will take them down one after the other," Ryan dered. "We will save our troops from suffering any damage and we won''t give the sign to any external forces that the world is reunited and preparing to face them¡­ at least for a while." "That is too risky, even for you," Isis said. "It is a necessary risk, besides, if we can''t send the elder gods, then we will have to seal or kill them and that would be a waste," Ryan said. "However, if I go, I can defeat them without sealing or killing neither of them." "I thought your training didn''t grant you the power you wanted," Loki said. "That is true, but it should be enough against the demon generals," Ryan said. Aside from the elder gods, no one tried to argue with Ryan about the n. After all, most of those who were training with him saw what he could do with time magic. After that demonstration with Gustavo, he also sparred with some people, and the results were¡­ hard to exin. They knew that Ryan was using time magic, but there wasn''t a single thing they could do to stop him. "Are you nning to keep them locked in the Void World and use them to train?" Femradiel asked. "Hahaha, you are very¡­. Yeah, I was nning that," Ryan replied. "If we don''t kill and seal them, then Lucifer won''t be alerted and we will gain some extra time. But I won''t deny that I will use them to increase my own powers." "¡­ I also think that is our best option," Femradiel said after a couple of seconds of silence. "The demon generals will definitely try to challenge Ryan if he shows Belphegor and Lilith. That will be the best way for them to establish who is the strongest, since they aren''t cooperating, it is fair to say that they want to prove that." "Hmm¡­ considering their behavior and their nature, they will probably try to corrupt Ryan and control him as well," Isis tapped her index finger on the table and considered that. "¡­ What everyone thinks of this?" "I agree that is too risky to expose our soldiers to the demon generals¡­ that being said, it would cause issues to let those two kill all the demons," Zeus said. "If they agree in letting our troops deal with the ordinary demons, they I don''t mind." "It is a fact that we need to keep everyone sharp for the final battle," Odin nodded. "With that in mind, the demons will work well in sharpening the spirits of our soldiers." "I wonder if that is truly a good idea¡­" Yahiko rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I heard that we can obtain their power if we defeat them. I am sure that would be a pretty useful power in the hand of many humans." Chapter 946 - Absolute Guardian "Spare me of your nonsense," Michael said. "We don''t need the power of the demons. Not to mention, only those that can actually would them can receive their powers. Perhaps the humans present here can receive that, but be prepared to be shunned by the angels once the battle is over." "Is that so? I suppose not many humans can have it then," Yahiko said, ignoring the second part of Michael''sment. "Still, if that can buy us more time and prevent rifts from happening, I can''t deny that is the best n of action. That being said, Ryan should have some support in case something goes wrong, like the four demon generals attacking him at the same time." "I will do that, you don''t have to worry," Femradiel said. "I guess that is decided then," Isis said and then got up. "Tomorrow morning, you two are to go and face the demons. We will be counting on you. Just to make sure that you won''t make any mistake, you should rest for today, Ryan.." "I will see what I can do," Ryan said, and then he proceeded to leave, but then Femradiel grabbed his shoulder and showed a scary smile. "You should listen to your friends," Femradiel said. Once she said that Femradiel teleported then back to the infirmary that Ryan used to sleep. It looked like she had some hidden intentions, but in the end, she justid on the bed and forced Ryan to rest as well. "You can fill Soul Eater with mana if you want, but I won''t let you do anything aside from recovering your mana," Femradiel said. "You should know me better than that," Ryan said. "I can''t be tamed that easily." As soon as he said that, Femradiel hugged Ryan and then buried him on his chest. His breathing got a bit rough, and that was quite creepy, but she got used to it. "I guess I can be tamed easily," Ryan said. "I can''t understand why guys love breasts so much, they are just lumps of fat," Femradiel said and then shook her head. "Breasts aren''t just lumps of that, they carry inside them the dreams of all men of the world," Ryan said. "Putting that aside, I didn''t expect you would agree with my n." "I just don''t agree with your stupid ideas, this isn''t a stupid idea," Femradiel said. "I know the strength of the demon generals and I know how to defeat them, but you don''t need my knowledge to do that. I am certain that you can defeat them." "Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," Ryan said. While Ryan didn''t make any true demonstrations of his powertely, he was also very confident. In fact, he was starting to think that a good reason why Arthur managed to achieve so much in the other timeline was due to Merlin. If Ryan only had time to use his features¡­ only one year or two would be enough for him to obtain all sses. That should give him some insight into how to deal with Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer. Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to do that¡­ "Just out of curiosity, how are you nning in dealing with them?" Femradiel asked. "I haven''t been improving my skills with bows and crossbows recently, so I am nning to recover my skills with them," Ryan replied. "I can''t only tell you that without spoiling that I will defeat them in a very amusing way. Amusing for me at least." "Ah¡­ I know that look in your eye," Femradiel said. "You are nning to do something nasty to them." "Everything is just a matter of perspective," Ryan said. "Still, while I proposed that, I can''t help but wonder¡­ wouln''t be better if I gained the demon generals'' powers? We know for a fact how useful Belphergor''s powers are." "Maybe Merlin can grant you those sses without killing them," Femradiel said. "Can you do that, Merlin?" "It will take a while," Merlin replied. "Their power is like a fragrance that gets stuck in the body of those who defeated them, so the system can analyze it faster that way." "Considering that, that means that you already quantified Lilith''s power when Femradiel defeated her?" "That is right," Merlin replied. "Why didn''t you inform us of that?" Ryan asked. "Because you didn''t ask," Merlin replied. Ryan bit his lips and then let out a deep sigh to calm down. He couldn''t get angry. Merlin was always like that. While Lilith''s power to convert lust into mana was useful, it didn''t fit Ryan''s style, not to mention, it would take too much time to be more efficient than the skills Ryan already had. "I can''t waste anymore time leveling up other sses, so I will skip that," Ryan said. "Just out of curiosity, though, how much coins do I need to pay for that ss?" "Half a billion," Merlin replied. "The same as Time Lord, huh," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Merlin, is there any ss which can grant me the power to share my power with Ryan?" Femradiel asked. "There is," Merlin replied. "What is the name and how much does it cost?" Femraidel asked. "Hey¡­ I like to win my fights fair and square, you know," Ryan said. "Let''s put your pride aside since the next battles will decide the fate of the world," Femradiel said. "It is called Absolute Guardian and it costs ten billion coins," Merlin replied. "The name certain is strong, but how can useful it is to cost ten billion coins?" Ryan frowned. "There is only one way to find out," Femradiel said, and then she lost ten billion coins. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Absolute Guardian! You obtained the following skills: Health Link, Mana Link, and Stamina Link. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Health Link. Effect: It grants you the power to share your health with several targets. The process of division will be automatic when the ally has less health than you. You can have added one ally to the link per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Link. Effect: It grants you the power to share your mana with several targets. The process of division will be automatic when the ally has less health than you. You can have added one ally to the link per level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Stamina Link. Effect: It grants you the power to share your stamina with several targets. The process of division will be automatic when the ally has less health than you. You can have added one ally to the link per level. You obtained 01 status points. Chapter 947 - Prisoners Ryan frowned when he saw those skills. They sure were useful, and the name of the ss sure was fitting, but it seemed that something was wrong. "Merlin, if Femradiel is the caster of any of those spells, will she also gain my health if she needs it?" Ryan asked. "No," Merlin replied. "Oh, boy¡­" Ryan said and then facepalmed. "What a wonderful ss, it grants my allies high chances of dying because of me." Ryan knew that despite being an archer, he always suffered a lot of damage. So, it was only obvious that he would cause a lot of trouble to Femradiel if he didn''t obtain the ss as well. Naturally, he obtained the ss and used it on her. "This is pretty nice¡­" Femradiel said while smiling.. "Now, we will protect each other, no matter what." "We can also use some summons to increase our mana pool," Ryan said. "You should create some that have high mana and high recovery." "I knew you wouldn''t think of this ss the same way as me¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "Still, that seems like a good idea." It was rare to find monsters with more mana and recovery than them now. Still, it didn''t matter since the monsters connected to their mana link would be an extension of their power. As far as they were concerned, the limit was supposed to be one thousand, but maybe there was a way to get rid of the cap. That was a problem for the future, though. "I will do that tomorrow, let''s rest to make sure that we won''t make any mistakes," Femradiel said. In the end, Ryan nodded and obeyed. He truly needed to rest a little because even though he was confident, he couldn''t mess up in the next battles. ----- ----- The next day, Baal was proudly making his troops march toward the Northern part of the continent. He knew that there was no one on his path since, in thest month, all the humans decided to hide inside the domains. He was fully aware that they were working for the elder gods, he also knew that they were plotting something, but that didn''t matter. As long as they had the chance to expand their territories and corrupt other monsters, he knew that not even all the humans and the elder gods would be able to stop them. Baal and his army were about to reach Canada, which would signify that they had conquered the Northern part of the continent. After all, there are no camps in the North. However, Baal stopped his advance when the cold winds of that region covered by snow began to move more strongly, and then he felt a familiar presence¡­ two familiar presences. Baal looked above and saw one of the few humans who entered his domain as an enemy. Although he was just a rat that ran away without anything previously, Baal recognized him because he knew of the things he had aplished and because he was carrying a crossbow that was filled with Belphegor''s presence. "You¡­" Baal said. Before Baal could say anything, he felt his body being pierced by something invisible. The number of attacks was impossible to count since he got hit hundreds of times in a few seconds. Baal saw his body being ripped apart while being hit, but he didn''t fall despite that. He just endured the pain as he clenched his teeth. "How weird, he endured all that," Ryan said. "Still, he didn''t get slow, Belphegor. What do you have to say in your defense?" "The demon generals never trusted each other, so we naturally leveled up the skills that could counter each other''s powers," Belphegor exined. "You guys have zero notion of teamwork," Ryan frowned. Even in that state, Baal decided to fly and attack Ryan while he was creating a massive dark sphere of energy. Thanks to Odin''s Eye, he saw the mana leaving the demons and flowing toward Baal. It seemed that he was using this power as a demon of Greed to steal the mana from his army. It was probably the best way since attacking Ryan with his demonic powers would take too long to have any effect. Nevertheless, Ryan could control Time Skip and be able to use it even in his human form now. Still, thanks to that, Belphegor didn''t suffer the total damage Ryan could cause with that type of spell. He didn''t want to use Draconic Transformation, but it seemed that Baal wouldn''t go down that easily despite everything. So, Ryan transformed for an instant. As soon as Ryan used Time Skip again, Baal began to fall as his body was destroyed yet again. Even his dark sphere of energy decreased in size and slowly evaporated¡­ Congrattions! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Concentration has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill uracy has leveled up. ¡­ While Baal was falling, Ryan tried to use Wolf''s Greed, but the skill didn''t work. As expected, the system considered him stronger than the demon general. In any case, before the other demons could try to recover Baal, Ryan used Telekinesis and then used Void World on him. At the same time, Ryan used Teleport and created a Checkpoint in the ground. Soon after, the survivors working for the elder gods began to appear and dash toward the demons. "You actually seeded," Isis said via Telepathy. "Your power reached another level thanks to you training and your new skills." "Where should I put Baal?" Ryan asked. "I will hide him in one of my worlds, the demon generals have too much vitality so they can survive for many years even while under a powerful sleep spell," Isis replied. "All right then," Ryan said. "Let''s look for the next target before the others can notice that anything happened." "I was hoping to see something more interesting," Femradiel said. "Anyway, you should hurry, since you already activated Void World, Baal will soon cause trouble here." Femradiel was monitoring the first prisoner, but she still was aware of what was happening in reality. Truth to be told, she was actually looking forward to seeing how Ryan would fight the four demons'' generals while they were stuck in the Void World. Chapter 948 - Complicated Ryan wanted to make sure that the whole continent would be free of demons as soon as possible, so he Teleported to South America and then appeared before Mephisto''s army. Much like Baal, he wasn''t exactly a genius, and since he was the demon of wrath, his demons looked like mad dogs that attacked everything that seemed full of life. Trees, grass, the ocean¡­ they attacked everything, and thanks to that, half of South America had be and of death. Everything had been scorched due to fire, poison, and Corruption. Seeing all that, Ryan clenched his teeth in anger... those demons sure knew how to piss him off, even involuntarily. Thanks to Ryan''s presence, the demons were forced to stop their advance.. Ryan agreed that he wouldn''t attack them and would let to his allies, but the story might change if he is attacked first. While he was looking forward to that, Mephisto appeared before him. More than a demon, Mephisto looked like an alien from a b movie. His whole body was green, but he had pointy ears and three horns. On his back, he had two pairs of grey wings. He had the lower body of a bull, and he also looked strong like one, but his upper body was quite human-like. "You¡­" Mephisto said while ring at Ryan with his dark round eyes. "You guys should learn how to greet others using different words," Ryan frowned. "I don''t expect much from any of you, but..." Without wasting time, Ryan used Time Skip and also bombarded Mephisto with bolts of the Deceleration Crossbow. In the blink of an eye, his body was ripped into many pieces. However, just like Baal, the demon didn''t fall. Even more annoying the Baal, the pain made Mephisto''s anger increased, and his body becamerger. He became more powerful with his anger, and his body also began to heal. "I really wanted this power¡­ But I guess I will have to be patient," Ryan said. Ryan could have attacked the demon while his body was growing. Still, he wanted to see how powerful Mephisto could be. In the end, it seemed that five times was his limit. Ryan concluded that because his body became five times bigger. Mephisto summoned that massive sphere of poison and then threw it toward Ryan in the blink of an eye, but the same sphere gained a hole as soon as it approached Ryan. Despite his wrath, Mephisto noticed that Ryan''s power couldn''t bepared to before. In fact, he couldn''t even understand what he was doing. It would be different if Ryan were attacking with Time Weaponization. Still, without that and Time Perception, it was impossible to know when someone uses time magic. Congrattions! The skill Time Skip has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Time Skip has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Time Skip has leveled up. ¡­ "Well, this is surprising¡­" Ryan said. Ryan had to use the full power of Time Skip alongside the Deceleration Crossbow. In an instant, Mephisto suffered two minutes'' worth of attacks that he didn''t have the chance to block, and he still didn''t lose consciousness. That helped Ryan level up the skill quite a lot, but it also made him realize that his powers didn''t grow all that much. "This is good and bad at the same time¡­" Ryan said. "The power to control time is powerful, but it can be fought against like he did. On the other hand, this also showed me that I didn''t have enough time to master it." Mephisto''s anger prevented him from falling since it made him stronger. Still, eventually, it also made him fall because his body overheated. Getting five times stronger truly was his limit. "How are we going, Merlin?" Ryan asked while he used Void world on Mephisto as well." "If you don''t make them fight for a while, I won''t be able to analyze anything," Merlin replied. Ryan nodded. It seemed that he would have to fight the demon''s generals without using time magic to give Merlin the data that he wanted. That was actually good. It means that the more he fights them, the faster the analyzes will proceed. Regardless, the demons began to riot when Ryan captured their leader. Still, before they could attack Ryan, he did the same as before. He teleported to the ground and then created a link between Egypt and that region. This time, Lucas and Gustavo''s soldiers were the ones who showed up. "Oh, man¡­ it seems we have a lot of clean up to do," Gustavo said while looking at that massive horde of monsters in front of him. "Look on the bright side, if we gain enough coins after this, we can ask Ryan for that power as well," Lucas smiled. "Hehe, now I am motivated," Gustavo said and then used Draconic Transformation and flew toward the demons. "Maybe I should ask for more coins if they receive enough coins to get the Time Lord ss," Ryan said. "The house shall receive a part of the money." "I hate to interrupt, but both of them woke up," Femradiel said. "I can hold them back for a while, but you are the one who wants to use them, right?" "Go on, I am sure you can take them down as well," Ryan said. "Hey, Merlin, you can start analyzing their powers now." "That is impossible, I already told you, my existence is attached to yours, I can only see what you see," Merlin exined. "For me to experience what is in the Void World, you need to be there as well." "You sure areplicated¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Before heading toward the next target, Ryan looked at the massive army of demons. He could see dozens of thousands of creatures there¡­ he could receive billions of coins if he could kill them, but he couldn''t. It was a pity, but he wasn''t the only one who needed to get stronger in preparation for the final battle. Chapter 949 - Doubt When Ryan returned to Africa, he found an unpleasant surprise. The demons weren''t advancing toward Egypt, and while some of them were moving around and using their magic to corrupt other monsters and increase the size of their army, the vast majority was in the central part of the continent, and they were guarding a domain. Ryan waited for a while for Belial to show up, but the demon never came. "It seems Belial isn''t falling for the bait," Isis said via telepathy. "I didn''t expect she would be this careful, but it seems she already noticed that you captured Mephisto and Baal." "I guess I will have to attack her domain," Ryan said. "There is no need, if you use the bow in which Lilith was sealed in, it will be enough," Isis said. "Those two hate each other, quite a lot." While the weapon''s effect couldn''t be used, it still could cause damage and extra damage against that type of enemy. That being said, Ryan took advantage of the situation. As soon as he summoned the bow, he also bombarded the demons around with Golden Arrows and killed hundreds of them.. He could always sayter that he was doing it to lure Belial. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the time to do that for long. Ryan suddenly lost the ability to fly when at the same time, a red, muscr demon appeared in front of him. Belial looked like a humanoid red smander. She even had a long tail that was as long as her body. Unlike Lilith, who used a bikini armor, Belial used a dark one that covered the majority of her body, the whole critical area that was indeed exposed was her head, but also seemed a bit protected since her red hair was also on fire and emitting a lot of heat. Before Ryan could even fall, he lost his ability to use Golden Arrows as well. He knew that it was only temporary, but that sure was annoying. As if things weren''t annoying enough, when Ryan tried to use Time Skip, he suddenly felt his ability to wield the bow getting weird. He tried to Aim, but then he saw that it wasn''t as steady as before. "Fucking bitch¡­ she stole my Archery¡­" Ryan muttered. Ryan used Teleport behind the demon and prepared to attack before the bitch could annoy him even more. It seemed that she was pretty sturdy, but Ryan couldn''t care less. He will beat her with his hands. When the demon saw Ryan moving his arms, she prepared to defend herself. However, in the next moment, her face was bombarded with punches that she couldn''t see, and she also lost tons of mana. Belial fell to the ground while conscious of the shock, and Ryan clenched his teeth because the mes of her head burned him. Before Belial could try to heal herself, Ryan used Time Skip again and this time used the bow. After all, he wouldn''t miss at that distance. In the end, in the next moment, her armor began to crack, and Belial began to bleed from her mouth and nose as well after falling unconscious. Ryan began to feel his skills returning¡­ It seemed that Belial''s power to steal skills needed her to be conscious to keep active. "Three down, one to go¡­ still, what are we supposed to do here?" Femradiel asked while Ryan was facing the domain barrier. "It will take quite some time to take down the barrier and then the demons." "It doesn''t matter, it will be a good opportunity for the survivors to put Mana Stealer to good use," Ryan said and then created another Checkpoint. While Ryan decided to do the whole job by himself, he couldn''t help but wonder about the fact that things were proceeding too well. The survivors began to appear and then did exactly what Ryan thought. They used Mana Stealer. It was a pretty good opportunity since the mana in the domains was massive. "Isis, you should tell the elder gods to keep an eye on these ces," Ryan said. "Things are proceeding too well and never that is a good sign in my experience." "They are already doing that, we are monitoring all the battlefields," Isis said. "That being said, it is weird for you to say that after dering that you would defeat the demon generals by yourself." That was just Ryan''s instincts bothering him as usual, but it was better to keep his allies on guard than just ignore his instincts. "You should know that the level of divinity in your body is already at the level of the elder gods, adding that to the power of controlling time, it is only natural that the demon generals wouldn''t resist for long," Isis exined. "We are quite lucky that Merlin fell on the hands of someone that has no interest in world domination. Otherwise, all the elder gods would have reunited with another goal in mind." Ryan more or less agreed with that. Maybe the world as a whole was lucky because the other two humans who controlled Merlin didn''t have the chance to obtain coins enough to acquire certain skills and sses. What were the chances of Merlin falling into the hands of people like Arthur and Ryan? Perhaps they were pretty high since assholes don''t tend to live long lives. "Did something change in the Beelzebub domain?" Ryan asked. "Come to think of it, I should be able to gain some interesting sses here¡­ once the barriers fall." "Well, things are pretty intense there as usual," Isis said. "There are many more monsters around his domain than in any part of the world. Thanks to that, we are considering giving you the opportunity to clear the ce for a while, until he shows up." Ryan recalled that when he was in Russia, he had to deal with Beelzebub demons. They were weird since they were focused on reproducing more demons, So Ryan could imagine the vast concentration of monsters in that region. Chapter 950 - Power In the end, when he teleported to that part of Russia, Ryan opened his eyes widely. The number of monsters was much higher than he had imagined. It wouldn''t be weird if there were hundreds of millions of wasps and weird nts around and they were so clustered together that they seemed like mountains. "What the hell¡­ I thought Natasha''s friends were supposed to have camps near this ce¡­" Ryan said after he furrowed his eyebrows. "Apparently, they had to move to other areas because the monsters leveled up too fast and their reproduction speed increased," Isis exined. "We are talking here about what we should do, but it seems we will leave things to you for the time being. We can''t send our troops before Beelzebub is dealt with." "Unless you send the holy knights, I can''t imagine any group seeding in exterminating this many monsters," Femradiel said. "We are going to send them, so rest assured," Isis said. "Well¡­ things are starting to get noisy here, Ryan," Femradiel said.. "Soon, I will be forced to stop feeding Soul Eater with mana." "You were fighting and doing that?" Ryan frowned. "I do that all the time," Femradiel said, and he could imagine her shrugging. "Nevertheless, you should prepare yourself because once youe here¡­ well, you won''t have much peace." Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he did the right thing. He was nning to use the demons to be stronger, but it would be useless if he lost his mental health. Nevertheless, he had now some leeway with mana, so Ryan made Sr Arrows fall from the sky. Even though the sky was quite cloudy, the arrows fell and burned dozens of wasps and nts at the same time. You obtained 1111 coins. You obtained 1111 coins. You obtained 1111 coins. ¡­ As if things weren''t good enough, Ryan was recovering more mana than he used¡­ that is what that stupid demon gets from making his demons stay close to each other like that. Ryan could easily imagine Beelzebub showing in just a few seconds now that his insects were dying so fast like¡­ well, insects. So, Ryan sped up things to make him even more annoyed and for him to gain massive amounts of coins as well. Congrattions! You have reached the requirements to obtain a special ss. Do you wish to sacrifice the sses: Fallen Archer, Mad Archer, and Crystal Archer? Y/N? Congrattions! You received the ss Imperial Archer. You learned the skills: Gravity Arrow, Cannon Arrow, and Archer''s Will. Your dexterity and stamina have increased and will increase by twenty points whenever this ss level up. Your health, mana, speed, and control have increased and will increase by ten points whenever this ss level up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Gravity Arrow Effect: upon hitting the target, it makes them one percent heavier per level for ten seconds. Cost: 500 mana You obtained 01 status points Congrattions! You have learned the skill Cannon Arrow. Effect: the enhanced version of Power Shot. It grants you the power to charge your arrows with one percent more energy per level. The damage of this skill is equal to Power Shot. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Archer''s Will. Effect: it passively increases your dexterity by one point per level and per minute when fighting without receiving damage. You obtained 01 status points. "Oh, yeah¡­ those sses were about to level up," Ryan said. Ryan soon ignored that and kept bombarding the creatures. Still, eventually, he was forced to stop when the air in the area changed, and all the monsters began to emit some kind of pollen. Ryan''s first instinct was to move away from it, but the pollen became denser and then reunited in an area. Soon after, Ryan felt a powerful presence in the middle of the pollen cloud. As if its sole purpose was to be absorbed, the pollen began to be absorbed. Little by little, Ryan felt the presence growing stronger. "I guess I can''t let that happen¡­" Ryan said and then used Time Skip. While Ryan couldn''t see Beelzebub yet, he could feel its presence, so missing was nearly impossible. To make sure that he would get rid of the pollen as well, Ryan used Time Skip and Sr Arrow. The demon began to tremble in the next moment, and the cloud of pollen began to evaporate. Beelzebub lost control of all the pollen. Beelzebub was pretty weird, or maybe it was due to the fact that he suffered a lot of damage due to the burning effect caused by Sr Arrow. Either way, his skin was purple, and he had arms and antennae on his head that made him look like a fly. His eyes were red and quite big as well, so Ryan felt quite creeped out by him. He was wearing a dark robe, and he didn''t have any hair, and despite theck of armor, he only suffered some minor burns and was recovering pretty fast. Congrattions! The skill Sr Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sr Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sr Arrow has leveled up. ... "Was that the power of Gluttony?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "They said that one can increase their health, mana, and stamina exponentially with that power¡­" Thatbination was supposedly one of the strongest, and yet, Beelzebub was hanging in there and healing unbelievably fast. While Ryan had used all his mana, Mana Link recovered his mana. After thanking Femradiel in his mind, Ryan used the samebo on Beelzebub since that was the perfect chance to make Sr Arrow level up. Beelzebub tried to resist, he even tried to use the pollen again, and this time, tried to attack Ryan with it. However, that only prolonged his suffering. Being attacked by something that he couldn''t see and that also had a high level of divinity made Beelzebub suffer much more damage than the effects of his sin could heal him¡­ Chapter 951 - Chaotic Warrior When Ryan used Void World on Beelzebub as well, he finally had some time to check things inside, and he frowned when he saw Femradiel using ice magic to stop the demons from attacking her. While they weren''t covered in ice, just a thinyer around their bodies was enough to grant her the power to do so. That was quite shocking since Ryan didn''t prevent them from using their deadly sins. The fight stopped for a while when Beelzebub appeared in the Void World, but soon they resumed their actions and began to charge toward Femradiel like mad dogs. "It is time to create the Checkpoint, Ryan," Isis said via Telepathy. "Your n seeded, but we can''t say that it is perfect. With that in mind, we need to use every single second to strengthen our troops." "All right¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Once Ryan created the Checkpoint, the holy knights began to appear and didn''t waste time and went to purify the region. Before that could even happen, Ryan teleported to the dungeon right in the middle of the enemy formation. After killing a few bosses, he obtained another ss.. Congrattions! You have cleared the dungeon and obtained its treasure! As a reward for your achievement, you can obtain one of the three following sses: Chaotic Warrior, Sentinel, and Arcanist. Please be aware that clearing this dungeon again won''t give you the chance to unlock the other remaining sses. If you want to obtain them, you will have to search for those in other dungeons. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Chaotic Warrior! You obtained the following skills: Enhanced Strength, Tiger Cannon, and Mad Kicks. Your strength and health will increase by six points. Your mana, stamina, endurance, and mentality will increase by three points whenever you level up your ss. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Enhanced Strength. Effect: it passively increases your strength by ten points per level. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Tiger Cannon. Effect: A powerful punch that causes a massive heatwave and hits the enemy ignoring their defense. Cost: 300 stamina. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mad Kicks. Effect: After jumping, it grants you the power to kick an opponent several times in a row. Cost: 100 stamina per second. You obtained 01 status point. "Defely not the best, but¡­ whatever," Ryan shrugged. Soon after that, Ryan returned to Egypt, and he saw Daniel, Yahiko, and Natasha organizing the rest of the groups. In theory, now, the human race only had three more enemies, and those three were out of the. So, the alliance could use the world as they see fit¡­ like a massive training ground to make their troops grow in strength. Once Ryan returned to Isis pce, he found the original three members of the alliance and the other elder gods looking at a map of the entire world. That map had thousands of points that marked the location of all dungeons. Ryan recalled that he wanted something like that in the past. Either way, it seemed that they wanted to divide their forces to take care of the dungeons since it would be the most effective way to gain resources. "You appeared at the right time," Isis said. "Is there any particr dungeon you would like to use?" "No, I think I will have my hands full dealing with four generals," Ryan replied. "That being said, it would be nice to have the chance to clear some dungeons that will grant the sses that I don''t have yet." "We already prepared for that, right now, we are thinking of the best way to rotate the troops all over the world as fast as possible, in order to grant them the chances to obtain as many sses as possible," Isis said. "Soon enough, we should have a list with the intel that will show us what sses the dungeons all over the world will grant." "That would be really useful, I will wait patiently," Ryan said. Most of the time, moving and working as a group was a pain since Ryan couldn''t do whatever he wanted all the time. Still, in moments like these, it sure was helpful to have so many resourceful allies. However, just thinking about what would happen to the world once they deal with those three was enough to make Ryan feel a headache. After all, the world will be filled with super-powered humans. Hopefully, the elder gods won''t try world domination again, and humans won''t get blind by the idea of power. After that, Ryan left to his room and then entered the Void World. He saw once again the demons trying to attack Femradiel at the same time. Still, they were having a hard time approaching since she was emitting an aura cold enough that made them tremble the more they approached. Before they could notice Ryan''s presence, he bombarded them with Deceleration Crossbow and Golden Arrows. The demons frowned when they were hit by behind. Without Time Skip, the amount of damage Ryan could cause wasn''t that high, so he decided to use Cannon Arrow and Gravity Arrow when they approached. The demons clenched their teeth when the attacks suddenly got more powerful and made them heavier, but Ryan wasn''t satisfied with that¡­ he wanted to deal with all of them using normal projectiles and without using mana. "You arete¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "At least they made me get used to fighting more than one enemy at the same time. Is everything all right outside?" "Yes, you can rest now," Ryan said. "Still, I think it would be beneficial to us if you could make the Ice Tyrant and Furball help on the clean up of the demons." "I was nning to do that," Femradiel said. "I will returnter after doing that and taking a nap. They are so noisy that I am kind of tired." "Got it," Ryan said. "Well then, let''s have some fun." ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 67 (+ 07 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 77 (+ 03 UP)/ Imperial Archer Lv 01 Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 73371 /73371 (109,75/s) Mana: 78599/78599 (109,75/s) Stamina: 79630/79630 (109,75/s) Strength: 9681 (+44422) (+130) Dexterity: 83933 (+52655) (+2550) Speed: 11170 (+46410) (+548) Intelligence: 9652 (+42595) (+33) Endurance: 10998 (+43395) (+160) Control: 11276 (47050) (+510) Mentality: 10152 (+42195) (+70) Luck: 8780 (+36560) Recovery: 20550 (+52050) (+1045) Willpower: 10152 (+42193) (+40) Coins: 21.555.556.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 295 (+ 15 UP), Golden Arrow Lv 111 (+ 22 UP), Riches and Glory Lv 01, Golden Bow Lv 01, Eclipse Arrow Lv 01, Tiger Cannon Lv 01, Mad Kick Lv 01, Gravity Arrow Lv 01 Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 339 (+ 23 UP), Concentration Lv 339 (+ 23 UP), Archery Lv 339 (+ 23 UP), uracy Lv 339 (+ 23 UP), Perfection Lv 01, Weaponry Research Lv 01, Armory Research Lv 01, Enhanced Strength Lv 01, Cannon Arrow Lv 01, Archer''s Will Lv 01, Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 355 (+ 25 UP), Frost Armor Lv 314 (+ 15 UP), Reset Lv 04 (+ 03 UP), Time Weaponization Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Foresight Lv 01, Health Link Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Mana Link Lv Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Stamina Link Lv Lv 11 (+ 10 UP) Support Skills: Sleep Resistance Lv 159 (+ 20 UP), sses: Combat: Moon Lord Lv 06(+ 05 UP), Sun Lord Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Absolute Guardian Lv 08(+ 07 UP), Chaotic Warrior Lv 01, Non-Combatant: Time Lord Lv 25 (+ 24 UP), Forgemaster Lv 01, Time King Lv 01, Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 952 - Something Else While Ryan was starting his training with the demons, Femradiel moved Furball and the Ice Tyrant to two different battlefields. After that, she returned to Isis pce. Most of the elder gods were there, so she would be able to hear if anything happened all over the world as fast as possible. "How is everything going?" Femradiel asked. "So far, nothing major happened," Isis replied. "We are having a hard time preventing the demons from spreading damage around the world, though," Athena said. "We don''t have enough numbers to create perfect encirclements, so I can''t see how we can prevent that." "We can repair the worldter with magic," Zeus said. "The real issue now is to make our soldiers gain strength as fast as possible." "I disagree, with that kind of mentality humans will only fight without caring for the environment and will get used to the idea that everything can be fixed with magic," Athena said.. "I also agree that destroying the world that we are trying to protect by fighting mindlessly doesn''t make any sense," Isis said. "So, unbelievably na?ve¡­" Zeus said and then sighed. "Anyway, what do we have to do now to prepare for the next battle?" Femradiel asked. "Are we nning to create some lines of defense that will inform us when those three approach this part of the universe?" "We are working on that, but even us can''t put those types of spells all over the universe, not to mention, if they wanted, they probably can just Teleport to any part of the universe and remain hidden," Isis replied. "What do you think, Loki? You are good at that kind of thing, approaching and lurking around without letting others notice your presence." "You make me look so unsavory¡­" Loki shrugged. "Those three are heavily focused in magic, different types of magic, but magic nheless. Naturally, they are above me in that regard. Possibly even father can''t think of a way to stop them from suddenly appearing on the. However, we might be able to stop them and gain sometime if we use domains to protect all the continents. A single domain to protect the whole world is something beyond even the elder gods, but five to ten domains might be enough." "Can we even do that now?" Athena asked. "Fang Shi still is working on the expansion of our forces in China and India." "It should be fine now that we are killing all the demons," Loki exined. "Even the most stubborn leaders should have realized by now that they can''t go against us." "Still, it might raise some suspicious if we make the elder gods the masters of those domains," Isis said. "To prevent that, we should select some humans to be the masters of the domains. What do you think?" The elder gods looked at each other for a while. Giving a few humans the power to control all the domains on the didn''t seem that appealing. While they were defeated by some humans, they still think that they are above them in all senses." "If you are that ufortable with the idea, you guys can vote for the humans who should be the domains'' masters," Femraidel shrugged. "Naturally, someone experienced would be better. Also, someone that you can work with since all the elder gods will have to help on the expansion of the domains." The elder gods nodded. It was only natural they would have to help. After all, there weren''t that many humans left in the world. So, the number of powerful individuals that could make the domains grow in size faster wasn''t that high. After discussing for a while, the elder gods decided on the humans who could do that job. Mostly, they already had domains, so they had the experience to do so. They were Daniel, Lucas, Gustavo, Natasha, Yahiko, and Mohammed, who served Isis for quite a while. The other two who didn''t have much experience were Bianca, who helped Gustavo and his friends, and Haruna, who also worked for Yahiko. Three of them would stay in America. The other five would stay in Australia, Africa, Japan, central Europe, and Central Asia. They didn''t like Ryan for obvious reasons, and apparently, they didn''t like Fang Shi as well. Probably because he eventually would be the human who would have the most followers if things keep going like that. "We will talk with themter about this arrangement," Isis said. "The Olympian gods will help the leaders in America, the Norse gods will help those who will lead things in Japan, Asia and Europe. As for us, the third party, we will help those who will create domains in Africa and Australia. Are you okay with that, Femradiel?" "No problem," Femradiel said. The idea of having a domain was nice, but Ryan only wanted to use them to prevent the return of the elder gods. Maybe he could find another use for them, but for the time being, it didn''t look like he was interested in one. "It will be good if everyone has the chance to level up their main skills, but it would be wiser if they use Mana Stealer as much as possible in order to increase the durability of the barriers and also to make them grow," Isis said. "I also have a feeling that they are only the final line of defense, so we can''t take it easy in that regard." Everyone nodded, and then they began to disperse. Femradiel wondered what she should do now since she wouldn''t have to help any domain master. Ryan was busy using the demons'' generals as a sparring partner. Gathering mana all the time was making her steadily stronger. Still, in the end, it was boring, and she wasn''t actually training her main skills. Training in Ryan''s Void World would be for the best since the four generals probably were the strongest enemies anyone could face right now. However, Femradiel decided to do thatter¡­ She had something else to do. Chapter 953 - Wrath Lord "Hey, guys, can you use fire magic now?" Ryan asked. "I kind of wanted to increase my resistances a little bit." The four demons clenched their teeth when they heard that. They could only hear mocking wordsing from Ryan''s mouth, even though he was quite serious about what he asked. In the end, the four demons looked at each other and reached some sort of agreement with their eyes. Mephisto, Baal, and Beelzebub summoned massive spheres of fire in the blink of an eye. Still, Belial used her magic to make Ryan lose his Fire Resistance, Fire Immunity, and Fire Absorption. "That bitch is doing it again¡­" Ryan said and then rolled his eyes. When the demons fired the spheres of fire toward Ryan, he tried to stop those with his arrows. He could use Deceleration Crossbow without worrying about mana, after all. So, that was a good time to train his most basic skills. Ryan managed to slow down the projectiles for a while, but eventually, he was forced to Teleport away from it.. The massive explosion made the entire Void World vibrate and even burned the demons and Ryan thanks to the shockwave, but he ignored that. Instead, he used Time Skip and attacked Belial''s head with consecutive chops. Congrattions! The skill of Fire Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fire Immunity has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Fire Absorption has leveled up. ¡­ "I told you not to do that again," Ryan said. While a chop wasn''t as strong as a punch, getting hit by hundreds of them in a single moment was enough to make Belial''s head spin for a while. At first, the foud demons didn''t try to work together. Still, they were forced to after a while because they knew they wouldn''t escape if they didn''t work together, and the only way to do that was by defeating Ryan. Belial could have sealed Ryan''s teleport, but she did that before, and it didn''t work. When she did that, and the others attacked at the same time, Ryan used Time Skip to move to another ce. That skill could be used like that as well. At first, Ryan tried to use Light Speed. However, Belial also sealed that. That was why the demons tried to cause damage by focusing on attacking using a massive area of effect spell and making sure that Ryan would have no resistance against it. Regardless, as soon as Belial got dizzy, Ryan''s skills returned. "Nothing yet, Merlin?" Ryan asked. "I am almost there," Merlin said. Probably because he was trying to analyze the skills of the four demons, Merlin was taking more time to analyze their status and attributes. In any case, while Ryan was in a hurry to get their power, he was doing pretty good since he could use Belphegor''s powers without worrying about mana. The Sloth Lord ss was leveling up quite fast. The three demons were waiting for Belial to recover and attack together again because they knew that they couldn''t defeat Ryan without her. Thanks to Body Analysis, Ryan could read what they were thinking, so he used that chance to attack them with Golden Arrows. You obtained 13.325 coins. You obtained 13.325 coins. You obtained 13.325 coins. ¡­ The demons cursed Ryan under their breath. In that world, their wills were powerful but not powerful enough to prevent themselves from getting exhausted after receiving a certain amount of damage. In the Void World, everyone fought using their spiritual bodies, so what was damaged was their mana instead of their health in the real world. Since mana decided everything in the Void World, the more damage they receive, the less they can act. They managed to damage Ryan quite a bit at certain moments, but he never got tired as them. The reason was Mana Link. "I guess I was expecting too much from you guys," Ryan said. Mephisto began to tremble from head to toe, and his body increased. There he goes again, letting anger control him and make himself stronger. While that was troublesome, the fact that he was a mage-type and dashed toward the enemy made things much easier for Ryan. Mephisto headbutted Ryan, but he blocked the attack by firing countless arrows when he got too close. Mephisto ended up getting hit in the head dozens of times, and each time, he suffered critical damage. In the end, while he was falling, he managed to recover enough and use Poisonous Catastrophe on Ryan. But while that spell was powerful, it had a major w¡­ the poison was liquid, and Ryan could create a hole within it without even using Time Skip. Ryan passed through it, and he didn''t suffer any damage. "It is done," Merlin said. Congrattions! You have be a Level, one Wrath Lord! You obtained the following skills: Wrathful Empowerment, Anger Absorption, and Pain Suppression. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Wrathful Empowerment. Effect: It grants the power to increase all of your status based on your level of anger. All your status will increase by 0.5% per level of this skill when you let your wrath control you. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Anger Absorption. Effect: It grants you the power to absorb your anger and your enemies and transform it into energy that can be absorbed by you. While using this skill, you can recover twenty points of health, mana, or stamina per second and per level of this skill. You obtained 01 status point. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Pain Suppression. Effect: It grants you the power topletely make the pain disappear. No matter what kind of damage you might suffer, you won''t feel anything. Cost: 1000 mana per second. You obtained 01 status point. "For free? Nice," Ryan said. "Naturally, since I gained the knowledge of that demon thanks to you," Merlin replied. "Now, if you want to make the analysis proceed faster, you should focus on making the others fight." Chapter 954 - Endless Rage Crossbow Ryan frowned. He thought that Merlin was taking his time because he was analyzing everyone at the same time¡­ he couldn''t have been more wrong. Nevertheless, Ryan activated Anger Absorption, and he could feel a lot of manaing from the demons. Naturally, they were pretty pissed at him¡­ Still, before he could continue the fight, Ryan had an idea. "Hey, Belphegor," Ryan said. "Do you think I can make this ss level up faster if I create a magic item using one of those skills?" "Maybe¡­ I suppose you can create a crossbow that won''t need mana to be used if youbine Soul Creation, Seal, and Anger Absorption." Belphegor said after a long sigh. Belphegor was being strangely cooperative, probably because he knew that Ryan could make him have a hard time if he got annoyed. He waszy to the point that he would rather cause problems to his former allies than to Ryan. He had no sense of shame¡­ "Wow, that is a pretty good idea¡­" Ryan nodded in excitement. "Use the anger of the enemies to charge a weapon¡­ I suppose I won''t be able to store all the mana I could absorb if I do that, but¡­ I suppose it can''t be helped.. Something like that is only unavoidable." While Ryan was mumbling, the four demons prepared to attack again. That was a pretty efficient way to make him stronger, but it was annoying that Ryan didn''t have some peace when he wanted it¡­ to gain a few moments of peace. Ryan summoned dozens of copies of his Holy Crossbow and then bombarded the demons. The creatures tried to dodge the bolts, but Ryan made sure to keep Perfect Aim activated. So, while the demons were being expunged by the bolts that had the holy attribute, Ryan used his skills to create a steel crossbow, and then he used Soul Creation, Seal, and Anger Absorption. Endless Rage Crossbow Effect: It grants you the power to absorb the enemies'' rage and charge this weapon with mana. Each Bolt will cost ten percent of the mana stored in the weapon, so the damage caused will increase based on the amount of energy this weapon can store. Charge: 0/1000 Dexterity + 450, Intelligence + 200 Durability: 300/300 "Hmmm¡­ Not bad, I guess," Ryan nodded to himself. When Ryan pointed the weapon toward the enemies, it began to charge, and in the blink of an eye, it was fully charged. As expected of the rage of the demons¡­ Ryan tried to hit the enemies with those dark-red bolts that the weapon produced, and while they caused soma damage and made the demons bleed, the problem of ammo was quite troublesome. "Oh, yeah¡­ it can also absorb my anger," Ryan said. While Ryan had no reason to be angry at the moment, he always could use Angel Maniption, and so he did it. The crossbow began to charge even faster than before. Still, to make things interesting, he decided to upgrade the weapon a few more times. When the crossbow reached the level thirty of an upgrade, the demons began to show expressions of pain when they were hit by it. "This is quite refreshing¡­ I wonder if I am turning into someone who feels pleasure inflicting pain onto others," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The demons realized that they couldn''t get close to Ryan while he used those two crossbows, so they began to use long-ranged attacks. As usual, Belial focused on support and annoying Ryan, and this time, she used Gravity magic to slow him down. However, as usual, she was forced to stop when Ryan hit the back of her head. Ryan recovered from the effects of gravity, but the other demons still were nning to attack with theirrgest spells. "They are really willing to sacrifice apanion to kill me, huh¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the massive sphere of poison, another sphere of dark energy, and thest made of flesh-eating pores. The three attacks blocked Ryan''s field of vision, but that didn''t bother him in the slightest. He just used Draconic Transformation and then opened his mouth. The entire Void World trembled, and some parts even cracked when Ice Breath collided against those spells. Ryan knew that if he had used Dark Ice Breath, he would win, but he also would destroy the Void World. When the explosion of energy, the demons saw Ryan slightly wounded. He protected Belial, and Frost Armor protected him quite a bit. They couldn''t help but frown since Ryan obviously wasn''t supposed to have that much endurance. Regardless, he bombarded them with his crossbows until they fell on the ground, barely conscious. "Good grief¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I knew they would be a pain in the ass, but¡­ this is just too much." "You can always focus on leveling up the sses that you already have," Merlin said. "That won''t slow you down in the slightest." "Nah, it can''t be helped," Ryan said. "We need these sses, I am pretty sure many of us will have enough coins to pain for those sses and will need those bonuses as well." "I wonder about that¡­" Merlin said. "Well, this is quite boring for me as well. So why don''t you keep three of those guys down with bolts and let the remaining fight you?" "Hmm¡­ I suppose that is the most efficient way to handle this," Ryan nodded. Ryan couldn''t see how much useful Belial''s power would be since she could only steal skills temporarily. However, in terms of raw abilities, she was probably the one who would be the easiest to analyze. So, while he attacked the other demons with bolts to make them stay down, he let her go to attack him once she woke up. Naturally, she got pretty pissed when she realized that Ryan chose her because she was the less troublesome enemy. However, letting the blood rush to her head didn''t help her in the slightest. Chapter 955 - Envy Lord Congrattions! You have be a Level one Envy Lord! You obtained the following skills: Power Stealer, Envy Shield, and Envy Eyes. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Power Stealer Effect: it grants you the power to steal for a while the skill of a target. While the skill is active, the target can''t use it, but you can use it at the same level as the target. The level of the skill determines the level of the skills you can steal Cost: 10.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Envy Shield Effect: it grants you the power to restore one point of your mana per attack based on the level of this skill when attacked.. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Envy Eyes Effect: it grants you the power to make your skills level up by watching others use those skills. The level of the skill determines and increases the leveling up speed of those skills. You obtained 01 status points. "Not bad, huh," Ryan said and then knocked down Belial as well. Thanks to the crossbows on his hands, Ryan was making those sses level up pretty fast. However, how could he make a weapon that would grant him the same thing with Envy? Power Stealer seemed like the only skill avable to use in any weapon. "Well, I need to test it¡­" Ryan shrugged. Now that Ryan thought about it, he should try to create all kinds of magic items with the skills he has. At some point, he might be able to create one that will have the same power as Gungnir, and that would be his answer. That being said, it was kind of hard to imagine that Ryan already had such skill. Nevertheless, making those demonic sses reach the next level will grant Ryan quite the power-up, so maybe he shouldn''t focus only on that power. Snake Eyes Crossbow Effect: At the cost of two hundred points of mana, upon attacking the target and using the same skill over and over again, you will be able to make that skill level up to ten percent faster while using it against the target. Dexterity + 400, Intelligence + 200 Durability: 300/300 "This is an unexpected effect¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ten percent¡­ Maybe I can increase this if I upgrade the weapon." Ryan tested that theory by repeating the same process of creation of the weapon. In the end, he confirmed that every time he upgraded, the effects of the weapon increased by ten percent. After doing some tests, Ryan confirmed that he could keep certain skills active while he uses Snake Eyes. He just couldn''t activate or use any other skill while he was making use of those effects. "My apologies for underestimating you, Belial," Ryan said. "Your power is really useful. I will be sure to put it to good use to defeat your boss..." Belial wasn''t conscious, so she didn''t hear it. In any case, Ryan began to upgrade Snake Eyes nonstop, but he had to stop when the weapon reached the level seventy. The limit of Magic Upgrade and the Forgemaster ss had been reached. It seemed quite pathetic given all the strength Jake had been gaining recently, but those weren''t that connected. So, it couldn''t be helped... "I guess this is fine for the time being," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. "I knew that the power granted by the deadly sins were useful, but after hearing what Lucifer could do¡­ I had given up on reaching the same level." Apparently, that had been a mistake. Even if Ryan couldn''t do limitless things with the power of the deadly sins, he still could obtain a lot of power. Now that he had found one more reason toplete his collection, Ryan selected his next target. Leaving the best forst, Ryan decided to y with Beelzebub. "All right, mate," Ryan said. "It is time to show me what you can do. Try harder, please." Beelzebub knew that Ryan wouldn''t let him count on the help of the other demons. Still, he couldn''t help but wonder how he could free the other generals. While they failed together many times, he knew that they had to keep trying. Otherwise, they will be stuck there forever, being used as tools by Ryan. They used that same tactic to torment many individuals that caused problems to them in the past. Still, the idea of enduring the same was too nerve-wracking, even considering that they were the strongest demons. While it wasn''t much, Beelzebub summoned some of the spores he liked so much and made it cover his body. Ryan could see spores eating the vestiges of mana in the air that the fights left, and at the same time, Beelzebub was absorbing that energy. It was quite weird how powerful all those demons could be if one gives them time to use their abilities¡­ Nevertheless, Ryan decided to let him do as he pleases for the time being and pointed his new crossbow toward him. Beelzebub concentrated the spores on his forearms and blocked the attack when Ryan fired a single bolt. The damage wasn''t that serious, so Ryan assumed that Beelzebub could truly help him with his experiments. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. ¡­ Beelzebub resisted and felt like his ns were working for quite a while, but then his face turned pale when he felt the power of Ryan''s attacks suddenly bing stronger and at an irrational speed. While he waspletely taken aback by that, Ryan was smirking from ear to ear¡­ Ryan couldn''t be a human¡­ it was impossible for him to be an ordinary man. From Beelzebub''s point of view, his ability to keep improving was demonic. Chapter 956 - Gluttony Lord Ryan assumed that fighting the four demon generals would help him a lot. While that was happening, he wasn''t gaining much battle experience. They were helping him because they were strong creatures and because their powers were useful to enhance his progress, but aside from that¡­ Ryan didn''t even need Time Skip anymore to keep all of them down. Maybe things would be different in the real world, where their vitality wouldn''t be directly connected to their mana. Still, Ryan could feel that he would manage. Beelzebub tried to enhance his body and protect himself from the spores, but Ryan''s power increased more than he could do the same. Thus, he got despaired and tried to summon his creatures to increase the production of the spores, but Ryan destroyed them anyway. Soon after, Beelzebub''s turn came. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Gluttony Lord! You obtained the following skills: Perpetual Appetite, Hyper Body, and Elemental Hunger. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up.. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Perpetual Appetite Effect: it grants you the power to eat whenever you feel like it without having to worry about getting sick. All kinds of food will restore your energy, and the tastier the food, the more energy you will recover. Cost: 10.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Hyper Body Effect: it passively decreases the cost of most skills and spells by ten points per level. This skill can decrease of the cost of most skills and spells up to ny percent. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Elemental Hunger Effect: it grants you the power to eat things created by magic. The higher level of the skill, the more you can intake at the same time. You will receive some damage if the level of the spell is five times higher than the level of this skill. You obtained 01 status points. "What a weird group of skills¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I knew it would be too much, but I was expecting that it would gain that ability to store more energy than my body could usually have." That was one of Lucifer''s abilities, ording to Loki. Maybe Ryan could obtain the same ability if he made Gluttony Lord evolve once or twice, but he didn''t have enough time to do that. "It seems you are up to something weird again," Femradiel suddenly appeared, and then she said when she saw the four demon generals constantly getting damage while being on the ground. "This doesn''t look much like a training session." "At this point in time, they aren''t much of real enemies for us," Ryan said. "We fought for over an year against many creatures, while those guys stayed inside their domains and waited for humans and elder gods kill each other." "I suppose so¡­" Femradiel said. "Anyway, I came to tell you what happened in thest meeting." Ryan wasn''t that surprised when he heard that the elder gods would help some humans on the creator of the domains that will serve as ast line of defense. While Ryan doubted that the guys chosen would cause any trouble, some attention was necessary to avoid trouble. "Hey¡­ it seems that I can''t even blink anymore because you will use that chance to get stronger," Femradiel said with her eyes wide open of surprise after she used Appraisal on Ryan. "This power up is quite hard to ept." "The secret is here," Ryan said while showing his newest weapons. "If you get those sses, you will be make to make them level up pretty fast with those. Hey, Merlin¡­" "I won''t give the knowledge of the ss for free," Merlin said. "At least let me finish my sentence¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "You can take the payment from my coins. I will get the next ss and then I will try to analyze them and see if they can help me in some way obtain that power. You can y with the demons in the meantime." "y¡­ you should choose your words more wisely," Femradiel frowned. Before fighting with Baal, Ryan applied the knowledge of Elemental Hunger on a crossbow. He had considered the other skills, but since the first only affected food and the second only affected skills, Ryan assumed it would be useless. Chaotic Hunger Crossbow Effect: At the cost of 200 points of mana, It grants you the power to eat the energy of spells and skills. Each bolt can eat up to ten points of the energy used in the activation of the ability. Dexterity + 400, Intelligence + 200 Durability: 300/300 "This isn''t so bad¡­ it is the perfect weapon to use against magicians," Ryan said. Ryan wondered why Beelzebub didn''t use that power against Ryan¡­ he soon understood that it was because Ryan didn''t attack him directly with attacks that had mana or stamina. No, his bolts had mana, but perhaps it was too much more than Beelzebub could ingest in a single instant. "Femradiel, I will fight Baal, the other three are with you," Ryan said. "I would rather fight with only two, but since I won''t stay here forever, then it is fine," Femradiel said. Ryan stopped attacking the demons, and they eventually began to recover. Ryan saw Baal getting up and ring at him and stealing his mana. This time, Ryan let him do it because Baal couldn''t use his dark sphere of energy without doing something like that. Thanks to that, Baal created a massive sphere of dark energy that was as big as Ryan in his draconic form. As expected of thebination of Ryan and Baal''s power. While Baal was preparing his attack, Ryan upgraded Chaotic Hunger Crossbow forty times. He pulled the trigger once he finished it, and his bolts began to eat away the massive spell. Baal bit his lips until they began to bleed heavily, he fired the sphere, but Ryan made it dissipate before it could touch him. Chapter 957 - Greed Lord Baal tried the same trick several times, hoping to see Ryan failing at some point, but in the end, that never happened. After defeating all the demons like that, Ryan assumed that they would do something drastic to alert Lucifer, like taking their own lives, but they never did that. While Femradiel was facing the other demons, Baal suddenly grew stronger thanks to the desire to obtain Ryan''s powers, which made him steal dozens of thousands of points of Ryan''s mana in a moment. Still, Ryan recovered all that by using Magic Vampirism and attacking Baal with Chaotic Hunger Crossbow. "The analysis isplete," Merlin said. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Greed Lord! You obtained the following skills: Avarice, Absolute Exchange, and Status Stealer. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Avarice. Effect: it grants you the power to exchange mana for coins. Each coin will cost ten points of mana, and you can obtain ten coins per skill level. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Absolute Exchange. Effect: it grants you the power to transform everything into coins. The higher the level of the skill, the bigger the things you can turn into coins. Cost: 5000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Status Stealer. Effect: it grants you the power to temporarily steal the status of the target. The level of the determines how many status points you can steal with which use. Cost: 1000 mana. Cooldown: 30 seconds. You obtained 01 status points. "Well, well, those sure are interesting skills¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As expected of the sin that I obtained." Ryan immediately considered creating a new weapon, but he didn''t know which one would be better. Avarice and Status Stealer seemed pretty nice. As for the second skill, creating a weapon with that effect wouldn''t create anything decent in a fight¡­ probably. "Oh, well¡­ Let''s create two crossbows then," Ryan shrugged. Diamond Crossbow Effect: at the cost of five hundred mana points, it grants you the power to damage everything and gain coins in exchange for it. Dexterity + 380, Intelligence + 190. Durability: 400/400 King of the Thieves Crossbow Effect: at the cost of five hundred points of mana, it grants you the power to fire a bolt that will steal the status of the target for thirty seconds. The effect stacks, and the time resets upon hitting the enemy resets with this weapon. Dexterity + 380, Intelligence + 190. Durability: 400/400 "Hehehehehehehe¡­ This is amazing!" Ryan said whileughing maniacally for a while. "I thought you had gone mad, for a second¡­ rather thanughing like a crazy man, you should focus on leveling up the sses," Femradiel said. "We don''t know when we will have to fight, so we need to use all of our time wisely." Ryan heard half of what Femradiel said, but it seemed the power of the new ss was already affecting him. He suddenly began to wonder how much he could eat if he mass-produced these crossbows and sold them for a few million. He was pretty sure more than a few people could afford that. In any case, Ryan put those thoughts aside and then used the Diamond Crossbow on Baal. He frowned when the wound didn''t make any blood flow¡­ Instead of that, a yellow aura left the wound and then approached Ryan. His coins increased after that. "... That is kind of scary¡­ to think that even body parts could be coins," Ryan said. "You should see the skills you will gain if you make this ss upgrade two times," Merlin said. "Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, isn''t it weird that but defeating the demon generals I only gain sses that can be upgraded two times?" Ryan asked. "Not really, as you know, these demons didn''t reach the apex of the deadly sins powers," Merlin exined. Lucifferdir did, and that is why he has all the skills of the demon god level of this series of sses." "I see¡­ the sses of the elder gods are divided into lords, kings, and gods," Ryan said. "However the demons are divided into lord, demon king, and demon god." "That is right," Merlin said. Ryan wondered if reaching the ultimate level in all those sses would grant him the power that could make him rival Lucifer. If that were true, Ryan would do everything in his power to do that. However, it wasn''t certain. Not to mention, since Lucifer didn''t overtake Chronus and Ymir, perhaps trying that wouldn''t solve the whole situation. While Ryan was thinking about that, Baal got up and prepared another attack. However, Ryan stopped him when he bombarded him with a Golden arrow and the Diamond Crossbow. "Hmm maybe I should see if Diamond Crossbow can make monster corpses turn into coins," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It would be a waste if they had some value and everyone just burns them¡­" "Ryan you aren''t nning to leave me here alone, are you?" Femradiel furrowed her eyebrows. "The meeting earliersted for a while, so I am too tired to stay here for hours." "My bad," Ryan said and then began to bombard the demons again with his bolts. "Thank you for the help, you can rest now. Although I think this isn''t the best ce to rest." "It is all right," Femradiel said. "I just want to rx a little¡­p pillow would be nice." "I think so too, wanted to decide who will give by using rock, paper, scissors?" Ryan asked, but then he forced a smile when he saw arge frown on Femradiel''s forehead. "Just kidding¡­e here." Ryan knew that he was slowly but surely being whipped to shape. He wasn''t resisting as much as he was nning, but it couldn''t be helped since Femradiel was the one who was always by his side. Ryan couldn''t be that nice to others, and while it seemed a bit too much to say yes to everything that Femradiel wanted.. For some reason, Ryan never truly felt ufortable spoiling her. Chapter 958 - Final Preparations While Ryan was bullying the four demon generals, things were ending regarding the clean-up of the demonic armies. While humans suffered some losses, the demons were wiped out since they didn''t have anyone tomand them. On the other hand, the humans that had been selected to be the domain masters led their soldiers and made them fight like never before. Weirdly enough, all battles ended on the seventh day, after all the demon generals were captured. "We really did it," Isis said to the other elder gods while she was facing a map that was being updated every minute. "We shouldn''t waste any time," Athena added. "The selected ones should create domains in the specific locations as soon as possible. Once that happens, we need to use Checkpoints to connect this pce to the domains. After that, it will be up to us." "We had enough time to prepare for it, so let''s focus in order to prevent mistakes," Isis added. "Putting that aside for the time being, how are things with Ryan and the four demon generals?" "The same as usual," Femradiel said. "He managed to put some of the abilities of the demons in magic items and he thinks that mass-producing them might help our troops quite a bit." "Knowing him, he only made crossbows," Isis furrowed her eyebrows. "Telling him to create several sets of each weapon, naturally, we will pay for each one." "He will like to hear that," Femradiel forced a smile. "By the way, did you finish the list with the location of the dungeons and which sses granted them?" "Yes, we are already allocating the humans to those most suited for them considering their fighting style," Isis replied. "However, since they could only grant so many people sses every day, you will need to go to the ones that still are unguarded first." "Right." Femradiel nodded. "The time is fast approaching, huh. All the enemies on the have been dealt with and now we can only focus on strengthening ourselves in preparation for the final battle." "You weren''t nervous before, but now¡­" Isis said. "I can understand why, but you don''t have to worry. We achieved much more than any of us expected, so we just need to keep the pace." Femradiel nodded and smiled. She was getting nervous becausetely, she recalled more vividly her memories before she was sent to that era. She couldn''t remember much of the time when she was a Cursed dragon, but the few things that she could remember made her feel shivers. The future Earth had be apletely destroyed world in which all organic life had been destroyed. The world had be dark due to the mes of war, and the sky was crimson red. The water that humans drank was made by magic, and the food that they could eat came from the few creatures that could stay alive in such a world. Seeing a world like that showing again was quite nerve-wracking. Femradiel has more than one reason to fight to prevent that, but it seemed that she got all the nervousness that Ryan had gotten rid of. "If just infusing mana all day and every day isn''t helping me, I guess I will train my skills," Femradiel muttered. Before returning to Ryan''s Void World, Femradiel checked the list of sses that could be obtained all over the world. It was massive, but not as much as Femradiel had expected. The reason for that was the fact that she couldn''t find special sses there. Some tier four sses were of the Celestial tier, but nothing aside from that. "We didn''t manage to obtain the knowledge of all sses back then, but now we can," Femradiel nodded to herself. "If all humans obtain at least one-third of those sses¡­" It was a bit too much, given that Femradiel could see around twenty-four hundred sses avable and divided into physical, magic, and ranged. So, each type of survivor had more than eight hundred options of sses. "I will have to study this carefully and choose the best sses," Femradiel said. Upon returning to the Void World, Femradiel saw the demons the same way as she saw them before leaving. They were on the ground and couldn''t move because Ryan was attacking them before they could recover from the damage. While only two weapons granted Ryan the power to attack without using mana, he still was using all the other six that he obtained recently. "How are things outside?" Ryan asked. "You shoulde and see for yourself¡­" Femradiel said. "Staying here 24/7 isn''t good, even if you have a good reason to do so." "Sorry, but within another week, I am sure that the demonic sses will reach the king level," Ryan said. "That power-up is something that I need¡­. if only we had two or three more months." "You think that you could reach Lucifer and Chronus'' level of skills?" Femradiel asked. "Even if the theory is true, you are an archer, not a mage." "I am aware of it, besides, even Merlin can''t imagine how skilled with time magic Chronus is," Ryan said. "That being said, seeing their true potential might give me some insights into how to defeat them." Since neither of them could overthrow the other two, it was evident that Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer didn''t reach the pinnacles of their strength. With that in mind, they could be defeated. Unlike a month ago, Ryan knew that he could pull it off, but he wanted to achieve that before those three could cause irreparable damage to the world. "Ah, that is right¡­ Isis wants to buy some alternative versions of those crossbows," Femradiel said. "You should make quite a lot because she is nning to buy many of them." Ryan nodded and smiled because he was counting on that.. Putting all his training aside, he would need tons of coins to make Sun Lord, Moon Lord, Time Lord, and Time King reach the max level. Ryan didn''t receive Wolf''s Greed by coincidence¡­ Chapter 959 - Sloth Demon King Congrattions! The ss Sloth Lord has reached the max level and evolved to Sloth Demon King. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points whenever this ss levels up. All the effects of the skills of this ss have doubled. Congrattions! The ss Wrath Lord has reached the max level and evolved Wrath Demon King. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by three hundred points whenever this ss levels up. All the effects of the skills of this ss have doubled. ¡­ In the end, Ryan seeded in making all the five demonic sses evolve. It was quite a lot of progress, considering that only two weeks passed in the real world. Ryan got a lot stronger¡­ but that strength didn''t prevent him from suddenly feeling shivers inside his Void world. As usual, the demons were on the ground, unable to move. So something outside happened and made Ryan feel that. Leaving the four demons alone in his Void World would be a pain, but Femradiel quickly appeared and then created a replica of herself to deal with them. "It seems one of them finally appeared," Femraidel said. Ryan already knew that. That shiver had beenpletely different from any other. The sensation only grew more intent when Ryan left the infirmary and then noticed that despite being noon, the sky waspletely dark, and lightning bolts were falling, even though there were no clouds in the sky. Whoever came, it certainly was trying to scare everyone. Ryan used irvoyance to find signs of the invader, but he didn''t find anything close to the domains. Then, Isis called everyone for a meeting. It didn''t take long for them to realize that the first enemy was still hidden. One of them had finally appeared, but no one could find them¡­ "We can''t make a move now without knowing who the enemy is," Isis dered. "Still, we should stay here because it is the only ce that is connected to all domains." "Just like we agreed, we will divide our forces to face each enemy separately, we can''t afford to let those three fight at the same ce," Athena said. "The Olympian gods and the survivors of America will face Chronus. The angels and the survivors of Asia and Europe will face Lucifer. The Norse gods and all the other forces will face Ymir. We might need to change that if something happens during the battles, but for the time being, we will proceed this way." It seemed that Ryan and Femradiel were going to face Ymir. That was kind of bad since Ryan didn''t develop his powers considering him in mind. He would be able to understand more what Lucifer and Chronus could thank to the demonic sses and the sses that granted him the power to manipte time. Still¡­ the Norse gods weren''t that numerous, so they might need their help. "Hmm? It seems that Ymir was the first one to show up¡­ he is attacking the domain in Europe," Loki said. "What? But Mohmmed didn''t¡­" Isis said, and then she received a message via Telepathy. "It is true¡­ let''s get going." It was a bit troublesome that Isis had to move so soon, considering that she was the one who created the alliance, but it couldn''t be helped. Those who were supposed to fight Ymir quickly moved toward the Checkpoint in Europe. It was the first time Ryan saw the domain of that region, so it was only obvious that he opened his eyes widely when he felt how massive it was. It had been made in Italy, but in a single week, it had grown so much that it was already reaching Russia''s Antic and the Western side. Weirdly enough, Ymir was right above the core of the domain. Standing above the barrier¡­ Loki he said that the blue, massive giant was attacking, but the only thing he was doing was standing there¡­ causing damage with his weight alone. Ymir was pretty different from what Ryan had imagined. While he was quite hairy and he heard it was white and long, he didn''t seem wild like the other elder gods from Norse mythology. It was only natural, Ryan thought since he was the progenitor of those gods. Ymir was standing with his arms crossed, and he didn''t have a single piece of armor or was carrying any weapon. He was a mage-type, so it would be hard to find a suitable magic weapon. Regardless, he was wearing a blue robe that was on the same tone as his skin¡­ but Ryan assumed that it was blue due to the icy aura he was emitting. "Odin¡­ it has been a while," Ymir''s voice echoed inside the domain. "I let you live after that time and you still try to go against me? I thought your followers considered you wise, but they must be fools and fools can''t decide what true wisdom is." Odin didn''t answer that taunt, he was trying to keep asposed as ever, but those who looked at him could see that he was pale and sweating cold. Seeing Ymir for the first time in a while made him revive some unpleasant memories. Come to think of it, other Norse deities fought Ymir alongside Odin, but they never showed up until now¡­ Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ did Ymir kicked their ass and only let Odin live out of piety? "You must remember who started the fight and who don''t deal with slight insubordination," Odin said. "You, like Chronus and Lucifer think that power makes you absolute, that you are never wrong. Might makes right rule only apply on the battlefield. If you want to make the entire universe a battlefield just to make you the right one all the time, I will fight you once again, and I will keep on fighting. We didn''t obtain satience and sapience just to follow others without thinking for ourselves.. If you want to be the leader of the Norse gods or of whatever, you need to show that you are someone worth be followed." Chapter 960 - Spectral "Speaking nonsense again¡­" Ymir said and then looked away. "If you were right, you wouldn''t need others to stop me. The need for you to confront me with words only shows that you don''t truly believe in what you fight for." "This is quite interesting, I had imagined that the progenitor of the Norse gods wouldn''t be this talkative," Loki said. "Since you are willing to talk to us, then what is your end goal? You gave birth to many species but now that things aren''t going the way you nned, are you going to wipe out all the life of the universe? I am astonished at this disy of the highest level of pouting. Honestly speaking I had a high impression of you, but now... not so much." "Foolish child, how can you expect to understand what I can feel?" Ymir asked. "Immortal you may be, but you didn''t transcend your own flesh and conscience. You can''t hope to understand those who transcended because all of you are someone who let your feelings get in the way. Without those, you would be able to attain true power, but you can''t or are too afraid to do that." "I wouldn''t use the word afraid, but I can''t see how interesting a life would be without those feelings you speak of," Loki shrugged. "If you understand something that I don''t, you can always enlighten me." "Why can I show you?" Ymir asked. "Look at the power of someone who truly transcended the physical realm." After saying that, Ymir opened a hole in the domain barrier. No one knew what he had done, but it became obvious that it was useless against him. As if that wasn''t troublesome enough, Ymir pointed toward Loki, and then a shadow appeared in front of him. One couldn''t see the face of the shadow, but it was quite clear that the shadow was simr to him. Spectral Loki ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? The shadow looked quite creepy while it was moving toward Loki, but he just frowned slightly. Considering that Ymir created many species, he was supposed to make things a lot more realistic. Regardless, Loki raised his guard when the shadow suddenly made a dark knife appear in its hands and then tried to cut his throat. LOKI moved backward and then escaped the attack. Despite that, Loki''s neck began to bleed a little. "Hmmm, what a boring copy," Loki said. "You made a fake copy of myself, but the status is only identical. I was expecting more from you." "Well, things are just starting," Ymir said and then made copies of the elder gods in the area. When the elder gods felt presence identical to them, they couldn''t help but frown. Aside from Odin and Loki, everyone else looked more than shocked. The reason was obvious. Even those who went good at feeling the presence of others could tell that the copies also had divine energy in their bodies. Thot swung his new hammer toward the shadow in front of him. Still, the creature mimicked his movements, and the sound of hammers colliding echoed through the area¡­ that was quite something. To make an identical copy that had the same strength and even could create weapons made of shadows that could stop the originals. As if they were mirroring each other, Thor and the shadow continued the fight while attacking and defending with the same moves. Everyone else wanted to join the fight, but Ymir assumed that no one was really a target for him aside from the elder gods. Besides, they didn''t have the nerves to attack the five kilometers tall Ymir. Ryan had, but he decided to observe things for the time being. "Femradiel, do you know what those things are made of?" Ryan asked. "I don''t know, it is the first time that I am seeing Ymir magic," Femradiel replied. "However, considering that he made creatures made of shadows that are as strong as the elder gods¡­ I would say that he created them using his memories. However, he deleted the unnecessary parts. Or at least the parts he deemed unnecessary. Like emotions and a proper physical body." That made sense. Without emotions, the copies could fight like machines to their utmost limits no matter what. Not to mention, without proper bodies, they couldn''t grow tired. They had heard that Ymir was a summoner, but to be able to summon improved versions of the elder gods¡­. that was insane. "What should we do?" Femradiel asked. "Let''s wait and see," Ryan replied. "This is a good chance for the elder gods to grow stronger as well. Ymir is pro thinking that if they are defeated, the rest of us will go down easy without the will to fight." Ryan was quite troubled by the fact that Ymir didn''t even try to look for targets aside from the elder gods. Was it because he discarded his feelings? Or perhaps was it because they still were stronger than Ryan in his human form in terms of overall status? Either way, it was a good chance to stay low and study the enemy. While that had been Ryan''s n, he couldn''t understand what those understands were made of, not even with the help of Odin''s Eye and Draconic Eyes. Ryan wanted to ask Isis about her opinion about it. Still, she was too busy attacking the enemy shadow and preventing sma Arrows from falling on their allies. Ryan wanted to check things on his domain and experiment with what he knew. However, the only way for him to do that was by using Merlin and then obtain the ss Femradiel obtained when she defeated Aphrodite. Perfect Replication wille in handy.. However, that will increase the divine energy in Ryan''s body. Would he be able to stay hidden if he uses that? Chapter 961 - Do What You Can In the end, Ryan decided to ept the risk. He didn''t feel the need until now of learning Perfect Replication, probably due to its cost, but now it was absolutely necessary. When Ryan obtained the ss, he felt Ymir''s eyes moving toward him. Until now, he looked toward the battles without showing any motivation. He even still was with his arms crossed, but his neutral expression broke a little when he saw Ryan and his status. "You¡­ who are you?" Ymir asked. Ryan thought Ymir was looking at him, but he was looking toward Merlin, even though he was in his stealth mode, where no one could see him. "How do you do, my name is Merlin," Merlin said. "I can feel a different aura in you¡­ is very simr to the aura that Lucifer has," Ymir said. Ryan and everyone else frowned when they heard that. Why would Merlin''s presence be like Lucifer? And why did the Angels never mention that? "Merlin¡­ What the hell is he talking about?" Ryan asked. "Ah, I see now¡­" Merlin said. "Everything makes sense now." "What makes sense?" Ryan frowned. "Sorry, but I can''t exin," Merlin said. "If I answer this we all will have to deal with some trouble. You might find this weird, butter on, you will understand that I am helping you by keeping quiet about certain things." Ryan indeed felt that weird, but in the end, it wasn''t time to doubt Merlin''s reasons. Until now, Merlin didn''t do anything that prejudiced Ryan. In fact, he saved his life after he fought Zeus. So, Ryan felt that he could trust Merlin. In any case, it would be troublesome if Ymir were to create a copy of Merlin as well, not that he needed more power. Still, if he creates a copy of Ryan that is auxiliated by a copy of Merlin as well¡­ things will get messy. "What is your history, little one?" Ymir asked. "Just like Lucifer, and I can''t read your history. Tell me why that isn''t possible." "As much as I would want to do that, I will have to refuse," Merlin said. "Very well, I will destroy this human''s spirit and then force you to tell me the secret behind you and Lucifer''s existence," Ymir said. "Can you please stop saying his name all the time?" Merlin asked. Ymir ignored that and then made the space around them change. For a second, Ryan felt that he had returned to the Void World, but then he realized that he was in the same ce as before. The only difference is that everyone around had disappeared. "Mindscape Materialization¡­" Merlin said. "Be careful, Ryan. Now you truly will fight on Ymir turf and no one will be able to help you." Judging by the name alone, Ryan could tell the nature of that skill. Still, to think that he would be summoned to fight alone and he wouldn''t be able to resist the summoning¡­. that was beyond annoying. "You don''t have to worry," Ymir said. "If you satisfy my curiosity for a little bit, I will retreat for today. Naturally, I won''t fight you today, you made me realize that the humans of this world changed a lot while I was unaware." "Well¡­ thank you for your generosity," Ryan said and then forced a smile. "Time here also passes faster than reality, but I am not Chronus so my power over time is limited," Ymir said. "Defeat the spectral copy as soon as possible and you won''t have to see your allies dead when you return to the real world." Ymir created a copy made of shadows of Ryan. It was really creepy to see himself like that since it looked like Ryan was watching his dark side taking shape. Regardless, Ymir was ying with him, but that was a good chance. Ryan summoned dozens of copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow in a single instant and then bombarded the copy. Still, the creature repeated his same actions rendering his n worthless. Ryan summoned the Chaotic Hunger Crossbow, and Ymir frowned when he felt a tiny fraction of Lucifer''s powers. Nevertheless, the copy mimicked Ryan''s movements, but his shadow bolts were eaten by Ryan''s. "That thing can''t copy everything, I suppose¡­" Ryan said when he saw the copy jumping backward. Ryan attacked the creature non-stop, forcing him to dodge all bolts. The creature knew that it would suffer some damage by getting hit by a projectile with those properties. That made Ryan understand that Ymir, Lucifer, and Chronus couldn''t replicate each other abilities, or perhaps they could, but didn''t want to make one of them feel the pleasure of that. After all, it would be the same as assuming that their powers were iplete. "Merlin," Ryan said via Telepathy. "Can you analyze Ymir''s abilities while we fight like this?" "He isn''t doing much fighting, but I suppose I can try to analyze this summoning technique of his," Merlin replied. "It might take a while, though. "It goes without saying, but it is the ultimate level of summoning." "Just do what you can," Ryan said. Suddenly, the copy made several Sr Arrows fall from the sky. Even though that ce didn''t exist in reality, Ryan saw massive explosions happening and the ground being covered in mes whenever he dodged those projectiles. Apparently, Ymir refused to copy Lucifer and Chronus'' power. Still, something like the skills of the elder gods didn''t bother him. "This kind of reasoning is weird as hell, but I don''t care¡­ I need to analyze this power, so maybe I should slow down a little bit," Ryan thought. Still, was it a good idea to slow down the fight? His allies were still fighting outside, and Ryan would not see any changes if Ymir decided to use other tactics¡­ ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 99 (+ 31 UP)/ Storm Caster Lv 96 (+ 23 UP)/ Imperial Archer Lv 69 (+ 68 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 121371 /121371 (199,75/s) Mana: 126599/126599 (199,75/s) Stamina: 128630/128630 (199,75/s) Strength: 9681 (+91422) (+130) Dexterity: 83933 (+98655) (+2550) Speed: 11170 (+95410) (+548) Intelligence: 9652 (+90595) (+33) Endurance: 10998 (+96395) (+160) Control: 11276 (96050) (+510) Mentality: 10152 (+90195) (+70) Luck: 8780 (+84560) Recovery: 20550 (+99050) (+1045) Willpower: 10152 (+90193) (+40) Coins: 39.205.556.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 495 (+ 191 UP), Golden Arrow Lv 271 (+ 166 UP), Gravity Arrow Lv 33 (+ 32 UP) Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 539 (+ 190 UP), Concentration Lv 539 (+ 190 UP), Archery Lv 539 (+ 190 UP), uracy Lv 539 (+ 190 UP), Wrathful Empowerment Lv 01, Anger Absorbtion Lv 12 (+ 11 UP), Perpetual Appetite Lv 22 (+ 21 UP), Hyper Body Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Elemental Hunger Lv 11 (+ 10 UP) Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 559 (+ 204 UP), Frost Armor Lv 524 (+ 191 UP), Ice Breath Lv 515 (+ 151 UP), Magic Bow Lv 420 (+ 210 UP), Pain Supression Lv 22 (+ 21 UP), Power Stealer Lv 01, Avarice Lv 01, Absolute Exchange Lv 17 (+ 16 UP), Status Stealer Lv 22 (+ 21 UP) Support Skills: Envy Shield Lv 01, Envy Eyes Lv 09 (+ 08 UP) sses: Combat: Draconic Hunter Lv 42 (+ 22 UP), Absolute Guardian Lv 38 (+ 27 UP), Wrath Demon King Lv 01, Envy Demon King Lv 01, Gluttony Demon King Lv 01, Greed Demon King Lv 01 Non-Combatant: Sloth Demon King Lv 01,Time Lord Lv 49 (+ 24 UP), Forgemaster Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Time King Lv 33 (+ 32 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 962 - Trust It didn''t take long for the copy to find a way to bother Ryan as well. The creature began to use a crossbow made of darkness that didn''t fire bolts, but that could damage him the very moment the trigger was pulled¡­ "How can he use the effect of the Absolute Death Crossbow when I don''t have it anymore?" Ryan frowned as soon as he activated Mana Barrier to protect himself. The damage of those attacks now that Ryan''s level of divinity wasn''t something tough at, so he was forced to use that defensive spell. Nevertheless, staying on the defense like that would take too much mana. He had to decide now¡­ "For how long Merlin?" Ryan asked. "At this rate, the analysis of this skill will take twenty or so hours," Merlin replied. "I can do faster in the Void world, but you can''t use that skill while you are here." Ryan clicked his tongue. He couldn''t wait for so long. He also couldn''t show more of his cards to Ymir, so he returned to the basics. After using Golden Arrow and Perfect Aim, the copy was also forced to use Mana Barrier when it was surrounded by hundreds of those projectiles. Once that happened, Ryan did the same while using Light Speed and Diamond Crossbow. The creature actually reacted on time to escape. Still, once that happened, Ryan used Teleport and then attacked the monster from behind while using Mjolnir. In the end, the copy was attacked from two angles and suffered so much damage that it began to evaporate. You obtained 25.989 coins. You obtained 25.989 coins. You obtained 25.989 coins. ... "Interesting, you increased the effects of your spells to prevent the copy from doing the same things by using Mana Maniption," Ymir said. "You also have more mana than you are supposed to have. Since you aren''t using Soul Eater, you must be using the effects of Mana Link. Adding all that to the fact that you have the original Mjolnir and can even move at the speed of light¡­ you are quite resourceful." It was quite annoying to be analyzed like that. Still, in the end, Ryan couldn''t do anything since it might make Ymir change his behavior. "If I remember right, Earth began to produce mana a year ago, so it doesn''t make any sense that you should be able to do all this," Ymir said. "Is this your influence, little one?" "Maybe? Even if you are right, does that change anything? Why are you interested in the subject?" Merlin asked. "Because it is unnatural," Ymir said. "Not even if we were to decide that, we wouldn''t be able to create a being that can have so much divine and corrupt energy. I am quite impressed that this human didn''t be an unrecognizable mass of flesh when two forces opposing each other are so strong inside him." By we, Ymir was probably talking about Chronus and Lucifer. In any case, it wasn''t surprising that they could give divine or corrupt energy to the creation of them, but even so, they couldn''t do it freely. While they didn''t have physical limitations, their creations had. "Not to mention, you are fighting with some leeway," Ymir said. "I suppose we can''t stop these tests before making you reveal what you can do if you try hard enough. I suppose a few copies of yourself should be able to bnce against Mana Link." Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Instead of fighting the copies, it was time to face Ymir. It was the only option. Otherwise, he will only waste time, and more information about him will be revealed. Although Ryan had no idea what would be effective against Ymir yet, Ryan decided to use something he clearly disliked¡­ the power of the demons. Ryan summoned his newest crossbows and then pulled the trigger of all of them by using Telekinesis. In the end, much to Ryan''s surprise, Ymir didn''t even try to dodge. The surprises didn''t end there, though. The projectiles passed by Ymir as if he was a ghost. Not a single effect of the bolts was activated. "... Shit," Ryan muttered. "I suppose you didn''t listen when I said that I had transcended the physical realm," Ymir said. "Attacks of that level will never hurt me." While it was annoying, at least it informed Ryan that higher-level attacks could damage Ymir. Maybe Ryan should test Draconic Bow¡­ it was Ryan''s only attack skill that was at the level max, after all. However, Ryan was aware that Ymir was talking about another level¡­ not the level shown in the skill list. Before Ryan could make his mind, Ymir summoned five dark copies of himself. That was starting to get troublesome¡­ Being underestimated and gain time while enduring that was one thing, but enduring that to satisfy the enemy''s curiosity was beyond what Ryan could handle. "Make him summon more of those and endure it for the time being," Merlin said. "With more copies like that, I will be able to analyze that power faster." "But the world outside¡­" Ryan muttered. "What would be the point of joining an alliance if you don''t trust your allies?" Merlin asked. "If you can''t do that, then you should have tried harder in developing your skills." It was a pain to admit it, but Merlin was right. He had to trust his allies, even those that were his enemies in the past, and still wanted his head. When the five copies began to move, Ryan had a certain idea. The creatures pointed their crossbows toward him, and at the same time, they used Gravity Arrow. It was quite troublesome that they could use skills that Ruanv hadn''t shown yet. Still, since they didn''t use Time Skip or the power of the demons, Ryan knew their limitations. Ryan summoned Snake Eyes Crossbow and Chaotic Hunger Crossbow to make things as convenient as possible.. Using the second one, Ryan destroyed the enemies'' projectiles, and the first one, he stole the mana from the enemies. Ryan didn''t cause a single point of damage, but he was fine with that¡­ Chapter 963 - Difference While the dark copies kept their distance, Ryan managed to stop their attacks and stole enough mana to keep going like that without worrying about anything. However, soon they understood that Ryan wasn''t in a hurry, and then they created those double-edged ice spears that Ryan used many times. He clicked his tongue in annoyance because he knew what was about to happen. Using Telekinesis, the dark copies made the spears spin and fly toward Ryan from different angles. Ryan had a hard time making those weapons disappear with Chaotic Hunger Crossbow because they weren''t proper spells. When the weapons got close enough and surrounded him, Ryan made Sr Arrows rain down in the area, making them melt. Soon after, the dark copies did the same they aimed at Ryan, but he repelled the bolts with his weapons. "You truly are resourceful, but what would happen if you lose those numerous weapons that you have?" Ymir asked. "A weapon can be a useful tool to increase the effectiveness of one''s abilities, but the overuse of them might hinder your growth." "You think so?" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "Tell me then how an archer can fight without bows and crossbows then. If your answer is the use of magic, then I wouldn''t be an archer." "Perhaps you shouldn''t be, weapons can be stolen, but magic can''t¡­ at least not when you reach a certain level of power," Ymir said. "Nevertheless, you are nning to stall for time, but that isn''t going to help anyone." If Ryan knew a way to attack and cause damage, he wouldn''t be wasting his time like that. Since his attacks that had divinity weren''t working, he couldn''t help but wonder how the elder gods were nning to fight. Considering that Ryan couldn''t cause damage, it was hard to imagine any other human being causing it. While he was wondering about that¡­ Ryan had an idea. "Merlin¡­ do you think that Soul Spliting Arrow can damage him?" Ryan asked via Telepathy. "I suppose it is worth a try, that being said, I don''t think someone like him would let such a skill have much effect," Merlin replied. Since the projectiles passed by Ymir earlier as if he was a ghost, Ryan assumed that the skill might work. He had forgotten about it since causing pain on a soul was quite nasty. Regardless, before the dark copies might try anything else, he attacked Ymir. However, the Soul Splitting Arrows passed by him like all the others. "Hmm? You tried something different I see," Ymir said. Ryan frowned and then was forced to use Teleport when the dark copies bombarded him with Sr Arrows again. Instead of counter-attacking or blocking them, Ryan thought about why Ymir reacted to the attacks, even though they didn''t damage him¡­ "Merlin¡­ why do you think he said that?" Ryan asked. "You know that I am not supposed to hell you like this, right?" Merlin asked. "You asshole¡­ we are fighting for the sake of Earth," Ryan frowned. "Whoe cares about those stupid rules that your stupid creator put on you." "If it weren''t for my stupid creator, your universe would be doomed from the very beginning," Merlin said. "My ass, it is because of him that we didn''t have much time to prepare. Although I can''t deny that is thanks to him that many survived in the beginning," Ryan said. "Nevertheless¡­ Shit." The dark copies began to like the battle too much now that Ryan was focused on dodging. Ryan didn''t have time toin, and asking Merlin for help was useless, so he had to find the answers he wanted by himself¡­ but first, he had to deal with the copies. When the creatures tried to attack Ryan from all angles again, he stopped and fired used the Chaotic Hunger Crossbow. Just as expected, the attacks were blocked, but Ryan didn''t stop there. When he pulled the trigger, he also fired Soul Splitting Arrows behind the projectiles. When the dark copies saw that, it was already toote. They got hit and began to tremble uncontrobly. "... So, they have souls¡­" Ryan muttered. If they had souls, then Ryan could seal them into weapons. However, before he could do that, Ymir canceled the spell making the dark copies disappear alongside Mindscape Materialization. When Ryan returned to the real world, he saw that the elder gods were fine, and their copies had also disappeared. "I thought I would have some more time, but in the end, I was forced to do more than I nned," Ymir said. "I am satisfied for today because I don''t n on doing all the work for those two. Let''s see how you guys will handle them as well." After saying that, Ymir disappeared, and slowly the atmosphere returned to normal. Most people didn''t know what he was talking about. However, the elder gods and the most powerful humans knew that he was talking about Lucifer and Chronus¡­ unfortunately, they were approaching Earth. "It seems we won''t have time to deal with one of them before the others approach," Isis said while making aplicated expression. "Ryan, he summoned your mind somewhere, didn''t he? Did you learn anything?" "I tried, but we didn''t have much time to learn anything," Ryan said. "It is fine, I can analyze his powers by using your memories," Merlin said. "It will be faster if you use Void World." "All right¡­ aside from that, I tried some attacks but nothing worked, not even attacks that were supposed to damage the soul," Ryan said. "Odin, you fought and damaged him thanks to Gungnir, am I right? What else can we do? What is the secret behind Gungnir?" "You are right¡­ I caused some damage thanks to Gungnir, but the difference in power was too great to make any difference," Odin said after a long sigh. "As for the secret of Gungnir¡­ It is abination of Death Maniption, Time Maniption, and Space Maniption.. By using Death Maniption, I can cause damage without revealing the nature of the attack and using the other two, the attack is instant and unblockable." Chapter 964 - Antithesis Odin finally revealed his secret, but as expected, it wasn''t something that anyone could pull off. Rather than that, it was already awesome that he could use those three simultaneously and extend that ability to all of his spells. "After studying Gungnir for many years, I mastered those three types of magic and then extended its effects to all my other attacks, but I only reached that level with that single goal in mind," Odin exined. "I think many can copy me and do the same after practicing for a few years, but only if you forget all the other applications of those skills. I did that and thanks to it, my abilities stagnated for a while and when the time came, I failed in causing any real damage to Ymir." That exined a lot. Perhaps Ymir let him live because Odin was the only one aside from Chronus and Lucifer that could damage him, and he wanted to see the potential of one of his descendants. Regardless, Ryan could use those three types of magic, but copying them won''t do him any good. He still had toe up with another more efficient way to cause damage on those three. Before that could happen, though, the world began to tremble, and hundreds of meteors began to fall. For some reason, they weren''t falling where the group was. "They are heading toward Israel, Vatican and Ennd¡­" Loki said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Now is Lucifer, huh¡­" Isis furrowed her eyebrows. "Let''s return to the base and see what we can do to help the angels." Considering Ymir''s words, the whole group understood that he wouldn''t return for the time being, so all the elder gods returned to the base. However, when they showed up, the angels had already left. As expected, they were really eager to fight Lucifer and could let him destroy their bases. "They said that they will inform us if something major happened," Zeus said. "In any case, it seems that you didn''t cause any damage to Ymir and he wasn''t even trying to wipe you out." "¡­ We will have to worry about thatter," Isis said. "We have to offer back up to the angels since they are the ones who have the most chances of killing Lucifer." "I agree, but those four said that they will deal with Lucifer, unless something happens, we can''t intervene," Odin nodded. Ryan agreed. Joining their fight now would cause issues. In any case, the only thing he could do now was to help Merlin in analyzing that power that Ymir showed and make the results appear as soon as possible. "Hey, Merlin, now that you heard from Odin the secret of his power, can you make a ss with that kind of ability?" Ryan asked via Telepathy. "Not without running some simtions and I also would need your help," Merlin replied. "I am not someone that can use those kinds of abilities, so you would have to serve as some kind of medium. Naturally, it also would take a while to see any results." "What a pain¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Just focus on analyzing Ymir''s skill, then." Ymir only showed a single skill they didn''t know anything about, and they were having that much difficulty analyzing it. Things sure were looking grim¡­ Regardless, after a while, the meteors stopped falling, and Ryan saw the exact moment when that happened thanks to irvoyance. The four angels were attacking some huge-like ten kilometers long meteors and destroying them with their weapons. Their power was quite something¡­ Eventually, the fallen angel himself finally showed up. As if he was mocking his expanions, Lucifer still was wearing a white robe. Most of the angels had that, after all. Aside from that, no one could find much angel-like in Lucifer''s appearance. Ryan could see his face because he didn''t have that Angelique aura anymore, and it was quite weird to see how handsome he was. If it weren''t for his creepy smirk on his face, most people would have a hard time saying if he looked like a man or woman. Nevertheless, Lucifer had red hair and a pair of horns on his forehead. He also had some dark wings on his back, and those were pretty big, showing that he was the fallen angel among the fallen angels. Lucifer ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? "Brothers¡­ it has been a while," Lucifer said after he opened his arms as if he was waiting for a huge from the four angels. Michael furrowed his eyebrows in anger and then dashed toward Lucifer with lightning-like speed. Still, in the end, he passed through him without causing any damage. Ryan frowned when that happened, though. He felt some mana being used, but he couldn''t quite say how mana had been used. That being said, it was pretty obvious that Lucifer didn''t transcend the same way as Ymir¡­ his powers had some sort of secret. "Harsh as usual, Michael," Lucifer said. "Can''t we talk a little before you guys try to kill me and fail miserably? You know, just for old time''s sake?" Ryan didn''t know why, but Lucifer''s voice really got on his nerves, even though he had the voice of someone who could be a great singer. Was it because of his sarcasm or because of his air of superiority? Regardless, he waspletely different from Ymir. While Ymir said that clinging to emotions and to a physical form was meaningless, it seemed that Lucifer really enjoyed having a physical form, and he used every single moment or event to amuse himself. The fallen angel was Ymir''s antithesis¡­ With that in mind, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ What kind of being Chronus was? That kind of question was the type Ryan disliked the most since it would keep bothering him for quite a while.... Chapter 965 - Worries In the blink of an eye, the holy knights under the four angels''mand surrounded Lucifer. Their numbers had grown a lot in thest month, now they were numbered in the two thousand mark. ording to Femradiel, their numbers still didn''t reach the same as her timeline. Still, thanks to the Void World, the overall power of each holy knight was higher than she remembers. Without wasting any time, the holy knights attacked Lucifer from all directions with Holy Arrows. It was impossible to dodge them all since they were being fired from all possible angles and at the same time. However, Ryan didn''t feel any alteration in Lucifer''s presence. "Another weird power¡­ he isn''t getting hit, but his body isn''t ethereal like Ymir''s," Ryan muttered. "He dodged Michael''s attack by using his speed, I am certain of it," Zeus said. "However, now he is eating the energy of the attacks just before they hit him at the same time. You managed to produce weapons with that kind of power, right?" "That is right, but for a single being to absorb two thousand projectiles every single moment without failing¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Even without seeing his status properly, Ryan could see that Lucifer really reached a god-like level in using the powers of the deadly sins. It was hard to say with precision, but if each demon general had the same power level as of an intermediary elder god, then Lucifer probably had the same power as hundred elder gods. After all, with each upgrade, the demonic and the divine sses granted a massive power up to their users. At some point, the four angels gave the order to the holy knights to stop. Long-ranged attacks of that level were useless. When Lucifer appeared again, the refreshing smile on his face only proved that. "Now, can we talk?" Lucifer asked. "You guys are as cold as always." Based on what Merlin saw of the demon generals abilities, he probably had a good idea of Lucifer''s true power. However, Merlin being Merlin, he wouldn''t grant Ryan the same powers that easily. Even if Ryan tries to obtain the same power, it wouldn''t be the same at low levels and without the experience that Lucifer has. The angels weren''t the type who would go slowly against their most hateful enemy, so they gave the order to the holy knights to use Angelique Transformation. Their status increased exponentially as those people gained wings and began to emit the same aura that prevented other people from seeing their faces. Once that happened, the holy knights dashed toward Lucifer as if they were moving at light speed as well. Although Ryan wasn''t using the skill, even in his human form, he could see the traces of their magic being left behind as they dashed toward Lucifer. By enveloping their bodies with light, they granted the ability to move that fast. Several of those angels tried to hit Lucifer at the same time using that technique. Still, while Lucifer couldn''t dodge that, he easily stopped them before they hit him with Telekinesis. "As usual, you four are pretty convincing at making others give up on their individuality," Lucifer said while shrugging. "What is the point of having power if you can''t use it the way you truly want? Your reasoning is so weird¡­" After saying that, Lucifer grabbed two holy knights by the neck after saying that, and even though his hands began to emit smoke, he didn''t feel slightly troubled. After a while, the holy knights lost all the energy in their bodies, but then Lucifer frowned. "How utterly boring¡­ they can''t even receive the power of corruption anymore," Lucifer said while his face was showingplete and total disinterest. Lucifer snapped their necks and threw their bodies on the ground. However, two angels approached the bodies and healed them in a single instant. Unfortunately, those two that were revived were forced to withdraw because they had lost all their mana and stamina. "Since it is like this¡­ then I suppose it can''t be helped," Lucifer sighed and then pointed his hands to the sides. The four angels tried to attack him, but they were stopped a few meters away from Lucifer as if they had hit an invisible barrier. When they tried to attack, the same barrier also stopped their weapons. Soon after, the entire world began to tremble, and Ryan began to feel shivers. He noticed on his left side that Femradiel was making a really angry expression¡­ it seemed that she knew what was happening. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Corruption Sense has leveled up. ¡­ Those alerts made Ryan realize what was happening¡­ Lucifer was using his magic to turn all the monsters in the world into misshapen creatures by the power of corruption. Even the monsters outside the domains were trembling while they were trying to resist that power, and Ryan bit his lips in annoyance when he saw Furball struggling against it. "This isn''t good. The more powerful the targets are, the easier the corruption can influence them," Femradiel said. "At this rate¡­" "We can attack all the monsters that will grow wild thanks to the corruption from here," Isis said. "As for our allies that might be influenced, we can stop them by using Anger Maniption." "That won''t solve the problem. It will only dy the unavoidable," Ryan said. "I know, still, you are acting too harshly," Isis said. "The angels only used the Holy Knights until now, and they still have yet to use the humans on their side." "In this situation, using them might not be a good idea," Athena said. "Remember, humans can turn into cursed dragons by Lucifer." "If things reach that point, we will intervene, but for the time being, we need to wait," Isis said. "Not to mention, you won''t be able to keep Merlin working if you fight now. We need his analysis of Ymir''s power." That was annoying to admit it, but Isis was right. Soon after, Ryan saw thousands of humans being led by Yahiko and Natasha to join the fight.. They were strong, but Ryan only got more worried when he looked at Natasha''s belly. Chapter 966 - Consideration While he was trying to control the level of corruption on Furball, he also watched the fight. In the blink of an eye, thousands of monsters had been taken by the corruption emanated by Lucifer, and now they were being teleported to near the battlefield of angels. Yahiko, Natasha, and Fang Shi came to fight Lucifer, but they were forced to change their goals and face the monsters. A smander suddenly approached Yahiko. While that monster wasn''t supposed to be that strong even at level max, the power of the corruption made the creature grow three times its usual size. Yahiko nned to cut its head with a single strike, but he changed his mind when the monster opened its mouth, and dark mes came out of it. Yahiko stepped backward and then enhanced his sword with ice magic, increasing its size tremendously. Still, the ice quickly melted before the power of the ck mes. Yahiko only didn''t suffer damage because his Ghost Armor protected him, but its durability decreased tremendously. "No point in holding back against those, then," Yahiko said and then swung his sword. Yahiko didn''t hit anything, but those who had good eyes saw him sending a powerful wave of energy that beheaded the creature. A few meters away from there, Natasha was dodging the attacks of a corrupted king troll. The beast wasn''t using magic, but its massive dark ice club was more dangerous than any spell she had seen so far. "Let''s see¡­ petrification crossbows?" Natasha said and then used two of those weapons and aimed at the troll, but she didn''t notice any effect on that. "How about the Pure mes Crossbow?" Natasha summoned two red bows that fired two cannons of fire magic at the troll. Even though the creature was enveloped by mes, it didn''t suffer any damage. Suddenly, the monster got close enough and almost crushed Natasha. In the end, thanks to that, Natasha noticed that the monster''s skin was more covered in ice than she had imagined, and it wasn''t the dark ice. "Crazy Lightning Crossbows, then," Natasha said and then summoned a new pair of crossbows and paralyzed the monster with them until its brain was fried up. "I guess this will do against this type of enemy." It looked like Natasha developed a fighting style that focused on dodging attacks and then trying different types of weapons. She apparently had quite the collection, and Ryan couldn''t help but wonder if he influenced her on that. Regardless, he changed his vision to Fang Shi. Even though he never saw that guy fighting, it didn''t take long for Ryan to confirm that he was pretty strong. He dashed at the monsters at lightning speed with his red spear and then pierced their brains while facing no resistance. He quickly selected a target, dashed in a straight line, and dealt critical damage. "A fighting style focused on speed and critical hits, huh¡­" Ryan muttered. "The analysis is almostplete," Merlin said. "Weirdly enough, he didn''t use only a single skill. He needed several to make those weird creatures." Congrattions! You have be a Level one Absolute Summoner! You obtained the following skills: Instant Analysis, Mana Compression, and Spectral Summoning. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Instant Analysis. Effect: It grants you the power to instantly analyze all the skills and status of the target as well as create a copy of the data by reading the memories of the target. This skill can work in all objects or living creatures. Cost: 10.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Mana Compression. Effect: It grants you the power topressrge amounts of mana into all shapes and sizes. The skill level will determine the ability of the object to withstandrge amounts of mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Spectral Summoning. Effect: It grants you the power to summon a spectral copy of anything that you have analyzed. Suppose it is an object, even without existing in the physical realm. In that case, it will have the same influence as the original. If it is a living creature, the spectral copy will also have the same ability as the target to grow stronger. Cost: It will vary ording to the power level of the target. You obtained 01 status points. "What the hell¡­" Ryan frowned. "Those skills work together to create non-physical copies of the things he wants to summon, but those copies still have the same influence as the real ones," Merlin exined. "It seems like the highest level of the summoner ss, but I don''t think he would use his best skills so soon." "Isn''t that weird? How much mana one would need to summon copies of the elder gods?" Ryan asked. "An unreasonable amount¡­" Merlin said. "That is why I said that the analysis is almostplete. I couldn''t find an answer as to how he could create powerful copies instantly. My guess is that he is cheating the system somehow¡­ truth to be told, I think he is following the rules that aren''t supposed to work with the system." That was very suspicious, but Ryan didn''t have time to worry about that. The angels were attacking Lucifer non-stop, but they weren''t making any progress. On the other hand, the influence of his corruption was growing stronger, and Ryan was having a hard time keeping Furball calm. Not to mention, the number of monsters was starting to overwhelm the humans on the battlefield. So many corrupted monsters were beyond the power of the survivors, even though they were armed with mithril armors and weapons that had some crazy effects of the deadly sins. "Isis, I am trying to be a team yer here," Ryan said via Telepathy. "But this is getting out of hand." Isis knew that, but in the end, they still needed to consider the angels'' feelings. Among the three factions, they probably were the ones who wanted to defeat their targets the most. "All right¡­ if we send only you, it should prevent them from getting too annoyed," Isis said.. "That being said, you should work with them." Chapter 967 - Will Once Ryan heard that, he immediately teleported to where the angels were fighting, and he used Time Skip. Using his newest weapons that had the power of the deadly sins probably wasn''t a good idea, so Ryan bombarded Lucifer with dozens of copies of the Holy Crossbow. "Hmm?" Lucifer frowned when he felt a new presence and the power to manipte time. In the next moment, everyone stopped their attacks when they saw a lot of heat being emitted by Lucifer''s body. Until now, nothing damaged him, but it seemed that Ryan finally did it. He bombarded Lucifer with ten seconds with those crossbows in order not to show him how much he could control time, but in the end¡­ since he held back, he only caused that much damage. "How interesting, a human that can manipte time," Lucifer said. "It has been a while since someone who isn''t those two damaged me." The holy bolts were supposed to have caused critical damage, Ryan fired hundreds of them, but it wasn''t enough. He bit his lips in annoyance, but at least he made Lucifer stop using his corruption. "These powers¡­ you obtained my generals'' powers somehow, what a bunch of dumbasses," Lucifer said and then sighed. "Having those powers for thousands of years and they still lose to humans¡­" Lucifer suddenly pointed his right finger toward Ryan, and then he felt something weird. His body was the same as always, but a powerful urge to eat and drink took over him. What bothered Ryan the most was the fact that the system didn''t warn him of anything¡­ there wasn''t a single skill in the system that could decrease the effects of Lucifer''s magic. Ryan''s arrival bothered the angels, but they didn''t lose sight of their goal. The four angels attacked him together, but Gabriel''s arrows and Uriel''s magic were stopped before they hit Lucifer. Michael and Lucifer were also stopped. They wanted to defeat Lucifer, but they didn''t prepare a single thing against his magic¡­ Ryan tried to ignore the agony of thirstiness and hunger for a second, and when the angels moved away, he used Time Skip again, and this time, he used Draconic Bow. The target felt the danger for his life, and he moved his arms to block the attack in time somehow. In the end, the fallen angel stopped the attack with both hands, but he still was pushed backward for several meters, and his hands were bleeding¡­ a little. Fortunately, that saved Ryan from Lucifer''s magic. However, Lucifer teleported and grabbed Ryan by the neck. "It seems that Earth has a worm more annoying than my little brothers," Lucifer said while showing a vicious smile. "Fuck you, asshole," Ryan said. "Don''t spread your stinking smell on this." The four angels approached while carrying some spears of light, but once again, Lucifer stopped them by using Telekinesis. That wasn''t good, if Ryan takes his time there, his neck will be broken, or Femradiel will join the fight. He couldn''t let things escte that fast, so he used Draconic Bow again. This time, Ryan didn''t skip the usual steps by using Time Skip, so the massive explosion made the entire area tremble. Dozens of monsters taken by the corruption were vaporized instantly, and somehow, the angels and the others escaped unscathed. When the dust began to dissipate, everyone saw Ryan slightly wounded and Lucifer emitting a lot of steam from his hands. Ryan freed himself, but his attack at point-nk range still hadn''t been that effective. Lucifer had some crazy reflexes, and Ryan couldn''t quite understand which of the seven deadly sins granted him that. "I can''t believe this¡­. you came to face me just to free a warg from my influence?" Lucifer frowned. "Humans truly are nothing but apes¡­ how pathetic." Ryan immediately understood how Lucifer could react so fast¡­ he was reading Ryan''s mind. Unfortunately, Mind Armor didn''t work against the fallen angel. "Don''t you think it will be pretty interesting if I make you face that dirty dog?" Lucifer asked. "Let''s see how much I have to pay to obtain control over him¡­" Ryan frowned when he heard that¡­ as if something like that were possible¡­ or was it? If Ryan could obtain so many things with Greed power, then perhaps¡­ "Don''t worry, Ryan," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "Furball is part of the Mana Link. All this mana will protect him from whatever Lucifer might try." "Oh my¡­ howe it is so expensive to obtain control over a dirty dog?" Lucifer frowned. "With this many coins, I can have much more fun doing other things." It was hard to believe, but it seemed that with Greed power, Lucifer really could obtain control over others. How does that make any sense? Possibly, since some people could turn mana into coins, then Lucifer could do the reverse and buy magic with his coins. Not only that, with his power, he could cause any effect. With a weird power like that, Ryan began to understand why angels only epted people in their ranks that abandoned their free will. Otherwise, they would be easily influenceable like ordinary humans. "Let''s see¡­ if I can''t use that dirty dog, then I will put those guys down there," Lucifer said. Even without looking, Ryan knew who Lucifer was talking about, he tried to use Time Skip and then activate Mana Link on Yahiko, Natasha, and Fang Shi, but Ryan didn''t do it in time. When Ryan looked at them, Ryan saw them trembling as if they were trying to free themselves from something invisible. However, it was useless... "Shit¡­" Ryan muttered. Before Ryan or even Lucifer could do something, Michael suddenly teleported to Ryan''s side. It seemed he had a few things to do and say. "Don''t worry, one''s free will can''t be taken that easily," Michael exined. "Lucifer''s magic has a continuous cost. If you hold them back for a while, he will eventually give up." "I can hear you, Michael¡­" Lucifer said and then sighed.. "As usual, you are so quick to spoil my fun." Chapter 968 - Retreat While he was stopping the angels'' attacks with his unknown defensive spell, Lucifer used Yahiko, Natasha, and Fang Shi to attack Ryan. He reached a level where they couldn''t face him properly, but together, they were quite troublesome. As if she couldn''t care less about the amount of mana she was using, Natasha tried to hit Ryan with Electric bolts. The speed of those was quite something, and she was quick to fire them in the worst moments. Like when Fang Shi began to fly and dashed toward Ryan in a straight line, Ryan moved backward to escape it, but he had to stop soon because the next bolt almost hit his left side. When that scene repeated itself, Ryan tried to escape from the side, but then Yahiko swung his de and made a vast concentration of energy pass nearby his beck, almost beheading Ryan. "Ryan¡­ my apologies," Yahiko said with his face red, trying to struggle against the control. "It is all right, just don''t fight against the control too much," Ryan said. "You look like a tomato which is about to explode." "How can you say such a thing at the moment like this¡­" Natasha said. "It can''t be helped. Showing any more annoyance will only make that asshole feel better," Ryan said. "Still¡­ what are those guys doing?" Ryan expected more from the angels. They said that they would face Lucifer as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the world. However, they had yet to cause any damage to the target. Holy magic was highly effective against Lucifer, but it was only useful if it hit the target. If only they could learn what Odin learned after using Gungnir¡­ "... Wait a minute," Ryan muttered. Ryan thought of a way of granting them that power. He didn''t use Gungnir until now because he didn''t want to risk it being stolen. However, he didn''t have to worry about that anymore¡­ Ryan summoned Gungnir for a second before using Instant Analysis. Once he did that, he also used Spectral Summoning and Mana Compression to create a copy of Gungnir. The mana is required to make that¡­ fifty million mana points. Ryan only seeded because of Mana Link. After checking the weapon, Ryan confirmed that it could be held. However, it had some limitations. The farther away it gets from Ryan, the weaker it bes. Not to mention, the more it is used, the weaker it gets. "Is it a limitation due to the level of the skill?" Ryan wondered. That could be answeredter. Ryan teleported the weapon and gave it to Michael since he was the only spear wielder of the four angels. He quickly understood the nature of the weapon and then nodded while looking at Ryan. "Hey¡­ that power is the same as Ymir," Lucifer said with a severe expression on his face. "How can you use that after fighting against him only once?" Ryan ignored that and began to think about how he should convert the data obtained by Instant analysis to create an arrow with the same properties. However, nothing came to mind. When he used that skill, he noticed that he couldn''t quite use the data the way he wanted. The reason why was hard to exin. It was like the data worked in a manner that Ryan couldn''t understand. Putting it in simple terms, it was like trying to read the data of a USB drive on an old radio. The data couldn''t be edited because the skill also read the shape and the size of the object like it was absolutely necessary¡­ all those skills could only work if they were used one after the other. It seemed that Ymir created them with the single idea in mind of copying other things. Regardless, Lucifer began to have some trouble in controlling Yahiko, Natasha, and Fang Shi because Michael was using the spectral spear to attack him from a distance. The difference between their powers still was like heaven and Earth. Still, Michael was making wounds appear, and blood was finally covering Lucifer''s body. Thanks to that, his body also began to increase in size. "Here we go again¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Mephisto did the same thing. He got angry, he grew in size, and his power also increased. However, there was one problem¡­ Lucifer could do that indefinitely. "I can feel in you¡­ a fraction of that power," Lucifer said. "This shouldn''t be possible. Only I obtained that power¡­" Ryan frowned when he heard that. Was Lucifer talking about Ymir''s power? If that were the case, something was off¡­ or was he referring to Merlin? In any case, Ryan used that chance to drain all the mana of Yahiko, Natasha, and Fang Shi now that Lucifer stopped them from moving. He did that instantly after teleporting behind them and touching their necks. The exhaustion made them copse, and Ryan also sent them to the Void World. Now Lucifer won''t be able to make them cause trouble in the real world. Lucifer watched Ryan do that in silence for some reason. The anger still was making his body grow, but it seemed that he didn''t have to be stupid like Mephisto for that to work. Regardless, Michael still was causing damage, but little by little, the wounds caused were getting smaller¡­ that wasn''t good. "Shit¡­ he can''t use his holy magic alongside the copy of Gungnir," Ryan muttered. "Only Odin can do that, and it isn''t something I can solve." Absolute Summoner ss opened a few closed doors for Ryan, but it obviously wouldn''t solve all his problems. It was even more obvious considering the level of the skills¡­ "... I will take my leave now to confirm a few things," Lucifer suddenly said. "Don''t you think that you can escape from me, human? I will return soon enough, and if you try to hide, I will destroy this whole in an instant." After dering that Lucifer disappeared, the monsters that got dominated by corruption became much weaker thanks to the fact that he wasn''t nearby.. However, while that served well for the alliance, Ryan still felt pretty pissed. Chapter 969 - Angelic Spearman "What is the meaning of all this?" Ryan asked when they returned to the base. "We divided ourselves to face the three remaining enemies, but the first two groups didn''t have a single countermeasure against the enemy''s powers. Are we waiting for a miracle to win?" "I can understand what you are feeling, Ryan," Isis said. "But you can''t expect to defeat those three on the first encounter. They are the types who won''t show their powers unless they deem necessary, so we can''t use all our strength so fast." "So, we are waiting for them to use all of their cards, and then we will use that knowledge toe up with a n to defeat them in the middle of the battle?" Ryan asked. "Yes¡­ there is no other way," Isis replied. "You also saw that they use abilities that we can''t understand, so our only hope is to attack them when we know pretty much everything they can do. We will lose a lot, resources, manpower, allies¡­ but if we rush ahead without thinking, we will lose everything." While that made sense, Ryan survived until now, going against that kind of reasoning. He defeated most of his enemies while they were looking down on him, so it was only apparent that he wouldn''t try to change his style now. "Rather than that, you created a copy of Gungnir using Ymir power, didn''t you?" Isis asked. "Can you pass that knowledge to us?" "A pretty bad replica if you ask me, but¡­ oh well¡­" Ryan said and then shrugged. Ryan tried to pass the knowledge of the three skills using Skill Bestowal, but that didn''t work. So they had to rely on Merlin for that. Fortunately, Merlin could pass the knowledge even to the elder gods, and they had the coins necessary to obtain it¡­ a few of them had. "This doesn''t matter as we know¡­" Isis said after she studied a copy of the stone she made with Spectral Summoning. The other elder gods agreed, but they couldn''t understand what it was either. Again, it seemed like something that wasn''t supposed to exist¡­ they felt the same way as Ryan like they were inadequate to understand what that was. "We can make copies of Gungnir with that, but not even with it, I can customize the copies," Odin dered. "Only spear wielders and a few archers might be able to use these. Not to mention, they won''tst for long unless the skills are trained." "Regardless, now we know that we have something that can wound Lucifer without relying on Time Maniption," Michael said. "While you interrupted our battle, you still helped us. You have my thanks. Usually, I wouldn''t give my power to someone who also has the power of demons, but I will make an exception now. Since you already have Draconic powers, you won''t be able to receive my full blessing, but I believe that this will help you." A light left Michael''s power, and then it was absorbed by Ryan. He felt the same surge of energy appearing in his body when he defeated some of the elder gods. As expected, the four angels were also at that level. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Angelic Spearman! You obtained the following skills: Light Spear, Angelic Protection, and Absolute Faith. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Light Spear. Effect: it grants you the power to fire a spear of light that can cause five hundred percent more damage against demons and undead. The damage caused upon impact will be equal to your strength and dexterity, and the spell will cause damage over time for ten seconds that will be equal to 10 percent of your intelligence. Cost : 10.000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Angelic Protection. Effect: the attack and effects caused by demons and undead will be five times less effective on you. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Absolute Faith. Effect: it passively increases your health, mana, and stamina by 1000 points per level. You obtained 01 status points. ".... Thanks, I will make good use of it," Ryan said. It was pretty obvious that by giving Ryan those skills, Michael wanted Ryan to help the angels in the next fight against Lucifer. If he wanted to be more persuasive, he should have made the other angels do the same. However, while he was their leader, he couldn''t force them to follow all his decisions. Mainly the ones that didn''t seem right, like giving his powers to someone who had the power of the demons as well." "Anyway, let''s use these moments of peace. We have to analyze the skills the enemies showed and thene up with countermeasures," Isis said. "They didn''t use those before?" Ryan asked. "Obviously, while they are much more powerful than us, they wouldn''t use the same trick twice against us," Isis said. "Aphrodite, that defensive barrier that Lucifer used seemed simr to yours, don''t you agree? Any ideas how¡­" Isis suddenly stopped talking, and at the exact time, Ryan felt that something had changed in the world. Ryan couldn''t quite tell what exactly changed, but he could feel that a massive presence was enveloping the world. It wasn''t the same presence as before¡­ it seemed that Chronus finally decided to show up. Congrattions! The skill Time Perception has leveled. Congrattions! The skill Time Perception has leveled. Congrattions! The skill Time Perception has leveled. ¡­ For some reason, it seemed like everyone began to move in slow motion, but eventually, they returned to normal. Ryan thought that only Femradiel would be able to recover if that was the influence of Chronus. Still, it seemed the reason was something else. "He is here¡­" Zeus said. The Greek elder gods looked particrly tense¡­ probably Zeus shared with them a few things of what he knew about Chronus. Chapter 970 - Explanation Ryan wanted to confirm if the n was the same as before¡­ do not do anything too big and wait for the enemy to show their cards while humans die in the droves. However, he didn''t since he didn''t know any way of asking that without picking a fight. "What was that just now?" Ryan asked. "Chronus testing how many people can resist his powers to some extent," Zeus replied. "If he hadn''t found anyone with decent skills, he would have destroyed the whole world." "Those three sure like to waste their time, huh," Ryan said. "It seems he has appeared in America," Isis said. "As nned, the Greek elder gods and the survivors from America will fight him. If we find any opening, we will realize a surprise attack, so stay focused. We can''t waste this chance that they are giving to us." By chance, Isis was probably talking about the fact that Chronus, Lucifer, and Ymir weren''t attacking the world at the same time, as well as destroying since they had the power to do so. In any case, Ryan watched the elder gods moving, and then he used irvoyance to see the survivors. They''re also moving to New York, where Chronus had appeared. Ryan bit his lips in exasperation when he saw Zoe and Arthur moving to face Chronus. In the end, he didn''t have the right to stop them. Chronus was the only one that Ryan couldn''t imagine how he looked, but even so, he was surprised when he saw the physical form. He wasn''t young or old-looking. Chronus was just a hairless man that was flying around with his eyes closed and his legs crossed in the lotus position. He didn''t have any hair in any part of his body, and he was wearing a white piece of clothing that he used to cover his lower half. For some reason, he had the height of an average man. When the survivors and elder gods began to appear around him, Chronus didn''t react in any way. He just kept flying at the center of the destroyed city. That being said, he was emitting quite the powerful aura. Ryan couldn''t feel any manaing from him, but even when snow approached him, it suddenly disappeared. When the wind got close to him, it stopped blowing¡­ was that his power to control time? "How interesting¡­ humans and elder gods working together," Chronus said. "The fear of extinction made you people set aside your differences?" "That is right," Athena said. "What do you think of seeing this, Chronus?" "I don''t think that is anything aside from being pointless," Chronus replied. "What is the point of facing an enemy you don''t know how to beat? You are supposed to be the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, and that is the best n you coulde up with this time, Athena?" "This time?" Athena asked. "I''m also surprised you know me." "You would be much more surprised if you knew only a small fraction of what I know," Chronus said. "Nevertheless, this world and your species are doomed. Whatever you might try to do or whatever you may have in mind, nothing will change this." "How can you be so sure of that?" Athena asked. "Because I am Chronus," Chronus replied. "I am the physical manifestation of the Absolute time. Nothing that happens or happened since I came to be escaped from my eyes. Not even the future is something beyond my vision." Chronus wasn''t like Ryan had imagined. Lucifer was quite vicious because of his nature and because he reached the apex using the power of the deadly sins. Ymir was curious, but not all that bloodthirsty considering that Odin has a grudge against him. However, Chronus was¡­ weird. He had a physical form, but he seemed even more alien in mindset than Ymir. Like he was tired or something¡­ was it because he could see the future? "You are confused, and that is understandable," Chronus said. "Let me exin one thing to all of you, children of Earth. I am Chronus, the physical manifestation of the Absolute time. I can control time as I see fit, but that isn''t the only thing I can do. I can travel to the past and the future by moving my conscience, and thus, I can gain the knowledge of everything that might happen and is bound to happen. For example, we had this conversation three times. Because out of millions of times, your alliance managed to subdue and convince the other elder gods for three times. After this, you will try to convince me that your people can create a better world, one where the elder gods and humans might walk alongside each other without the fear of war, but Lucifer and Ymir still stand in your way. Even if I step back, you will fail in defeating them. After destroying this world, they will continue on their quest to clean the universe of species they dream unworthy, and after finishing all species in fifty years, they will face each other. Their powers are equal, so they will both try to fool me, they will fail, and then the final unavoidable battle will happen. After a couple of years of trying to find each other''s weaknesses, they will grow tired of fighting. Then they will use all their energy in a single attack, and that will cause the copse of the universe. The notion of existence will cease to exist, and this reality will disappear and be absorbed by the void. Naturally, my very existence is connected to this n of existence, so I will disappear as well." When everyone heard that they couldn''t help but frown¡­ were they really doomed? If the enemies were just two, they wouldn''t be able to win anyway? When Ryan heard that, he looked confused more than anything. Chronus didn''t look much like Zeus had described. While that was natural since that was the first time he saw him, he had found some traces of his actions.. In any case, Ryan wouldn''t ept that his life was set in stone. Chapter 971 - Changing The Future "If you don''t believe me, then I have something to say. I know about Femradiel''s secret because I have experienced that timeline as well," Chronus said. "I had high hopes for the human called Arthur, but in the end, he failed. Even when he used a small fraction of my power, the only thing he managed to do was to elerate the doom of this in another timeline." Until now, Femradiel managed to keep her cool, but after hearing that, her face turned pale, and she began to tremble. Ryan looked at Isis, and she seemed nervous like never before. "I understand that many of you might think that this is nonsense. There is no way that the destiny of the universe is set in stone. It is what you are thinking," Chronus said. "That is why I am going to summon your consciences from the future. You will see everything that will happen in the blink of an eye. You might be thinking that it will be an illusion to make all of you give up, but if the system doesn''t warn you of that, it will be proof enough." Ryan and all the elder gods Teleported to that region. They couldn''t understand why Chronus was doing all that. Still, they wanted to confirm that their allies wouldn''t fall for any trap. In the blink of an eye, Ryan and all the others saw the future. Soon after talking with Chronus for a while, the white group returned to their base since Chronus decided to just watch instead of intervening. After a couple of hours, Lucifer returns, and this time he doesn''t hold back and ends up killing half of the Holy Knights and Michael. Ryan joined the fight, but he did it toote. Thousands of humans began when Lucifer used his Greed to directly damage humans. Somehow, just by using coins, he managed to make thousands die. Congrattions! The skill Time Skip has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Mana Link has leveled up. ... Ryan began to fight without holding back, and the three remaining angels worked with him. They managed to keep Lucifer busy, but then Ymir showed up and began to spread destruction as well. Ryan, who hadn''t used Draconic Transformation until that moment, finally went all out against Lucifer. Thanks to the massive reservoir of mana Femradiel has built up, he fought against him one on one. However, it was evident that Lucifer wasn''t giving his best. After a couple of hours, Lucifer got tired of ying with Ryan, and then he used some sort of Transformation skill that made him bigger and more powerful. In his new form, Lucifer really looked like the king of the demons. He was as big as a dragon, and his whole skin was in a weird color between green and blue, but what was important was the crazy level of endurance he had obtained. Not even by using Time Skip in the max output, Ryan couldn''t damage Lucifer. In the end, Lucifer grabbed Ryan by the neck and broke it as if he was made of cotton¡­ Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. ... When Ryan blinked, he returned to the real world. Femradiel still was seeing something¡­ probably because Ryan died much before her. In any case, there was no mistake. When Ryan checked his statuses, he confirmed that the sses had leveled up and he had gotten stronger. Chronus'' power was insane¡­ so, how in the hell he still couldn''t beat Ymir and Lucifer? "That is how each one of you will die," Chronus dered. "Your Illusion Resistance didn''t warn you, and you obtained the battle experience of the future. That only confirms what I said. This is what will happen this time." "I refuse to ept that," Athena said. "We will defeat them." "Without a proper n, nothing will change. Even though you also saw some of their techniques, there is nothing you can do against them," Chronus said. "You might change the future a little bit with the knowledge and the power you just obtained, but in the end, you will only prevent your deaths for a few minutes. You can say that the future isn''t set in stone, but big events are a culmination of uncountable small events. Once those take ce, it is impossible to prevent the result." All the Greek elder gods hade to fight, but just a few minutes of talk made them lose all the will to fight. They realized that they truly saw the future, and the reason for that was the fact that some of them could use Foresight. Little by little, Ryan was also getting convinced that it was the truth. The human race and Earth were doomed¡­ However, Ryan changed his mind when he saw Arthur and Zoe holding each other''s hands amidst that massive number of survivors. They were trembling uncontrobly¡­ it was only natural since they were kids and just saw their deaths. Ryan couldn''t let such young kids live such a short life¡­ Ryan had nned to use Memory Maniption to revive those events and gain the experience over and over again. Still, the skill didn''t grant him the effects that he had desired. So, Ryan made Arthur level up Foresight up to level two hundred by using five billion coins. After that, he activated Foresight and then used Mana Maniption to amplify the effects of the skill. After a couple of minutes, he found the moments where he fought Lucifer. He saw the same scenes repeating themselves again and again. However, he didn''t give up. While people were giving to despair, Ryan was using the future filled with despair to gain power. While he was using the stupid amount of mana, he also was gaining a stupid amount of strength. In the end, he saw his battle against Lucifer getting longer and longer. At that point, Chronus noticed that Ryan was slowly changing the future... ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 99 / Storm Caster Lv 96/ Imperial Archer Lv 93 (+ 24 UP) Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 121371 /121371 (2199,75/s) Mana: 138599/138599 (219,75/s) Stamina: 139630/139630 (219,75/s) Strength: 17681 (+91422) (+130) Dexterity: 98933 (+98655) (+2550) Speed: 22170 (+95410) (+548) Intelligence: 18652 (+90595) (+33) Endurance: 19998 (+96395) (+160) Control: 22276 (96050) (+510) Mentality: 19152 (+90195) (+70) Luck: 16780 (+84560) Recovery: 32550 (+99050) (+1045) Willpower: 19152 (+90193) (+40) Coins: 34.205.556.145 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 555 (+ 46 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 581 (+ 42 UP), Concentration Lv 581 (+ 42 UP), Archery Lv 581 (+ 42 UP), uracy Lv 581 (+ 42 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv 619 (+ 44 UP), Frost Armor Lv 564 (+ 39 UP), Ice Breath Lv 595 (+ 65 UP), Magic Bow Lv 495 (+ 65 UP), Instant Analysis Lv 13 (+ 12 UP), Mana Compression Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Spectral Summoning Lv 15 (+ 14 UP), Light Spear Lv 111 (+ 110 UP), Support Skills: Angelic Protection Lv 01, Absolute Faith Lv 15 (+ 14 UP) sses: Combat: Angelic Spearman Lv 25 (+ 24 UP), Draconic Hunter Lv 59 (+ 17 UP), Moon Lord Lv 11 (+ 05 UP), Sun Lord Lv 15 (+ 07 UP), Chaotic Warrior Lv 01, Wrath Demon King Lv 04 (+ 03), Envy Demon King Lv 04 (+ 03), Gluttony Demon King Lv 04 (+ 03), Greed Demon King Lv 04 (+ 03), Absolute Summoner Lv 09 (+ 08 UP), Non-Combatant: Time Lord Lv 61 (+ 12 UP), Forgemaster Lv 17 (+ 08 UP), Time King Lv 45 (+ 12 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 972 - Proposal Even though Ryan was getting stronger, at some point, the future stopped changing. He began to be defeated by Lucifer at the exact moment. "Do you understand why that is happening?" Chronus asked. "That is because your reservoir of mana is decreasing. It doesn''t matter how much you try. You won''t reach his level before you run out of mana." Ryan bit his lips in annoyance when he heard that. He couldn''t say that Chronus was wrong¡­ Regardless, at least that made other people notice that someone hadn''t given up. Right in that ce, the humans began to train and spar against each other. They could only obtain so much strength in a couple of hours, but all the strength was wee. They survived thest year struggling to their utmost limits, so they might as well keep doing that. Chronus saw the future of those people, too, and he saw that their current actions were causing a wave that slowly changing the future¡­ which wasn''t something Chronus had seen yet. Still, the humans could only do so much to change their imminent doom. That being said, if any word could describe Ryan, that word was stubborn. If he couldn''t change the future by getting the power that he could receive there, he would use the present. Using Merlin''s power, he made Light Spear level up. Once it hit level one hundred, Ryan noticed that the future had changed again¡­ it was only a single minute, but the battle got longer. Looking at the humans trying to change their future with all their might, Chronus recalled and wondered how many times he had seen a future where the universe was destroyed. While he also gave birth to some species and decimated others. He enjoyed those periods. Some species were destined to doom anyway, so he made sure to end those early on. However, on a certain day, he noticed that the entire universe began to tremble as if something from outside had prated that reality, and from that point onward, he began to receive the conscience of his future selves that used time magic in order not to experience the end of the universe. At that moment, Chronus understood that such an incident and the end of the universe were connected. However, he didn''t find a single clue as to what had happened. Chronus always thought that Lucifer was somewhat connected to that. Still, he never found any clue aside from the fact that he always started the fights that ended the universe. Chronus received many consciences of his future selves, where he decided to openly antagonize Lucifer and get answers. However, those times he never obtained any information, and the universe ended up destroyed Anyway. What could he do to obtain answers and to prevent the end? Fight Lucifer won''t end well. Siding with Ymir or even the elder gods was a waste of time. That will only boost Lucifer''s ego and make him stronger with the power of pride¡­ "Perhaps, I who have already given up on this universe should entrust this task to others¡­" Chronus thought. Chronus considered dividing his power among the living beings of Earth, but that wouldn''t do. Nothing good ever came out in granting so much power to others for free¡­ Chronus had to make them obtain power by themselves, a power that would give them the chance to face even him. They had to find that power inside themselves. However, that was easier said than done¡­ Making the elder gods to find motivation after living for so long was close to impossible. Making all humans do the same was also something Chronus couldn''t do. While he could control time, he couldn''t just force all the humans to transcend¡­ after analyzing all the humans in front of him, Chronus noticed something and had an idea. "Your will to change the future is admirable, but that isn''t enough," Chronus said. "I don''t intend to let those two do what they want anymore. I am tired of it. So, I will give all of you one hour to attack me. If none of you damage me in the meantime, then I will destroy this world." It was possible to read Chronus'' deadpan expression, but Ryan knew that he was plotting something. By judging his words, it seemed that he was nning everyone to attack him as they saw fit. If he had that much confidence that not all that many people could pull that off, howe Zeus and the other Olympians thought that they could defeat him. "What do you think of this, Isis?" Ryan asked. "I think this is a golden opportunity," Isis replied. "To be honest, Chronus is the target that scares me the most even though his behavior is leagues apart from the other two. I saw what happens when he uses his power, and I have to say that I can''t see how to prevent that. To defeat him, I imagined that we would have to obtain a portion of the power of one of the other two, but¡­" While they were talking, Zeus suddenly cast that spell that summoned thick lightning clouds in the sky. He approached them to get hit by those and charge his body, Zeus would have one hour to charge his body and then unleash all his power on Chronus, and he wouldn''t let go of that chance. "I don''t like the way things proceeded, but we will have to use this chance," Athena said. "Prepare yourselves to use your best attacks with all that power that you can control. We will attack Chronus at the same time in fifty-five minutes." That was probably the best way to act based on the situation. Still, Ryan''s instincts were warning him that something was off. Chronus suddenly grew too quiet after that proposal of his. Thanks to that, Ryan only grew more worried¡­ Ryan could use Foresight and see what might happen.. Still, he had already used more than half of the massive amount of mana Femradiel had infused on her Soul Eater for weeks. Chapter 973 - Wrath While everyone was preparing tounch their best attacks, Ryan was wondering which attack he should use. Continuous shots of Draconic Bow were possible thanks to Mana Link, but considering that the target was Chronus, firing a spear of dark ice like an arrow and using the same method Ryan used to knock out Zeus seemed like the best option. After all, Ymir and Chronus could be damaged by corruption. Otherwise, nothing exins how Lucifer can damage them¡­ However, Ryan could see that everything that approached Chronus to disappeared, be it snow or even the wind. A powerful attack probably wouldn''t do anything¡­ "We can damage Lucifer, but we still don''t know how to do the same on Ymir and Chronus¡­" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a higher-level version of the attacks Lucifer already showed... but he only showed physical skills." Those three were mage-type enemies, but Lucifer only showed physical skills and some tricks to bother his enemies with the deadly sins. He clearly was underestimating everyone. As for Chornus, he didn''t have to do anything to protect himself¡­ but maybe if Ryan uses Time Skip¡­ Ryan decided to consult Femradiel, but she seemed strange. She was thinking just like Ryan about what she should do to achieve victory, but her eyes were looking at Chronus as if she could and yet couldn''t see him. "What is wrong?" Ryan asked. "It is nothing. It is just¡­" Femradiel tried to reply, but then she hesitated. "Don''t worry about it. We will change the future that we saw, no matter what happens," Ryan said. "I am the almost undefeated underdog, and I don''t n on losing that title now." "Almost undefeated?" Femradiel frowned. "That sounds so stupid." Now that Ryan thought about it, Femradiel had been pretty quiet since they saw that vision. No¡­ maybe even before that, she was too quiet. She didn''t mention many things about Chronus, probably because she didn''t have the chance to fight or meet him in her timeline, but something about him was bothering her. While Ryan was thinking about what to do and what to ask to her. Those fifty minutes passed, and everyone began to prepare their attacks. In the end, Ryan had a certain idea, a risky idea, but an idea nheless. Before anything, he summoned Gungnir and then used Dark Ice Breath to cover the entire weapon in the dark ice. That should give the projectile the properties that he wanted. After creating that massive arrow, Ryan summoned the Hydra''s Bow and upgraded it as many times as he could. After that, he began to charge the projectile with all the mana and stamina he could gather. On his left side, Femraidel was also preparing for her attack. However, Ryan only saw her pointing her arms upward, and there was nothing above. After using irvoyance, Ryan saw a massive Ice Spear growing in size in the space. While flying above the alliance soldiers, Zeus had grown so big that he was at the size of a dragon, and his pores were making blood flow. It seemed that he had reached his limit, but he still didn''t want to stop. The other elder gods were also preparing massive attacks. So, Ryan couldn''t help but wonder¡­ if they release all the energy and Chronus dodges it, won''t they destroy the world? Was that what Chronus was after? It seemed a pretty roundabout way to destroy the world¡­ When the time came, Ryan used Draconic Transformation. The others who could use the skill also did the same. Alissa, Gustavo, Lucas, and all the others. Eventually, Athena raised her right arm and then pointed toward the target. In an instant, everyoneunched their best attacks toward Chronus. Instead of seeing anything hitting him, just a massive curtain of light blocked their vision. Those who had good senses knew that the vast concentration of mana being fired at the same time toward the single target reunited and created an explosion like no other¡­ in a sense, it could bepared to the Big Bang. However, that explosion had been really different than all the others. Aside from the curtain of light-blocking their vision, nothing happened. No sound of an explosion, no shockwave, no heat¡­ absolutely nothing. Eventually, the curtain of light began to dissipate until everyone finally was able to see Earth again. They had imagined that such junction of so many attacks would destroy the region to some extent, but that never happened. All the energy of the attacks, all the light¡­ had been absorbed by the Chronus barrier. A barrier that used the time to absorb everything. "I am disappointed¡­ for humans, failure is something that can''t be avoided," Chronus said. "But even for the elder gods to fail like this while unleashing their best attacks under the best condition¡­ What have you people doing in thest thousand of years?" Chronus'' words cut deep¡­ Ryan imagined that the elder gods were feeling the same way he felt when he faced Lilith for the first time. However, he felt even worse than that¡­ had he lost his mind when he decided to face a being like that? For starters, what could humans to aplish while facing a being that can give birth to new species? Femradiel and Ryan had used all the mana they had gathered in thest few weeks, and that didn''t cause any damage to Chronus'' barrier. Ryan undid his transformation and then approached Femradiel. That was probably the end. Ryan held Femradiel''s trembling hands to calm her down, but he didn''t know what to say to make the expression of terror on her face disappear. "Ryan, I am¡­" Femradiel said, and then she touched her belly with her left hand. Ryan''s mind went nk¡­ was Femradiel trying to achieve something by lying at such a moment? However, before Ryan could think or before Femradiel could finish her sentence, she suddenly disappeared, and Ryan felt his connection with her disappearing. Many other people around also began to disappear, people that Ryan knew and people that he didn''t. "As promised, I will destroy this world," Chronus dered. "But before that, you all need to disappear." Ryan knew that Femradiel couldn''t die before him. The contract made him sure of that, but does that contract have any meaning before Chronus'' power? Ryan''s heart and body grew colder and colder.. Until his eyes were covered by darkness. Chapter 974 - Existence "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared. Those who hadn''t disappeared yet almost went numb when they heard Ryan screaming from the depths of his soul. The elder gods that had seen him in his draconic and cursed form couldn''t help but let their mouths hang open when the corruption was trying to take over his body. He should have turned into a cursed dragon now, but for some reason, he didn''t. "Femradiel is¡­" Isis muttered in shock when she realized that Femradiel''s presence had vanished without a trace. Other highly important members of the alliance had disappeared as well. Thor, Aphrodite, Hades, Artemis, Hera¡­ even Loki had disappeared. That was the worst that could have happened after such a massive failure. Isis was worried, but she was more concerned about Ryan''s condition¡­ The shadows covering Ryan''s body tried to take over his mind, but whenever that happened, he hit him against the floor and made them go away. While that was a weird and effective way to avoid the corruption, that was damaging him a lot and making the shadows spread around like tentacles. "That is what happen when you have so many powers that antagonize each other inside you," Chronus said. "It seemed that you had something inside you that kept all those powers in check, but now you have lost it." Isis realized that Chronus was talking about Femradiel. She knew that Ryan wasn''t supposed to be able to handle so many different powers, but she assumed that he was that much special¡­ it seemed that wasn''t the case. "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared again. At some point, Ryan''s anger made the corruption grow so much that those who hadn''t disappeared yet had to move away from him. The dark tentacles were hitting everything, and what was touched, it vanished without a trace. Isis couldn''t see the point of making everyone evacuate, but she used Teleport to make everyone move away. Even without Femradiel, while being taken by that much corruption, Ryan was bound to turn into a cursed dragon, and no one will be able to stop him this time. However, Isis noticed that Chronus had stopped his actions, and now he was watching Ryan and some other people. "What the¡­" Isis furrowed her eyebrows. Isis finally noticed that Ryan wasn''t the only one fighting against the corruption. Many other people lost dear friends and family members when Chronus decided to make the humans disappear. Lucas, Gustavo, Natasha, and even Daniel had half of their bodies covered by the corruption. Eventually, Ryan truly lost his mind, and his body began to turn into one of a dragon. Still, that one waspletely different from before. There were no signs of the blue that he had before. Ryan''s body had turned red. Instead, even his eyes had turned crimson-like blood. Ryan''s new form was a lot more skinner than before. His head had a triangr shape thanks to his chin and two horns on the back of his head. His neck was long, and his new tail had two pointy ends. Aside from that, the wings also lookedpletely different than before. The previous ones had the shape that could be used as shields, but the two new ones had the form of long spears. His new body was emanating so much corruption that dark lightning bolts were falling around him like droplets of rain. "Is that your answer?" Chronus asked. "Let your desire take over your mind? You truly have a bottomless greed, but only desire isn''t enough to grant you what you want." Like dark lightning, Ryan flew and tried to punch Chronus, but his barrier got in the way, and his hand covered by shadows was dissolved. However, it was quickly regenerated. That should be pretty painful, but Ryan kept punching Chronus like he was born to do that. Chronus tried to see if that had changed the future somehow, but he still couldn''t see Ryan facing Lucifer Ymir after he had done it. He still could see himself facing those two, and eventually, the universe would copse again. As expected, Chronus shouldn''t have expected much from such simple creatures. You obtained 115.369 coins. You obtained 115.369 coins. You obtained 115.369 coins. ¡­ Amidst his rage, Ryan somehow understood that attacking like that wouldn''t make him aplish anything. Even though he was gaining tons of coins, that was just a little reward that he couldn''t care less at the moment. "It seems that your greed made you reach the same level as him, in a sense, but that is not enough," Chronus said. "Hmm¡­ what are you?" Chronus finally noticed that Merlin wasn''t just a weird spell that was following Ryan around. He was a being that had a conscience like no other summoned creature¡­ However, Merlin didn''t reply and just watched Ryan pping his wings and making dark arrows move toward Chronus. His barrier blocked most of those, but the others who had missed him fell on the ground and created holes that were a hundred meters deep¡­ it seemed that those arrows had the same properties of antimatter. "Why don''t you reply, strange creature?" Chronus asked. "As you can see, your master isn''t making me busy in the slightest." "My apologies, but I have better things to do," Merlin replied. "Analysing the changes on Ryan''s body is more fascinating than talking with you." "I had imagined that you were his subordinate, I see¡­ you are a third party and your presence is¡­" Chronus frowned. "Took you long enough to notice it," Merlin said. "It must be quite boring to be in such an existence where you can''t see hope. After seeing the end of this reality so many times, you began to lost interest in everything. Tell me, do you do these kinds of experiments often? I imagine that Zeus fear you so much because he finds traces of those pretty often." Chronus frowned when he heard that. It seemed that Merlin had seen through himpletely.. That was right, Chronus is an eternal being, but he is only eternal as long as the universe exists. Without space and without matter, time doesn''t exist¡­ Chapter 975 - Standing While Ryan was using the dark arrows as if that was the only thing he could do. Chronus managed to understand what kind of existence Merlin was. While the nature of their powers was simr, Merlin wasn''t like Lucifer. "These experiments you call, is nothing but me giving the chance to see if these species can show me their true potential if they can obtain the power to change the future," Chronus exined. "As I told you before, the universe is doomed, not even I can prevent that. So, I was expecting to see if other creatures can prevent that." "That I already understand," Merlin said. "Still, you sure made a mistake now¡­" After Merlin said that, Chronus felt the use of time magicing from Ryan. Instinctively, he probably assumed that time magic would be enough to pierce the barrier, but things weren''t that simple. However, it didn''t seem like Ryan was using time magic that way¡­ Ryan stopped firing the dark arrows, and then his body began to grow. No¡­ only the corruption was growing¡­ once enough energy had been gathered using the corruption, Ryan made it all be absorbed by his body, and then a thin barrier appeared around his body. "What? That is¡­" Chronus said. Before Chronus could finish his sentence, Ryan dashed and punched him¡­ for the first time. His punch passed through the barrier and hit Chronus in the face. Although he was caught off-guard. The attack only made his move backward a couple of meters. "I told you¡­" Merlin said. "This guy has pretty good instincts and now, he is only a mass of desire and instincts." Putting aside how much excited Merlin sounded, the punch didn''t even scratch Chronus. Even without time magic, he still was the being who probably had maxed out his status and had the battle experience of thousands of lives. Ryan made some progress, but nothing really changed. "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryan roared while moving his arms downward and upward making the air vibrate and creating powerful shockwaves that made even those who were kilometers away tremble. It seemed like that punch had been a message. ''Did you like that?'' That was what Ryan asked with his punch. Still, the power of his greed didn''t impulsion him to reach only that level. "I see¡­ he used time magic to take the power of his future self¡­" Chronus said. "Still, you are only shortening your life." Chronus didn''t know from which point in life Ryan drew that power from, but it was obvious that was within some point of his fight against Chronus. Sooner orter, he will reach a point where he will have no energy left and will bepletely defenseless. In any case, Chronus was a bit surprised since he had met many people who could use time magic, but Ryan was the first aside from him who managed to draw power from the future. Usually, it was impossible tomunicate with future selves unless¡­ the mind of the end and of the past were deeply connected, and they were. Ryan''s present and future were connected thanks to the corruption. From that point on until a certain point in the future, Ryan had an only one goal... kill Chronus. Just staying on the defense wouldn''t make Chronus achieve what he wanted, so he finally decided to make a move. When Ryan tried to attack him again, Chronus moved his hand and made a portal appear and engulf Ryan''s arm. Another portal appeared on the side, and Ryan''s arm left the portal and punched him. The surprise attack caught Ryan off-guard and paralyzed him. When Ryan tried again, he punched himself yet again. For quite a while, Chronus made a fool of Ryan like that. "Did you say something about good instincts?" Chronus asked. "I forgot to add the words: most of the time," Merlin said. Enveloping himself in a barrier of time that envelops and absorbs all kinds of attacks wouldn''t help Ryan. Considering that Chronus didn''t undo the spell just because he got hit once, it seemed that he still had a long way to go¡­ deep down. Ryan knew that, and that was why he used Time Skip and used Ice Breath. However, nothing happened¡­ even if Time Skip could work alongside other spells, the Chronus barrier was still there and still absorbed the attack. "What is wrong? It is too hard for you to draw the power from the future?" Chronus asked. As if he had understood those words, Ryan grunted while he bit his lips. Instead of using time magic, Ryan lets the corrupt energy around his body grow stronger. Once again, Chronus frowned since it seemed that Ryan was drawing energy from somewhere, but he wasn''t using time magic. Since his dark aura was increasing, Chronus assumed that he was using the power of greed to strengthen himself. Still, it was different ifpared to the way Lucifer does that¡­ Instead of enveloping his body with that energy, Ryan made it leave his body, and then those took shape of dark bows. Weirdly enough, Ryan allocated them behind himself and then fired. Chronus almost let out a sigh¡­ in the end. He had be just a mindless beast. He thought that such a human who made other people try to change their future could have some potential, but he wasn''t wrong. However, very suddenly, those arrows passed through his body and then flew toward Chronus. Much to his surprise, those passed through his barrier, and Chronus was forced to grab them¡­ Chronus'' hands began to emit heat¡­ how could those corrupt arrows pass his barrier like that? "What madness¡­ he let those hit you so that they could absorb a part of your barrier," Chronus said. "You can''t cover them with time magic by yourself, so you forced them this way." Since it hade down to that, there was no point in keeping his barrier. Ryan could attack with long-ranged attacks using the same tactic. It was rough, but Ryan indeed was reaching the apex of time maniption.. Regardless, Chronus left his lotus position and then stood up. Chapter 976 - Necessity The air around Chronus changed. Not because he canceled his defensive spell, but because he was willing to fight himself. What could someone like him do when he decides to fight? Everyone got the answer pretty soon. Chronus didn''t even approach Ryan. He just swung his first forward at him. In the next moment, Ryan was sent flying in the opposite direction at supersonic speeds. Those who saw that, he didn''t understand what happened. There were no movements in the air, and the punch had been pretty slow¡­ so, it was hard to believe that Ryan got set flying due to the shockwave alone. Unfortunately, no one felt magic being used, so that seemed the only exnation¡­ Ryan flew for over three hundred kilometers in just a couple of seconds. Still, he eventually recovered from the attack and returned. However, he did so by using Teleport, both of his arms had been broken by the attack, and they were yet to heal. "My apologies, I will be more gentle," Chronus said and then pointed his fingers toward Ryan. When Ryan tried to fly toward him, Chronus flicked his fingers, and every time that happened, Ryan would be hit by something and then would stop and be pushed back several meters. Whenever that happened, the sound of his bones breaking echoed through the area. At some point, the spectators began to sweat cold, imagining the pain that Ryan must be feeling. At some point, Ryan got tired of that and summoned copies of Vibrating Crossbow. Aside from the others, he knew that Chronus'' movements were making the air vibrate and hit him with shockwaves, so he used those to block the attacks. The n actually worked. Even though Chronus was insanely fast, Death Sense warned Ryan of the ces where he was going to be hit. When both projectiles canceled each other, massive explosions of air that made the entire region tremble time and time again happened, but that didn''t stop Ryan from charging like a mad dog and punching Chronus. However, Chronus stopped the attack using only two fingers and then punched Ryan in the stomach. His body bentpletely before he was sent flying diagonally to the ground. The thunderous impact raised a massive curtain of dust that covered the entire region. Isis, who watched all that, couldn''t help sweat cold. She had thought that Chronus wouldn''t be much without time magic, but those ideas disappeared from her head when she learned that he could obtain battle experience from the future. Still¡­ for him to be able to toy with Ryan like that¡­ it was evident that not even the most physically powerful elder gods could take him. When the curtain of dust began to dissipate, Isis noticed that Ryan still was in the center of the massive crater created by the impact. His Transformation still was active, but he suffered so much damage that not even the corruption was healing him like before. "Was that all?" Chronus asked. "Who will be the next? Don''t worry, I won''t use the Temporal Barrier." Although they were sweating cold, Odin and Zeus stepped forward. Chronus was someone they could hit without time magic, so he was beatable¡­ or so goes the logic. Odin made several lightning bolts fall from the sky and hit Chronus'' head. After getting hit by five one after the other, Zeus attacked him with his lightning speed. However, Chronus also stopped his punch using two fingers as well. "I consider myself a pretty patient person, but to think that you two would try to attack me¡­" Chronus said and then sighed. "... this is very humiliating." After hearing that, Athena and Ares dashed and swung their swords to behead Chronus, and even though their speed and coordination were perfect, they still only cut the air. Chronus moved his neck¡­ Chronus punched Zeus in the stomach and then swung his body to kick Athena and Ares. However, Isis reacted on time to use Teleport and make them escape. The other elder gods decided to join the fight as well. However, Chronus got tired of being attacked from all angles pretty fast. He swung his arms in all directions and then knocked them senseless. By working together, Isis, Athena, Zeus, Odin, and Ares managed to attack Chronus and dodge his counterattacks for a while. Still, in the end, they didn''t cause much damage, and when they were hit a single time, they had to stop fighting for quite a while. After hitting those five in a quick session, Chronus decided to continue with his ns and make all humans disappear. However, Ryan suddenly appeared in front of him and punched his face. Chronus didn''t expect that and ended up flying for dozens of meters while spinning in the air. That was the downside of deactivating the Temporal Barrier¡­ he loses his ability to see the future. Still, while that is also active, he can''t hit the enemies without relying on magic. "I thought I had broken all of your bones and that would keep you down for a while longer, but¡­" Chronus frowned. "I suppose you keep surprising me." Chronus checked his left cheek and noticed that it was a bit red. The physical attack hadn''t been that impressive, but the amount of corrupt energy made up for it. Ryan ignored that and then dashed toward Chronus again. When the enemy prepared to block the attack with his left hand and punch with the other, he noticed several Temporal Weaponization bows appearing around him. Chronus knew what those could do, and he couldn''t let himself be hit by them and then make his energy be absorbed by Ryan. He didn''t want to use magic right now, but¡­ it was necessary. Chronus used the same spell and fired arrows toward those. In the end, they canceled each other perfectly. Counter attacking now was impossible, but Chronus still managed to grab Ryan''s arm and make him spin in the air at unbelievable speeds.. Once he got satisfied with the momentum, he threw Ryan on the ground, making another Earthquake reach the whole continent and then open another massive crater. Chapter 977 - Tired The second attack had been even more powerful than before. Chronus still could feel Ryan''s corruption active. Still, he knew that he wouldn''t recover fast. The elder gods were also out ofmission, so it was the perfect time to finish his job. However, before Chronus could do that, he felt a massive beam of energying from behind. He turned around, and then he blocked a dark breath with his hands. Soon after, he saw Alissa in her Draconic form. The corruption had taken over half of her body. "Do you have a grudge against me as well?" Chronus asked. "Why? I gave you people the chance to damage me and prove that you can change the future, but you failed." Alissa wasn''t in the mood to talk, she saw many of her friends disappear, and that made the corruption inside her return to full power. After struggling for a while, she managed to control it and make ns to use that anger in her favor. Alissa flew toward Chronus while she enveloped her right arm in the corruption. She saw what Ryan did before, so it was evident that Chronus could be damaged by corruption. However, even though she concentrated all the anger and energy on a single point, Chronus still stopped her using two fingers. He prepared to counterattack, but then he felt killing intenting from behind. In the end, Chronus just moved Alissa away with her left hand and turned around, and grabbed the half-turned Gustavo''s sword with two fingers. Even though the corruption enhanced his Draconic powers, he only managed to do that much even though he was using a massive sword. The rage and shame only powered his attack, though. He had to avenge all his friends who had been killed. Other people who had been fighting against the corruption began to fire magic toward Chronus as well, but he didn''t feel most of those. When Chronus tried tounch a big attack and wipe them out at the same time, he was forced to stop when Arthur and Daniel suddenly flew toward him and tried to behead him, but he stopped their swords with the back of his hands. "You are¡­ what a pity that you choose a different path this time," Chronus said as he was looking toward Arthur. Chronus had the experience of Femradiel''s timeline, so he also knew what Arthur could have be given a few more years and if he had chosen to be a mage. It seemed that he had some potential as well as a swordsman, but it wasn''t on the same level. When Chronus prepared to attack those two, several arrows fell over him, and before that could happen, he knew their effects. They would steal his mana and then explode¡­ those peculiar arrows would be quite troublesome against foes that have stupid amounts of mana. In the end, he just teleported away from the arrows as he looked toward Mia and Zoe. It seemed that the humans regained the will to fight, but that wasn''t enough¡­ Suddenly, Chronus saw hundreds of Zeus Bolts flying toward him. He couldn''t believe that Zeus had recovered so much mana, and he was already wasted. Still, then he saw him surrounded by a group of humans, passing his blessing to them. "Oh¡­ this is knew," Chronus said. Chronus knee of some timelines where the elder gods gave their power to many people, but those were only humans who had been serving them for years. Now, it looked like even Zeus was giving a portion of his powers to humans who didn''t know. The other elder gods were doing the same, and if that keeps up¡­ Chronus stopped for a moment to use Foresight and see what would happen if things continued like that. If he were to leave now, the elder gods would keep doing that, strengthening humans by giving their blessings to them. Thanks to that, even though they lost many allies, they will be able to put up a better fight. However¡­ in two weeks, all of them will still be killed. "If only they had done that while they had all those people on their side¡­" Chronus thought. There was no point in considering what if¡­ Chronus, who could see the future and had the experience of thousands of other Chronus, knew that better than anyone else. Certain things only happen when everyone is forced to do unbelievable things, and those same things can only happen in rare moments. While that had never happened before, Chronus wondered what else needed to be done for him to see a future that he hadn''t seen yet. There was no point in changing things only to dy the inevitable. Perhaps if the elder gods throw their pride aside and give power to all remaining humans, maybe something will change. However, doing that would only worsen their condition. They would be giving a fraction of their energy, after all. It was only obvious that doing that thousand of times would be detrimental. However, the Humans wouldn''t have time to develop those powers, and so it was too risky, and the elder gods couldn''t take it. They had another option, though. Share their power among themselves. It was hard to know what would happen if they suddenly obtained the influence of too many others, but¡­ they didn''t know what would happen to them. Still, they knew someone who got used to having so many different types of power inside him. Without Femradiel, he wasn''t able to control all the forces inside him, but now that he had be a Cursed dragon and if he obtained his goal to kill Chronus, then perhaps¡­ "I suppose that is impossible¡­ Many of those elder gods were defeated by him, they wouldn''t throw that much mud on their names," Chronus thought. Chronus was tired of all that. Considering small changes in some events to prevent the destruction of the universe. Those happened numerous times, but that hope betrayed him equally numerous times. It was time to end all that and perhaps stop that cycle where he always sent his conscience to the past.. However, Chronus stopped for a moment when he saw Odin and Zeus walking toward Ryan. Chapter 978 - Possibilities "Zeus¡­" Odin said once he reached the crater where Ryan was. "Odin¡­" Zeus said once he reached the crater where Ryan was. They looked at each other, wondering who should do it first. No one wanted to bear the shame of being the first of the leader of the elder gods to help someone who defeated them. Not to mention, granting the power of their own volition this time will make Ryan reach a new level in his abilities. "I will let you have the honor," Zeus said. "You possibly can''t be trying to outsmart me," Zeus," Odin showed a small smile. "¡­ We are wasting our time here." "I suppose we can''t be pesky right now¡­" Zeus said and then sighed. "Still, what an unsightly human. His body is in pieces, only the corruption is preventing him from falling apart after getting hit so many times." "I couldn''t agree more," Odin nodded. "However, it is obvious that Chronus thinks that he is the only one who can defeat him. We are beings who reached the apex of this world and stayed there for too long without improving ourselves. We reached the apex in our own fields of expertise, but this one here didn''t choose his path for power¡­ he tool them all. Maybe that is why Chronus is testing him." "After this, we won''t be the strongest of this world anymore¡­ but I suppose this can be a fresh start for us," Zeus said. Odin nodded, and then they pointed their right hands toward Ryan at the same time. They didn''t have second thoughts once they decided that it was the only path avable to reach their goals. They sent waves of energy toward Ryan''s body. ¡­ Congrattions! The ss Magic King has reached level Max. Congrattions! The ss Magic King has evolved into Magic God. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one thousand points once this ss levels up. The effects of the previous ss'' skills have doubled. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Arcanescience. Effect: It grants you the power to learn all kinds of skills, even those who need a high level of divine energy. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Speed Cast. Effect: It grants you the power to cast all types of spells without worrying about their casting time. This skill also grants you the power to cast as many numbers of spells as you wish for. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Magic Mastery. Effect: It passively increases the effect and damage all of your spells by one percent per level You obtained 01 status points. ¡­ Congrattions! The ss Thunder King has reached level Max. Congrattions! The ss Thunder King has evolved into Thunder God. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one thousand points once this ss levels up. The effects of the previous ss'' skills have doubled. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Electric Dominance. Effect: It grants you the power to use electric attacks without using mana. The level of the skill will also give you the power to control electric attacks cast by others. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Energy Control. Effect: It grants you the power to control all forms of energy within your reach. The level of the skill will determine how fast you can obtain control over the energy targeted. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Personal Mastery. Effect: It grants you the power to pass the level of skills to other skills without losing status points. You obtained 01 status points. Thanks to the massive boost in status, the pain in Ryan''s body decreased exponentially. As if that wasn''t enough, probably thanks to Energy Control, he opened his eyes, and he wasn''t blinded by the corruption. At the same time, he didn''t lose cursed dragon form. That was convenient, but at the same time, he wished that he didn''t have recovered his sanity¡­ Chronus made Femradiel''s body disappear using time magic, and his heart was taken by regret and anger. He realized that he could use Energy Control also to let his rage and greed control him, but that would be cowardice¡­ he had to face Chronus while his mind was clear, or he wouldn''t feel satisfied with the result. Ryan looked above and saw Odin and Zeus. In the end, they decided to throw away their pride in order to do something that could help them attain victory. They looked at Ryan only once before leaving to return to the battle. "You are back," Merlin said. "It is a pity that I won''t be able to see you fight like that again." "... Is that what you have to say?" Ryan asked. "Do you want me tofort you?" Merlin asked. "I thought that at this point in time you would understand that I am just working and I don''t want nor do I need to get sentimentally involved in this mess. Besides, if you gather enough mana, you can use Reset and go back in time and prevent her death." "It won''t be the same thing¡­ that image won''t disappear from my head, I failed her and I failed my kid," Ryan clenched his teeth and then bit his lips. "You saw the future with Foresight, you would fail anyway," Merlin said. "I won''t say that you should be thankful for Chronus doing what he did, but he possibly opened the doors to another future, one where you might not fail, if you defeat him here." That was easier said than done. Still, Ryan was determined to pull that off in one way or the other. He felt many presences disappeared, and he returned to the battle just in time when Daniel and Arthur were hit by one of Chronus'' attacks, and they ended up hitting Zoe and Mia. Chronus moved his arm to attack and smash all of them at the same time, but Ryan appeared in front of Chronus and then tried to punch him.. However, he disappeared, and then numerous dark arrows flew toward Chronus. Chapter 979 - Losses Chronus activated his Temporal Shield to block the arrows, but he still felt something piercing his back in the end. Thanks to the skill, he knew that Ryan would do that, but he needed to check if Ryan had obtained the strength necessary to face those two¡­ he hadn''t. "You were stronger before," Chronus said as he turned around and saw Ryan''s ws covered by thick but sharp shadows. "Still, I suppose you are not more skilled now." Ryan was tired of listening to Chronus. So, he used Personal Mastery to edit the level of his skills. It was quite a helpful skill, and it made Ryan wonder how he defeated Thor if he had that, or was it Zeus who had it? It didn''t matter¡­ "Merlin, you saw me using some different skills before, didn''t you?" Ryan asked while he was editing his skills. "Why didn''t you turn those into a ss already?" "You copied Chronus, to some extent, but the skills still are iplete," Merlin replied. "You only copied Temporal Barrier, I need more Intel to quantity his powers as a ss." Before Ryan could ask how Chronus punched the air and Ryan felt the pressure pushing him backward. However, he stopped it with his arms. The effectiveness of his strenght was decreasing by the minute. "Oh¡­ I suppose I can take this to the next level," Chronus said. Chronus was finally going to fight for real, and now a single mistake might make hundreds of bystanders die. So, aside from the leaders of each group, those who could use corruption, and the elder gods, Isis made everyone evacuate. "Before you continue fighting, you should see this," Merlin said. "Your greed made you be a Greed Demon God." Congrattions! The ss Greed Demon King has reached level Max. Congrattions! The ss Greed Demon King has evolved into Greed Demon God. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one thousand points once this ss levels up. The effects of the previous ss'' skills have doubled. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Absolute Buying. Effect: It grants you the power to buy anything and everything with coins. Be it living beings or objects. The effect of the skill can be temporary or absolute. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Absolute Bet. Effect: It grants you the power to bet on anything. If you win the bet, you gain the double of coins you bet. If you lose, you lose everything. You can bet up to one million coins per level of this skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Money Physics. Effect: It grants you the power to block all damage using coins. It also grants you the power to take the same amount of coins from the enemies instead of causing damage. You obtained 01 status points. Ryan wished that those skills were even more battle-oriented, but he decided not toin. When Chronus approached and tried to punch him, Ryan ignored and activated the skill while he also prepared to punch Chronus. In the end, the enemy protected his eyes with his left hand and hit Ryan''s stomach with his right hand. However, Ryan achieved his goal of blocking his vision and then grabbing his left hand. You lost 15.897.087 coins. You obtained 2.029.778 coins. Once again, numerous arrows flew from behind Ryan toward Chronus. He tried to activate the Temporal Shield, but he failed since Ryan was holding his left hand. Chronus tried to spin Ryan around and use him as a shield, but he failed. Money Physics prevented him from causing any harm to Ryan. In the end, Chronus got hit by dozens of arrows enhanced by Power Shot, and his face got red at the points it was hit. "To think that such low level skill would damage me this much¡­" Chronus furrowed his eyebrows and then moved away from Ryan. Direct attacks won''t work, at least if Chronus doesn''t use magic. He didn''t want to rely on that since things might end too fast, but it couldn''t be helped¡­ Chronus used his Speed and attacked Ryan many times in a row. Once he makes sure that he is out of coins, Ryan won''t be able to do anything. You lost 11.987.333 coins. You lost 11.987.333 coins. You lost 11.987.333 coins. ¡­ Ryan more or less could see Chronus sense where Chronus was going to attack. Still, counterattacking was impossible. He deactivated Money Physics and then let Chronus hit him. The attack of his real punch made him spin in the air. It caused a powerful shockwave that made even the ground several kilometers below the crack. Ryan could use Light Speed to be able to keep up with Chronus, but that wouldn''t change anything. He knew that Chronus wanted to see if he could be strong enough to face Ymir and Lucifer and prevent the destruction of the universe that even he couldn''t. Ryan couldn''t be strong by staying on the defensive¡­ his strengthes from his relentless attacks. "Let''s return to the basics¡­" Ryan said, and then the look in his eyes changed. Ryan summoned his Immobilizing Crossbow and the Spiritualist''s Crossbow. Those weren''t his best weapons, but they will make it do. Chronus found it interesting that choice of weapons, but he also looked disappointed. For him, to grab those bolts before they could activate their effects and destroy was an easy matter. However, when Ryan fired them, they were covered by his corrupt energy. Chronus grabbed them using only their fingers, but he still suffered damage thanks to extra energy. As if that was only natural as well, the bolts also applied their effects. When the next ones flew toward him, Chronus just punched the air and blocked them using the shockwaves.. At the same time, he tried to hit Ryan, but as if he could see through him, all the attacks were dodged. Chapter 980 - Later At some point, Chronus noticed something weird. Ryan''s bolts were getting more powerful and pushing away the shockwaves caused by his fists. It was only natural that Ryan would get stronger while fighting an enemy much more powerful, but that speed was weird. Eventually, Chronus used Absolute Appraisal and finally learned the skills he obtained before getting up. Ryan was fixing his skills with Personal Mastery, and he was also increasing his dexterity by using Absolute Buying. He basically had obtained Merlin''s abilities¡­ When Ryan saw the look of understanding on Chronus'' face, he clicked his tongue. He had intended to fix his build slowly and without letting Chronus notice it. But as expected, fooling someone who lived probably for hundreds of thousands of years wasn''t that easy. "You don''t have to hide what you are doing, I can give you the time to do it if you want," Chronus said.. "I will make you regret that," Ryan red at him. "That is impossible, for someone like me who has so much life experience, regrets are something impossible to experience," Chronus said. "I have lived for far too long and I have done everything that should be possible, there are only two things that seem beyond me, though. Leave this universe and prevent its destruction. If I fail on doing the second, then it means that it was something impossible to do. Thus, regretting something impossible doesn''t make any sense." Everything that Ryan heard sounded like bullshit. Thanks to that, he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. On the other hand, he was getting some mana thanks to Anger Maniption. Although Chronus said that he would wait, Ryan didn''t want to make use of his bullshit help. He summoned Snake Eyes Crossbow and then pointed toward him after selecting the skill Legendary archery. The effect of the skill worked when Chronud granted the bolts with his hands instead of his fingers, and he didn''t do anything else aside from that. Despite how convenient that was for Ryan, it only pissed him off. "Yes¡­ it is getting much stronger," Chronus said. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has leveled up. ¡­ "Stop that," Ryan said while ring toward Chronus. "What you are trying to do is making me sick." "I can''t avoid it, you are the only one in this timeline who can wound me," Chronus said. "In fact, you are the first who caused so much damage on my body, aside from Lucifer and Ymir. I want to see you reach your true potential. But don''t worry, I won''t overdo it. Making you relieve this fight over and over again would increase you power, but it wouldn''t solve anything. You made the future change a little bit thanks to your greed, so we need to keep betting that it will be enough." "Seriously, you will regret this¡­ not a single enemy until now made me thirst for blood this much," Ryan said. "That ispletely fine, it is understandable since I am doing this for myself," Chronus said. "I have achieved the pinnacle in pretty much everything, but like I said, I couldn''t prevent the destruction of the universe and I still can''t do it. That is why I am trying something new, if I fail, it is fine. If I seed, then everything would be worth it." "How ipetent can you be with those god-like powers?" Ryan asked. "You just have to go to a point in time where those who will cause the destruction of the universe are no match for you and kill them." "It isn''t that simple," Chronus said. "Imagine that time is like a river, if you let it flow normally, nothing that isn''t supposed to happen won''t happen. But if you do something drastic, it will cause some issues. For example, if I were to send my conscience to the past now, those two might learn the technique. So, the best moment to do it is when the universe is copsing." "Bullshit¡­ if they could use your powers, they would have done many times," Ryan said. "Usually, they wouldn''t, but considering how useful the spell is, they will do it," Chronus said. "Resetting time would be the best option, but when I learned about the end of the universe, it was already toote. I didn''t have enough mana to use that skill and move to a point where those two weren''t a threat. If I were to try to use all the mana in the universe, I might seed. But that also might cause my death. Trying to make time Reset for more than a hundred of thousand of years is just that dangerous." Although it made a lot of sense, Ryan couldn''t help but think that it sounded just like a bunch of excuses. Ryan could imagine so many ways where he could use the time to prevent the end of the universe¡­ like creating a wormhole and then moving to another point in time. Chronus used a technique simr to that earlier and probably would consume less mana¡­ However, after thinking for a while, Ryan understood that such skill would take him to another timeline, where he still existed, that might cause some problems¡­ Even if that wasn''t possible, Ryan probably could send a message to the past. That should cost a lot less mana as well¡­ still, informing his past self about events probably will cause some issue¡­ the Ryan of two years ago probably wouldn''t believe that in two years, he would be facing the possibility of the end of the universe. Maybe Chronus was right¡­ he had a lot of time to consider and experiment with his powers. Still, that didn''t matter.. What mattered was the fact that he killed Femradiel and his kid that didn''t even have the time to be born, and he didn''t hesitate in doing so¡­ Ryan will kill him no matter what and then worry about the end of the universeter. Chapter 981 - Greed Defiance Crossbow Eventually, Ryan finally finished fixing his build. However, before proceeding, he created a new crossbow using the power of the Greed Demon God ss. Greed Defiance Crossbow Effect: at the cost of one hundred thousand coins, it grants you the power to fire a bolt that will hit the enemy no matter what.. Dexterity + 700, Intelligence + 300. Durability: 600/600 "I see¡­ Lucifer must use a power like that all the time to fight me," Chronus said. "He is good at hiding that kind of thing, so I never understood how he could do that." Ryan didn''t say anything. He just raised his chin and then summoned Diamond Crossbow. He began to pull the trigger as he dashed toward Chronus and the speed of the projectiles made even Chronus frown. They were flying so fast that the attraction was making them slowly fall apart along the way¡­ that showed that Ryan''s skill and power reached a level beyond the power of the basic level of the seven deadly sins. Chronus didn''t try to dodge them. Instead, he grabbed all the bolts with his bare hands, but he ended up regretting that. Every time he did that, his hands were cut, and he started to bleed. The damage still was minimal, but he could tell¡­ Ryan could destroy entire mountains with a single one of those. Not to mention, the effects and damage were piling up since Ryan activated Vital Hunter whenever he fired those. Chronus'' near-infinite endurance was decreasing. "I congratte you, for finally forcing me to use this," Chronus said and then finally opened his eyes. "¡­ Shut up," Ryan said in a cold tone. Ryan was expecting something to change once Chronus opened his eyes. Still, the surprise had been more shocking than he could imagine. The moment his bolts approached and entered Chronus'' line of sight, they turned into dust. It seemed Chronus could make things age just by looking at them¡­ that was some messed up power. Ryan ignored that and just increased the firing rate until Chronus'' vision was filled with bolts. Naturally, Chronus made those disappear, and they moved his left arm to block Ryan''s next attack¡­ even from a distance, he created a dark ice arrow and fired at point-nk range on Chronus. "He can do even this now, that is good¡­" Chronus said while looking at his hand, emitting steam thanks to the fact that he was just holding the arrow. Chronus thought that just opening his eyes would make him get rid of the annoying projectiles, but he was wrong. He could only make disappear the bolts fire by the weapon on Ryan''s hands, and that was its major weakness. Ryan bombarded Chronus from all angles with Golden Arrows. In the end, Chronus blocked them by using Temporal Shield. There was no point in holding back against Ryan anymore¡­ Chronus flew toward Ryan and then tried to grab his neck. Still, Ryan moved away by firing numerous bolts while Evading Shot was active. Although that was a speed that Chronus had no problems following it, he was forced to slow down on his charge. He tried to attack while ignoring defense, and thanks, he got bit by some of Ryan''s bolts¡­ he had used his newest crossbow, after all. Chronus stopped and checked his body. The wounds were small, but they were making him bleed a little. "An undoumitable greed that ignores even the effects of time, huh," Chronus muttered. "Don''t worry, this is just a temporary trick," Ryan said. "I won''t be satisfied in defeating you, unless I use your ability against you." It seemed that Ryan was getting carried away, but Chronus knew that it wasn''t true. The reason was the fact that he was constantly activating and deactivating Money Physics so that he wouldn''t suffer critical damage if he made even the smallest of mistakes. Not to mention, even though he used tons of coins to increase his dexterity, he still had a few billion left to use for defense. When Chronus looked at Ryan, he felt him activating Money Physics¡­ even with that skill, he will onlyst around ten minutes. That was the time Chronus had to go all out, not because of the coins, but because the other two finally noticed that he was fighting for real. Chronus moved his left arm backward and prepared a punch. At that moment, Ryan felt shivers. Congrattions! The Skill Death Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The Skill Death Sense has leveled up. Congrattions! The Skill Death Sense has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan summoned two hundred copies of Spiritualist''s Crossbow pointed toward Chronus and then fired. He knew that he would use Time Skip, and he did it. Ryan managed to decrease the power of the attack by using his bolts, but in the end, a single ultra-charged punch hit him and made him fly to outer space in a single moment. Ryan stopped spinning when he left the, but he was barely able to stay conscious due to the pain. Once again, all his bones were broken. To think that a single charged attack would make him lose all the coins he had saved for defense¡­ In the blink of an eye, Ryan left Earth and even the moon behind. It was almost a miracle that he survived an attack and while he was moving that fast. Fortunately, by using Evading Shot in the opposite direction, he managed to slow down. For some reason¡­ Chronus didn''t follow him. "That guy¡­" Ryan bit his lips in exasperation when he used irvoyance and saw Chronus resuming his extermination. The elder gods began to fight him again, but Chronus wasn''t pulling any punches this time. If only Ryan still had that mana pool¡­ Ryan suddenly had an idea. He used Void World and then made Self-Replication level up many times. Once he could summon one hundred replicas, he made them use Zen in the Void World. How did Ryan recover enough mana and coins to do all that? He used Diamond Crossbow on the moon and turned a good part of it into mana and coins. ss: Apocalyptic Archer Lv 99 / Storm Caster Lv 96/ Imperial Archer Lv 93 Race: Night Demon /Reptilian Champion/ Lord of the Ice Foxes (--) Rank: 1st Health: 200371 /200371 (339,75/s) Mana: 226599/226599 (339,75/s) Stamina: 227630/227630 (339,75/s) Strength: 17681 (+174422) (+130) Dexterity: 225.933 (+186655) (+2550) Speed: 22170 (+173410) (+548) Intelligence: 18652 (+168595) (+33) Endurance: 19998 (+184395) (+160) Control: 22276 (174050) (+510) Mentality: 19152 (+168195) (+70) Luck: 16780 (+182560) Recovery: 32550 (+178050) (+1045) Willpower: 19152 (+168193) (+40) Coins: 00 Status: 00 Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: Lv Max (+ 421 UP), Golden Arrow Lv Max (+ 652 UP), Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv Max (+ 421 UP), Concentration Lv Max (+ 421 UP), Archery Lv Max (+ 421 UP), uracy Lv Max (+ 421 UP), Spells: Draconic Transformation Lv Max (+ 333 UP), Frost Armor Lv Max (+ 452 UP), Ice Breath Lv Max (+ 639 UP), Magic Bow Lv Max (+ 459 UP), Money Physics Lv 44 (+ 43 UP), Temporal Shield Lv 01 Support Skills: Arcanescience Lv 01, Speed Cast Lv 01, Magic Mastery Lv 01, Electric Dominance Lv 01, Energy Control Lv 23 (+ 22 UP), Personal Mastery Lv 44 (+ 43 UP), Absolute Buying Lv 55 (+ 54 UP), Absolute Bet Lv 01, sses: Combat: Draconic Hunter Lv 71 (+ 12 UP), Draconic Warrior Lv 35 (+ 15 UP), Draconic Mage Lv 33 (+ 15 UP), Magic God Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Greed Demon God Lv 08 (+ 07), Non-Combatant: Time Lord Lv 85 (+ 28 UP), Time King Lv 69 (+ 24 UP), Race: Centaur, Dragon, Kobold, Triton, Asgardian, Olympian, Chapter 982 - Dead World When Ryan returned, he saw many elder gods already on the ground, dead. Isis and Athena were among the group. Ryan bit his lips in anger¡­ Why does he have to feel like he has failed so many people so many times in a row? Athena always tried to stay neutral, but she was an ally. As for Isis, she helped Ryan more than a few times. The region looked like it got hit by hundreds of massive asteroids¡­ and that was the power of Chronus'' fists alone. Odin and Zeus were hanging in there, but it was evident that they wouldn''tst for long. Chronus moved away from them when he noticed Ryan''s presence. At that exact time, he also saw numerous Lunar Arrows falling toward him. He easily blocked them with his Temporal Shield. Ryan should have known that such an attack would be useless. His only option was to enhance his projectiles with time magic or use his newest crossbow. It would take a while, though, for him to reach that level. "You are not going to learn anything just by watching me like that," Chronus said. "My power is different from the skills that require high-level divinity." Ryan still couldn''t understand much how to apply time magic to his projectiles. That being said, he still could remember how amidst his rage, he used the Temporal Shield¡­ Basically, he just had to condense mana up to a certain level where the notion of space couldn''t apply. Thanks to Mana Compression, he probably managed to do that, but that wasn''t enough to use Temporal Shield. He also had to make the energy stablepletely while maintaining the same level of density around his whole body. It would be easier to envelop a physical body that didn''t have so many undtions and details, like an arrow. However, doing all that in an object that was in contact with his body and keeping the energy stable without touching it was the problem. If Ryan had a few days to practice it, he probably would learn it¡­ as long as he uses the time speed of Void World. However, his replicas were infusing mana for him, and he couldn''t make them do anything else right now. Despite that¡­ Ryan had an idea. Using magic, Ryan created a steel arrow, and then he turned it into a magic weapon. Chronus frowned when he saw what Ryan did¡­ that was something no one tried before, not even him. After all, what could have the use of weapons to Chronus? Using his best bow, Ryan nocked the arrow and then prepared to shoot¡­ Ryan felt some danger and decided to block the arrow with everything he got. However, his eyes didn''t work. If not even his eyes worked, then certainly his Temporal Shield wouldn''t¡­ The very moment Ryan shot the arrow, Chronus felt something hitting his left chest. When he looked at that, Chronus felt the pain that only Lucifer and Ymir managed to make him feel¡­ to think that Ryan could mimic the effects of time magic on long-ranged attacks by using Seal alongside Time Skip on his arrows¡­ that really was a different way of using one''s skills. "You really are resourceful," Chronus said and then pulled the arrow out of his chest. "You have satisfied my curiosity. Now it is time to see if can defeat me before I turn you and this whole world into cosmical dust." Chronus raised his arms, and then Ryan felt the air leaving his lungs. He knew that feeling¡­ it was the same that he has when he is in outer space without Mana Barrier¡­ Chronus destroyed the world''s atmosphere in a single second. The humans who survived until now but didn''t have the skills or status to endure such an environment began to choke. At the same time, the began to absorb too much sr energy, the temperature increasing. In the blink of an eye, pretty much everything was put on fire. "That is what Zeus saw that made him so frightened of Chronus¡­" Ryan thought while biting his lips. Using Spectral Summoning, Ryan made several copies of that arrow and then prepared to fire it. However, Death Sense warned him of an attack from above¡­ and he saw the moon moving toward him. "It wouldn''t be right if only you could attack, right?" Chronus asked. Ryan teleported away from that ce, but the moon only gained more speed the farther he was from it. It looked like he was the new Earth, and the moon had to be his satellite, no matter what. However, this time, the moon wanted to be a bit closer¡­ In the end, Ryan used the same trick he did on Hephaestus and moved to behind Chronus and grabbed him. That hadn''t been the wisest of the moves. To be able to do that, Ryan had to use Temporal Shield, and all his mana was used thanks to it. Chronus only smiled when he did that, and then he used Reset. Ryan suddenly saw himself in the same position as before when he first noticed the attack. In the end, the moon hit him, but before he could be smashed against Earth, Ryan used Diamond Crossbow. Once he recovered enough mana, he used Reset as well. "Hahaha, this is quite amusing, we can y like this as much as you want, Ryan," Chronus said, smiling for the first time. "Still, is that solving anything?" It wasn''t¡­ and it probably won''t solve anything, ever. Ryan got hit again¡­ but this time, he used his newly created arrows and fired them with Telekinesis. It wasn''t the same as using a bow or a crossbow, but the effects of the arrows were there. They instantly hit the core of the moon and made it explode. Ryan was taken by the darkness once again¡­ Somehow, Ryan opened his eyes, and then he saw a dead world around him. Earth had be unrecognizable, and he couldn''t feel any presence around. Ryan tried to get up, but he couldn''t feel his legs or arms. When he moved his head, Ryan saw that his limbs had been burned¡­ alongside half of his body. Chapter 983 - Experience "Man¡­ your ability to get beaten up sure is something else," Merlin said. Even though the world was on fire, Ryan couldn''t even breathe, and everyone had been killed. Merlin still was acting the same as ever, as if nothing was his problem. That attitude sure was unnerving¡­ "How do you feel getting your ass kicked like this by an enemy that isn''t even trying to kill you?" Merlin asked. If Ryan could speak, he would, but he couldn''t. Still, if he actually could do anything, he would smack that annoying little creature. While Ryan wasn''t an endurance-type warrior, for the better or for, the worse, his vitality had reached stupid levels. Even though he always focused on increasing his attack power, he still got some impressive defensive boosts. He also had the blood of Asgardians and the Olympian gods¡­ no wonder he could live in such an environment and even survive when thousands of fragments of the moon smashed him. "Well¡­ I can''t say that I don''t understand you," Merlin said. "How could you possibly understand¡­ asshole," Ryan said via Telepathy. "Well, you see¡­ I also failed miserably like you many times," Merlin said. "I lost good friends, some where even turned into zombies to face me. Those I wanted to protect forgot me when I was stayed away from Earth for so long¡­ in the end, I was also defeated and exploded when thest boss just snapped its fingers." "Last boss? What the hell are you talking about?" Ryan frowned. "Let''s just say that I understand your situation because I also experienced simr things," Merlin replied. "Oh, well¡­ there is no point in trying to hide all this. I am the creator of the sses system. I am not his creation, this device is just a tool I created tomunicate between universes." Somehow, Ryan believed in that quite easily. After all, Merlin was supposed to be an alien-like conscience. Still, he failed miserably in keeping his behavior in check most of the time. In any case, Ryan didn''t expect that the creator would be trash-talking him all this time. That fucking asshole¡­ "Don''t worry about it, I hide your presence from Chronus, and right now, you are living beyond the time of your universe, so you don''t have to rush anything," Merlin said. "Let''s talk for a while, I am sure you have many questions." "Are the answers going to help me solve this mess?" Ryan asked. "Probably not," Merlin replied. "Then, I am not interested," Ryan replied, and then he began to heal his wounds. "Don''t be that way, if anything, you will grow even angrier at me and you will make the Wrath Demon King ss level up," Merlin said. "Obtaining power just to listen to someone? I wish I had that chance. Ah, it wouldn''t work¡­ I was too prideful to let myself gain power that way." "I see now why everyone looked oddly at you, you are something that isn''t supposed to exist here in this universe," Ryan said. "That is right," Merlin replied. "For a mage, I am quite dumb. I always thought that the concept of multi-verse means that there are other universes out there with other versions of me. However, things are moreplicated than that. The concepts of multi-verses and time lines creating an infinite number of realities and humans out there. That is why at first, I thought that I didn''t have to intervene directly on other universes. However, eventually I learned that they are very different from each other. For example, my friends and I didn''t exist in this universe. Not even my predecessors and their predecessors." "What is your point?" Ryan asked. "My point is, certain people that have the power to exert to much influence over the universe, they don''t in other universes, not even the people who are their ancestors," Merlin exined. "That is why you didn''t exist in my universe as well. The elder gods, the demons, the angels¡­ they didn''t exist there as well. I don''t quite understand why yet, but it seems that the more your existence belong to a single reality, the more you can affect it. You survived until now, so that means that you are supposed to do more than you already did it." "I don''t believe in crappy motivational speeches," Ryan said. "Wow, so edgy¡­ I wonder how you didn''t defeat Chronus with that edginess," Merlin said. "Anyway, I am also a part of the reason why you had such a hard time over thest year. You see, Lucifer wasn''t supposed to get this powerful. However, he obtained a good part of the power and memories of thest boss I mentioned. That is why the bnce of power of this universe broke and that is why Chronus began began to see the end of the universe." "¡­ If Lucifer can leave this universe, then why he always cause its destruction?" Ryan frowned. "He can''t, not unless he destroys it," Merlin replied. "When my friends and I were defeating thest boss, the battle affected the nearby universes. That is what Chronus was reffering to when he said that one day he suddenly felt something weird in the universe. It seemed that the battle connected our universes through the void, and Lucifer obtained that power. He discovered that he can obtain unlimited power if he destroys this universe and then heads for the next one, but his still is iplete. Since it is a power that came from another reality. That is why Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer noticed that my power and Lucifer''s power are simr." "So¡­ everything is your fault¡­" Ryan red at Merlin with murderous intent. "I told you, it is only a part," Merlin replied. "Besides, you can''t me me for trying to save my universe." "Why didn''t youe to solve this mess, then?" Ryan asked. "You want a hero that badly?" Merlin asked. "I fought for far too long. I am tired of fighting. Besides, sooner orter, your world would face annihtion. Lucifer was the one who started the war and killed others like Chronus and Ymir, but many of them were keen on decimating races.. In one way or the other, your world would face the changes that mana would bring." Chapter 984 - Together Ryanpared those words to what Chronus said earlier: "You might change the future a little bit with the knowledge and the power you just obtained, but in the end, you will only prevent your deaths for a few minutes. You can say that the future isn''t set in stone, but big events are a culmination of uncountable small events. Once those take ce, it is impossible to prevent the result." It made sense. Those primordial creatures had the power to make many things happen. Maybe sooner orter, mana truly would return to Earth, and humans would have to face those problems without the help of the features created by Merlin. Without his rank and sses system, humans would never obtain the power to fight back so fast, nor would they be able to create domains that could protect thousands of survivors. "It seems you have to realize that certain things are just bound to happen," Merlin said. "However, not all things are absolute. You managed to wound Chronus, didn''t you? That means that in his physical form, not even time is absolute against you." "¡­ There are a few things I don''t understand," Ryan said. "You said that you are a mage, so why you don''t have the knowledge of all sses. You should have considering that you lived for thousands of years." "But I have. However, somews in my universe doesn''t apply here and the inverse is also true," Merlin exined. "That is why Lucifer''s power is iplete and he can''t move between universes. The creature he stole the power from, could do that, after all. Ah,e to think of it, by defeating that monster, I saved your universe, since this was pretty close to mine. Where are my thanks?" Merlin was so annoying¡­ despite the situation, he was so unnerving rxed¡­ still, Ryan more or less could understand where hees from. He endured many things and survived the end of his universe, or prevented it, it was hard to say. So, those significant incidents seemed like a normal urrence to him. Ryan finished healing himself and then looked around to see what he could do. If he could use the souls around, he probably would be able to gather a lot of mana, enough to go bain in time. However, he wasn''t the one who killed the elder gods or the others. So he had to find another way. "If you Teleport to the world where Loki created those herbs, you will solve your problem of mana, but you need to hurry up," Merlin said. "I don''t need your help," Ryan said. "Dear me¡­ you are almost as prideful as I am," Merlin said. "Whatever you try to do, you will only have a couple of seconds once I dispel this domain." Ryan looked around and made sure to engrave that scene in his eyes. He failed in defeating Chronus, and he obviously was someone who, due to his goals, would be a lot less troublesome than Ymir and Lucifer. Diamond Crossbow would work better if Ryan hit something valuable or full of energy. Aside from the mes that covered Earth now, nothing fit the criteria. However, there was something else Ryan could use to obtain mana: the sun. Ryan teleported to the massive sphere of fire nearby and felt his body melting even though he was thousands of kilometers away from it. Still, thanks to Sr Absorbtion, Ryan prevented his death. Congrattions! The skill Sr Absorbtion has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sr Absorbtion has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sr Absorbtion has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan bombarded the sun with two hundred copies of the Diamond Crossbow, and Ryan saw his mana being filled at an astonishing speed. In the end, it was better to have a normal weapon like that that could be replicated than a cursed one that could talk and couldn''t be replicated. It didn''t take long for Chronus to notice what Ryan was doing, but in the end, before he could approach, Ryan used Reset. For the first time, Ryan made the spell work and made the time go back for several minutes, and thanks to that, he finally noticed the nature of the spell. It didn''t make time go backward¡­ it was hard to exin, but it only influenced some targets that Ryan had previously had been in contact with. Since Ryan had been on Earth, all the events caused by Chronus had been undone. However, he could Chronus also following him while the skill was working. It seemed that those who had the same level of control over Reset also experienced the event. It made sense since Ryan didn''t lose his memories when Chronus used the spell before. However, it became evident that Chronus had other hidden cards. After a couple of seconds, Ryan saw himself standing in that moment when Femradiel was holding her belly. It seemed like she was about to finish her sentence, but she didn''t because she was already knew what was about to happen. The same could be said about the others, be they humans or elder gods. They knew the next events. Even though they didn''t have the power to use Reset, their future memories returned with them. "You are almost there, Ryan," Chronus said. "However, you didn''t buy as much time as you think. I didn''t mention before, but those two also can use Reset." Earth was back to normal, but it seemed that soon enough, it would face its imminent doom. Unlike Chronus, Ymir and Lucifer won''t hold back now that they know that Ryan could do that much. It was too dangerous to let another force emerge right now¡­ "Why didn''t you tell me that before?" Ryan asked after he hugged Femradiel gently. "I wasn''t sure, but I got this feeling just now¡­" Femradiel said after she returned the hug. "I suppose it can''t be helped¡­ I am sorry for failing you," Ryan said.. "Let''s fight together, and make sure that such a thing won''t happen again." Chapter 985 - Temporal Bow Femradiel and the others didn''t know how they could help. It was only natural since most of them didn''t see what Ryan did with hisst arrows. In the blink of an eye, he summoned several weapons that had the same effects as his arrows. Swords, bows, spears¡­ the cost to use them was quite high, and aside from the elder gods and leaders of each group, most survivors could only use those once or twice. The elder gods hesitated in putting away their main weapons, but it couldn''t be helped. Temporal Bow Effect: at the cost of five thousand mana points, it grants you the power to fire arrows that can hit the target instantly no matter what. Dexterity +800, Intelligence + 200 Durability: 1000/1000 "Those are different from the arrows from before," Chronus said. "Where is your weapon?" "Thanks to you, I understand the tricks of time magic," Ryan said. "So, I don''t need it anymore." After saying that, Ryan summoned a Sr Arrow above him. Once it wasplete, it disappeared and then reappeared, hitting Chronus'' face. He reacted on time to prevent critical damage, but it still burned a small point of his face a little. "Impressive¡­ you learned that you can stabilize the time magic if you enhance the exterior and interior of the projectiles at the same time," Chronus said. "I suppose, you learned that when you used Time Skip on the arrows." That was right. Although the Enchantment worked, Ryan couldn''t help but frown since the projectile was too stable, considering that the magic item was just made of steel. Usually, the more powerful the effect, the material needs to be of a higher quality. However, it seemed that time magic had its own rules¡­ "Well then, let''s finish this," Chronus said. "They will return soon and I don''t want to deal with them anymore." Chronus opened his right hand, and then Ryan felt a shiver. It looked like he wasn''t nning to use big moves anymore, just thepact ones that were bound to hit Ryan. Although Ryan used Temporal Shield, he still got hit by something that he couldn''t quite tell¡­ he couldn''t see wounds, but he felt like his body was being ripped apart. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Time Resistance has leveled up. ¡­ Ryan''s health was decreasing at an astonishing pace. What saved him was the Health Link created by Femradiel. Although his life was secure for a while, the pain was insane. "A temporal attack that can''t be blocked and doesn''t have elemental attributes¡­" Ryan muttered while his face was contorting in pain. Before Ryan could prepare a counterattack, a single arrow appeared right in front of Chronus, and he grabbed it. His eyebrows twitched when he felt his mana being pierced and even more when several others appeared. Femradiel joined the battle, and then Chronus looked at her. Before he could do anything as well, numerous other arrows almost damaged Chronus. The other humans joined the fight as well. Unfortunately, their attacks weren''t powerful enough to pierce Chronus'' body. Chronus was forced to move his arms around and then block the point of some weapons that suddenly appeared around him. The ones used by the elder gods bothered him quite a lot¡­ that was right. The weapons that Ryan produced, even the melee ones, could be used from a distance. "This is starting to get annoying," Chronus frowned and then snapped his fingers. Ryan stopped feeling the pain, but the wounds in Chronus'' body disappeared instantly¡­ Time Reversal of Time Healing, it was only natural that he could do that. Regardless, that gave time for Ryan to make his move. He teleported to where Chronus was and then made hundreds of copies of Diamond Crossbow surround him. When all the triggers were pulled, Chronus imagined that Temporal Shield would protect him. After all, there was no way that Ryan would have enough mana to use time magic alongside so many projectiles at the same time. However, Chronus still got hit by three bolts. You obtained 454.332 coins. You obtained 454.332 coins. You obtained 454.332 coins. ¡­ Chronus didn''t bleed, but he saw that he had lost some skin and blood thanks to the bolts. That was right. Ryan managed to enhance three of those bolts with time magic while they were flying toward Chronus. Once again, he raised his right arm, and Ryan began to suffer. However, Ryan had been waiting for that. He opened his mouth and then used Dark Ice Breath. Even though Ryan lost sight of Chronus for a moment, he realized that his spell had caused a lot of damage when the pain passed. However, suddenly, Chronus appeared and grabbed Ryan by the neck, he began to feel those types of pain again, and that prevented him from using his head. "You sure learn fast, but this is enough," Chronus said. Amidst the pain and agony, Ryan found the power to grab Chronus'' arm. Now he won''t have the chance to use Temporal Shield and Temporal Healing. If he does, he will heal Ryan as well. Ryan just had to endure the pain while his allies were attacking Chronus. Health Link wassting for longer than Chronus had imagined. He thought that Ryan wouldn''t survive while he tried to break his neck and while he uses Temporal Pain, a spell that makes the target feel all the pain that he felt in thest year in a single instant. However, he was hanging in there. The damage piled up, and Chronus decided to throw Ryan away in order to heal himself, but he didn''t let his arm go. In the end, Chronus teleported them to the sun, which would increase the power of both of his attacks. While his n worked at first, it also made Ryan''s status increase. It made him recover more energy thanks to Sr Absorption and Sunlight Blessing.. Chronus understood that he had messed up when Ryan summoned hundreds of Sr Arrows enhanced with time magic. Chapter 986 - Last Words In thest moment, Chronus decided to throw Ryan at the sun, even if he had to burn as well. He could always recover once Ryan loses his consciousness. Ryan knew exactly what Chronus was thinking, so he fired the arrows to kill him first. Chronus tried to protect himself with his remaining arm, but in the end, he could only do so much against an enemy that could use the same magic as him. His face and body began to burn even more thanks to the power of the Sr Arrows. Without any other choice, Chronus used Temporal Healing and made his and Ryan''s wounds disappear. The mental strain disappearedpletely, but Ryan still was suffering more than him. When Chronus was about to Teleport himself and Ryan to even closer to the sun, he was forced to stop. He wondered why they stopped attacking him, even though they should be able to see him thanks to irvoyance¡­ as it turns out, the elder gods and humans prepared some charged attacks and then used those simultaneously. The impact on his back made Chronus fly toward the sun for quite a while, and he couldn''t do anything to slow down also for a while. Still, Ryan teleported them back to Earth while mustering all the willpower he had in the end. When they returned to Earth, Ryan finally let Chronus go because he barely had any strength to keep standing, much less to hold his arm. Chronus stopped trying to attack as well¡­ there was no point. He wanted to push Ryan even further, but his ns came to an end when he made those weapons. Even without using Foresight, he knew that things would end that way. Their bodies were covered in burn marks, but they still recognized Chronus when he sat down on the ground. As for Ryan, his armor, his clothes, all the air in his body, and even the extremities of his body had been burned to a crisp. Isis AND Femradiel approached to heal him while everyone else kept their weapons ready to be used. "You can rest easy now, see," Chronus said while showing his right hand that was turning into dust. "I have reached the limit of this body, so it is your win." That seemed too good to be true. After all, the group basically just attacked nonstop while Chronus ignored them. However, thanks to his eye, Odin could see and confirm that Chronus was really disappearing. "Now and then, this happens when this body gets too old," Chronus said. "In a few years, I will revive." That was also weirdly convenient. Still, Chronus was the physical manifestation of time, so it was only evident that he couldn''t die or be killed. They could destroy his body, but that was only a temporary solution. "Rather than staring at me, you should prepare your troops, all of them," Chronus said. "In five minutes, they will be here and they won''t hold back anymore." Chronus and Odin didn''t want to take their eyes from Chronus, so Athena and Isis began to prepare for the next battle. Summoning the angels, holy knights, and all those stationed in Israel was absolutely necessary. As well as try to mass-produce more weapons and defensive gear with those attributes. Few people could do that, though. Eventually, Ryan was back on his feet. Although it couldn''t be considered clothes, he used Frost Armor to prevent others from seeing him walking naked. Since Isis was pretty good at magic, she even managed to restore Ryan''s hair. That had been useful since, without it, he looked like a hammer. "You won, but you don''t feel satisfied," Chronus said. "That is because I know that you can''t be killed," Ryan said. "And because I couldn''t have defeated you alone." "You have a weird greed, it seems so small and grandiose at the same time," Chronus said. "Nevertheless, you will have your chance to satisfy this desire of yours." "How can you tell?" Ryan asked. "I thought that you would only give up once you see a future that is different from the ones you saw." "It is only an intuition, I can''t see the future now for some reason," Chronus said. "It is probably because what is going to happen hasn''t been decided yet. So, I will bet on your side." "It doesn''t make me feel better in the slightest knowing that someone that I hate is cheering for us," Ryan said. "Instead of that, hurry up and give us your power." "Maybe I should use the rest of my power and make sure that you won''t receive it," Chronus said. "That is fine, I am sure Merlin has analyzed all your powers," Ryan said. "You didn''t say that you don''t need my help as well?" Merlin asked. "It isn''t help, it is rent for keeping haunting me," Ryan replied. "I am very alive, though," Merlin said. "Ah¡­ this is somewhat refreshing," Chronus said after letting out a deep sigh. "This is the first time I talked so much with a species like yours. There isn''t much talking once they know who I am and what I did. Nevertheless, I hope that this won''t be thest time. For my sake as well, all of you have to win." "I will win, but you will be thest thing in my head when that happens," Ryan said. "I still disagree with your methods, but I can''t ignore the results," Athena said. "I don''t know for how long we will be able to do this, but I will make sure to deal with anything that might prejudice the universe as a whole in the future." "I missed so much fun thanks to you, so perhaps I will hunt you once this is all over," Loki said. "It will be easier to master your powers after defeating you Anyway." "Next time we meet, I would like to meet as friends," Isis said. "It would be really helpful to have someone who has lived for so long on our side, in order to prevent us from repeating the mistakes of other species." "As long as you are all on the side of those who protect, I can''t see, why not that shouldn''t be possible¡­" Chronus said and then let out another sigh.. "Best regards." Chapter 987 - Terrain Survivors and elder gods watched Chronus turning into dust with mixed feelings. Some could understand his actions, and some of them couldn''t forgive him. It was only obvious, though. After all, he killed many and destroyed Earth. He knew that Ryan could use Reset, but that doesn''t change everything. Congrattions! You have be a level one Time God. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one thousand points once this ss levels up. The effects of all-time-rted spells have doubled. You have learned the skills: Time Theft, Temporal Healing, and Temporal Conscience. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Time Theft. Effect: It grants you the power to take away all the energy of a target and absorb the remaining time they have. You can absorb 0.1 percent of the target lifespan and increase yours. The effectiveness of the skill will increase by the same amount with each level up. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Temporal Healing. Effect: It grants you the power to speed up time to a point where all your wounds will have been healed. Cost: 10.000 mana You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill: Temporal Conscience. Effect: It activates upon death, and it sends your conscience to a point in time based on the level of their mana. You can send back your conscience in time in one second for each 10.000 mana points you have. You obtained 01 status points. Those new skills were pretty useful, and it was even more awesome that pretty much everyone gained those skills and status. However, after the battle, Ryan couldn''t help but worry about it after the battle¡­ how would a world where thousands of humans and dozens of elder gods could control time like that? While Ryan was thinking about that, he suddenly felt the world spinning, and then he fell to his knees. He survived the craziest of the battles, but it came with a price. Even though he had been healed, Ryan''s condition wasn''t good. "Ryan!" Femradiel approached and gave him her shoulder to lean on. "I am just a bit tired, but now is the moment of the truth," Ryan said. "We can''t rest now." "While you aren''t wrong, your condition is worse than you can imagine," Isis said. "Rest for as long as you can, while we deal with the preparations for their arrival." "I will feel less worried if I rest while I watch everything and I am sure that I won''t be toote if something happens," Ryan said. "Well, I suppose that is like you," Isis said and then shrugged. "Still, don''t try to use your mana, otherwise you will copse and get sick that way as before and you won''t be able to fight for a while." "She is right, you should rest," Merlin said. "Your spirit receives a lot of damage when you push your limits in a nonconventional way¡­ that being said, I don''t think you will have the chance to do that." "What do you mean?" Ryan asked. "It is a bit hard, but I can feel Lucifer''s presence when he get within a certain distance and he is apparently preparing some souvenirs," Merlin replied. "Why do they like to do that so often?" "Why would you know that?" Femradiel frowned. "I will exinter," Ryan said. "Right now, we need to prepare for some attacks." "If I were you, I would keep your eyes on the sky," Merlin said. "Remember what Chronus did with the moon? Lucifer is doing the same with somes." Those who heard that opened their eyes widely. That was just insane, then again, considering that Chronus said that Lucifer could cause the destruction of the universe, firings shouldn''t be something so hard to him. "Which direction is he in?" Isis asked. "If he aims at the other side of the¡­" "Don''t worry, given the power that Ryan has, he will definitely try to smash him directly," Merlin replied. Without wasting time, Ryan created several copies of Diamond Crossbow. It was probably the best weapon the ordinary survivors could have. The only problem was that their dexterity determined their range, and survivors who focused on that were pretty few. "How much time do we have?" Ryan asked. "Probably one hour or so, he is teleporting thoses to this sr system, but he can''t exactly collide and kill all of you by doing that," Merlin exined. "He can give them an impulse and make them hit Earth with Perfect Aim, though. Right now, he teleported ten of them to Mars, but he isn''t satisfied with that. Once they began to move, you will have around forty five minutes." It was quite weird hearing Merling being so precise with that calculus. Regardless, Lucifer was nning to destroy the world and not give humans any chance to fight back. Even if they tried to use Reset or any other form of time magic, they couldn''t go back in time so much to prevent the attack. "Maybe we should fight him on Mars¡­" Femradiel said. "If he can Teleport entires, we can''t decide where the fight will be," Isis said. "He also can juste back to Earth while we are away and destroy everything," Zeus said. While they were thinking about what to do, the Angels and those who were with them in Israel finally showed up. When they heard about the news, they couldn''t help but clench their fists. It seems like that wasn''t the first time Lucifer had done such a thing. "We can''t let thoses get even a bit closer to Earth," Michael said. "Even If we destroy them from here, the fragments still will destroy a good part of the world. If we try to destroy them in outer space, wherever we decide to do it, we will only have a fraction of seconds to attack." Ryan could imagine that. Since thes could cross the distance between Earth and Mars in just forty-five minutes, they must be moving at one-third of the speed of light.. That was like one hundred thousand of kilometers per second and seven times faster than Earth could move. Chapter 988 - Power "We will have to sacrifice some of us, if we make powerful enough beings to cause an explosion of mana with their bodies, it will be enough to destroy evenrges," Michael said. "Around fifty holy knights should be able to create an explosion big enough to make any explode." They were already talking about sacrifices without trying anything else. Ryan didn''t like that, but he could understand Michael''s reasoning. His people reached thus far made a lot ofpromises. Most of them gave up even on their free will. "Based on what we know about Lucifer, we can''t say that this n will be effective," Zeus said. "Lucifer can recover his mana indefinitely with the power of lust, so he will be able to keep attacking us like that for as long as he can. With that in mind, sacrificing our soldiers is the worst thing we can do now." Zeus was quite the battle-oriented elder god, so he was used to losing soldiers. So, he talks like that seemed weird, but since he went all his way to say that, it became obvious that he was correct. Unfortunately, he didn''t have another option to solve the matter. "I suppose our best option is to use the temporal weapons Ryan created and aim to the core of thoses," Isis said. "Ryan, Artemis, and Apollo are powerful enough with bows and crossbows to cause massive damage with them, so we can leave them to bombard the core of somes by themselves. We can''t just keep watching that, though. The remaining elder gods will work together to attack as well. The humans will remain on standby and use their weapons if something happens." Only those who had lightning-fast reflexes and irvoyance could hope to hit the core of thoses, so it was only obvious that most humans wouldn''t be able to pull that off. Survivors like Femradiel, Zoe, Natasha, and Mia couldn''t help but feel a bit annoyed since their skills with those weapons weren''t enough. Now that Ryan thought about it, few Male humans used bows and crossbows¡­ "Sit down and rest a little," Femradiel said and then put her hands on Ryan''s shoulders to force her toy down. "We have some time and you need to recover your strength." Ryan obeyed since that was true. However, he couldn''t quite rx since Ymir still was out there, and no one had any idea what he was up to. While Ryan was thinking about what to do, he suddenly noticed that some powerful and big presences had appeared. When he looked in that direction, he saw Alissa surrounded by hundreds of pendragons. "That is right¡­ those guys can enhance our status," Ryan said. "Nakine''s dungeon is in my domain, so I decided to take those," Alissa said when she approached. "The world is United to face thest two enemies, so we need to use everything in our power." "What about Nakine and his allies?" Ryan asked. "They think that this battle is way out of their league and that their world might be the next target if they join this fight," Alissa said. "I also agree with that, so I didn''t ask for their help. Anyway, let''s divine those among us." Summoning those dragons was quite expensive, so Nakine didn''t summon many. He only had enough to enhance Ryan and the others with the power of the Draconic Lord ss. Although there were enough dragons to enhance their status by three hundred percent, they only obtained a bonus of one hundred¡­ The dragons took too much space, and the effects of the skills were limited. Still, that power up was more than Ryan could ask for¡­ "It ising¡­" Merlin said. The next minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Lucifer finally acted. Although the group still had more than forty minutes, they decided to stop the enemy as soon as possible. When Ryan used irvoyance, he saw several points in the part of the Sr system where Mars was supposed to be¡­ from that distance. It was pretty hard to tell, but Ryan could see forty or sos the size of Earthmoving toward them. It was hard to say if it was due to Lucifer''s influence or he chose the worst stars he could find. But those words seemed so dead that it was hard to find any color on them aside from ck and red. "We will test if this n can work right now," Isis dered. "Ryan will attack the closest one and then Artemis, and then Apollo will do the same. Don''t try to hold back, if you seed on the first try, you can adjust the powerter." Ryan was itching to see if he actually could destroy a by himself. If he seeds, not only will he boost the morale of his allies, but he also will annoy the heck out of Lucifer. After activating Time Skip, Ryan used Draconic Bow. The skill reached a level where Ryan could make it fly faster than light, and thanks to Time Skip, it hit dark-red was ahead of the others. It would be a lot easier if Ryan could have used a bow and fired many enhanced arrows, but that would take too much time, and only a bow made of mithril would make him show his true power. At first, nothing happened. At least no one noticed what had happened since the ne was so far away and it was so dark. However, Ryan''s attack created a hole in it that reached the other side. The core of the was destroyed. After a few seconds, all the matter began to spread around the universe in an ever-expanding radius. Congrattions! The ss Sun Lord has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Sun Lord has leveled up. ¡­ "I suppose that it is not bad for a first try," Ryan nodded to himself in satisfaction. Although Isis had proposed that idea and no one disagreed with it, the elder gods were quite shocked.. A human finally obtained the power to destroy worlds like that in their entirety. Chapter 989 - Cheat You obtained 111.387.988 coins. "How weird¡­ why did I receive coins for destroying a?" Ryan frowned. Artemis was the next one to try, but she needed some time to prepare. While she could just bombard the next with her arrows, she decided to y it safe and just fire a single arrow¡­ a single arrow created by a Temporal Bow, but that would be enhanced with massive amounts of lunar energy that she could control. Fortunately, she didn''t take her time channeling one attack. After thirty or so seconds, the arrow disappeared, and Ryan saw the that she had targeted glowing several times until it cracked in many parts. It didn''t explode per se, but it seemed that she indeed hit the core and made the dead fall apart. Apollo was already reading to shoot, much to everyone''s surprise. While he and Artemis werepetitive about every single thing, he still knew that his sister would pull that off. He didn''t want to stay behind either, so he concentrated so much Sr energy in a single arrow that everyone nearby, aside from those who have high endurance and a lot of health, had to move away due to the massive heat emitted. A few seconds after Apollo fired, the he had targeted became a massive sphere of magma before exploding. He looked at Artemis with a smug expression on his face, as if that was apetition as well. The other elder gods prepared themselves because it was their turn. Their skills with bows were pretty much the same, so they decided to fire at the same time. They charged Power Shot for thirty seconds and then fired. Something unexpected afterward, the they had targeted began to turn into dust slowly¡­ probably thebination of their powers created a chain reaction or something that caused that. Regardless, they confirmed that the n could work, and now they just had to adjust their powers. That was the original n, but¡­ the whole world began to tremble, and they felt some trouble reappearing in the world. "Shit¡­ he isn''t going to get on Lucifer''s path, but he won''t let us deal with Lucifer in peace," Ryan said. The spectral copies were back, even though Ymir didn''t show up yet. This time, everyone could feel so many presences that they couldn''t help but frown. When Ryan used irvoyance, he saw an army outside New York, and based on their numbers¡­ Ymir created a copy for each elder god, human, and angel. "How much mana does he have¡­" Isis said, visibly shocked. "He can''t copy this weapons, so we should be able to take them down," Femradiel said. As soon as Femradiel finished that sentence, the spectral copies suddenly created armors around their whole body. While the material was the same as their bodies, it would increase their resistance quite a bit. "Ymir only wants to get in our way," Odin said. "We will have to divide our forces, we can''t let them attack us first either." The problem was the fact that Ryan, Artemis, and Apollo wouldn''t be able to fight. The spectral copies of Apollo and Artemis had the same power level. However, while Ryan''s was weaker than him, it was still stronger than most elder gods. "I am sure I can kill that fast enough¡­" Ryan said. "No, you are already pushing yourself too far attacking thoses," Femradiel said. "I will deal with your copy." "All right then," Ryan said. Femradiel got a little behindtely, but she still had the strength that surpassed the elder gods. So, she probably could handle it. If anything, that also was a good opportunity for her to be even stronger¡­ Aside from Ryan, Artemis, and Apollo, everyone else went to face the copies, but unfortunately, the copies attacked first. The copies of the elder gods, alongside the others that were pretty powerful, began to fly andunched their attacks toward those three were. However, Odin and Zeus blocked those projectiles with their temporal weapons. The ordinary survivors tried to attack the flying enemies. Still, soon they were forced to give up when their copies began to use magic and fire numerous projectiles toward them. It was a rain of magic attacks like no other. After all, they were copies of humanity''s strongest. The humans blocked the attacks with their temporal weapons as they advanced to attack. Meanwhile, the things above were getting pretty intense. While the elder gods had the advantage, they couldn''t win instantly. As for Femradiel, his hands were full to prevent her and Ryan''s spectral copy could attacking others. "Your girlfriend sure is skillful," Merlin said. "But she won''t be able to keep that pace forever." "If you have something to say, then say it already, don''t wait for me to ask," Ryan said, visibly annoyed. "If something happens, I can always cover for her." "True, you can use time magic, but that will be a roundabout way to solve things," Merlin said. "You should have plenty of coins now to do that, so using Absolute Buying, create the best bow that you can make using mithril as material. While Femradiel isn''t much of an archer, she is among the best aside from you three." Ryan wondered howe he didn''t think of that before. It was so simple¡­ "Don''t feel too bad about it, you didn''t have time to learn how limitless magic can be," Merlin said. "Besides, you are an archer." Hearing Merlin trying tofort him only made Ryan feel more pissed, but he wasn''t stupid enough to ignore his advice. Regardless, without wasting any more time, Ryan used Absolute Buying to create the most powerful bow all the coins he had could create using mithril. The skill worked, and a weapon made of mithril began to appear in front of Ryan. That gave him some insight¡­ how much do his temporal weapons cost? He used less than ten thousand points of mana, and considering their effects¡­ maybe Ryan could cheat the system using that.... Chapter 990 - Final Battle (1) Chronus Mithril Bow +40 (Legendary) Effect: at the cost of one thousand mana points, it grants you the power to fire arrows that can''t be dodged and will hit the targets no matter where they are. You can fire as many arrows as you want at the same time. Dexterity + 15.000, Intelligence + 5.000 Durability: 10.000/10.000 "Tsk¡­ this name pisses me off so much," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Ryan decided to cheat the systemter. First, he focused on creating and upgrading Femradiel''s weapon. At first, probably because of its size, the weapon was five times weaker. Still, once Ryan upgraded it, it became the most powerful weapon he had seen. If he had leveled and evolved the Lord of cksmithing ss¡­ "Ryan¡­ thes are getting closer, we need your help," Artemis said. "Ah, my bad," Ryan said. Since he focused on that alone, he left Artemis and Apollo working alone. Regardless, he teleported the weapon to Femradiel and then resumed his task. When Femradiel got the new weapon, she felt her power increasing so fast that she couldn''t help but get excited¡­ that was probably the strongest weapon that the alliance had in their hands. Without wasting time, she pointed it toward the enemies, and then dozens of them exploded. You obtained 55.555 coins. You obtained 55.555 coins. You obtained 55.555 coins. ... "Hehe, now it is your turn," Femradiel said while looking at the two most troublesome spectral copies. Although she used almost all her mana in the previous attack, it was full again. Infusing mana while using Lilith''s power had be second nature for her, after all. The spectral copies felt the danger for their lives and then used magic to protect themselves, but it was useless. Not even a thick barrier of spectral energy prevents them from exploding in a single instant. You obtained 9.545.777 coins. You obtained 19.545.777 coins. "I sure could get used to this," Femradiel nodded, visibly impressed. "Oh, wait¡­ I can''t be greedy like Ryan. Things won''t work out this way." Femradiel began to help the others nonstop, and that quickly changed the tide of the battle. They didn''t suffer any losses for the time being, but the humans were starting to run out of mana. "It seems that my idea worked well, where are my thanks?" Merlin asked. "I never heard of someone working to pay for their crimes being thanked by guards," Ryan said. "Regardless, don''t bother me, I am busy." You obtained 5.545.333 coins. You obtained 5.545.333 coins. You obtained 5.545.333 coins. ... Ryan had destroyed five others, and now he had a minute of rest since it was Artemis and Apollo''s turn. However, he was using that time to create weapons using time magic and then selling them to the system. "I really don''t get the logic but this is insanely useful as it is scary¡­" Ryan said. "Come to think of it, who is buying these things? Lucifer since you said that he obtained the power of the creature that developed the mana system?" "No, this system wasn''t created by Lucifer, this universe already had mana when he obtained that power. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to assimte all that power and knowledge." Merling exined. "The system created by our universe''sst boss was created in order for him to obtain all the knowledge and powers that could be learned and created. This system wasn''t created, it just suddenly came to be since there were many powerful creatures that had a lot of mana crossing the cosmos. Their mana was left behind and began to spread on somes. Its goal is to keep expanding and that is why it is buying your magic items. They have a lot of mana and if they stay in a world for long enough, it will spread the energy around. Since the system is like this, I was able to customize it and add the ss system." It seemed weird to think that something that didn''t have a proper conscience was doing all that just for the purpose of expansion. Regardless, considering that it didn''t do anything to stop Merlin''s interference, then it was probably just another force of nature in action. Eventually, both groups managed to deal with the threats. Thes moving toward Earth had been destroyed, and the spectral copies had been decimated. However, the war wasn''t over yet. It wouldn''t be over until Lucifer and Ymir were out of the picture. "What now?" Loki asked. "We can''t let our guard down yet," Isis replied. "Both of them still had many abilities to show and they can be much more troublesome if theye to fight directly." Although that would cost tons of mana, Ryan decided to use Search and see what those two were up to. Nothing good woulde of letting them do whatever they want and just react to it. However, dividing their forces and leaving the to bring the fight to them was just too dangerous. Ryan looked for Lucifer first, and when he saw him approaching the sun. That couldn''t be a good sign¡­ weirdly enough, he also felt another presence near Lucifer. It was Ymir. "Such ack of originality¡­" Merlin said and then sighed. "They are nning to make the sun go Supernova and destroy you guys alongside the whole sr system, if not the whole milky way." When the survivors heard that, they couldn''t help but freeze in shock. That was just too much¡­ howe the enemies now were able to pull off such crazy skills and tactics? The best humans could do by themselves was break rocks with their bare hands or make magic projectiles as big as houses fall from the sky¡­ "We have to stop them," Ryan said. "Let''s attack and annoy the heck out of him." Again, only those with irvoyance and a lot of mana would be able to do that, but it was the only real option. Actually, there was another, but Ryan decided to keep quiet about it. Everyone nodded, and once again, they divided themselves into two groups. Ryan, Artemis, and Apollo would attack Lucifer, and the others who could use irvoyance would attack Ymir. For quite a while, they used all their might. Lucifer began to bleed all over as Ymir began to tremble since the numerous attacks were hitting his real body. That n wouldn''t work, so Ryan decided to bet on the second one.... Chapter 991 - Final Battle (2) "We won''t be able to stop them, unless we get close enough," Ryan said. "Still taking all of us to space and fight there without support of all of our forces won''t be a good idea. So¡­" "Don''t even start with it, Ryan," Femradiel said. "Your days of ying the lonely wolf are over." "At least let me finish my n¡­" Ryan said and then shrugged. "If I were to face Lucifer alone, his pride would force him to face me. However, I can''t see myself defeating him¡­ yet. That is why I will need your help. We will basically fight together but in different ces. I want all your mana to create the perfect bow or crossbow for my draconis form." The logic was simple, but it seemed like a good n. Lucifer was the demon of pride, so he would take the bait. Ymir probably won''t join the fight unless one of them is about to die. He would wait until the veryst moment until both sides were half dead or not attentive to their surroundings. That was the smart thing to do. Ymir''s skills were still mostly a mystery, so the others had to keep him busy. Besides, as much as they wanted to disagree with that, Ryan was the strongest among the group. He had defeated the leaders and the strongest members of the Norse and Olympian gods by himself, after all. "I disagree with your n," Michael said. "We are the ones who are supposed to defeat Lucifer." "What is most important: him dead or your ego inted?" Ryan asked. "Against you guys, he will only feel more pumped, after all, you are their mortal enemies. If you think that the Angels and the holy knights can defeat them in space, then it is fine. I won''t get in your way, but since you didn''t propose that, it doesn''t look like you are confident in that possibility." Michael, who usually stays calm most of the time, couldn''t help but clench his fist. Ryan was right, but admitting that directly was¡­ Regardless, they didn''t have time to waste. If they don''t attack both creatures as much as possible, they will be able to reach their goals. "Let''s go with his n, Michael," Gabriel stepped forward and then said. "I won''t ask for the impossible, but if you have the chance, use this power to defeat him." A light left Gabriel''s body and then was absorbed by Ryan. He wished that the other could give a hand as well, but asking for that would be too much. Ryan heard that not a single human had the blessing of the four angels, so giving their power to their outside would be impossible. Congrattions! You have be a Level one Angelic Archer! You obtained the following skills: Angelic Arrow, Angelic Hunt, and Holy Explosion. All of your statuses have increased and will increase by one hundred points once this ss levels up. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Angelic Arrow Effect: it gives you the power to fire an arrow of light that will cause five times more damage against demons and undead. The damage initial will be equal to your dexterity, and the damage caused by the holy effect willst for ten seconds. It will be equal to ten percent of your intelligence. Cost: 5.000 mana. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Angelic Hunt Effect: it temporarily increases all of your attributes by one percent per minute. The maximum bonus will be equal to the level of the skill. You obtained 01 status points. Congrattions! You have learned the skill Holy Explosion Effect: it Grants you the power to make arrows enchanted with holy magic leave a mark on the target that will explode when this skill is activated. The level of the skill determines how many marks you can activate at the same time. Cost: 5.000 You obtained 01 status points. Ryan proceeded to make those skills level up a bit to make them more useful. While time magic was enough to damage Lucifer, to kill him, Ryan will need more. While he was doing that, the others passed as much mana as possible to Femradiel. After all, they were connected through Mana Link. After that, Ryan proceeded to use all that mana to create a massive bow made of mithril. It was even bigger than him in his Draconic form, but that also showed how much punch it could pack in it. The weapon didn''t have a color, but it was emitting a semi-transparent glow that looked like it was distorting the space. Sometimes, Ryan felt that he wasn''t even touching it, but the weapons still were there. Mithril Bow of the Dragon God of Time (+100) (Legendary) Effect: at the cost of ten thousand points of mana, it Grants you the power to hit the enemy whenever you wish for it, even without pulling the string. This weapon will always cause critical hits and will apply the effects of all your passive skills no matter. Dexterity + 111.000, Intelligence + 55.000, Recovery + 55.000, Speed + 55.000. Durability: 25.000/25.000 "What the fuck¡­ why this bow can apply the effects of all my skill?" Ryan frowned while looking at a supersized version of the bow his father gave to him. "Because you didn''t use your mana alone to craft it," Merlin replied. "Anyway, Lucifer just transformed, so I guess you don''t have much time." Ryan nodded and prepared to leave, but before he could do it, Femradiel hugged him from behind. She sure liked to do that, still, since she didn''t say anything, Ryan understood that she still didn''t like that n, even if it was the only way to draw the attention of one of the enemies without losing too many resources and manpower. "Don''t worry about it, for the first time in a while, I have a good feeling about a battle," Ryan said.. "I will be back soon." Chapter 992 - Final Battle (3) After so many recent power-ups, the effectiveness of Teleport increased quite a bit. For the current Ryan, reaching the sun in a matter of seconds was something simple. "I didn''t go against your n, but you really should have some back up right now just in case," Merlin asked. "Lucifer was never pushed against the wall, so his true power still is unknown." "No one asked," Ryan said. "Well, I am sure you will be fine if you create a sword with this edginess of yours," Merlin said. Before Ryan could get too close, he already used his bow and hit Lucifer. The demon spun in the space upon getting hit by behind, and a wound was opened in his back. Although he was in his true form, Ryan''s attack couldn''t bepared to before, so it was only obvious that he could aplish that much. As long as Lucifer doesn''t have six forms, Ryan was confident that he could win. Congrattions! The skill Angelic Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Angelic Arrow has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Angelic Arrow has leveled up. ... Before Lucifer could recover from the attack, Ryan noticed that Ymir was using some defensive spells on the other side of the sun. Still, none of them were working against the temporal weapons. He seriouslycked in experience against weapons enhanced with the power of time¡­ Before Ryan could attack again, he saw some meteors appearing out of nowhere and flying toward him. He easily destroyed those with his newest bow. However, when thest one suddenly exploded by his attack, Lucifer appeared and tried to grab his neck. Ryan dodged by using Evading Shot, but he still felt shivers. The main reason was the fact that Lucifer was much bigger than before. He was probably twenty meters tall, and his demonic form should be four times smaller¡­ "It seems you didn''t defeat Chronus by chance¡­" Lucifer red at Ryan. "You also assimted his powers pretty fast. Is it because of that human helping you?" "The ones who are helping me are on Earth, this guy here is just haunting me," Ryan said. "I am not a ghost¡­" Merlin said and then sighed. "Let''s work together Ryan, taking the power he assimted is imperative to prevent future problems." "I am not interested in working with someone so ipetent," Ryan said. "Besides, I don''t trust liars." "Come on, think about it," Merlin said. "Your defensive skills sucks, so if i had revealed my existence to you earlier, those three would have discovered it as well." Ryan decided to ignore Merlin, he didn''t mind working with the people of Earth, but he wouldn''t receive Merlin''s help. He was an outsider, and Ryan wanted a satisfying closure for those numerous pages filled with battles from his life. Getting involved with Merlin wouldn''t give him that closure. Not to mention, he didn''t want to owe him anything. Lucifer suddenly disappeared and attacked Ryan''s neck with his ws, but in the end, he only hit his after image. Ryan was already far away from him, and he didn''t see him moving¡­ that was unexpected. Lucifer still should be faster, so how? Ryan fired two arrows, one at the face and another toward Lucifer''s heart, but he grabbed those as soon as they appeared. Although his left eye and heart were pierced, he didn''t even flinch. He only was pushed back a few dozen meters. Without the surprise element, Ryan''s attacks couldn''t damage him all that much. Rather, Lucifer wouldn''t let himself be damaged all that much. Although Ryan said that he wouldn''t need help, he could see Lucifer growing stronger with each passing minute. His status was also growing alongside it¡­ so Ryan had to deal with him as soon as possible. Since mana was no longer a problem due to the effects of the bow, Ryan began to relentlessly attack Lucifer in order to make the effects of his skills grow stronger as well. It was probably the only way to keep up with the demon. However, Ryan began to feel his mana being drained by Lucifer''s eyes¡­ he was using Greed power. "Oh? You want to y like that?" Ryan smiled and then undid his Draconic Transformation. Your dexterity has increased by 4000 points. Your dexterity has increased by 4000 points. Your dexterity has increased by 4000 points. ¡­ Lucifer opened his eyes widely when he saw that. It was a power different from the ones created by him. It was the power created by the system itself, after all. Once he realized that he was going to lose in that exchange, Lucifer created a sphere of dark energy and forced Ryan to move away. Before Ryan could stop, hundreds of dark bolts appeared around him and then pierced his body. The temporal shield didn''t protect him¡­ However, the power of the angels helped Ryan and prevented those from piercing too deeply. After he saw Ryan using time healing and canceling the effects of the attack, Lucifer recognized that for the time being, long-ranged attacks wouldn''t be useful. It was only a matter of time, though¡­ Ryan had no idea how strong he could be using the power of pride and wrath. When Lucifer pointed one of his fingers to Ryan, he felt his stamina being drained. That was Belphegor''s power¡­ Ryan''s body wavered due to the exhaustion, and Lucifer used that chance to drop-kick his face. Ryan felt his skull cracking as he was spinning in space, and before he could stop, Lucifer punched his stomach. His speed had increased again¡­ instead of solving the problem of the constant power-ups that Lucifer can obtain pretty much whenever possible, Ryan was getting his ass kicked¡­ However, when Death sense warned Ryan of the next attack, he suddenly stopped moving.. He then used a Draconic Bow on Lucifer''s face. At point-nk range, he was bound to feel the power of the attack that could destroys¡­ but unfortunately, when Lucifer stopped moving in the opposite direction, Ryan only saw a few wounds making just a bit of blood to flow¡­ Chapter 993 - Final Battle (4) "It seems you are in a race against time, Ryan," Merlin said. "His numerous sins keep increasing his strength at an exponentially speed, while you have the skills to do the same, the number and the qualities of the skill still is a problem." "Thank you for stating the obvious," Ryan said. When Lucifer recovered, he flew toward Ryan at an astonishing speed and then tried to rip him apart with his ws. Once again, Ryan escaped at thest moment thanks to Evading Shot. However, despite the fact that he escaped the attack, something happened that caused some mental damage. Lucifer''s ws didn''t hit anything, but the space began to vibrate and distort in the area his ws touched. "What was that¡­" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in shock. "His strength grew to the point where he can damage the fabric of space and reality," Merlin said. "If he keeps getting stronger like this, his physical attacks will open ck holes. They might notst long, but if a ck hole appear so close to Earth or the sun¡­" It would be disastrous. Things wouldn''t be so simple to solve with Reset. After all, Ryan had to keep physical contact with something to make it go back in time. When Lucifer prepared another attack, Ryan used Foresight for a single moment and then saw the future movements of his ws. Hence, he attacked them with his bow. Lucifer finally realized that he saw the future to dodge his attacks, and now he was doing that to prevent them since he was afraid of what those could cause. Instead of frustration, Lucifer feels really excited. He smiled from ear to ear and then licked his lips. The mana in Lucifer''s body grew, but then he used it to increase his status. Ryan also could do that with the power of greed, so he understood what happened. Still, instead of worried, he got creeped out due to seeing a demon licking his lips in front of him. In any case, Ryan had to find a way to deal with Lucifer as soon as possible. That was probably the first time where Ryan was the one who wouldn''t benefit from a long battle, even though he was the weakest and still had room for improvement. When Lucifer attacked again, Ryan fired numerous arrows toward his eyes in order to stop him¡­ it didn''t work. Even though the arrows were piercing his head, Lucifer approached andshed his ws at him. Just like Merlin said, the attack altered the fabric of space and pulled Ryan towards it for a moment. He escaped, but it was only a matter of time. While Ryan was sweating cold, Lucifer took the arrows from his eyes, and then those quickly regenerated. "This is starting to get boring," Lucifer said. Lucifer moved his arms to the side, and then vast concentrations of mana began to circle around him. Ryan used that chance to attack him non-stop, but even while his body was being torn into shreds, he didn''t stop. In the blink of an eye, several ck spheres appeared around Lucifer, and it seemed those werepletely under his control¡­ Ryan could feel a powerful gravitational field pulling him toward them¡­ it seemed like a ck hole, but at the same time, it wasn''t¡­ Lucifer made those surround Ryan, and he could feel his body getting much heavier. He tried to attack those, but since they were only massive concentrations of mana, his attacks didn''t have any effect. By looking at those and using Mana Stealer, Ryan managed to recover a lot of mana. Still, before the skill could have any effect on the spells, Lucifer charged, and this time, Ryan didn''t have the chance to dodge it, even though he saw the attack with Foresight. As if he knew that the next attack wouldnd, Lucifer had prepared a punch that made Ryan''s being tremble from head to toe. In just a moment, the punch made him fly for thousands of kilometers¡­ when Lucifer approached tond the next attack, Ryan felt shivers while looking at his vicious smile for a single moment. Out of reflex, he used Dark Ice Breath, and the attack actually froze Lucifer. However, the dark ice began to turn into regr ice soon enough¡­ Lucifer absorbed the corruption and grew five meters taller. "You have got to be kidding me," Ryan said. "For a human, you sure have some dark thoughs," Lucifer said. "It has been a while since I absorbed such pure corrupt energy from a being like you." Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. That was probably the first time his own attack only served to power up the enemy. As if the situation wasn''t bad enough, he finally noticed that the dark spheres followed him while he was flying thanks to the punch. Attacking them normally was useless, so he summoned dozens of copies of his Spiritualist''s Crossbow to deal with them. Using all the coins and mana Ryan had obtained since the start of the battle, he increased his speed in order to deal better against the effects of the dark spheres, but it didn''t seem like it worked. Lucifer charged once again, and this time, even though he headbutted him, Ryan didn''t react in time. Being punched was something, but being headbutted in the chest made Ryan feel pain like no other¡­ not to mention Lucifer''s horns pierced his chest quite deeply. Angelic Protection saved him once again, but it was clear that it wouldn''t work forever. "It can''t be helped¡­" Ryan muttered while he was feeling the taste of blood in his mouth. When Lucifer attacked again, Ryan didn''t try to dodge it or escape¡­ he fired dozens of arrows on his face. He had the chance to make it unrecognizable, but then he got punched as well. Fortunately, he escaped the critical damage thanks to all the health he stole using Vampirism. You obtained 15.684.698 coins. You obtained 15.684.698 coins. You obtained 15.684.698 coins. ¡­ Chapter 994 - Final Battle (5) Much sooner than Ryan had expected, he understood that his n wouldn''t work. Causing damage while receiving damage and hope that his Vampirism would solve everything had been more than a mistake. He noticed that on the third mindless charge that Lucifer did. Even though his face waspletely destroyed multiple times, he took the arrows out from his face like they caused the same amount of pain as mosquito bites. As for Ryan¡­ his bones were shattering with every single impact. While he solved that issue with Temporal Healing, there was another pressing issue in front of him¡­ Now Lucifer was even bigger than Ryan. "What a freak¡­" Ryan said while biting his lips in annoyance. Ryan finally had got rid of the dark spheres that messed up with the gravitational field around him, but it seemed those had been just used to gain some time for Lucifer. It was hard to admit it, but it seemed like he had gotten three times stronger just in the past ten minutes. Lucifer''s power level reached a point where Ryan couldn''t even try to stop his attacks using Foresight or even Death Sense. If he tried to dodge the attacking know where Lucifer would attack, he would have to move away even before he moved his body. Lucifer would notice that and then prepare another attack¡­ it was really annoying. Still, Foresight was basically useless when the difference in speed was just too big. When Lucifer attacked again, Ryan just moved his arms to protect his face. Lucifer could have aimed at his stomach instead since he saw that, but while smirking, he continued the motion of the attack. His punchpletely broke Ryan''s arms and made his neck move backward almost beyond its natural limits. Much faster than before, Ryan flew toward the sun. Congrattions! The skill Sunlight Blessing has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sunlight Blessing has leveled up. Congrattions! The skill Sunlight Blessing has leveled up. ¡­ Although that hadn''t been within his n, Ryan recovered quickly from the attack, thanks to Sunlight Blessing. The skill worked much more efficiently while he was so close to the sun. That might help him decrease the difference between them a little, so he made the skill level up. However, Ryan soon noticed that he wouldn''t have time for that when he looked at Lucifer, and he saw him creating a massive sphere of dark energy¡­ Baal used that all the time, but he couldn''t just make ten times bigger than himself with his mana alone. Again, Ryan tried to attack the sphere, but it didn''t work. Eating away the mana with Chaotic Hunger Crossbow, Diamond Crossbow, or with anything else wouldn''t solve the problem fast enough. To make matters worse, if he dodges that, Lucifer will hit the sun. "What a clever bastard¡­" Ryan muttered under his breath. "Are you ready to work together now?" Merlin asked. "Maybe I should have told you this earlier, but I didn''t defeat thest boss alone, I did with my friends. There is no need to be sopetitive." "Shut up¡­ my friends are already here with me," Ryan said, pointing to his bow. "Wait a minute, I will send this scene to your friends, I am sure they will be d to see you hear that," Merlin said. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He couldn''t believe that a guy like that defeated an enemy even stronger than Lucifer. Regardless, Ryan already had a n in mind, it was a bit risky, but the environment would help him. When Lucifer fired the massive sphere of dark energy, Ryan opened his mouth and then used Dark Ice Breath alongside Draconic Bow. He used all his mana he could gather in a single instant, hoping that the corrupt energy in both attacks would cancel each other. The massive explosion caused by the collision of massive amounts of mana made the space vibrate and even crack around them. Ryan imagined that his temporal arrows could do the same thing, but with more finesse, since the projectiles were stabilized, unlike those attacks. Just as Ryan had imagined, the coldness of space gave his attack an edge over Lucifer''s dark sphere of energy, and even though he used less mana than the enemy, both attacks canceled each other. Unfortunately, Ryan didn''t have to rest before that. Lucifer suddenly appeared and grabbed him by the neck. "Fuck off, asshole," Ryan said and then fired dozens of Angelic Arrows and made the marks on Lucifer''s body explode with Holy Explosion. Even though those skills weren''t a high level, they caused a lot of damage since they were at point-nk range, Lucifer''s firstyer of skin even began to melt, but he didn''t let Ryan go with only that. Instead of that, heshed his ws in the air and then made a distortion appear on their side. "Let''s y somewhere more fun," Lucifer said. That wasn''t good, Ryan bombarded Lucifer''s arms with his bow in order to free himself, but that didn''t work. In the end, they passed through the distortion before it could disappear. Only after that, Lucifer threw Ryan away and begin to heal his body. When Ryan recovered from the attack, he noticed that he couldn''t feel anyone''s presence. Even the link he had with Femradiel had been too weakened due to the distance for him to be able to see if she was alright. Although he still was in outer space, Ryan noticed that that part was too well illuminated. When he looked around, he saw numerous suns around¡­ that wasn''t supposed to be possible. "Let''s see how you will like this," Lucifer said and then pointed both hands toward Ryan. Ryan felt the gravitational field in the area changing again, and even though it was slight, he noticed the sun moving toward him. That was bad, that was really bad¡­ Ryan had to destroy them. "Do you know what will happen when you attack them?" Lucifer asked with that annoying smile on his face. "They will go Supernova, imagine dozens of suns going supernova in the same region¡­" The idea alone made Ryan feel shivers¡­ unfortunately, the worst part of Ryan''s day wasn''t over yet. "Don''t worry, Ryan," Merlin said.. "If you fail here, I will avenge you." Chapter 995 - Final Battle (6) A few minutes earlier¡­ As soon as Ryan left to lure Lucifer to a fight, the other members of the alliance who stayed behind began to relentlessly attack Ymir. Weirdly enough, they saw results pretty early on. Ymir was unable to do anything with the sun, and every time an arrow appeared inside his ethereal body, he would tremble and feel pain. Eventually, he understood that just because Ryan and Lucifer were out of the picture, for the time being, he wouldn''t be able to do whatever he wanted. So, he teleported to Earth and suddenly appeared standing above the army. "It seems you have obtained a huge deal of power while I was away," Ymir said while furrowing his eyebrows. "I really didn''t expect Chronus would fall that easily¡­ I never understood him truly..." Ymir snapped his fingers, and then thunder clouds began to appear all over the world. Insanely fast, powerful thunder bolts began to fall and even hit the army. Before they could suffer too much damage, Odin, Zeus, and Thor began to fly and also being targeted by all the falling thunderbolts. They could take that, but attacking at the same time was¡­ something that even them couldn''t do in that situation. Ymir could have copied Chronus, but instead of making the atmosphere disappear, he fired a green sphere of energy downward. Before anyone could do anything, it hit the. For a while, nothing really happened, but soon, a poisonous green miasma began to emanate from all parts of the world. The survivors who breathed that felt sick, and some who had low-level poison resistance fell straight unconscious instantly while their health was being decreased. Femradiel and the other elder gods bombarded Ymir''s face with their weapons, but while that was obviously annoying, the target. It didn''t stop him. Not to mention, he didn''t seem actually wounded or exhausted. His presence didn''t grow weaker either¡­ Alissa and the others who could turn into dragons transformed and then approached Ymir to use their breaths. However, before they could get close enough to attack, a powerful aura emanating from his body hit them, and their bodies froze. After a while, everyone saw a thickyer of ice covering their bodies and hurried to help. "He really is a master among masters of magic¡­" Isis said with her eyes wide open. "We don''t have time to be amazed here," Femradiel said. "¡­ You are right," Isis nodded. Isis created a massive wave of spores that came from her hands and spread across the area using her magic. Soon enough, the poisonous miasma was eaten by the spores. Still, Isis couldn''t do anything else since the miasma was constantly emerging from the ground. As if those attacks weren''t enough, Ymir made meteors fall from the sky like rain as well. After that, it was only obvious that the alliance would suffer significant losses, but that onlysted for a few moments. With their superb eyesight and skills with the bow, Apollo, Artemis, Femradiel, Isis, Zoe, Mia, and many others began to hit those and destroy them before they could cause any more problems. "Impressive, Imend your insistence in fighting," Ymir said. "However, enough is enough." The spectral soldiers were back¡­ and even though he wasn''t nearby, Ymir managed to bring a copy of Ryan. The elder gods clicked their tongue in annoyance since too many of them, and they were already shorthanded to being with. As if things weren''t troublesome enough, more enemies appeared¡­ Spectral Fire Dragon ¨C Lv Max Health: 679.000 Mana: 471.000 Stamina: 369.000 Strength: 45.000 Dexterity: 65.000 Speed: 42.000 Intelligence: 100.500 Endurance: 59.000 Control: 45.000 Mentality: 29.000 Luck: 36.000 Recovery: 150.000 Willpower: 39.000 Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills:Explosive Touch Lv Max¡­ Passive Physical Skills: Mind Enhancement Lv Max, Fire Armor Lv Max ¡­ Spells: Hellfire Lv Max, Absolute Chaos Lv Max, Fire Spear Lv Max, Fire Breath Lv Max... Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv Max, Wind Resistance Lv Max, Electric Resistance Lv Max ¡­ "Hey, hey¡­ howe he can create copies of those?" Loki asked in surprise. "They aren''t supposed to exist anymore. Not in this at least." "Who said that I can only make copies of this world''s creatures?" Ymir asked. Another enemy that had incredibly cheat-like powers. The remaining elder gods led by Athena and Ares began to fight the spectral copies that were advancing through thend. Still, someone had to deal with those spectral copies¡­ Femradiel teleported to the sky and got close enough to the enemies, and began to use her bow. While she didn''t have any reason to get close, she did so to get the attention of the enemies. The spectral dragons opened their mouths to incinerate her with Fire Breaths and while she got covered by those attacks in the blink of an eye. Dozens of those dragons began to explode. Once that happened, their breath attacks disappeared, and Femradiel appeared while being protected by a Mana Barrier. "Please, don''t get in my way," Ymir said and then waved his right hand slightly. Femradiel''s Mana Barrier suddenly disappeared, and then she felt being hit by something big. In the next moment, she fell on the ground like a shooting star, but Furball appeared to soften the impact¡­ even though he broke a few ribs in the process. "Thanks, but you didn''t have to," Femradiel scratched Furball''s neck while she healed him. To think that Ymir could cancel defensive spells¡­ it wasn''t that surprising, Femraidel noted it. Since he managed to enter the domain like it wasn''t even there. To make things a bit easier for the alliance, Femradiel summoned her familiars and ordered them to help the others below. Defeating Ymir and the spectral dragons by herself wouldn''t be easy, but Femradiel had to pull that off. Femradiel suddenly had an idea, and if she seeds, she might be able to change the tide of the battle¡­ She suddenly teleported to behind her spectral copy and then used Void World on her. For some reason, the creature disappeared, and Ymir couldn''t help but frown.. As for Femradiel¡­ she smiled from ear to ear. Chapter 996 - Final Battle (7) Ymir had used so much mana to summon so many spectral copies that he couldn''t feel much difference when one of them disappeared. However, the real problem there was that he couldn''t make it disappear, wherever it might be, and Femradiel noticed that. Another thing that Femradiel noticed was the fact that Ymir couldn''t make Void World disappear¡­ maybe it was because it was the spell that doesn''t alter reality like other spells. It alters by making the target stay unconscious. Still, since the target this time was a concentration of energy, nothing was left behind. "Did you see that Hypnos?" Femradiel asked via Telepathy. "Yes¡­ but if you let the spectral copy run free, it will eventually destroy your Void World," Hypnos replied. "Ah¡­ I won''t let it," Femradiel smiled. "This one here will have other uses." Feramdiel used Self-Replication to create a copy of herself in the Void World, and then it began to fight the spectral copy¡­ it was a really confusing set-up, but it was a pretty good way to gain mana and strength at the same time. Since time passed way faster, Femradiel learned something else interesting¡­ The spectral copies were no longer connected to Hypnos, so the more they fought, the smaller they got due to the use of mana. Without wasting time, Femradiel made several spectral dragons enter her Void World as well. While it was a bit dangerous for her replica, it was just a minor problem. She could always make another if the replica fails in using Full-Heal on time. Ymir looked at Femradiel attentively while trying to understand what she had done. While he could use almost all spells, he couldn''t quite imagine what she had done. Considering that he felt Hypnos'' presence for an instant on her, he imagined that it had been Void World, and that was a problem¡­ The only way to stop a spell that was working inside the caster''s mind was by killing them. As soon as Femradiel made Ryan''s copy disappear, Ymir made a small ck hole appear in front of her. For a second, her body was almost ripened apart by the spell. Still, Femradiel used Reset and prevented all damage by going back in time half a second. "That is a way to prevent being killed by a ck hole," Ymir said. "Still, for how long can you do that?" Femradiel didn''t reply to that. She only smiled. Ymir epted the challenge and made several ck holes appear around Femradiel. Whenever those took ce, she would use Reset and teleport away from it. When that happened for the tenth time, Ymir finally realized that Femradiel wouldn''t run out of mana. Was it because she was draining the mana from the spectral copies? It couldn''t be the only reason¡­ When Ymir looked at Femradiel with more attention, he saw a fragment of Lilith''s aura, and then everything made sense. "Those two humans are really troublesome¡­" Ymir thought. "Lucifer will deal with the other one, and I should deal with her¡­ or maybe turn her into a weapon. It seems that Lucifer moved away from his battlefield in order not to let me see what he is doing. He certainly has some cards that he wants to keep hidden, so I need new ones as well." Ymir knew that Lucifer wouldn''t turn Ryan into a minion. While the six demons that he defeated were beings that challenged him in the past, none of them did it alone. Ryan challenged his pride, and Lucifer wouldn''t let that go unpunished. With that in mind, it was evident that Ryan would be killed¡­ if Ymir were in his position, he certainly would do anything in his power to obtain such a resourceful tool. While Ymir was considering what to do, Femradiel used that chance to lock even more spectral copies in her Void World. At some point, she felt her health decreasing by half, and that was the sign her replica had fallen, but she soon created another after healing herself. It was only natural after the rewards she obtained. Congrattions! The ss Lady of Love has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Lady of Lust has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Lady of Sleep has leveled up. ¡­ Her power increased, and it would keep increasing. At the same time, her replica is put on a difficult spot by so many spectral copies. Putting aside the pain she feels when a copy dies, it was almost free of danger training. However, Femradiel soon came to realize that things were about to take a difficult turn¡­ Ymir made all the spectral copies disappear for a moment, but soon they reappeared. Everyone frowned at that, but while he didn''t have much time to do anything, it was obvious that he did it. Femradiel soon learned one of the modifications that he did when she tried to put another spectral copy in the Void World and then failed. "What the¡­" Femradiel frowned. Aside from Hypnos, pretty much everyone could be forced into the Void World. That was because the god of sleep was invulnerable to all forms of sleep inducement¡­ at least when ites from outside forces. Could it be that Ymir applied the trait on all the spectral copies? That shouldn''t be possible¡­ they should be exact copies of other beings, after all. While Femradiel was dealing with those thoughts, several spectral dragons surrounded her. She quickly hit them with her bow, but this time, they didn''t suffer any damage. "¡­ Something is off here," Feramdiel furrowed her eyebrows. After flying around to escape the dragons, Femradiel noticed that everyone else was having the same problem, even though they were using temporal weapons. In an instant, Ymir made his summoned creaturespletely invulnerable to time and sleep magic. Soon enough, Femradiel and the other elder gods shook those thoughts away from their minds.. Ymir was powerful, but his power should have limits, and they had to find those limits as soon as possible because the members of the alliance were starting to die and had doubts about their victory. Chapter 997 - Final Battle (8) Femradiel insisted on attacking the dragons and eventually discovered at least one of Ymir''s weaknesses when ites to summoning magic. He edited his monsters skills that had a limit. For example, the spectral dragons began to die when they suffered enough damage¡­ Somehow, Ymir made them to be like that to make everyone doubt their power. The monsters obviously didn''t be invulnerable to time magic. "They didn''t be immortal! They just changed to be more sturdy than before!" Femradiel shouted. As to why the monsters couldn''t go to the Void World anymore¡­ it was hard to be sure, but Femradiel assumed that Ymir copied Hypnos'' traits and then passed them to all the other copies. It seemed like one heck of a skill, but she already knew the basics of the Absolute Summoner ss to know that such a thing was possible for Ymir. "Your ability to analyze a situation is quite something," Ymir said. "But how about this?" Ymir snapped his fingers, and once again, the spectral copies disappeared and then reappeared inrger numbers. Not only that, he made them point their hands at the alliance members, and then they used methrower all at the same time. A sea of mes engulfed the area and decimated the region. Hundreds of survivors died instantly, and many others got wounded. Femradiel, Apollo, Artemis, Zoe, Mia, and all the other long-ranged fighters bombarded the spectral copies and killed them. Still, soon after, Ymir summoned more of them. "This doesn''t have an end¡­" Femradiel muttered. It was a pity, but Femradiel will have to let many people die to assure victory. She stopped attacking for a while, and then the tide of the battle changed in favor of the enemies. However, Ymir soon realized that letting Femradiel alone wasn''t a good idea. He didn''t know what she was nning, but he could sense some danger¡­ The meteors began to fall around Femradiel, but Artemis and Apollo covered for her. When Ymir moved his hand to p her from a distance, he frowned when a barrier suddenly appeared around her, and Femradiel wasn''t the one who summoned it¡­ it was Isis. Before Ymir could try anything else, Femradiel finished her preparations. However, nothing happened. Ymir frowned once again, but his sense of uneasiness only grew stronger. Ymir summoned his defensive spells, but they didn''t work. He suddenly was pushed backward for hundreds of meters after an explosion happened in his face. The same explosion happened several times and made the entire region tremble. Since the spectral copies were under his control, the creatures stopped fighting, and the alliance members used that chance to annihte them. Ymir flew for dozens of kilometers, and even though his face wasn''t damaged or anything, he sure looked pissed. Femradiel used time magic to bombard him several times in a row with Draconic Bow. Ymir was pissed because he should have expected that¡­ It was so obvious. In any case, Femradiel confirmed something after all those attacks. That ethereal form didn''t belong to the real Ymir. It was just a projection created by the real one. Femradiel had to find his natural body and then attack it with all her might¡­ while she could attack him while aiming at his projection, it was obvious that something near the real body was helping him. Otherwise, all those explosions caused by Draconic Bow should have shown some results. "... I didn''t want to use this against such weak beings such as yourselves, but I will make an exception," Ymir said. "It should be fine since Lucifer is very far away¡­" It seemed that Ymir was nning to use something that he had prepared to use against Lucifer. Whatever it is, it couldn''t be something good¡­ Femradiel created several replicas of herself and then spread them across thend. Everyone frowned when they saw that, but Femradiel wasn''t the type who does things without a good reason. In the next moment, Femradiel noticed the presence of some of her allies getting weaker. They didn''t die. They just¡­ their spirits just lost almost all their mana. That happened first to the weakest members of the alliance¡­ they began to feel like something was choking them, and then, something ethereal began to leave their bodies through their mouth. That same thing flew toward Ymir and then was absorbed by him, and his presence grewrger. "My power¡­ my skill and status are gone." "Mine too¡­ without them, I can''t do anything¡­" The survivors who lost their powers began to panic. Facing a being like that without having any power was beyond insanity¡­ when Ymir looked at them, they understood that their lives were over. Still, before anything could really happen, Femradiel bombarded Ymir with a Draconic Bow. "What did you do?" Femradiel asked. "You really think I would exin this?" Ymir frowned. "You are way more naive than you look." Soon enough, Ymir began to suck the powers of the humans around at an astonishing rate. Still, he was forced to stop when Femradiel and the others attacked him. Unfortunately, they had to stop because of the spectral copies. "Leave him to me," Femradiel dered. "Just focus on dealing with the spectral copies." "... All right, we will leave it to you," Isis said after she clenched her teeth in exasperation since she couldn''t think of any other solution to that situation. "You really think that you can face me alone?" Ymir asked. "You must have gone mad." "Why are you trying to sound so confident now?" Femradiel asked. "If you were confident in your abilities, you wouldn''t have used those methods before Chronus disappeared. You may not say it out loud, but it is clear that you are afraid of those who broke the bnce of power in this universe." Ymir always tried to act as if feelings werepletely necessary and as if he had transcended the physical realm. Still, many things confirmed that his actions and his words did not agree with each other.. His curiosity over Merlin and his previous indirect interference showed that Ymir pretty much still belonged to the physical realm. Chapter 998 - Final Battle (09) Although she couldn''t see many results, Femradiel kept firing Draconic Bows nonstop to prevent Ymir from using his power to steal all the status and skills of his targets near instantly. No matter what happens, they can''t let him be even stronger than he already is. Femradiel''s continuous attacks prevented Ymir from using that weird power and slowly moved him away from the battlefield. However, he was using more mana than she could infuse with every second, so the mana stored in his Soul Eater was being drained at an rming rate. "Nothing yet? I should have known that this would take a while¡­" Femradiel clenched her teeth in anger. Although she wasn''t participating in the main fight, Femradiel could tell that the alliance was slowly defeating the spectral copies. Once they deal with them, they could help Femradiel with the problem of mana. After all, while he was being attacked, Ymir couldn''t really do anything. Or so Femradiel thought¡­ Suddenly, Ymir made several small ck holes appear around her. She used Reset to cancel that. "I already lost everything twice, I won''t let it happen a third time!" Femradiel shouted and then summoned several copies of the Diamond Crossbow. Femradiel couldn''t hit Ymir with those crossbows, but he could hit the spectral copies that stayed behind, and that was what she did. The creatures began to suffer massive damage and increase her coins. While Femradiel didn''t have the power of Greed like Ryan, she could use replicas to do menial work for him on her Void World. After all, all the creatures there had been dealt with. You obtained 111.111 coins. You obtained 111.111 coins. You obtained 111.111 coins. ¡­ Femradiel''s replicas used those coins to buy magic items and potions and fill Soul Eater with mana. That eased the worries on Femradiel''s mind a little bit, but soon she used Time Skip to attack Ymir even more frequently. "You little¡­" Ymir said, visibly annoyed after he got tired of receiving so much damage. Even amidst the numerous attacks, Ymir managed to swing his arm, and then a massive cannon of fireing from the sun almost hit Femradiel. Considering the distance of the sun and Earth, that shouldn''t have been possible, but¡­ Regardless, the ce that got hit by the mes turned into scorchednd, and the epicenter had be ake of magma. Femradiel felt shivers while looking at Ymir''s vicious eyes. Among Lucifer and Chronus, he seemed more like the proper mage type that really hates to get hit. So, it was no wonder he was so pissed. Regardless, Femradiel soon recovered and resumed her attacks. "Don''t get carried away, little girl¡­" Ymir said once he realized that he had moved his arms to protect his face for the first time. "This is it¡­ I will destroy all of you right now!" Ymir disappeared, and he took his spectral copies with him. Everyone frowned when they saw that¡­ while he had lost some monsters, he still had the battle on his hands. However, he didn''t leave Earth alone for long. Everyone felt the world''s temperature increasing when seas of fire began to fall from the sky. Ymir could even control the mes of the sun¡­ even though it wasn''t something he had created. "I found him¡­" Femradiel said. Femradiel, who had sent her replicas to move around the world and check the worlds connected to the dungeons, finally found one which had a powerful presence in it. However, what alerted her had been her attacks that had made the world in question tremble. That was where Ymir''s real body was. "Everyone, use this Checkpoint," Femradiel said. "Anyone who is good at ice magic help me block those mes." There was no time to argue, so they followed Femradiel''smand. Femradiel, Isis, Odin, and Hera magic quickly covered the entire area into ice. Still, the mes began to melt everything like nothing was preventing it. It took a while, but eventually, everyone used the Checkpoint. Before leaving, those four looked at their surroundings. The world was being destroyed again, and using Reset wouldn''t help. If they seed in defeating Ymir, they will have a lot of work once they return¡­ The world Ymir selected to guard his real body was covered in ice. It was almost a miracle that one of Femradiel''s replicas found it. She only seeded because a nearby dungeon was connected to a world that had been abandoned but was in the same sr system in which Ymir was. Regardless, it didn''t matter where they looked. The whole group could only see snow and an endless snowstorm. That being said, it was impossible not to feel Ymir''s presence. "So¡­ you havee here," Ymir''s voice echoed in the area. "Do you really think this will be enough to defeat me? Your naivety is astounding. This is my territory and in this world, not even Lucifer and Chronus can defeat me." All the world began to tremble as if it was responding to Ymir''s voice. Soon after, the alliance members saw the snow covering their legs as if it was alive. The elder gods quickly escaped, but some humans didn''t have the power to resist it. With Femradiel''s help, they managed to escape it, but a few of them still were turned into ice statues and then crushed. Everyone tried to fly above the storm, but then they learned that the clouds were frozen¡­ it wasn''t a natural snow storm¡­ it was one that had been cast by Ymir. Zeus and Thor tried to attack it, but not only they didn''t scratch it, but they also got some frozen bites. "It is no good¡­" Zeus said while frowning and looking at his hands. "Let''s just approach and attack him before he has the chance to do anything," Isis said. The group moved to the other side of the while flying.. Still, soon they began to be hit by ice meteors that freeze everything instantly¡­ those were so powerful that only the elder gods could destroy them and only with the temporal weapons. Chapter 999 - Final Battle (10) Eventually, after suffering some losses, they found Ymir. He looked pretty different from thest time they saw it, now he had a body made of flesh and bones, but he was also inside a thick armor made of very deep blue ice. "It is quite weird to find an giant who doesn''t have confidence in their endurance," Loki said. Instead of replying to that, Ymir only pointed a finger toward Loki, and he was covered by the same ice in the next instant. In the next moment, the ice was shattered, and everyone fell silent. "Geez, no one likes to hear a joke these day," Loki said when he appeared behind the army. "Still, thanks to letting me know that I can even fool the Legendary Ymir." Once again, Ymir didn''t say anything, he just raised his arms, and several humans began to lose their powers. That was really troublesome, so the elder gods and everyone else bombarded the Ymir with their weapons. However, even though the ice was malleable enough to let Ymir move the way he saw fit, it didn''t get a single scratch. Not even from Femradiel''s Draconic Bow. "No way¡­" Femradiel said in shock. "How many tricks do those guys have up their sleeve?" "Apollo, use your ordinary arrows!" Zeus shouted. "I can only do so much without a sun nearby¡­ but I suppose I can try," Apollo said. Even without the sun nearby, Apollo could summon Sr arrows. The only difference is that he could only summon so much at a time. Apollo arrows hit the same spot over and over again, and he actually managed to damage the armor, but it quickly repaired itself. Isis joined the fray and fired sma Arrows. Still, as expected of the ice that could even absorb the damage of temporal arrows¡­ it resisted like Isis was firing pebbles at it. A powerful armor of unknown ice and the ability to steal the abilities and status of many targets¡­ Ymir was invincible. Femradiel bit her lips in exasperation. Why did things have to end like that as soon as things started to work out well for her? Ryan brought her back to life after he finally made up his mind about their rtionship. She even was pregnant¡­ She found a new ce to call home after losing her previous home and even managed to defeat one of the three impossible enemies that destroyed her other home¡­ so. Why? As if things weren''t bad enough, the world started to tremble, and the alliance members saw the whole ice of the world being controlled by Ymir. The powerful winds stopped blowing, but in exchange for that, a massive wall of ice appeared in all directions as if Ymir had created a prison or a coffin made of ice to kill everyone inside. Even the frozen dark clouds began to fall as well. "Behold the true power of the true ice and despair," Ymir said while showing a vicious smile. "Everyone! Let''s focus our attacks right above us!" Isis shouted. "We should be able to open a hole in it and escape the attack." The n was simple and effective under the right circumstances. They had dozens of elder gods on their side, after all. However, those who could make the most difference were the humans, and with the exception of a few hundred, most of them have lost their powers. Even so, the group decided to try that. They pointed all their weapons skyward and used their most powerful skills. The massive beam of energy hit and pierced the dark frozen clouds in an instant, and for a moment, they saw the sky of that world. However, the dark clouds quickly regenerated themselves. "All right¡­ I am starting to get worried," Loki said. The elder gods who had enough mana tried to use Reset. Still, when they did it, the energy escaped from their bodies and flew to Ymir¡­ which seemed like a technique Ymir had developed to use against Chronus. There must be a way out of that mess. Femradiel looked around frically. She tried to use Teleport and return to the Checkpoint, but the skill didn''t work. She suddenly recalled those barriers that Ryan got stuck sometimes¡­ maybe the entire world was inside a barrier that negated the effects of time magic and some skills. Still, to be able to seal even time magic¡­ that barrier should have some limitations¡­ Femradiel looked toward the ice armor protecting Ymir, but she didn''t find anything special with it. It was just a thick barrier made of ice that had a lot of mana. Was that the secret to creating true ice? A massive concentration of mana? Femradiel suddenly tried to use Mana Maniption to enhance an Ice spear and make it stronger as much as possible. Much to her surprise, she actually seeded in making ice that seemed simr to Ymir armor¡­ Was it really that simple, or was there something missing? "I see now¡­ we are inside a domain that cancels spells that cost a lot of mana and enhances ice magic," Isis said. "This seems too simple¡­ what do you think, Poseidon?" Zeus asked. Poseidon tried to do the same as Femradiel, and while he needed some more seconds, he also pulled that off. "It is true¡­ ny magic is much more powerful," Poseidon said. "That is good and all, but we can''t defeat Ymir with his speciality," Loki said. "It is our only choice," Isis said. "Let''s pass our mana to Femradiel and Poseidon, there are the strongest when ites to ice magic." "... Let her do it," Poseidon said after a long sigh. "It will be more efficient that way." For a second, everyone looked at Poseidon in shock. He was too prideful to admit that, but he did it. However, they didn''t have time to waste with that, so they obeyed him. The few humans who still had mana touched the shoulders of the elder gods and passed their mana to them, and they did the same until they created a chain that both sides ended in Femradiel. She felt the energy of everyone making her shoulders feel warm, and she nodded after looking at them. Meanwhile, Ymir looked at them while smiling¡­ it was useless. Chapter 1000 - Final Battle (11) When Femradiel gathered the mana of everyone, she decided to attack. The alliance members kept sending their mana to her, but the ice coffin Ymir had prepared was already closing up, and Femradiel saw Ymir already passing through it. Another option that they had was to create a hole in any direction using the ice she was preparing, but she doubted that it would berge enough to let everyone pass at the same time, even while using Teleport. Before letting all the mana explode instantly, Femradiel wished that she could get stronger using the same greed that Ryan had. Now that she thought about it, his endless desire to build a future where he would be satisfied was probably what made him win all those impossible battles. A single light-blue sphere appeared above Femraidel, and then in the next moment, a massive and endless Ice Spear made of true ice appeared and then flew toward Ymir. The concentration of energy somehow hit Ymir''s armor and made it crack. However, it only did that¡­ the energy began to dissipate to the sides since it wasn''t prating more than that. When they saw that, everyone showed pained expressions. Perhaps that was their limit as species. The history that they showed them that all empires and civilizations eventuallye to an end. Perhaps it was their time to disappear and maybe give room to something else. Although some gave up, others didn''t. Those who did it looked at Femradiel, Natasha, Mia, Daniel, Gustavo, Yahiko, and then felt the desire to win. They had more than enough reasons not to give up until the very end. Everyone had their reasons to struggle, but most of them didn''t have the reasons why they couldn''t ept defeat after such a long time of continuous battle. One by one, humans and the elder gods found their reasons inside themselves, and those feelings were turning into mana that increased the power of the ice spear. Femradiel noticed the power of the attack increase, and once again, she saw Ymir''s armor cracking it. However, before anything else could happen, Ymir began to absorb the ice of the attack to repair his armor. For a moment, even Femradiel''s wish for victory waved¡­ as if that wasn''t enough. Ymir finally passed through the walls of the trap. Now things would be even more difficult¡­ All the mana Femradiel had stored in Soul Eater was almost gone, and she couldn''t keep up with the level of attack with the amount of mana she could infuse every second. Despite that, Femradiel noticed a massive amount of energy being transferred to her via Mana Link. She knew it¡­ somewhere Ryan was also helping them with mana. He should have his hands full dealing with Lucifer, but he still decided to help. She couldn''t let things end like that¡­ "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Feramdiel shouted from the depths of her soul while trying to make her attack even a little bit stronger. The ice spear passed through the wall made of true ice and then hit Ymir once again. The massive attack made him stagger¡­ as expected. He couldn''t let those creatures even try to resist. He had to crush them as fast as possible¡­ that would cost him some more mana, but he decided to speed up the spell. However¡­ When Ymir tried that, he noticed the mana in his armor getting unstable and then dispersing it. Ymir decided to take Femradiel''s powers to make sure that they wouldn''t have any chance to resist. That should be simple since she was focused on attacking, but Ymir never had the chance to do that in the end. The high concentration of mana suddenly exploded and pushed him backward at a supersonic speed. "This amount of power¡­ how¡­" Ymir clenched his teeth in shock. Ymir tried to move away, but the attack had already pierced his armor deeply, and he couldn''t leave without his armor, nor could he teleport when his body was directly connected to an enemy attack. Once again, the power of the attack increased, and in the blink of an eye, the ice spear became long enough to force Ymir out of the. Even when the entire world began to tremble like it was falling apart, Femradiel didn''t stop. She didn''t stop, not even when the ice coffin stopped moving¡­ she had to make sure that would be the final attack. In the end, she kept going until she copsed from mana exhaustion. In the end, Femradiel only woke up after a month. She suddenly got up from her bed because she felt that she had lost a wait of time and because she got nervous even in her deep slumber over Ryan and the kid in her belly. "Woah, calm down," Isis said. "You can''t move so fast after sleeping for so long." "What happened? Where is Ryan and how is my¡­" Femradiel said. Before she could finish her sentence, Femradiel looked at her belly, and she noticed that it was bigger than before, and she could sense her kid''s mana now. The kid was safe, but she couldn''t sense Ryan''s mana. "Well, we did it¡­" Isis said and then showed a hologram of a weird that apparently had a pointy end. The didn''t have a pointy end, but it had a massive pir of true ice that couldn''t melt no matter what, and on the base of the pir, Isis showed Ymir''s body who had his heart pierced by the ice spear. "The attack made Ymir fly for quite the distance, so we had a hard time finding him," Isis said. "About Ryan¡­ it has been a month, but he hasn''t shown up yet. Most members of the alliance are looking for him since he is probably fighting Lucifer until now and they want to give a hand, but it seems that they are too far away¡­ asionally, we sense the whole universe trembling and that is another sign of the fight, but¡­" "Ah, is that so¡­ then it is fine," Femradiel said and thenid down on the bed again. "Aren''t you worried?" Isis frowned. "I am sure he will pull this off, he always does¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed in relief. Chapter 1001 - Final Battle (12) While Femradiel and the others were still fighting Ymir¡­ Ryan broke into a cold sweat, looking at all the suns. Destroying them probably wasn''t impossible with copies of his Mithril Bow of the Dragon God of Time. However, that wouldn''t solve the issue. Ryan summoned two hundred copies of Diamond Crossbow and then pointed at the stars before dashing toward Lucifer without any other choice. "No, no, no," Lucifer said. "First, you will deal with those." "Force me," Ryan said. While still holding his bow, Ryan punched Lucifer with his right hand. However, the demon easily blocked the attack, who also grabbed his arm and threw him back toward the suns. While he was trying to gather mana from the suns as well as turning them into coins by using the Diamond Crossbow, Lucifer noticed his ns and began to steal those. While he couldn''t still the same amount Ryan could store, it was more than enough to cause trouble. "Well, if it is like that, then¡­ I won''t store mana," Ryan said as he held his bow tightly. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has leveled up. ¡­ Using the coins he had, Ryan leveled up his ss, and using the mana, he attacked. Lucifer knew that, but he couldn''t sense any danger to his life? Did Ryan use time magic to attack him in the future? It seemed usible, but he was supposed to feel his instincts warning him even if that were the case. "Oh, well, it doesn''t matter," Lucifer thought. "No matter what he tries to do, it won''t be enough. Not to mention, he will die here, soon enough." For a few minutes, they just stayed right there, waiting for the inevitable end of the fight. While Ryan was sweating bullets, Lucifer was looking at him with his expression full of confidence. What was even more troublesome was that just by staying like that, Lucifer could get stronger. Such was the power of his pride. Still, it was better than attacking and making him grow stronger through the power of wrath as well. "This is going to hurt, Ryan," Merlin said. "I am not the right person to say this, but this n of yours is quite stupid." "I didn''t ask your opinion," Ryan said. Eventually, the proximity of the suns made Ryan''s skin melt, and soon enough, he was directly touched by one of them. Ryan didn''t even manage to stay conscious when that happened. However, much to his surprise, Lucifer didn''t feel his presence disappearing either. Congrattions! The ss Sun Lord has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Sun Lord has leveled up. Congrattions! The ss Sun Lord has leveled up. ¡­ "Is it due to Apollo''s power?" Lucifer asked, slightly surprised. It was faint, but Lucifer could feel Chronus'' power in action. It seemed that he was using that to stay alive through that hellish heat. When the next sun finally approached and hit the first, Lucifer teleported away because he didn''t want to get caught in the cosmical explosion. When the two suns collided, the entire region began to tremble. Naturally, the explosion created a supernova that quickly ate away the other approaching suns, which only boosted the phenomenon''s power. Lucifer used Teleport several times to keep an eye on things, and even while that happened, he still didn''t feel Ryan''s presence disappearing. "His body should have be cosmic dust by now¡­ so how?" Lucifer frowned. After using Teleport a few more times, he finally moved away from the range of the explosion. The supernova was eating away all the stars in the region, but it wouldn''t expand more than that. At that distance, even Lucifer was having a hard time feeling Ryan''s presence. Instead of that, he felt something else¡­ danger. Like an endless hurricane of arrows, Lucifer was pierced by the temporal projectiles shot by Ryan. It shouldn''t be possible given that he was being damaged until now¡­ and if that wasn''t enough, the attacks weren''t ending. Lucifer had be a porcupine of arrows. Each arrow destroyed a pierce of his body, and slowly he began to shrink. "He used that mana to do this¡­" Lucifer said while his consciousness was fading. That was right. Ryan used the energy he gathered while attacking the suns to attack Lucifer in the future. Using Foresight, he knew what would happen if he stayed still. Lucifer would move away to that point at that exact time, and that was why he didn''t feel danger for his life¡­ it was because he wasn''t in the ce the arrows were supposed to hit. Not to mention, to make sure that he wouldn''t notice until the veryst moment, Ryan didn''t target him. He targeted the spot in itself. Eventually, Lucifer got so destroyed that his body just became pieces of flesh floating in space. That took several minutes, and Ryan had to endure the same hellish pain because he also saw that happening in the future. He couldn''t risk being counterattacked now. While unconscious, Ryan escaped the Supernova. He used Temporal Healing to keep himself alive while being toasted down to anatomical level, and he escaped because just like he could make arrows hit an enemy in the future, he could sendmands to his brain from the past, and he had sent themand to use Teleport when Lucifer''s body waspletely destroyed. After a while, a shrive made Ryan wake up. He didn''t know if it had been the memories of when he was being damaged by the suns or if it was due to something else he felt, but Ryan was itching to erase those memories by using Memory Maniption. "Look on the bright side," Merlin said. "You reached the max level in Pain Negation, and all the other skills that decrease damage from pain and fire attacks." Ryan wished that he had time to smack Merlin, but he didn''t. His instincts were warning him that the battle wasn''t over yet. He didn''t have time to see past that using Foresight.. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the chance to confirm if Lucifer''s presence had disappeared either. Chapter 1002 - Final Battle (13) When Ryan teleported to where Lucifer was, he confirmed his fears. The demons'' presence hadn''t disappeared yet. Not to mention, his sh was slowly moving to the ce where his heart was supposed to be. Ryan prepared to attack and destroy even the atoms of his body. Still, then Ryan noticed that all the energy he was supposed to have stored thanks to Conversion had vanished¡­ all the energy he had obtained while enduring a supernova for several minutes had vanished. "Oh, shit¡­ this is bad," Ryan opened his eyes widely. "I guess Femradiel needed that energy¡­ oh well, I guess that confirms that Ymir has been defeated. He couldn''t endure this much energy, could he?" Regardless, Ryan didn''t have time to waste thinking about that. He had to turn Lucifer''s body into nothing. He began to bombard those bits of flesh with temporal and holy arrows. Still, while he caused damage, Ryan failed in destroying thempletely. At some point, all the flesh stopped moving and then began to tremble. Ryan didn''t like that and increased the output of the attacks. However, it didn''t change anything. Those numerous pieces of flesh began to grow, and in the blink of an eye, they became ten meters tall replicas of Lucifer. Lucifer ss: ???/???/??? Race: -- Rank: -- Health: ???/??? Mana: ???/??? Stamina: ???/??? Strength: ??? Dexterity: ??? Speed: ??? Intelligence: ??? Endurance: ??? Control: ??? Mentality: ??? Luck: ??? Recovery: ??? Willpower: ??? Coins: -- Status: -- Skill List Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ??? Spells: ???, ???, ??? Support Skills: ???, ???, ??? Ryan used Absolute Appraisal, but he only found the same status screen in all of them. After a while, all the replicas opened their eyes and red at Ryan. More than ever, they really wanted his blood. "You surprised me," Lucifer said. "I find it hard to believe that someone aside from those two would be able to do that¡­ ah, Ymir just died. You people are really something else." Despite his calm attitude, Ryan didn''t let Lucifer fool him. One can genuinely master wrath when it can control it¡­ being angry without losing their cool¡­ That was the worst type of enemy Ryan could think of. Another thing that proved that Ryan''s guess was correct was the fact that each replica was growing bigger. At first, Ryan couldn''t quite imagine Lucifer being able to destroy the universe, but now he could. "You seem exasperated instead of happy, why?" Lucifer asked. "You should feel happy for your friends aplishments." Some of the replicas flew toward Ryan, and even though he stopped them with his arrows since their overall power was smaller than before, Ryan still got hit from behind when another one used Teleport. Ryan didn''t see that oneing, but he felt his spine almost breaking¡­ Before the next attack came, Ryan used Foresight in one of his eyes while he used the other to attack the Replicas. Even when dozens of them surrounded him, Ryan still managed to fight back and stop their advance. However, Ryan felt the number of presences around him increasing. His face turned pale when he saw Lucifer creating even more replicas of himself. What was scary was the fact that the replicas weren''t connected to each other like the replica he could obtain using Aphrodite''s power. Those were powerful in their own right and could even grow stronger or die without affecting the real Lucifer. There was even a real Lucifer now? As far as his senses were telling him, all those replicas were real enough to be the real one in case the others died. "This seems like trouble," Merlin said, for the first time sounding really worried. If those were real, then that worked well for Ryan. He used Wolf''s Greed and began to steal their dexterity. This time, Ryan felt Lucifer''s anger increasing. He was pissed that Ryan was using his technique against him¡­ that was really stupid, so Ryan just continued. Your Dexterity has increased by 2000 points. Your Dexterity has increased by 2000 points. Your Dexterity has increased by 2000 points. ¡­ Eventually, Ryan was forced to stop because just like he could steal the status of all of those, they could steal his mana. Since there were so many, Ryan lost all his mana instantly. Ryan was lucky, though. If it weren''t for Lucifer''s pride, he wouldn''t steal only his mana. He would steal all his other status. Thinking logically, it would be the best way to defeat him, but Lucifer''s pride wouldn''t allow him to do that. The replicas began to teleport around and attack Ryan. Although he could fight back using the mana he was regenerating, Lucifer stole the rest of his mana to prevent Foresight, so Ryan began to get hit again. "Hey, Ryan, I have an idea," Merlin said while Ryan was being used as a volleyball by the replicas. "If you fight without that bow and keep doing that for a while thinking that you want to defeat him by yourself, you may gain the sin of pride. The power of pride given by the system will strengthen your status up to ten times." "¡­ No thanks," Ryan said while he was using Conversion to turn the pain and the impacts into energy and immediately transfer them to his Soul Eater. "I tried to create a path for myself without relying on anyone''s help, but I eventually learned that I didn''t achieve anything by doing so. I only aplished this much because I finally gained true friends. Besides, this was my n to begin with, if I don''t do my part of the n, I will look really stupid." "Oh, well¡­ I guess you have your own weird pride," Merlin said. After he got sick of being hit like a ball, Ryan suddenly attacked. Using Power Shot, Angelic Arrow, and Time Skip, he bombarded a single replica of Lucifer with dozens of projectiles in a single instant that the replica turned into dust in front of his very eyes. You obtained 555.369.252 coins. "I guess this is doable," Ryan said after raising his chin and facing Lucifer. Chapter 1003 - Final Battle (14) Lucifer''s aura changed again. A mere human trying to raise his chin in front of him¡­ that wasn''t something he could tolerate. While he kept making replicas leave his body as if he was some kind of virus, Lucifer made the already existing copies attack Ryan with dark spheres of energy. Just hitting him a few times wouldn''t do. He had to make sure his body would be destroyed down to an atomic level since he had Chronus power. Ryan began to move around and dodged the attacks. The replicas didn''t grow strong enough as the previous original, so he could do that much. However, suddenly, a replica teleported behind him and then grabbed Ryan''s back, preventing him from moving freely. Ryan used Teleport to escape the next attack, but the replica used Teleport and made his return. Ryan felt his body melting away by the attack that could destroy all types of matter. But in the end, he survived¡­ he was just bleeding from the chest a little, but then recovered WITH Temporal Healing. However, the next attack came, and the demon on his back didn''t go away. Since he was stronger than the replicas, Ryan had an idea that it might work. He used Void World after putting the replica to sleep and then used it as a shield against the dark sphere of energy. "You¡­" Lucifer red at Ryan with vicious eyes. While Lucifer was doing that, he exterminated another replica with the previousbination of skills. Power Shot, Angelic Arrow, and Time Skip. It was abination that consumed a lot of mana, so Ryan needed some time to prepare. Upon noticing that such strategies won''t work against Ryan unless the replicas grow stronger faster, Lucifer decided to change his strategy. The replicas created numerous arrows made of corrupt energy, and Ryan raised his guard. While he could control all types of energy now, he could only withstand so much at the same time. He may not lose his mind, but his mind still will suffer some damage and leave him wide open. Instead of dodging them, Ryan summoned hundreds of copies of his Diamond Crossbow and pulled the trigger when the replicas began to fire. For a while, nothing happened since Ryan had the skills to hit the corrupt arrows before they could hit him, but that didn''t change anything. Lucifer still was replicating himself, and the copies were growing strong¡­ "What about this, Ryan?" Merlin asked. "I finally analyzed Lucifer''s skills, you can now obtain the sses rted to his pride." "Man, you are noisy¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "I don''t need any more power ups. I will shatter this guy''s pride and his existence with what I already have." Ryan began to hold his bow more tightly than usual, and Lucifer understood that he wanted to attack him in the future again. He was making some of his replicas steal his mana all the time, but it seemed that wasn''t enough¡­ Lucifer didn''t want to do that since it would weaken his main body, but in the end, he decided to use all his mana to speed up the Replication process. With more replicas, he will be able to steal more mana and gain strength faster. So, Ryan would eventually be put in a corner. Ryan clicked his tongue when he saw what Lucifer was doing. In the blink of an eye, the two hundred replicas became eight hundred. While none of them were real trouble to him in a one-on-one fight, the fact that they could all steal his mana was troublesome. Thanks to that massive number, his mana was being stolen even before he could do anything with it. Without any other option, Ryan went to hand-to-handbat. The first replica that tried to block his attack broke its arms by doing so, but four other demons attacked Ryan from behind. However, Ryan attacked them after grabbing the replicas by the arm and spun its body to crush all of them at the same time. Ryan gained some mana and coins from it, but the other replicas stole that. To make things even worse, while he had killed three demons, fifteen others had appeared. "You can''t take a break, huh, Ryan," Merlin said. "I wish I could take a break from your nagging," Ryan said. What was the best way to eliminate a high number of enemies? Use area of effect skills. However, given that the enemies were replicas of Lucifer, that wouldn''t work. Not to mention, there was the problem of mana¡­ Before Ryan could find a solution to that predicament, Lucifer made half of his replicas attack him with Corrupt Arrows and the other half to steal his mana. That was a really troublesomebination¡­ In the end, Ryan just let those hit him. Aside from the pain, Ryan also felt his head being taken by dark thoughts. These weird images made him question if he had lived or everything he saw over the past year had been an illusion. Seeing Ryan contorting himself like that made Lucifer smile from ear to ear. But then suddenly, the smile disappeared when the heads of seven copies exploded for no apparent reason. He felt the use of time magic, and he also felt Ryan recovering his mana a little bit, but he had no idea what had happened. "Relying on numbers won''t do you any good," Ryan dered while grinning from ear to ear. "You''d better prepare something at the level of a supernova, or you will be defeated much sooner than you can imagine. That would be disappointing..." Lucifer got enraged, and several of his replicas grew stronger exponentially. It didn''t seem like a taunt given how serious Ryan was when he said that, but it didn''t change the fact that he stepped on Lucifer''s pride once again. When Ryan repeated the same thing a few secondster, Lucifer understood that those hadn''t been empty words.. Ryan really meant it. Chapter 1004 - Final Battle (15) Dozens of replicas had to die before Lucifer finally understood Ryan''s tricks¡­ at the very moment of the activation of the skills he used, he used Energy Control to convert stamina into mana. Using the rest of his stamina, he increased the Power oF Concentrated Strike and killed hundreds of demons. "Against opponents of this level, he can fight them without a bow," Lucifer thought. "I didn''t think Chronus'' power would increase his power so much." When the replicas tried to steal Ryan''s stamina and mana, Ryan used his health to convert into energy in the activation of his attacks, and when Lucifer tried to steal that was well, again, he didn''t have enough replicas to prevent Ryan from attacking. Just absorbing the replicas would give the chance to overpower Ryan though and through, but that wouldn''t satisfy Lucifer. He knew that Ryan wasn''t someone who would give in to despair that easily. After all, he came to challenge him alone. With his new tactic, Ryan managed to stop the growth of Lucifer''s copies. Lucifer''s condition wouldn''t let him mass produce copies of himself for a while, so he decided to use another trick¡­ Several copies of Lucifer flew toward Ryan, and when he prepared to attack, they suddenly transformed and assumed Femradiel''s form. Ryan was caught off guard for a second, and then the demons used that chance to punch him with all their might. The sound and pain caused by his muscles cracking made Ryan wake up and then in the next moment. The heads of the demons exploded. "Oh¡­ you didn''t hesitate," Lucifer said, looking visibly amused. "Did you really love her?" "What a boring demon you are¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. "Still, you gave me an idea. So, let me thank you properly." Before the next demons could dash toward him, Ryan summoned a certain crossbow, and using Time Skip, he pulled the trigger. The creatures protected themselves as they waited for a powerful attack, but nothing really happened. However, when they proceeded to attack again, something hit the interior of their mouths, and their heads exploded. Lucifer showed a baffled expression when he suddenly saw Magma Golems around¡­ Ryan had fired bolts at the demon''s mouths and summoned the Golems. "My nastiness is returning at full throttle, this might be helpful," Ryan smiled. Lucifer grew tired of Ryan. He gave the order for the demons to fuse themselves again. In the blink of an eye, the eight hundred became eighty, and each one of those had almost the same power level as when the original caused the supernova. Despite looking at those, Ryan didn''t show any worry in his expression. If anything, he was grateful for the fact that all his mana wouldn''t be stolen again. All those demons, with the exception of one, flew around and surrounded Ryan. Thanks to that, Ryan noticed that the original could withstand seeing the replicas being killed. Still, he didn''t want to let his main body suffer the same fate under any circumstances. Before Ryan could think of a way to use that in his favor. The demons dashed to attack him at the same time. When the first oneshed his ws, Ryan saw them distorting the fabric of space again. Ryan used his bow and repelled the ws with his bolts. For some reason, Ryan focused only on repelling the attacks and the replicas when they got too close. It seemed that was everything Ryan could do since he was against so many enemies. However, Lucifer could feel that Ryan could do more. When one of the demons finally managed to scratch Ryan''s back and open arge wound, his expression broke into a one of pain. Still, despite that, he didn''t use Temporal healing, and that confirmed Lucifer''s suspicion that he was plotting something¡­ With Ymir and Chronus out of the picture, Lucifer didn''t have to rush. Still, it would be better to attack and destroy Earth before the people there can prepare and cause any problems. Instead of creating new replicas, Lucifer raised his arms, and a vast concentration of mana began to take the shape of a sphere of dark mes. "Ah¡­ this might be bad, Ryan," Merlin said. "Lucifer is preparing to use a spell that will definitely kill you if it touches you." "How do you know that? I survived a supernova, I am sure I can survive that," Ryan said. "Rather, don''t talk to me, I am busy." "Well, I know because I developed that spell. It is called Dark Sun," Merlin replied. "Aside from fire, it also has darkness, and that can eat everything, even your mana and stamina. Your own energy will fuel the attack that will kill you making you unable to use any spell or skill." That seemed like a problem. Still, why the hell did Merlin create such a scary spell? Ryan was right in not asking for his help, a guy who creates something like that can''t be trusted. Before Lucifer could make that attack grow too strong, Ryan fired Draconic Bow towards it. Three of the replicas didn''t manage to dodge the attack and were pushed forward. The Dark Sun and Lucifer didn''t even try to dodge it. Thanks to it, the replicas were obliterated by both attacks¡­ but the Dark Sun didn''t suffer anything. It didn''t even tremble. Just like Merlin said, it seemed the attack ate away the energy of Draconic Bow. Although the situation seemed quite troublesome, Ryan didn''t give up. If that attack had the darkness element, then he just had to use the opposite. Soon enough, Ryan recovered his mana, and to make sure that he wouldn''t fail, he converted even his health and stamina into mana when he fired an enhanced to the limit, Draconic Bow alongside Angelic Arrow. When the two vast concentrations of energy collided, the whole area trembled, and a powerful shockwave sent Ryan, Lucifer, and the replicas flying toward the opposite direction. The energy made him spin and fly away for several minutes while his whole body was hurting like hell, but in the end, Ryan was thankful for that because, in the ce which he had been previously, he couldn''t see anything in it, not even the reflection of the stars in the opposite direction¡­ it seemed like a ck hole, but Ryan knew that the normal ones couldn''t be seen with eyes alone.... Chapter 1005 - Final Battle (16) "What was that?" Ryan frowned when he saw the weird-looking distortion in the space slowly disappearing. "That is a spatial distortion that connects this reality to the void," Merlin replied. "Don''t get even close to it, that is like a dead dimension. Magic doesn''t work there. I have been trying to study the differences from this to our one, but I have too little data to realize anything. If you get in there, I won''t be able to help you." Ryan wasn''t expecting helping from Merlin anyway, but he thanked them for the warning. That didn''t seem like the underworld where Thanatos and Hades would have the power to do as they see fit¡­ it seemed like a real dimension where souls turn into nothing. Quite the scary ce and to think that Ryan and Lucifer''s attacks caused that¡­ While Ryan looked pretty scared, Lucifer looked excited at the result of the demonstration of his own power. Now that Ryan thought about it, his physical attacks also connected the reality to the Void, but that probably was the first time he saw such an open route to the Void. "Let''s see¡­ it seems I am not ready yet," Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The demons prepared to surround Ryan once again. The original Lucifer began to create another Dark Sun with a smile on his face¡­ it seemed like he was going to practice the greatest and most exciting sport in the universe with that smile on. His face¡­ Ryan didn''t have time for that, so he summoned a replica of himself. Naturally, Lucifer frowned. What was he expecting to aplish with a single replica? Unless he wanted to use it to protect himself from the attack, it was essentially useless. Ryan and the replica used Teleport and then appeared at the same time behind Lucifer. Thanks to that, he didn''t know which one was the original anymore. The demons quickly approached to stop the two, but they were bombarded by arrows. While neither of them was killed, those two managed to slow them down, and then they punched Lucifer''s back. The creature was sent flying forward, but he still managed to fire the dark sun toward them. Ryan didn''t have time to counterattack, so both of them were engulfed by the massive attack. However, while their presence disappeared, Lucifer knew that Ryan wasn''t dead. One of his replicas began to lose its dexterity at an rming rate, and then he found Ryan and another replica above the battlefield. "How meaningless¡­ what are you hoping to aplish by doing this?" Lucifer asked. "Just wait and you will see," Ryan replied. Lucifer''s main body grew in size again, and now he was one hundred meters tall. Considering his current presence, Ryan wondered if he could survive even a single punch of that. He had be so stronger that it seemed that the space was cracking around him¡­ "it seems that his pride makes him wish for direct confrontations to determine who is the strongest," Ryan thought. "That would exin why he is so pissed when I am only relying on cheap tricks to make him waste his mana and gather more for myself." Lucifer raised his arms, and again and by the look in his eyes, Ryan assumed that he would use everything in his power to kill Ryan with the next attack. That was a great chance to use Wolf''s Greed, but the replicas began to fly around to prevent him from using that. Sometimes they even used Teleport. That wouldn''t be a problem if Ryan could use Wolf''s Greed alongside Time Skip, but he couldn''t. Ryan didn''t use that until now, but it seemed that was the best time to use it. He had stored some mana in the previous minutes, so it was the perfect time to use it¡­ while Lucifer was preparing his attack. Using Temporal Weaponization, Ryan created several bows and hit all the replicas. Lucifer opened his eyes widely when he saw the effect of those attacks¡­ Ryan was stealing all the mana the replicas had, and before they could free themselves, Ryan stole all of their mana. This time, it had been Lucifer''s turn seeing Ryan with an aura loaded with mana that made the space around him vibrate and distort¡­ to think that little human would use his power against Lucifer again¡­ it was really time to end things. Lucifer made all the replicas move to his side, and then he began to absorb them. That was something Ryan didn''t expect¡­ it seemed that Lucifer had outsmarted his outsmarting¡­ as silly as that sounded. Lucifer grew in size again, and for the first time, Ryan heard Merlin gulp. "Well, it was good to know you, Ryan," Merlin said. "I can''t say the same thing¡­" Ryan said and then sighed. Ryan was finally out of ideas. He didn''t know what to do to counter Lucifer''sst power-up. Maybe if he goes back in time and¡­ when Ryan considered that. He noticed that he had another option, he could use the bow on his left hand. It''s not like he had originally nned¡­ Ryan approached the bow to his head, and then he used Weapon Assimtion. Congrattions! The skill Legendary Archery has reached the max level. Congrattions! The ss Angelic Archer has reached the max level. Congrattions! The skill Arrow Cannon has reached the max level. Congrattions! The ss Draconic Hunter has reached the max level. ¡­ Ryan felt the power of every single member of the alliance passing through his body. Not to mention, he gained thousands of status points from the sses from the skills level-ups. Ryan''s power-up had been so crazy that even Lucifer looked at it with amazement. However, arge grin suddenly appeared on his face. "This is it! This is how we should determine who is the strongest of the universe!" Lucifer said in Absolute ecstasy. "I would rather use my brains or my arrows skillfully instead of this," Ryan said. "Oh, well¡­ if it can help make you turn into dust, then I will dly use it." Ryan didn''t have to use a proper bow to attack, but he still made the same move he always does when he is firing a real arrow. All the energy inside his master manifested in his aura, probably because that was the arrow shot that he wanted to fire¡­ In the end, Lucifer fired a moon-sized dark sun toward Ryan, and Ryan''s aura took the shape of an arrow and then flew towards it. The massive explosion caused by their attacks quickly engulfed that whole gxy and even made the entire universe tremble. When the vast concentration of mana disappeared. It seemed like a colossal hole suddenly appeared in the cosmos.. Countless stars disappeared, and thergest portal that connected the reality to the Void stayed open for three months, and then it eventually closed, but no one left it. Chapter 1006 - Epilogue Several months had passed after thest battle, and although there were some vibrations across the cosmos showing everyone that Ryan still was fighting Lucifer, after a while, those stopped showing the end of the battle. His allies began to think that Ryan had died. After all, more than half a year had passed since everything went silent. His allies were worried about Femradiel because she was about to give birth and she spent this whole timepletely rxing. Well, most of the survivors began to rx while they were fixing the whole. The dungeons didn''t disappear, and monsters still were spawning, but at that point in time, they were considered new species of the. Femradiel was taking a nap while enjoying the sunlight of the early morning on a certain beach in Miami. It was a nice ce that she really enjoyed since it was much different from her previous timeline. After restoring the whole region by herself, Femradiel built a house and began tozily slept around every day while waiting for Ryan''s return and her kid''s birth. She was so rxed that she snored pretty loudly, but she suddenly stopped when she felt a presence appearing. "Hello, it has been a while," Isis greeted Femradiel with a smile. "Yes, it has," Femradiel scratched her sleepy face. "How is everything proceeding?" "I guess we are almost there, some of the elder gods even began to leave to others, those who were young were never too eager to return to Earth, after all," Isis exined. "I guess only the oldest generations see Earth like their only home." Femradiel frowned when she heard that. Even the youngest of the elder gods were at least thousands of years old¡­ Regardless, Earth still had plenty of room for so many people. Although many humans and some of the elder gods tried to use Reset and revive some people, their powers had limits. Even Isis and Odin could only use so much mana at a single time without damaging their bodies and spirits. Thus, going back in time for more than a month was nearly impossible. "I know that is asked this many times, but¡­" Isis said while looking around. "Are you really okay waiting here?" "You are such a worrywart," Femradiel shrugged. Rather than that, Isis was starting to think that Femradiel was in denial. Most of the elder gods could use Foresight now and see the future ahead in a couple of days, but none of them saw Ryan returning. That is why Isis, Athena, and even Loki visited her pretty often. Loki onlyes to do some pranks, but he always stays for a while as well. "Well,e to visit us once in a while too," Isis said. "Everyone is asking for you." "I will, once Ryan returns," Femradiel said. Isis nodded while making a slightlyplicated expression. She really had no idea what to say at times like these, even though she was so long-lived. Regardless, after that, she disappeared, and Femradiel resumed her nap. After a couple of hours, the ne suddenly began to tremble. Those who had good senses noticed that the whole world was being covered in a newyer of mana. No¡­ it seemed like the mana in the world was expanding by someone''s control. The elder gods didn''t think they would have to face another enemy that could do that kind of thing any time soon, but they prepared to fight. Although that happened near her home, too, Femradiel didn''t wake up. Not even when another presence suddenly appeared around her. "Phew¡­ it seemed that worked," Ryan said. "You owe me one," Merlin said. "Let''s hope I won''t regret thister¡­" Ryan frowned. "It seemed that I also returned on time." "You can only me your paranoia for that," Merlin said. "Just shut up for a second and let me enjoy this moment," Ryan said and then approached Femradiel. She was supposed to have good senses, but she didn''t even notice Ryan''s return. What a letdown¡­ Nevertheless, her belly was big, and she seemed more than healthy enough to sleep like that, so Ryan couldn''t have asked for more. Still, the temperature was increasing on the beach, and even though Femradiel had the endurance of a dragon, the baby didn''t. So, Ryan carried her in his arms inside the beach house. The interior of the ce was quite fancy, so Ryan felt quite weird inside it. After finding the bedroom, Ryan put Femradiel there, and then he sat while offering her ap pillow. She stopped snoring and then began tough in her sleep. Eventually, Femradiel woke up, and instead of weing him, she began to lecture Ryan. "You arete!" Femradiel said. "My bad, I wasn''t so sure that he had died, so I had to do some cleaning up," Ryan said. "Lucifer was a tough bastard, his flesh was sent flying to many gxies, so before he could regenerate, I searched for those parts and destroyed his remains. After that, I began to work on something else." "And you didn''t have time to return for a minute?" Femradiel asked, still angry. "Well, I was pretty far away¡­" Ryan shrugged. "And this new project required me to visit manys. Even now, my replicas are working like crazy to finish it." "What did you do?" Femradiel asked. "Well, unlike someone, I figured that to prevent future problems, we will need someyers of defense," Ryan said. "That is why I am activating the mana of variouss and turning them into domains, my domains. If someone troublesome appears on thoses or even nearby them, I will know." "Youin about me, but whom did you ask for help with that?" Merlin asked. "Your ability to develop spells is lousy, after all." "You are still here, Merlin?" Femradiel asked. "For the time being, yes," Merlin replied. "But my influence is over, don''t worry, I am not here to impose." "That is good¡­ for your own good," Femradiel said. "Yikes¡­" Merlin said. "Anyway, let''s visit everyone!" Femradiel said. "It is time to rub on their faces the fact that I was right, they looked at me like I was a kid who believed in Santa us while waiting for you." "Well, well¡­ they really think that I am that unreliable," Ryan said. "Not like I care, but¡­ let''s wait for a bit. You are approaching the ninth month, right? Let''s take it easy for the time being in order for the delivery to be without any problems." "Hehehe, I suppose that is fine," Femradiel said while giggling. "So, how is everyone going?" Ryan asked while he was patting Femradiel''s head. "Well, I only heard a few things from those who visited me," Femradiel replied. "Since you skipped the work of restoring the. They stayed busy for almost six months. Although they fooled their allies once, Athena and Loki were mostly fine. The other elder gods apparently had no reason to hate them after losing fair and square. Loki is travelling around while causing trouble to everyone and Athena is making sure to discipline those who don''t believe that they can keep their desire to use their new powers." "That is good, I was thinking of erasing the memories regarding those powers of everyone I could," Ryan said. "When did you be so shady?" Femradiel frowned. "¡­ Anyway, Alissa is working alongside Fang Shi and now and then she also helps the pendragons." "Good for her, It seems she is finally moving on with her life," Ryan said. "Well, her and Fang Shi had a special connection, after all," Femradiel said. "In the other timeline, he had be Orgar." "Really? That is quite shocking¡­" Ryan frowned. "She went to look for a way to bring back Orgar and she found his past self? How crazy is that?" "Also, Natasha gave birth to three girls and she often asks us to visit her," Femradiel said. "I am d to hear that someone else also had a bit of faith in me," Ryan said. "Actually, most of those who doubted your return were the elder gods," Femradiel said. "They were just trying not to admit that your sturboness is your greatest attribute." "I am not sure about that¡­" Ryan frowned. "Let''s see what else¡­ you missed Yahiko and Haruna''s marriage," Femradiel said. "Mohammed began to travel around using dungeons to establish a good rtionship with the dungeon masters since they went quiet after those battles." "I suppose both were good things," Ryan said. "Still, Yahiko¡­ to go after his subordinate. My image of him was different. What about the guys in South America?" "Lucas and Gustavo''s group were probably the busiest of humans, the vegetation of that part of the continent suffered a lot and they want to restore everything," Femradiel said. "I guess growing up seeing so much green would make them miss it after a while," Ryan nodded to himself. "Still, I didn''t think they were much of environmentalists. I can''t see how six humans with draconic powers can speed up that process, though." "They are having Isis and Poseidon''s help, so I am sure they will soon see great results," Femradiel said. "Isis is one thing, but Poseidon too?" Ryan frowned. "That is probably the most insane thing I have heard in all my life." "While he isn''t much of an environmentalist, he can easily turn seawater into proper water to shower the whole world," Femradiel exined. "Apparently, in exchange of that, humans promised him to stop connecting their sewers to the oceans." While that was a good thing, Ryan didn''t expect to hear that. It felt more than a bit weird¡­ still, considering Poseidon''s behavior, he normally would just trash the civilization of those who dare to dirty his oceans. "Now, about your friends that are our closest neighbors now¡­" Femraidel said and then looked at Ryan. "What?" Ryan asked. "Aren''t you going to say that they aren''t your friends like usual?" Femradiel asked. "I am past that," Ryan said. "Friends might be too much, though. Brother in arms is more than enough. We all fought to protect this, after all." "That is kind of boring," Femradiel said. "Anyway, Daniel and Cole''s group began to travel around in order to stop the dungeon masters who are trying to take advantage of the situation since we are shorthanded. Those guys had a lot of military friends, so they are doing a pretty good job. I didn''t see a single monster in months." "I didn''t think their influence would reach this far¡­" Ryan said. "Actually, I am the one responsible for keeping things in order on the East Coast," Femradiel said proudly. "I visited all the dungeon masters and I said that I would trash their worlds if they try to control the monsters and damage the world or what we rebuilt." "Well¡­ I never imagined that you had such tact for diplomacy," Ryan said while forcing a smile. "You acting skills could use some work¡­" Femradiel said and then sighed. "As for Mia, Zoe, and Arthur, they are working together to build some sort of international school where they can teach basic things andmon sense for the kids that will be born in the future. It seems that their growth speed decreased since the mana level in this stabilized, but most kids still are growing two times faster than before." "Heh, school¡­" Ryan said. "You wanted to be a teacher, didn''t you?" Femradiel asked. "Why not help them?" "I wanted to be a teacher, but I guess that working as a special force that will hunt down troublemakers across the cosmos suits me better," Ryan said. "You are still nning to fight?" Femradiel asked. "Are you expecting me to raise our daughter by myself?" "Don''t worry, that was why I was setting the domains, I can attack everyone without leaving your side," Ryan exined. "Wait, are you sure it is a girl? I kind of wanted to have a boy¡­" "Why?" Femradiel asked. "Girls are cuter and more obedient." "Well, if my first kid will be a girl, then my fight will never end," Ryan said. "I will have to chase away many brats that will try to approach her. I get it! Only someone who is able to defeat me will have the chance to marry her." "You sound so stupid saying that with a straight face¡­" Femradiel facepalmed. Those two giggled, and then Merlin let out a sigh. Observing them was just too weird and made him a bit jealous since his wife was busy most of the time and treated her work very seriously. "Well, I leave you guys alone," Merlin said. "The Ranger''s Domain spell is alreadypletely under your control, Ryan." "Got it," Ryan said. "Come to think of it, I never told you my real name, did I?" Merlin asked. "Your name is Merlin," Ryan frowned. "It isn''t¡­ how stupid can you be?" Merlin asked after sighing again. "My name is Leon and as I said, you owe me one, and I will need your help with the next project. I will return in a few years. See ya." The sphere actually disappeared, and Ryan sighed in relief. He finally would have some privacy, but it seemed that he wouldn''t stay from Merlin for long¡­ or Leon. Ryan thought that was a really annoying name¡­ "That is a good name," Femradiel said. "What do you think of Lenore? Or Leonor? Leone? Leona?" "Do you want to change his name and gender without asking him?" Ryan frowned. "I was talking about our daughter''s name¡­" Femradiel frowned. "Leona seems beautiful and strong¡­ it seems like the name of a golden female pdin would have." "Leona¡­ Leona," Femradiel smiled while rubbing her belly. Ryan smiled as well, seeing that. Call him crazy, but he had imagined a scene like that crossing his mind when he went to face Lucifer. That was why he said that he had a good feeling about that battle. To make that scene reality, he did his best. "Thank you, Ryan," Femradiel said. "I love you." "I don''t dislike you either," Ryan said. Femradiel looked at Ryan with reproachful eyes and then pinched his side. That had hurt quite a bit, but it only made Ryan smile. "Just kidding¡­ I love you too," Ryan said. "I love you both." The End. To all of you read this far... thank you.. I hope to see you all in my other books as well. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!