Ryan's first skirmish turned out almost perfectly, especially with the sniper team; the long-range support they provided and their ability to mark targets made the strategy much simpler.

  It had taken him around 9 days and a good number of sleeping bandits to finally reach level 5, but it was definitely worth it.

  Level: 5 (870/1600)

  Evolution Points (0): Power(3) - Units(3)

  Units: Squad(11/16) - Machine Gunner(0/2) - Grenadier(0/2) - Patrols(0/4) - Anti-tank Team(2/2) - Sniper Team(2/2) - Combat Medical Team(0/2)

  Having lost only one soldier, who had sacrificed himself by getting inside the bandit's head just to blow himself up in the right moment, Ryan could think in only one disadvantage that came with such crushing victory: he hadn't been able to test how strong someone like Cayden was. Ryan had undoubtedly felt the opponent using magic to strengthen his body, but that only gave him small clues about how mana could be used in the region.

  And to make things worse, the window in front of him seemed to add more fuel to the fire.

  [Mission completed! You have praised your soldiers]

  Reward: Combat Medical Team unlocked]

  [Secondary Mission: Get captured by the bandits.

  Time Limit: 1 hour

  Failed!]

  Ryan frowned. "What kind of stupid mission is that?"

  The only way the redhead could praise the ability that brought more bad memories than good ones was just to gain some kind of benefit... And even calling "fun" the act of blowing Cayden's body up was giving him a headache. But a half-assed praise was still a praise to the system.

  'A stupid mission for stupid people' was all he could think at the moment. Being insulted by the entity behind the dialogue box wasn't such a far-fetched idea, when it wasn't the first time he had failed a mission on purpose because it didn't align with his pns.

  As his soldiers worked to contain the fire that threatened to spread through the forest, another System window appeared:

  [New Mission: Escape.]

  [ Flee from the Valerius family soldiers and the adept mage from Eldarion Academy who accompanies them.]

  Time Limit: 3 days]

  [Description: By having discarded the mana in your body, the lock of hair that Eldarion Academy uses to check the location of its students has lost all its power, alerting the academy. One way or another, they have sent one of their mages to help with your rescue, but their true intentions are antagonistics.

  Penalty for failing the mission: Removal of the Toy Army ability.]

  "An adept mage?" The corner of Ryan's lips barely moved upwards. "Let's see what this world is made of…"

  It's not as if he wanted to go against the System, but it was obvious that ridding his body of mana to fill it completely with his aura had been something that went against the current in this world. Even warriors seemed to be using magic, if only to make themselves faster and stronger.

  So it was no surprise that mages would want to satisfy their innate curiosity, even if it meant experimenting on the body of a 10-year-old child.

  Ryan still didn't know if using aura would lead him to antagonize the entire world, but he also wasn't interested in using a matchstick when he possessed the power of the sun in his hands.

  "Do you think you can scare me by taking away this ability?" The boy smiled through his gritted teeth. "You can take it away now, and I promise to survive until I'm strong enough to crush every living thing in this world."

  His eyes, usually devoid of emotion, now shone with madness. The damned system had sent him to this world and thought to use him as a pawn. Sylvaryan had no problem with dying when that was his destiny; yes, he wanted to return and help his wife, he still regretted not having done many things... But he would never step so low as to beg and crawl like a dog for another opportunity.

  Could the system annihite him? Go ahead. Could it take away the powers it had granted him? Excellent.

  But what if the system could do nothing more than send people to kill him? Ryan could only think in destroying this world that seemed to hold some importance to the system. For a moment, his bad habit of overthinking things, going from 0 to 100 in an instant and from white to bck was resurfacing. What if it was the system who was going to send the knights and mage just to guide him into another predetermined path? He certainly was going to flip the board.

  Perhaps fearing the sudden madness in Ryan, the mission he had received seconds ago seemed to change a bit.

  [Penalty for failing the mission: Temporary exile. New Css]

  "Hmph" was all that was heard from the redhead's mouth. The simple fact that the mission had no reward was because they both knew what was going to happen. On the contrary, the penalty seemed to be the reward.

  Not even thinking about where he could be exiled, or what the system was pning by banishing him, Ryan calmed down and used a good part of the aura he had left to summon a team of medics.

  Two green soldiers appeared on the ground, the stripe on their left arms with a red cross made them a bit easier to recognize. He then entered "Cayden's home", finally meeting with the other two kidnapped women he had seen through the eyes of his soldiers.

  "Ryan? Is that you? Are you hurt? There's blood on your clothes..."Although for Ryan this would be his first encounter, it didn't seem to be the same for those women.

  "I'm fine. A hermit mage found me in the forest and took me as his apprentice. He was the one who attacked the camp to help me in rescuing you."

  "But the screams... the explosions..." The woman protectively hugged her daughter, the tranquility with which the child who cried day and night in her p was speaking was giving her the chills.

  "That's what magic is capable off. By the way, these small golems created by my master are specialized in healing wounds," Ryan pointed to the tiny medical soldiers who were beginning to deploy their equipment. "He sent them to tend to your wounds."

  The tiny medics immediately approached, scanning and treating every cut, bruise, and injury they found on mother and daughter.

  "By the way, doctors, I'm sure your patients want to know the diagnosis you can offer and the treatment you have pnned for them…"

  Given that it was a surprising situation to see small figures of no more than 5 or 6 centimeters moving, Ryan tried at least to demonstrate how capable his master's "golems" were. At least the surprise on the mother's and daughter's faces when a firm voice came from the pstic soldier was worth a painting.

  "Apart from minor cuts and bruises on the epidermis: Severe malnutrition in both patients," the medic admitted. "The girl presents protein deficiency and vitamin B12, D, and E deficiency. The mother shows more severe signs: iron deficiency anemia, unbanced electrolytes, and early stages of muscle deterioration."

  Ryan for a moment could only clutch his forehead. His ability allowed him to understand what the medic was saying, but at the same time, it sounded like some sort of curse or bck magic in his ears. The paramedic prepared the nano-injectors while the medic was interrupted before he could continue speaking.

  "Doctor, your patients are simple civilians, please simplify the expnation so they can understand the treatment they're receiving and the treatment they'll need to follow when they return to the city."

  "Both are very hungry," said the chief doctor. "The girl needs proteins and vitamins. The mother is in a worse state: her body doesn't have enough iron and her health is weakening."

  Ryan watched as the paramedic's device began to inject remedies into the adult woman while the doctor continued with his observations.

  "We need to attend to them immediately: give them a mixture of nutrients intravenously, and take herbs that help prevent infections." The doctor paused. "This initial treatment will st around four hours, but recovery will take longer."

  "You have 45 minutes," Ryan interrupted again.

  "In that case, we're going to need more mana," the doctor responded after thinking for a few seconds, trying to think how a golem could function in this world. "Our core is too small to treat this type of affliction so quickly."

  "Ok, ok, I'm on it, at least expin to them what they have to do over the next few days, I've heard that people end up dying if they drink or eat excessive amounts of food while they're malnourished." Ryan added again, sitting down on the floor to start meditating, since the little aura he had wasn't enough to pay the "medical bills".

  "Although Refeeding is unlikely, the next four days are very important. We recommend eating:

  Days 1-2: Vegetable broth with some meat every three hours.

  Day 3: Add vegetable and fruit purees.

  Day 4: Introduce tender meats like fish or eggs.

  They should avoid:

  Processed and sugary foods

  Greasy food

  Dairy products.

  If they don't have good food after day 4, they will start feeling worse again," the doctor warned. "They will need to follow a nutritious diet for at least three more weeks."

  Ryan nodded while the energy he was taking from his surroundings was sent to the little doctors immediately.

  "These golems contain some of my master's medical knowledge, so the best thing you can do is listen to them." Although it was difficult at the moment, Ryan tried to put himself in the shoes of the mother and daughter.

  "My master told me that a group of adventurers is not very far from finding the camp, and it's likely that they're looking for me." It was difficult to create a convincing lie on the spot, so his "master" had to take the bme for now.

  "So just close your eyes a bit, and when you wake up, everything will be better..."

  The words became distant, or perhaps it was everything around him that became distant when the mother and daughter suddenly lost consciousness.

  Nakusyer