The Author's POV

[Pillar of Greed]

It was dark and damp. A musty smell of damp earth and rocks filled Ryan's nostrils as his eyes slowly opened up.

Blinking a couple of times, he noticed that he couldn't quite see very far. The dim lighting around him made it difficult to see beyond a few meters. When he reached out with his hand, he felt a rough and uneven surface.

'A cave?'

That was the first thought that crossed his mind as he felt the sides of the walls.

Drip. Drip.

The sound of dripping water echoed in all directions in the space he was in, further reaffirming his original assumption.

"Hm?"

Right when he tried to move, he noticed that his feet were bound to something and that the little mana inside of his body had been completely sealed.

"Shit."

Letting out a curse, he squinted his eyes and noticed a small bracelet on his ankles.

They were firmly clamped at his ankles and were rather thick. About the size of his forearms and made it impossible for him to move properly.

'This is bad.'

He knew instantly that the situation was not good.

It was also at that moment that he recalled what had led to his sudden appearance over here, and his expression changed.

"Leopold?"

He called out, hoping to receive some sort of answer, but it was much to his dismay that he realized that he was the only person inside the cave.

"Crap."

Ryan started to worry a little.

Although Leopold was stronger than him, he didn't know what was currently happening and was understandably worried.

That being said…

"Huu."

All it took was a single breath for Ryan to calm himself down. He had been on many dangerous missions in the past, and this wasn't any different.

After calming himself down, Ryan closed his eyes and started to ponder over his options.

While he wasn't like Ren and didn't have a chip inside of his brain, he was still a genius in his own right.

Several different scenarios popped up in his mind, and it wasn't long before a plan formulated inside of his mind.

'Hmm, I guess that could work.'

He opened his eyes. Unlike before, his gaze was calm, and no longer was he nervous like a few moments prior.

"Now then…"

Fiddling his tongue around his teeth, his tongue settled over the furthest tooth on his bottom right side, and his expression cringed a little.

Cr… Crack!

a low snapping sound, his tooth came undone and fell directly onto the ground.

at the tooth in front of him, Ryan moved his body

would've thought I'd have to use this? It's good

within the tooth that enabled him to access the contents without the need to

Tik! Tik!

had completely changed into a tiny black box. Tapping onto it with his tongue, Ryan was able to catch a glimpse of a myriad of different

Ren's

He never would've thought he'd need to use it, but as luck would have it, he indeed

taken and he was stripped of all his possessions, he

Click!

"Easier than I thought."

items in his dimensional space and making sure that

"That was nerve-wracking."

was, he had been nervous the

wrong move, and everything would go up in the air. Since he valued his life, during the

out, and nothing

most, and he pressed his hands against the ground, helping himself

how they designed

understood that knowing the mechanism behind it was extremely important for his next

this the one

tight, Ryan spent the next couple of hours just

circuit within his mind, and he forced himself to understand everything that was going

"Hmmm "

he was done stretching his body, he took out a small artifact from his dimensional space. It

may or may not have stolen

since he

waste of a

his dimensional space, he placed it over

glow formed on the artifact in

"This will do."

it was a given that he had to use a core to supplement

would never be able to make use of the artifact if it weren't for

'This way.'

now see better within the darkness, and that was when he noticed a small opening that was sealed by an iron

small gap above, and that was when he caught sight

'They look rather strong.'

stronger than him. Not as strong as Leopold,

'That's good.'

than him, then the

place a small device over the top of

Cl..Click!

possible, the gadget activated, and the eight legs clamped harder

emitted a minuscule red light from its base, and this light began to revolve around the device

circle formed on the iron door shortly after, and once the legs rotated twice, Ryan put the

like they

Ryan was able to create a small opening

light knock, it

above, and he knocked at the door once.

Tok!

"Hu?"

was enough to immediately draw the attention of the two demons who were standing guard. Both of their heads snapped around to look in

"What was that?"

"Hey, look."

took notice of Ryan whose eyes were fixed on the

How is this possible? Did the