Chapter 259 - Expectation
"Wassup, Ryan?" Daniel asked. "Mark said that you might get your ass kicked here, so we came to help."
Ryan decided to ignore those stupid comments of Daniel. Instead of getting worked up by every single thing he says or do, it would be much more beneficial just to ignore him. In any case, despite Daniel's words, the others looked pretty much ready for some action. Although there still was bad blood between Angela and Holland, they weren't stupid enough to start a fight so inside enemies' territory. The only one who looked troublesome like Daniel was Tristan. He was looking around with his eyes full of expectation.
Those guys sure changed a lot since the last time Ryan saw them. Although he occasionally would find them in the base, they were wearing normal clothes, but now they were wearing their fighting gear. Since Daniel was a flashy idiot, he was wearing red full plate armor and a big sword on his back. Holland had a similar style, but he traded his sword for a spear.
To match with their fighting style, Lilian and Luke were only using some light gear to increase their mobility, but they had some bracers and boots that looked pretty sturdy. They probably were using that to avoid wounding their fists and legs.
Tristan didn't have anything with him aside from a cloak and a simple breastplate. In the place of weapons, he had several rings on his hands. It looked like, for some reason, Angela had a similar getup. As for Natalia, she had a longbow on her back, and her defensive gear was based on leather.
"Where are the monsters?" Holland asked.
"Rather than that, where is our welcome?" Daniel asked.
"The monsters changed their behavior two days ago. I am sure you guys hurried to arrive here on time," Ryan said. "Are you sure that you are ready to fight right now?"
"Ryan is right," Lilian said. "We hurried to come, so one-two hours of rest will help us a lot. Can you give us more details while we have breakfast, Ryan?"
Ryan didn't ask for help, but in the end, he couldn't just be rude to those who came to help him. That being said, they probably knew that the classes they might obtain here would be equally as useful as High-Priest class, so their goal wasn't only to help him. Regardless, Ryan explained to them what he did until now, and he discovered.
"Vampires? Amazing!" Tristan said. "Did you find some sexy female vampire?"
"Is that the first thing you have to ask?" Natalia said and then kicked the leg of her little brother. "You won't live a long life with this kind of attitude."
"I only saw the face of a single one, and unlike you are thinking, he looked like a living corpse," Ryan said. "Just wake up to reality. They are monsters, even if they can talk and use their brains. Anyway, I was about to test if they can fight during the day."
"So, you don't know that yet?" Angela asked.
"No, as you can see, I am just an archer, and there are thirty thousand Chupacabras between me and the dungeon," Ryan replied. "So, I was trying to find a way to deal with them. Without using potions like there is no tomorrow or running for my life when things get dicey."
"I am not criticizing you," Lilian shook her head. "Mark said that this region has been crawling with monsters, but we didn't find a single one in quite a while. So, you have done an impressive job. I guess I shouldn't have expected any less from you."
"You are creeping me out with the sudden praises," Ryan said. "Anyway, now that you are here, I don't have to worry about coming up with a plan."
"Really, how do you plan to finish this job, then?" Natalia asked with a frown on her face.
"You guys will buy time for me to use my most powerful attacks," Ryan replied. "Only this idiot and Holland are tanks of the group, right? The rest of you can help me with the attacks, but you shouldn't get carried away. The Chupacabras are fast, and they can heal when they bite their foes."
"It looks like you are the one who is getting carried away," Natalia said. "Don't think that you are the only one who has grown strong."
"Well, we have some time until the dungeon break, so let's not get hasty," Tristan said. "I can use elemental attacks to help, while Natalia focuses on damaging several enemies at a time. Lilian and Luke are melee fighters who specialize in hit and run tactics, and Angela focuses on support with her Telekinesis."
"Support?" Ryan frowned.
"I prevent anyone from suffering critical damage," Angela explained. "If we're near the base, I also will help with potions, but I won't be able to do that here."
Daniel and Holland's jobs were pretty simple, so there was no need to explain. Anyway, everyone waited for Ryan's turn to say what he could do. It was too much of a pain to resume the skill list that he had, so Ryan decided to save some time.
"I shoot arrows," Ryan said. "Anyway, let's get going. Although we have three days, I don't want to stay here until the very last minute."
In the end, Tristan and Daniel, who were the only ones interested in hearing about Ryan's skills, just shrugged since that was just like him. Regardless, they will have a lot of time to see him in action… or maybe not, since they will be fighting for their lives for several hours.
In the end, they changed their attitude before they could lose their lives when they saw the army of monsters. It looked like neither of them had seen the results of two dungeon breaks so up close. Ryan couldn't help but smirk while imagining their faces if he hadn't killed so many Chupacabras over the last few days.