ALL NOVEL Chapter 82: Chance
"Ryan, at least give them a chance," Lilian said while giving a shovel to Ryan. "We can't lose any more humans in this war, much less while fighting against each other."
"That goes without saying," Ryan said. "Still, I won't take any chances."
For the first time, no one tried to stop Ryan or go with him. Shreveport was their home, after all. There was no point in abandoning after finally recovering or returning. Besides, even though most of the things there had been lost, it still was the best place to create a decent base and then make it stronger. Before leaving, Ryan saw in the corner of his vision Zoe and her father talking about something. Even though one member of their family died, they were all smiles. It was only natural, Ryan thought, considering that they thought that they had lost everything. It wouldn't be easy, but they could rebuild their home and their lives there. Such an option wasn't available for Ryan.
"Ryan, we just discovered something incredible!" Lilian said just when Ryan began to walk.
"What now?" Ryan asked, visibly annoyed by the interruption.
"Apparently, people can give each other coins if they hold their hands," Lilian said.
"So what?" Ryan frowned.
"We can use coins to trade things with each other now," Lilian said. "For example, we can buy information with them."
"That is kind of obvious," Ryan frowned and then looked toward Cole's and Daniel's group, but they avoided his gaze.
"So, you are going to clear another dungeon, right?" Lilian tried to smile and look as normal as possible. "If you succeed, we want to buy the information on how you did. In order to decrease the number of casualties, learn how to defeat a boss before the fight is absolutely necessary."
Those guy's act sucked. It was clear as a day that John and probably Cole created a method for them to keep contact with Ryan. That was meaningless since Ryan was planning to share information, to begin with, at least when dungeons were related. After all, he couldn't help to think that he would find dungeons just by walking around in a direction. While some dungeons were easy to find, others weren't. In any case, let things go as they wanted was annoying. So, Ryan decided to leave a doubt in their minds.
"I don't think I need coins from others," Ryan said and then began to walk. "I can get them myself by fighting. If I'm in a good mood, I will come and sell the information you want."
Without wasting any more time, Ryan decided to activate Dash since he saw Cole's group approaching and it looked like they would keep him there all day. Moving like the wind, and he disappeared in the distance. All that traveling was kind of wearing down his nerves, so Ryan made a mental note of taking a day off once he clears the next dungeon. Most likely, he wouldn't be able to do that, but taking it easy for a few hours should be enough.
"It looks like fatigue can build up even while mana and stamina are full… I should be fine for one or two, but might performance will probably decrease even if that is the case. I need to be careful."
For the sake of efficiency, Ryan used Flame Arrow when monsters approached. His stamina was being used to train Dash, so he needed to put his mana to good use as well. That being said, Ryan didn't feel like his growth was being fast enough. It was only natural since the more they level up, the harder it gets for the skills to level up again. Still, Ryan wanted more.
Eventually, Ryan reached the place where Arthur's mother was. Since it was day, he decided to hurry up since there was no telling if those two groups of idiots would send scouts to keep the area around watched. Still, in the meantime, Ryan decided to think of the options available to him.
"To speed my training, I can use items that increase my recovery, use potions, and even use Meditation. While Meditation seemed the best option, in the long run, the others are more efficient in the beginning… However, given that these weapons have game-like effects, maybe there is something else I can do. Like using weapons that drain the energy of my foes and give them to me."
Such items could only be found in the late stages of most games, but Ryan wasn't living a game. That was reality. So, perhaps he could find those. However, he will have to increase his luck a lot or save some coins for a while.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Strong Arms.
Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level on your arms temporarily.
Cost: 01 mana per second
You obtained 01 status point.
While Ryan was thinking about that, he received a pleasant surprise. He learned the version of Herculean Strength that consumes mana instead of stamina. That was amazing since he somehow used mana without activating any other skill. However, the surprises didn't end there.
Congratulations! Your class Monk has leveled up.
Monk Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2
Strength + 2, Speed + 2, Health + 1, Mana + 1, Stamina + 1, Control +1.
"… It looks like I leveled up just by doing some physical exercise," Ryan rubbed his chin. "I need to study the system even further."
Based on his experience, Ryan concluded that he could level up all his classes while fighting. However, he could do almost the same outside fighting. Certain activities could train the skills of certain classes, after all. The training is just as important as gaining battle experience. As a hunter, Ryan knew that very well.