As the man turned around to the voice, a sharp ice-like bolt jolted over towards the man, quickly grazing pass his arm that was holding a tight grip on Lisbeth's.

"Argh...!" The man cried out as he abruptly released his grip on the girl. Quickly the kid ran over towards her fallen brother, Bren.

As the man stumbled backwards from the sudden attack, he angrily shouted, "Who goes there?!" He quickly looked over towards where the bolt came from. From the direction of the attack, he saw two people standing by the alleyway's entrance—Ryan and Emily.

Locking his eyes on the two, the man frowned, "What? Kids? Who do you think you are, huh?!"

"Just what do you think you're doing taking that child away!?" Emily angrily shouted out.

"It's none of your damn business! Get the hell out of here, or else!"

"Sorry, I don't listen to scums," Ryan said coldly towards the man, as he prepared to use his powers.

In the next moment, the man leapt forward, "Grr! You're starting to tick me off!" He roared as his right arm quickly turned into a steel-like state.

"...!" Noticing was going in for an attack, Ryan cried out, "Emily, move out of the way!" Quickly he shoved Emily towards the side of the alleyway as he swiftly jumped towards a wall. From the area where they had been, the man's arm had smashed the ground, creating a hole on it.

"So you're power is steel arms huh?" Ryan analyzed the situation as he turned over towards Emily, seeing that she had run over towards the kids and is now protecting them from the battle.

As Ryan analyzed the situation, the man hollered, "Tch! Stay put you brats!" As he leapt towards the wall where Ryan was at. In the next moment, as Ryan prepared, the man's left leg turned into a steel-like state as he sent it flying over to the wall, quickly striking him down.

"...!"

Ryan belatedly noticed the quickly attack that the man had pulled, as he tried to leap over towards the ground to avoid the attack, the man was one step ahead of him as his legs hit onto Ryan's abdomen area.

"Ack!" Ryan screamed in pain as he was pushed back. Sending him flying to the ground where the two kids and Emily was at.

"A-Ah...! Ryan!" Emily rushed over towards him.

"Argh... That hurts..." Ryan slowly got up as he glared over towards the man who is laughing heartily.

"Tch, that'll teach you a lesson." The man sneered at the glaring Ryan.

"Are you okay...!?" Finally reaching to where Ryan was, she hurriedly helped him up.

In the next instance, Ryan raised his hand to stop Emily, as he got up himself, "Yeah, it was just a hit, nothing to worry about."

Getting himself together, Ryan prepared a battle stance, as he glanced around the alleyway, looking towards the waterway pipes on the walls.

'Tch... His attacks deal a strong blow...' Scrutinizing the area, he collected his thoughts as he looked down at his abdomen area, 'I need to avoid the next attack at all costs otherwise...'

"A-are you two here to save us...?" A hesitantly and shaky voice was heard from the back of Ryan, it was Lisbeth.

Hearing her voice, Ryan was snapped out of his thoughts as he turned his head around and nodded, "Yeah."

"You two, stay behind me," Emily said as he hid the two kids behind her back.

"Hah! What are you going to do to save them huh?" The man arrogantly laughed, "From the looks of it, you're just a petty low tier who thinks he can save all!"

"Low tier, huh?" Ryan clicked his tongue, "I'll show you low tier!"

Ryan leapt forward towards the man as he gathered cold air around him, quickly creating a dagger made out of ice with his power: Glacial Control, the ability to control and create ice.

Quickly as he created the dagger, he threw it towards the man. As the dagger flung towards him, the man effortlessly blocked the attack as he spoke smugly, "What's such a lowly attack going to do huh?"

In the next moment, as he spoke, Ryan quickly closed the gap between the two while the man was distracted by the attack.

"Well, this!" He said as he created two icicles from both his hands respectively, quickly slashing it towards the man.

Belatedly noticing Ryan's attack, the man hurriedly held up a single steel-like arm as he blocked the two icicles aimed at him, "Argh!"

As the two clashed with one another, Ryan hurriedly jumped back.

'Huh? He only used a single arm to block off the attack?' He thought to himself as he scrutinized the steel arm of the man, 'It's either he is overconfident or...'

"Grrr! I'll show you not to mess with me!"

The man shouted angrily as he used the same arm that he fended off with to swing it towards Ryan. Just as he moved, Ryan quickly took noticed of it as he dodged it. Following up with it, Ryan retaliated as he threw another two icicles over towards two different directions. The man's left and right.

"...!" The man's eyes locked onto the two incoming attacks as he turned his arm back to normal, quickly in the next instant his body turned into steel thus taking the brunt of Ryan's sharp icicles.

"You think that petty trick would work on me huh?" He sneered.

'I see... If he used his body to defend instead of his arms, then that means... ' Seeing as how he defended against his attack, Ryan thought to himself, 'His weakness is that he can only turn a single body part to steel.'

Nodding his head he understands, Ryan belatedly clicked his tongue at the thought, 'Damn it... if only I could use an area-wide attack then this will all be over...' Ryan turned back to see the two kids and Emily watching Ryan anxiously, 'But with the kids and Emily... They would get the blow too since this place is craped...' Ryan sighed inwardly, as he glanced over to the walls with the waterway pipes. 'I guess I'll just have to make do.'

Finally coming up with a suitable plan for the situation, Ryan glared over towards the man, "Well... A trick like that would work wonders against you."

"What?! Grr... you think those tricks will catch me off guard huh?!"

"Well, you'll see if it does work or not." He inhaled the air as he focused his stamina into a single attack. Quickly gathering his energy towards his power, Ryan swiftly created a sharp icy blade as he threw it over towards the waterway pipe, quickly causing a small hole on it. The hole opened as water leaked out.

"W-What?" The man glanced over to where Ryan had thrown his attack.

In the next moment, Ryan leapt forward as he let out cold air. Quickly he froze the water coming out of the waterway pipe, turning it into thorny icicles as it protruded towards the man.

"Icicle Storm!" He shouted as he controlled the ice to surround the man in a circle. Then, Ryan quickly controlled the thorns around the encirclement as it stabbed the man.

"ARGH!" Unable to fend off against the thorns piercing his skin, he groaned as he hurriedly transformed his arm into steel, and broke one side of the encirclement.

Staggering out of the circle, he glared over to Ryan with bloodshot eyes, "Tch... Damn you! You will pay for this!" Saying his remarks, the man fled the scene.

"It's over..." Emily let out a breath of relief as she saw that the man fled.

"Phew... That's done." Ryan took a breather as he walked over towards the kids and Emily, "Are you two hurt?"

The two both shook their heads.

"T-thank you for saving my sister...!" Bren bowed towards Ryan.

"Yeah..." Lisbeth followed suit.

"Haha... no problem." Ryan smiled at the two as he felt a sudden sharp pain in his abdominal area, "Argh!" He groaned as he hurriedly placed his hand on the area.

"...!" Noticing Ryan in pain, she hurriedly walked up to him, "Hey, Ryan, you okay?!"

"Ah...!" Lisbeth looked over towards Ryan with anxious eyes.

"No, no... I'm fine." Ryan extended his hand over towards Emily and the kids as he waved it around. Soon after he looked at the kids, "Anyways... Why was he after you two?"

"H-he is a debt collector..." Bren replied.

"Our family doesn't have enough money right now to pay him..." Lisbeth said.

As Bren heard the word money, he frowned, "Dad barely meets the mid-tier power level... So it's hard making money here..." He let out a sigh, "So we tried asking him to delay the due date since dad gets his paycheck in a few days... but he didn't want to wait, so he attacked us out of spite and tried taking my sister away to teach our parents a lesson since they weren't there..."

"How could he? You are both just kids!" Emily angrily clenched her hands. Meanwhile, Ryan angrily stared at the direction of where the man fled.

"..."

"It's ok... it's always been like this, so we are used to this!" Bren hurriedly said, to calm down the two.

"How much is the debt?" Ryan asked.

"Huh...? It's 41200 Fiol..." Bren replied.

"41200?"

"That's quite the sum..." Emily said.

"How much does your dad earn...?" Ryan inquired.

"It's around 16000 Fiol per month..." Bren replied.

"Wouldn't it not be enough...?" Emily tilted her head to the side.

"We have savings from last month... So if we combine that we can pay it off..." Lisbeth said.

"Wait, give me a second..." Ryan said as he placed his hands into his pocket, quickly searching something in it. Soon after he took out his wallet. Scourging through it, he took out multiple bills of Fiol, as it adds up to 16000. Soon after, he hands it over to the two kids, "Here, this should be enough right?"

"Ah...?" Emily stared blankly at Ryan's actions.

"..!" Shocked to see the amount given by Ryan, he hurriedly rejected, "There isn't a need for you to do that mister! Dad will get his pay soon..."

"But, there's no guarantee he won't come back later before your dad gets his paycheck right?" Ryan said as he insisted on giving the money.

"B-but..."

"It's fine! It's just 16000 Fiol, it isn't that much anyway..."

"Ah...! T-thank you..!" Lisbeth bowed in gratitude, as the kids took the money. Soon after, they said their goodbyes and went home.

"Well... that's dealt with." Ryan let out a sigh.

"Do you always carry that much on you?" Emily glared at Ryan.

"Aha... It's extra money I carry around when Sarah suddenly calls me to buy groceries or something when I'm out..."

"Ah, it's always the sudden groceries tasks that Sarah gives..." Emily chuckled, "I would also give them my money, but... I'm broke..."

"You did just bought extra parts for your drones," Ryan shrugged, "Anyways, let's head back..."

"Alright, ah and..." Emily said as she glared at Ryan.

"Hmm...?"

"Let me see your wound so I can treat it when we get back!"

"Huh? I told you, it's no big deal."

"I know you very well, and I know it's a fact you treat wounds that are serious like it's nothing!" Emily shouted as she grabbed onto Ryan's arm.

"W-Wait... I'm serious... It was just a minor hit..." Ryan hurriedly tried to retreat back his arm but failed.

"Well, we'll see for sure when we get back! Now let's go!"

"H-Hey wait...!"

Emily quickly dragged Ryan as they head back towards the headquarters.