Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain
Chapter 99 - Flame Sword

"We found you when you were killing the velociraptors at the entrance of that dungeon," Alissa explained. "Although, Orgar didn't think you were anything special, we didn't replace anyone in thousands of kilometers soloing dungeons."

"… What do you mean by that?" Ryan frowned. "Can you teleport or something? Besides, if you were watching me, I would have noticed."

"I don't think so," Alissa said. "Can you feel the presence of someone twenty kilometers above you? While I inherited some of Orgar's power, he can't teleport, but he can fly pretty fast. So, in the last few days, we studied and watched many survivors' camp. While we found some individuals with potential, I didn't like them. Even though Orgar told me that they could be useful."

"… What is the difference between them and me?" Ryan asked.

"While you can help others now and then, you don't want to be a leader and rebuild human society," Alissa replied. "You want to keep improving yourself without having to become a member of other survivors' camps. More importantly, you are not a hypocrite that wanted to make a good place for the survivors now that the world is in this situation."

Those were some harsh words, but Ryan could see where Alissa was coming from. He couldn't quite imagine how his past self would cope with life in the hospital, a weak body, and disease that slowly might kill him, but the current self wouldn't cope well with it. Still, even Ryan couldn't think that Cole, John, and Lilian were hypocrites. They were a bunch of idiots, but not hypocrites, at least from his perspective.

It was quite weird seeing a woman who could show such a pure smile to have so many dark thoughts inside her, but it was understandable. In any case, the last thing Ryan wanted was to get involved with others, but in the current situation, he couldn't exactly refuse Alissa's favor. Even though she didn't say that yet, it was clear that she was the one who saved him after he defeated the red dragon. He owed her, and Ryan hated that feeling, and he would hate it even more if he keeps owing her for a long time.

"All right then," Ryan said. "Since I owe you, I will try to obtain the intel you need. However, I plan to do it alone."

"That won't do," Alissa shook her head. "Your movement speed can't even be compared to ours. While we don't want to slow down on your goal of seeking power, it will be more efficient if we work together. Besides, I doubt that you will replace useful information on the human said."

"… Where exactly do you plan to obtain that information then?" Ryan frowned.

"Although Orgar doesn't remember about his past, he is a dragon that knows how magic usually works," Alissa said. "The process was different, but the basis is the same, dragons came from somewhere, but they don't know since they were forcefully teleported and have amnesia. However, things change when we are talking about dungeons. Those purple crystals don't spawn monsters… they bring them to Earth from other worlds."

That made sense… even if it was a crazy magic apocalypse, the amount of energy to create a complex lifeform was supposed to be hard and expensive in terms of mana. However, teleportation probably is much simpler.

"I see… so you want to investigate those other worlds and search for clues," Ryan said. "That seems interesting, but I don't plan to do that often if I don't replace dungeons in those other worlds."

"I already knew that, but your hunger for power is really quite something," Alissa frowned. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. Right, Orgar?"

"Why are you asking me? Don't forcefully put me in the conversation… Regardless, I doubt that any useful information can be found on planets where you will replace only slimes or creatures like goblins and those small reptiles. We need to look for dungeons that spawn intelligent creatures."

That also made a lot of sense, but while that would be efficient, it would be equally dangerous. Even if they were weaker, smart monsters might be even more troublesome to deal with. Still, that looked interesting. Now then, the problem was for how long Ryan would have to work with them. While Alissa wasn't as troublesome as his goody-two-shoes ex-friends, Ryan didn't want to work with them forever. Besides, who knows if they will replace anything exploring other worlds.

"You saved my life, but that doesn't mean I will become your subordinate or slave," Ryan said. "Six months… I will work with you guys for six months and nothing more."

"I guess that is fine then," Alissa said. "Right, Orgar?"

"Hopefully, he will die in just a few weeks, and we won't have to endure his behavior."

Ryan immediately regretted his choice… he should have said three months. He had never been good at bargaining, and now he had to deal with those two. Still, that was more or less fine given how faster Ryan would be able to travel.

"Here are your things," Alissa said. "And here are the things that you obtained by killing that dragon. It is kind of cool that such things can be obtained by humans now."

Flame Sword

Effect: It burns the foe upon contact. The fire damage is equal to your intelligence per second. Strength + 30, Endurance + 20

Durability: 60/60

Fire Manipulation Tome

Effect: Grants you the power to manipulate the fire element.

Ryan opened his eyes widely when he saw the tome, and without wasting any time, he learned that skill. It would take a while, but with that new skill, his offensive powers would increase a lot.