Well, now… that seemed like a problem. That was too good to be true, but after using Analysis on the two swords, Ryan concluded that they weren't cursed or anything. They were just really powerful swords.

Blazing Long Sword

Effect: It burns the foe upon contact. The fire damage is equal to your intelligence per second. It grants you the skill: Fire Storm Lv 50. Cost: 50 mana per second.

Strength + 50, Endurance + 50

Durability: 90/90

Those were far stronger than any of his weapons and that only made Ryan more puzzled… how come the reptilians have weapons better than the ones he obtained killing dragons? That didn't make any sense.

"You can take the swords, and you don't want to come with me if you don't want to," The reptilian said. "However, you must leave this city at this moment and promise that you won't attack us again."

Ryan waited for a while to see if they had some other crazy proposal to him, but apparently, that was all they had to say. Something was really fishy… why give a gift to someone who decimated their forces? Why not attack the single human who did that when they had the numerical advantage?

"… Who is your boss, and what do they want with me?" Ryan asked.

"I am just a messenger, and I don't know the details," The reptilian said. "All that I know is that our master, Echidna, wants you to join our side or at the very least leave our base alone."

Echidna… Ryan heard that somewhere, but he couldn't quite recall where or who had that name. In the first place, it was weird that he could feel a sense of familiarity from a monster's name…

"It seems you don't trust. That is understandable," The reptilian said. "So, we will leave you alone for now. If you wish to speak with our master, you can head east to find our dungeon. If you don't show up until sunset, we will acknowledge your refusal, but if you stay in our territory… there won't be any other attempt of negotiation."

After saying that, all the reptilians left the area. Ryan used Radar and confirmed that they weren't close any longer… Still, he didn't feel relieved, only puzzled. Using the weapons that a monster gave him seemed weird, but Ryan wouldn't throw away such nice swords just for that.

"Damn… I really need an inventory or something."

Ryan didn't drop his guard, but after leaving the dungeon, he felt safe enough to complain about his luggage that got heavier. Still, after a while, he returned to think about the question at hand. What should he do? Accept the gifts and leave? Or go talk with this Echidna?

First of all, those monsters were insane for thinking that just two swords could buy an entire city, destroyed or not. Second of all, there was no way Ryan would join the ranks of monsters. Not after seeing so much destruction they caused. In the end, Ryan chose the third option…

"I will keep the gifts and slay every single reptilian in this city… if there isn't anyone to complain, no one will complain."

Ryan felt like he was getting away despite all the doubts in his mind, but in the end, it was a fact that he couldn't leave those monsters alone. Besides, nothing good would come from leaving a monster that can negotiate with other alone, even more so when they can give powerful weapons like those swords so easily.

"They will probably stay on guard for a while, so I should leave them alone for the time being… I should search for the other dungeon."

In a hurry, Ryan began to look for the velociraptors' dungeon. The enemies will notice that he wants to fight if they see him looking for the dungeon, so time was essential. While keeping Radar active. Ryan looked for the dungeon, and he found it. Unfortunately, he also found some reptilians guarding the place, and by some, Ryan meant hundreds of them.

"As expected, they are hunting the monsters and killing them as soon as they leave the dungeons… killing those isn't impossible, but I won't be able to do that without alerting the others."

That was a pain in the ass, but Ryan will have to start with the hard part. It seemed like a waste of time, but Ryan decided to retreat for the time being and let the reptilians relax as much as possible. Once they are certain that Ryan left them alone, he will suddenly appear and surprise them. It was a simple plan, but the chances of it succeeding with the ideas he had in mind, it certainly would succeed.

For two days and one night, Ryan meditated outside Nashville. When he returned, the place was completely dark since it was around midnight, and the reptilian's army had decreased considerably. However, they were using that encirclement again. Unfortunately, the parties now were fifty meters away from each other.

"I guess they still are on guard… I can't waste any more time here."

The smell of blood or any noise will alert the other parties, so Ryan will have to use one of his old ideas. Instead of using Water Manipulation and Lullaby, he will only use Earth Manipulation and then create an underground route below the encirclement and then bury the monsters alive. A lot of mana will be used to pull that off, but if things don't proceed fast enough, Ryan can always use Power of Money or at least return and buy some potions in the giant bees' dungeon.

"No… I need to save my coins. I don't know how many of those bosses I will have to face, but if I want to kill all of them, I will need to save the coins for later."

Ryan had to work fast, so in order to make his Earth Manipulation be more effective, he put all his free status points into intelligence.