Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

Ryan frowned upon hearing that, it was almost noon, so if they didn't appear until now, it means something happened and forced the group to give up on their plans. Something troublesome happened that didn't let them inform what happened using the radios… At the north of Shreveport, one could find the bridge and Cross Lake. So, the chances of a dungeon existing there increased. After all, upon recognizing the dungeon's existence, it would be wiser to put a force of soldiers there. That was what probably happened, but that didn't explain how Ryan found a group of ten Sahuagins a few kilometers away from there.

"When was the last time they transmitted any message?" Ryan asked.

"At sunrise, their leader told us that they were finishing the preparations for the operation," The middle-aged man replied. "… Are you going in that direction?"

"Yeah… that was my goal from the beginning," Ryan said, a bit annoyed when he noticed the man gazing at his right arm. "If you want to, you can come with me, but you will have to make yourself useful."

"H-how?" The middle-aged man asked, even though he already had an idea of what Ryan was planning.

"As you just saw, I can't fight against so many of these enemies alone," Ryan said and then passed the buckler to the middle-aged man. "Use this to protect yourself while you draw the attention of the monsters."

"… Yes," The man gulped while he was equipping the shield. "There is another thing I need to tell you…"

"Yeah, I know. They can come too," Ryan said and then turned around in search of enemies.

Ryan felt that he was still being watched, even after the man suddenly appeared, so it was clear that he wasn't alone. Surprisingly, a middle-aged woman and a boy appeared out of a pile of rubble. They had been used a brown curtain to hide themselves… it was like a ninja trick; Ryan didn't notice at any moment their existence there.

The woman and the boy hid behind the middle-aged man. It looked like they saw what Ryan could do, and even though he was a human, they didn't feel all that comfortable in getting close to a man that could fire magic fire arrows.

"I don't think that it is necessary, but I will tell anyway," Ryan said. "Don't make too much noise. If you do, I won't be able to hear the monster's approach. By the way… didn't you guys try to fight the monsters until now?"

"No…" The middle-aged man said while he was trying to get used to the weight of the buckler. "The dragons didn't leave this city until yesterday afternoon, so we didn't dare to do it. When they suddenly left, those other monsters appeared… some survivors tried to fight them, but… they didn't succeed."

"I see…" Ryan said.

"May I ask you something?" The middle-aged man looking at Ryan uneasily.

"Didn't you already ask?" Ryan frowned. "Anyway, I guess this is the best time for us to exchange information."

"You don't look, but are you in the army?" The middle-aged man asked.

"No… I'm just a former PE teacher that has some experience hunting deer and rabbits, "Ryan said. "The name is Ryan, by the way."

"A teacher? Well, you can call me Jacob. These are my wife and son, Bella and Edward," Jacob frowned a little.

It would be a pain if Jacob keeps asking things, so Ryan gave him a brief summary of the things he learned. It was only obvious that he would want the power Ryan obtained to protect his family. Still, Jacob had a hard time believing that Ryan cleared two dungeons and killed hundreds of monsters alone… but considering the wound in his right arm seemed quite recent, he understood that he didn't lie.

Ryan began to wonder if he shouldn't take his time and see how his old house was but soon shook out those thoughts out of his head. The house was located on the eastern side of the city, so he would to waste a lot of time to go there. Maybe he could once he confirm some things about this new group of survivors and if there is a dungeon near the lake, but he discarded that idea for the time being. Besides, going back to his old house would only make him depressed… to survive, Ryan couldn't second guess himself, and he had to keep his focus, and thinking about his parents' death wouldn't let him do that.

"… What should I do?" Bella asked. "I don't think I can be of much use with a bow, but perhaps with the crossbow…"

"I don't have any other weapons," Ryan explained. "The cost to use the crossbow is high, so you probably won't be able to help to shoot all that much. Just stay behind us and keep an eye on enemies coming from the back."

Although his reasoning was sound, Ryan didn't want to trust the people that watched him fight the Sahuagins. They only approached him because he survived, after all. So, it wasn't a good idea to give a weapon to those people. Still, even if Jacob succeeds in drawing the monsters' attention, Ryan wouldn't be able to kill a group of ten without relying on mana potions. Unless…

"Maybe I can use throw alongside the iron bolts…" Ryan muttered.

Jacob and his family were ready to depart, but Ryan decided to test his theory. He wasn't expecting too much since he wasn't left-handed, but as long as he can hit the enemies' heads and make them flinch, having a few extra iron bolts would be worth the hassle. Besides, they weighed over five hundred grams, so at the very least, they would stun the enemies, as long as Ryan hit their heads.

After a while, Ryan confirmed that his accuracy wasn't that bad, even with his left hand. However, only one out of three times he could make the bolt's tip hit the target.

"Oh, well… it is not like I have any other option," Ryan sighed.