Another breath of hot air was released with the swing of Ryder's sword. Despite the draconic strength and deadly angle he was striking at the monster's back with, the blade bounced off of its tough scales once more.

  "Why are these fuckers so hard to kill?!" The human hopped backward in the snow. The white monster took the opportunity to unfurl and unleash a flurry of swiping attacks.

  Green shot out a stream of acid from a carnivorous plant his magic created on his back at another one of those armadillo-looking monsters and growled.

  "I know, but I don't know how much longer my sword will last!" The rider glanced at his chipped and thinned blade. Biting his lips, he rushed toward the monster that was writhing in pain from the acid. With a single plunge into the puddle of melted scales, the creature let out one last cry before keeling over. Once the sword was removed from the corpse, he quickly flung away the acid that corroding his weapon.

  Another monster let out a dying screech before Brown released its dead body from her boulder sandwich. Ryder winced at the battered corpse, unwilling to imagine the pain of having all of one's internal organs crushed to pieces repeatedly.

  Purple was doing most of the work as the corpses around him continued to pile up. His scowl grew more intense with each monster he tore in half, either vertically or horizontally.

  The rider's pants were getting heavier as time went on. However, when he saw there were only three of them left, he grunted and gathered all his remaining strength before charging forward with Green. Brown and Purple joined him too as he passed them by.

  The gang thought they could take it a little easier as they trudged through the snow. To their surprise, the monsters weren't planning to go out easily. The remaining three climbed uphill before pounding the ground with such terrifying force that it splintered their scales. The entire snowy landscape, which was already on the verge of crashing down due to the battle, trembled with each slam.

  "We have to stop them now! Purple, send us up!" Ryder and the other two sprinted forward.

  For once, their purple companion silently obeyed his rider and lifted all of them into the air via wind magic. Brown started spinning in the air, with the help of the wind magic, as she manifested rocks all over her body before hurtling down on the left monster; Purple simply enlarged his dragon paws back to its original size and smashed the middle one; Green shot out a stream of acid at the right one, melting away the monster's scale; lastly, Ryder infused his draconic arm with a combination of magic that he thought would make the insta-killing of the monster more instantaneous and stabbed.

  Their targets were eliminated as swiftly as they could blink. When they landed back on the ground, Green and Ryder lay next to the monster's gruesome corpse and heaved like their lungs were collapsing. The human lifted his sword and saw it had been broken in half. A sigh escaped his mouth as his hand fell onto the fluffy snow.

  "That's... That's all of them, right, Purple?"

  "Unless these vile creatures are somehow powerful enough to hide their presence from me, that is all of them." Purple huffed.

  "Great-" When Ryder tried to stand up, he slipped and bumped into one of the corpses. It fell downward and crashed into the pile of corpses the purple dragon made.

  A few seconds later, the hill trembled, and a wave of snow came tumbling down.

  The human stared at the snow with despair as Purple rolled his eyes at him.

  "Motherf-"

                    X

                   SLAM!

  The snow on the dragon rider fell when he placed his Guild card, along with a help poster, on the counter.

  "Request completed. Get your drones to verify it as fast as you can."

  The clerk sitting behind the counter took both the card and the poster. "That will be a charge of-"

  "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just do it already."

  "Okay! We'll deduct the fee from your request earning once the verification process is completed. You may rest in the lounge as you wait." The clerk smiled and gestured to him to take a seat.

  As he trudged back to the lounge, a handful of small golem drones flew out from behind the building and toward the monsters' location.

  The human dropped down on the sofa and closed his eyes. However, that quiet bliss lasted for only a few seconds. He heard a heavy set of footsteps approaching, which was accompanied by soft gasps, until it stopped in front of him. Even without looking, he could sense a fierce stare aiming at him.

  "5"

  His eyelids twitched, but remained shut.

  "4"

  "3"

  He could tell mana was surging before him.

  "2"

  "1"

  The rider opened his eyes and roared, "For fuck's sake, Purple! Just let me rest for a damn minute!"

  "I demand an extra large feast today for following your orders so... obediently." Purple made an exaggerated gagging action.

  "I don't have the money to serve you an extravagant meal right now! I still won't have enough even after we claim the reward because my sword is broken! Go and eat those corpses or find a chef that'll cook them if you want, but you aren't getting a damn feast from me!"

  The Terror of The East bellowed and lifted Ryder by his shirt. His body was crackling with purple-colored electricity as a deep voice rumbled from his throat. "Watch your mouth, boy. I followed you because you promised me a fun time. If you think you can undo our Pact before I bite your head off, you're severely mistaken. Give me my feast, or my mouth will be the last thing you see."

  Ryder gulped. His body trembled. He wanted to stand his ground, but only a few can stare into death itself without fear.

                  DING DING DING

  Their attention was promptly drawn to the counter. They saw the clerk waving with a smile. "Please approach the counter, Mr. Ryder."

  Purple shot him a glare of disdain before letting him go and sitting down on the sofa.

  The human huffed while pressing his palm on his chest. Once his breathing returned to normal, he adjusted his clothes and approached the clerk.

  "Thank you for your hard work, adventurer. Please place your hand here." She returned him his card and set a slab of round obsidian on the counter. When he laid his hand on the slab, a string of light swirled around his hand. A few seconds later, the numbers on the back of his hand increased, and the light retracted back into the slab.

  Right as he was about to leave with the card in hand, the clerk stopped him. "Would you like to spend your Guild Points on a week-long vacation in our most prestigious lodging here?"

  The human raised his eyebrow.

  "I couldn't help but overheard your conversation with your dragon. It's an option you can consider, as you've amassed a large amount of Guild Points. The vacation package also includes a buffet for every meal at the lodging."

  He glanced back at his dragon, leaned closer to the clerk, and whispered, "He can eat up to half a village's worth of food in a week. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

  The clerk whispered back, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Ryder. The lodging here is used to accepting customers with enormous appetites. Additionally, due to the avalanche, there likely won't be any more new customers until the path is cleared out."

  "Ah." He blushed slightly. "Alright, then. So, where's this lodging?"