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!

sound, his tooth came undone and fell directly onto the ground. The process was rather

his head to stare at the tooth in front of him, Ryan moved his body forward a

would've thought I'd have to use this?

his mana was sealed, he had installed a mechanism within the tooth that enabled him to access the contents without the need to use

Tik! Tik!

seconds, and within that time, the tooth had completely changed into a tiny black box. Tapping onto it with his tongue, Ryan was able

guess Ren's nagging wasn't

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

was taken and he was stripped of all his possessions, he

Click!

"Easier than I thought."

on his ankle using one of the items in his dimensional space and making sure

"That was nerve-wracking."

he had been nervous the entire

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

worked out, and nothing

he pressed his

how they

the bracelet out, Rayn started to study it. He understood that knowing the mechanism behind it was extremely important for his next course of action, and

this the one that

even though time was tight, Ryan spent the next couple of hours just staring blankly at the bracelet

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

"Hmmm "

from his dimensional space. It was

not have stolen it from

it mattered since he

a waste

from his dimensional space, he placed it over the artifact and activated

gentle glow formed on the

"This will do."

strength between him and Leopold, it was a given that he had to use a core to supplement the use of the

use of the artifact if it weren't for

'This way.'

better within the darkness, and that was when he noticed a small opening that

it carefully, Ryan peaked through the small gap above, and that was

'They look rather strong.'

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

'That's good.'

then the situation would've been

shifted his focus to the iron door while sticking his tongue out and bent over to place a small device over the top of it. The device's eight legs appeared to be clamping down on the metallic door in a manner that was

Cl..Click!

the buttons and trying to make the least sound possible, the gadget activated, and the eight legs clamped harder on the

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

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

they haven't

extremely quiet and unnoticeable, Ryan was able to create a small opening on the door without being

it a light knock, it

the opening above, and he knocked at the door once. He didn't bother ducking down and just stared at them from

Tok!

"Hu?"

it was a soft knock, it was enough to immediately draw the attention of the two demons who were standing guard. Both of their heads snapped around

"What was that?"

"Hey, look."

took notice of Ryan whose eyes were fixed on

is this possible? Did the