Twenty minutes later, and after dealing with two pterodactyls, Ryan and Tristan finally arrived on the base of the mountain. Pulling the motorcycle on that path upward would be stupid, so Ryan hid it behind a group of trees.

"Our destination is that cave," Ryan declared. "The path ahead is open terrain, so we will have to move as fast possible and without stopping. If the monsters see us, we won't have much time to react, so we don't have much choice."

"That place is a dungeon?" Tristan frowned.

"Yeah… do you know or heard of some suspicious caves that appeared after that massive earthquakes?" Ryan asked.

"No, I didn't hear or see anything like it…" Tristan rubbed his chin while he was thinking. "However, I was watching TV when the earthquake happened. I didn't see a hole appearing out of nowhere, but I saw a swarm of goblins appearing before the TV stopped working."

"Where?" Ryan asked.

"I think it was near Shreveport… if I remember well, they were talking about a couple that died a few days ago on the high road that leads directly to the center of the town," Tristan replied. "I can't remember the location with precision, but I would bet there is a dungeon there."

Tristan felt shivers when he looked at Ryan and saw him making a terrible expression, which was a mix of anger and sadness. For a moment, Tristan thought he had something bad, but soon he understood that Ryan wasn't mad at him. It was for some unknown reason.

Only one car accident had happened in that area in the last week… it was the one that caused Ryan's parents death. As if returning to Shreveport so soon wasn't bad enough, he would have to return to the area where his parents passed away. Not only that, he would have to go in the same direction which the dragons went. Those massive monsters should be about to finish their job on that city, and at any moment, they might look for other highly populated areas to destroy… the chances of them finding Ryan weren't null.

"Let's go," Ryan said after a long sigh. "Finding that dungeon will be a pain in the ass, so I have to make good use of sunlight while I can."

Ryan and Tristan hurried, but despite that, another pterodactyl managed to find them. It was a pain to be forced to rely on his mana whenever those monsters appeared, but Ryan didn't have any other choice, so he did it. After firing a Flame Arrow, Ryan moved to the right side while Tristan moved to the opposite side. They didn't wait to confirm that Ryan had hit the target. They just moved because until now, Ryan never missed, and he didn't miss this time either. Although those creatures were dangerous, one good hit on their faces was enough to make them lose their aerial superiority. That one fell on the ground and soon died with an arrow on the head.

You obtained eight coins.

Congratulations! The skill Flame Arrow has leveled up.

Flame Arrow Lv 2 ➞ Lv 3

Effect: Summon and fire a Flame Arrow without having to use a bow. The damage caused will be (dexterity plus your intelligence) x 15%.

Cost: 05 mana

You obtained 01 status point.

"Man, I will never get used to seeing a human defeating a monster like that so fast…" Tristan said.

After confirming that the monster didn't drop anything, Ryan checked the surroundings once again and then begun to move when he saw that the other pterodactyls were too far away to notice them.

Ten minutes later, Ryan and Tristan arrived at the dungeon entrance, covered in sweat and exhausted. Climbing a mountain while running wasn't something easy… Still, it looked like they wouldn't be able to rest properly.

"Like I said, you three have to protect us. We are just civilians!" Someone said.

"Yeah, how can you expect any of us that don't have any training to fight monsters that can spit fricking Fireballs?" Another someone said.

"It is the army and the police's job to fight and protect us in moments like these!"

Ryan arrived on time to see the ten survivors arguing with Cole, Anna, and Carter. He imagined something like that would happen, but not so soon. It couldn't be helped that ordinary people that never touched a gun or even killed a rabbit to eat could think that way, but Ryan felt a bit annoyed after hearing those arguments. It was indeed the army and the police's job to protect the civilians in moments of crisis, but it was stupid to think that they could do it when the origin of the crisis were monsters.

"… Excuse me, it looks like someone came to this place," Cole said while showing a slightly fed-up expression. "Ryan? I thought… Ah. You try to be cold-hearted, but in the end, you can't ignore those who need help."

"I came to give you back the keys of your home…" Ryan said and then sighed. "Then again, the next time you see your house, you won't like what you will see."

"… Did something happen?" Cole hesitated to ask.

"A pterodactyl destroyed the entrance of your garage," Ryan replied. "I tried to prevent it, but…"

Tristan frowned when he heard that; It couldn't be helped since that happened because Ryan had to protect him and his sister, but Tristan couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in knowing that he had been helped by someone who could so easily lie to a police officer.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Cole said. "I have more important things to worry about now…"

"Is that so?" Ryan said and then opened the dungeon shop. "I wish you luck in getting rid of those worries… you must be really in a bind since neither of you saw us approaching."

Ryan thought Carter would still be guarding the entrance of the dungeon, but it looked like he was resting because they were having difficulties in killing slimes without relying on guns.