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!

and fell directly onto the ground. The process was rather

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

have to use

tooth

Tik! Tik!

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

guess Ren's nagging wasn't

had originally made this for Ren, but he had also made one for himself and the others. He never would've thought he'd need to use it, but as luck would have it, he indeed found himself in a situation where he

his main dimensional space was taken and he was stripped of all his

Click!

"Easier than I thought."

bracelet that was on his ankle using one of the items in his dimensional space and making sure that it didn't

"That was nerve-wracking."

was, he had been nervous the entire

valued his life, during the process he found himself sweating more than he

everything worked out,

pressed his

how they designed the

started to study it. He understood that knowing the mechanism behind it was extremely important for his next course of action, and so he spared no

circuit does? Is this the one that connects to the mana

tight, Ryan spent the next couple

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

"Hmmm "

artifact from

or may not have

since

a waste of a

small core from his dimensional space, he placed it over

glow formed on the artifact

"This will do."

given that he had to use a core to supplement the use of

make use of

'This way.'

his mana restored, he could now see better within the darkness, and that was when he noticed a small opening that

through the small gap above, and that was when he caught sight of two

'They look rather strong.'

tell, but they were certainly stronger than him. Not as strong as Leopold, though. He

'That's good.'

been stronger than him, then the

over the top of it. The device's eight legs appeared to be clamping down on the metallic door in a manner that

Cl..Click!

the buttons and trying to make the least sound possible, the gadget activated, and

the legs emitted a minuscule red light from its base, and this light began to

after, and once the legs rotated twice, Ryan put

like they haven't

was able to create a small opening on the door without being noticed

long as he gave it a light knock, it

two guards from the opening above, and he knocked at the

Tok!

"Hu?"

though it was a soft knock, it was enough to immediately draw the attention of the

"What was that?"

"Hey, look."

whose eyes were

can move? How is this possible? Did the