On top of a building a figure of a man was crouching down, his back looked like fissures from which lava-like substances poured out frequently. He tried to hold his screams but he failed miserably.
The cracks were trying to spread out but they were unable to move further.
"Why the fuck is this happening?" He Gritted his teeth in pain.
Around him a Black cat was fidgeting around in nervousness. The cat was growing restless but didn't dare to touch his back as it may increase his pain.
"Fuck this is contamination. This can't be anything else." He quickly took out a jar of black pills from his mind space and emptied the whole bottle at once.
He started chewing the pills which tasted like you are eating raw fish covered with sand.
"Tia you bitch, you said these were tasty." He was about to throw everything he ate today but with much difficulty he was able to hold it in.
This man was none other than Ryan with his trusty partner Umbra.
The cracks on his back slowly started to mend back to normal. Ryan sighed in relief after the pain started to recede.
Half an hour later, Ryan's back returned to normal. He stood up and started cursing the portal for a while before he realised that it was pointless to curse.
Umbra chuckled lightly when she saw Ryan was fine now, so she asked in a serious tone "What will we do now?"
"We'll go to the Origin Island." Ryan said with a straight face.
"The temple?" Umbra climbed on his shoulders.
"Yes, the temple." Ryan said with a smile.
Ryan took out his phone and called Elijah and told him to meet near Orbit. Orbit was the biggest bar in Vegas.
Ryan during his time in the pocket dimension liked to get rid of fatigue by drinking. After a certain time no liquor was able to affect him but that fatigue releasing effect remained strong as ever.
"Why don't you wear some clothes first?" Umbra said in an irritated tone.
Ryan looked down and saw he was buck naked but didn't get embarrassed. He used water mana to wash his body and then used warm wind to dry up his body and even styled his hair with it.
He took out a black denim jacket and a white t-shirt and wore it instantly and then took out a pair of black jeans. Overall his outfit was a complete fit and worked well to hide his muscles but keep the flawless shape of his body as it is.
Ryan looked at his wrist and wondered why this watch of his never broke, even after it suffered from hell all this time.
"I wonder how that mercenary got something like this." He kept looking at his watch and suddenly he felt like he saw something pass from his side.
He quickly turned his face and saw a glowing blue butterfly dancing around happily. The butterfly flew towards Ryan and sat on his nose.
"Quite rare to see a butterfly on top of a building." Ryan was puzzled by the mysterious butterfly which appeared out of nowhere.
"Umbra, do you sense something?" Ryan asked Umbra because she was far better than him in finding anything amiss.
"I don't feel anything, at least we can be sure it's not trying to cause harm." Umbra said in a sleepy voice.
"Even if it mutated because of mana, it's highly unlikely for it to come here." Ryan was getting suspicious about the blue butterfly.
The butterfly flew off from him and disappeared a moment later.
Ryan didn't freak out or react in a hyper way because he too didn't feel anything harmful from the butterfly. He actually was happy to see it.
"Now time for shoes." He took out a pair of white sneakers and wore them after he climbed on the parapet of the roof.
He turned around to look at the roof to search for the butterfly but it was not there. He shook his head in disappointment. He asked Umbra to enter his mind space and take some rest.
He let go of his body and started free falling from the top of the building. As he was falling he looked at the shiny city which was getting more busy as time passed.
"Adult playground for a reason." Ryan smiled slightly as was nearing the ground.
As Ryan was falling without any care in the world, an old man was passing by who seemed to enjoy the night lights as much as young folks.
He heard a cheerful cry from above him and looked above to see who was the one who shouted but it shocked him as he saw someone falling from the tall building.
The old man subconsciously moved forward to catch him even if it was not possible.
The old man was very scared as he didn't expect Ryan to survive if he hit the ground with that speed.
Ryan saw this and was very surprised by the old man's behaviour. He changed his position mid air and carefully landed on his feet.
The old man made a dive but almost fell down on his face. He looked at Ryan and sighed in relief.
"Sorry Gramps, I was just playing around." Ryan said with a smile.
"Young man, you should not try stunts like that. You might hurt yourself if you keep doing such dangerous things." The old man was genuinely worried about Ryan and scolded him like his own grandchild.
"I understand." Ryan felt that the old man was a good man so he obediently listened to everything he said.
"Good, take care of your life because it is short. Don't try to find ways to end it." Old man had a cane to help him walk.
"Ok, Gramps." Ryan used his draconic vision to check the old man's body and found that some of his vertebrae had collapsed and it caused him to bend over.
Ryan felt bad for him and wanted to help him so he took out a green pill which was the size of his fingernail.
"Gramps, take this pill. This will relieve your back pain." Ryan said with a cheerful smile.
The old man felt sceptical for a second because people of Ryan's age are usually very self-centred and would usually not hesitate to even beat up old people if they displeased them but Ryan's smile felt so genuine that he couldn't doubt him for long.
The old man took the pill without much hesitation and smiled at Ryan weakly. The old man was actually suffering from severe back pain but could not cure it even after spending a lot of money. The doctors said that his pain will only increase as time passes, until one day it stops permanently.
The moment the old man bit on the pill he felt a warm rush in his body like he was taking a hot bath in an onsen.
[A/N: Onsens are also known as hot springs.]
The warm sensation was concentrated on his spinal area as the warm feeling turned into immense heat. The old man Gritted his remaining teeths in discomfort.
"Gramps, it will hurt for a few seconds but you need to hold on." Ryan held the old man's hand tightly to prevent him from falling.
The old man's posture started to straighten slowly as he tried to raise his body upward. Small tears escaped the old man's eyes as he could feel his body improving.
Ryan used an extremely low level pill which he took from Tia when he just started training with her. It was a pill used for bone mending. Ryan just used it once for certain reasons when his healing was restricted by an artefact.
The pill was actually not so suitable for humans but Ryan was sure it would work on the old man because the old man had enough willpower to handle it.
The pill didn't stop on his spinal area and kept spreading throughout his body evenly. Old man felt the pain decreasing slowly as he sighed in relief.
He slowly straightened his back completely. The pain which made his life miserable for 10 whole years was gone. He was happy, so much that he gave Ryan a hug.
Ryan patted the old man's back while hugging him. The only reason why Ryan didn't go on a world conquest was because of people like this old man who despite their disadvantages always wish for the good of others. Otherwise, he would have conquered the world by force and used them to get out of this mess.
"You are an angel, thank you, thank you so much. I can't express how grateful I am. You made my life less miserable." The old man started sobbing.
The old man was actually a retired army general who served the country for many years. With increasing age he lost his physical abilities but he never forgot to perform good deeds.
Ryan would not have helped anyone else without any important reason but the old man was different. Ryan liked his character.
"No need to thank me Gramps, you were the one who tried to save me first. I was just paying back just a bit for your kindness towards me." Ryan smiled happily.
"Gramps, I hope that you will not lose your beautiful attitude because of this cruel world. Keep being yourself." Ryan said as he bid goodbye to the old man.
"What's your name? Young man." The old retired general asked with great respect in his voice.
Ryan turned back and said with a heartwarming smile "You can call me Kaelestis."
Ryan flew off after replying to the old man.
The old man stood there and repeated his name a few times before leaving but while leaving the old man said in a mystical voice "I wonder how high you will ascend, Kaelestis."
As Ryan flew off, the people around finally noticed him and said in awe "Hey isn't that guardian Ryan?"
"Who else can fly without any artefacts other than Guild leader Ryan." A man who was a metre away from him said with respect in his eyes.
He started admiring Ryan when he saw him risking his life for a kid. To this man and many others, Ryan became a figure of admiration.
Ryan wanted to make people trust him through his well thought plans but he was not aware that for people to respect and follow him he does not need any kind of plan or manipulation.
Everything depended on his goodwill.
"Hey, do you know why we didn't notice him before now?" The first man asked in confusion.
"I was wondering about it too, He just appeared and then flew off immediately." The second man said was just as confused as the first man.
"Hey dude, have you heard that guardian Ryan is already married?" The second man said with a wide smirk.
A few women who were sitting on a bench outside a shop near the two men screamed out in surprise.
"What?"
"How?"
"When?"
"Who?"
The two men started laughing and one of them said "Didn't you notice a ring on his ring finger?"
"It's not guaranteed that he's married. That might have been given to him by someone else." One of the women said in a snarky tone.
The woman believed that a ring doesn't mean he's married. It would be a disaster if he was.
"It's not worth our time to argue with you women and guardian Ryan won't even look at you ugly witches." The two men were already laughing but after saying this they started laughing even louder.
But suddenly a fireball went past their ears. They immediately stopped laughing and looked forward.
The group of women were agitated and wanted to burn the two men with fire magic.
"My brother, let's run before these ugly mongrels can catch us." The two men nodded at each other and ran out of the scene so fast that the group of women were left puzzled by their speed.
"Wait till we catch you." The woman who shot the fire ball Gritted her teeth in anger.
_________Thanks for reading__________
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