When morning came, Ryan confirmed his suspicion. Those who wanted to stay behind were quite the suspicious group. One of them and who decided to stay in the velociraptor's dungeon was that tall friend of Daniel. Weirdly enough, five girls would stay and guard that dungeon with him. While looking at the guy and the harem he formed in the last month, Ryan couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Why are you laughing, asshole?" Daniel's friend asked.

"For absolutely no reason in particular," Ryan turned around, but he didn't stop laughing.

The world was ending, and most people don't have the leisure to do anything aside from struggle, but that guy was… Ryan shook his head and decided to forget about it. In any case, it was just too weird that someone could be that carefree when the only thing he could do when a dragon appeared was to run.

"Are you sure of that, Adrian?" Daniel asked, visibly troubled by his friends' actions.

"Yeah, sorry, but… I am not good with stiff rules," Adrian said. "We lost everything when those monsters appeared, and I don't want to lose my freedom as well."

He would be more convincing if five curvy women weren't behind him. In any case, at least that gave Ryan a hint. After using Appraisal on all the groups that would stay behind, Ryan confirmed his worries. All of the people who would stay behind were like the second strongest parties of their respective groups. Maybe it was a coincidence, but Cole, Daniel, Lilian, and their respective friends were the strongest of each group. Maybe those guys who would stay behind weren't plotting something, but it was very clear that they didn't want to be the number two.

"Around thirty survivors decided to stay behind while 120 are going to join your group," John said. "I hope we can get along well together."

"Certainly," Mark said and then offered a handshake to John.

Ryan wasn't the type who would believe in those types of agreements. He would rather wait and see how things would proceed instead of blindly trusting someone. Still, he didn't feel like mock those who still thought that humans' words had some value in them.

"How do you guys intend to reach the base?" Alissa asked with Arthur in her arms.

"We recovered some vehicles in the last few days that should help us with that," John replied. "Although running would be a bit faster, we have certain things that we can't leave behind or carry in our arms alone. That being said, we will have to stop many times if the monsters get in our way or if the terrain isn't appropriate."

"I will help you guys with that," Alissa said. "We exchange. Arthur will stay with me the whole time."

Before anyone could protest, Alissa began to fly in her human form toward the base's direction. Eventually, she found out the vehicles John mentioned, and then she began to open the path ahead. While the survivors were heading toward the vehicles, Ryan turned around and headed toward the opposite direction. As expected, he shocked many people since he didn't tell anyone what he planned, but eventually, Orgar would tell Alissa, and then she would explain everything.

Now that Ryan was alone, he felt a sense of freedom that he couldn't express with words. However, at the same time, he didn't drop his guard. He was alone, and he couldn't only rely on himself to survive and avoid problems. That was great, but at the same time, it was risky.

"I can't waste too much time fighting since that can draw the attention of dragons. A trail of corpses is something I can't leave behind… I guess my best bet is to use Dash and train Stealth as much as possible. That way, maybe I will be able to avoid the dragons."

That was a bit tiring, but Ryan only used Dash after he checked. The whole area ahead was free of monsters, and he always stopped when he found an appropriate place to hide, like the back of trees and some rocks. When he was crossing urbanized areas, he made sure to hide behind cars, fences, and energy poles. Ryan found a few monsters here and there, but he managed to avoid them relying solely on Dash and Stealth. Although that had been quite nerve-wracking, Ryan reached Houston at sunset without having to kill a single monster. Even better, he couldn't see a single demon walking around the streets.

"Good, it looks like the elder salamander has been doing a good job."

Unfortunately, Ryan was forced to stop and use Earth Manipulation to dig a hole in the ground and then hid inside of it. He heard the familiar sound of a massive monster flapping its wings in the distance, and he didn't have to see with his own eyes to confirm that was a dragon passing nearby. Fortunately, Ryan trained that skill just enough to be able to hide in just two seconds. He didn't feel the approach of the dragon, so the creature passed by him without noticing.

"I need to be careful since manipulating asphalt and concrete isn't possible for some reason…"

Fortunately, the night came, and Ryan was now able to hide with more ease, but he didn't have to worry since he didn't find any monster while he headed toward the demons' dungeon.

Congratulations! The skill Tame has leveled up.

Tame Lv 12 ➞ Lv 20

Effect: It gives you the chance to tame a monster or an animal. The more wounded the creature, the higher are the chances of the Tame skill to work. If the creature is too strong and the skill level is low, the skill won't work.

Cost: 100 mana

You obtained 08 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Call has leveled up.

Call Lv 10 ➞ Lv 20

Extra Effect: for every five levels you have in this skill, you will be able to tame another beast.

Cost: 10 mana

You obtained 10 status points.

Elder Salamander

Health: 658/800

Mana: 1.600/1.600

Stamina: 1.400/1.400

Strength: 150

Dexterity: 250

Speed: 150

Intelligence: 450

Endurance: 100

Control: 400

Mentality: 350

Luck: 20

Recovery: 400

Willpower: 150

Coins: --

Status: 290

Skill List

Offensive Physical Skills: Roar Lv 10

Passive Physical Skills: Iron Skin Lv 55, Dash Lv 60

Spells: Flamethrower Lv 65,

Support Skills: Fire Resistance Lv 30, Meditation Lv 40, Pain Resistance Lv 40

You received 245.600 coins.

"Holy crap… you have been working hard, haven't you?" Ryan said, astonished after receiving those coins.

With that crazy number of coins, Ryan had several ideas. The chances of them failing were quite high, but he decided to make some bets once again.