Although he forgot that before, when he had the chance, after beating the crap out of some of them, Ryan tamed one dire wolf, he would never say that out loud, but those monsters were too cool. Of all the monsters he had tamed before, they were by far the most awesome, and their strength was also impressive.

"You said that you didn't like animals," Alissa frowned. "I guess that was just you being bashful in your own weird way."

It wasn't a matter of liking or disliking. Ryan just never wanted pets because he didn't think they deserve to be caged. As for the tamed dire wolf, he was cool, but he was a cool tool for battle. That being said, Ryan felt a bit conflicted in thinking like that. He had bidden their will with magic, but he could feel the connection between them, so at the very least, Ryan had to treat them like real partners. After all, they will never betray him.

"All right, boy," Ryan said. "Show me what you can do."

While Alissa was recovering, Ryan equipped his shield and gave the order for the dire wolf to use Ice Arrow. As expected, the attacks couldn't surpass the shield's defenses, but the weight of every projectile managed to push him back several centimeters. At the same time, the dire wolf was suffering some damage and training its Pain Resistance.

"For the time being, your job will be to train Dash and Ice Arrow," Ryan declared. "When you feel hungry, you can eat them."

Alissa was finally ready to move on, and since there wasn't a dungeon nearby in which the dire wolf could guard, it was the best order Ryan could give him. Taking him with them wasn't going to help in the fight against the Fenrir's after all.

"Are you sure you don't want even a single dragon heart?" Alissa asked.

"I want, but I don't want to gain anything I don't deserve," Ryan said.

Alissa shrugged and then marched toward North, they had already entered the dire wolves' territory, so there was no need to fly. Besides, that would reveal their approach. Although Alissa had some skill that could make her completely undetectable, it wasn't like she could maintain that state forever. She needed mana and concentration, and she lacked the ability to stay concentrated for long periods.

"As I expected, this bow isn't powerful enough to endure your power. The other one is probably fifty percent better and can show a better performance."

"This isn't for sale," Ryan declared.

"How about two dragon hearts for it?" Alissa asked.

"You are pretty dumb, aren't you?" Ryan asked.

"… Why do you think that?" Alissa clenched her fist and then asked.

"Although dragon hearts are useful and they make me stronger, I can't attack with dragon hearts alone," Ryan said. "I can only show the power of my status with a decent weapon. Even if you can destroy a mountain with a single punch, it is stupid to do so when you can do the same thing by using a weapon and spending only half of the energy."

It seemed logical for Ryan, but for someone like Alissa, who could transform into a dragon and make several of them run away just with her presence alone, the same thing couldn't be said. Regardless, even though they advanced pretty close to Lake Ontario, they never found a single megalodon. Ryan thought of asking Alissa to move away a little bit, but that wouldn't change anything since he didn't have the power to slay them in just a few moments.

Although the megalodons avoided Alissa's presence, the dire wolves at some point stopped doing that… probably because Ryan and Alissa were getting closer to their destination.

Congratulations! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up.

Cold Lv 11 ➞ Lv 12

Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all ice-type attacks and the effects of cold environments by one point per level, even when they don't damage you directly.

You obtained 01 status point.

"Crap… this is getting pretty intense," Ryan muttered while trying to warm his chest with his arms. "I shouldn't have left the salamander behind."

"Or maybe you should have brought some proper clothes," Alissa said. "Anyway, it looks like things will get even colder from now on."

Although Alissa was wearing some proper thick winter clothes, she looked way too comfortable. Most likely, the power she received from Orgar made her close to immune to cold. Regardless, Alissa was right because they could see some thick snow clouds a few kilometers ahead of them. That was normal in that kind of environment. What wasn't normal was the fact that the clouds weren't moving as they should. They were just moving in circles…

"It looks like Alissa's actions made all the dragons in the area wary of her. According to Mark, the number of dragons in this area was around one hundred, but the number of presences I feel is too low, and they are very far away."

"Hehehe, my bad," Alissa showed an embarrassed smile.

Great… Ryan had come for the dragon hears, and the dragon hears weren't there anymore. That was annoying, but at least some sweety coins a new class was waiting for him, and by the look of things, the class he will get in the dire wolves' dungeon was bound to be awesome.

"We just crossed the border," Alissa said. "The dungeon is in a place called Kemptville."

"Not anymore, now whatever was there became a mountain of snow," Ryan said. "Anyway… why are you telling me that?"

"Just saying what Mark said to me since you left without asking anything," Alissa shrugged. "You need to know more about the places you are going to fight."

"How is that knowledge going to help you?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe not today… but one day I will," Alissa frowned.

Alissa was probably trying to develop some habits to impress her soldiers, and while that was admirable, Ryan couldn't help but wonder why she was trying to look like a proper leader in front of him.