Although Lucia and her friends couldn't become mages or archers in just a few hours, their skills could level up faster. Eventually, even spells that cost five thousand coins might become useful enough even in the hands of someone who has a warrior build.

With that in mind, Ryan took Lucia and the others to the nearest dungeon. The place was spawning Giant Ants, but the demons hunted them down to a point where Ryan and the others only found those who were leaving the dungeon at that moment.

"Did you guys clear this dungeon?" Ryan asked. "Which class did you get here?"

"Monk, Sage, and hunter," Lucia readily replied.

Ryan sighed; his luck wasn't good. He already had those three classes… Still, at that point in time, a single tier-one class won't help him all that much.

"I won't force you to choose that, but earth spells will help us a lot," Ryan said. "Not only will they cause some damage and a lot of pain, but they also have more weight than the other types of spells so that the demons will be slowed down even more."

Lucia nodded at that, so even though it was a bit expensive, she and her friends bought the spell Earth Punch. It was kind of a weird spell, but it would be perfect for their purpose, and besides, they couldn't be stingy since they obtained the coins they used by helping Ryan.

While Ryan wanted to continue, it was getting late, and he couldn't risk the lives of some strangers while fighting against enraged creatures at night, even more so when those creatures had the advantage. So, he decided to have a good night's rest since it had been a while, and he was expecting a thought fight in the next few days. Meanwhile, Lucia and their friends trained while killing giant ants. They also used the coins to create a stock of potions.

"Maybe I can increase their magic power a little bit. Let's create some rings and try to seal the souls of the demons in it."

It would be a pain to put the demons to sleep without killing them, but it would be worth the hassle since Ryan knew that he would have quite the ordeal ahead of him. So, that would be less like a hassle and more like an investment.

When morning came, the demons appeared with their health almost full, but their health began to decrease with the passage of time. While holding back a little, Ryan cut off the limbs and the wings of several of them. That made Lucia and her friends feel shiver since that was the exact behavior of the demons, but in the end, they learned that Ryan didn't do that for the fun of it.

Anti-Curse Ring

Effect: Increases the level of your Curse Resistance by two points.

Intelligence + 20

"Not bad, now I just have to make several dozens of them," Ryan said and then forced a smile. "Piece of cake."

Ryan learned recently that he could control to a certain extent the bonus in attributes the items he created could give him. Items like rings most of the time increase intelligence and mentality. Weapons like daggers increase speed and bows increase dexterity, and so on.

"This is a loan. It will probably help you while using magic," Ryan said while he was passing the ring to the survivors. "If you like this, I can sell each for five thousand coins. It isn't up for negotiation."

Given the bonuses in status alone, they already knew that the rings were worth at least that much. However, when they used Earth Punch, the demons suddenly stopped their charge and started to groan in midair… the numbers were impressive, but the reality was even more shocking.

Although Lucia and the others missed one and then, the night demons still got their ass kicked thanks to the combo survivors plus Ryan. Sometimes, they even killed some demons without Ryan's help, and that was something since the monsters were that powerful, and none of the survivors were real mages.

In any case, thanks to them, Ryan managed to keep advancing toward the demons' dungeon at a fearsome speed. In just a single day, they killed fifteen thousand demons and also ran one hundred kilometers. The only downside was that Furball didn't have much time to eat, and the demon's bodies increased his health, so it seemed like a real waste.

"It is getting late," Ryan is there a dungeon nearby in which we can use?"

"Do you want to stop?" Lucia frowned. "We still can keep fighting, and the power of attacks has been increasing, so the more we fight, the more useful we will be."

"... What I said about rushing ahead without thinking?" Ryan sighed. "Fighting at night is more difficult than you think. Besides, your accuracy sucks even with sunlight on our side. If people like you try to fight at night, we will only waste time and tire ourselves out without making much progress."

"... There is a dungeon nearby, but we didn't clear that one yet," Lucia said, visibly annoyed.

"Knowing the demons, we will only have to defeat a few monsters of such a dungeon," Ryan said. "Hopefully, I will get a new class, and you guys will be able to get a mage class and properly level up since you are only using magic."

Although Lucia was eager to keep exterminating demons, she eventually understood that a mage class was something that they needed. They have been only focusing on surviving since the arrival of the monsters. Perhaps it was a good idea to change their ways and focus on something riskier and, at the same time, necessary. It was time to counterattack. While some motivation was a great tool, Ryan couldn't help but think that things might get complicated at some point. While Ryan was only doing his job, as usual, Lucia and her friends were too involved in the matter, and that might cause some issues.