Aldred laughed. "I have more than fifty Gold ranks now."
"We should set up your army now. Choose who will lead the cavalry unit."
Aldred rubbed his chin. "For cavalry, I need someone fast and powerful. Will is a good choice, but I think he has a better role in the future. Let's put Nicky in charge of the cavalry unit."
"What about Will?" Mary asked.
"He will get his role later."
Mareona glanced at the cave. "Since we're here, let's check out the cave."
"Good idea." Aldred walked to the cave. The ceiling was covered with hard ice and it was smooth to the touch. In the center of the cave, there was a bottle. Aldred manipulated the water in the air to engulf the battle and broke it.
"Another clue!" Aldred grabbed the parchment and opened it. "A place at the end of every journey."
The boy sighed. "How can we answer with this clue?"
Mareona grabbed the parchment and stared at it. "I think I know the answer."
"What is it?"
Mareona looked at the boy. "Home."
CLICK!
The dice hanging on their waist shone in golden light. They felt powerful energy rushing through their body.
[+25 Intelligence]
[Blessed Mind: Increase concentration by 68%]
[Talent Mastery: Increase mastery in all abilities by 75%]
[Powerful Body: increase the overall toughness and power of your body]
Aldred checked his attributes.
Attributes:
-Strength: 45
-Vitality: 61
-Intelligence: 77
-Dexterity: 42
Stat points: 72
Skill points: 58
Wow! His attributes increase by a lot. His strength was at 33 points before, but now it has increased to 45. And his Vitality was practically doubled. What an amazing effect.
"Did you guys feel that?" Aldred asked.
Mary nodded. "I feel my power become stronger."
"Check your stats."
Mary did and was shocked to see the improvement of her stats. "It increased by a lot."
Mareona, Sophia, and Mira checked their stats as well. They were surprised and excited to become so strong at once.
Meanwhile, back at the camp. Bartrem and the soldiers were eating when suddenly their dice shone and glowed. Maverick, seeing this was shocked, and his dice made a clicking sound as well.
They all became stronger.
"Did Aldred solve the riddle?" Bartrem wondered. He saw his soldiers standing up and punching the air, creating powerful force waves. They were excited and decided to spar with each other to try their new power.
Bartrem smiled.
Back in the cave where Aldred and the others were.
Suddenly, their dice shone a green light and there was an arrow on the dice. It pointed in a certain direction. Even when Aldred moved the dice around, the arrow moved itself to point in the fixed direction.
"Let's return to the camp and tell Bartrem about this.
Aldred exited the cave and transformed into a Gargant Eagle as he leaped onto the cliff and walked to the camp.
Without him knowing, a lot of people were sneakily looking at what he had been doing earlier.
"Did you see his undead just killed all those giant snow wolves?"
"All of them are at Gold Rank, yet his undead easily defeated them all."
"Not only that, but he also turns all the wolves into his undead."
"Does that mean his undead army just got stronger?"
"That boy is something else. I am sure he will become famous once he climbs down the mountain. We have no chance to compete against him, we have to join him."
"Join him? Are you sure? We're weaklings compared to his undead. You think he will accept us?"
The man sighed. "You're right. There's no chance that we'll be allowed to join. I saw their soldiers and they are powerful and diligent. Even in this environment they still train themselves to the limit."
"They must come from an elite group. People like us cannot touch them."
"Why do we even stay here? That boy will surely reach the astrolabe."
"There's more than one. Yes, that boy will take one, but we can compete for the others."
"Right. We need to make allies to secure our own astrolabe. I heard that powerful and famous figures will come at a later date. Maybe we can meet and join them."
…
Aldred walked to the camp with his eagle form. Shaking the ground, the campers were shocked and immediately pulled their tents and scurried away.
They thought that the eagle was about to eat them, but apparently, it was the boy who could transform into a monster. They knew when they saw the girls sitting on the monster's back.
Aldred morphed back to his real form after letting the girls hop off his back. He ran up to Bartrem.
"Bartrem, tell everyone to prepare. We should follow this arrow."
Bartrem stared at the green shining arrow on the dice. He nodded. "Everyone! Stop sparring and prepare your gear!."
"Yes, sir!"
Aldred waved his hand, putting all the tents and supplies into the divine dimension.
When everyone was ready, Aldred took the lead and followed the arrow.
A group of adventurers stopped him. "I am sorry to bother you, sir. But we would like to ask if we can join your group. I am sure our power will be useful."
"No thanks." Aldred walked past him.
The adventurer froze and was speechless. They expect to be rejected, but not that quick.
The other adventurers that saw this were glad they didn't try to join Aldred. In fact, most of them were scared to be killed and turned into undead.
As Aldred continued his steps, a couple of men in thick robes were staring at him.
"We should inform our lord about his existence. That boy will surely become one of the top contenders for this treasure."
"Our lord won't be coming to this mountain. We don't need to tell him as that boy might not survive."
"You fool. Look at his power. Our lord might be stronger, but that boy will surely grow. And his undead will increase in the future."
"Our Lord has an army as well. They won't lose out to his undead."
"In any case, we have to inform him about this."
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