Congratulations! The skill Throw has leveled up.

Throw Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2

Effect: Causes damage by throwing objects. The weight of the object will increase the damage caused. The final damage will be the object's weight divided by ten and multiplied by 12% of your strength.

Cost: 01 stamina

You obtained 01 status point.

Congratulations! The skill Herculean Strength has leveled up.

Herculean Strength Lv 2 ➞ Lv 3

Effect: Increases your strength by one point per level temporarily.

Cost: 1.2 stamina per second

You obtained 01 status point.

Ryan nodded in satisfaction when he received those notifications. Fortunately, the good news didn't end there. He saw a wooden spear on the ground. It wasn't short, so it was probably a little better than the short spear he obtained from the goblins.

Wooden Spear

Effect: Strength + 4, Endurance + 2

Durability: 45/45

"Mmm… I guess this will do," Ryan said after picking the spear, and then he looked at Bella. "Use this to cover your husband."

"What?" Jacob asked, shocked.

"Don't worry, she won't get the chance to fight in the frontlines likes us," Ryan said. "She will only help you… as you just noticed, you can't deal any damage to a Sahuagin with a shield alone. In any other situation, I would give the spear to you, but since you don't know how to use it with a single hand, it would be a waste."

"Understood," Bella said and readily accepted the spear.

"Just stay a few meters behind your husband," Ryan said. "And don't do anything before Jacob stops a monster. You only should attack when the enemies focus on him."

Jacob didn't like the idea of letting his wife dirtying his hands like that, but he was fully aware that he was putting too much pressure on someone who had a single arm. So, he didn't complain. If anything, as long as he works properly, nothing would happen to her.

Regardless, Ryan tried to recover the bolts he used, but since the smell of blood was too strong, and he didn't have time or water to clean them, he decided to create new ones. Dirt with blood and fat, Ryan's grip over them would be weak, and the piercing power would decrease as well. So, the smart thing to do was to meditate and make new ones.

The third time is a charm… after walking two hundred more meters, Ryan began to hear the approach of another group of Sahuagins. After noticing that they were another group of ten, Ryan confirmed his suspicious… something definitely happened in the northern part of the city. However, this time Ryan had enough time to prepare before the monsters could feel his presence.

When the monster group finally found Ryan and the others, one of them immediately fell on the ground with an iron bolt on the head. Since Sahuagins were aquatic monsters, their speed wasn't impressive on land. Thanks to it, Ryan had enough time to kill five more of them before they could get too close. Once again, two beasts tried to attack him, but Ryan decided to do things differently this time since none of them jumped to attack him.

Attacking them one at a time, even with Dash and Herculean Strength, wouldn't be possible. However, Ryan still had something he could use: Rage. The few points of mana he had begun to decrease at an astonishing speed, and he felt like his judgment got clouded, but Ryan also felt an inexplicable feeling of power surging inside him.

When both monsters tried to stab him at the same time, Ryan's body blurred as he moved forward, and the next moment, he pierced the head of one of the monsters with his iron bolts. Even though he had to pierce the skull, Ryan felt no resistance. The remaining monster reacted on time to see what Ryan did, but not on time to dodge the attack when Ryan kicked the dead Sahuagin toward him. The creature managed to free himself from the dead body that made it fall on the ground… only to see an iron bolt moving toward his eyes, and the next moment… nothing. Ryan had killed the creature.

Ryan's mana became empty after that. Still, the battle wasn't over. He focused on himself too much, and he had no idea how Jacob and Bella were. Much to his surprise, he saw the very moment they finished off the last Sahuagin.

You obtained four coins.

You obtained four coins.

You obtained four coins.

…

Congratulations! The skill Art of Sniping has leveled up.

Art of Sniping Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2

Effect: Increases the chance of hitting targets over long distances when they are not aware of your presence by one percent per level.

You obtained 01 status point.

Congratulations! The skill Knife Mastery has leveled up.

Knife Mastery Lv 2 ➞ Lv 3

Effect: Increases damage when using knives by one percent per level.

You obtained 01 status point.

Things didn't go perfectly. For Ryan, the best scenario was to kill the Sahuagins before they could attack, but he wasn't skilled enough to pull that off as expected. Regardless, Ryan got surprised when he received those notifications. It seemed that when used like that, the iron bolts were considered knives…

"Are you all right?" Jacob asked.

"Y-yeah," Bella replied while trembling slightly.

Ryan thought that they had worked well, but it looked like it would take a while for them to get used to the battles. It was only evident given that they were ordinary people before the monsters appeared. However, Ryan was still expecting that they could get used to it as fast as possible because, at that moment, he had to hurry to decrease the monster's numbers before they could get too closer and overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"If only I still had my right arm…"

There was no sense in complaining since that resulted from Ryan trying to do everything by himself. Still, Ryan learned his lesson… the next time, he would grind more before challenging a boss alone.