Unlimited Power 02 – The Ranger's Domain

"Chupacabra?" Ryan frowned.

"I know what you are thinking," Mark sighed again.

"I am sure," Ryan said.

Still, now that he thought about it, Fenrir was a giant wolf from Nordic mythology… demons were also part of mythology. Although it isn't that old, anything related to Chupacabra is also mythology. That couldn't be a coincidence… Echidna was also part of Greek mythology.

"That is not everything," Hugo added. "Even dragons are having a hard time dealing with those creatures. Maybe it is because of them that the dragons are spending much time hunting survivors like us."

"How come?" Ryan frowned. "I can understand they are having a hard time against a small army of Fenrir, but not against creatures like Chupacabra. According to the legends, they only attack goats and some other animals, right?" 

"We don't know the details since they mostly fight at night," Hugo shook his head. "But we do know that is what happens considering the corpses left off every time they clash."

Those were some bad news, but Ryan was pretty sure that it wasn't something everyone should feel so depressed about it. After all, they were well-hidden in a military base. The chances of the monsters finding them were quite low.

"Is that all?" Ryan asked.

"No… we noticed that humans are entering the Fenrir's dungeon," Mark's face darkened. "And they aren't going as prisoners, and they certainly weren't going to fight."

"I see… I guess they received an invitation as well," Ryan nodded to himself.

"Invitation?" Daniel asked.

"… While I was clearing a few dungeons in Nashville, a group of monsters invited me to join their side," Ryan replied after a few seconds since it wasn't time to get annoyed at Daniel. "Someone called Echidna promised me the power to join her side."

"Echidna? The mother of monsters?" Tristan got up and then asked in shock.

"Do you know about her?" Ryan asked.

"A little bit… I know that she gave birth to many monsters of Greek mythology," Tristan replied. "Cerberus, Orthus, Sphinx, Chimera, Scylla… according to mythology, she is a creature that has the upper body of a woman and the lower of a snake."

"So, she is like medusa?" Ryan frowned.

"No… I am pretty sure she was supposed to be more humanoid than medusa, and she can't petrify those who look at her," Tristan explained.

Things were getting out of hand really quick. Still, that would explain why Alissa decided to change her modus operandi. If she knew that dragons were having a hard time, then she couldn't underestimate those foes. Regardless, based on what Ryan knew, Fenrir was just a giant wolf. It wasn't supposed to be that smart. So, someone else was the real dungeon master, but who? Ryan's memory was quite fuzzy, but apparently, in the Ragnarök, Loki used Fenrir to kill Odin or hurt him… or something.

"Well, anyway, is the map with the location of all dungeons completed?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, once this meeting is over, I will show you the details," Mark nodded.

"Okay," Ryan said and then left the meeting room.

Although some serious problems appeared in the South and North, Ryan didn't get anxious. As long as a being is made of flesh and bones, that being could be killed, even if the thing belongs to some mythology. Even if his arrows were useless, Ryan could kill such creatures with Power of Money. It wouldn't be cheap, but it was possible. Still, he knew he wouldn't feel satisfied in winning like that, even if the other side has the numerical advantage. Ryan wanted to win and survive using the things he learned from his father. To do that, Ryan could only do one thing: keep hunting monsters and strengthening himself.

"I am already doing that, so I guess I need to focus on some countermeasures to prevent the worst-case-scenario: my death."

Ryan had an amazing firing power, but he wasn't much more resilient than most humans, not even with his new equipment. So, he needed to improve his stealth and movement skills. Keep himself hidden while he moves at his top speed wasn't something Ryan could do. However, there were other things he could do in order to keep his presence hidden. The first thing was to use Earth Manipulation and always attack the enemies at night and from above. That worked well against the reptilians. However, Ryan couldn't just wait for the sunset to hunt monsters, and sometimes, the moon might reveal his position.

The second thing Ryan could do… was to use Flash. Although that skill was useful, the cost of mana was too high. So, Ryan completely ignored it until now since he also could use some tricks to fool his enemy. However, the number of sapient beings that he had been facing was increasing, and cheap tactics won't work against them more than once.

Weirdly enough, the only place which came to his mind to train was the warehouse… Ryan had become a person who couldn't care less about having a room to himself. Although that was weird, that was also the person who he had become in order to survive in this crazy world where Chupacabras exist. 

In order to train that skill as efficiently as possible, Ryan will have to go to an area where some dungeon breaks happened and then use the same tactic he used the night before: make his summoned monsters recover his mana by fighting. Or at least go to a weak area where he can finish off the creatures with a single Flame Arrow.

"It would be great if I could recover my mana while I am not where my monsters are fighting… but things aren't that convenient."     

Eventually, the meeting ended, and Mark appeared, but in the end, everyone followed him since they more or less had to plan their actions based on what Ryan might or might do. Although that was a pain in the ass, Ryan managed to hold back his sigh.