Chapter 180 180 - Trouble
When Ryan left the room, Lux was sitting in the living room drinking some tea. The angel girl was pretending not to know what had happened, and in parts, she was right to do so. But now that Ryan knew that there was only one more objective left to complete the quest, he was a little more excited than usual about the idea of fucking the angel girl.
Walking to the kitchen, Ryan grabbed a cup of coffee and then checked his messages.
"I've been invited to clear a portal today," he said and just then Nyx appeared floating behind him.
<Are you going? The list of materials for your sword is a bit long.
"It's been two weeks since I closed a portal, I need to perform or the guild will shut me down," he replied, while scratching the back of his head.
No emergencies had been reported, although the number of red portals in all three cities had increased significantly. John Wrynn launched several travelers to portals related to different impacts, yet he was concealing from most the true use of the boxes.
'Travelers accepting this easy method of ending portals makes me a little disgusted...' Ryan thought as he walked to his room to change.
<Well, they don't know what's going on with the portals. Wouldn't it make sense for them to accept a machine that puts an end to the problems they have?> Nyx replied.
"Don't you find it strange that the number of portals increased exponentially after the cube began to be used?"
<Hmmm.... Maybe he's broken the balance of things? My head hurts from thinking about it> said the girl, who put both hands on her own horns. She held them while making a sad face.
Ryan reached out and patted the succubus. "That's exactly what I thought, now let's go kill some monsters," said Ryan, with a menacing smile.
Activating the portal on his watch, he launched himself towards the guild's base in Khalazhan. The guild's submerged fortress was busier than ever before; there were several travelers from other continents and cities. All recruited by hand by the guild's staff.
As soon as Ryan's feet touched the polished floor of the base's reception area, two familiar faces appeared. Ruri and Kodiak were waiting for him, leaning against the wall.
The orange-haired girl ran out and jumped on Ryan, giving him a tight hug, while Kodiak approached waving.
"It's good to see you Ryan," said Ruri, her heart racing. According to Demon Sight, she was in love with him.
"You can't call yourself a traveler if you're not exploring! But it's good to see you, my friend," said the green-haired druid, who was wearing different armor from the last time they had met.
'I've been exploring the second world... Just not the way you want me to,' he thought, while mentally laughing at the situation.
"Do you want to enter the portal now? Or are you waiting for someone?" he replied, and at the same moment, Ruri let go of him and looked at Kodiak.
The two exchanged glances and then the druid replied: "Actually, we're waiting for someone. But I'm a little worried"
'Worried?' Ryan thought, confused.
Emerging from one of the portals, a white panther leapt from the threshold. Then a leather boot came through the portal, followed by a boy's red head. Roy was back, visibly stronger and with a slightly more serious face. In place of one of the boy's arms was a magical iron hand.
"Ryan? Long time no see," he said, extending his iron hand as he approached the group.
The panther roared, as if introducing itself. Ryan accepted the handshake, and touching the cold iron, the two clasped hands.
"I'm glad you're better," he said.
"I'm still getting used to it," Roy replied, "I can open and close my fingers, but I can't use the bow anymore. I'm limited to spells and bombs," he concluded.
Roy's hand was made of runes, so in a way, it wasn't that different from one of the dwarf boxes. It didn't look very complex, so Ryan figured it was just a prototype with several possibilities for improvement.
The look on Ruri and Kodiak's faces was one of concern; they were both afraid that Roy would end up hurting himself again. Now, he didn't have his dominant hand, so he would again have to take a back seat or not get involved in direct confrontations. Which they knew would be difficult.
"Are we going to have a tank?" said the redhead, and Ruri shook his head in denial.
"I called Ryan for that reason," said the shaman, "I haven't seen Damian for a few weeks."
<Wasn't Damian's surname Smith too?
'Smith is a common name, but yes. He's a Smith just like Alice'
<Hmmm...>
The group then walked to the portal room, where they met Nivia who was also going to take part. With that, they finished their preparations and entered a red portal.
The first to go through was Ryan, and as soon as his feet set foot in that area, he knew where he was. It was a town in the great desert of the second world, a place near the ravine where those women were staying.
Then Kodiak and Nivia entered, followed by Ruri and Roy. The group maintained a similar position to last time, with Nivia and Ruri supporting and Kodiak and Roy attacking from a distance. In the event of a problem, Kodiak would switch to a druid form that could heal and assist his companions.
The place seemed empty, although the sandstone houses were still intact. The city was gigantic, with hundreds of square houses connected by bridges. The tallest buildings were easily over nine stories high, which made this place with such strange architecture even more supernatural.
The calm wind emitted a whistling sound as it passed through the city's doors and windows, as if the place didn't even have a single life. But as soon as the group began to explore the area, trouble started.