Chapter 553 - Role

Just as expected, Ryan arrived one hour before sunrise in Rio de Janeiro. Fortunately, he still remembered where he could find the building which Gustavo and his friends used during their meetings.

Much to his surprise, despite the time, things were already pretty intense in the area. While only Ryan and Gustavo's group would actively participate in the battle, others would have to guard the dungeons nearby and prepare for a fight in case the attack group suddenly retreats.

Fortunately, when Ryan suddenly arrived, Carlos was nearby to notice him. The middle-aged man who was losing the fight against baldness quickly welcomed Ryan and guided him toward where the others were.

"I am grateful for your assistance and for coming to help us at such short notice," Carlos said.

"No problem," Ryan said. "It is not like I am not going to gain anything in exchange for this work."

"So, you are really looking forward to some rewards," Bianca said.

Unfortunately, Ryan and Carlos had arrived at their destination pretty soon, and Bianca heard that. She was a difficult person, and she was as annoying as Anna. That was probably why Ryan never wondered too much as to why he never liked her.

"Thanks for coming, Ryan," Gustavo said. "Our supplies will be distributed soon. You can rest while you wait for it. Aside from that, everything else is pretty much ready."

"Is that so?" Ryan asked. "Anyway, are we just going to move in a straight line toward the dungeon, or will we defeat the Hydras close to the coast and then proceed slowly as we kill them?"

"We never tried to face them underwater, so we thought taking things slowly to gain experience and see bow battles underwater can proceed, but since you have experience fighting them, we will hear it."

"I don't have much experience fighting them, and I never fought them in Draconic form, so I can't say anything useful," Ryan said. "I fought the Hydra like this, and the beast pretty much kicked my ass even after I filled its mouth with spears and exploded it with a Fire Golem. What I can say for certain is that they won't let any of us go if we damage them to a certain extent. Those creatures are extremely prideful and won't let their prey go away. They will wait in the shadows until we make a mistake."

"I see… it seems taking them down as fast as possible seems the most efficient way to deal with them," Gustavo said.

"If that is the case, we should attack smaller groups and immobilize them while some of us will focus on causing damage," Paulo said. "Those who have powerful magic that can paralyze or even slow down some foes should focus on immobilizing the Hydras."

"I guess that should work, but only Fernanda and Ryan can use that type of magic," Gustavo said. "Besides, to make sure that the ambushes will always surprise the monsters, Ryan should focus solely on teleporting us before the start of the fights."

That seemed logical, but it looked like Ryan won't have much time to create items or even enchant them with Seal. Hydras had a pretty long tracking range, so before and after the battle, Ryan would have to focus on teleporting everyone around to decrease the chances of things going South. At least at the beginning of the fights while everyone obtains some battle experience.

"Most elemental attacks won't work underwater, so you guys have other means to attack from a distance and cause some real damage?" Ryan asked.

"We forged some special spears that we will use alongside with Throw since we don't have other long-range weapons that will fit our hands in the Draconic form," Gustavo replied. "Still, before properly using them, we should see if the first strategy is useful. Fernanda will be Teleported behind a Hydra, and then we will attack with punches and kicks."

Seeing dragons punching and kicking probably will be something funny to see. Still, Ryan would be lying if he says that he doesn't want to see a dragon fighting up close without relying on mana.

In any case, when the potions arrived and they were divided among those six, Ryan noticed that he was the only one who could use long-ranged attacks without elemental spells. Ryan literally took all the DEX potions for himself since he was the only archer of the group. Things will be complicated if their spears break since only Fernanda could use an element underwater that wouldn't lose any power. Carlos was a specialist in Earth magic due to his dragons. Gustavo was in a similar situation, but he was good at fire magic. As for Bianca and Paulo, they actually had dragons that were good at poison magic.

"Shall we get going then?" Gustavo asked. "We need to see how things will proceed as soon as possible and then make the necessary adaptations."

Ryan and the others nodded. After jumping several meters skyward, they turned into their draconic forms. Even Ryan couldn't but frown since he readily transformed… that was weird. He thought that at the last moment, he would hesitate a little more. Regardless, it was quite a sight to see six dragons together. So, the people near the coasts couldn't help but gasp in shock and admiration.

Since he never saw their draconic forms before, Ryan finally had the chance to confirm something: his transformation was indeed an ominous one. While Gustavo and the others didn't have a body that has scales of a single color, their body was pretty uniform, and the main color still was predominant. Unlike Ryan's body, which was full of sharp-looking dark-blue scales.

"All right, let's try to erase our presence as much as possible," Gustavo said. "Ryan, if you find a lone target, you can teleport Fernanda to behind them. If you find more than one, I will trust your judgment as to how to proceed."

Ryan wanted to say that his role was being more important than he had imagined, but he didn't complain and just began to work in the end.