"Sorry, sorry!" Alissa said. "I won't do it again!"

While Ryan was healing the Elder Salamander, Alissa asked for forgiveness several times, but he just ignored her and kept working. He already knew more or less how he could strengthen the salamander, so he had to work fast.

"Please, don't ignore me," Alissa said.

"I am not ignoring you, you can read my mind, so I don't need to see or talk to you," Ryan said.

"I said that I wouldn't use it again!" Alissa said.

After a while, the salamander woke up, and Ryan felt a strange glint in the monster's eyes. There was no malice or violence. There was only a sense of familiarity. Weirdly enough, Ryan also could feel a connection between him and the monster as if their thoughts were in harmony and they could understand each other just with their eyes.

"Come on, say something," Alissa said.

"Something," Ryan said and then sat on the back of the salamander.

"Kid, you should show more respect to the person who saved your life."

"Dragon, I am showing my respect by working with you two," Ryan said. "Don't expect anything more than this."

Even without giving the order, the salamander began to run toward the exit of the dungeon, and after a while, the monster learned Dash. As expected, training his first beast wouldn't be that complicated, but it would be a bit time-consuming since the salamander learned that skill and just obtained a single status point.

After a while, Alissa also left the dungeon and joined Ryan, but it didn't look like he wanted to fly on her back again. He didn't have any reason to do that again. After all, the elder salamander was quite fast. A bit uncomfortable to use as a vehicle, but fast.

"I will see you back at the entrance of the demons' dungeon," Ryan said. "I should be able to arrive in time with my salamander."

Ryan left without waiting for an answer. Even though Alissa looked really sorry for what she did, it didn't change the fact that she did it. Ryan was determined not to become allies or friends of anyone. A good reason for that was because he had become merciless in that kind of relationship. He did his best not to offend or make others sad, but everything he received in return was deceptions. Staying away from everyone as much as possible, he wouldn't have to deal with that kind of problem again, and he was more than satisfied with it.

Although the salamander had to stop to rest a few times, Ryan and his new monster arrived one hour before the time limit. The fact that Dash leveled up several times contributed to that. Still, Ryan had planned to train the monster a little more, but no monster approached since Alissa flew close to them.

"Come on, Ryan, try to be a bit reasonable," Alissa said. "You can't be this harsh after a single mess up."

Ryan turned around and glared at Alissa, but in the end, he shook his head. She probably didn't have much experience in dealing with other people since she spent a good part of her life in a hospital bed. That was probably why she was treating what she did like a little mistake. It was indeed a small mistake, but just enough to make Ryan threaten her like everyone else.

"You sure are insistent," Ryan said. "Why do you care if I forgive you or not? I thought that you don't care if other humans live or die since you waited to be helped for who knows how long while you were in the hospital, but none helped you."

"You can read minds too?" Alissa frowned. "If that is the case, we are even."

"Are you stupid?" Ryan asked. "Anyone with half of a brain would have concluded that."

"Come on, Ryan," Alissa pleaded. "We are friends, right? You are my first human friend."

"Use your power and see if I am lying now," Ryan said. "We are not friends and will never be. Although you saved my life once, you are no better than any other human, not even with your powers. As such, I will treat you like I treat everyone else, like strangers."

Surprisingly, Ryan saw some tears appearing in Alissa's eyes, but not even that made his resolve tremble. He had already chosen his path, and in his path, he won't forgive anyone that messes with him in any sort of way. He may not want to kill Mia and Alissa, but he won't show any mercy even while talking to them. Suddenly, the aura around Alissa's body changed. It was obvious that Orgar got mad at Ryan. However, he couldn't care less.

"Little worm… if you say anything that will hurt Alissa's feelings again, I will make you regret being born in this world. Death won't be a mercy that will give you and…"

"Wow, such cliché lines," Ryan said. "I guess I couldn't have expected anything more from an oversized lizard. Don't underestimate me, monster. I may not be able to defeat you now, but I won't run from a fight against you, not today, nor never. Don't think that your strength scares me."

"… All right, stop fighting," Alissa said with her head down. "I did something wrong, and you two don't have any reason to fight, so stop."

Ryan didn't feel like talking, and since Alissa and Orgar didn't say anything after that, he didn't have any reason to do so. Instead of wasting time with that, he decided to train his salamander as much as possible. After all, he planned to use the purple crystal soon alongside Alissa and Orgar, and Ryan had no idea when he would return.